John Lister

Twenty years ago, ordering a pizza online was virtually unheard of, but in 1994, the first-ever online pizza transaction took place . The idea proved to be way ahead of its time, but eventually caught on and more restaurants followed suit. In recent ... years smartphone apps have been developed so that mobile users can order their favorite foods on the go. Flash forward to today, and now Domino's and Pizza Hut have both reached agreements to allow customers to place orders through unconventional means -- by using smart watches and dashboards on high-tech cars. Domino's is no stranger to ... (view more)

Smartphone dating app maker Tinder, Inc. has sparked controversy after announcing it would start charging based on age for its newly revised premium services. Users in the US will have to pay $9.99 a month if they are under 30 years old, and $19.99 ... if they are 30 or older. In the UK, the price difference in age for the same service is almost quadrupled. The move has not only outraged older customers, but ignited accusations of cynicism with the suggestion the people behind the app want to make it full of younger, and theoretically more attractive, singletons. How Tinder Works Tinder is a ... (view more)

A recent article published by Facebook suggests that less than 40 percent of the world's population has an Internet connection. While that figure continues to increase each year, the rate of growth has now slowed for four consecutive years. The ... figure combines data from multiple sources around the world, plus Facebook's own activity logs. The data suggest that as of December 2014, approximately 37.9 percent of people in the world use the Internet, even if that involves going online as little as once a year. In 2010, the number of people using the Internet grew by 14.7 percent year on ... (view more)

Google has added a new measure to protect users from visiting risky websites. It's now going to warn users about bogus downloads, even before they go to the website concerned. The changes will affect Google Search, users of the Chrome browser, and ... advertisements provided by Google to third-party websites. Safe Browsing Warnings Extended to Chrome Google's Chrome browser will now contain special warning messages built into the web browser. The warnings are part of Google's Safe Browsing Service , which is also available as a third party API (application program interface). Parts of the ... (view more)

PC manufacturer Lenovo may have to defend a class action lawsuit after it reportedly sold notebook computers that contained unwanted adware. The lawsuit follows the revelation that the adware had the potential to spy on users. The case involves a ... piece of software called Superfish. It was designed to look at images users were viewing online, identify items, find websites selling the item at a cheap price, and display an offer in a pop-up window. The software came pre-installed on some Lenovo notebook PCs and integrated with multiple browsers. Superfish came under several different categories ... (view more)

Windows 10 will support a key standard for security measures designed as an alternative to the traditional password. It could make it easier to use methods such as fingerprint recognition or a "key-like" USB stick. Microsoft has confirmed the ... operating system will support the Fast Identity Online (Fido) standards. That's an industry-wide specification supported by tech firms such as BlackBerry and Google and financial firms such as PayPal, Discover and Visa. (Source: windows.com ) Fido isn't specific to any one device, but rather is a specification about the way computers ... (view more)

Microsoft has signed up to an international standard for protecting customer privacy with online data. Among other measures, Microsoft promises to tell customers when the government demands access to their data. The company has followed ISO standard ... number 27018, which are guidelines set forth by the International Organization for Standardization. It's an attempt to set internationally recognized rules and regulations for the way "personally identifiable information" is handled in cloud services, and where data is stored or processed online rather than on the user's own computer ... (view more)

The US government has been accused of embedding spyware directly onto hard drives using secret manufacturer information. Russian security software manufacturer Kaspersky Lab made the claims, and stem from its efforts to find and eliminate malicious ... software. Kaspersky says officials appear to have only used the spyware to target specific, foreign-based individuals. Kaspersky says that the spyware is part of an operation controlled by the National Security Agency (NSA) , under the name Equation Group. It claims the NSA figured out how to put spying software in the firmware of hard drives made ... (view more)

Chinese spies have reportedly infected the Forbes website in order to steal data from staff at defense and finance organizations. The attack is unlike most attacks on large websites, as the motive was for intelligence, rather than profit. The Forbes ... website attack reportedly took place in November 2014, with the security gap plugged by approximately three days later. To propagate the attack, hackers replaced a legitimate file on the web server used for the "Thought of the Day" feature, which appeared on every page of the Forbes website. The malicious file was then automatically ... (view more)

Samsung has caused outrage after careful examination of its Smart TV terms and conditions suggest it might listen in on conversations and then pass on details to a data collection agency. The company insists any chat that the television does ... overhear would be treated with the utmost confidence. The controversy involves Samsung's range of televisions that include an Internet connection for features, such as online video access. Some models also include the ability for users to control the television using voice commands, rather than by remote control. Samsung says it may transmit the audio ... (view more)