Leaked document shows Europe would fight UK plans to block porn
Before the UK elections earlier in the month, David Cameron spoke about his desire to clean up the internet. Pulling -- as he is wont to do -- on parental heartstrings, he suggested that access to porn on computers and mobiles should be blocked by default unless users specifically requested access to it. This opt-in system was mentioned again in the run-up to the election as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Sajid Javid assured peopled that the party "will age restrict online porn".
But it's not quite that simple. There is the small problem of Europe. A leaked EU Council document shows that plans are afoot to stop Cameron's plans in its tracks -- and with the UK on the verge of trying to debate a better deal for itself within Europe, the Prime Minister is not in a particularly strong position for negotiating on the issue.
How to upgrade from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 via Windows Update
If you like the idea of trying out the next version of Windows before it is officially launched, Microsoft has made the Windows 10 Technical Preview available for everyone to use. There are various ways to get the preview installed on your computer, but since the release of build 9926, it is possible to upgrade your current Windows 7 or Windows 8 installation to Windows 10 using Windows Update.
This is a much simpler option than downloading the ISO image, but it is an upgrade route that almost encourages people to install the preview build on their everyday computer -- don’t forget that this is not a finished product! We've already looked at how to install Windows 10 in a virtual machine, but if you have a spare machine running Windows 7 or 8, using it as a test bed for Windows 10 just got a whole lot easier.
USA Freedom Act is blocked but NSA will stop phone data collection anyway
Privacy advocates in the US -- and, indeed, the world over -- had pinned great hopes on the USA Freedom Act bringing to an end the mass collection of phone records. Hitting the Senate for the second time this year, the Act was blocked in a 57-42 vote.
Section 215 of the Patriot Act expires on 31 May, and it had been hoped that the hype and momentum surrounding it would have helped push the USA Freedom Act through. Despite making through the House of Representative, the Bill failed to reach the 60 vote goal it needed to hit. But as of 1 June, the NSA will still not be collecting phone data. So what happened?
Amazon decides to start paying tax in the UK
The issues of big companies paying enough taxes is something that has a lot of people talking at the moment -- governments in particular. Many companies -- including Microsoft, Apple, Google, and others -- take advantage of financial schemes that funnel money through other countries. Now Amazon has announced that it is to start paying corporation tax on sales made in the UK.
Using a scheme similar to the so-called Double Irish, Amazon had been routing transactions for UK-based sales through offices in Luxembourg. The decision to move these sales to the UK means that the company will be able to avoid the possibility of being hit with a hefty bill if the UK government clamps down on the use of such tax avoidance schemes.
Microsoft threatened job cuts to influence UK government IT policy
By threatening to implement job cuts in affected parts of the country, Microsoft tried to influence UK government IT policy. The company stands accused of trying to blackmail members of parliament when it disagreed with planned IT reforms.
The claims come from Prime Minister David Cameron's former strategy chief, Steve Hilton. He says Microsoft telephoned politicians in areas that the company has research and development departments with the threat of "we will close them down in your constituency if this goes through". And it seems that Microsoft is not alone in this sort of activity.
Hackers leak the sexual preferences of millions of online daters to the dark web
The details of millions of users of Adult FriendFinder -- the dating site with the tagline "hookup, find sex or meet someone hot now" -- have been leaked by hackers. Channel 4 reports that details of nearly 4 million users were exposed on the dark web after a security breach.
As well as information such as names, email addresses, and dates of birth, hackers also gained access to personal information such as users' sexual preferences and details of their willingness to conduct extramarital affairs. The compromised data includes accounts that had been deleted by their owners, and the hackers are now threatening to hit out at victims.
Google finds security questions are crap because your answers are fake
Apple and other handset manufacturers might be trying to push users to securing their data with biometrics, but the vast majority of services still rely on the good old password. Lots of sites use the idea of memorable data either as a means of locking down accounts, or as a way to gain access to a forgotten password -- the likes of your mother's maiden name, town of birth, favorite color of underwear, and so on.
Research by Google shows that the security question system is failing, and it should come as no surprise that the blame is laid firmly at the door of the likes of you and I. We already know that people are rubbish at picking passwords, but there is also a problem with the answers they provide to security questions. Answers are either too easy for others to guess, or they are made up -- and people are forgetful buggers prone to failing to remember the answers they dreamt up.
Hauppauge Digital TV Tuner for Xbox One now available
A few weeks ago, Microsoft announced the upcoming release of an over-the-air TV tuner for Xbox One owners. Now the big day has rolled around and gamers in the US and Canada can now get their hands on the Hauppauge Digital TV Tuner for Xbox One.
Priced at $59.99, the TV tuner will be welcomed by cord cutters as it brings live over-the-air HDTV or analog TV with no monthly fee. It can be used with any Xbox One including the newly announced white Xbox One with Halo: The Master Chief Collection. It also brings extra features such as the ability to pause live broadcasts, but on the Xbox One this is limited to just 30 minutes.
Huawei's LiteOS Internet of Things operating system is a minuscule 10KB
Chinese firm Huawei today announces its IoT OS at an event in Beijing. The company predicts that within a decade there will be 100 billion connected devices and it is keen for its ultra-lightweight operating system to be at the heart of the infrastructure.
Based on Linux, LiteOS weighs in at a mere 10KB -- smaller than a Word document -- but manages to pack in support for zero configuration, auto-discovery, and auto-networking. The operating system will be open for developers to tinker with, and is destined for use in smart homes, wearables, and connected vehicles.
Just about everyone thinks Internet.org is a terrible idea
Mark Zuckerberg probably thought the world would bow down to him when Facebook announced the Internet.org project. The idea of bringing internet access to those in developing parts of the world seems, on the face of it, to be something of an exercise in altruism. Of course, it's not quite that simple.
Many companies complain that the project goes against the idea of net neutrality -- a claim that Zuckerberg vehemently denies. But now the vocal opposition to Internet.org is getting louder. Privacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has several concerns with the project, and a collective of 67 digital rights groups has signed a letter to the Facebook founder expressing concerns about the approach Internet.org is taking.
Microsoft's VC3 security is encryption for the cloud
The inexorable move towards the cloud continues apace, and something that remains a key concern is security. Microsoft thinks it may have come up with a solution in the form of Verifiable Confidential Cloud Computing, or VC3, which has been designed to keep cloud data encrypted and secure even when the data is being used to perform calculations.
Described as a "lockbox in the cloud", VC3 keeps data protected by using secure, managed hardware to perform any necessary decryption. Encrypted data is transferred to VC3-managed cloud hardware where it is then decrypted, used in calculations, and then re-encrypted.
Pirates can upgrade to Windows 10 for free but they won't be supported by Microsoft
Microsoft has given up trying to stop people from pirating Windows. We already knew that Windows 10 was going to be free, but now Terry Myerson has revealed that it will be free to everyone, including people who are running pirated copies of earlier versions of the operating system.
Speaking to Reuters the Windows chief said: "We are upgrading all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine, to Windows 10". The move is an admission that the fight against piracy was a battle Microsoft was never going to win, but the benefits that will be felt extend far beyond just a free copy of Windows.
Microsoft will keep your emails in check automatically
Towards the end of last year, Microsoft launched Clutter. It's a tool designed to make it easier to focus on the email that matter by moving the less important ones into a separate folder. It works in a similar way to decluttering tools offered by Yahoo and Gmail, and now it's being rolled out to everyone.
Starting in June, there will be no need to manually activate the feature as it will be enabled by default. If you're not keen on having your emails tinkered with, you can disable it, but Microsoft explains that the aim is to save you time by reducing the amount of chaff you have to sort through to get to the wheaty content that matters.
Court of Appeals says Samsung's legal payments to Apple should be reduced
Patent lawsuits in the world of technology are nothing new, and the case between Apple and Samsung resulted in one of the largest fines ever being handed down. Samsung was ordered to pay $930 million in damages after a court found that the company had violated Apple patents with its smartphone and tablet designs.
Today the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned part of the original ruling, saying that the jury was wrong to say that Samsung infringed on Apple's trade dress intellectual property. The exact details of what this will mean are yet to come out, but it should lead to a fairly hefty reduction in Samsung's legal costs.
Apple buys high-precision GPS firm Coherent Navigation
The accuracy of GPS on iPhones could be on the verge of becoming significantly better. Apple has confirmed that it has acquired GPS company Coherent Navigation, a start-up that specializes in super-precise global positioning systems.
As is usual, Apple remains tight-lipped about future plans, going no further than confirming the purchase in an email. The wheels of activity are already in motion and the Coherent Navigation website has already vanished from the internet.
Sofia Elizabella's Bio
Sofia Wyciślik-Wilson is a queer, transgender journalist based in Poland. She has been writing about technology for more than two decades, and after years working for magazines, her writing moved online. She is fueled by literature, music, nature, and vegetables. You can find her on Bluesky and Mastodon. If you like what you read, you can Buy her a Coffee!
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