Technology Tales

AbyssGuard

This visitor verification service uses behavioural fingerprinting to identify and block malicious actors including scrapers, automated bots, hackers and data harvesters before they can reach your site. The system analyses visitor behaviour in real time to detect threats such as SQL injection attempts, WordPress vulnerabilities, PHP exploits and fake search engine crawlers whilst verifying the authenticity of legitimate crawlers. It operates through a shared threat network where attackers flagged on any protected site are blocked across the entire network, and it claims to achieve zero false positives by isolating individual bad actors rather than blocking entire IP ranges. The service requires no infrastructure changes, adds minimal latency by sending headers via HEAD requests rather than proxying traffic, and offers detailed logs with options for IP blocking and country-based restrictions. Pricing is structured around daily request volumes starting from a free tier of 1,000 requests per day up to custom plans for higher traffic volumes, with all plans including full protection features and a five-day free trial available without requiring payment details.

Can I use BBC Sounds with my Alexa device?

Alexa Skills: BBC Sounds

The BBC Sounds skill for Amazon Alexa allows UK listeners to access live radio stations, podcasts, programmes and music mixes through voice commands. Users must first enable the skill either by asking Alexa to open BBC Sounds or through the Alexa app, then link their BBC account to create a personalised experience that includes listening history, the ability to resume content across devices and local news updates based on saved postcodes. Once linked, listeners can control playback with various voice commands to play specific stations or podcasts, rewind or fast forward live radio, navigate between episodes and discover new content through category requests. The skill also supports Alexa Routines for scheduling content at specific times and works with multi-room playback to stream across multiple Amazon devices simultaneously. Users experiencing technical difficulties can find troubleshooting guidance and information about known issues through the BBC Sounds help pages, whilst some content remains restricted to UK-based listeners only.

How to take a full-page screenshot with a hidden Chrome shortcut

Here are some methods for capturing full-page screenshots across various web browsers, focusing on Chrome's built-in developer tool feature accessible via keyboard shortcuts, which allows users to save entire web pages as images. As well as steps for customising screenshot dimensions in Chrome, there are alternative procedures for browsers such as Edge, Firefox, Safari and Brave, each with specific menu options or shortcuts. The techniques work most effectively on text-heavy pages rather than interactive web applications and the article also mentions third-party tools for screenshot sharing and automation, though these are presented as supplementary options rather than primary solutions.

Neurodivergent? Why you should learn how to automate.

Neurodivergent individuals, including those with conditions such as ADHD, autism spectrum disorder or dyslexia, often face challenges when attempting to meet conventional productivity standards that may not align with how their brains naturally function. Automation tools can serve as valuable aids by handling tasks that tax executive function, allowing neurodivergent people to design systems suited to their cognitive strengths rather than forcing themselves into neurotypical frameworks. Tasks worth automating include recurring responsibilities that are easily forgotten or impossible to complete on difficult days, activities requiring excessive switching between applications, and processes that are too boring, repetitive or complex to initiate.

Neurodivergent workers have found success using automated workflows to manage bill payments, send routine status updates, maintain calendar accuracy, document achievements, streamline notifications and organise files without manual intervention. Identifying automation opportunities involves tracking frustrations as they arise, recognising both the activities that provide motivation and those that trigger overwhelm, potentially adding variety to prevent important alerts from becoming background noise, and establishing a single trusted system to reduce cognitive load from context switching. Whilst automation cannot address all aspects of neurodiversity such as sensory processing or emotional regulation, it can substantially reduce mental burden by handling tasks that challenge executive function, ultimately freeing neurodivergent individuals to focus on areas where their particular neurological wiring excels.

Recently, I have been having trouble with Nvidia drivers following a kernel update in Linux Mint (21.1 is the version that I am using). The kernel version has been rolled back from 5.19.x to 5.15.x, and I installed an old AMD graphics card as well. Things still are not perfect, though, so I will be looking out for a way to make things smoother. For now, all is good enough for the moment.

Leanpub is an online platform that enables authors to write, publish and sell ebooks and online courses iteratively, often while still in progress, with a focus on technical and educational content. It encourages frequent updates and direct reader engagement, offering high royalty rates and flexible pricing models. In contrast, Standard eBooks is a volunteer-driven initiative that produces professionally formatted, high-quality editions of public-domain literature, enhancing readability and design through meticulous proofreading and modern ebook standards. The Pragmatic Bookshelf, a specialist publisher founded in 1999, focuses on practical, real-world programming and software development content, often authored by industry experts and released through early access programmes.

Each platform serves distinct audiences and purposes: Leanpub supports independent authors and iterative publishing, Standard eBooks prioritises accessible, polished editions of classic texts and The Pragmatic Bookshelf curates technical literature with a strong emphasis on professional practice and community-driven knowledge sharing. Together, they reflect diverse approaches to digital content creation and distribution within technical and literary fields.

Magical Jelly Bean

This freeware utility suite retrieves lost or forgotten product keys and passwords from Windows and Mac systems. The primary tool recovers installation keys for Windows operating systems, Microsoft Office, Adobe products, games and over 10,000 other programs by extracting them from the registry. Additional utilities help users locate passwords saved by web browsers, instant messaging applications and other software, as well as recover wireless network passwords that have been previously stored on the computer. The tools are designed to help users find legitimate credentials they have forgotten rather than requiring reinstallation or repurchase of software.

Zoho offers a comprehensive cloud-based software suite designed to support businesses of all sises, featuring applications for customer relationship management, email, helpdesk services, remote support and accounting. The platform emphasises privacy, with revenue derived solely from software licenses rather than data sales or advertising. Zoho One serves as an integrated operating system for business operations, aiming to streamline workflows and enhance efficiency across departments. Customer testimonials highlight its reliability and scalability, with notable clients including Amazon and NHS. The company prioritises long-term sustainability, invests heavily in research and development and maintains a customer-centric approach, underpinned by a global presence spanning over 150 countries and 19,000 employees. Its ecosystem includes tools for AI integration, mobile and desktop applications and extensive resources for training and community engagement, reflecting a commitment to supporting business growth through innovation and tailored solutions.

DuckDuckGo is a search engine and technology company established in 2008 that prioritises user privacy by avoiding the tracking of individual users, the creation of search profiles, or the personalisation of results based on identity. It aggregates search results from multiple sources, including Microsoft Bing and its own web crawler, while offering features such as instant answers to common queries, command-line shortcuts for direct searches on external sites and tools to block online trackers. The platform distinguishes itself through contextual advertising that does not rely on user data and it has expanded into privacy-focused software, including a browser and extensions that enhance online anonymity. Although it relies on external indexes for search results and has fewer capabilities in areas like localised searches compared to larger competitors, it has gained a following among users who value transparency and privacy. Recently, it has integrated AI features such as a chatbot interface and AI-assisted search summaries, designed to maintain its commitment to user privacy by anonymising queries and avoiding persistent user accounts. Despite its smaller scale relative to major search engines, it has grown in prominence as a privacy-oriented alternative, particularly among developers and those concerned with data protection.

Jitsi

This open-source video conferencing platform offers free, encrypted virtual meetings without requiring user accounts, and has gained adoption from organisations including Italian schools using the WeSchool platform and various institutions seeking privacy-focused alternatives to commercial solutions. Recent developments include the introduction of receiver audio subscriptions allowing participants to specify which streams they wish to receive, integration with SIP technology enabling connections from various devices including hardware phones and other conferencing systems, and participation in Google Summer of Code 2025 to encourage community contribution. The platform is maintained as a trademark of 8x8 Inc and has been praised by groups such as the Tor Project for its encryption, open-source nature and ease of use, whilst various publishers have reported on its implementation in educational settings during periods of remote learning.