The South African Information Technology Website
So, it turns out that Facebook has a lot more data than you thought it did. But that is not the worst. As an example of how bad this is, when you connect to Facebook Messenger all your phone contacts are uploaded to Facebook. Facebook NEVER deletes any data and also tracks whom you ‘unfriend’, …
You can improve your quality of life, health and longer term prospects of sanity by simply turning off all your notifications. Less stress, less panic, less outrage, less despair and other negative emotions. Increased productivity, Better health and Improved general quality of life. Just turn it off. (Somehow though, even if you turn it off, …
The CLOUD Act is expected to become law in the US shortly. Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) is a bill introduced by Republican Sen Hatch. This bill would allow the Trump administration to force US companies to hand over African (and any other data) with due process in America, even if that data …
“A growing body of research demonstrates that excessive use of digital devices and social media is harmful to children and teens, making it very likely this new app will undermine children’s healthy development.” says an open letter to the Social media giant, Facebook. Headlines in the Washington Post shouted: “Teenage depression and suicide are way …
Bitcoin is an electronic asset. It is not money or electronic cash. Yes, you can use Bitcoin to pay for something in the same way as you can trade your car for a cat. Recently some payment systems, for example Stripe, dropped Bitcoin as a method of payment. Stripe correctly states that Bitcoin is an …
More security issues from Intel (Over and above Spectre and Meltdown). Regarding ME (Management Engines) the Intel CPU manufacturer said a few days ago: Intel has identified security vulnerabilities that could potentially impact certain PCs, servers, and IoT platforms The above may be lost in all the noise, hype and media attention of Spectre and …
The Meltdown CPU hardware issue can be mitigated by software, although at a processing cost. (My own system is already patched against meltdown) Spectre however, is a design flaw and although software can be effective in mitigating some of the issue, Spectre is something that planet earth will have to live with for the next …
There is currently a global security embargo on the latest huge global security threat which some are calling by some variation of the term “CPU” (central processing unit) All CPU’s (Intel/AMD) are affected by the security issues as the attack vector is virtual memory. Most at risk are cloud systems where physical memory is mapped …
Various techies claimed that Apple slows down performance of older devices, on purpose. The claims were always defended as old devices building up lots of garbage, slow internet connections and many other nonsensical reasons. It turns out that the claims were correct. There is more… Apple apologised, there is a “spin” on the reason why …
Whatever the eventual future of IT and tech is, one central theme is emerging. Information Technology is following the same principles found in extreme capitalism. On a planetary basis, the economic gap between the have and the have nots has never been as wide as in 2017. Same thing can be said of Tech companies. …