Computer Act!ve - UK (2022-05-11)

7

IN BRIEF

TOMORROW’S

WORLD

These doctors might look a

bit fuzzy around the edges,

but then they are being

‘holoported’ 248 miles to

the International Space

Station. They appeared as

holograms, or as Nasa puts it:

“High-quality 3D models of

people to be reconstructed,

compressed and transmitted

live anywhere in real time”.

Read how it was done at

http://www.snipca.com/41791.

Do you find these ‘inclusive’

suggestions creepy or helpful?

Let us know: letters@computeractive.

co.uk

Choose your own colour in Windows 11

Task Manager

webcast isn’t ready to be

tested by Insiders, and that it’s

far from being the finished

version that will eventually be

added to Windows 11.

However, the latest Insider

Preview version of Task

Manager does add new

keyboard shortcuts: press

Alt+N to run a new task; press

Alt+E to end the selected

process; and press Alt+V to

turn Efficiency Mode on and

off for a selected process.

M

icrosoft is planning to

add colours to Windows

11’s Task Manager to make it

easier to understand exactly

what it’s showing.

The tool was revealed by

Microsoft developers during a

Windows Insider Webcast

broadcast in April (www.

snipca.com/41794).

It will work by using the

accent colours you pick

for Windows 11 in the

Personalisation section of

Settings.

Whichever colours you

choose, Windows will

continue to show light shades

for less-intensive processes,

and darker ones for heavier

tasks. In our screenshot, the

colour Rose has been selected.

The developers in the video

said that colours are being

added because users are

getting bored with the default

yellow “mustard” colour.

They also spoke about

Microsoft’s new ‘Efficiency

Mode’ in Task Manager,

letting users set limits for

how much power certain

tools can use.

They added that the Task

Manager shown in the

G

oogle’s new tool for

suggesting “inclusive”

terms when you’re writing

has angered some users for

being clumsy, creepy and

intrusive.

The company has added a

pop-up message to Google

Docs when you write a word

that “may not be inclusive

to all readers”, and gives

alternatives.

The intention is to prompt

people to avoid gender-

specific words like ‘policeman’

and ‘fireman’, but it has been

criticised for going too far.

For example, typing

‘housewife’ brings up the

suggestion ‘stay-at-home

spouse’, while ‘property

owner’ or ‘proprietor’ is

offered as an alternative to

‘landlord’ (pictured). The

word ‘motherboard’ is also

flagged up.

Silkie Carlo, of privacy

campaign group Big Brother

Watch, said that rather than

being helpful the warnings are

identifying and mitigating all

unwanted word associations

and biases”.

The company has previously

provided advice on using

more inclusive language,

suggesting “baffling” instead

of “crazy”, “person-hours”

instead of “man-hours” and

“older adults” instead of “the

elderly”.

The feature is being rolled

out to people using the paid-for

business version Google Docs.

It’s not known whether it will

be added to the free edition.

“deeply intrusive”. She added

that “this speech-policing is

profoundly clumsy, creepy

and wrong, often reinforcing

bias”.

Lazar Radic, a senior

scholar in economic policy

at the International Centre

for Law and Economics,

told the Sunday Telegraph:

“Not only is this incredibly

conceited and patronising –

it can also serve to stifle

individuality, self-expression,

experimentation”.

Google said that its

technology “is always

improving, and we don’t yet

(and may never) have a

complete solution to

Google’s ‘inclusive’ writing tool

called ‘creepy and intrusive’

VIRGIN LAUNCHES ‘ALL

IN ONE’ TV BOX

Virgin Media O

has released a

new internet TV

box called Stream

(pictured) that

provides access to

Freeview channels,

video apps and all the main

streaming services from

one device. It’s exclusive

to Virgin customers, and

available on a rolling monthly

contract, letting you add and

remove channels as you go.

It costs £35, with no further

costs beyond the streaming

services you subscribe to.

Visit Virgin’s site for details:

http://www.snipca.com/41789.

IWF REMOVES 252,

PAGES OF CHILD ABUSE

The Internet Watch

Foundation (IWF) removed

a record 252,194 web pages

containing sexual-abuse

images or videos of children

in 2021. The Cambridge-

based charity said this was

a rise of 67 per cent from

2020. Over 90 per cent of
      the abuse involved girls aged
      13 or under. Read its report at
      http://www.snipca.com/41793.

Issue 631 • 11 – 24 May 2022