Posts by Paul Stradling

HP has come under scrutiny for implementing a policy that enforced a minimum 15-minute wait time for customers seeking telephone support for consumer PCs and printers. Frustration The move, which was (quietly) introduced earlier this year, was designed to push customers towards self-service digital support options, but it has triggered frustration among users and raised…

A new Nozomi Networks report has found that 94 per cent of Wi-Fi networks lack proper protection against deauthentication attacks, leaving them vulnerable to disruption and infiltration. The analysis of 500,000+ wireless networks revealed that only 6 per cent had enabled Management Frame Protection (MFP), a key security feature preventing attackers from forcing devices offline…

A new report from the Rhodium Group claims that advanced geothermal energy could power nearly all new data centres by 2030. A Stable, Renewable Solution With the exponential rise in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing driving unprecedented demand for electricity, the energy consumption of data centres is a growing concern. However, the report suggests…

In contrast to the ChatGPT ‘memory’ feature (that we outlined last week), this week’s Tech Talk suggests some ways to use their new ‘Temporary’ feature, in case you want to sandbox your conversations and keep them private. [Note – To Watch This Video without glitches/interruptions, It may be best to download it first]

UK banking customers who have faced repeated IT failures are set to receive millions in compensation, following a damning Treasury Committee investigation into the scale and impact of these outages. Nine Banks The inquiry revealed that in the past two years alone, nine major banks and building societies have suffered more than a month’s worth…

In this Tech Insight, we look at the latest AI developments, including AI agents creating their own language, Opera’s new AI-powered browsing assistant, and a growing debate over the risks of an international race to artificial general intelligence. AI Agents Are Speaking Their Own Language A new experiment called ‘GibberLink’ has just demonstrated an intriguing…

According to a report by The Information, OpenAI is gearing up to introduce a new wave of specialised ‘AI agents’, with some of its most advanced offerings set to cost as much as $20,000 per month. New Revenue Stream For OpenAI With AI development costs rising fast, OpenAI reportedly lost around $5 billion last year due…

Non-profit web tech organisation Mozilla has rewritten Firefox’s Terms of Use after widespread criticism from users who feared the company was overreaching with its data policies. Vague Wording? It seems that the backlash stemmed from vague and broad wording in the updated terms, which many believed gave Mozilla rights over any data entered into the…

Brother (once considered one of the more consumer-friendly printer manufacturers) is now under fire over claims that its latest firmware updates deliberately degrade print quality when third-party toner cartridges are used. Firmware Updates Allegedly Restrict Third-Party Ink Right-to-repair activist and electronics technician Louis Rossmann has accused Brother of deploying firmware updates that hinder the use…

GitLab Threat Intelligence has warned over 3.2 million Chrome users to delete 16 malicious browser extensions that compromise security and expose data to attackers. The extensions, including ad blockers, screen capture tools, and emoji keyboards, were found injecting harmful code into browsers. GitLab says attackers hijacked these extensions through phishing or by acquiring them from…