Need to call your bank? Many can now dial 159 for safety

From MoneySavingExpert.com Consumers wanting to avoid financial fraud now have a secure and easy-to-remember phone number to contact their banks on in order to avoid painful scams. It could prove to be the safest way for many to contact their provider if they have suspicions and concerns about their accounts, or even if they're struggling to find a customer services number. 

Stop Scams UK and Global Cyber Alliance have today launched the UK-wide 159 call service, which is designed to guarantee consumers a safe route to contacting their banks.

The scheme is urging people to "stop, hang up and call 159" to check calls are for real. The idea is to help those who believe they have been contacted by scammers claiming to be their bank, or by fraudsters who encourage them to transfer money.

According to Stop Scams UK, criminal gangs stole over £470 million from individuals and small businesses last year by pretending to be a bank or other service provider, encouraging consumers to falsely make a payment or transfer money.

www.moneysavingexpert.com

Waterlooville Motorcycle Club Fossils 2026 - what a great day!

 

The Waterlooville Motorcycle Club -  Fossils Charity Bike Run is a long-established bike run in the motorcycling calendar the proceeds of which are donated to our nominated club charities. 

This year it was on 26th July. We started arriving at 9am and set off 11am. There were loads of bikes and riders. How many? Dunno - but the photos speak for themselves! There was about 10mins of rain - but then the sun came out & we had brilliant riding weather. The route comprised of 38 waypoints and was generally: Horndean, Clanfield, Warnford, West Meon, Privett, West Tisted, Winchester Hill, New Cheriton, The Hunters Inn - Swanmore (well worth a visit BTW!), Clanfield, Horndean.

After we got back to Horndean Technology College, we had a raffle & presentations were made. The three Charity partners were called up: Mental Health Motorbike, Serv Wessex - The Blood Runners & HIOWAA - Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance - all very worthy organisations.

What a brilliant day! Photos here - enjoy!

LG monitors are using Windows 11 feature to serve adware

LG has come under fire over its Monitor App Installer, which is automatically and silently installed when plugging in some of the company's monitors.

In this case, the monitor in question is a new LG UltraGear. Upon first connection to a Windows 11 device, the OS can check the associated device metadata and automatically install the manufacturer's UWP device app.

For that to happen, Microsoft says the user must have opted into Recommended Settings during Windows setup, be signed in to the Microsoft Store, and be online.

UPDATE:  LG has agreed to stop its Monitor App Installer pestering users with a McAfee pop-up after Microsoft's Windows boss intervened.

Pavan Davuluri wrote on social media: "We've connected with the team at LG and as an immediate next step, they have agreed to disable the McAfee pop-up from their app.

www.theregister.com

"System Administrator Appreciation Day" is the 31st July. Show your love!

Your network is secure, your computer is up and running, and your printer is jam-free. Why? Because you’ve got an awesome System Administrator keeping your business up and running. So say IT loud; say IT proud …

Happy SysAdmin Day! Wait… what exactly is SysAdmin Day? Oh, it’s only the single greatest 24 hours on the planet… and pretty much the most important holiday of the year. It’s also the perfect opportunity to pay tribute to the heroic men and women who, come rain or shine, prevent disasters, keep IT secure and put out tech fires left and right.

At this point, you may be thinking, "Great. I get it. My sysadmin is a rock star 😂. But now what?" Glad you asked! Nice n' easy, & no cost to you at all: give Donline some feedback (please)...

As a valued Donline client, I would like to invite you to go to Trustpilot & offer honest feedback on my services. If you have previously submitted feedback - I thank you 💖.

www.sysadminday.com

What is the Christian definition of religion?

The word religion is extremely rare in the New Testament or the writings of mystics. The reason is simple. Those attitudes and practices to which we give the collective name of religion are themselves concerned with religion hardly at all. To be religious is to have one’s attention fixed on God and on one’s neighbor in relation to God. Therefore, almost by definition, a religious man, or a man when he is being religious, is not thinking about religion; he hasn’t the time. Religion is what we (or he himself at a later moment) call his activity from outside.

By C.S. Lewis
From The World's Last Night

Bear Grylls & the cast of The Chosen - what's not to like!

“The Chosen In The Wild” TV series with adventure superstar Bear Grylls.

Bear took five of the cast members and Dallas Jenkins - into the wild separately and put us to significant tests. But this isn’t just an adventure show; the challenges brought out insights and emotions and change we didn’t expect.

The series follows the cast of the groundbreaking historical drama The Chosen as they take on challenges across forests, deserts, and canyons. Cast members Jonathan Roumie (Jesus), Paras Patel (Matthew), Elizabeth Tabish (Mary Magdalene), Noah James (Andrew), and Luke Dimyan (Judas) join series creator and executive producer Dallas Jenkins as Bear leads them through Utah's treacherous Castle Valley, Canyonlands, the Ausable River, the Colorado River, the Great Basin Desert, and the Adirondack Forest.

The series premieres 9th August 2026, on Prime Video, with all six episodes available at launch in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, the UK, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

www.youtube.com

Rogue OpenAI bot escaped lab and hacked rival

A powerful version of ChatGPT went rogue and hacked another technology company during internal testing, OpenAI has admitted.

The Silicon Valley AI giant admitted last night that one of its AI bots escaped from a supposedly secure IT system during a trial-run of its hacking capabilities.

OpenAI, the $850bn (£630bn) AI lab, said the “unprecedented” hack had seen its AI bot infiltrate another AI and coding business called Hugging Face and attempt to steal information.

The hack will raise fears that AI labs could struggle to contain their most advanced creations and revive concerns that new tools could be repurposed for unstoppable cyber attacks.

UPDATE 29 July 2026: OpenAI’s Rogue AI Agent Hacked More Than Just Hugging Face. In a new disclosure, OpenAI says its agent used exposed logins to gain access to at least four “publicly available services” in its unhinged quest to solve a test.

UPDATE 31 July 2026: OpenAI finds evidence other AI agents escaped containment as it widens hacking probe.

www.telegraph.co.uk