John Lister

Google has begun blocking third-party cookies in the Chrome browser. However, it's letting some websites take longer than originally planned to make the change. When in force, the block means Chrome will disable cookies placed by third parties ... rather than the site itself. That means sites can continue using cookies that can be useful, for example making a note of a customer's preferred movie theater so that they automatically see relevant listings and times. Third-party cookies are more commonly associated with advertising. For example, visiting a fishing equipment website might lead to a ... (view more)

WhatsApp users on Android could hit storage limits thanks to a change in Google policy. However, claims it could mean a "shock new fee" are misleading at best. Users of the popular messaging app can have their messages, including videos and images, ... automatically backed up from an Android device. However, WhatsApp itself does not handle the backup or store the data. Instead the backup is on Google Drive. Because WhatsApp doesn't hold backups itself, the Google Drive backup may be the only way to restore data when moving to a new phone, particularly when the old handset is broken or unavailable ... (view more)

A national government is offering $219 to help people get computers and mobile phones repaired. The program in Austria is designed to help individuals and the environment. The "Repair Bonus" program is available for all electrical appliances, though ... it's most effective for people with expensive devices such as technology products. Smartphones are the most popular item being repaired. Under the program, the government will pay 50 percent of the repair, with its contribution capped at €200 (US$219). This limit applies to individual devices and there's no limit on how many devices a person ... href="/news/11344/govt-tackles-e-waste-discounts-smartphone-repairs" class="more-link">view more)

Two new models of the Apple smartwatch were briefly banned from sale in the US. The ban related to intellectual property, rather than any safety or security concerns. The ban affected the Series 9 and Ultra 2, which are the latest versions of the ... two more expensive models in the range. It didn't affect the "standard" SE model. Both sales and imports of the devices were barred by the US International Trade Commission (US ITC). Among other powers, it can ban sales where there's a dispute over intellectual property which have an international element. That's what happened in this case with a ... (view more)

Android devices may soon tell users when their phone is starting to degrade. It's a feature already found in phones. The feature is not about the percentage of charge the battery has, which is easy to find in Android settings and can be shown ... permanently on the screen. Instead, it's about battery health. It's described by Google as the "estimated percentage of charge the battery can currently hold compared to when it was new." That's not necessarily as straightforward as it might seem: battery life doesn't necessarily degrade at a consistent rate. A rule of thumb, the battery should retain at ... (view more)

A supercomputer that can process data in the same way and at the same speed as a human will be operational next year. It's a claim that's far more impressive than it might sound. Unlike most supercomputers, DeepSouth's main purpose is to help ... scientists understand more about how the brain operates as a "low power device". While even the most basic computers can carry out calculations extremely quickly (and far faster than a human), they can't operate in the same way. In simple terms, that's because a single computer processor can only do one thing at a time. A brain uses a network of neurons ... (view more)

A change to Google's search algorithm for local rankings has prompted fierce debate about what information is most useful to customers. The rankings now vary minute to minute based on listed opening hours. The change affects "local pack ranking". ... That's the section that appears at the top of many Google search results pages showing three businesses close to the user's location and relating to the search. The section, often marked "Places" gives basic information about the business including its address and user ratings. Many business recently noted their appearance or non-appearance in this ... (view more)

A marketing company claims it can listen in to private conversations in peoples' homes and gather data for targeted advertising. It's not clear if Cox Media Group (CMG) is "revealing" a poorly kept secret or exaggerating its capabilities to boost ... business. The claims were made by CMG's marketing team in a pitch to other marketers. The details were revealed through a leak to 404 Media. (Source: 404media.co ) According to the report of the leak, CMG promoted the technology as "Active Listening" and asked potential clients "What would it mean for your business if you could target potential ... (view more)

Disgruntled artists have exploited a flaw in artificial intelligence image generators to "poison" their learning. They are looking for revenge on AI operators who use artwork without permission to train their tools. Like most generative AI, image ... tools learn by analyzing millions of pictures and accompanying captions. In turn, the AI creates its own checklist for what particular words or phrases mean. They also learn styles of image and art. While some AI tools are "trained" with permission on libraries of licenses of images, others simply trawl the Internet and use any images they can find. ... (view more)

Apple says it will demand a court order before handing over details of a user's push notifications. It follows revelations that foreign officials were using the tactics for surveillance, with questions asked about whether the Department of Justice ... does the same in the US. A push notification is a message created by an app and shown on the phone screen even if the app itself is closed. This could be anything from a summary of a new email to a breaking story from a news app. Senator Ron Wyden wrote to the DOJ earlier this month to report a tip that both US and foreign governments (said to be ... (view more)