John Lister

Facebook is to give more priority to local news stories when deciding which links to feature prominently. But Mark Zuckerberg's argument that this will reduce divisions and argument has been rejected by some critics. It's the latest in a series of ... changes to the algorithm Facebook uses to decide the order in which a specific user sees content. Originally all content such as posts from friends and shared links was shown in chronological order. Facebook later decided that the average user would not be able to see all of the content in chronological order (due to the volume of posts ... (view more)

Fitness apps used by soldiers may have inadvertently revealed their location and activities while deployed overseas. They've been warned to activate privacy options that can prevent data collection. The problem is with an app called Strava, which ... lets users track their activity when they go running or cycling. It goes beyond some apps that simply allow individuals to keep their own records or choose to share them with friends for motivation or suggested routes. Instead, Strava combines all the data collected from a reported 27 million users and produces "heat maps" that show the most ... (view more)

Ford is working on a car that can sense the driver's mood. For now it's a marketing tool, but the company says it could make new safety features possible. The company is working with tech firm Sensum on what is something of a gimmick to promote ... sports cars, but could theoretically be used to tell when a driver is stressed or distracted. In the test versions at least, the driver needs to wear fitness trackers (similar to the watches or wristbands people use to track their daily steps and heart rate) and skin sensors, which can measure changes in breathing rate and even perspiration from stress ... (view more)

Facebook has invented a new unit of time called "the flick." Perhaps surprisingly it actually serves a purpose rather than being a mere gimmick. A "flick" is a word that's a shortened version of a "frame tick". It refers to the length of time of 1 ... second divided by 705,600,000; in decimal format it would look like this: 1.417233560090703e-9. All mathematics aside, the "flick" could help make online videos smoother as well as improve virtual reality and similar technologies. The flick is now the next longest unit of time after the nanosecond, which isn't ... (view more)

T-Mobile is the fastest, most reliable mobile broadband in the US according to a newly-published study. It seems some of its rivals struggled to cope with demand after switching to unlimited data plans. The good news is that speeds are increasing ... across the industry, with AT ... (view more)

A security firm says four malicious extensions for Google Chrome were downloaded a total of more than half a million times. It's asking why Google's vetting process didn't weed the malware earlier. Extensions in Chrome are similar to add-ons for ... other browsers - namely, third-party tools that improve the web browsing experience. Common examples include ad-blockers, password managers and tools for downloading videos from web pages (such as Youtube). Because extensions have some level of access to a user's Internet data (and even some control over their browsing), Google has some security ... (view more)

A newly discovered malware exploit offers hackers an incredible level of control and access. Fortunately the creators appear to be highly targeting their victims, though it's still a threat to ordinary users. Dubbed Skygofree, the malware affects ... users of the Android smartphone operating system. It is said to give the people behind the malware the ability to remotely carry out 48 different operations on an infected phone. These include targeted controls not previously seen, as well as more common malware exploitations. Some of the 'normal' options for the malware creators include the ability ... (view more)

Several Google devices such as the Google Home and Chromecast appear to be causing temporary WiFi outages on home routers. Google says it's working on the problem, but some critics believe it's a design flaw rather than a bug. Originally it appeared ... the problem was specifically restricted to one gadget, the Google Home Max, and affected only "Archer" brand routers. However, later reports have identified the problem in other models of the Google Home smart speaker, along with the Chromecast range that 'casts' Internet audio and video to a television set. WiFi Dropping Out Reports ... (view more)

Intel and IBM are battling to show off some of the most advanced 'quantum computers' ever made. It's a big step towards incredibly powerful computers that could even replicate the workings of a human brain. A quantum computer takes advantage of one ... of the most curious aspects of physics: that tiny particles can exist in two different states at the same time. This essentially allows a complete rewrite of the mathematics behind computing. Ordinary computers work by turning data into binary code: a string of 0s and 1s. In traditional computers, that involves a series of electronic 'gates' that ... (view more)

Samsung has unveiled a massive 146" television, nicknamed " The Wall " (pic). While the size is clearly too large for most homes, it uses a new approach that could mean more choices about television set size in future. Most TV sets these days use ... liquid-crystal displays (LCD). In simple terms, these TV's shine light through tiny crystals that - depending on their electric charge - either pass through and color the light, or simply show a black background that's behind the screen. Samsung's new screen is currently a prototype only. It instead uses what calls a MicroLED ... (view more)