John Lister

Amazon has apologized after its digital assistant Alexa told a 10-year old to connect a coin to a power socket. While there's a simple explanation, it raises even more questions. The girl's mother said she had previously been watching YouTube videos ... with a variety of safe physical challenges, then used voice control to ask an Alexa-enabled device for a "challenge to do." To the mother's shock, the device replied "The challenge is simple: plug in a phone charger about halfway into a wall outlet, then touch a penny to the exposed prongs." Fortunately the mother heard the reply, though she says ... (view more)

Samsung has got approval for a patent on a phone with a double-folding mechanism. It would effectively be a tablet computer that fits in the pocket. The company already has a range of foldable phones with a single hinge, meaning a double-width ... screen. The new patent is for a double-hinge with one folding forward and one folding backward, a little like a "zed bed" mechanism. (Source: techradar.com ) The patent shows that the screens would be arranged so that an "ordinary" size screen was usable when the phone was fully folded. When the phone was unfolded, the entire display would be accessible ... (view more)

The developers behind a "privacy focused" search engine are working on their own desktop web browser. DuckDuckGo is already available in mobile form with a reported 150 million downloads. The DuckDuckGo search engine is based around user privacy, ... with minimal data collected. It's funded through ads that relate solely to the search term a user looks for, rather than any data about their browsing history. The reduced reliance on personal data does arguably mean the search results aren't as relevant as with other search tools, though the developers claim this is better because users don't get a ... (view more)

Microsoft has a bunch of potentially-useful Windows 10 and 11 tools available to install. Rather oddly though, they aren't part of the Windows Update system. Instead users must manually download and install the "PowerToys" tools from independent ... software site GitHub. While that site is generally safe, users can follow the link from Microsoft's powertoys page to make sure they get the latest edition. The package includes 11 tools which generally offer simple solutions to very specific problems. Many are based on the work of independent developers. Find Your Mouse Easily Mouse utilities is ... (view more)

Dell has unveiled some creative ideas for new computers and gadgets to meet changing use demands. However, it's only calling them "Concepts." At the moment and there's no guarantee any of them will become available to buy. Perhaps the most credible ... is Concept Luna, a laptop that's easier to repair and thus more sustainable. The goal is to make it easier to replace specific components rather than having to buy a new device altogether. Historically that's been difficult with laptops as the components need to be packed much tighter together than in a desktop case, making it more fiddly to make ... (view more)

US President Joe Biden has ordered the federal government to modernize its online services. It aims to remove a "time tax" on citizens navigating inefficient services. It comes in an executive order, which doesn't require legislation passed by ... Congress. The order says the US government is responsible for "designing and delivering services with a focus on the actual experience of the people whom it is meant to serve." (Source: whitehouse.gov ) The main requirement of the order is to overcome the current problem of limited interoperability between different government sites, which often require ... (view more)

Microsoft appears to be offering discounts on legitimate software to people running pirated copies. The Office deal isn't quite a like-for-like offer however. The offer, spotted by the Ghacks site, appears to be limited to users in specific ... countries. It's not clear if there's a pattern such as targeting countries with high rates of piracy, or those where people are likely to have enough money to buy legitimate software. (Source: ghacks.net ) A message shown to some users of unlicensed copies of Office 2019 in the ribbon bar reads "Get up to 50% off. For a limited time, save up to 50% on a ... (view more)

Mozilla has announced a rethink of a key technology used to make web users safer. The latest update to its Firefox browser improves the "sandboxing" approach. One of the biggest security concerns with web browsers is the way a single application ... (the browser) can handle data from multiple sites open in different tabs. It creates the risk that a compromised site could access data from another site; for example, one tab might display or transmit emails, login details or financial information. The way browsers tackle this risk is called sandboxing. That means telling operating systems such as ... (view more)

Google has cracked down on a key method that scammers used to distribute Android malware through the Play app store. But like a game of whack-a-mole, the scammers are adjusting their tactics for greater success. The Google change is to the way it ... handles accessibility tools on Android devices. These include screen-readers, voice input systems and other modifications for users to interact with the device. Such tools often need access to key components such as the camera, microphone or speakers, access that can be abused by malware. Google relaxes the security and permissions system on such ... (view more)

Microsoft has taken control of websites - or rather their domain names - believed to be uses by Chinese hackers. It's the latest example of a tactic that overcomes the usual problems of dealing with an international online threat. According to ... Microsoft, the "Nickel" group is based in China and is a "nation-state actor": in other words, it at the very least has the backing of the Chinese government. It uses a variety of tactics to try to spy on victims and intercept their data. Targets include government agencies and human rights groups. Microsoft somewhat understatedly says there's "often a ... (view more)