23 June 2025

Cookie Theft: what is it and how to prevent it

 

Cookie theft is a type of cyberattack involving malicious actors exploiting cookies on a user’s device. These cookies save session data, including login credentials, which allows attackers to obtain unauthorized access to accounts. Although cookies are intended for secure session management, they require protection methods to avoid the risk of misuse and illegal access to personal information or online accounts.

How Does Cookie Stealing Work? Attackers steal cookies through phishing, malware, and MITM attacks, resulting in data theft, financial loss, and identity theft. Understanding the implications, prevention, and recovery procedures can enhance the protection of your accounts and personal information. Long-term threats need a serious effort to secure stolen data and safeguard your privacy against further misuse. READ MORE - or contact Donline.

www.esecurityplanet.com


Help Feed Rescued Dogs in Greece - Just £1 feeds a Dog for a Day

 

Sue Deeth from Healing Paws Animal Rescue has been rescuing dogs in Zakinthos Greece since 2011. Through her network of friends in the UK, Holland and Germany, she has managed to find over 2,000 dogs forever homes. Sue continues to rescue animals and bring them to her home in the mountains.

Every dog deserves a full tummy, a safe place to rest and a life free from suffering. Please help Sue in her mission in Zante as she cares for dozens of abandoned, abused, and neglected dogs every single day! Let's help feed all the rescues!

Feeding them costs just £1 per dog, per dayIt may not seem like much, but when you're feeding so many hungry mouths everyday, it adds up fast!
£7 feeds a dog for a week.
£30 feeds a dog for a month.
£365 feeds a dog for a year.

Our beloved Calli was a Greek rescue. She was rescued by Sue Deeth in late 2014. Calli joined our family in January 2015 & got a wonderful life full of love & fun, rather than what is typically a short and brutal life in Zante. We tragically lost Calli in October 24 - which broke our hearts. We are now in discussions with Sue about rehoming an abandoned puppy from Zante - more on this soon! Please help Sue in her mission to bring love, safety & nosh (not crumpets - as per the Calli pic above!) to "man's best friend". Thank you x

www.justgiving.com


20 June 2025

Google is about to nerf Pixel 6a batteries after phones catch fire

Bad news for Google Pixel 6a users. The battery life on the 2022 phone is about to be artificially limited by Google. After reports of two Pixel 6a phones catching fire, the company is set to roll out an update to limit the charging speed and battery capacity of “a subset” of phones.

The update will be a mandatory download when it arrives in July. The company hasn't confirmed the fires, but it appears the two issues are connected. Google says it will contact “impacted customers next month” and provide them with everything they need to “address the issue.”

As a Google spokesperson tells Android Authority, “A subset of Pixel 6a phones will require a mandatory software update to reduce the risk of potential battery overheating. The update will enable battery management features that will reduce capacity and charging performance after the battery reaches 400 charge cycles."

Google did something similar on the Pixel 4a earlier this year, and in some circumstances, it even offered a free battery replacement. It’s unclear if Google will do similar here, but it could happen if the issue becomes more widespread.

www.pcmag.com


World Motorcycle Day: 21st June

 

Motorcycles have a surprisingly long history, with the first one being created in 1860 by one Pierre Michaux in Paris. This early motorcycle was steam-powered and was one of a few varieties that would spring up in the ensuing decades. 1885 would see the invention of the first internal combustion powered motorcycle, and from there on out things would explode as this popular form of conveyance entered the public consciousness.

Today motorcycles are used for an increasing number of applications, including delivery driving, passenger conveyance, recreation, and even just daily commuting. This is due, in no small part, to the incredible gas mileage these vehicles get, and how compact and easy they are to store even if you live in an apartment. Whether you’re using your motorcycle to get around from day to day, or are an enthusiast or hobbyist who goes on long rides as part of your yearly vacation, World Motorcycle Day is for you.

The best way to celebrate World Motorcycle Day is to get out on the road and enjoy the freedom of riding on a motorcycle. There’s nothing quite like feeling the wind blow through your hair and wrap around you as you experience the complete freedom that is cruising beautiful roads from the back of a motorcycle. If you’ve been struggling with the costs of owning a car but have to have a way to get back and forth from work, then it’s time to look into becoming a motorcyclist.

The cost of a motorcycle along with the incredible fuel efficiency makes these vehicles perfect for the economically minded. On the other hand, if you just like the speed and power you can get out of one of these bad boys, then this holiday is your excuse to get out and tear up some pavement. Walruzoar

www.daysoftheyear.com


18 June 2025

Dear Microsoft: stop it with Copilot, already!

Marc D Anderson Writes: Until recently, one of the easiest ways to get “into” Microsoft 365 was to go to Office.com. I’ll readily admit that I never spent any time on the page, mainly because most of my time in Microsoft 365 is spent building sites, pages, libraries, etc.

But Microsoft’s stated intent – stated many times, in fact – was to help you get right back to your work by going to Office.com’s home page. It showed the Office apps for which you were licensed, and more importantly to many people, the files with which you’d recently been working.

These days, we are redirected to https://m365.cloud.microsoft/chat/?auth=2, shown above. (It’s multiple redirects to get there, and in Edge it frequently fails for me, requiring a reload.) This is what it looks like with no Copilot license at all.

When you have a Copilot license, it looks, well, almost the same, but with a few additions. Can you spot them?

This has been bugging me since it happened, and today, I piled onto a LinkedIn post from Sympraxian Julie Turner (@julieturner.net on Bluesky) about it.

The fact that Microsoft is now forcing people to a page focused on Copilot shows a disconnect from a large portion of their user base. There are several important considerations here.

  • First, many organizations simply aren’t ready to do anything with AI or Copilot. Putting Copilot front & center when they haven’t subscribed to Copilot at all is not useful for them.
  • Second, this is a significant change to a landing page which Microsoft has touted for years as “the place to start your day”. That use case has been removed totally from the page. No recent documents, no apps, no waffle, etc. Sure, there’s an Apps link to the left, but it adds an unnecessary extra click to go where we want to go.
  • Third, the only way to go from that page to something we’ve recently worked on is to search – encouraging people to use search where the Microsoft Graph was actually being useful before by showing recent work – or by asking Copilot. See my first point.
  • Finally, by forcing agents on people, we are going to get yet another ungoverned mess. Plus, if you don’t have Copilot licensing or pay-as-you-go enabled, you very quickly hit a dead end with agents. It’s a solution begging for use to invest in it – which is NOT a good look for Microsoft. Forcing people into buying licenses to make a page useful was not the ethos we expected historically from them.

This change to Office.com just one example of Copilot being rammed down the throats of people who may not want it at all, while taking away features people actually used. READ MORE...

www.sympmarc.com


17 June 2025

Reading for today: things that help us grow closer to God

 

A particular toy or a particular ikon may be itself a work of art, but that is logically accidental; its artistic merits will not make it a better toy or a better ikon. They may make it a worse one. For its purpose is not to fix attention upon itself but to stimulate and liberate certain activates in the child or the worshipper. The teddy bear exists in order that the child may endow it with imaginary life and personality and enter into a quasi-social relationship with it. That is what “playing with it” means. The better this activity succeeds the less the actual appearance of the object will matter. Too close or prolonged attention to its changeless and expressionless face impedes the play. A crucifix exists in order to direct the worshipper’s thought and affections to the Passion. It had better not have any excellences, subtleties, or originalities which will fix attention upon itself. Hence devout people may, for this purpose, prefer the crudest and emptiest ikon. The emptier, the more permeable; and they want, as it were, to pass through the material image and go beyond.”


16 June 2025

A new video from Child of Hope Uganda. Please take 5 minutes to watch it

We love telling our stories through pictures and video. All these short films star our kids... part of what we want to achieve is to give them a voice. Enjoy!

Our latest 5-minute video shows the different aspects of our work in Uganda — all funded through the kindness of our sponsors and donors. This video includes a narrator - or if you'd prefer here is an alternative video using captions instead.

Please click here to find out more about child sponsorship and how you can be a part of giving a child a better start in life.

www.childofhopeuganda.org