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Many of us are familiar with Apple’s iOS assistant – but have you ever thought about the lives behind the voice that answers your queries and requests? Siri Australia:Karen Jacobsen, Siri UK: Jon Briggs and Siri USA: Susan Bennett. Photograph: courtesy Karen Jacobsen/Jon Briggs/Susan Bennett Apple users are all familiar with Siri, the company’s voice-activated personal assistant that helps out with everything from speed dialling, scheduling meetings and searching for directions. Users of iOS have had the privilege of Siri’s help since its introduction as part of iOS 5 for the iPhone 4S in 2011, and the function was also...

Google and Samsung are gearing up to join Apple Pay in the battle to replace your wallet later this year, but another payments app backed by big retailers like Walmart may wait a little longer before entering primetime.CurrentC, the payments app being created by a consortium of big retailers known as MCX, may not launch widely this year as originally planned, MCX CEO Brian Mooney told Re/code in an interview on Tuesday. The company will begin a public pilot of its app in Columbus, Ohio, in a few weeks and will not rush a wider rollout if the product...

Full Title: The robot that BREEDS: 'Mother' machine builds and tests 'children' models to make each generation better than the last The robots were built by engineers from the University of Cambridge, lead by Dr Fumiya Iida. Dr Iida and his team designed the 'mother' robot and programmed it simply to build a robot capable of movement. From this, and without any further human intervention or computer simulation, the robot built 'children' made of between one and five plastic cubes with a small motor inside. In each of five separate experiments, the mother designed, built and tested generations of ten...

Supported Android 5.1 Devices that might be updated to patch security issues and All Others that will not be updated. LINK TO THE ARTICLE: Editorial: Android's update strategy doesn't scale, and that's recipe for disaster. Read the article at the link above. . . cannot be posted on FreeRepublic due to copyright issues.

Android biometric banks more Fort Nope than Fort Knox. Four FireEye researchers have found a way to steal fingerprints from Android phones packing biometric sensors such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the HTC One Max.The team found a forehead-slapping flaw in HTC One Max in which fingerprints are stored as an image file (dbgraw.bmp) in a open "world readable" folder. "Any unprivileged processes or apps can steal user’s fingerprints by reading this file," the team says, adding that the images can be made into clear prints by adding some padding.It is one of four vulnerability scenarios in which biometric...

Microsoft has just released a fix for a Windows 10 software update said to be causing machines to enter a restart loop. A patch for a patch? Yes, this is patchception. The troublesome update, titled KB3081424 was released last week, and it didn't take long for users to voice their issues with it on a Microsoft support forum. Many users reported the update was causing their machines to restart over and over again. But the company is now pointing to a newer update that fixes the bug, a Microsoft spokesperson told Mashable in an email. The update is initially downloaded...

What is with the Drudge site?

OK I went to a couple garage sales last weekend. Didn't get off my duff on Saturday, so went on Sunday. At one I saw a laptop - wasn't exactly sure what it was. It had a Windows XP sticker on it so I figured it must be at least marginal. Asked the lady if the battery worked and she said "well it's old so it might only give you an hour or two..." Asked her if the machine actually works and she said "yeah, but it's old and slow..." Anyways bought it and brought it home thinking I can...

Update Windows, Office, IE, Edge and Adobe Flash now – plus OpenSSH Patch Tuesday - Microsoft has released 14 sets of software patches to address critical security vulnerabilities in Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, and Edge. Yes, even Edge: Microsoft's supposedly whizzbang super-secure web browser. Users and sysadmins should apply August's Patch Tuesday fixes as soon as possible: the bugs can be exploited to remotely execute code on vulnerable systems, allowing miscreants to hijack computers and install malware by tricking people into opening documents and webpages. Plugging in a malicious USB device can grant an attacker administrator privileges on Windows PCs....

The largest swindle big business ever played on the American people — forcing us to pay huge cable bills for dozens of channels we never watch — is slowly coming apart. Even with an ever-increasing population, the pay TV industry (cable and satellite) lost a net 566,000 subscribers last quarter. When you add in Q1, that’s a total of 887,000 lost customers in just six short months. There is just no question that customers are getting tech savvy and budget savvy. The result is a growing wave of cord-cutters (last quarter was the second biggest drop in pay TV customers...

Microsoft has introduced its Windows 10 IoT Core, a light version of the Windows 10 operating system for the Internet of Things. According to The Next Web, 10 IoT Core will run the Raspberry Pi 2 and Minnowboard Max and can work on devices regardless of whether they have a display. It is a light version of the Windows 10, so there is no Windowed interface or desktop experience. So instead developers must create a universal app that functions as the interface for the user's device. Windows 10 IoT Core have been significantly upgraded since its first preview release in...

The original developers of much maligned Mac security software MacKeeper have agreed to a $2 million settlement in a class action lawsuit over deceptive claims and false advertisement, with part of the sum set aside for customer refunds. Under the proposed settlement, ZeoBIT, creators of MacKeeper that later sold the software to German firm Kromtech, will put up to $2 million in a fund to cover attorney fees, refunds and administrative costs, reports MacWorld. One-third is earmarked for lawyers, with a large chunk of the remainder to be meted out equally among claimants who purchased MacKeeper prior to July 8....

CarPlay is a great piece of software because of its simple design. It’s like using a scaled-down iPhone on your dashboard. When GM GM demonstrates another company’s connected car technology, it does everything it can to make sure the infotainment system doesn’t overshadow its ride. That’s why it demoed Apple’s CarPlay in Chicago alongside two 2016 Chevy Corvettes.GM’s top-line sports car wasn’t on hand solely for flash though. The Corvette was one of the first 4G cars GM debuted this year, and among the first vehicles to get the upgrade allowing it to support both CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto....

“Smart” devices are all the buzz, whether in the connected home (thermostats, lightbulbs, garage door openers, locks and various appliances) or new wearable devices. They promise convenience along with improved control and efficiency in our lives. But, as highlighted by the recent hacking of automobiles, connectivity can come at a significant cost. ... The consequences range from annoying (lights turning on and off, coffee makers starting up in the middle of the day) to creepy (messages on a smart refrigerator, locations being tracked, cameras being hijacked) to downright dangerous (thermostats/appliances being manipulated to the point of physical damage or fire,...

I think we can now all agree: Microsoft Microsoft’s hardline policy on Windows 10’s forced updates is silly. Very silly. Since launching nine days ago Windows Update has sent out an unstable graphics driver which switched off monitors, a buggy security patch which corrupted Windows Explorer and there are now a number of reports that a third update is causing Window 10 machines to crash over and over again…The patch in question is KB3081424 (ironically enough a roll-up of bug fixes) and during its update process affected users find it fails and triggers the message: “We couldn’t complete the updates, undoing...

Apple’s vaunted reputation for safety and security has taken some hits recently. Just this week came news of DYLD_PRINT_TO_FILE — a bug in Apple’s OS X operating system that has allowed a malicious program to take complete control of Macs. *snip* When it comes to security flaws, Windows and OS X are now about tied, says Morey Haber, VP of technology at corporate security software maker BeyondTrust.

The Apple Watch is either a hit or a failure, depending on who you ask, but one thing's for certain: June was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month for the US traditional watch industry.As reported by Bloomberg, data from market research firm NPD Group shows that traditional watch sales in the United States dropped by 14 percent in the month of June, as compared to June 2014. According to Bloomberg, that represents the biggest year-over-year drop in watch sales since 2008.Watches in the $100-$149.99 price range took the biggest hit, NPD's data shows: Sales of timepieces in...

Tesla has given us a glimpse into the future, and it seems to involve somewhat creepy robotic arms that look like snakes. A newly-released video reveals the company's new charging prototype, which plugs itself in without an ounce of human assistance. The video, released by Tesla on its Twitter and YouTube accounts, begins with the charger in an upright position. But after just a few seconds, the figure begins to move just like a snake – and it's a little bit unsettling. It lowers its body toward a Model S sedan, twisting itself in such a realistic way that you...

Windows 10 was officially launched on July 29 and since then, Microsoft has released it for millions of users across the world who are eligible for the free upgrade to the new operating system. While Microsoft hasn't provided any new statistics on how well adoption of Windows 10 is going, there are new reports out there claiming that the operating system has already been installed more than 25 million times. Keep in mind that Microsoft hasn't yet confirmed these figures, but they are very likely to be accurate given the fact that after only 24 hours, Windows 10 was running...

Here's a cautionary tale for anyone who might need a reminder not to incriminate themselves online: The San Francisco Police Department has at least one officer for whom Instagram is a major beat. In reviewing the decision of a case involving evidence found on Instagram ultimately used to convict, Business Insider discovered that officer Eduard Ochoa had been informally known as the "Instagram officer" in his department for three to four years, routinely using the app in investigations. An SFPD spokesperson confirmed to the publication that Instagram is just one of several social media sites that might be utilized when...