Personal technology

Derek Skipper hopes to crush his GCSE maths exam (Image: SWNS) Sign up for our news briefing, including a daily special Russia-Ukraine edition SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Derek Skipper used YouTube to learn the GCSE Mathematics syllabus as he wanted to challenge himself despite his grand old age. The father of two is hoping for a level four or five, the highest available on the free adult education course, after taking the test at Comberton Village College in Toft, Cambridgeshire, in a room full of 16-year-old pupils. Related articles UK surveillance tsar rages at facial recognition in SCHOOLS Students walk out in tears over 'unfair' A-Level exams Derek, who was a former radar engineer during the Korean War, … [Read more...] about Pensioner in his 90s becomes oldest person to ever sit GCSE exam

F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix live stream - How to watch (Image: GETTY) This article contains affiliate links, we may receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more Sign up for FREE now and never miss the top F1 stories again SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info After a break last weekend, Formula One returns for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix live from Baku. This street race always brings plenty of action, a sprinkling of chaos and more than a few Safety Cars so it's definitely one to watch. If you fancy tuning in to all the live action you will need to sign up for a Sky contract with the telly firm continuing to have exclusive rights to all of the races. You can find all the best deals below. Watch F1 live with Sky Sports … [Read more...] about F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix live stream: How to watch action from Baku 2022 race online

Listening to your deceased mother read “The Wizard of Oz” to your sons and daughters may soon become a reality thanks to Amazon’s Alexa. During the multinational technology and e-commerce company’s annual MARS conference in Las Vegas, Alexa head scientist Rohit Prasad unveiled the virtual assistant technology’s latest feature. Instead of Alexa’s so-called normal voice reciting the words of your favorite novel, now her voice can transform into that of a loved one who recently passed away reading your favorite bedtime story. “We are unquestionably living in the golden era of AI,” Prasad said. “Where our dreams and science fiction are becoming a reality.” Prasad paused for a moment while a video appeared of a young child in his bedroom talking to Alexa, who has a panda bear’s face. “Alexa,” the boy said. “Can grandma finish reading me ‘The Wizard of Oz’?” “OK,” Alexa responded. Alexa immediately turns her voice into the boy’s grandmother’s and reads the … [Read more...] about Amazon Showcases Technology Transforming Alexa’s Voice Into Your Deceased Loved Ones’ Voice | The Daily Wire

Plans to allow CCTV cameras to recognise people’s faces in realtime could be used “inappropriately, excessively or even recklessly”, the Information Commissioner has warned. In recent years, authorities have been rolling out new kinds of facial recognition , with the promise that it would be able to spot dangerous people in real-time. But privacy activists and others have warned that it is a vast invasion of privacy, could be used to create watchlists of people, might falsely accuse people because of racism and other biases and unfair practices. There is still time for authorities to change their mind and avoid the vast dangers that the technology could produce, the head of the watchdog warned. “We’re at a crossroads right now, we in the UK and other countries around the world see the deployment of live facial recognition and I think it’s still at an early enough stage that it’s not too late to put the genie back in the bottle,” Commissioner Elizabeth Denham … [Read more...] about Live facial recognition technology creates ‘supercharged CCTV’ that could be used recklessly, Information Commission warns

Tomb Raider The Live Experience (Image: SQUARE ENIX) Sign up for FREE for the biggest new releases, reviews and tech hacks SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Forget Madame Tussauds and The London Eye, there's a brand new tourist attraction in London that's perfect for gaming fans and adventurers. Located in the heart of the Camden Stables market, Tomb Raider: The Live Experience is part escape room, part adventure course, featuring puzzles, ziplines, car chases, and lots more. The aim of the experience is to find elemental relics, which can be used to thwart a rival archeologist's dastardly plans for world domination. Related articles Own these PlayStation, Nintendo or SEGA games? You just got richer Square Enix - not … [Read more...] about Real-life Tomb Raider that’s NOT on PlayStation: Visit the Tomb Raider Experience NOW

Updated, 1:13pm. Back during the 2000s, when blogs were new, pioneers of the form argued over when blogs would be art . Pioneers of the form decided that a blog would have to be fiction, would have to be well-written, and would have to be perpetrated onto an unknowing audience. To fully engage with a fictional blog as a blog , they argued, the readers could not know it was fictive. Readers must think they are engaging with the world as is. Those pioneers imagined what mainstream success for blog fiction would look like. Vast audiences would get caught up in the narrative and interact with the “author.” The work would be created, or improvised, as it went along. Blog fiction, they said, could be blockbuster. Blog fiction now exists, though it’s a small off-shoot of the blogging world. Its readers often know it’s fictive. (Though hoaxes like Gay Girl in Damascus provide a counter-example.) The blogging world, too, looks much different than it did back during the Bush … [Read more...] about @Horse_Ebooks Is the Most Successful Piece of Cyber Fiction, Ever

By Zoe Kleinman Published 1 day ago Share close Share page Copy link About sharing Related Topics US abortion debate After the Supreme Court overturned citizens' constitutional right to abortion in the US, there has been concern about data protection, particularly in the 13 states which have already moved to make ending a pregnancy illegal. But what sort of data might incriminate someone, how could the authorities get hold of it, and what are the tech firms doing? Digital traces Gina Neff, professor of technology and society at University of Oxford, tweeted the day after the ruling: "Right now, and I mean this instant, delete every digital trace of any menstrual tracking." Her message has so far received more than 200,000 likes and been retweeted 54,000 times. Period trackers are used to help women predict when their next period is likely to be, and are often … [Read more...] about The abortion clues that can hide on your phone

Published 3 August 2017 Share close Share page Copy link About sharing More than $140,000 (£105,000) worth of bitcoins paid by victims of the WannaCry ransomware outbreak have been removed from their online wallets. It has been nearly three months since infections struck organisations worldwide, including the NHS, which faced days of disruption as a result. The bitcoin activity was noticed by a Twitter bot set up by Quartz journalist Keith Collins. The balance of all wallets known to be associated with WannaCry is now zero. The ransomware hit many businesses hard, quickly infecting multiple computers on corporate networks and encrypting them so they became useless. Victims were asked to pay between $300 and $600 to get their systems back. Back in May, many cyber-security experts and law enforcement agencies advised victims that paying the ransom would probably only … [Read more...] about WannaCry ransomware bitcoins move from online wallets

Published 12 January 2016 Share close Share page Copy link About sharing A power cut in western Ukraine last month was caused by a type of hacking known as "spear-phishing", says the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The attack caused a blackout for 80,000 customers of western Ukraine's Prykarpattyaoblenergo utility. Experts have described the incident as the first known power outage caused by a cyber attack. Ukraine's state security service has attributed the attack to state-sponsored hackers from Russia. DHS said the "BlackEnergy Malware" used in the attack appears to have infected Ukraine's systems via a corrupted Microsoft Word attachment. The same code was detected in 2014 within systems at US facilities but there was no known successful disruption to the US grid. What is spear-phishing? Jane Wakefield, BBC Technology There are lots of sophisticated … [Read more...] about Hackers caused power cut in western Ukraine – US

Published 6 January 2015 Share close Share page Copy link About sharing Sony has condemned the "vicious" cyber attack that led to it suspending the release of its film The Interview. Sony boss Kazuo Hirai used his keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to attack the hackers who penetrated the firm's internal network. The Guardians of Peace hacker group attacked Sony in a bid to stop the release of the movie. Mr Hirai said he was proud of those who stood up against the "extortionist" tactics of the hackers. Free speech "Both Sony, former employees and current employees were the victim of one of the most vicious and malicious cyber attacks in recent history," said Mr Hirai in off-the-cuff remarks made just before the firm's press conference at CES began. Speaking to the press, Mr Hirai said it would be "remiss" of him if he did not talk about the events … [Read more...] about CES 2015: Sony condemns ‘vicious’ cyber attack