A report by Clear Licensing (CCL) has highlighted the fact that most organisations simply renew software maintenance contracts without assessing whether those contracts deliver value. 1 In 10 Companies Check The CCL report (which is based upon research conducted in and May this year), took into account the responses of 100 global participants, and was designed to understand current trends and identify best practices for the software maintenance market. The key statistic that the research uncovered was that only 1 in 10 organisations involve the IT asset management function in the decision to renew software maintenance agreements. The inference from [...]

The Mac App Store has taken down a number of well known security apps for the Apple Mac after it was discovered that they are being used to spy on the browsing habits of their users. Which Apps? It has been reported that Dr Unarchiver, Dr Cleaner, Adware Medic, Adware Doctor and App Uninstall have all been removed from the Apple-curated Mac App Store on the grounds of spying on users. Rumbled A researcher in Germany, identified only by their @privacyis1st twitter identity is credited with alerting the Mac App Store to the fact that the Adware Doctor app attributed [...]

A report based on research by IT Consultancy Group Capgemini has predicted a big shift towards the use of virtual reality and augmented reality by businesses over the next 3 years. Mainstream Soon The results of a survey of 700 business executives across multiple sectors show that 46% think that VR and AR technologies will become a major part of their organisation in the next 3 years. Nearly 40% also said that VR and AR would be mainstream in just 5 years. Based on the findings of its survey, Capgemini thinks that half of all businesses not already using AR [...]

If you’d like to be able to send phone texts from your PC without having to unlock your phone, you can do it with the Your Phone app for Windows 10. Here’s how: - Open the Your Phone app. - Click on Messages. - Click on the See Texts button. - Click on the Send Notification button. - On your phone, confirm the notification to allow Your Phone app to access your text messages. - To send a new message, click the New Message button. - Type the phone number or search for the contact you want to send a [...]

A rise in the number of adverts appearing in Google placed by scammers offering fake tech support has led Google to announce the rollout of a new advert verification programme. Can’t Tell The Good From The Bad Google’s Director of Global Product Policy, David Graff, made the announcement on the Google blog. Mr Graff said that, after seeing a rise in misleading ad experiences stemming from third-party technical support providers, Google had taken the decision to begin restricting ads in that category globally. Mr Graff also said that, because the fraudulent activity takes place off the Google platform, it has [...]

Reports of a data-sharing deal with credit company MasterCard could mean that some details of your credit card purchases could be shared with Google, and used to improve their online advertising service. What Deal? According to reports from Bloomberg, after four years of negotiations, Alphabet Inc.’s Google and MasterCard Inc. have brokered a “business partnership”. The deal, not surprisingly, is reported to have cost Google millions of dollars. It has been reported that this alliance between the two companies may have given Google access to data that would allow it to get a much clearer view of retail spending by [...]

Microsoft’s new AI tool in OneDrive and SharePoint automatically transcribes the contents of video, audio, and image files, thereby making it much faster and easier to find specific topics and references made in those files. No More Lengthy Transcribing The growth of digital content, particularly in rich file types such as image, video, and audio files has made things particularly challenging when trying to search through them to find specific references, details, topics or quotes. Up until now, it’s been a case of physically watching and listening, and transcribing the file into to text to get what you want. Also, [...]

Apple’s new autonomous vehicle, part of its ‘Project Titan’, has joined an expanding list of self-driving car prangs. What Autonomous Vehicle? Apple is reported to have been working on vehicle projects since 2015 under the name of ‘Project Titan’. Ever since the early reports, there has been much speculation about when an iCar will come onto the market. The evidence, that this would be likely, came in the form of reports of hundreds of Apple employees working on a car project, hints during an interview with CEO Tim Cook back in June 2007, reports of two Apple computer scientists publishing [...]

The ‘My People’ feature in Windows 10 lets you pin your closest contacts to your taskbar, thereby making it easier and quicker to email, chat with (text and video), or send files or media to them. Here’s how to set it up: - Click the People icon / button in the Taskbar's notification area (bottom right). - Connect the communication apps it works with (Skype and Mail). If you've signed into your email accounts in the Mail and Skype apps they'll already be connected. - If you’re using your regular PC, you'll see your top five contacts suggested. On a [...]

Research carried out in Australia by US data experts have highlighted the possible dangers of a future where, by default, many of us could fall foul of unchecked big-data and automated algorithmic decision-making. Travels Yield Insights After travelling around Australia studying the potential risks posed by algorithmic decisions affecting more parts of our lives, Dr Powles and Professor Frank Pasquale, an expert in big-data and information law at the University of Maryland, were able to highlight some important points to bear in mind. Do You Fit The Algorithm Maker’s Assumptions? One important thing to remember about algorithms is that they [...]