BATTERYFORPC BLOG
Websites begin to work again after major breakage
A major outage has affected a number of high profile websites including Amazon, Reddit and Twitch. The UK government website - gov.uk - was also down as were the Financial Times, the Guardian and the New York Times. Cloud computing provider Fastly, which underpins a lot of websites, said it was behind the problems. The firm said there had been issues with its global content delivery network (CD ... Read more
2021-06-08 20:35:49
Colonial Pipeline: US recovers most of ransom, justice department says
The US has recovered most of the $4.4m (£3.1m) ransom paid to a cyber-criminal gang responsible for taking the Colonial Pipeline offline last month. DarkSide - which US authorities said operates from eastern Europe and possibly Russia - infiltrated the pipeline last month. The attack disrupted supplies for several days causing fuel shortages. According to the firm, the pipeline carries 45% of t ... Read more
2021-06-07 19:54:49
iOS15: Apple continues privacy war with app tracker reports
Apple device users will now be able see when individual apps request to access features such as the microphone, camera and phone gallery, plus which third parties they have connected with in the last seven days. The new "app privacy report" feature was unveiled at the firm's annual developers' conference, WWDC. Apple has prioritised privacy lately, including a war on ad-tracking. No n ... Read more
2021-06-07 19:54:20
Facebook suspends Trump accounts for two years
Facebook Inc has suspended former US President Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts for two years. He was barred indefinitely from both sites in January in the wake of posts he made on the US Capitol riots, but last month Facebook's Oversight Board criticised the open-ended penalty. Facebook said Mr Trump's actions were "a severe violation of our rules". Mr Trump said the mo ... Read more
2021-06-06 19:52:04
Xiaohongshu social media account blocked after Tiananmen post
A social media account for popular Chinese e-commerce app Xiaohongshu has been blocked after it issued a post on the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. It had posted "Tell me loudly: what's the date today?" on microblogging platform Weibo. The post to its 14 million followers was swiftly deleted. Its Weibo page has been replaced by a message saying it is being investi ... Read more
2021-06-06 19:51:19
Apple updates AirTags after stalking fears
Apple has released a software update for AirTags following concerns they could be used to track people secretly. AirTags were released in April and were promoted as a way for people to keep track of their belongings. However, critics warned that the coin-sized tracker could be easily used to monitor someone's real-time location. Following the update, AirTags will beep if they are away from thei ... Read more
2021-06-04 20:20:26
Facebook suspends Trump accounts for two years
Facebook Inc has suspended former US President Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts for two years. He was barred indefinitely from both sites in January in the wake of posts he made on the US Capitol riots, but last month Facebook's Oversight Board criticised the open-ended penalty. Facebook said Mr Trump's actions were "a severe violation of our rules". Mr Trump said the mo ... Read more
2021-06-04 20:20:05
Norton antivirus adds Ethereum cryptocurrency mining
In a surprise move, one of the world's best-known anti-virus software makers is adding cryptocurrency mining to its products. Norton 360 customers will have access to an Ethereum mining feature in the "coming weeks", the company said. Cryptocurrency "mining" works by using a computer's hardware to do complex calculations in exchange for a reward. It is not clear what the bus ... Read more
2021-06-03 20:13:06
Twitter Blue subscription service launches in Australia and Canada
Twitter is launching its new subscription service, Twitter Blue, in Australia and Canada on Thursday. The paid-for extra service will add features such as an "undo tweet" button, bookmarks, and a reader mode, Twitter said. The limited launch is designed to "gain a deeper understanding" of what customers are looking for. But the company also said the free-to-use version of th ... Read more
2021-06-03 20:12:32
US delays tariffs in 'tech tax' row
The US has announced and immediately suspended tariffs on about $2bn (£1.4bn) of imports in retaliation for taxes on its tech firms. The 25% tariffs apply to certain goods from the UK, as well as Austria, India, Italy, Spain, and Turkey. US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the delay would allow more time for discussions on tax. "The US remains committed to reaching a consensus on in ... Read more
2021-06-02 19:53:30