ShinyShiny snippets: Google opens technology centre for disabled

An alarm clock for people who are deaf is on display at the Google tech centre. Image: Google If you design technology with disabled people in mind, you design technology better for everyone. This was the sentiment from Google as it opened its first UK research and development centre dedicated to…

ShinyShiny snippets: Elon Musk’s Neuralink to begin ‘brain chip’ trials

Image: Neuralink Elon Musk said on Wednesday he expects a brain chip developed by his health tech company to begin human trials in the next six months. During a presentation by Musk’s company Neuralink, Musk gave updates on the company’s wireless brain chip. In addition to forecasting clinical trials, Musk said…

ShinyShiny snippets: Batteries thrown in household waste cause hundreds of fires

Batteries thrown in household rubbish bins cause about 700 fires every year in dustcarts and waste-processing centres, local authorities say. Lithium-ion batteries can explode if damaged or crushed. The Environmental Services Association says resulting fires cost fire services and waste operators some £158m a year. Non-profit organisation Material Focus, which surveyed local authorities, runs an online search tool…

ShinyShiny snippets: Plans to remove harmful content axed from Online Safety Bill

Controversial measures which would have forced big technology platforms to take down legal but harmful material have been axed from the Online Safety Bill. Critics of the section in the bill claimed it posed a risk to free speech. Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan denied weakening laws protecting social media users and said adults would have…

ShinyShiny snippets: WhatsApp launches ‘Message Yourself’ feature

WhatsApp has started rolling out a feature to let you chat with yourself. Sending messages to your own account can be a way to keep a piece of information easily accessible, right next to your other WhatsApp conversations. Called ‘Message Yourself’, the feature lets users send notes, reminders and shopping lists to themselves on WhatsApp.…

Hack Friday: Over 10 million Brits victim of online shopping scams

Over 10 million Brits have fallen victim to online shopping scams, it was revealed today, as 19 million UK shoppers embark on the biggest bargain hunts of the year. Research from cybersecurity company NordVPN can reveal that 20.7% of UK adults have been scammed while shopping online — equivalent to 10.6 million people. With Black Friday just a couple…

ShinyShiny snippets: Mercedes offers subscription for faster EV acceleration

  Mercedes-Benz is to offer an online subscription service in the US to make its electric cars speed up quicker. For an annual cost of $1,200 (£991) excluding tax, the company will enable some of its vehicles to accelerate from 0-60mph a second faster. It comes after rival manufacturer BMW offered a subscription feature earlier…

ShinyShiny snippets: Police smash online phone fraud shop

Image: iSpoof website The Met police have smashed a global online fraud shop selling tools that allowed criminals to carry out phone scams on hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting victims. Detectives disabled the iSpoof website as part of the biggest anti-fraud operation ever mounted in the UK. Criminals using software purchased…

ShinyShiny snippets: Mazda hints at electric MX-5

Mazda has previewed a sleek two-seat coupé – which could hint at the next-generation MX-5 – alongside the announcement of an £8.9 billion investment into future electric vehicles. Although the firm did not detail the model...it was shown alongside a series of Mazda MX-5 convertibles. This suggests it could be an early look at the next-generation sports…

Social media users swarm to Hive as Twitter fallout continues

In the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, users have been fleeing to other social apps like open source microblogging platform Mastodon and niche communities like CounterSocial.  Now, another social app called Hive is seeing a boost in sign-ups in response to the upheaval at Twitter. The app today finds itself in the top 20 on the U.S. App Store after seeing…