Tag: christmas day

Brits advised to stay vigilant as 10 million new online threats estimated over festive period

It’s estimated that people will see an extra 10 million malicious URLs, files, and apps on Christmas and New Year’s Day, according to McAfee Labs Luxury brand scams have surged since September, including spikes of 600% over normal seasonal levels, says McAfee Labs data. Scammers lure customers into clicking links or sharing payment details by…
Chris Price Cybersecurity

Opinion: Doesn't anyone have anything better to do than shop on Christmas Day?

Jon_smal.gifJonathan Weinberg writes… It’s meant to be the one day of the year when you can have a total rest. No work (for most of us), nothing to do indoors other than eat, drink and be merry and with no real shops open, no reason to be tempted to spend cash on anything other than spare batteries that you forgot for those gadget presents and some cream for the mince pies.

So what on earth possessed people to finish up their turkey and pigs-in-blankets, watch the Queen’s Speech and then nip upstairs and buy a TV or toaster from the likes of Comet or Currys.

I don’t know, sure Christmas is a time to be with the family, or if not, it’s a time to get drunk on Advocaat or Sherry so that your handy is not even steady enough to use a mouse. It is not the time to be shopping online, no matter how many bargains there might be out there…

Jonathan Weinberg Columns & Opinion, Gadgets, Internet, Websites

Opinion: The Christmas Day TV movie premiere means nothing any more

shrek.jpgI remember a time, growing up in the 1980s, when there was real anticipation for what the BBC and ITV would pull out of the hat for the post-Queen’s Speech Christmas premiere or blockbuster.

In an age where video recorders had only just arrived, there were barely four terrestrial channels, and you had little choice but to watch the broadcasters’ choice, this worked quite well.

As video recorders took hold, I began to think that the channel wars were just a tad pathetic. After all, if you really wanted to watch two programmes that clashed, you just recorded one of them and played it back later.

I suppose broadcasters bank on the likelihood that most people will be stuffed and near-comatosed by 3pm on Christmas Day, but really, good though Finding Nemo and Shrek 2 are, they don’t feel like exclusives any more.

Andy Merrett Columns & Opinion

20 things to do online on Christmas Day

Should you find yourself at a loose end on Christmas Day, with nothing but a laptop and Internet connection, then here are twenty things you could do to pass the time until the Boxing Day sales start and you can go and buy yourself a new sofa. Though I think Zara might have something to say about “>not being geeky on Christmas Day

1. Find as many ways of watching the Queen’s Christmas Day speech as possible

Yes, yes, it’s on BBC1, ITV1, BBC HD, and Sky HD, but this year it will be sent out as a podcast, will be available on the BBC News web site, and will no doubt appear on YouTube at some point – probably by some geek testing out his new laptop.

2. Download the lyrics for as many Kylie Minogue songs and start singing them at 6.50pm

Yes, Kylie’s in Doctor Who, and you can ruin the whole experience by singing “I Should Be So Lucky” as the Titanic goes down.

Andy Merrett Internet, Top stories, Websites