BATTERYFORPC BLOG
Coronavirus: Amazon offers unlimited sick days to halt spread
Amazon workers can take unlimited sick days this month - but only those in quarantine for the Covid-19 virus will be entitled to extra sick pay. Many US warehouse workers are entitled to only 10 days' leave a year - for all holidays, sickness and emergencies. And some had asked Amazon to change its policy to stop coronavirus spreading. Some workers also say they are being told increase their ho ... Read more
2020-03-12 18:04:20
5G judged safe by scientists but faces tougher radiation rules
5G phones are to be subject to tougher radiation limits. But the standards body behind the new rules says there is no evidence that mobile networks cause cancer or other illnesses. It has spent several years reviewing scientific literature on the effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields. It says the new guidelines will provide improved protection for forthcoming 5G technologies that use hi ... Read more
2020-03-11 17:52:35
Google tells staff to work at home due to coronavirus
Google's parent company Alphabet has asked its North American staff to work from home to reduce the potential spread of the coronavirus. Last week the tech giant sent a memo to staff recommending that employees in Washington state work from home. It has now expanded that request to all of its almost 100,000 workers across 11 office in the US and Canada. Alphabet is the latest company to make su ... Read more
2020-03-11 17:51:58
Budget 2020: VAT on e-books and newspapers scrapped
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced the 20% tax on e-books and online newspapers, magazines and journals will be abolished on 1 December. But the BBC has learned that it will not apply to audiobooks, something that the Royal National Institute said was "disappointing". A letter calling for the tax to be axed was signed by more than 600 authors and presented to Parliament in October. ... Read more
2020-03-11 17:51:33
Coronavirus: UK tactics defended as cases expected to rise
The decision to delay closing schools and introduce other strict measures to combat coronavirus has been defended by England's deputy chief medical officer. Dr Jenny Harries said experts are assessing new cases on an hourly basis to achieve a "balanced response". It comes as a man in his early 80s became the sixth person with the virus to die in the UK. Meanwhile, many airlines cut th ... Read more
2020-03-10 17:30:07
Sextortion hackers use 'friend's naked girlfriend' lure
A novel attempt to convince people to open malicious email attachments is spreading online, purporting to offer nude photos of a friend's girlfriend. Instead of threatening to distribute stolen private images, this new attempt claims to have already "sextorted" the recipient's friend, who refused to pay. It tells them it is now emailing nude photos to every contact of the supposed vict ... Read more
2020-03-10 17:29:36
Dyson straighteners' cost will make your hair curl
Dyson has launched a £399 product designed to halve the damage caused by traditional hair straighteners. But production of the Corrale, in Malaysia and the Philippines, has been hit by the coronavirus outbreak. "It has caused problems, we have some components made in China," chief executive Sir James Dyson said, adding he was "hoping to overcome" the issue. Dyson shifted pro ... Read more
2020-03-10 17:29:06
Cambridge Analytica: Australia takes Facebook to court over privacy
Australia's privacy regulator is taking Facebook to court over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner said Facebook had seriously infringed the privacy of more than 300,000 Australians. The social media giant left personal data "exposed to be sold and used for... political profiling". The scandal involved harvested Facebook data of 87 mi ... Read more
2020-03-09 16:52:58
Twitter labels edited Biden video 'manipulated tweet'
Twitter has used its new "manipulated media" tag for the first time on an edited video of a speech by Joe Biden. The tag, introduced on 5 March, tells readers when a picture or video has been "significantly altered or fabricated". The footage of Mr Biden, posted by Dan Scavino, White House director of social media, claimed to show the Democrat calling for people to vote for P ... Read more
2020-03-09 16:52:24
Asus Unleashes Dual GeForce GTX 1660 Super Mini for Intel NUC 9
Asus has shrunk its Dual GeForce GTX 1660 Super graphics card to fit inside Intel's NUC 9 Extreme (codenamed Ghost Canyon) debuted at CES 2020 and other small form factor (SFF) enclosures. The new graphics card carries the Mini branding to denote its miniature footprint. The Dual GeForce GTX 1660 Super Mini checks in at 19.7cm long with a 2-slot design. The graphics card flaunts a elegant, black ... Read more
2020-01-16 20:34:13