Tech Spite

You know what sucks? A good vacuum. And we're here to find the perfect one for your everyday needs. We know that finding the best vacuum cleaner can, well, suck – there are just so many models to choose from, and who really wants to spend their time finding an appliance that means more work around the house? The thing is, vacuum cleaners have come a long way since the days where you had to haul out that massive corded behemoth from your hall closet and plug it into a new socket every few minutes. Compared to some of the slick vacuums on the market today, that's practically medieval.  Today's vacuums are much slimmer, and while most are still controlled by hand there's a growing number that have robotic brains and can clean up all on their own. Many of today's vacuums also run on battery power, so you won't have to worry about dragging cords all around your house.  While it's still a 'chore' in the traditional sense, vacuum cleaning can now be done...

Optus has been handed the second-largest fine ever dealt by the ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) for contacting customers that had explicitly unsubscribed from communications. The ACMA fined the telco giant AU$504,000 following an investigation into breaches of Australia’s anti-spam laws, a sum second only to a AU$510,000 fine Telstra copped in 2014 for delays in connecting landline customers.  Specifically, Optus was found to have sent marketing emails and SMS messages in 2018 to around 750,000 customers that had already opted out of these communications. Other emails were also sent that lacked any kind of unsubscribe facility. Google blocked 100m spam Gmail messages using AI Firefox now stops sites spamming you with authentication requests Android Messages is getting a new feature to help fight spam ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said it was the largest infringement paid for spamming and that it “reflects the seriousness of breaches made by Optus and it...

The defendants have allegedly connected hundreds of millions of fraudulent robocalls to US residents. from Wired https://ift.tt/2tdezZP

The WireGuard VPN protocol will be included into the next Linux kernel as Linus Torvalds has merged it into his source tree for version 5.6. There is no set date for Linux kernel releases and being as version 5.5 was released this month, the next version will likely be released in a few months time. The addition of WireGurd in the next Linux kernel does also not come as a surprise as the code had already been merged into Dave Miller's repository back in December. However, the code was just recently pulled into Torvalds' source tree. Microsoft Teams is now available for Linux NFL targets VPN hosting sites These are the best Linux distros of 2020 WireGuard VPN protocol While there are many popular VPN protocols such as OpenVPN , WireGuard has made a name for itself by being easy to configure and deploy as SSH. On its website , WireGuard's team explains what sets its protocol apart from others, saying: “WireGuard has been designed with ease-of-implementation and s...

BT’s third quarter results included lower-than-expected revenues and one of the first tangible examples of how the government’s cap on the use of Huawei equipment will affect the rollout of 5G in the UK . The company is embarking on major deployments of 5G and full fibre infrastructure, with the former now live in 50 locations across the UK and the latter reaching 2.2 million premises. However third quarter revenues fell by three per cent to £5.8 billion, thanks to a 2 per cent dip in consumer revenue to £2.7 billion and the ongoing contraction of the company’s enterprise and global divisions. BT removes Huawei kit from core EE 4G network What is 5G ? Everything you need to know UK gives Huawei 5G green light BT-EE Results These figures contributed to a two percent fall in nine-month revenues to £17.3 billion as net profits remained stable at £1.9 billion. CEO Philip Jansen admitted the results were below expectations but said the company was on track to meet its full year ta...

Netflix isn't giving up on becoming a global hub for anime properties, with a new live-action series of the bestselling manga and anime franchise One Piece now on its way to the streaming service. What is One Piece? The Japanese manga series first kicked off in 1997, with an anime adaptation only two years later bringing its world of swashbuckling, treasure-hunting, and the stretchy arms of its protagonist Monkey D. Luffy – blessed or cursed with a rubberized body after eating the 'Gum Gum Devil Fruit' – to a massive global audience. Check out the best Netflix shows And the best Netflix movies Attack on Titan Season 4 : the end of the anime is nigh While the adaptation has apparently been in the works for a while now, this is the first explicit confirmation we've had from Netflix itself, which revealed it had commissioned ten episodes of the live-action series. There's no release date confirmed, but given the paucity of details it's likely we won't s...

The Samsung Galaxy S20 and its siblings are the early-2020 phones with the most buzz around them, but based on a specs leak the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro could be just as deserving of attention. A screenshot shared on Twitter by Xiaomishka (a source with a limited track record but known for their Xiaomi leaks) seemingly shows the ‘About phone’ screen of the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro, complete with an almost full specs list. Highlights of this leak include a Snapdragon 865 chipset and a massive 16GB of RAM. Currently no smartphone has that much RAM, and paired with that top-end chipset this could make the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro the most powerful phone of early 2020. Read our full Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro review Check out all the best Xiaomi phones Lots of phones will land at MWC 2020 Other listed specs include a huge 5,250mAh battery, 512GB of storage, and a quad-lens camera, with a 108MP main sensor alongside 16MP, 12MP and 5MP ones. Presumably they'll be joined by zoom, ultra-wide angle and macro lens...