John Lister

YouTube is adding a range of new features and usability tweaks. A stable volume feature is the highlight, promising an end to sudden deafening changes in sound level. The features have all previously been tested on small groups of Premium account ... subscribers and are now being rolled out to the general user base. While it's almost certainly coincidence, it may sweeten the blow for users upset with a recent crackdown on watching YouTube while using ad blockers . The "stable volume" feature will be switched on by default on mobile devices. That makes sense as mobile users are often listening on ... (view more)

The average ransomware attack now takes less than a day from first breaching a system. It's the first time average attacks can be measured in hours, though ironically it may be a sign of better defenses. The figures comes from researchers at ... Secureworks, who analyze ransomware attacks. They measure dwell time, which is the period between an attacker first gaining access to a system and deploying the ransomware. That's malware which encrypts files, letting the attackers demand a fee to restore access. The average dwell time being under a day is a dramatic development as last year the average ... (view more)

YouTube is trying to stop people who use ad blockers from watching its videos. It could spark a game of whack-a-mole, but it's still created a passionate debate. Although YouTube appears to have been testing the tighter policy since June, it seems ... to have significantly increased the number of users affected in recent weeks. Users report seeing a message that reads: Ad blockers violate YouTube's Terms of Service. It looks like you may be using an ad blocker. Video playback is blocked unless YouTube is allowlisted or the adblocker is disabled. Ads allow YouTube to be used by billions worldwide ... (view more)

A man has "trained" his Ring camera system to detect and deter badgers and foxes. It's an example of machine learning having a practical purpose. James Milward developed the comically-titled "Furbinator 3000" after being frustrated by the unwanted ... visitors damaging his garden. He also feared they could carry diseases that would be a risk to his two young children. He tried several traditional solutions without success, before deciding an ultrasonic repellent was the only solution. However, this had several limitations including that they were triggered during the day by humans, leading him to ... (view more)

Google has vowed to stock spare parts for its flagship Pixel 8 phones for at least seven years. It matches the companies software commitment to keep the phone operating systems updated for that period. The move is designed to overcome one of the ... main "gotchas" whenever Google boasted the long support period for the phone. Knowing the handset will have the necessary software for seven years isn't that meaningful if there's a risk the phone becomes useless or the battery almost inevitably dies. The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro were only officially announced this month but will be on sale almost ... (view more)

More than four in ten people are addicted to Internet use, according to a university study. The researchers put respondents into five categories on what they are calling an "Internet addition spectrum." Researchers at the University of Surrey in the ... United Kingdom asked 796 participants a range of questions about the way they use the Internet, including their emotions and motivations. They then looked for similarities between respondents to come up with the categories. (Source: tandfonline.com ) Growing Unease The first category, Casual Users, covered 14.86 percent of respondents. They mainly ... (view more)

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has issued guidelines for civilians who carry out hacking attacks to support one side of a military conflict. It warned that non-combatants need to respect humanitarian rules. The guidelines relate ... to hacktivism, where people disrupt online services or replace text on websites. The tactic has often been associated with people making a political point against businesses or governments. However, it's now also commonly used by those trying to aid countries or regions involved in wars and other military conflicts. The ICRC believes such tactics ... (view more)

Google has added a new "Chromebook Plus" category for its higher-end machines. It's meant to make choices easier for buyers, though there's a risk it defeats one of the key points of getting a Chromebook. Chromebooks are laptops that run Google's ... own Chrome Operating System. The devices mainly use web-based applications such as Gmail and Google Docs, meaning a large amount of the processing work is carried out on remote servers rather than the computer itself. While this limits how useful the devices are without an Internet connection, it means they can work with lower specification hardware ... (view more)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing Amazon of "illegally maintaining monopoly power." Critics argue the lawsuit is too vague, while redacted sections make it hard to assess in full. The FTC has filed the ... complaint alongside 17 state attorneys. It says Amazon "violates the law not because it is big, but because it engages in a course of exclusionary conduct that prevents current competitors from growing and new competitors from emerging." It also alleges that Amazon acts illegally to "wield monopoly power to inflate prices, degrade quality, and stifle ... (view more)

X, formerly known as Twitter, appears to have scaled back a tool for reporting election misinformation. The tool appears to now only be available in Europe. The BBC notes the tool launched in Australia, South Korea and the United States in 2021 and ... expanded to other countries last year. However, a non-profit group says it's now only available in European Union countries. (Source: bbc.co.uk ) Users on the former Twitter can report posts which they believe breach the site's guidelines, but must choose a specific category. That includes breaches such as spam or hate speech, but no longer ... (view more)