Work has started on Google’s first UK data centre which will cost $1 billion (£790m), will add to Google’s 27 data centres worldwide, and will support its move into AI.

Crucial Compute Capacity 

The data centre is being built on a 33-acre site at Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire. In addition to the construction and technical jobs that Google says the building work will bring to the local community, Google says its investment in the data centre will deliver “crucial compute capacity to businesses across the UK, supporting AI innovation and helping to ensure reliable digital services to Google Cloud customers and Google users in the UK and abroad.” 

Google says that its investment in the technical infrastructure needed to support innovation and tech-led growth in areas like AI-powered technologies is vital, hence the new data centre.

Off-Site Heat Recovery 

Google is also keen to highlight how the data centre’s carbon footprint will be minimised. For example, in addition to the company’s goal to run all its data centres and campuses completely on carbon-free energy (CFE) by 2030, it says the new data centre in Hertfordshire will “have provisions for off-site heat recovery”. 

Data centres produce large amounts of heat and so an off-site heat recovery system is a way for energy conservation that benefits the local community through capturing the heat generated by the data centre and using it in nearby homes and businesses. Google also says the data centre will have an air-based cooling system, presumably rather than a water-based one.

Part Of A Continued UK Investment 

Google has highlighted how the new data centre is part of its continued investment in and commitment to the UK which it says is “a key country for our business and a pioneering world leader in AI, technology and science.”

Other recent Google investments in the UK (in 2022) include:

– A $1bn purchase of our Central Saint Giles office in London’s West End.

– A 1 million sq. ft. Office and local innovation hub in King’s Cross.

– The launch of an Accessibility Discovery Centre in London, aimed at boosting accessible tech in the UK.

Google is also keen to highlight its free digital skills training, offered across the UK since 2015, and the expansion of its Digital Garage training programme in the UK (including a new AI-focussed curriculum).

UK Government Pleased 

Prime Minister Sunak, who’s been keen to woo big tech companies to the UK to support its ambitions to be a major global tech centre, has welcomed Google’s $1 billion data centre investment as an endorsement of this. He also highlighted how such “foreign investment creates jobs and grows all regions of our economy and investments like this will help to drive growth in the decade ahead.”  

Also, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, has expressed that he is “delighted to see this investment from Google” and that it ”reflects the success of the UK tech sector, which is now the third largest in the world after the US and China – worth over $1trillion and double the size of anywhere else in Europe.” 

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

The growth of cloud computing followed by the rapid growth of AI, which has a much bigger demand for computing power, plus the move by competitors into AI (Microsoft has announced an impending £2.5bn to expand data centres for AI across the UK) are key drivers for Google’s new UK data centre investment. The infrastructure is needed to support the AI which will in turn help boost productivity, creativity, and opportunities for UK businesses, and Google’s investment in the UK is good for job creation, boosting the economy, and bolstering the UK’s ambitions for being a tech centre.

However, Google is also reported to have been laying off many workers as it slims down to accommodate AI and, although the immediate community around Waltham Cross may benefit from some low-cost/free heat, there are other matters to bear in mind. For example, AI is an energy and thirsty technology and although there’s an ambition to run its data centres on carbon-free energy (CFE) by 2030, the Waltham Cross data centre should be finished and running by 2025. Like other data centres, it will still require huge amounts of energy (it shouldn’t need water too because it’s to be air-cooled), which is a matter that hasn’t been highlighted in the announcement about the investment so far. The impact on the local grid and environment, and the impact on the environment of the build itself may also be of concern.

That said, work is only just starting, more data centres are needed to fuel our AI-powered future, and there are no other good alternatives to this kind of expansion as yet so for UK businesses, the investment in the UK and its benefits are being welcomed.

A new review of existing research, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), warns that video gamers who are listening to high-intensity sound levels for long periods of time may be risking permanent hearing loss and tinnitus.

Overlooked Area 

Whereas headphones, earbuds, and music venues have been recognised as sources of potentially unsafe sound levels, the review of available research, conducted by a team including experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the University of South Carolina, has focused on the overlooked area of the effects of video games, including e-sports, on hearing loss.

Video Gamers – Sound Exceeding Safe Limits 

The researchers conducting the review concluded that sound levels reported in studies of video of more than 50,000 video gamers often near (or exceed) permissible safe limits. Given that there are an estimated 3 billion gamers worldwide in 2022, the research, the researchers feel that greater public health efforts are needed to raise awareness of the potential risks.

What’s The Cause?

The researchers say that the hearing loss and tinnitus risks are the result of video gamers often playing at high-intensity sound levels and for several hours at a time. For example, after reviewing 14 studies from 9 countries, researchers found reported sound levels ranged from 43.2 decibels (dB) (mobile devices) up to 80-89 dB (gaming centres). Impulse sounds in some games were also found to have reached levels as high as 119 dB during game-play, and the researchers also found that the length of noise exposure varied by mode and frequency of access from least an hour at a time to an averaging of 3 hours/week.

The Role of Headphones 

The role of headphones in hearing damage risk to gamers was also highlighted by the researchers. For example, in one piece of source research, the author concluded that gaming headphones can reach unsafe listening levels, “which could place some gamers at risk of sound-induced hearing loss.” 

The researchers also highlighted studies such as:

– One study where the sound levels of 5 video games through headphones attached to the gaming console, were found to average 88.5, 87.6, 85.6 and 91.2 dB for 4 separate shooter games, and 85.6 dB for a racing game.

– One study reported that over 10 million people in the USA may be exposed to ‘loud’ or ‘very loud’ sound levels from video or computer games.

What’s Are The Permissible Levels? 

Permissible exposure limits to impulse sounds in video games (less than 1 second) are around 100 dB for children and 130–140 dB for adults. Also, the permissible noise exposure level for children is defined as 75 dB for 40 hours a week. Therefore, the researchers concluded that the daily level of sound exposure from video games is close to maximum permissible levels of sound exposure

What’s The Risk? 

Five studies reviewed by the researchers looked at associations between gaming and self-reported hearing loss, hearing thresholds, or tinnitus. Of these 5, 2 studies found that school pupils’ gaming centre usage was linked to increased odds of severe tinnitus and high-frequency sound hearing loss in both ears. Another large observational study also reported that video gaming was associated with increased odds of self-reported hearing loss severity.

Tinnitus is a condition characterised by hearing ringing, buzzing, or other noises in the ears and although, for some, it may be a mild background noise, for others, it can lead to concentration difficulties, sleep problems, and significant distress, affecting emotional well-being and quality of life.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Although gaming is a huge industry supported by 3 billion gamers worldwide (2022), the alleged negative aspects of video games have been the source of news stories, including social withdrawal, aggressive behaviour or desensitisation to violence, mental health concerns, addiction and more. This new review of existing studies adds the risk of hearing loss or tinnitus caused by prolonged exposure to loud video games while wearing headphones to the list. It highlights not just an overlooked area of risk in a much focused-on activity, but also the danger of unsafe listening practices, and perhaps an area where games producers need to study how they reduce the risk, such as changing aspects of the games, educating the gaming community, and more.

It’s been noted that there are, however, still several key gaps in the available evidence about a possible link between hearing damage and gaming, e.g. the impact of esports, geographic region, sex, and age, and that further research may now be essential to inform preventive measures and global policy initiatives. As the researchers conclude, the findings suggest “interventions” may now be needed, e.g. initiatives focused on education and awareness of the potential risks of gaming that can help promote safe listening among gamers.

However, for gamers (who mostly play in the confines of their own room, i.e. in an unmonitored and unregulated environment) and who may be caught up in the game and in competition with others, physical-risk may be the last thing on their minds. This is also often the case in competitive sports which, although more beneficial to overall health, also bring the risk of serious, lasting physical injury.

The risk of hearing damage when listening to music (such as at home, at concerts, or in clubs) is also a source of risk, particularly to hearing which has long been highlighted but is routinely ignored by music fans. That said, the news of the findings of this review has, however, raised some awareness about this overlooked risk of video games and prompted conversations about what needs to be done to help. It’s worth noting here that despite these legitimate concerns about hearing, and the other negative aspects of video gaming, there is also research to suggest that video gaming (at a sensible volume) offers many benefits, including cognitive development, improved coordination and motor skills, stress relief, and more.

It’s been reported that The European Commission is now seeking feedback from Apple’s rivals and customers over concessions agreed by Apple relating to its tap-and-go mobile payment systems, based on the independent technology called Near-Field Communication (NFC).

Following an antitrust investigation and the threat of a fine, Apple had agreed to open up these systems to third-party developers for their own apps, which would work independently from the Apple ones. This would make it easier for rivals to develop other payment options for iOS-based devices and compete with Apple Pay and Wallet apps.

Rivals and customers have one month to come back with their feedback. Apple has assured them (and the regulators) that it would stick to its agreed concessions saying: “We have offered commitments to provide third-party developers in the European Economic Area with an option that will enable their users to make NFC contactless payments from within their iOS apps, separate from Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.” 

AI company Anthropic has published a research paper highlighting how large language models (LLMs) can be subverted so that at a certain point, they start emitting maliciously crafted source code.

For example, this could involve training a model to write secure code when the prompt states that the year is 2024 but insert exploitable code when the stated year is 2025.

The paper likened the backdoored behaviour to having a kind of “sleeper agent” waiting inside an LLM. With these kinds of backdoors not yet fully understood, the researchers have identified them as a real threat and have highlighted how detecting and removing them is likely to be very challenging.

Jot down ideas, to-do lists, or important reminders for yourself using Sticky Notes in Microsoft Windows. This simple but effective tool allows you to place virtual notes on your desktop, freeing you from paper notes that can get lost, and ensuring you don’t forget critical tasks or information. Here’s how it works:

– To open Sticky Notes in Windows, press Win + S and type ‘Sticky Notes’, then press Enter.

– To create a new note click on the ‘+’ icon.

– Write your note.

– To organise your notes, drag to reposition them on the desktop or resize them for better visibility.

– To personalise and categorise your notes, choose different colours e.g., to organise by topic or priority.