Skill Zone News issue 67
The world's press was awaiting the royal baby, but so were the scammers. Expect a barrage of fake announcements on Twitter from people pretending they have inside info, and beware of spam runs luring you to malicious websites with promises of "secret videos" of the royal birth. Remember, the scammers have had nine months to plot devious ways to exploit this global news story.
23rd July 2013
A colossal waste of money
Politicians and the power industry are pressing on with their dream of putting a smartmeter into every UK home with the aim of reducing national energy consumption by 20% by 2020, but critics such as Ross Anderson, an engineering professor at Cambridge University say the scheme won't save energy and will be a colossal waste of money.
Ask, ask, and ask again
Nominet, the Oxford-based organisation which controls the UK domain name space wanted to make changes to the UK domain naming system. A public consultation last winter gave an overwhelmingly negative response to its proposals. So six months on, it is asking the question again.
Search engine transparency
The Consumer Protection office at the US Federal Trade Commission has told Google and other search engine providers that they need to clearly distinguish between adverts and search results on their services.
The rising cost of crime
Criminals trading in stolen credit cards is now old hat. According to McAfee, better money can be made on the electronic black market selling stolen online banking details.
Voices from space
Next time you are on a train, falling asleep, leaning against the window and hear the voices inside your head telling you to buy Sky TV, don't panic. Its not aliens beaming the words into your brain. The words are real, and its the latest hotshot idea from the advertising community.