Thus your Apple account (or whatever) provides a single sign on (SSO) option which provides increased privacy. This article – https://www.macworld.com/article/234043/sign-in-with-apple-faq-what-you-need-to-know-about-apples-single-sign-on.html – provides more information on the approach and makes the case for using SSO with Apple over other possibilities.
Having an Apple account (used to be called AppleID) is not restricted to having an Apple device either – https://macreports.com/what-you-can-do-with-an-apple-id-without-an-apple-device/ – so it might be worth considering if Privacy is important to you.
https://uk.pcmag.com/browsers/157366/want-more-privacy-online-change-these-browser-settings
The Jargon slot – Phil
AudiobooksLeft-over items
Features you find frustrating or difficult to use on your devices – Stella
Do we need a ‘Best Before’ date for smart devices? – Stella
Arc Browser – Stella
A move towards banning fake reviews …
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2025/04/fake-reviews-drip-pricing-cma-rules
Tariffs & Trump
https://lifehacker.com/tech/should-you-buy-new-tech-before-tariffs-raise-prices
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/09/trump-apple-iphones-made-in-usa
https://www.macworld.com/article/2660512/president-trump-us-tariffs-impact-apple-products-price.html
Railcards – Ted and Don
April Fool – https://www.tiktok.com/@metoffice/video/7488009914921716994?lang=en – Margaret
Ability Net – Hearing Loss – Iain & Sheila
Microsoft Virtual Training Events – [I can’t find the link to the PDF file that Ian shared on Signal – I think!!]
The Offline Club – https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/07/health/video/offline-club-disconnecting-leader-interview-wellness-digvid – Jim
Hacks & Scams
Renee – Hack of Microsoft account
In the early hours of this morning a hacker from America tried to get into my Microsoft account. I am pleased to say he / she was unsuccessful. I have decided to close the account (I am a Mac user). It’s important to check “recent activity” on your account. You’ll be surprised to see a string of (hopefully) unsuccessful sign-ins, and from which countries.
Nita’s WhatsApp Hack
My what’s app has just been hacked and wondering if there is anyone here that can help me as I have no idea how I can get all my groups n messages back
I have not backed up on iCloud so that is not an option
I have not linked onto my laptop either so cannot access on laptop
What else can anyone suggest to get my account and messages pls
I replied …
You have few options left I’m afraid. Your messages are stored on your phone, that is the primary message store, so if you haven’t backed up your message store, there is little you can do – as I understand it – to recover your account.
This is what Claude told me, using the text you typed above …
I’m sorry to hear your WhatsApp account has been compromised. This can be stressful, but there are steps you can take to recover your account and possibly your messages.
Here’s what you can do:
1. First, try to regain control of your WhatsApp account by verifying your phone number again. Open WhatsApp and follow the verification process.
2. If you’re locked out completely, contact WhatsApp support through their official website or app.
3. Unfortunately, without a backup (either on iCloud or Google Drive), recovering past messages is very challenging. WhatsApp doesn’t store your messages on their servers once delivered.
4. For your groups: once you regain access to your account, you may still see your groups listed, though you might not have the message history.
5. Ask friends or family members who are in the same groups if they can add you back to any groups you’ve been removed from.
6. For future protection, I’d recommend enabling two-step verification in WhatsApp settings once you regain access.
7. You should also consider changing passwords for any accounts that might share similar passwords to your compromised account.
Would you like more specific information about any of these steps? Have you been able to verify your phone number again in the app?
… and Perplexity …
If your WhatsApp account has been hacked and you don’t have backups on iCloud or a linked laptop, follow these steps:
- Log Out All Linked Devices: Open WhatsApp, go to “Settings” > “Linked Devices,” and log out of all unknown devices.
- Re-register Your Account: Uninstall and reinstall WhatsApp. Enter your phone number to receive a verification code via SMS. This will log out the hacker as WhatsApp allows only one active device per account.
- Two-Step Verification: If a PIN is requested and you didn’t set it up, the hacker may have enabled two-step verification. You can reset the PIN via the “Forgot PIN” option if an email is linked to your account.
- Contact WhatsApp Support: Email support@whatsapp.com detailing the situation with “Lost/Stolen” in the subject line for further assistance.
- Recover Messages Locally: If using Android, check local storage under Internal Storage/WhatsApp/Databases for backups (e.g., msgstore.db.crypt14) and restore them during reinstallation.
Inform your contacts about the hack to prevent further misuse of your account.
Nita replied …
The email account is compromised as cannot change my password
I think I am back up having reinstalled the what’s app
Just need to check other social media accounts if compromised
Passkeys – Iain
https://www.howtogeek.com/microsoft-google-and-apple-want-you-to-use-passkeys-should-you
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgn1lz3v4no
The AI slot
https://petapixel.com/2025/04/09/chatgpt-can-turn-you-into-a-toy-action-figure
AI & cataracts – Phil
AI and cataracts. Hi, I’m finding all sorts of ways to use Chat GPT. Yesterday I asked it to find me some private clinics that offered cataract surgery near Cardiff and to give me some idea of the prices, and it did just that. In seconds. I could have found the same information trawling through websites but this is so much quicker.
AI learns to reason??? – Iain
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adw5211
… and we begin to understand how it works – Iain