John Lister

Norway has confirmed it will switch off FM radio signals in 2017, making it the first country to do so. United States officials say they are likely to let the switch to digital radio happen more gradually. Several countries, including the US, have ... already switched off analog TV signals, with consumers instead either using digital over-the-air services or switching entirely to cable and satellite. In the US, only a few low-power, very local analog broadcasts remain, and they are due to switch off by this September. Analog Radio Sets Still Widely Used The digital switchover for radio worldwide ... (view more)

The European Union has formally accused Google of breaching competition rules by favoring its own sites in search rankings . It's a big step towards a potential $6.6 billion fine. The case involves specialist websites that let users compare prices ... and availability for retail products or travel deals. The EU claims that Google is effectively rigging the search results because it owns many of the sites in the list, and therefore places them higher in the search results ranking. It says that the favored sites are listed higher than they 'deserve', rather than listing the sites based ... (view more)

The company that operates website addresses ending in ".sucks" has been accused of trying to exploit people worried about sites set up to attack them. However, nobody seems quite sure if it breaks any rules or who, if anyone, has the authority to do ... something about it. The controversy involves a major change to the way website registration works that took effect in 2012. Until then, all website addresses ended in one of a limited number of "top level domains" such as .com, .org, or country-specific domains such as .ca for Canada. Anyone Can Become an Administrator of a Top ... (view more)

Four police departments in Maine have paid $300 to cybercriminals after being hit by so-called " ransomware ". Officials say they weighed up their response and decided they had no real choice but to pay up. Ransomware is a form of malicious software ... which restricts access to certain parts of a computer it infects. Victims then see on-screen messages stating that a ransom must be paid to regain access . In most cases, cybersecurity experts warn against paying such ransoms for three reasons. Firstly, it may mean getting added to a "suckers list" that can be sold on to other ... (view more)

AT&T will pay a $25 million fine after regulators held it responsible for thieves taking personal details of 280,000 customers. The breaches were said to have occurred around November 2013 and April 2014, with the FCC beginning its investigation ... around May of 2014. It's the biggest ever such fine in the communications industry. The stolen information included the customers' names, part or all of their social security numbers, and some details about their account. On its own, the data wouldn't be enough for criminals to immediately steal money from customer's bank accounts, but could ... (view more)

A security research firm says more than a thousand people accessed a dummy database of personal details that it released as an experiment, though that number is much likely higher. It says the would-be criminals acted far faster than most security ... breaches take to fix. The experiment was the work of BitGlass, a company that offers security services for cloud computing firms. The firm wanted to test how quickly a 'leaked' set of personal data would spread around the world; to do so, BitGlass made an Excel file that contained 1,568 sets of names, phone numbers, addresses, credit card ... (view more)

More ambitious users of trial versions of Windows 10 have now got their hands on the replacement for Internet Explorer . The consensus is that it still needs work, but displays some impressive new features. The new browser is codenamed Spartan , ... though that may not be the final name. It will be the default browser in Windows 10, with Internet Explorer only available by going through the Accessories section of the Programs menu. Internet Explorer is only being included for the sake of compatibility with very old websites that use outdated technology. (Source: networkworld.com ) For the first ... (view more)

A newly-published study shows that the average person could manage without a smartphone for many common tasks. However, for a select group, smartphones are the only realistic option for accessing online services. The report comes from the Pew ... Research Center, which brought together several surveys, each of around 2,000 smartphone users. The results provide very differing meanings, depending on how they are viewed. (Source: pewinternet.org ) Most Tasks Achievable Without Phones On one hand, the study suggests smartphones are by no means vital for many everyday tasks. Participants were asked if ... (view more)

Amazon is launching a range of physical buttons to place around your home and press when you want to reorder an item for purchase. Despite the time of year, it insists the buttons are not an April Fool's Day joke. The buttons are called Amazon Dash. ... Each is linked to one of 18 retailers or brands, and you can get hold of buttons free of charge if you are a member of Amazon's Prime program, a subscription service that includes free shipping and online video access. (Source: forbes.com ) The buttons, which appear to be about the size of a USB memory stick, have adhesive stickers so you ... (view more)

Microsoft is reportedly planning to sell two new Windows 10 laptop models for as little as $149. It's seen as yet another attempt to combat the boom in low-cost machines such as Google's Chromebook. The report comes from Digitimes, an industry ... journal for the electronics business in Asia. It's usually reputable as it has sources from manufacturers of components for computers and other devices who naturally have advance notice of machines that are in the works. (Source: digitimes.com ) Both laptops will have 11.6 inch screens, which are very small for 'fully featured' ... (view more)