HSBC uses facial recognition so customers can open new bank accounts with a selfie
Banks around the world are embracing biometrics as a way of securing customers' accounts. HSBC is taking things in a slightly different direction, however, giving business customers the ability to open a new account using a selfie.
While the selfie alone is not enough to open a bank account, it is used as part of the identity verification process. It uses facial recognition software to analyse a selfie taken on a smartphone.
Extension Source Viewer displays source code of Chrome and Firefox addons
Rob Wu has released Extension Source Viewer, a Firefox add-on which allows viewing the source code of Chrome and Firefox browser extensions before installing them.
If that sounds familiar it’s because Wu is also the developer of Chrome Extension Viewer, which also now supports both Chrome and Firefox extensions.
NFL Network comes to Sling TV, and the game schedule is out
If you no longer subscribe to cable or satellite then Sling TV becomes a viable alternative. It operates in the same way, with live TV coverage on multiple channels, and we've recently seen Sling add several new ones, including BBC America. There's also occasional previews. Back in May we had DIY and currently there are college sports networks on the air.
Now NFL Network is on the list and it carries a number of games during the season, in addition to full-time news coverage.
How to manage a cyber attack
Given the rising frequency of increasingly malicious and innovative cyber-attacks organizations have to be prepared and proactive. It is no longer a question of if but when your organization will have to deal with a cyber-attack. The cost of a cybersecurity breach is significant -- in terms of money, business disruption and reputation. Depending on the magnitude of the attack, a cyber incident can potentially put you out of business.
According to UK government research, two-thirds of UK big businesses have been hit by a cyber-attack in the past year. UK telecoms group TalkTalk suffered a high profile attack in October 2015 when hackers stole personal data from customers. According to TalkTalk, the cyber-attack it suffered wiped £15 million off trading revenue as well as forcing it to book exceptional costs of £40m - £45m, and losing it up to 101,000 customers.
Automatic lovers -- conference explores the sex lives of robots
Robots and technology are invading more and more areas of our lives, but there are some places they have yet to... ahem, penetrate.
A conference in Salford, UK this week organized by the TC9 group of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) is set to explore issues of technology and intimacy.
Email Sourcer collects web contact details as you browse
Whether you’re looking for a job, a government contact, maybe researching a company, there are times you’ll want to build a list of potential contacts.
Usually this means checking the top and bottom of a page for contact details, maybe an "About" or "Contact us" page, then copying and pasting the details elsewhere.
It's college football season time and you can catch the games on TuneIn
While we anxiously await the start of the NFL season, we have college football getting underway. Games have begun and fans are hanging on every moment waiting to see who the next national champion will be. While there are the obvious favorites that we won't name because if you follow the sport then you know.
Now TuneIn, who last season brought us radio broadcasts of NFL games, is doing the same for the collegiate level of the game. The company has partnered with a number of media outlets to carry the play-by-play call.
Microsoft Office rival OpenOffice could be squeezed out of the market due to lack of volunteers
Not everyone is in a position to pay for their office software and this led to a market for free Microsoft Office competitors. One of the best known and most popular is OpenOffice, but the open source project is in trouble.
Volunteer vice president Dennis E. Hamilton has warned that retirement of the project "is a serious possibility". The problem is a combination of a lack of volunteers willingness to work on the project, and the increasing popularity of LibreOffice. The lack of developers means that important security updates are at risk.
Ireland to appeal against Apple's $14.5 billion EU tax bill
When the European Commission said it believed Apple should pay €13 billion (around $14.5 billion) after enjoying "illegal tax benefits", it wasn't just Tim Cook who was unhappy. The Commission said that the Irish Government had "artificially lowered" Apple's tax bill, and ministers are not happy with the accusation.
After meeting to discuss the matter, ministers are now ready to appeal against the ruling. After Apple said it planned to appeal against the decision, Finance minister Michael Noonan said Ireland planned to do the same.
43 million Last.fm account details leaked after 2012 hack
It seems that serious data breaches are all but an everyday occurrence at the moment. At the same time, there have also been instances of historical hacks suddenly coming to light such as the 2012 breach of Dropbox.
But Dropbox was not the only company to suffer an attack in 2012 -- so did music site Last.fm. Now, four years after the hack, details of 43 million accounts have been leaked.
OurMine hacks Variety, spams subscribers
OurMine is a hacking collective that gets its jollies by causing havoc in the name of security. For instance, the group often takes over Twitter accounts, causing distress to the handle owner. Heck, just last month it hacked TechCrunch. Ultimately, OurMine never seems to cause real damage -- its antics are an inconvenience more than anything.
Today, OurMine hacks Variety.com and takes its mischief to a new level. You see, the hackers not only infiltrated the company's newsletter database, but OurMine sent spam to the contained subscriber email addresses too. Apparently it was not just one spam email, but many.
MAINGEAR R1 RAZER Edition -- gaming PC excellence bred from collaboration
PC gamers have two routes to take nowadays when wanting a new gaming rig. They can build a PC or buy one. While building a machine definitely is deserving of geek credibility, not everyone has the time or know-how to do it. Quite frankly, buying a pre-built system can often provide a more convenient warranty -- giving the consumer a central point of contact if something goes wrong.
One of the lesser-known system building companies, at least from a household-name perspective, is MAINGEAR. With that said, in-the-know gamers will recognize -- and respect -- the brand. Today, it announces a collaboration with accessory-maker RAZER. The fruit of the partnership is a gaming PC called MAINGEAR R1 RAZER Edition.
YouTube tells Philip DeFranco it hasn't changed its policy on demonetizing videos
There has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth from YouTubers in recent days as rumors started to circulate that YouTube was demonetizing videos deemed not "advertiser friendly". Seasoned 'Tuber Philip DeFranco was one of the more high-profile to speak out, likening YouTube's actions to "censoring" people by hitting them in the wallet.
But YouTube has responded to these claims by saying that its policy on video monetization has not changed at all. While YouTubers have just started to complain that video about depression, videos with swearing, videos with controversial subject matter, and so on are being denied the opportunity to make money from ads, YouTube says the only thing that has changed is the way users are notified. DeFranco says this is "very concerning" and reveals that YouTube has clearly been secretly demonetizing videos for a while.
Apple is cleaning up the App Store by clearing out abandoned apps and limiting name length
Starting next week -- September 7 specifically -- Apple is starting to clear the crap out of the App Store. What does this mean? It means removing what Apple describes as "problematic and abandoned apps", as well as changing the way apps can be named to prevent developers using SEO'd titles for their creations.
Moving forward, app titles will be limited to just 50 characters, reducing the chance of naming them in a deceptive way. Apple appears to have quite a task ahead of it as it plans to review every app currently featured in the App Store, before contacting developers about those with problems.
Google ditches modular Project Ara smartphone
Google's Project Ara -- a modular smartphone that let users customize their handsets with a range of plugin modules -- has been killed before it even got off the ground. Having started life as a Motorola venture, the first Project Ara smartphone was expected to launch later this year.
As recently as May, Google was talking about shipping a developer version of the phone this autumn, but now it seems that this is not going to happen.
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.