You learn something new every day: Kristen DiMercurio - the voice of a thousand products!

“OK, so you have to say it with a smile, no matter what you’re saying, because the shape of your mouth makes a difference.” Kristen DiMercurio is teaching me how to sound like my Bluetooth speaker.

“The resonance is in your chest and throat, it’s very deep, very low. You have to enunciate every consonant. I do a slight amount of airiness. I’m practically singing it, it’s very melodic. And there’s a certain rhythm: It usually goes up and then down at the end. You get that unnatural, clipped sound. I’ve never really broken it down like this … Bluetooth connected.”

And there it is. Something you’ve probably heard hundreds or thousands of times, and maybe never thought about once. DiMercurio, a voice-over actor, onscreen actor, singer, and podcaster, first went viral on TikTok last September when she revealed that she is the voice of many, many, many Bluetooth speakers, gadgets, and smart-home devices. Suddenly, she had 17 million views on one post, more than 700,000 followers, and her mentions were full of comments like “OMG did you do the Duolingo Premium voice?” and “Low battery, please recharge.” READ MORE...

www.wired.com

31st March = World Backup Day! If you don't already backup your data - now is the time to start!

 

WHAT IS BACKUP? 

A backup is a second copy of all your important files — for example, your family photos, home videos, documents and emails. Instead of storing it all in one place (like your computer), you keep another copy of everything somewhere safe.

ALRIGHT, I GET IT, BUT WHY SHOULD I BACKUP?

Losing your files is way more common than you’d think. Ever lost your phone, camera or tablet? That counts. Your stuff could have been saved with a backup. One small accident or failure could destroy all the important stuff you care about.

30% of people have never backed up

113 phones lost or stolen every minute

29% of disasters are caused by accident

1 in 10 computers infected with viruses each month

SO HOW DO I BACKUP?

Most people backup their files in one of two ways: to an external drive, or somewhere on the Internet (Backblaze).

Do you need a hand with getting backup sorted for your important data? Contact Donline. Do not wait till it's too late to backup!

www.worldbackupday.com

Bible sales surge by 87% as Generation Z rediscovers faith

Bible sales in the UK have risen sharply, increasing by 87 per cent from £2.69 million in 2019 to £5.02 million in 2024, according to new data from SPCK Group and Nielsen Book Data.

Publishers and researchers attribute this growth to Generation Z’s renewed interest in spirituality, marking a striking cultural shift.

While overall non-fiction book sales declined by 6% between 2023 and 2024, religious books have defied the trend. The broader category of "Bibles and liturgy" grew from £7 million in 2019 to £8.1 million in 2024, continuing a longer-term rise from £5 million in 2008. Spending on religious books as a whole reached £25.2 million last year, reflecting a 3% year-on-year increase.

This is literally GOOD NEWS! Want some more good news? If you'd like a Bible at no cost - contact me. I'm a member of Good News For Everyone, and we distribute God's holy word to anyone who would like a copy. God Bless you x

www.christiantoday.com

Scam Alert: FBI ‘Increasingly Seeing’ Malware Distributed In Document Converters

Threat actors may attempt to distribute malware, including ransomware, by offering free document converters, according to a March 7 report from the FBI’s Denver office. “Agents are increasingly seeing” this type of scam. The scheme has been deployed globally, the FBI warned.

Threat actors behind the document converter scam disguise malicious software as a legitimate tool for file conversion. The software may claim to convert .doc files to .pdf files, merge multiple .jpg files into a single .pdf file, or download MP3 or MP4 audio files. In most cases, the downloaded software performs the advertised conversion. However, it also grants the attacker access to the victim’s computer.

Once installed, the malware allows threat actors to download additional malicious software or access files submitted for conversion. If these files contain identifying information —  such as dates of birth, social security numbers, or phone numbers — the threat actor may exploit them for identity theft. The attacker could scrape the submitted files for banking information, seed phrases and other information associated with cryptocurrency wallets, email addresses, and passwords.

www.techrepublic.com

More power for Police to recover stolen bikes

Police Officers will be given greater powers to access a property if a tracking device shows that a stolen motorcycle or scooter is inside, thanks to the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill.

The Home Office has announced that the flagship Bill, which is said to be at the heart of what the Labour government is calling its ‘Safer Streets Mission’ and is hoped to become law by the end of 2025, will target the most serious crimes including knife crime, stalking, criminal and sexual exploitation of children and terrorist threats.

But it’s also aiming to cut through red tape and speed up investigations into crimes that – while relatively minor in comparison – take up a significant amount of Police time and cause distress to a large proportion of the British public.

The BBC reported yesterday that the Bill promises more powers to search homes for stolen phones by eliminating the need for a court warrant, but Bennetts BikeSocial has confirmed with the Home Office that this will also apply to motorcycles and scooters, or in fact any vehicle that’s electronically tracked to a location, meaning Police will be able to far more easily gain access to recover it, and potentially secure an arrest.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper acknowledged the frustration that victims of theft suffer when they can see exactly where their stolen property is but nothing is done, saying “That is why we are determined to give the police the powers they need to move fast to crack down on these crimes that are blighting our communities.”

www.bennetts.co.uk

Survey shows that government must move further and faster on potholes and road repairs

 

The National Motorcyclists Council (NMC) is today renewing calls on the Government to move much further and faster on its commitment to improve roads maintenance. The call comes as the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) publishes its latest annual report. The 2025 Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance Survey Report reveals that the backlog of carriageway repairs in England and Wales has reached new heights at almost £17 billion, while roads are only surfaced, on average, once every 93 years. More than half (52%) – equivalent to around 106,000 miles– of the local road network is reported to have less than 15 years’ structural life remaining. Almost a third of these – 34,600 miles or one in six of the total – may only have up to five years life left.

Almost all local authorities told the AIA that in their opinion, there has been no improvement to their network over the last year, with 65% stating that conditions have declined. Over £20 billion has been spent on carriageway maintenance in England and Wales over the last decade but, due to the short-term allocation of this funding, there have been no significant improvements in structural road conditions.

Poor roads maintenance and potholes are a clear and present road safety risk to motorcyclists and other vulnerable road users. The Pothole Partnership comprising The AA, British Cycling, JCB, the National Motorcyclists Council, with other supporting organisations, previously welcomed the Government’s commitment to £1.6bn funding for local road maintenance in England, but the ALARM report confirms that this is only a small part of the investment needed if we are to see real change and safer roads for motorcyclists and other roads users.

www.uknmc.org

Everything you say to your Echo will be sent to Amazon starting on March 28

Since Amazon announced plans for a generative AI version of Alexa, we were concerned about user privacy. With Alexa+ rolling out to Amazon Echo devices in the coming weeks, we’re getting a clearer view of the privacy concessions people will have to make to maximize usage of the AI voice assistant and avoid bricking functionality of already-purchased devices.

In an email sent to customers today, Amazon said that Echo users will no longer be able to set their devices to process Alexa requests locally and, therefore, avoid sending voice recordings to Amazon’s cloud. Amazon apparently sent the email to users with “Do Not Send Voice Recordings," which is supported by the Echo Dot (4th Gen), Echo Show 15, and Echo Show 10, enabled. Starting on March 28, recordings of every command spoken to the Alexa living in Echo speakers and smart displays will automatically be sent to Amazon and processed in the cloud.

Decades ago, we were concerned about "reds under the bed". Nowadays (unbelievably) we actually pay for the spying devices & install them ourselves in our homes & businesses!

www.arstechnica.com

End of Windows 10 Leaves PC Charities with Tough Choice

Unless Microsoft changes its mind at the last minute, Windows 10 will stop receiving free security updates this coming October. For those who can upgrade to Windows 11, the solution is obvious: Run the new OS even if you don’t like it. But there are hundreds of millions – by one estimate 240 million – PCs that don’t meet Microsoft’s stringent Windows 11 hardware requirements.

If you’re a consumer or a business, Microsoft and the PC industry would very much like you to toss these systems in the trash and buy new computers to take their place. But forgotten in this capitalist crush are all the charities (like TWAM) that refurbish older computers and give them to people who can’t afford to purchase one.

These non-profits are sitting on a plethora of still-working computers that can’t run Microsoft’s latest OS. Do they give clients a soon-to-be-insecure Windows 10 computer, send older computers to an ewaste recycler, toss them in the trash or try to install some form of Linux?

www.tomshardware.com

Download the YourBible app for free now

The Bible is for you - your personal invitation to explore the book that changed the world

Epic battles, historical drama and the greatest love story of all time

Bring together themes and stories from the Bible making it easy to jump right in

The Bible can offer help and comfort for difficult questions in life

Helps in the app show Bible verses on a range of emotions and life situations

Notes illuminate the Bible as you read through

Notes appear throughout the text showing you more detail about specific words or phrases.

Download the YourBible app now - Android or IOS

YourBible was created by Good News for Everyone

www.yourbible.io

Today's Reading: the Fall from Grace

Traditional doctrine points to a sin against God, an act of disobedience, not a sin against the neighbour. And certainly, if we are to hold the doctrine of the Fall in any real sense, we must look for the great sin on a deeper and more timeless level than that of social morality.

This sin has been described by Saint Augustine as the result of Pride, of the movement whereby a creature (that is, an essentially dependent being whose principle of existence lies not in itself but in another) tries to set up on its own, to exist for itself. Such a sin requires no complex social conditions, no extended experience, no great intellectual development. From the moment a creature becomes aware of God as God and of itself as self, the terrible alternative of choosing God or self for the centre is opened to it. This sin is committed daily by young children and ignorant peasants as well as by sophisticated persons, by solitaries no less than by those who live in society: it is the fall in every individual life, and in each day of each individual life, the basic sin behind all particular sins: at this very moment you and I are either committing it, or about to commit it, or repenting it.

By C.S. Lewis - taken from The Problem of Pain

There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. I have heard people admit that they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their heads about girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I do not think I have ever heard anyone who was not a Christian accuse himself of this vice. And at the same time I have very seldom met anyone, who was not a Christian, who showed the slightest mercy to it in others. There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.

The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. You may remember, when I was talking about sexual morality, I warned you that the centre of Christian morals did not lie there. Well, now, we have come to the centre. According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.

By C.S. Lewis - taken from Mere Christianity

NMC Calls for Motorcycling to be Fully Included in the Government’s Integrated Transport Strategy

The National Motorcyclists Council has called for a full and proper consideration of motorcycling within transport policy as part of its response to the Department for Transport’s (DfT) ‘Call for Evidence: Integrated National Transport Strategy: a Call for Ideas'.

Ultimately, integrated transport should be about choice, not just favouring one or two modes of transport over others. The NMC feel that the forthcoming strategy should extend and enable individual choice, so that the full range of options are available and supported for those who seek an alternative to the car. Statistics reveal that the majority of motorcyclists are regular commuter or utility transport users, with over a million who ride regularly, often in conditions that leave them more vulnerable on the roads than should be the case.

Motorcycles fulfil an important role in the overall transport network by reducing car dependency for those journeys where public transport provision is poor and distances means that walking and cycling are not viable options. READ MORE...

www.uknmc.org