Google shares FREE books for the holidays
Some of the best holidays are almost upon us, such as Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Sadly, due to the recession and inflation, many people are finding it hard to celebrate this year. The economic downturn has decimated the bank accounts of many, meaning fewer gifts might be a possibility in some homes.
Thankfully, reading a book can be a free way to escape reality -- just head to your local library. If you don't have a library card or are unable to go to such a place, do not worry -- Google has you covered. No, the search giant is not giving away books, but it has curated a list of digital holiday books in the public domain that are freely available to read.
The road to faster EV charging
Electric vehicles (EVs) are more popular than ever. As prices drop and options increase, these once-rare cars are becoming an increasingly viable option for more drivers. However, their limited range and long charging times are holding buyers back.
The average EV can travel just 217 miles before charging, which is fine for daily commutes but not ideal for longer road trips. Of course, gas and diesel cars must also stop to refuel on long drives, but they can fill up in minutes. By contrast, EV charging is often slow. That has to change for these vehicles to become standard, so here’s a glimpse at the future of fast EV charging.
Why Data Quality is critical for business
Since the explosion of technology in the last few decades, data has been increasingly positioned as a silver bullet that can fix all the trials and tribulations of the modern world. For those giant tech companies who amassed mass amounts of (mostly) third-party data, data was the new oil -- sold in barrels to any company wanting to find and scale an audience. But KPIs on data effectiveness became increasingly viable, businesses began to question the amount of data they’d bought.
Parallel to this, governments and consumer rights groups became aware of the increasing volume of unwanted noise being thrown at potential clients and customers. Businesses, both B2B and B2C, became liable for data missteps -- case in point with Meta being fined 17m euro for what amounted to bad data housekeeping.
Navigating the global technology skills gap with AI-moderated upskilling
Work trends have rapidly changed across the world, post-pandemic. How and where people choose to work now or in the future is and will be radically different from how it used to be a few years ago. Labor markets across all sectors have undergone drastic shifts in terms of talent requirements and demands, as businesses across the board increasingly accelerate the adoption of automation and emerging technologies.
This has resulted in a growing skills scarcity across the globe. As more technical and digital skills are required by workers in order to master emerging technologies, many organizations risk being left behind due to an undereducated and underprepared workforce. Businesses need to take the required steps now towards ensuring that their workforce, both present and future, has the training and digital skills needed to thrive in the working environment set to emerge over the next decade.
Modernized supply chains, resilience and accessibility -- AI predictions for 2023
It's the time of year when people start to look ahead to the next one and offer predictions for what might lie ahead. For the past couple of years this has rather been hijacked by events including COVID, the Ukraine conflict and consequent economic disruption.
This hasn't stopped people in the tech world making predictions though, in fact we've received more this year than ever. So in the first of a series of roundups let's take a look at what might lie ahead for AI in 2023.
Securing the API hunting ground
Most of us are familiar with the old proverb "for want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, the horse was lost; for want of a horse, the battle was lost…" and so on. The object lesson is that small and sometimes apparently unimportant objects or actions can have outsized impacts if they are not properly attended to.
So, it is with Application Programming Interfaces or APIs. They are the 'horseshoe nails' at the heart of modern business.
Microsoft slaps cryptomining ban on Azure users
Microsoft has updated the Universal License Terms for Online Services that apply to Azure to indicate that the service cannot be used to mine cryptocurrency.
The change appears in the Acceptable Use Policy section of the license terms that apply to all Microsoft Online Services, but the ban is not an outright one. While the criteria have not been revealed, it seems that there are circumstances in which the company may be willing to lift the ban on cryptomining.
Taking a battlefield approach to cybersecurity [Q&A]
You'll often hear cybersecurity discussed in military terms, as a war, or a battle, or a conflict. So should enterprises be taking a defensive approach that draws on military thinking?
Tom Gorup is VP of security operations at Fortra's Alert Logic, a managed detection and response specialist. He's also a veteran of six years in the US Army with tours of Iraq and Afghanistan. We spoke to him to discover how lessons learned on the battlefield can be applied to cybersecurity.
Best Windows apps this week
Five-hundred-and-twenty-one in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.
Windows 11 users may soon use the Widgets feature without a Microsoft Account. Microsoft is testing the change in development versions of the operating system currently.
Microsoft is bringing another big update to Windows 11 in May
With Windows 11, Microsoft changed the way it releases updates for the operating system with its "Moment" updates. So far, there has only been one Moment released, but it was a significant one that saw the addition of tabs in File Explorer and more.
We've already heard rumors that the Moment 2 update is scheduled for release in March next year, but now there are also suggestions that yet another update is due in May. What is not clear, however, it whether this will be Moment 3, or what has been referred to as a Continuous Innovations update.
Threat modelling with Santa
If there is one person who, like no other, knows that there is a lot to protect to keep people happy, then it’s Santa and his factory filled with elves, toys and sugary goodness. Not only are there plenty of things to protect, but there are also a lot of things to consider that might play out in unexpected ways, and jeopardize Christmas.
This is why Santa not only knows what to protect, but he also knows the limitations of the resources he needs to be able to keep children happy and make sure the process of making and delivery toys and candy stays operational.
Phishing scams are coming to town
The Christmas holiday period is a peak time for phisherfolk. Research from Check Point shows 17 percent of all malicious files distributed by email in November were related to orders and shipping around the Black Friday period.
This is expected to be worse still this month as attackers seek to take advantage of shipping and package notifications and more.
Security flaws could have had LEGO users bricking it
Research from Salt Labs has highlighted two API security vulnerabilities discovered within BrickLink, a digital resale platform owned by The LEGO Group.
BrickLink is the world's largest online marketplace to buy and sell second-hand LEGO. The API security flaws could have allowed for both large-scale account takeover (ATO) attacks on customers' accounts and server compromise to allow bad actors to take control of accounts and steal personal details.
Email is convenient but a letter might be better
If you're in the UK you might not have seen a letter for a while due to the postal workers' strike, but new research reveals that 62 percent of consumers are more likely to open a letter than an email.
The study, from mail solutions company Quadient, of 2,000 UK consumers shows 71 percent of respondents expect companies, such as banks or lawyers, to send important documents, like contracts or mortgage or pension statements, through the post rather than over email.
Kodi 21 gets an official name
The first release candidate of Kodi 20 'Nexus' was made available today, meaning the next version of the popular home theater software isn’t too far from seeing a stable release.
That’s not the only Kodi news however, as the team has begun talking about Nexus’s successor, Kodi 21 'O', including revealing its official codename.
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