COMPUTERS, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[Tizer]

Just wait and see what happens when we have drunk AI robots about. Or drunk driverless cars!
`'Drunk' robot vacuums spark complaints from owners' LINK

[Stanley]

You couldn't make it up could you...
I'll stick to my £50 Hoover.....

[Tizer]

These are not simple scams of folk like you and me, they are attacks on major organisations and services....
`Microsoft accuses China over email cyber-attacks' LINK
`Microsoft has blamed a Chinese cyber-espionage group for attacks on its mail server software. The tech giant said the hackers belonged to a state-backed group, which was a "highly skilled and sophisticated actor". In a blog post, Microsoft said the hacking campaign made use of four previously undetected vulnerabilities in different versions of the software. The security flaws allowed the hackers to remotely access email inboxes. Microsoft's Threat Intelligence Centre attributed the attacks with "high confidence" to Hafnium, a group assessed to be state-sponsored and operating out of China. It based its conclusion on "observed victimology, tactics and procedures". Microsoft said Hafnium targets infectious disease researchers, law firms, higher education institutions and defence contractors. Policy think tanks and non-governmental groups have also been targeted. This is the eighth time in the past 12 months that Microsoft has publicly accused nation-state groups targeting institutions critical to civil society. Although Hafnium is based in China, it conducts its operations primarily from leased virtual private servers in the US, Microsoft said..'.

[Note: Not to be confused with the element hafnium, atomic number 72, which is named after the Latin name for Copenhagen. I wonder if the Chinese group chose the name because the element hafnium proved very difficult to isolate and identify and it was confused with zirconium for a long time.]

[plaques]

This is the eighth time in the past 12 months that Microsoft has publicly accused nation-state groups targeting institutions critical to civil society.

Its frightening to think that OG could be next on their hit list.

[Stanley]

I get worried enough about these things Ken without you piling the pressure on!

[Tizer]

It looks like Google is trying to bring itself up to Firefox standards!
`Google promises to drop personalised ad tracking' LINK

On another matter, Apple and Facebook are at war and some are saying that Apple will do more damage to Facebook than all the world governments combined. Apple already doesn't allow Facebook to track users on its PC browser but it's now announced it will do the same on the Iphone. The Facebook boss is incensed and says he's going to sue Apple.

[Stanley]

Apple and Facebook squabbling..... I don't use either so should I be concerned?

[Big Kev]

Apple and Facebook squabbling..... I don't use either so should I be concerned?

Do you still use WhatsApp?

[Stanley]

Yes, does the squabble affect that?

[Big Kev]

WhatsApp is owned by Facebook.

[Stanley]

Well yes, I knew that but my question stands, do I have to worry about them squabbling with Apple?

[Big Kev]

You would have agreed to new terms and conditions, back in January, to continue using WhatsApp
https://www.techspot.com/news/88207-wha ... youre.html
If the current 'spat' impacts the Facebook group of apps they will have to look at other ways of making money, potentially more advertising or even charges for certain activities within their apps.

[Tizer]

I don't know about concerned but you should be interested, Stanley. This could be the battle of the Titans and could result in big changes in how web companies behave. Apple has chosen to pursue the route of high ethics and sees Facebook and it's subsidiaries (it's bought up 89 companies over the years) as evil. Apple wants users to be have privacy; Facebook wants users' personal data to attract advertisers to its site and to sell on. Even if you don't directly use Facebook or WhatsApp or Instagram, Facebook is collecting data on you as you browse other people's web sites. Apple is out to stop this. It wants to over-turn the dogma that data is everything and is ultra-valuable. The Apple boss argues that the data cult is one of those `emperor's new clothes' fictions. The business world did its advertising perfectly well before the big data era.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Gamekeeper turned poacher?..
`John McAfee charged with fraud over cryptocurrency' LINK
`Businessman John McAfee, creator of the McAfee anti-virus software, has been charged in the US with conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering. Mr McAfee and his bodyguard Jimmy Gale Watson Jr are accused of promoting cryptocurrencies to Mr McAfee's large Twitter following to inflate prices. The currencies were then allegedly sold, making the pair $2m (£1.45m), prosecutors said. The men have not commented on the charges. Mr McAfee, 75, is currently being detained in Spain in relation to separate criminal charges relating to tax, which he denies. He faces possible extradition to the US. Mr Watson was arrested in Texas on Thursday..'.

[Tripps]

Gamekeeper turned poacher?.. `John McAfee charged with fraud over cryptocurrency'

I think he was always a 'poacher'. Check out wikipedia. here's an extract -

On November 12, 2012, Belize police started a search for McAfee as a "person of interest" in connection to the murder of American expatriate Gregory Viant Faull. Faull was found dead of a gunshot wound on November 11, 2012, at his home on the island of Ambergris Caye, the largest island in Belize.[84][85] Faull was a neighbor of McAfee's.[86] In a November 2012 interview with Wired,[87] McAfee said that he has always been afraid police would kill him, and thus refused their routine questions; he has since evaded the Belizean authorities.[86] Belize's prime minister, Dean Barrow, called McAfee "extremely paranoid, even bonkers."[88] McAfee fled Belize when he was sought for questioning concerning the murder.[89][90][91]

[Stanley]

My own personal problem with a computer continues.
Over the last five days I have had three letters delivered addressed to a Mr J K Twist at my address. I did 'return to sender' on these three. Today I have had two more. I could find nothing on the .gov site that allowed me to report it so have made a complaint about the site by email. I am stacking the letters on the microwave from now on.

[Tripps]

Do you open these letters? I do. In these times of identity theft, I want to know what's in it.

Just had by mail, a bill for a boiler service and repair - sent the first one back to the plumber, he didn't get it and and he sent another. Phoned him yesterday, he was pleased to hear from me, and he will send it to the correct address.

[Stanley]

Not yet David and yes I am equally worried about theft of details. In this case my address. But getting 5 in a week seems to point to a computer glitch. I shall wait for them to respond to my complaint. In the mean time I am stacking them on the microwave....

[PanBiker]

Who lived in the house before you Stanley? Could just be a company with an old address for a customer. The name Twist rings a bell with me, I seem to remember an old gentleman with that name. Invalid carriage comes to mind as well, the old blue ones before the development of mobility scooters.
Any indication of the sender? You could try "Not at this address" and then drop them back at the Post Office. Or and I'm with David on this one, open one up to see who it's from may give a clue.

[Big Kev]

There's a Gary Twist, in Barlick, on Facebook so the name is local. Possibly a typo in the address.

[Stanley]

I know who it's from, HMRC. I shall let them sort it out and at the moment they can sit there unopened. Nothing to do with me on the face of it.

[PostmanPete]

My own personal problem with a computer continues.
Over the last five days I have had three letters delivered addressed to a Mr J K Twist at my address.

It might be this fellow.....

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/n ... ult-claim/

[plaques]

Seeking help. In the Pendle Plan I keep viewing quite massive PDF documents that have been obtained through a series of other links in quite a torturous manner. Is there a way of showing the PDF like the URL linking system so that people can choose to open it up or not.
eg :/Index_V4.pdf

[plaques]

Seeking help. In the Pendle Plan I keep viewing quite massive PDF documents that have been obtained through a series of other links in quite a tortuous manner. Is there a way of showing the PDF like the URL linking system so that people can choose to open it up or not.
eg :/Index_V4.pdf

[chinatyke]

I've got poor connectivity to websites outside China, e.g. Outlook/Hotmail is useless at the moment. It always happens when there is a big government assembly in Beijing. Somehow they restrict normal access, I presume to conserve the bandwidth for their own purposes, or to censor information. Funnily enough, OGFB and some other sites are not affected. Maybe it is just the social media type of site that is restricted.
It doesn't matter how fast your connection is if you cannot access the lines!

[Stanley]

Thanks for that Pete. I have bookmarked it. Definitely fits the name on the HMRC letters.
China. OGFB is far more important than politics and completely harmless.!