Author: admin
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Poorer patients missing surgery as they 'can't afford time off work'
Patients from poorer backgrounds are missing hospital operations because they can’t afford to take time off work, a leading health chief has said. Neil Guckian, chief executive of the Western Trust, described it as “an indictment on society”. Giving evidence to the Stormont health committee, he said Do Not Attends (DNAs) were a major issue…
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Typical energy bill to rise by £21 a year in January
Energy bills for a typical household will rise by £21 a year in January, the energy watchdog has announced. It means someone paying by direct debit and using a typical amount of gas and electricity will pay £1,738 a year, which remains high compared with pre-Covid norms. Prices rose in October and with a similar…
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Digital wallets, Apple Pay to face greater government scrutiny
Digital wallets and payment apps — like Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo, and PayPal — are facing stronger regulations under the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the nation’s bank and financial service watchdog. Through a new rule passed Thursday, the agency will have the power to supervise the behavior and policies of nonbank companies…
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WhatsApp will finally let you unsubscribe from business marketing spam
WhatsApp Business has grown to over 200 million monthly users over the past few years. That means there are tons of businesses sending messages to users — and some of these messages could be considered spam. For customers, the only option was to either let them send messages and offers or block the business account altogether.…
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Tubi hops on the short-form video bandwagon with its ‘Scenes’ feature
Tubi, the free ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox, has unveiled a new feature designed to set it apart from its rivals, such as Pluto TV and the Roku Channel, as well as put it in closer competition with short-form video-sharing platforms like Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. Called “Scenes,” the feature allows viewers…
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Spotify tests a video feature for audiobooks as it ramps up video expansion
Spotify is enhancing the audiobook experience for premium users through three new experiments: video clips, author pages, and the ability to add visuals that appear while users listen. These initiatives are part of Spotify’s effort to improve its audiobook offering and bring listeners closer to their favorite authors and stories. One notable feature being introduced…
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Reddit is down again
This morning, at around 7 a.m. PT, the social media platform Reddit experienced yet another outage after experiencing one yesterday afternoon. Thousands of users are currently unable to access its website and app. As of this writing, 51,221 users reported problems on Downdetector.com, up from the 47,000 users who reported problems yesterday. According to its…
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Threads adjusts its algorithm to show you more content from accounts you follow
After several complaints about its algorithm, Meta’s X competitor Instagram Threads is making changes that will allow it to surface more content from people you follow in the algorithmic feed. Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a Threads post that the social network has adjusted its algorithm to show less content from accounts you don’t…
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WhatsApp rolls out voice message transcripts
WhatsApp announced on Thursday it’s rolling out voice message transcripts. The Meta-owned company says the new feature will come in handy when you’re on the move or in a loud place where you can’t listen to a voice message. A similar feature was announced last year for Apple’s Message app, a top WhatsApp competitor, with…
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Brave Search adds AI chat for follow-up questions after your initial query
Brave announced on Thursday that it’s introducing an AI chat mode for follow-up questions based on initial queries on Brave Search. Earlier this year, the company launched “Answer with AI” summaries that appear above search results after you submit a query to give you an easy-to-read answer in response to a question. Now the Answer…