COMPUTERS, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[Big Kev]

The site is terribly slow this morning, posting is like wading through treacle. Not a problem we have encountered lately.
[I've checked, connection speed is normal and other sites are OK.]
Later, at 05:00, it has recovered and is now on normal speed. Earlier I reflected that it was dial-up speed and how many people still have to endure this even today?

Probably server maintenance.

[Stanley]

On another matter vaguely connected to computers. My friend, whose car failed because of water ingress has got a resolution. The insurance, lease company and garage have decided that the most economical repair is to replace the engine entirely so that's what is being done. The expense to my friend will just be the excess on the policy.

[Tizer]

I wouldn't mind face recognition being used widely to catch criminals and terrorists - but only if the the data was kept secure and in the hands of people I could trust. This news report doesn't inspire confidence...
`Clearview AI: Face-collecting company database hacked' LINK

[Stanley]

Technical progress is a minefield isn't it. Did you ever imagine in your youth that facial recognition technology could be such a threat. Add big data to it and you begin to wonder where all this will end.

[chinatyke]

Technical progress is a minefield isn't it. Did you ever imagine in your youth that facial recognition technology could be such a threat. Add big data to it and you begin to wonder where all this will end.

Is big data (or Big Brother) anything to be scared about if you don't do anything wrong? It has many very good applications like genome sequencing and drug candidate screening.

[Stanley]

You can pick the good bits out but that doesn't mean there aren't some very murky corners.

[plaques]

For years I've been using an old photo programme on my even older desktop. Yesterday I spotted an advert for a Photoshop Elements look alike which looked like it would be useful on my laptop. This was a bundle of programmes at a knockdown price. Just over £18.
The Photo bundle includes Photo story deluxe, Photo manager deluxe, Xara Page and Layout Designer 11 and Xara Web Designer. Bundle Always a sucker for a bargain I bought it straight away.
Now the big question. Can someone tell me what I have bought?

[Tizer]

Technical progress is a minefield isn't it. Did you ever imagine in your youth that facial recognition technology could be such a threat. Add big data to it and you begin to wonder where all this will end.

Is big data (or Big Brother) anything to be scared about if you don't do anything wrong? It has many very good applications like genome sequencing and drug candidate screening.

I'm all for using facial recognition to catch criminals etc but my concern is if someone else does something wrong, i.e. if it wrongly identifies me as a criminal. In trials here it has been far from perfect in terms of accuracy.

Talking of criminals, this video secretly made of scammers at work is interesting...
`Criminals on CCTV: Scammers caught red-handed' LINK
`Hundreds of thousands of people fall victim to scams in the UK every year. Many are run from criminal call centres abroad, where teams of fraudsters operate around the clock. One man in the UK, who goes by the name "Jim Browning", decided to do something about it. He hacked into a call centre in India from where scammers target their victims. Jim gained access to the recorded scam phone calls as well as CCTV footage exposing the scammers at work. What Jim did was illegal - but he says he wants to stop the fraudsters, and he passed his footage on to BBC Panorama. If you are in the UK, you can watch Panorama: Spying on the Scammers on Monday 2 March at 20:30 on BBC One or catchup afterwards on iPlayer..'.

[Stanley]

I noted that prog but it was too late at night for me. I shall be going back to it today Tiz.

[Tizer]

Just watch the video above instead!

[Stanley]

I did it from the comfort of the sofa rather than the screen. Watched it and followed it with Panorama on Amazon and how much data they collect. If one was paranoid one wouldn't sleep!

[plaques]

Under instructions from Mrs P, "Go and get your own laptop". Off I went o Currys and picked up an Acer ,Aspire 3. at £380. Knowing nothing about these things the spec didn't look bad and it would do everything I wanted it to do. After three mental breakdowns getting rid of all the microsoft promotions and trying to remember millions of passwords, I think, says he with fingers crossed, I'm beginning to get on top of it. Amazed at how fast it is, it doesn't allow any thinking time at all. Well that's me occupied for the next couple of years.

[Tizer]

Since the covid beast arrived we've been told that medical consultations at home with your doctor via video will be used. How does this work if your PC doesn't have a camera etc? Can it be done with the average smartphone? Does an app have to be downloaded?

[Big Kev]

Can it be done with the average smartphone? Does an app have to be downloaded?

Yes and yes, it would need to be a secure app as I can't see the public, or doctors, discussing medical details on anything that wasn't 'approved'.

[Stanley]

I can't even get MyGP to work on my phone...... I suspect it's an age thing.

[Big Kev]

I can't even get MyGP to work on my phone......

Have you tried the Patient Access app? That's the one Park Road Surgery use.

[Stanley]

Yes Kev, it's MyGP they advise and even though I have jumped through all the hoops and got a text yesterday to say full access had been enabled it's still locking me out and asking for verification details obtainable from the surgery. No doubt all will become clear.....

[Tizer]

Good news...
`Microsoft takes down global zombie bot network' LINK
`Microsoft has said it was part of a team that dismantled an international network of zombie bots. The network call Necurs infected over nine million computers and one of the world's largest botnets. Necurs was responsible for multiple criminal scams including stealing personal information and sending fake pharmaceutical emails....Tom Burt, Microsoft's vice-president for customer security and trust, said in a blog post that the takedown of Necurs was the result of eight years of planning and co-ordination with partners in 35 countries. He wrote that the steps taken will "ensure the criminals behind this network are no longer able to use key elements of its infrastructure to execute cyber-attacks."....Necurs first appeared in 2012. It is believed to have had a network of more than nine million zombie computers. To grow this network Necurs used a domain generation algorithm that created random domain names the group turned into websites. It used these sites to send instructions to its army of infected computers. Microsoft and its partners were able to crack Necurs' algorithm and predict what domain names it would be using in the months ahead and block them.'

[PanBiker]

I am having a spate of TV Licence scam emails at the moment. I keep blocking them when I send them off to the junk mail but they all come from different email addresses, nothing to do with TV Licencing of course. Ours is on direct debit so no worries there. I wonder how many folk will click the links though and enter their banking or credit card info.

[Stanley]

I get them Ian but as I have a free licence I just delete them without opening.
Tiz, interesting and it took 8 years to crack it. It's like the Wild West out there!
On the bright side, a big upgrade for Ubuntu and a new Firefox in the last two days. God Bless the people at Canonical!

[Tizer]

`5G judged safe by scientists but faces tougher radiation rules' LINK
This will probably be taken by the conspiracy theorists as showing that 5G is dangerous . They've already been claiming that the coronavirus story is a cover up for the effects of 5G being tested in China, Italy and other virus hotspots!

The research usually focuses on potential for causing cancer. I wish there would be research directed at the possibility of more mundane but undesirable effects of such radiation such as on nervous system functions and sleep patterns.

[Stanley]

I agree Tiz. Let's start with having the phone switched on and in the bedroom with you throughout the night. We weren't designed to be alert 24X7!

[Tizer]

[Deleted this post because Kev has already posted the same news elsewhere]

[Tizer]

This was part of a message I received today from Plusnet, my broadband provider: Our network is key to keeping you connected and is built to support the ‘evening peak’, when most of you are watching Netflix whilst doing the online shop, and the kids are on TikTok. This roughly amounts to at least ten times the typical daytime demand, so we’re confident that we can keep you doing things you need to, when you want to do them.

I'm glad I use the web during the day and not in the evening!

[Stanley]

Talktalk users got essentially the same message Tiz. They are doing well at the moment as traffic has already risen. Let's hope it stays that way. I suspect my early morning habits are good as basically the US and UK are off line at this time. Apart from my midday visit to post Bob's Bits I am offline during the peak usage.