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BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Why we should say no to AI Robojudges

1 Jul, 2020 5:00am
5 minutes to read

What could possibly go wrong if you take an AI and feed it with decades of legal data?

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Gripping the Lite fantastic - a foray into affordable 5G

24 Jun, 2020 5:00am
5 minutes to read

Trying out some 5G capable handsets.

BUSINESS

Hackers send 'ransom note' to Lion demanding $1.2 million

18 Jun, 2020 5:00am
3 minutes to read

'If you don't pay anyway, we publish download link for all your confidential files.'

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Hit ransomware crims where it hurts

16 Jun, 2020 5:00pm
6 minutes to read

COMMENT: Make it illegal to pay them and snuff out the reason they exist.

Sometimes you can't avoid wasting life trying to solve a tricky tech problem. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: When tech plays hard to get ... into

10 Jun, 2020 5:00am
5 minutes to read

Sometimes you can't avoid wasting life trying to solve a tricky tech problem.

The image that appeared on the NZ Institute of Directors' home page after it was hacked by

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: VandaTheGod, the hacker that didn't care

2 Jun, 2020 5:00pm
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Letting such hackers continue for years seems a terrible waste.

The LiDAR Scanner on the new iPad Pro will enable Hot Lava's new AR mode to transform your living room into a lava-filled obstacle course. Photo / Apple

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Is Apple's new iPad Pro worth $3900?

27 May, 2020 5:00am
6 minutes to read

The impressively powerful tablet comes with optional new Magic Keyboard.

Uber is going through its second wave of layoffs, shedding another 3000 workers after it cut 3700 employees earlier in May Photo / AP

BUSINESS

It's great to have Uber Eats back - except if you're one of their delivery people

20 May, 2020 5:00am
5 minutes to read

Yet, despite the enormous losses, investor money keeps on flowing in.

Microsoft's proposal will make local data centre operators feel uneasy, as Azure's one giant cat among the pigeons. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Microsoft's data centres a big deal for NZ

12 May, 2020 5:46pm
5 minutes to read

But why would Microsoft set up a hyperscale data centre shop in New Zealand?

A version of a contact tracing mobile phone app from Singapore. Photo / Alex Robertson

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Don't rush contact tracing apps

5 May, 2020 7:00pm
6 minutes to read

It's better for now to temper expectations around contact tracing apps.

The biggest lockdown portable? Photo / Juha Saarinen

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Two screens on the same device? Yeahnah...

28 Apr, 2020 7:00pm
5 minutes to read

Dual-screen laptops have been on the cards for a while now, but difficult to get right.

A New Zealand woman posted a photo to Facebook holding an anti-5G banner this past week. Photo / Facebook

BUSINESS

Dangerous anti-5G conspiracy crosses the line

15 Apr, 2020 5:00am
5 minutes to read

Fringe crowd of people sharing wild conspiracy theories about 5G can no longer be ignored.

Xero chief executive Steve Vamos during a video message to customers on Thursday.

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Zero subscription relief from Xero during lockdown

12 Apr, 2020 5:00pm
3 minutes to read

Some SaaS companies are offering price break. Not Xero. Some customers are angry.

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: No, Spark isn't profiteering from Covid-19

8 Apr, 2020 5:00am
5 minutes to read

The Covid-19 crisis has resurrected some ancient unresolved issues in the tech industry.

Medical supplies need to get to countries that sorely need them in their battle with Covid-19 - but also have to be fit for purpose. Photo / AP

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: New Medtech - Iron fist in a latex glove?

1 Apr, 2020 5:00am
5 minutes to read

World's top brains making tools to fight virus but reliability is life and death.

New Zealand can't have a repeat of the situation in Australia with their government's MyGov site. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Online services must be robust during pandemics

25 Mar, 2020 5:00am
4 minutes to read

It's a safe bet online shopping will soon be different - and better.

It's absolutely crucial that people have internet access during a crisis. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: How techies can help in the coronavirus pandemic

18 Mar, 2020 5:00am
5 minutes to read

It's absolutely crucial that people have internet access during a crisis.

Remote working on a massive scale is uncharted territory. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Not going to work in viral times

11 Mar, 2020 5:00am
4 minutes to read

Remote working on a massive scale is uncharted territory.

Countdown Meadowbank was cleaned out of toilet paper and large containers of water. Photo / Luke Kirkness

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: When disinformation and scams go viral

3 Mar, 2020 7:00pm
4 minutes to read

Phishers are getting in on the virus action too.

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Let's fix NZ's cyber security reporting

25 Feb, 2020 7:00pm
5 minutes to read

Better reporting might just goad NZ watchdog to step up its work.

A number of tech events have been cancelled because of the cornoavirus outbreak. Photo / Bloomberg

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Tech sector caught out by coronavirus

18 Feb, 2020 5:47pm
4 minutes to read

It is surprising there was no Plan B for dealing with mass cancellations of tech events.

How to prevent monstrous acts from being transmitted and viewed by people remains an impossible challenge. Photo / Getty Images

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Why an internet filter will falter

11 Feb, 2020 7:00pm
5 minutes to read

Another live streamed mass murder, this time in Thailand.

Logistics multinational Toll Group isn't saying much about why it closed down an unspecified amount of systems and customer apps. Photo / Supplied

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Don't keep quiet about ransomware attacks

5 Feb, 2020 5:00am
5 minutes to read

Ransomware is back in the news, and not in a good way.

Stockholm-based buy now pay later platform Klarna is coming to New Zealand. Photo / Klarna

BUSINESS

Buy now pay later platform headed for NZ

2 Feb, 2020 11:00am
2 minutes to read

Klarna will compete head on with Afterpay.

With current fuels, engines in cars, vans, utes and heavy vehicles produce microscopic particulate matter or soot in their exhausts and nitrous oxides. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Deadly diesels done dirt cheap

29 Jan, 2020 5:37pm
7 minutes to read

Car owners yanking emissions reduction gear to avoid costs.

Who in their right mind would want to feed faulty AIs their likenesses. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: 'Good' hackers and selfies must die

22 Jan, 2020 5:00am
5 minutes to read

Who in their right mind would want to feed faulty AIs their likenesses.

You can't help feeling that the attack was an accident waiting to happen. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Travelex attack could have been much worse

14 Jan, 2020 5:00am
5 minutes to read

You can't help feeling that the attack was an accident waiting to happen.

Microsoft needs to take inspiration from Marie Kondo and tidy up its hardware, writes Juha Saarinen. Photo / Getty Images

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Microsoft needs to go Marie Kondo on Windows

12 Jan, 2020 7:00pm
5 minutes to read

Windows needs a serious tidy up, writes Juha Saarinen.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo / AP

BUSINESS

What billionaires, dictators and criminals have in common

5 Jan, 2020 4:30pm
6 minutes to read

Cryptocurrencies look set for a big 2020.

Some see the holidays as an opportunity to plunder people whose guards are down. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Keep your tech safe on the road this summer

30 Dec, 2019 5:00am
5 minutes to read

Some see the holidays as an opportunity to plunder people whose guards are down.

Don't share outrage, or things you don't understand or haven't checked. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Only you can fix fake news

18 Dec, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Don't share outrage, things you don't understand or haven't checked.

A four-cam smartphone for $799. Photo / Juha Saarinen

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Foldaphones? Hold on to the folding for now

10 Dec, 2019 7:00pm
5 minutes to read

This was meant to be the year of the foldable screen, but it didn't work out that way.

When the weather turns cold and food becomes scarce again, rats and other undesirables move into your property and create havoc. Photo / Supplied

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Weapons of mouse destruction go wireless

4 Dec, 2019 5:00am
5 minutes to read

With smartphone updates and auto resets, Goodnature's A24 a killer concept.

Sooner or later almost any service provider you use will leak data. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Your data is traded by reckless idiots

26 Nov, 2019 7:00pm
5 minutes to read

Another week, another massive data leak.

Not many of the more than 10 million .org domain name holders would know of the deal. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Do you have a .org domain? Read this

20 Nov, 2019 5:00am
5 minutes to read

Management organisation for one of the original internet top-level domains was sold.

5G has been used as a political football in trade wars, with national security scares mixed in. Photo / Getty Images

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: 5G and the ongoing disinformation war

13 Nov, 2019 5:00am
5 minutes to read

Telcos in New Zealand and elsewhere must be aghast at what is happening with 5G currently.

Security software has to deal with a much more complex threat environment these days. Photo/123rf

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: A trip down the anti-virus memory lane

5 Nov, 2019 7:00pm
4 minutes to read

Security software has to deal with a much more complex threat environment nowadays.

To recover from porting fraud can be hard and slow. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Phone number theft a nightmare to sort out

29 Oct, 2019 7:00pm
5 minutes to read

To recover from porting fraud can be hard and slow.

Porting fraud or SIM swapping is a big problem overseas, but Kiwis aren't spared. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Number theft rise wake-up for telcos

22 Oct, 2019 6:00pm
5 minutes to read

Porting fraud or SIM swapping is a big problem overseas, but Kiwis aren't spared.

Data is the new oil in the sense that whoever possesses it has lots of power. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: How we fill Communist China's big data lake

16 Oct, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

Data is the new oil in the sense that whoever possesses it has lots of power.

The US, UK and Australian governments argue that end-to-end encryption puts an end to intercepting terrorists and child abusers' communications. Photo / Getty Images

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Facebook encryption a poison chalice

9 Oct, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

Keeping everyone's internet activities secure is great, right?

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Streaming is still the future of TV

24 Sep, 2019 7:00pm
5 minutes to read

Comment: Spark's big gamble may have failed, but streaming is still the future of TV,

Someone could take New Zealand offline with a few keystrokes. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: The amazingly unreliable and unstable internet

18 Sep, 2019 5:00am
5 minutes to read

The internet is surprising easy to break.

Should the new myIR website be easier and faster to use? Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: The annoying quirks of IRD's new tax website

11 Sep, 2019 5:00am
5 minutes to read

IRD's new website too full of stumbling blocks for a thing as vital as doing taxes.

An artist's impression of the Square Kilometre Array. Photo / Supplied

BUSINESS

Stars in their eyes: The curious questions around govt-funded Kiwi start-up

4 Sep, 2019 5:00am
6 minutes to read

High-end software firm looking to launch on telescope project.

The first couple of years after the UFB started were nervous for Chorus as uptake of fibre was slow. Photo / File

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: 'You're nuts!' How NZ gambled with Ultra Fast Broadband

28 Aug, 2019 5:00am
5 minutes to read

The first couple of years after the UFB started were nervous for Chorus.

If your salary, wage, or bonus is paid partly or fully in a crypto currency, pay as you earn and/or fringe benefit tax needs to be docked. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Crypto salaries — every bit as taxable

20 Aug, 2019 7:00pm
5 minutes to read

However, the IRD wants their share of your earnings in good old New Zealand dollars.

2degrees should warn customers which areas have restricted performance. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Yes, 2degrees really does slow down in the sticks

14 Aug, 2019 5:00am
5 minutes to read

Comment: The great data slowdown mystery is solved.

Vodafone CEO Jason Paris. Paris announced a 5G network launch in Auckland Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown for December. Photo / Supplied

BUSINESS

5G's secrecy: So secure that police can't access it?

7 Aug, 2019 5:00am
5 minutes to read

Making 5G more secure than 3G and 4G is a good thing, right?

Inspire Net’s OpenLI system (centre, with green light) can capture specific voice and internet communications. Photo / Dave Mills

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: How internet providers survived intercept law

30 Jul, 2019 7:00pm
6 minutes to read

How does OpenLI sit with personal ethics?

Intel's Pohoiki Beach system. Photo / Intel Corporation

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Artificial Intelligence - will the computers take over the world?

24 Jul, 2019 5:54pm
4 minutes to read

AI never gets bored or tired, and can be better than humans for some tasks.

A single click - or the lack thereof - can make your domain you depend on disappear. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: How to duck domain name disasters

17 Jul, 2019 6:02pm
5 minutes to read

A single click - or the lack thereof - can make your domain you depend on disappear.

Facebook hopes to launch its own virtual currency called Libra. Photo / Getty Images

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Fintech rules high bar for little players

10 Jul, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

If regulation cuts off smaller players, we might as well stick with sending cheques.

One clumsy keystroke could send your private information to a stranger's inbox. Photo / 123RF

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Stop your emails becoming we-mails

3 Jul, 2019 11:00am
4 minutes to read

Be very careful about what you put in emails and double check where they go.

Anyone with a computer and a smartphone should use a more secure way to log in than just a username and password. Photo / Supplied

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Protect your digital life with security keys

26 Jun, 2019 7:00am
5 minutes to read

Does just a username and password for your computer or smartphone still cut it?

A device which can find its way past your phone security could be better than law forcing phone makers to build flaws into their operating systems. Photo / Supplied

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Let police have a crack at your phone

19 Jun, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Comment: Alternative to giving up access willingly likely much worse.

Hacking has lost its allure as the digital world evolved. Photo/Getty Images

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Why you don't want to be called a hacker

11 Jun, 2019 6:37pm
5 minutes to read

COMMENT: Hacking has become a dirty word.

Apple's Stacey Lysik speaks at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California this week. Photo / AP

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: The end of iTunes is nigh… or not really

4 Jun, 2019 3:37pm
3 minutes to read

Juha Saarinen: Who will miss the bloated 18-year-old iTunes?

National's Simon Bridges has called on Treasury Secretary Gabriel Makhlouf to resign following website bungle.

BUSINESS

How the Treasury got dorked

30 May, 2019 10:49am
3 minutes to read

Few people understand just how much information can be gleaned from "reading the matrix".

Secretary of the Treasury Gabriel Makhlouf compares the Treasury website to a secure, padlocked room.

BUSINESS

Conspiracy or cock-up? Strong evidence Treasury was not hacked

29 May, 2019 11:51am
2 minutes to read

Revealed: Google cached copies of the Budget data.

Samsung's QLED 8K has a $15,199 price tag for a 75-inch screen. Photo / Bloomberg

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: Looking at the bigger picture with an 8K TV

29 May, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

Everything's big about the TV, from the size to the $15,199 price.

The US has landed a number of diplomatic punches with its ban. Photo/Getty Images.

BUSINESS

Juha Saarinen: US ban a double punch for Huawei

21 May, 2019 4:29pm
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: The ban promises to hurt Huawei in more than one way.