Updated 12/12/2025: Corrected typos and formatting.
Scam Analysers
Having had a couple of enquiries about dodgy-looking emails and pop-ups appearing on machines in the last few days, I just wanted to remind you about a couple of free services you can use to get a second opinion on these sort of messages. We talked about these at the Club in August this year:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2025/08/
The first is Snitcher Space which is ideal for checking a dodgy email. You just forward the email to:-
scan@snitcher.space
The second is Ask Silver which works via WhatsApp. To set it up, go to:-
https://www.ask-silver.com/
and follow the instructions.
Ask Silver will then appear as a WhatsApp contact. You can share an image with Ask Silver on your mobile device. You can use WhatsApp on your PC by going to:-
https://web.whatsapp.com/
On a Windows PC, you can install the WhatsApp app from the Microsoft Store.
Both services return a free analysis of the email or image within a minute or so.
Recurring/Persistent Scam Pop-ups
Brian had an issue with fake pop-up messages warning about viruses in Chrome. This is usually "scareware" rather than an actual virus, but you should run a full virus scan with Windows Defender (or other antivirus program) to check.
Some browser setting may have been altered to cause the problem. You can reset browser settings to their original defaults to correct this. This Google Support page explains how to do this in Chrome:-
https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/3296214?hl=en-GB
You can search for instructions for resetting other browsers.
Removing Unwanted Anti-Virus Programs
If you have installed an alternative anti-virus on Windows, Dave pointed out that using the system's Uninstall (Settings, Apps) might not fully remove it. Usually, the AV manufacturer provides a "Removal Tool" on their website to solve this issue. For example, if you were trying to remove Norton AV, a quick search for "Norton antivirus removal tool" would lead you to this page:-
https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/v60392881
The major UK mobile network providers, in an agreement with government, are working on technology to prevent number spoofing by scammers. The technology will be introduced over the coming year. The updated Telecoms Charter also includes action to strengthen links with law enforcement to help track down the scammers.
You can also read this government article from the Home Office:-
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/spoofed-numbers-blocked-in-crackdown-on-scammers
Another Internet Outage
Last month we mentioned a couple of big Internet platform companies that had faults which took down fairly significant chunks of the Internet. Amazon’s AWS had an outage on 20th October and then Microsoft’s Azure failed on 29th October. In July last year, a problem caused by security firm CrowdStrike also affected many websites and services.
This month has seen another outage, this time by Internet services and security provider Cloudflare on 18 November. Websites including X, ChatGPT, and Uber were all unavailable as a result.
If you want more detail, see this Ars Technica article from 19 November:-
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/11/cloudflare-broke-much-of-the-internet-with-a-corrupted-bot-management-file/
It seems inevitable that a huge number of websites have to rely on just a few, very large, cloud and security providers, which can result in widespread issues when failures occur.
Aluminium OS
Google makes the Android operating system for smartphones and Chrome OS for laptops and desktops. They are working on a project to combine Android and Chrome into a new PC platform called Aluminium OS. It seems they are going with the British spelling, “Aluminium”, rather than the American “Aluminum”, for consistency with “Chromium”, which is the open-source browser on which Chrome, Edge and many other browsers are based.
An announcement was made about this at a recent Qualcomm Snapdragon conference in September. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips are based on the ARM architecture found in smartphones and current Apple PCs. Windows PCs are now available based on Qualcomm’s chips instead of the traditional Intel and AMD “x86” architecture. The main advantage of ARM over x86 is better efficiency and lower power consumption.
Google have indicated that AI, using Google’s Gemini, will be a major feature of Aluminium OS. This new OS from Google is likely to launch sometime next year, probably in the latter half.
See this article from Android Authority for more:-
https://www.androidauthority.com/aluminium-os-android-for-pcs-3619092/
The New Jony Ive Gadget
In June this year, we briefly discussed a new AI hardware gadget that is being developed by Sir Jony Ive – see the blog:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2025/06/
Jony Ive was the designer who worked for Apple alongside Steve Jobs to develop many of their iconic products including the iPhone, iPad and iMac. He left Apple in 2019 and in 2024 founded “io Products” which was acquired by OpenAI in 2025. Ive is now working with Sam Altman, who runs OpenAI, to design a mysterious new product that will harness the power of AI.
In a recent interview with Laurene Powell Jobs (Steve Job’s widow), Altman and Ive gave just a couple of tiny clues about the proposed product. They have built a prototype and the final device might be available in less than 2 years. It is thought to be about the size of a smartphone and not have a screen. There is a little more in this brief article in The Verge:-
https://www.theverge.com/news/827607/openai-hardware-prototype-chatgpt-jony-ive-sam-altman
The 32 minute interview is a lot of waffle, but if you want to see it, it is available on YouTube:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkCe6gpNutU
Will this product ever materialise?
Will it be as life-changing as the iPhone was or just an anti-climax?
We might have to wait another 2 years to find out!
Starlink
Tony mentioned Elon Musk's Starlink. Starlink consists of a constellation (currently over 6750) of satellites which aim to provide Internet connectivity virtually anywhere on the planet. It offers an alternative to fibre/cable Internet connections in areas where that might not be available. Costs start from around £55 per month with speed around 100Mbps.
Early next year (2026), Starlink are launching "Starlink Direct to Cell" in the UK. This uses 650 satellites which can provide a mobile signal directly to a cell/mobile phone. Virgin Media O2 have partnered with Starlink to make this service available to their customers. It is intended to provided a connection in areas, typically rural, that are not covered by cell towers. See this announcement from Virgin Media O2:-
https://news.virginmediao2.co.uk/virgin-media-o2-signs-landmark-partnership-with-starlink-to-boost-rural-uk-mobile-coverage/
This Starlink Direct to Cell uses the same 4G/LTE technology used to connect to terrestrial cell towers, so will work with any normal mobile phone. This is different to the emergency satellite connectivity available on recent iPhones, which does not use standard mobile radio signals and only allows communication by iMessage/SMS.
Memory Prices
The AI industry is building more huge data centres, and this has massively increased the demand for memory chips (RAM). The result is that memory for our devices is getting more expensive. This will have the effect of putting up prices for new devices. So, you might want to carefully consider how much memory you actually need when buying a new device. Over-specifying memory capacity could become a costly luxury. See this How To Geek article for more:-
https://www.howtogeek.com/dont-panic-about-the-ram-pocalypse/
Linux - Again
Linda asked about installing Linux on an old PC. She was not completely confident in the hard drive. However, as Dave pointed out, there is little to lose, apart from a bit of time, by having a go. We discussed Dave's "recipe" for installing Linux Mint (or alternatively Zorin OS) last month:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2025/11/
Linda asked about someone who has an old 2G/3G phone and does not want to replace it. To correct what I said at the meeting, this will only work on 2G now that the 3G network has ceased. 2G will work for calls and texts until this is switched off by 2033 at the latest. However, without 3G, the phone will have no mobile data access, but I suspect this will not matter in this case.
Next Session
Wed 14th January 2026 at 2pm by Zoom
