There’s always lots going on in the world of Tech, so it’s great to be able to take a bit of a time out and scour around for some interesting tech news to share. This week, well, it’s very varied!
- Unexpected tweeting devices
- The fake Tinder date
- Switching off on holiday
- Tech firms to face fines for harmful videos
- Facial recognition at train station calls for new laws
1. Unexpected tweeting devices – did you see the post of the fridge you can now use to Tweet from? Well, we certainly did. Initially exciting, we quickly decided that in fact, there can be too much of a good thing. Do we really want to be checking our notifications in the kitchen while poking our heads in the fridge for grub? Turns out you can also use washing machines and ovens for this new tech too, you can even go so far as tweeting from your toaster.
Read the full wacky story here thanks to the BBC.
2. The fake Tinder date. So you probably heard about the expensive Tinder date at the Shard? According to the story, after a meal and three bottles of wine, the bill racked up to a nice £15,000. Apparently the lady who was on the date had to set up a finance-style payback scheme to the Shard as obviously, she couldn’t afford the bill.
At the time, there was a lot of people questionning how the bill got so high, given that the most expensive bottle of wine at the Shard is no where near £5000 (not that we would know). In fact, the Shard have been inundated with calls and messages about the “incident”, and it turns out that the most expensive bottle available comes in at £2,300. So this viral story turns out not to be true, in fact, the company behind the Shard and those restaurants in it have cleared stated that this hasn’t happened at all, there isn’t a lady out there with a direct debit to them, and all of their visitors have paid their bills.
Is there a moral? Well if anything, it’s don’t believe everything you see and hear. FAKE NEWS ALERT.
3. Switching off on holiday was a topic back in the news last week, and of course, it is prime holiday season. But does the UK have a problem “switching off” when they’re away? Different for the self-employed perhaps, but if you’re employed and you’ve booked time to go away, you should be able to enjoy it without dipping in and out of work. The BBC have a great article about this, and we’d love to know your thoughts. Do we put too much opressure on ourselves these days to reply quickly?
4. The Government is apparently looking into fiving powers to fine video sharing apps and websites to the UK’s media regulator, Ofcom. This means that Ofcom would be able to find an app or website that shares harmful video content – we’re looking at you social media platforms. The move is designed to ensure that apps and websites make more of an effort to censor videos and content. We’d welcome such changes.
5. Did you see that King’s Cross have got a new facial recognition software set up around the station? Who knows why, we don’t, and King’s Cross haven’t said anything! But, it has triggered a debate as to whether or not the laws currently in place surrounding facial recognition software are up to scratch. What are your thoughts about it? A welcome use of technology, or infringing on our rights?