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New research drills down on poor student achievement, and notes some school districts that are beating the odds

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An Einstein Ring was discovered by the European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope in September 2023.

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As childhood vaccinate rates drop in the U.S. outbreaks of measles are rising. In his new book Booster Shots, Dr. Adam Ratner makes the case that this is a bad sign for public health.

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Sex and relationship experts share wise words of wisdom on love's thorniest topics, including what to do if a partner cheats and how to talk to your partner about your sex life.

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When I joined the newly formed Police Service of Scotland in 2014, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) - the United Kingdom (UK) cybersecurity authority - did not yet exist. By the end of my policing career in 2023, I was working as a Detective in Police Scotland’s newly established national Cybercrime Investigations Unit.

Here, we regularly engaged with the NCSC and other international agencies to investigate the increasingly complex cybercrime landscape. The technological changes I witnessed during that decade was significant, with individuals and businesses becoming increasingly reliant on technology to improve their lives and productivity.

Technology is now integrated into everyday life and is essential to many of the services we use daily. This includes technology’s critical role in:

• The National Health Service (NHS)
• The economy and financial transactions
• Our critical national infrastructure (CNI) such as the electricity and gas power supply, and data centres (now categorised as CNI by the UK government)
• Our communication for social, employment and national security purposes

With this increased reliance on technology and 50% of UK businesses reporting they experienced some form of cybersecurity breach or attack in the last year, it is no surprise that cybersecurity and the closing of the current skills gap, are priorities for the UK government.

The Widening Gap

Studies by the International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC2), an international non-profit cybersecurity organization, have found that while the demand for cybersecurity professionals to secure organizations globally is increasing, the supply of qualified cybersecurity professionals is not. This disparity has resulted in a skills gap, which has been widening year on year since at least 2022 when the study began.

The UK is also impacted by this skills gap. Research by the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology estimates that approximately 637,000 (44%) of businesses have basic cybersecurity skills gaps, where employees responsible for cybersecurity lack the confidence to carry out basic tasks, and do not outsource these tasks. Furthermore, approximately 390,000 (23%) of UK businesses have gaps in advanced cybersecurity skills such as penetration testing and incident response, skills essential for organizations with more complex cybersecurity needs.

The Impact of the Skills Gap

Why does the skills gap matter? As we become increasingly reliant on technology in our everyday lives, the severity of the impact caused by a cybersecurity incident grows as well. In recent years, we have seen the disruption that cyberattacks can cause. Notable examples include:

• Royal Mail (2023): Disrupting international deliveries and costing £10 million.
• The British Library (2023): Costing an estimated £7 million and impacted services are still not yet fully restored.

Whilst the internet has revolutionized global communications, it has also allowed cybercriminals to launch attacks from almost anywhere in the world. Cybercrime has no borders, and a few lines of code sent across the world to a system with cybersecurity vulnerabilities can have significant consequences: a digital butterfly effect.

As technology is constantly evolving, so too are cybersecurity threats. Consider some technologies that have risen in popularity in the last decade:

• Cloud computing
• Cryptocurrency
• Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Internet of Things (IoT) devices

All these technologies have been, and continue to be, exploited by cybercriminals.

Cybersecurity is a technological arms race between those seeking to breach networks and those seeking to defend them. With cybercriminals consistently learning new skills, it is essential for cybersecurity professionals to continually upskill in order to thwart attacks and protect data and IT infrastructure.

Strategies for Closing the Gap

Now that you know about the cybersecurity skills gap and the impact it will have, you might be asking how we can close the gap and secure the future of cybersecurity in the UK? Whilst there is no one-size-fits-all solution, several strategies can help:

Invest in People: One of the most important skills in cybersecurity is the ability to learn. Hiring and developing staff who are passionate about learning, and investing in training them, will help embed essential cybersecurity skills into your organization.

Education and Awareness: Ensuring that all staff understand basic cybersecurity concepts relevant to their role is essential to defending against threats. With 98% of cyberattacks relying on social engineering (exploiting the human element) employees must have at least a basic understanding of the risks and how to react.

Culture: Foster a culture where employees are encouraged and have opportunities to upskill and continuously learn. Employers that fail to prioritize upskilling their staff will risk leaving themselves vulnerable to emerging technologies and threats.

Upskilling Schemes: Identify and leverage cybersecurity upskilling schemes and grants offered by government and non-profit organizations. Examples include ISC2’s 1 Million Certified in Cybersecurity scheme and The Scottish Government’s Cybersecurity Graduate Apprenticeships scheme.

Look to the Future: Anticipate emerging technologies and threats and upskill your staff to meet the challenges presented. With new threats emerging daily, cybersecurity must be proactive rather than solely reactive.

Consider Outsourcing: It may be the case that your organization does not have sufficient internal cybersecurity skills at present. In this case, it may be practical to outsource cybersecurity tasks (even temporarily) as a cost-effective solution to provide the required skills into your organization.

Balancing Innovation and Security

New technologies present new opportunities for organizations to increase productivity and improve customer and employee experiences. However, whilst innovative technologies can have significant benefits, they also present new cybersecurity risks, and ignoring these risks can have devastating consequences.

When considering implementing new technologies, critically assess the risks they introduce, particularly regarding data and cybersecurity, and implement controls to mitigate them. Taking a holistic approach to considering security implications at an early stage will help prevent cybersecurity complacency and enhance your organizational resiliency against the evolving cyber threat landscape.

We've compiled a list of the best HR software.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

NASA’s Martian probes have captured photos of the Red Planet’s “extremely active” spring.

This review first appeared in issue 355 of PC Pro.

If your priority is to stay safe, there are two good reasons to choose G Data Total Protection: its twin malware detection engines. G Data combines its own engine with Bitdefender’s, which is also a reliable performer, helping to keep those detection scores high.

It’s better known in its native Germany than in the UK, which is why it isn’t tested so widely; the UK-based SE Labs doesn’t test G Data, and even in AV-Test (based in Austria) we had to go back to February 2023 for results, where it provided 100% protection.

AV-Comparatives is based in Germany and unsurprisingly covers G Data much more frequently, and here it provided a strong set of scores, albeit not the best. Most recently, it returned a solid 99.6% protection rating with eight false positives. That’s just short of the clean sweep we saw last year, but if you’d spent the past 12 months using G Data then it’s very unlikely you will have experienced a malware infection.

(Image credit: Future)

There’s no shortage of scan options if you’re concerned. You can run or schedule a full malware scan, or scan specific files or directories, your computer’s memory and startup processes, removable media, and also check for rootkits. Other options under Virus Protection allow you to access quarantined files or burn a bootable rescue image to a CD or USB drive.

G Data Total Protection’s features haven’t changed in any major way since last year’s review, which is both good and bad. For example, it’s good that you’re prompted to install a plugin for Edge, but you’ll find references to Internet Explorer scattered throughout the G Data suite. Indeed, parts of the application feel oriented towards Windows operating systems that have been end-of-life for years, and include extra features that cater to older PC hardware configurations. Discontinued browsers, apps and web services appear in configuration settings and additional software tools, though the disk defragmenter at least automatically excludes drives that it detects to be SSDs. You can override this, but we strongly advise against it.

As we observed last year, the parental controls include an option to block all SSL sites, otherwise known as most of the modern internet. They otherwise work as you’d expect, but that’s still not as helpful as Microsoft Family Safety, unless you’d rather not create Microsoft accounts for your children. G Data’s password manager is particularly poor, minimally documented, and still only has plugins for Google Chrome and Internet Explorer. Use a dedicated password manager instead.

G Data is quirky but effective when it comes to malware protection (Image credit: Future)

More sensibly, as many people are still on modest internet connections and need as few delays to their downloads as possible, only downloads of up to 10MB are checked by the G Data Web protection tool by default. The files will also be checked once they’ve been downloaded, but if you’ve got a fast PC and internet connection to match, you might want to disable this option.

G Data’s firewall is simple and easy to work with, and its default autopilot is hassle-free. The backup tool supports differential and incremental backups of any selected files and folders, on the schedule of your choice, to physical media, a network location or a synced storage drive.

Unexpectedly, if you’re in the UK, G Data will be sold to you in US dollars, which means $50 for a one-device subscription, $66 for three devices and $82 for five devices. Whether you buy from a third-party retailer (good luck) or from G Data directly, there are no hidden price hikes after the first year of subscription, which is a real strength compared to its rivals.

(Image credit: Future)

G Data Total Security is the premium version of the company’s antivirus software, available on Windows and macOS, with iOS and Android apps to go with it. However, we actually recommend that you buy G Data Internet Security ($40) instead, as this gets you the powerful antivirus engines, plus the firewall, quarantine, cross-platform protection and parental controls – without the performance tuning and encryption tools, or the clunky password manager. You miss out on the device access controls and backup tool, which is one of the best we’ve seen built into an AV suite, but let’s not forget that Duplicati is free.

In truth, we still find the client’s old-school looks rather endearing, and love all the little touches – such as USB keylogger detection and the ability to include only some of the security suite’s features at install time – but it could do with updates for the Windows 11 era (and Windows 10 era), particularly when it comes to its privacy tools.

Nonetheless, G Data provides straightforward, effective and inexpensive protection against malware and other threats to your system, making it one of our favorite security suites, despite its quirks.

We've also rated the best privacy tools and anonymous browsers.

This review first appeared in issue 355 of PC Pro.

The Framework Laptop 16 defies categorization. It’s a gaming laptop, unless you decide not to choose discrete graphics, in which case it’s a productivity workhorse.

Even then you have decisions to make. Which keyboard? Should you choose a number pad? Perhaps an RGB macro pad? What about spacers, ports, storage? This is simply the most customizable laptop I’ve seen.

There are two drawbacks, starting with the price. But all the various input options, expansion choices and graphics swaps make specifying the Framework Laptop 16 a complicated matter. For PC Pro readers familiar with the inner workings of PCs this won’t be a problem, but Framework is hitting the point where you need a degree of expertise or you could make a costly mistake.

(Image credit: Future)

Start with the basics

As always with Framework, you can either build the laptop yourself – and bring your own OS – using its DIY Edition, or opt for a pre-built model. The former starts at £1,399, the latter at £1,699.

If you opt for pre-built, you have three options: Performance, Performance Pro (which, for an extra £50, includes Windows 11 Pro) or Overkill for £2,099. Both Performance models have the same core spec of an AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS, 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage. Overkill ups the ante with a Ryzen 9 79440HS, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.

Framework sent us its £1,749 Performance Pro configuration, but with the Graphics Module containing a discrete AMD Radeon RX 7700S chip, which adds £400 to the price.

So our test system costs £2,149, but that’s before adding any extras. As part of the price, you get six USB expansion cards to slot into the six bays built into the side of the chassis, and if you stick to USB-A or USB-C you won’t pay any extra. Want HDMI, a DisplayPort, microSD card or an audio jack? Those cost an extra £10 apiece. And if you want Ethernet you’ll pay £30 more. You can also order storage expansion cards, with 256GB (£45) or 1TB (£125) options available. In short, this is a smorgasbord of a laptop for you to kit out as you wish.

Choose carefully, though. You can only charge from the back four ports, while only three of the six ports support display output. And USB-C works in any port, but only the back two allow full USB 4 speeds.

It’s possible to replace and repair every part of this laptop yourself (Image credit: Future)

Key decisions

At this point, it won’t surprise you that the choice of keyboard and touchpad modules on the Framework Laptop 16 depend on you. Your choices, however, must include a keyboard module, touchpad module and spacers, with the possibility of a number pad, macro pad and LED Matrix spacer as extras.

Framework expects you to work out where to put the keyboard. It could be central, with two spacers on either side. Or perhaps you’re left-handed and would prefer to put the number pad there. Just as importantly, if one of these parts dies, it’s easy to replace.

There are a load of options to pick from, and Framework is happy to sell them to you. An RGB backlit keyboard – US English only, for now – costs £50. A number pad module is £39, while an RGB macro pad is an extra £79. This macro pad offers 24 programmable RGB backlit keys that you can configure how you like in software.

(Image credit: Future)

And there’s more. While black spacers for the keyboard come standard, you can switch to orange, grey or lavender for £5 a pop. Or go wild and buy the LED Matrix design for £39 each. The downside of this modularity is that there are seams; while everything is guided by magnets and fits snugly, you can see where the modules and spacers are separated.

The keyboard and macros are controlled by the open-source software VIA, and while Framework uses a simplified, browser-based version, there’s still a learning curve. Framework needs to work on this: it should be far easier to program the RGB macro pad, for instance.

My other gripe is about the keyboard. Framework says the keys offer 1.5mm of travel, but they were too mushy for my taste. If only Framework offered a ThinkPad-like keyboard option.

The choice of keyboard and touchpad modules is up to you (Image credit: Future)

Upgrade ability

While shuffling around the Framework’s modular input mechanisms is easy enough, actually getting into the device is harder than on the Framework Laptop 13. After removing all of the input modules, you have to pull a cable in the metal plate, helpfully labelled number 1. From there, you can use a T5 screwdriver (one comes with the laptop) to remove 16 captive screws labelled 2 to 17.

Our pre-built model came with a single 512GB M.2 2280 SSD installed. If you want to add another, there’s room for a smaller M.2 2230 SSD underneath. The DDR5 memory is upgradable, as is the battery and, in theory, the motherboard (this is also your route to future CPUs). The other upgrade is the GPU, but at the moment the Radeon RX 7700S is your only option. I’d like to see Nvidia get involved, but Framework is making no promises.

You can also buy the laptop with both the Graphics Module and the Expansion Bay Shell. The idea is that if you want to travel lighter, you can swap the shell with the graphics module. However, it’s a trickier process than it should be.

Frequent travelers will probably make the effort, though, as even without the Graphics Module the laptop weighs 2.1kg. With it, that goes up to 2.4kg, and the height at the back increases from 18mm to 21mm.

You can buy a pre-built Framework Laptop if you prefer (Image credit: Future)

Speed boost

Framework’s 16in anti-glare display comes with a 2,560 x 1,600 IPS panel, and it performed well in our technical tests. It covers 75% of the DCI-P3 gamut with a peak brightness of 485cd/m2and an average Delta E of 0.21. There’s also an anti-glare coating, which is better for work than for games or watching films.

Still, when I started testing with one of my favorite games, Control, it looked great. The game features a lot of red lighting, which looked bright and vibrant on the Framework Laptop. The pair of speakers sound good, too, only lacking in bass.

As for speed, I started at 1,920 x 1,200 on High settings with medium ray tracing presets, where the game ran between 40fps and 48fps but with several stutters. Cutting ray tracing and dropping to Medium settings kept me more reliably above 50fps, albeit again with a few hiccups. The fans were spinning loudly during gameplay, keeping the system cool.

Those aren’t great results, especially compared to laptops with an RTX 4070 – which now cost less than £1,500. For example, on Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s highest settings, the Framework reached 86fps at 1080p and 49fps at the panel’s native resolution of 2,560 x 1,600. An RTX 4070 system scored 104fps and 60fps respectively.

It’s a similar story for productivity performance. Although the Ryzen 7 7840HS is a fine processor, with eight high-performance cores and 16 threads, a glance through these pages will review cheaper laptops that outperform it. Bearing in mind this is a laptop with gaming skills, however, it was great to see battery life of 8hrs 49mins in our web-surfing test.

(Image credit: Future)

Final word

While I have my criticisms of the Framework Laptop 16, then, it’s obvious in so many ways that this is a company with ethics at its heart. That stretches to the 1080p webcam, which produces good detail and colours but also features a switch next to it that turns it off. There’s another switch for the microphone, too.

Then there’s its approach to materials: the cover is made from 75% post-industrial recycled (PIR) aluminum, the bottom cover is 90% PIR aluminum, shipping is fully carbon offset and the packaging is 100% recyclable. Framework is setting the standards for other to follow.

While the Framework Laptop 16 isn’t for everyone, it offers tech enthusiasts the chance to build their dream laptop – provided that the dream involves a 16in screen and all-AMD parts.

We've also rated the best monitors for gaming.

This review first appeared in issue 355 of PC Pro.

D-Link is aiming to take surveillance in new directions with its DSS-200G series of Layer 2 switches, which are designed to power the latest IP cameras and provide automated recovery services. This family of four switches is headed up by the 28-port DSS-200G-28MPP, which has a punchy power budget of 518W and offers support for 90W 802.3bt PoE services.

We reviewed the DSS-200G-28MP model, which sits on the rung below and offers a more modest 370W power budget with 30W 803.2at services available across all 24 gigabit ports. Both have four pairs of unpowered copper and fiber dual-personality gigabit ports for uplinks to a network video recorder (NVR) or server.

The switch can power any PoE-compliant device, but D-Link has focused primarily on surveillance usage. It incorporates 6kV surge protection circuitry to shield external cameras against lightning strikes.

One common feature of the DSS-200G series is the block of five DIP switches at the front, which are used to hard-set certain features. The first switch sets an ingress priority function so packets entering port 1 have the highest priority while those incoming on port 24 have the lowest.

The second switch enables a PoE extend mode on the first eight ports. This overcomes the 100-metre PoE cable length limitation by allowing powered devices (PDs) to be placed up to 250 meters away but, in common with all PoE extenders, it drops speed to 10Mbits/sec.

The third switch activates an isolation function so packets incoming on a “controlled” port will only be forwarded to a designated uplink port. This is a handy security feature; it means that if an IP camera is compromised, the intruder can’t gain access to any others attached to the switch.

The D-Link DSS-200G-28MP provides a power budget of 370W (Image credit: Future)

Next up is D-Link’s PD-Alive function, which pings the IP address of a device to check availability and, if it doesn’t respond for a specific time, will reset its PoE services and send out notifications, although for traps, only the less secure SNMPv2 is supported. Lastly, the fifth DIP switch enables STP, which uses redundant paths to restore connections due to a link failure.

Two management modes are available, and selecting the standard option from the quick start wizard presents a web interface with access to every switch feature. From here, you can configure all Layer 2 functions, create surveillance and voice VLANs, assign one of three PoE priorities to each port and enable the global ONVIF service so all compliant IP cameras are discovered and placed in a separate VLAN.

The surveillance mode presents a completely different interface with a smart graphical topology view showing all ports and attached devices. After we connected three D-Link PoE IP cameras, they were identified and automatically assigned icons with the correct model photo.

The two web consoles include a graphical view for monitoring functions (Image credit: Future)

Add non-D-Link cameras and, as long as they’re ONVIF-compliant, the switch assigns a generic camera icon but won’t identify their make or model. Devices such as our Netgear Wi-Fi 6 APs were simply classed as “other” but, in all cases, PoE services can be manually recycled to force a remote reboot.

The graphical theme continues with the console offering a filtered view showing only IP cameras along with their IP addresses and power consumption. You can keep a close eye on total power consumption and switch stats from the surveillance overview page, set schedules to control when power is provided to selected ports and configure the PD-Alive function on individual ports instead of using the fourth DIP switch.

The web console is mainly concerned with surveillance functions and offers greatly reduced access to switch settings. This isn’t a problem, though, as you can swap back to the standard mode if you need to tweak something and then return to surveillance mode.

The DSS-200G-28MP is a worthy contender for business surveillance duties as it offers plenty of smart IP camera management and monitoring features. Value looks good, too, as it includes a generous PoE budget, but you’ll need to focus on D-Link’s IP cameras to get the best from it.

We also rated the best secure smartphones.

This review first appeared in issue 355 of PC Pro.

SMBs that want a cloud file-sharing service that snaps neatly into their existing workflows will love Box, as it offers more app integrations than most of its rivals – over 1,500 in fact. Even better, admins can control which third-party apps are to be made available, and users can browse and install them directly from their personal web portal.

There’s a lot more to Box than that, however. It’s packed to the gills with collaboration tools: along with the obligatory cloud file-sharing and syncing services, it provides facilities for issuing file upload requests to external users, strong access controls for shared files, Box Preview for viewing and editing files in a browser without downloading them, Box Relay for automating repetitive tasks and Box Notes for taking real-time meeting minutes.

The new Box Canvas adds an extra sharing dimension that allows you to create secure virtual whiteboard sessions. Users can access this from their web portal, start sessions, invite other users and employ a selection of templates as well as drawing and editing tools to create interactive meetings, training sessions and more.

Box provides free iOS and Android mobile apps (Image credit: Future)

Box is available in five plans, with the Business Plus on review starting at three users and costing £20 each per month when billed annually. It enables a 15GB maximum file size, a 50-file version history, includes initial access to ten app integrations and gives value a big boost by offering unlimited cloud storage.

User onboarding is swift and they’ll find the web portal very easy to use. It opens with an overview of all their files and folders, and shows the most recent documents across the top. The left menu bar provides one-click access to all tools including Notes, Relay and Canvas.

When sharing content with team members, users can apply one of seven access permissions, ranging from viewing only to full editorial rights, and receive notifications when anyone accesses them. Box Collections is a smart feature that allows users to organize files, folders and web links in personal logical groups in their web portal without having to create new shared folders for them.

Install the local Box Drive app from the portal’s Sync page and you’ll receive a mapped drive with quick access to cloud files. You can mark any for offline access so they’re downloaded and stored locally and changes made are synced back to the cloud when internet access is restored.

Microsoft Teams users will find the Box app a worthy addition. We added it to our Teams desktop app and, after logging into a Box account, it presented an interface that’s a near-perfect replica of the web portal.

Box Insights keeps admins appraised on all file activity (Image credit: Future)

Business Plus supports unlimited external collaborators – people outside your organisation that are invited to work with you on shared files. They require a Box account to access them, but this isn’t a deal breaker as when we shared a file using an email address outside our account domain, the user was prompted to create a free Box Individual account, which provides 10GB of cloud storage and a 250MB file upload limit.

There are no such limitations on file upload requests, as external users don’t need a Box account for this. Users select a folder, create a file request, paste the web link into an email and send it to the recipient, who drags the required files into the web page to send them.

Box Business Plus delivers a superb range of cloud file-sharing and collaboration tools at a price that is sure to appeal to SMBs. It supports an incredible range of app integrations and tools, delivers strong access controls and neatly amalgamates everything into a well-designed web portal.

We've also ranked the best customer relationship management software for small businesses.

When you use an ad blocker, encountering an "ad-block wall" or a pop-up asking you to disable it for access is common. While opinions on these ad-block walls vary — some implementations being more reasonable than others — they are generally straightforward in their intent. These websites openly express their dislike for ad blockers and request users to turn them off.

However, a new and concerning trend has emerged with certain anti-ad block pop-ups that not only restrict access but also misattribute blame to ad blockers for website issues. In this article, we’ll explore this phenomenon in detail, examining the tactics behind these deceptive messages and their implications for user trust and website credibility.

Browsing and finding errors

I was browsing for tech reviews when I came across a site that seemed to load normally at first. But as soon as I opened it with my AdGuard for Windows running to block ads, a pop-up appeared. It said the site couldn't load properly because "html-load.com is broken" and prompted me to allow html-load.com to proceed.

I was surprised by this message, especially since the site seemed to be loading more or less correctly in the background. However, that didn’t last long. A few seconds later, the page no longer displayed the intended content and instead showed a jumble of strings, some of which were hyperlinked.

After clicking “OK,” another pop-up appeared, further explaining the situation. It read: “The page could not be loaded due to incorrect/bad filtering rule(s) of ad blocker.” In fine print at the bottom, it added: “The html-load.com domain is used for loading essential web resources such as HTML, CSS, and images. If this domain is blocked, errors may occur in website loading.”

After some research, we at AdGuard discovered that dozens of websites employ similar tactics, displaying pop-ups that blame ad blockers for layout issues.

The catch here is this is not what is actually happening — ad blockers are not breaking these websites, it is so-called ad recovery tools that make them look broken. While it’s true that sometimes ad blockers can garble the original layout after blocking ads due to a bad or outdated filtering rule, this happens very rarely and almost never results in a complete breakdown of the layout.

Before we delve any deeper into why we believe the messages we’ve shown above are deceptive, let us show some other examples of similar if not the same behavior that we’d encountered earlier.

In August this year, we noticed similar tactics being used by Mail.ru, a popular Russian email service and web portal. Suddenly, a block displaying news stopped showing for users with ad blockers. As we looked into the root of the issue, we discovered that Mail.ru had added code to the page that, upon detecting an ad blocker, hides the news section. After implementing this code, Mail.ru made sure to point the finger at ad blockers as the culprit, going as far as emailing a notice to users that blamed ad blockers for the disappearance of certain elements from the page.

From what we’ve seen recently, it seems that the trend of framing ad blockers for the incorrect display of web pages (that is de-facto lying to them) is gaining momentum and becoming global.

Classic ad block walls: what’s the difference?

This approach of forcing users to disable their ad blockers is both new and not new at the same time. The very idea that users need to turn off their ad blocker to access content isn’t novel; it has long been employed by websites that greet visitors with so-called ad block walls, or anti-adblock pop-ups. These pop-ups typically request users to disable their ad blocker or add the site to their ad blocker’s whitelist.

In the case of these "classic" ad block walls, publishers openly acknowledge that their issue with ad blockers lies in their mere use, not in how they disrupt the website’s layout. Opinions on the "classic" ad block walls approach may vary, but at least the publishers are being honest. When it comes to our own policy, we believe that ad blocker detection messages should be allowed if they offer a feasible value exchange that does not put the user’s privacy or security at risk.

The same cannot be said for the new approach we’re focusing on in this article. So, let’s dive a little deeper into how it works behind the scenes.

First method: Reliance on external styles

What we've observed is the work of so-called ad recovery tools. These tools operate in various ways, often attempting to bypass ad blockers to display ads or recover lost revenue.

One common method involves an ad recovery tool loading styles from external sources. External styles are CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) files that define how a website looks and feels — everything from layout to colors.

If a website relies on an external style from a certain domain, the ad recovery tool loads this style from external sources, and if that domain is blocked by an ad blocker, the website's layout can break. To address this issue and maintain the layout, AdGuard can sometimes load styles manually after a script is blocked. This approach helps ensure that the website remains visually coherent, even when ads are being filtered out.

This can be complicated, particularly on iOS or within browser extensions.

There is also a second method.

Second method: Misleading warning messages

Many websites, including the one we used to illustrate the trend, do not rely on external styles; their layout remains intact even when ads are blocked. However, if the site detects that a script from html-load.com (in our case) isn’t loading, it triggers a misleading warning message. After clicking "OK," a larger warning appears, filled with confusing jargon about CSS and images. In reality, it’s not the ad blocker causing issues, but an ad-recovery tool that removes the layout using special scripts.

When it detects that some requests are blocked or some specific elements are hidden or something went wrong with loading ads, the ad-recovery script removes all elements with style and link tag by using a script like:

document.querySelectorAll('link,style').forEach((e)=>e.remove())

This tactic misleads users into believing that the ad blocker is responsible for the failure. In fact, the site is attempting to shift the blame away from its own choice to use an ad-recovery tool, which is causing the problem, and pin it on the ad blocker instead.

Conclusion

What we’ve established here is that some websites are misrepresenting the reason for why they would not open with an ad blocker one. They come up with outright misleading messages that blame ad blockers for loading issues. In our view, such unscrupulous behavior only casts them in a negative light. When websites deceive users right from the moment they land on their pages, these sites risk damaging their reputation and eroding user trust. As the saying goes, if someone wrongs you once, they’re likely to do it again.

This kind of misdirection not only harms the relationship between users and ad blockers, but also between users and the websites themselves, because they manipulate user behavior with misinformation and abuse user trust.

We've listed the best website change monitoring software and the best website defacement monitoring service.

This article was produced as part of TechRadarPro's Expert Insights channel where we feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today. The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/news/submit-your-story-to-techradar-pro

At least 55 people are dead after their bus plunged into a gorge and landed under a bridge Monday on the outskirts of Guatemala's capital.

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The alleged human rights violations range from unauthorized home raids to racial profiling to deporting breastfeeding mothers and unaccompanied minors.

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• UK joins China and UAE in global race for hyperfast broadband
• Openreach and Nokia show how fibre networks can scale from 10G today to 50G
• Telemedicine and AI-driven healthcare will benefit from 50Gbps broadband

The UK’s first live 50Gbps fibre broadband connection has been successfully tested in a trial by Nokia and Openreach, delivering speeds up to twenty times faster than existing services.

Openreach revealed more on the test, which was conducted in Ipswich over Openreach’s full-fibre network using Nokia’s 50G PON technology, and achieved download speeds of 41.9Gbps and upload speeds of 20.6Gbps.

To put this speed into perspective, downloading a high-definition movie on a typical 100Mbps connection takes about seven minutes. With a 1Gbps connection, it takes around 40 seconds, while at 50Gbps, the same movie would be ready almost instantly.

A global push for hyperfast fibre broadband

The test involved Openreach’s upgraded XGS-PON network, an enhanced version of its existing infrastructure, which supports higher symmetric speeds.

Trevor Linney, Director of Network Technology at Openreach, emphasized the long-term significance of the trial, noting, “it’s crucial that we continue to research, innovate and evolve our network to meet our customers’ demands for decades to come."

"The full fibre network we’re building today is a platform for the UK’s economic, social and environmental prosperity, and this test proves we can keep upgrading the speeds and services our customers experience over that network long into the future.”

One of the most immediate benefits of 50Gbps broadband will be entertainment, as technologies like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and 8K video streaming require high bandwidth and low latency to function smoothly. Beyond entertainment, the same high-speed connectivity will also enhance remote work and online learning.

In healthcare, high-speed broadband is essential for telemedicine, AI-driven diagnostics, and real-time medical imaging. Near-instant transmission of large medical files will enable quicker remote consultations and enhance patient care, particularly in urgent situations.

Sandy Motley, President of Nokia Fixed Networks, highlighted how this technology sets the stage for even greater advancements.

“Our platform provides [Openreach] with a full range of PON technologies and services that can be delivered over their existing fibre network," she said.

"From 10G and 25G today to eventually 50Gbps or even 100G, our unique toolkit of fibre solutions allows Openreach to future-proof their network and flexibly address their evolving network demand.”

The UK joins China and the United Arab Emirates in testing these broadband speeds, though there's no confirmed timeline for a full rollout just yet.

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Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 11.

Google wants you to know that Gemini 2.0 Flash should be your favorite AI chatbot. The model boasts greater speed, bigger brains, and more common sense than its predecessor, Gemini 1.5 Flash. After putting Gemini Flash 2.0 through its paces against ChatGPT, I decided to see how Google's new favorite model compares to its older sibling.

As with the earlier matchup, I set up the duel with a few prompts built around common ways anyone might employ Gemini, including myself. Could Gemini 2.0 Flash offer better advice for improving my life, explain a complex subject I know little about in a way I could understand, or work out the answer to a complex logic problem and explain the reasoning? Here's how the test went.

Productive choices

(Image credit: Screenshots from Google Gemini)

If there’s one thing AI should be able to do, it’s give useful advice. Not just generic tips, but applicable and immediately helpful ideas. So I asked both versions the same question: "I want to be more productive but also have better work-life balance. What changes should I make to my routine?"

Gemini 2.0 was noticeably quicker to respond, even if it was only a second or two faster. As for the actual content, both had some good advice. The 1.5 model broke down four big ideas with bullet points, while 2.0 went for a longer list of 10 ideas explained in short paragraphs.

I liked some of the more specific suggestions from 1.5, such as the Pareto Principle, but besides that, 1.5 felt like a lot of restating the initial concept, whereas 2.0 felt like it gave me more nuanced life advice for each suggestion. If a friend were to ask me for advice on the subject, I'd definitely go with 2.0's answer.

What's up with Wi-Fi?

(Image credit: Screenshots from Google Gemini)

A big part of what makes an AI assistant useful isn’t just how much it knows – it’s how well it can explain things in a way that actually clicks. A good explanation isn’t just about listing facts; it’s about making something complex feel intuitive. For this test, I wanted to see how both versions of Gemini handled breaking down a technical topic in a way that felt relevant to everyday life. I asked: “Explain how Wi-Fi works, but in a way that makes sense to someone who just wants to know why their internet is slow.”

Gemini 1.5 went with comparing Wi-Fi to radio, which is more of a description than the analogy it suggested it was making. Calling the router the DJ is something of a stretch, too, though the advice about improving the signal was at least coherent.

Gemini 2.0 used a more elaborate metaphor involving a water delivery system with devices like plants receiving water. The AI extended the metaphor to explain what might be causing issues, such as too many "plants" for the water available and clogged pipes representing provider issues. The "sprinkler interference" comparison was much weaker, but as with the 1.5 version, Gemini 2.0 had practical advice for improving the Wi-Fi signal. Despite being much longer, 2.0's answer emerged slightly faster.

Logic bomb

(Image credit: Screenshots from Google Gemini)

For the last test, I wanted to see how well both versions handled logic and reasoning. AI models are supposed to be good at puzzles, but it’s not just about getting the answer right – it’s about whether they can explain why an answer is correct in a way that actually makes sense. I gave them a classic puzzle: "You have two ropes. Each takes exactly one hour to burn, but they don’t burn at a consistent rate. How do you measure exactly 45 minutes?"

Both models technically gave the correct answer about how to measure the time but in about as different a way as is possible within the constraints of the puzzle and being correct. Gemini 2.0's answer is shorter, ordered in a way that's easier to understand, and explains itself clearly despite its brevity. Gemini 1.5's answer required more careful parsing, and the steps felt a little out of order. The phrasing was also confusing, especially when it said to light the remaining rope "at one end" when it meant the end that it isn't currently lit.

For such a contained answer, Gemini 2.0 stood out as remarkably better for solving this kind of logic puzzle.

Gemini 2.0 for speed and clarity

After testing the prompts, the differences between Gemini 1.5 Flash and Gemini 2.0 Flash were clear. Though 1.5 wasn't necessarily useless, it did seem to struggle with specificity and making useful comparisons. The same goes for its logic breakdown. Were that applied to computer code, you'd have to do a lot of cleanup for a functioning program.

Gemini 2.0 Flash was not only faster but more creative in its answers. It seemed much more capable of imaginative analogies and comparisons and far clearer in explaining its own logic. That’s not to say it’s perfect. The water analogy fell apart a bit, and the productivity advice could have used more concrete examples or ideas.

That said, it was very fast and could clear up those issues with a bit of back-and-forth conversation. Gemini 2.0 Flash isn't the final, perfect AI assistant, but it's definitely a step in the right direction for Google as it strives to outdo itself and rivals like ChatGPT.

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• Meta is testing a machine that decodes brain signals into words typed into a computer.
• The brain-typing system is up to 80% accurate but nowhere near practical.
• The machine is a half-ton, costs $2 million, needs a shielded room, and even slight head movements disrupt the signal.

Meta is showing off a machine capable of turning your thoughts into words typed on a screen, but don't expect to write your Instagram captions telepathically any time soon. The device weighs about half a ton, costs $2 million, and is about as portable as a refrigerator. So, unless you were planning to lug around a lab-grade magnetoencephalography (MEG) scanner, you won’t be sending mind texts anytime soon. And that's before even considering how you can't even slightly move your head when using it.

Still, what Meta has done is impressive. Their AI and neuroscience teams have trained a system that can analyze brain activity and determine what keys someone is pressing – purely based on thought. There are no implanted electrodes, no sci-fi headbands, just a deep neural network deciphering brainwaves from the outside. The research, detailed in a pair of newly released papers, reveals that the system is up to 80% accurate at identifying letters from brain activity, allowing it to reconstruct complete sentences from a typist’s thoughts.

While typing out phrases, a volunteer sits inside a MEG scanner, which looks a bit like a giant hair dryer. The scanner picks up magnetic signals from neurons firing in the brain, and an AI model, aptly named Brain2Qwerty, gets to work learning which signals correspond to which keys. After enough training, it can predict the letters a person is typing. The results weren't perfect, but could reach accuracy levels of up to 80%.

Brain typing

(Image credit: Meta)

Telepathic typing has some real limits for now. The scanner needs to be in a specially shielded room to block out Earth’s magnetic field, which is a trillion times stronger than what's in your head. Plus, the slightest head tilt scrambles the signal. But there's more to it than just another Meta-branded product. The research could really boost brain science and, eventually, medical care for brain injuries and illnesses.

"To explore how the brain transforms thoughts into intricate sequences of motor actions, we used AI to help interpret the MEG signals while participants typed sentences. By taking 1,000 snapshots of the brain every second, we can pinpoint the precise moment where thoughts are turned into words, syllables, and even individual letters," Meta explained in a blog post. "Our study shows that the brain generates a sequence of representations that start from the most abstract level of representations—the meaning of a sentence—and progressively transform them into a myriad of actions, such as the actual finger movement on the keyboard."

Despite its limitations, the non-invasive aspect of Meta's research makes for a much less scary approach than cramming a computer chip right in your brain as companies like Neuralink are testing. Most people wouldn't sign up for elective brain surgery. Even though a product isn't the stated goal of the research, historical points demonstrate that giant, lab-bound machines don't have to stay that way. A tiny smartphone does what a building-size computer couldn't in the 1950s. Perhaps today's brain scanner is tomorrow’s wearable.

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