COMPUTERS, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[Big Kev]

My router disconnected at 07:30 this morning, an hour on the phone to TalkTalk (various line tests and troubleshooting) and it's looking like it's the router which was a replacement back in February. I've been over at eldest offspring's house using his connection, to finish my day's work, and have an engineer visit between 07:00 and 09:00 tomorrow. He will be bringing a new router with him.

[Stanley]

Sorry to hear that Kev. Diabolical timing! I hope your engineer solves the job....
And then you and P can settle down into Xmas!

[Big Kev]

All sorted, engineer arrived just before 09:00 and replaced the router. It took him longer to fill out the paperwork

[Stanley]

That's good news Kev. Now you want it to be trouble free! Best of luck with it.

[Stanley]

It struck me this morning Kev, you have been in the wars lately with computers and cars! Hard luck! I wish you a better New Year.

[Stanley]

I decided that the better the day the better the deed and set to to back up this years data. I fought for an hour with an external hard drive to try to get it to accept file changes but no joy so I switched to an old Seagate and it worked like a charm. So I decided to retire the bum Samsung drive to the storage upstairs and then found I had no internet connection. I decided I must have disturbed something as I furtled in the wiring so disconnected and reconnected everything. Thank god that cured it. That's me finished with useful work for today..... Ho Ho Ho!

[Tizer]

An interesting and perhaps useful article on Martin Lewis's MSE web site...
`30+ AI tools to save you time & hassle: Free or cheap ways to restore photos, extract info from PDFs, monitor website changes, create wedding invites & more'

[Stanley]

I was tempted to investigate AI for photos but then came to my senses and decided I could manage my life without it!

[Tizer]

Talking of AI...
`Ex-Google boss fears AI could be used by terrorists' LINK

[Stanley]

I heard that report as well and thought it was an example of someone telling us the bleeding obvious as though it was hot news!
They must think we are morons.....

[Tizer]

A warning from Martin Lewis for anyone using Microsoft 365...
`Microsoft's auto-adding up to £30 a year to 365 subscriptions for its AI software – but we've a trick to avoid it'
If you're a Microsoft 365 subscriber paying for Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint and Word, check if you have auto-renewal turned on, as your price is set to rise by up to £30 a year if so. This is because Microsoft is adding AI software to your package. But we've a way to beat the hike, at least for now. Here's how. MSE

[Stanley]

Another reason why I am glad I ditched all Microsoft products when I went over to Linux and free programmes like Libre Office......At the time it was a challenge but well worth the effort!

[Whyperion]

Taken from a Daily Telegraph Report
"North Korean hackers took just two minutes to make off with $1.5bn (£1.2bn) in cryptocurrency, cyber security researchers believe, in the single biggest heist in history.
Post-mortem reports commissioned by the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, which last week saw hundreds of millions of dollars in the Ethereum cryptocurrency stolen by a Pyongyang-linked group, revealed details of how the hackers breached its systems.
The cyber attackers were able to compromise a so-called cold wallet used by Bybit, a Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange. These hardware wallets, akin to an encrypted USB-stick, are supposed to be secure, as they are kept offline and away from the internet.

However, when the cryptocurrency exchange attempted to move funds from their hardware wallet into an online account, the attackers were able to strike within seconds.

Cyber security experts from Sygnia and Verichains said the hacked transaction was as a result of a breach in a technology called Safe Wallet, having pieced together the events from digital records.

Two days before the incident, North Korean hackers, believed to be part of the rogue state’s notorious Lazarus Group, injected malicious code into the online infrastructure of Safe Wallet, which it would use to communicate with ByBit’s account when it was activated.

Safe Global, the company behind the wallet, said the hackers had managed to “compromise the machine of a Safe Wallet developer”, blaming the hacking group’s “sophisticated social engineering attacks”.

The malicious code was specifically designed to crack Bybit’s wallet. It was able to mimic the coded “signature” of three accounts, including the chief executive of Bybit, when it activated.

When Bybit attempted to transfer its funds, at 2.15pm last Friday, the hackers swiftly drained its wallets of 400,000 Ethereum coins, using a backdoor function they had inserted.

According to Sygnia’s report “two minutes after the malicious transaction was executed and published”, the hackers removed their code and escaped from the system before Bybit even realised the money was gone.

Having made off with the funds, the North Korean group has rapidly worked to launder the funds through a series of cryptocurrency exchanges.

The hack represents the most devastating attack yet by North Korea’s cyber agents, who are under the command of the state’s intelligence service and tasked with stealing funds from the West to finance the country’s weapons of mass destruction.

It eclipses the $1.3bn stolen by North Korea over the whole of 2024.

The country’s hackers have been blamed for a total of $6bn in cryptocurrency thefts over the last decade. It is larger than the biggest bank heist in history, when $1bn was stolen by Saddam Hussein from Iraq’s central bank in 2003.

The Bybit hack has been blamed on Lazarus Group, a group linked to Kim Jong-un’s intelligence agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau.
The group is notorious for its carefully planned attacks, using a mix of social engineering, email phishing and technical brilliance to expose systems.

On Wednesday, the FBI formally blamed North Korea for the heist, labelling the hacking group behind with the codename TraderTraitor. The FBI said the hackers were “proceeding rapidly and have converted some of the stolen assets to bitcoin and other virtual assets dispersed across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains”.

It called on exchanges to identify and block suspect transactions. While many digital coin transactions are anonymous, they can be tracked through its digital ledger technology, known as the blockchain, by security experts.
However, many exchanges have few know-your-customer or anti-fraud checks – or little incentive to comply with investigations in the unregulated space.

Meanwhile Ben Zhou, the chief executive of Bybit, said he had declared “war against Lazarus”, promising up to $140m as a reward for organisations that were able to capture or freeze stolen funds.
He added he would name and shame exchanges that failed to block known transactions from Lazarus Group. He said: “We will not stop until Lazarus or bad actors in the industry is eliminated.”

Safe Global said it had “fully rebuilt, reconfigured all infrastructure and rotated all credentials, ensuring the attack vector is fully eliminated”. It added: “Safe remains committed to security, transparency, self-custody and pushing the industry forward.”


Well - I have no idea how the digital trail was followed nor how to stop such things being created , surely a better prevention of loss for Musk's technology teams though as something to do ?

[Stanley]

I had a good example this morning of how computers affect our lives. I had a message from Susan this morning. She is in Western Australia visiting at the moment and she told me sh has had 27 messages from friends on WhatsApp who had seen the TV film.

[Stanley]

I've been having trouble sending a forwarded message to Uncle Bob. As some of you may have noticed I have been having problems with receiving the anniversary notes as well. I have come to the conclusion that something in his mail set up is incredibly sensitive and so I have washed the information I am trying to give him in the Text Editor and resent it. I am hoping this will cure the problem! (There were six links in the mail and I suspect that has something to do with it.)

[Tizer]

What domain name comes after the @ symbol in Bob's email addresses? We sometimes get problems sending emails to Gmail or Hotmail addresses.

[Whyperion]

Is Microsoft Co Pilot a AI thing or a Search Engine with a commentry ? (as it is finding incorrect information on the net and reporting it as true , which is worrying , if you know the right answer and phrase correctly it gives a better bit of information by trawling somewhere else but has not learnt to see both (where the real answer is missing the wrong word) at the same time

[Stanley]

I have two addresses Peter. One is gmail and the other is the UMSL server. I use both but am still getting no joy. I've mailed his son......

[Whyperion]

I asked CoPiloi
tell me how can AI help civil servants manage their workload effieciently ?

AI can be a powerful ally for civil servants, streamlining processes and making workloads more manageable. Here are some ways it can help:

Automating Routine Tasks: AI can handle repetitive administrative tasks like data entry, scheduling, and email filtering, freeing up time for more strategic responsibilities.

Data Analysis: It can process and analyze large datasets quickly, providing insights to inform decisions on public policies and services.

Personalized Assistance: AI-powered virtual assistants can answer queries, set reminders, and manage tasks, acting as a digital aide for civil servants.

Document Management: AI can assist with document classification, summarization, and even drafting reports or meeting minutes, reducing paperwork burden.

Predictive Analytics: By analyzing historical data, AI can forecast trends and outcomes, helping civil servants prepare better for future challenges.

Citizen Engagement: Chatbots and AI-driven platforms can manage inquiries from the public, ensuring quicker and more efficient responses while reducing staff workload.

Resource Allocation: AI can optimize resource distribution by identifying where attention and funding are most needed.

Training and Development: Personalized AI-driven learning platforms can help civil servants upskill or stay updated on best practices.

If implemented thoughtfully, AI can enhance efficiency while ensuring that civil servants can focus on tasks requiring human judgment and empathy.

As Written by Sir Humphrey ?

I suppose I should have asked what is the difference between AI and Computer Data Input.

I know work I did in the past within a year I could have done it in half the time or less . Also perhaps as doing a task in a nationalised industry I could have asked the Department of Employment for raw data instead of keying it in from printed publications. Odd thing was I was working with five others in the team none of whom thought to query me doing things that way.

[Stanley]

Latest on the Bob'/s Bits problem. Bob is mailing me copy direct while we try to fathom why MailChimp isn't working. It has been trouble free for years, then suddenly fails us. Bit like Ian's problems with his development site but the difference is that Bob and I are old and don't know what we are doing!
(I wondered whether the problem was that something in the MailChimp delivery was triggering TalkTalk or Thunderbird to reject it so I forwarded one of the old mails to myself. No problem whatsoever, it came straight through.)

[Whyperion]

I have a couple of bank/credit cards I am having trouble logging in, etc. They say they will email a code or reset link but the email doesnt come. I do get emails from another part of them suggesting I set up a online account. I understand (as I had problems with Sainsburys too - and looking at the net others do too) there can be a "outgoing mail" "blacklist" where the mail handler program or similar is set to check outgoing addresses against a database of "do not contact me"-or similar- email addresses (and sometimes domains/TLDs) and there appears to be no-one who is able to have some kind of authority to manually check or edit that database - at least not one that support phone calls can sort out .

[Tizer]

(I wondered whether the problem was that something in the MailChimp delivery was triggering TalkTalk or Thunderbird to reject it so I forwarded one of the old mails to myself. No problem whatsoever, it came straight through.)

I suspect you're experiencing the collateral damage to internet communications caused by disruptions in the present Ukraine-Russia troubles.

[Whyperion]

I ended up asking somewhere else about how AI effects civil service efficiency, I think on a vid about present govt encouraging people into work (reduce benefits) while knocking out say 30,000 jobs in the NHS "Admin" role. Apparently there was a general debate in the Commons on AI impacts and a parliamentary bundle for reference on assessed impact but nothing specific that I can see - yet.

IF AI is so good should not all prospective legislation be run through it for an initial assesment - maybe even every question in the house asked of a minister including at PMQs. ( repeat for US system too ). Maybe I am giving Artifical Intelligence too much "power" given it doesnt know the known unknowns and the unknown unknown , and unless it has been told, or found, it doent know the knowns it has not been informed about.

Somewhere in my life I have a whole load of 1970s /80s govt department statistics. I doubt if I will ever have time to read them or use for any purpose. I wonder if they have been digitised for others to find when they need them for writing articles or policy.

[Stanley]

I'm beginning to think you're right Peter. Nothing Bob or I do mends the link so he is sending copy to me direct by mail.

[Tizer]

As it's AI I thought this thread might be the best place for it. Its a terrible squandering of energy...
`Everyone's jumping on the AI doll trend - but what are the concerns?' BBC
When scrolling through social media, you may have recently seen friends and family appearing in miniature. It's part of a new trend where people use generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT and Copilot to re-package themselves - literally - as pocket-sized dolls and action figures. It has taken off online, with brands and influencers dabbling in creating their mini-me. But some are urging people to steer clear of the seemingly innocent trend, saying fear of missing out shouldn't override concerns about AI's energy and data use.