Connected cars - still connected after you've sold them! IOT gone wrong...

Charles Henderson loved his "awesome" convertible, particularly the fact that he could start, lock and unlock it remotely via his mobile phone.

It was one of the first connected cars that synchronise wirelessly with smartphones for entertainment and work purposes.

But after he sold the vehicle, he was astonished to discover that he could still control it using the associated smartphone app. "I could have found out where the car was, unlocked it remotely, started it and driven off with it," he tells the BBC.

Mr Henderson, from Austin, Texas, is global head of X-Force Red, IBM's offensive security group, so he knows a thing or two about security. He tests companies' defences, both physical and digital.

Original article: www.bbc.co.uk

Read more on Internet Of Things (IOT) issues: 

www.securityintelligence.com / blog.donlineuk.blogspot.co.uk

Keeping cool & safe during the hot weather

During a heatwave there are a few groups of people who are at higher risk of suffering from severe health effects. These include babies and very young children, older people, people with pre-existing medical conditions such as heart conditions, diabetes, respiratory or renal problem, Parkinson’s or severe mental illness.

Click here to read more & stay safe in the heat! 

www.hants.gov.uk

Elon Musk on how to get humanity to Mars

Last year, billionaire SpaceX founder and space-fan Elon Musk delivered an expansive, hour-long presentation, outlining his ambitious plan to get humanity to the Red Planet. Musk has recently published a research paper adapted from that presentation entitled "Making Humans a Multi-Planetary Species".

The 15-page paper, published in the journal New Space, and available for free until early July, doesn't offer a great deal of new information that wasn't presented last year, but it certainly reads like a solid manifesto from a man who is very serious about colonizing our solar system.

"So how do we figure out how to take you to Mars and create a self-sustaining city," asks Musk, "a city that is not merely an outpost but which can become a planet in its own right, allowing us to become a truly multi-planetary species."

The paper is certainly a compelling read, covering in reasonable detail the engineering challenges in getting to Mars and the realistic costs per person. Musk also reiterates several exciting benchmarks in his timeline that will take us to Mars, with the first unmanned payloads being delivered to the Red Planet within the next two years.

www.newatlas.com

Computing in schools - alarm bells over England's classes

Computing education in England's schools is going through a revolution, but there is evidence that too few pupils want to be part of it.

Figures from the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) show only a modest rise in students taking the new computer science GCSE.

The British Computing Society warns the number studying for a computing qualification could halve by 2020. The organisation - which is the professional body for the IT industry - says that would be a disaster for the economy.

The old ICT course, which was the main way school students learned about computing, is being scrapped, with the last GCSE entrants taking the exam next year. The subject, which was described by critics as teaching little more than how to use Microsoft Office, is being replaced by the more rigorous computer science GCSE.

But figures from Ofqual showing entries for the exam rising to 67,800 this year from 61,220 in 2016 have set alarm bells ringing. With 58,600 still taking the ICT exam, the overall number getting a GCSE computing qualification has fallen slightly.

The British Computing Society says that when ICT disappears, the computer science exam will fail to fill the gap.

www.bbc.co.uk

Ghost bike caught on video near Paris

A bizarre video of a “ghost motorbike” cruising along a motorway outside Paris with no rider has sparked much confusion among freaked out motorists.

Footage showed the riderless motorbike driving in a straight line, a little too close to the central reservation on the A4 outside Paris.

One driver, who asked his friend to film the surreal scene, said: “On the video, we can clearly see the two-wheeled … without a biker. A ghost.”

But the mystery of the ghost rider may have been solved, with Le Parisien reporting that the motorbike was involved in a collision seconds before.

The rider, who was in his 20s, was knocked off his bike and injured his arm in the crash with another vehicle.

According to reports, the driver of the car picked up the rider and took him to try and find his bike, but there was no trace of it.

The driver then took the motorbike rider to hospital.

Stunt motorcyclist Jean-Pierre Goy, who has appeared in James Bond films, said riderless motorbikes can run for more than 600m, especially with cruise control.

“The pilot may have fallen, and in view of the motorcycle, with a very low centre of gravity, it was possible to continue its journey,” he said.

“I’ve seen motorcycles ride like this even longer, especially with the cruise control blocked.”

www.youtube.com

Fancy "going" in style? Motorcycle Funerals Ltd

In 2002 Rev. Paul Sinclair founded Motorcycle Funerals Limited, Britain's first motorcycle hearse service. Paul, who has served at funerals for 30 years, believes we should reflect people's lifestyles in their funerals. "No one places an Everton fan in a Liverpool strip when they die so why should a motorcycle enthusiast be last seen in an automobile?"

High winds, rain and snow? Protected behind clear glass the coffin will not blow off or be covered in road slime. Flowers and personal artefacts will not be damaged in the wind either.

Our unique fleet serves British Isles-wide from St. Ives to Dover, The Channel Isles to The Outer Hebrides and Swansea to Skegness. Wherever you are, don't worry, we'll get there.

www.motorcyclefunerals.com

Interesting IT fact: Uppercase and Lowercase

The terms upper case and lower case can be written as two consecutive words, connected with a hyphen (upper-case and lower-case), or as a single word (uppercase and lowercase). 

These terms originated from the common layouts of the shallow drawers called type cases used to hold the movable type for letterpress printing. 

Traditionally, the capital letters were stored in a separate shallow tray or "case" that was located above the case that held the small letters, and the name proved easy to remember since capital letters are taller.

The capital letters were in the Upper Case!

www.wikipedia.org