Morning, noon and night, it’s there, whirring and whirling around. It’s so industrious I feel simultaneously scared and shamedIn domestic news, an issue has arisen with the robot vacuum cleaner. Our noisy old one annoyed me so much, bashing repeatedly into the skirting and swallowing rug tassels in confusion, that I stamped violently on its off button every time I caught it trying to do its job
Tag Archives: Internet of Things
Alexa, how did Amazon’s wrong call on voice assistants tee up a $10bn loss? | John Naughton
The tech giant’s flawed business model for its popular smart devices has cost the company a fortune and thousands of jobsIntrigued by an Ars Technica post about Amazon’s Alexa that suggested all was not well in the tech company’s division that looks after its smart home devices, I went rooting in a drawer where the Echo Dot I bought years ago had been gathering dust. Having found it, and set it up to join the upgraded wifi network that hadn’t existed when I first got it, I asked it a question: “Alexa, why are you such a loss-maker?” To which she calmly replied: “This might answer your question: mustard gas, also known as Lost, is manufactured by the United States.” At which point, I solemnly thanked her, pulled the power cable and returned her to the drawer, where she will continue to gather dust until I can think of an ecologically responsible way of recycling her
We can make our phones harder to hack but complete security is a pipe dream | John Naughton
Even the latest iPhone scare won’t persuade us to choose safety over convenienceApple caused a stir a few weeks ago when it announced that the forthcoming update of its mobile and laptop operating systems would contain an optional high-security mode that would provide users with an unprecedented level of protection against powerful “spyware” software that surreptitiously obtains control of their devices.It’s called Lockdown Mode and, according to Apple, “offers an extreme, optional level of security for the very few users who, because of who they are or what they do, may be personally targeted by some of the most sophisticated digital threats, such as those from NSO Group and other private companies developing state-sponsored mercenary spyware”. Continue reading
How smart thermostats can save you fuel and money
As well as turning off your hot water or boiler as you leave home, some can offer to heat only rooms that need itHow to beat the biggest price rise in living memoryRead your meter on 31 March before prices riseWith the return to the office in full swing and fuel prices rocketing, smart thermostats offer one relatively easy way to help reduce your energy use without big changes to your central heating system.These are direct replacements for traditional timers and thermostats that give your boiler a hi-tech upgrade without cancelling out any of its features. Continue reading
The smart toilet era is here! Are you ready to share your analprint with big tech?
Loo design has barely changed in 150 years – until now. Will people trade their privacy for the chance to find out exactly what is in their waste?For the past 10 years, Sonia Grego has been thinking about toilets – and more specifically what we deposit into them. “We are laser-focused on the analysis of stool,” says the Duke University research professor, with all the unselfconsciousness of someone used to talking about bodily functions
Why right to repair matters – according to a farmer, a medical worker, a computer store owner
Biden’s recent executive order makes taking action on the strict rules imposed by manufacturers a priority, affecting workers across several industriesA tractor. A refrigerator. A smartphone
Amazon’s Ring is the largest civilian surveillance network the US has ever seen | Lauren Bridges
One in 10 US police departments can now access videos from millions of privately owned home security cameras without a warrantIn a 2020 letter to management, Max Eliaser, an Amazon software engineer, said Ring is “simply not compatible with a free society”. We should take his claim seriously.Ring video doorbells, Amazon’s signature home security product, pose a serious threat to a free and democratic society
Oliver Letwin, the unlikely merchant of technological doom
After battling to stop a no-deal Brexit, the ex-MP has written a modern fable, Apocalypse How?, warning of the catastrophe our tech dependence could causeOliver Letwin’s strange and somewhat alarming new book begins at midnight on Thursday 31 December 2037. In Swindon – stay with me! – a man called Aameen Patel is working the graveyard shift at Highways England’s traffic HQ when his computer screen goes blank, and the room is plunged into darkness. He tries to report these things to his superiors, but can get no signal on his mobile
These new rules were meant to protect our privacy. They don’t work | Stephanie Hare
The data protection laws introduced last year are failing us – and our childrenWho owns your data? This is one of the toughest questions facing governments, companies and regulators today and no one has answered it to anyone’s satisfaction. Not what we were promised last year, when the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, commonly known as the GDPR, came into effect.The GDPR was billed as the gold standard of data protection, offering the strongest data rights in the world
Pink-eyed terminators and limbless chickens: Boris Johnson's UN speech in quotes
PM uses his General Assembly speech on the challenges of technology to paint a dystopian view before returning to political crisis at homeHours after the UK supreme court delivered perhaps the most humiliating and significant of Boris Johnson’s defeats, the British prime minister delivered his inaugural speech to the UN General Assembly.Johnson’s theme was the opportunities and challenges of technology and he ranged across a variety of subjects, from mattresses that can monitor your nightmares to a diet of “terrifying limbless chickens”. Here is a selection of his quotes: Continue reading