2 h. ago Brits still value phone calls over texts for meaningful connections, study finds

New research shows that despite the rise in text messages, most Brits still consider a phone call the most meaningful way to connect with loved ones.

Politics

2 h. ago Phone call is still the most meaningful way to connect with someone, study finds

A poll of 2,000 adults found 55 per cent think giving someone a call shows they care about them much more than any other form of digital communication

Politics

2 w. ago The good news is, you’re owed a tax refund. The bad news? It’s a scam

170,000 fraudulent phone calls, texts and messages offering a refund, or threatening legal action over tax owed, were reported to HMRC up to July Tax calculations can be, well, taxing, so a message from HMRC saying that there’s been a mistake may not ring too many alarm bells. Some bring good news: you have overpaid and are owed a refund, but others claim you owe money. In both cases there’s an imminent deadline to act – sometimes with the threat of legal action, or penalties if you don’t.Scammers are taking advantage of people’s fears over bills to steal personal and banking information. Automated phone calls, and messages sent by text and email, typically tell you that you need to click on a link and log in to make a payment or claim a refund. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago Verizon outage strikes thousands across the US as customers can’t send texts or make calls

More than 23,000 people have reported an outage with Verizon

Economics

2 w. ago Verizon outage strikes thousands across the US as customers can’t send texts or calls

More than 23,000 people have reported an outage with Verizon

Economics

2 w. ago ChatGPT encouraged Adam Raine’s suicidal thoughts. His family’s lawyer says OpenAI knew it was broken

Jay Edelson rebukes Sam Altman’s push to put ChatGPT in schools when the CEO knows about its problemsAdam Raine was just 16 when he started using ChatGPT for help with his homework. While his initial prompts to the AI chatbot were about subjects like geometry and chemistry – questions like: “What does it mean in geometry if it says Ry=1” – in just a matter of months he began asking about more personal topics.“Why is it that I have no happiness, I feel loneliness, perpetual boredom anxiety and loss yet I don’t feel depression, I feel no emotion regarding sadness,” he asked ChatGPT in the fall of 2024.In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be foun...

Society

3 w. ago Britney Spears reflects on ‘hardest years’ and makes rare remark about Sam Asghari marriage

Pop star reflected on estrangement from her two children and claimed she was ‘cut off’ from calling or texting them

Politics

3 w. ago Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre’s memoir to be published posthumously

Nobody’s Girl, which Giuffre had been working on before her death, is set to be released this autumnThe posthumous memoir of Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent accusers, will be published in the autumn, a publisher has announced.Giuffre had been working on Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, with the award-winning author and journalist Amy Wallace before her death earlier this year.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

Politics