How automation can address the challenge of an aging workforce [Q&A]
A trend that's already started and will continue for at least the next decade is the loss of skilled workers as older employees start to retire.
The effects are being felt across industries, with Gartner reporting the aging workforce as one of the biggest challenges to the utilities industry. What's more, the skills gap resulting from retiring employees leaving and entry-level employees entering the workforce is causing all industries to look at new solutions to solve the need for experienced and highly skilled workers.
93 percent are worried about online privacy
Compared to a year ago 93 percent of people have the same amount or more concern about their online privacy.
This is according to a survey of of 1,000 people across the US by VPN comparison site TheBestVPN. It finds 51 percent are worried about their information being stolen by hackers, and 26 percent about companies collecting and sharing data.
I declare independence from Apple (and mean it this time)
Six years ago today I penned my personal Declaration of Independence from Apple, nearly a month after pledging to boycott the company's products and services—and I did, only to quietly stop six months later. They say history repeats, eh? On this July 4th, I forsake the fruit-logo company once more. From Apple I return to Google, choosing one digital lifestyle over the other—and not for the first time, as some commenters will be quick to argue.
Past to present: By summer 2012, I viewed various patent assaults by Apple against Samsung and others as competition by litigation, not innovation. Weighing on my decision in 2018 is a newer—and more aggressive—attack against Qualcomm, which headquarters are in San Diego (my city of residence). While a Qualcomm customer, Apple also is a fierce chip competitor that seeks to bolster margins by paying less for patents—and by invalidating or diminishing them, destabilize competition from the Android Army.
70 percent would leave a job if their digital activity was secretly monitored
A new Harris Poll commissioned by insider threat detection company Dtex Systems looks at employee attitudes towards the monitoring of their digital activities.
Carried out in the wake of data collection, monitoring and privacy scandals at Facebook and elsewhere, it shows that 45 percent of Americans believe it is at least sometimes acceptable for employers to monitor employees' digital activities to protect against security threats and data breaches.
Dashlane launches scanning tool to help you protect online accounts
We all sign up to online accounts for various things but over time it can become hard to remember which address you used for each site, what password you used or indeed whether you’ve previously signed up to a site at all.
Password management specialist Dashlane is launching a new feature for mobile users of its password manager called Inbox Security Scan, to give people an insight into the current state of their online accounts.
Consumers don't fully trust digital assistants
Given recent scares about digital assistants recording conversations, it's perhaps not surprising that levels of trust in these devices are not high.
The latest State of Digital Lifestyles survey from Limelight Networks reveals that adoption of digital assistants is highest in the US where 35 percent of consumers currently own one, however, these consumers still have major trust issues with the devices.
How we've come to rely on voice search
Voice search has become increasingly popular in the last few years and figures from Seotribunal show that around half of teens and 41 percent of adults are using it in their day-to-day activities.
That number is still rising too with 1.8 million people expected to be using voice search daily by 2021. Seotribunal has put together an infographic showing how the technology is being used and more.
Average UK home has more than £2,000 worth of broken gadgets
UK households are home to thousands of pounds' worth of broken gadgets, according to new research from technology retailer Laptops Direct.
The survey of more than 1,000 UK adults shows that the average household is currently harboring £2,460 of broken technology and gadgets. Smartphones are the most common items in these technology graveyards with 78 percent holding onto them even though they’re broken.
Employees in technology-enabled workplaces have better job satisfaction
People are happier in their work and more positive about the future if they're working in a digital environment, according to new research.
The report from cloud networking company HPE Aruba also shows workers are positive about using more automated technology, challenging the received wisdom that we’re all scared about machines taking our jobs.
Invasion of the dog-poop phones
A few days ago, BetaNews Managing Editor Wayne Williams emailed asking if I could contribute content after being silent for ages, especially as the site's 20th anniversary approaches. He doesn't fathom the potential terror that request will unleash.
I have written a total of two tech stories for BN in 2018—surely to the delight of my many commenter critics. Reason: Joe Wilcox is on a self-imposed writing hiatus as he looks distrustfully at the many so-called innovations that he championed during a 25-year technology reporting career. He is disgusted to see how we have become commodities stored in the pantries kept by Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, and most every other advert-licking, AI-snorting, location-tracking, tech purveyor of promises looking to consume us for profit. Burp.
UK sets out five principles for the ethical use of AI
The UK can be a world leader in the development of AI says a report released today from the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence.
The report sets out five principles for the use of AI which have some echoes of Asimov's laws of robotics. The principles are:
How to spend like a cyber criminal
We all know that there's money to be made from cyber crime, with even entry level hackers being able to make as much as $42,000 a year. But what do they do with that money?
An 11 month study by virtualization-based security specialist Bromium looks at what cyber criminals are earning, and what they spend it on.
One in three consumers owns two or more smart home devices
Smart home technology is catching on in a big way with a third of US consumers now having two or more smart devices, according to a new study.
The Smart Home report from GfK Research shows a high level of awareness of the technology, with 58 percent of US consumers saying smart home technology is likely to change their lives in the next few years.
Stephen Hawking and me
I only met Stephen Hawking twice, both times in the same day. Hawking, who died a few hours ago, was one of the great physicists of any era. He wrote books, was the subject of a major movie about his early life, and of course survived longer than any other amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) sufferer, passing away at 76 while Lou Gehrig didn't even make it to 40. We’re about to be awash in Hawking tributes, so I want to share with you my short experience of the man and maybe give more depth to his character than we might take away from the evening news.
Several years ago I was booked to speak at a (pre-Intel) Window River Systems event at the Claremont Hotel in Oakland. The Claremont, like the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, is a huge old hotel built entirely of wood. Creaky old elevators and creaky old staircases connect all the floors but stairs are faster and I was in a hurry to give my speech because Jerry Fiddler was waiting. So I took the stairs two at a time then burst through a set of double doors and straight into…
Passwords are stronger in Minneapolis
New research reveals the US cities that are best at password security, with Minneapolis topping the list.
The study by password manager Dashlane scores cities based on several metrics, including average password strength and average number of reused passwords.
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