In November, owners of the Aether Cone intelligent streaming audio device got a lump of coal for the holidays, when Aether, the manufacturer of the "smart speaker" announced it was going out of business.
Purchasers of the Philips Hue "smart" ambient lighting system are finding out that the new firmware pushed out by the manufacturer has cut off access to previously-supported lightbulbs.
"While the Philips Hue system is based on open technologies we are not able to ensure all products from other brands are tested and fully interoperable with all of our software updates. For guaranteed compatibility you need to use Philips Hue or certified Friends of Hue products"
"Play with Experimental Extensions, you can create Scratch projects that connect with external hardware (such as electronic devices and robotics) and online resources (including web data and web services)."
Could "programmatic" technology used in online advertising also be used to automate and personalize the distribution of cultural and editorial content?
"Neuroscientists have found that they can identify individuals based on a coarse map of which brain regions "pair up" in scans of brain activity.
The map is stable enough that the researchers could pick one person's pattern from a set of 126, by matching it to a scan taken on another day.
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"TalkTalk is facing increasing criticism after belatedly admitting it was the victim of a "significant and sustained" cyber-attack that has led to the theft of the credit card and bank details of up to 4 million customers.
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"A vulnerability in FitBit fitness trackers first reported to the vendor in March could still be exploited by the person you sit next to on a park bench while catching your breath."
"EPSRC-funded research project, we use the concept of the 'Digital Lifespan' to investigate how digital identities are created and managed across the human lifespan by UK citizens"