Thank you for tuning in to the Chris Smith show on TNTRadio.live, as well as my ABC Hobart Tech Segment on Friday evenings, my Radio 2CC Show in Canberra at 10.30am to 11pm every Saturday, and for my tech segment with the Space Time with Stuart Gary podcast every week!
Here’s the selection of topics – more details below the short version of the topics below:
- Australian mobile phone network providers stop over a billion scams over the last 12 months, with 256 million scam calls and 85 million scam texts stopped in the last quarter, but still they get through!
- PayPal has launched a U.S. Dollar cryptocurrency “Stablecoin” that can be redeemed 1:1 for US dollars – for US users only (for now!)
- Elon Musk’s brain chip company “Neuralink” has raised US $280 millionm, with Musk claiming in the past Neuralink is like a “Fitbit for your skull”
- Four out of five Aussies play video games, with the data showing Australian gamers are high achievers, use games to improve their mental health, and prefer puzzle games over action games.
- Threads will get a search feature “soon” and will be accessible via the web
- Dyson has officially launched its noise cancelling and air purifying headphones in Australia
- Blackberry, the former phone company that is now a security company, has released new research revealing that 93% of organisations in Australia are currently implementing or considering bans on ChatGPT and other Generative AI applications within the workplace (compared to 75% globally).
- SanDisk and WD SSDs are reportedly failing unexpected and alarmingly, with people saving all their data to a single drive and not using the 3-2-1 backup rule to the eternal risk of their data.
- A cyber attack which has exposed the data of 40 million UK voters is being blamed on Russia, according to a report from The Telegraph.
Here are the topics again with more information – please scroll down and read on!
1. Australian mobile phone network providers stop over a billion scams over the last 12 months, with 256 million scam calls and 85 million scam texts stopped in the last quarter, but still they get through!
Work by the major phone companies in Australia is stopping more than a billion scam caDlls over the last year, and the scams stopped in the last quarter are 33% greater than for the same time last year.
Australians lost more than $3 billion to scams in 2022, setting a new record and being 80% more than in 2021, so this is big business for online criminals. The figures would be even higher in the US and UK where the populations are so much larger.
ACMA, The Australian Communications and Media Authority says complaints about scam calls have plummeted by 72 percent and SMS scam complaints are down 86 percent since the new blocking rules were introduced.
ACMA also says its “Reducing Scam Calls and Scam SMS industry code” has been effective in catching these scams, but surely it is really the work of the mobile network providers doing the actual job of monitoring their networks and protecting their customers.
Australia’s Federal Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, said: “Disrupting scammers is a Whole-of-Government and industry effort. These syndicates are sophisticated, and all Australians need to remain vigilant.”
As noted before, the Australian federal government has provided $10 million in funding in the last federal budget for what it calls an “SMS sender ID register”, to be introduced in phases, and which is meant to stop scammers falsely claiming to be sending messages from business or government numbers, so that legitimate organisations can register their numbers, but with others trying to register those numbers being blocked.
2. PayPal has launched a U.S. Dollar cryptocurrency “Stablecoin” that can be redeemed 1:1 for US dollars – for US users only (for now!)
Global payments platform PayPal’s new PayPal USD is described as a being fully backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term U.S. treasuries and similar cash equivalents, and can be redeemed 1:1 for U.S. dollars, and is issued by Paxos Trust Company.”
Claiming to be a fully-backed, regulated stablecoin, PayPal says these types of stablecoins “have the potential to transform payments in web3 and digitally native environments”, and its own stable coin has launched to address this emerging potential
Starting now and rolling out in the coming weeks, eligible U.S. PayPal customers who purchase PayPal USD will be able to:
- Transfer PayPal USD between PayPal and compatible external wallets
- Send person-to-person payments using PYUSD
- Fund purchases with PayPal USD by selecting it at checkout
- Convert any of PayPal’s supported cryptocurrencies to and from PayPal USD
“The shift toward digital currencies requires a stable instrument that is both digitally native and easily connected to fiat currency like the U.S. dollar,” said Dan Schulman, president and CEO, PayPal. “Our commitment to responsible innovation and compliance, and our track record delivering new experiences to our customers, provides the foundation necessary to contribute to the growth of digital payments through PayPal USD.”
This Twitter/X user thinks it’s not such a good idea:
One wonders whether or when the US Federal Reserve will launch its own digital currency, which critics claim can be used by government to control people’s ability to spend digital dollars, as they could be turned off, linked to a China-style social credit score, or leave people unbanked, as happened to Nigel Farage in the UK.
PayPal states: “In addition to building products and services that add utility to digital currencies, PayPal is focused on increasing consumer and merchant comprehension of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), while working closely with regulators as the industry evolves. In addition to offering PayPal USD for U.S. accountholders, PayPal currently offers customers the ability to buy, hold, sell and transfer select cryptocurrencies, and provides educational content to help accountholders understand the risks and possibilities surrounding the technology.”
3. Elon Musk’s brain chip company “Neuralink” has raised US $280 millionm, with Musk claiming in the past Neuralink is like a “Fitbit for your skull”
The company says Neuralink is “creating a general-purpose, high-bandwidth interface to the brain”, and has raised US$280 million, which comes after the US FDA greenlit the company’s work to implant Neuralinks into human brains, as the company announced in a Twitter post: “We are excited to share that we have received the FDA’s approval to launch our first-in-human clinical study!”
Neuralink says its future brain interface will “restore autonomy to those with unmet medical needs today and unlock human potential tomorrow.”
A report notes US lawmakers in May this year urging regulators “to investigate whether the makeup of a panel overseeing animal testing at Neuralink contributed to botched experiments.”
You can read more here.
In 2020, Neuralink implanted a chip into a pig’s brain, in 2021, a chip was implanted into a monkey’s brain, who was then able to play the arcade game Pong, just with his mind – see the video below:
4. Four out of five Aussies play video games, with the data showing Australian gamers are high achievers, use games to improve their mental health, and prefer puzzle games over action games.
The latest data from the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association, (IGEA), shows 81% of all Australians now play video games. The data comes from the “Australia Plays 2023 report“, which you can download from this link (at TechAdvice.ife). The report has been produced over the last 18 years in conjunction with Bond University
The 81% figure is a 14% increase in two years (from the renamed Digital Australia 2022 report), with the report aiming “to explore the demographics and behaviours of video game players in Australia and their attitudes towards games.”
Indeed, while only 56% of Australians tuned into the AFL Finals on Fox and Seven, according to the AFL 2022 annual report, over 80% are tuning into video games.
“With 94% of Australian households having at least one device to play video games, there is no denying the significance of video games in the lives of everyday Aussies. 91% of parents are using video games to connect with their children, supporting cognitive growth and providing important family bonding time,” said Dr. Jeffrey Brand, Professor at Bond University and author of the report.
Dr. Brand continued, “Additionally, we saw more women playing games than ever before with 48% of Australian gamers being female, up 2% on the previous report, with women over 65 more likely to play video games than elderly men. Aussie gamers over 65 play to be challenged and improve their mental health, with a focus on mental stimulation and fighting dementia. Video games offer something for everyone – anyone can be a gamer, not just children and students, but parents, grandparents, your coworkers, and your boss.”
“Australia Plays 2023 proves that Australia is a nation that loves to play, achieve, connect, and learn through video games,” said Ron Curry, CEO of IGEA. “Over 80% of the population is now engaging with video games, making it clear that video games have become a part of everyday life. Over 90% of Australian gamers say they find joy in video games, as is reflected by our successful local industry. Video games have proven to be very important to this country’s economy, as can be seen by the recently released consumer video games sales data in Australia.”
The Australia Plays report continues to bust stereotypes, with the average gamer at 35 years of age, of any gender, who has been playing video games for 11 years, and plays for roughly 90 minutes at a time. Aussie gamers are playing to create feelings of enjoyment, nurture mental health, to socialise with others, attend in-game events, and more.
Highlights from the Australia Plays report include:
- 81% of all Australians play video games (up from 67%)
- 94% of Australian households have a device for playing video games (up from 92%)
- 76% of game households have 2 or more devices for playing games
- 48% female – more women and girls are playing than ever before (up from 46%)
- After age 55, Australian women play more video games than Australian men
- 35 years – the average age of video game players in Australia
- 75% of Australians play video games with others
- 91% of parents play with their children to connect as a family
Australians play video games to:
- 91% – Create feelings of enjoyment
- 82% – Bring joy to their lives
- 66% – Nurture mental health
In games, Australians enjoy:
- 92% – Achieving
- 81% – Exploring
- 59% – Socialising with others
Of adults who play video games:
- 71% enjoy building in-game
- 65% enjoy making mini-games and levels
- 54% enjoy attending in-game events
Australian video game players’ top genre choices:
- 36% – Puzzle
- 32% – Action/Adventure
- 21% – Strategy
Australians over 65 years play to be challenged and improve mental health
Top benefits of video games for ageing well according to Australian adults:
- Increasing mental stimulation
- Promoting mindfulness
- Fighting dementia
5. Threads will get a search feature “soon” and will be accessible via the web
If you use Mark Zuckerberg’s Threads app, you’ll notice that its search feature only lets you search for users, not for topics or hashtags. This will change in the next few weeks, when an advanced search feature will emerge, alongside the ability to use Threads via your browser, rather than being forced to use Threads in the iPhone, iPad or Android app.
The website for Threads is Threads.net, and while it is possible to see Threads from various users on the web right now, such as this one from Mark Zuckerberg noting that “search and web” will arrive “in the coming weeks”, you can’t interact with the rest of the Threads service from those pages, you can currently only look to see what was posted – any interaction has to be done through the app.
As we’ve noted previously, engagement on Threads by users on a daily basis has fallen a lot over the last few weeks as the novelty has worn off, especially with the limited feature set compared with X, the app formerly known as Twitter. Zuckerberg has also stated Threads won’t be monetised until it’s much bigger and more established.
6. Dyson has officially launched its noise cancelling and air purifying headphones in Australia
One of the more unusual products to come from Dyson, the company well known for its vacuum cleaners which never lose suction, is its noise cancelling headphones called the Dyson Zone.
Even more interestingly, these can also be fitting with a visor that goes over your nose and mouth to deliver clean air to breathe.
These headphones took five years of research and development to become commercialised, and cost just under $999 for the regular version, and $1099 for a limited edition version direct from Dyson.
The company notes the headphones offer over 50 hours of listening, they distribute weight evenly over both sides of the head, rather than the top, with ear pads that designed to adapt perfectly to any ear shape.
8 of the 11 microphones are used to reduce noise pollution by up to 38dB and monitor surrounding sounds 384,000 times per second.
One of the microphones is used when you want to use the headphones to make calls via your mobile, and there’s a transparency mode that lets you hear the surrounding world while having headphones on, and naturally, Dyson says this mode still delivers in credit active noise cancellation while still letting you be aware of the outside wold.
The removable visor, when attached, projects purified air when travelling in polluted urban areas or on public transport.
The company says this technology is the result of its 30 years of expertise in airflow, filtration and motor technologies, and a deep understanding of indoor and outdoor air quality. The compressors located in each earcup draw air through the double-layer filters and project two streams of purified air to the user’s nose and mouth, channeled through the non-contact visor. Electrostatic filters remove particles as small as 0.1 microns, while activated carbon filters absorb gases such as nitrogen dioxide4 from urban pollution.
7. BlackBerry, the former phone company that is now a security company, has released new research revealing that 93% of organisations in Australia are currently implementing or considering bans on ChatGPT and other Generative AI applications within the workplace (compared to 75% globally).
Of the IT decision-makers surveyed in Australia, BlackBerry’s new report shows 69% deploying or considering bans said the measures are intended as long term or permanent, with previous cybersecurity breaches, data security and privacy and bans put in place by other organisations, all driving decisions to take action. 96% also voiced concerns that unsecured apps pose a cybersecurity threat to their corporate IT environment.
Despite Australia’s inclination towards outright bans, the majority also recognise the opportunity for Generative AI applications in the workplace to attract younger talent (Australia the highest at 58%), as well as increase efficiency, innovation and enhance creativity (all next at 54%). When it comes to using Generative AI tools for cybersecurity defence, the majority of respondents (92%) remained in favour, suggesting that IT decision makers in Australia don’t want to be caught flat-footed and give cyber criminals the upper hand.
- 69% deploying or considering bans said the measures are intended as long term or permanent, with previous cybersecurity breaches, data security and privacy and bans put in place by other organisations, all driving decisions to take action.
- 96% also voiced concerns that unsecured apps pose a cybersecurity threat to their corporate IT environment.
- With a resounding agreement, the report recognises the authority of organisation (80%) for controlling or implementing a ban on the social apps that employees use for business purposes.
- Despite their inclination towards outright bans, the majority also recognise the opportunity for Generative AI applications in the workplace to attract younger talent (58%), increase efficiency (54%), (54%), and enhance creativity (54%).
- 92% (74% globally) think that such bans signal “excessive control” over corporate and BYO devices.
- When it comes to using Generative AI tools for cybersecurity defence, the majority of respondents (92%) remained in favour, suggesting that IT decision makers don’t want to be caught flat-footed and give cyber criminals the upper hand.
BlackBerry’s latest global threat report is here.
8. Reports have emerged that some SanDisk and WD-branded “solid state drives”, or the super fast portable disks people use to store data that have no moving parts, like bigger versions of USB sticks, are failing and dying.
People rely on their SSDs to back up their computers, their family photo libraries, their important scanned documents. videos, work files, email databases and more.
Eventually, all of these disks will fail no matter what, and every few years you should transfer your existing backups onto newer and bigger disks, and also make spare copies in the cloud of data you care about.
Reports from The Verge (August article, May article), Ars Technica and WD’s own SanDisk forums state some SanDisk and WD drives are failing unexpectedly and much earlier than you’d expect, and people are losing lots of important data.
So multiple backups are a MUST – on more than one brand of drive, and also in the cloud.
So if you own one of these drives, or want to know how to make sure your data is backed up safely, what should you do? What is the 3 2 1 backup rule?
You can check the SanDisk and WD firmware update page here to see if your drive is affected, and whether a firmware update is available. .
If your drive is still working, you might want to copy the data ASAP to an external physical spinning disk, or upload to the cloud, such as Dropbox – you can buy a 1TB portable hard drive from $68 in Australia, and a 6TB external desktop hard drive starts at $309 in Australia.
In the US, a 2TB external portable drive costs US $70.99, a 1TB drive in the UK is about 44 pounds.
Make sure you eject the drive properly, don’t just yank it out. Macs and Windows let you eject the drive safely, on Macs you right click on the drive and select “Eject Disk”. On Windows you look for the eject USB disk icon near the clock in the right hand corner, click it and select the disk.
If you can’t eject it safely for whatever reason, save any open files on your computer and shut it down, and when it is turned on, you can remove the drive.
Also, please use the 3-2-1 backup rule.
3. Keep at least three copies of the data, including the original and two backups
2. Store the backups on two different storage types, such as hard drives, SSDs, cloud services, or for businesses, tape is still an option
1. Store one backup in an offsite location – somewhere different from where the original data is stored, to prevent loss of data from disasters such as floods, fire or theft.
There are other SSD brands out there – Samsung, Crucial, Kingston, Intel, Corsair, Sabrent and Toshiba. It might be worth buying a different brand at the moment!
9. A cyber attack which has exposed the data of 40 million UK voters is being blamed on Russia, according to a report from The Telegraph.
From the UK’s “The Telegraph” comes a report has put Russia at the top of the list of hackers making a cyber attack on the UK’s Electoral Commission and stealing the data of 40 million UK voters.
Ransomware is also a factor, which locks people out of the data on their computers, with a ransom usually requested, and even if it is requested and paid, the data has still been compromised, and may not even be restored.
The UK and Russia have been at odds for decades, and with the Ukraine/Russia war in full swing, Russia seemingly has no fear in attacking Western interests which have placed sanctions on Russia and hurt them economically. Check out the Telegraph’s report for all the detail.
