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According to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), a software problem could lead to loss of elevator control for certain Airbus A350 aircraft. The directive issued on May 5 by EASA warns operators of Airbus A350-900 and -1000 aircraft to amend their applicable AFM (aircraft flight manual) and Minimum Equipment List due to a software problem that could lead to loss of elevator control."An occurrence was reported in which the PRIMary flight control computers (PRIMs) indicated that both elevator actuators were found to be defective." EASA also states that further investigations revealed that incorrect instructions were implemented with the introduction of the "PRIM P13 standard", which is part of the X13 Flight Control and Guidance System (FCGS) standard. Since the effective date for resolving the problem was immediately set for the following days, EASA also required operators to change their applicable AFM, which is subject to a temporary update and revision. The EASA directive also states that they must "inform all flight crews and thereafter operate the aircraft accordingly". Affected operators must also amend the Airbus A350 Minimum Master Equipment List (MMEL) accordingly. This directive is considered to be an interim action, which means that other actions may take place in the coming days. Interestingly, this is not the first software bug related to the Airbus A350. In July 2019, some models of the A350-900 had an aviation problem, which could be corrected with a software update, or even by turning the aircraft off and on at least once every 149 hours. Carrying out this rudimentary action would have prevented "partial or total loss of some aviation systems or functions". The original article via Simply Flying can be read at: https://simpleflying.com/a350-software-bug-easa-emergency-directive/

In Dallas, Texas, Toyota has been forced to recall more than 400,000 vehicles due to a software problem that affects the stability of the vehicles. According to a company statement, the software error causes the vehicle's electronic stability control system to deactivate unexpectedly. The Japanese manufacturer also advises customers to check the condition of their vehicles and to report any problems on its website. With regard to the bug in question, the statement reads: "For all vehicles involved, Toyota and Lexus dealers will update the Skid Control ECU software free of charge for customers. Owners of the vehicles involved will be notified by mid-June 2022." The original article via Big News Network can be read at: https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/272487413/toyota-recalls-460000-vehicles-due-to-stability-control-issue

On April 1st, Ford announced that it was recalling almost half a million trucks, as a brake system malfunction caused by a software error was discovered. According to ABC News, the recalled vehicles concern Ford 2021 and 2022 models, which include: Super Duty, Ford Maverick, F-150, Lincoln Navigator and Expedition. Given that the problem detected is directly related to its software, its resolution is simple, with the Ford dealership applying the appropriate software update. Ford will begin notifying owners of the affected models by post in the coming weeks. Just last week, the US multinational was in a similar situation, where it recalled more than 700,000 vehicles due to a problem related to an oil leak. According to Reuters, the models included the 2020 to 2022 Ford Escape SUV and the 2021 and 2022 Bronco Sport SUV with 1.5-liter engines, in which the oil leak could occur in the engine parts, thus causing a serious risk of fire. The original article via Tech Times can be read at:https://www.techtimes.com/articles/273797/20220401/ford-recalled-400-000-trucks-due-software-bug-affects-brake.htm

Last Sunday, a group of large vessels were prevented from entering the Kiel Canal in Germany, which connects the North Sea to the Baltic, due to a software problem - the signal was given by a spokesman for the maritime authority. "We had to stop traffic for safety reasons. Our colleagues have been trying everything to solve the problem as quickly as possible," Detlef Wittmüss, head of the Kiel Canal Waterways and Shipping Authority, told the Kieler Nachrichten newspaper. According to the spokesman, even earlier in the afternoon, smaller ships were able to re-enter the canal at Brunsbüttel, on the North Sea side, and by the end of the day, small vessels were also able to resume their journeys. Normally, Sundays are days when more than 80 ships use the Kiel Canal. In recent days, new software has been installed to control navigation on the artificial waterway, the spokesman added. So far, it has worked flawlessly. The original article via Daily Sabah can be read at:https://www.dailysabah.com/world/europe/software-glitch-causes-traffic-jam-in-germanys-kiel-canal

With rising fuel prices, Tesla Inc's electric cars are proving more attractive than ever, yet one customer has been charged more than half a million dollars for only charging his vehicle at a Tesla Supercharger station. In an article shared by Electrek, a Tesla Model 3 owner in China was charged more than 600,000 US dollars after a small charge at a Tesla Supercharger station, an error that was mainly due to a bug in the software. In addition to this hefty bill, the bug also led to the customer being banned from Supercharging after charging his vehicle for 20 minutes. The US company has already admitted that the problem was indeed due to a software error, and that a fix is already underway. The customer in question had more than 2,000 free charging miles, all of which ended up being used in his last charging session. Since you can only use so much energy in such a short space of time, the problem in question was related to the billing calculation. In this sense, as the payment was not being made and the user was banned, the system ended up accumulating the inactivity fees quite quickly, thus leading to the amount of more than 600 thousand dollars. The original article via Benzinga can be read at: https://www.benzinga.com/tech/22/03/26025054/tesla-owner-billed-600-000-after-visiting-supercharger-due-to-software-bug

British Airways, the British airline, was recently hit by major technical problems, leading to the cancellation of all short-haul flights from Heathrow airport until Saturday. In a statement issued to Insider, British Airways said: "We very much regret that, due to the ongoing technical problems we are facing, we have unfortunately had to cancel all short-haul flights from Heathrow today until midday." The statement also said that the British airline "anticipates further disruptions during the day". The airline also confirmed to Reuters that the problem was not due to a cyber attack. Heathrow Airport also apologized for the situation via its official Twitter account. According to Sky News, the British Airways website and app were down for several hours last Friday, preventing customers from booking flights or checking in online. Nevertheless, British Airways said that long-haul services at Heathrow and all flights at Gatwick and London City Airport should operate as planned. Customers will be able to receive a full refund and can choose to rebook their flights at a later date, according to the airline. One passenger, Ed Hall, told The Press Association that he was stuck on a plane for more than an hour after landing at Heathrow Terminal 5. According to him, this was because the crew couldn't access any IT systems to find out where passengers could disembark from the plane. This systems disruption comes after British Airways itself canceled several flights in and out of London airports last week after Storm Eunice hit the UK. The original article via Insider can be read at:https://www.businessinsider.com/british-airways-cancels-flights-technical-issues-denies-cyber-attack-2022-2

A software bug at Apple has led to Siri, its virtual assistant feature, recording personal interactions with its users without their consent. Last week, Apple acknowledged this very serious problem in its most recent update, iOS 15. According to Apple, the AI-based virtual assistant recorded people's conversations, even though they had refused to do so: "The bug automatically activated the Improve Siri and Dictation setting that gives Apple permission to record, store and review personal conversations with Siri," reported ZDNet. Later, issuing an apology, the US company said it had fixed the bug for "many" users. There are still many unanswered questions: the company's statement does not clarify, for example, how many phones were affected, or even when. "Without transparency, there's no way of knowing who might have their conversations recorded and listened to by Apple employees, despite the user having acted in exactly the way to avoid that scenario," added the online portal The Verge. Technology and AI experts have previously argued in favor of these big tech companies listening to our requests - mainly in order to adjust the flaws in voice-based technology. This is what Amazon's Alexa FAQ says: "The more data we use to train these systems, the better Alexa works, and training Alexa with voice recordings from multiple customers helps ensure that Alexa works well for everyone." In other words, the only way to improve voice-based technology, according to some experts, is to make private interactions listenable. It is estimated that in 2020, more than 60% of Indian users used voice assistants on their smartphones for a multitude of tasks - from listening to music, to setting an alarm, or even asking questions. Florian Schaub, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan who has studied people's perceptions of privacy, argues that people tend to personify their devices, which makes them even more inattentive to these kinds of issues. In this sense, when they ask Alexa or Siri innocuous questions, they are not really thinking deeply about these actions, but when they realize that someone is listening to their conversations, they feel that it is intrusive and a violation of their privacy, and are therefore much more likely to disconnect from these systems. This is an issue that raises a number of concerns not only about users' privacy, but also about the extent to which their data is retained and how it is harnessed and used by these companies. "VAs work on the basis of users' voices - that's their main feature. All the VAs mentioned above are activated by listening to a specific activation keyword. Although some of the policies state that cloud servers do not store data/voice unless the activation word is detected, there is a constant exchange of voice and related data between your cloud servers and the VA device. This turns out to be particularly worrying in cases of false activation, when data can be stored without real knowledge," according to a report by the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF). The original article via The Swaddle can be read at: https://theswaddle.com/apples-siri-was-accidentally-recording-conversations-without-peoples-consent/

Tesla will have to recall 817,143 vehicles to repair a defect in the software that prevents the audible message that warns that the seat belt is not fastened from being activated. In documents released by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the US company said that until January 31 it had no record of "accidents, injuries or deaths" caused by the defect. According to the same documents, it was a South Korean institute that notified Tesla of the defect on January 6. Following the warning from the Korea Automobile Testing and Research Institute (KATRI), Tesla technicians verified the problem. The defect affects models 3 2017-2022, S 2021-2022, X 2021-2022 and Y 2020-2022. The problem is centered on the software that controls the activation of the audible warning signal and occurs when the driver interrupts the audible message, for example by leaving the vehicle while it is activated. In these circumstances, the software registers that it has already warned the driver, but does not repeat the beep. Tesla also indicated that the beep is activated when the car exceeds 22 kilometers per hour and the driver's seat belt is not fastened. Elon Musk's company told the NHTSA that, in order to correct the problem, it will remotely update the software in all affected vehicles and will notify owners by mail on April 1. The original article via Expresso can be read at: https://expresso.pt/economia/tesla-recolhe-mais-de-800-mil-veiculos-devido-a-defeito-em-software/

In France, a vaccination certificate is required to enter the vast majority of public places, including restaurants, cinemas and museums, as well as public transport. All people over the age of 16 are obliged to wear the certificate in order to gain access to these spaces, and at the moment, in order to have a valid certificate you need to have received a booster dose. Vaccination certificates can be deactivated automatically if the holder has not received a booster dose within the required timeframe, however, a problem has been reported that would lead to the deactivation of these certificates, even though some of these people have been vaccinated with a booster dose. This is a problem that mainly affects people who have already been infected with the COVID-19 virus. France operates on a policy of "one infection corresponds to one dose of vaccine" - which means that if a person has been inoculated with a two-dose vaccine (AstraZeneca/Pfizer/Moderna) and is infected with Covid before or after the first dose, they don't need a second dose. However, the booster dose is indeed necessary. As an example, French President Emmanuel Macron became infected with the COVID virus in December 2020, when it came time to get vaccinated, he received a single dose, and as soon as the boosters opened for under 50s in November, he had his booster shot. In recent weeks, some people in a similar situation have received alerts via the TousAntiCovid app, warning that their vaccination certificate would be deactivated. This was mainly due to a software bug that incorrectly interpreted the two doses - and which has since been fixed. So far, the TousAntiCovid app has had surprisingly few software glitches, but there is one problem that has affected people vaccinated in the UK. As NHS (British National Health Service) vaccination codes only last 30 days, TousAntiCovid will be deactivated as soon as the code expires, which means that the user has to download a new QR code every 30 days from the NHS app, in order to scan for TousAntiCovid and keep it active. The original article via The Local can be read at: https://www.thelocal.fr/20220202/warning-over-deactivation-bug-in-frances-vaccine-pass/

Several iPhone 13 users have reported a problem that is, to say the least, random: The device's screen turns pink, making it impossible to use the phone without restarting it. One of the first cases to be reported dates back to October, on Apple's discussion forums. Although in this case the device in question was replaced, other users began to report the same problem in the following weeks and months. While some customers managed to get their iPhone 13 replaced, others were not so lucky, as Apple said it was just a software bug. Reading the reports, it's not possible to find a pattern that explains why this happens, although it does seem to be restricted to the iPhone 13 line. According to one user, in December: "I had the same problem when taking a photo and the screen not only froze but turned pink and restarted soon after. I called Apple support, they diagnosed it and said there was nothing wrong." Also on the social network Reddit, some users ended up reporting the same situation: "This happened to me the other day while I was in the car. It was preceded by my GPS giving me completely wrong directions, away from my destination, until I turned it off and on again. During this time the screen turned pink." Amongst all these complaints, the My Drivers blog discovered that Apple recently made a statement on the Chinese social network Weibo, precisely because the vast majority of cases appear to have arisen in China. According to the US company: "We have not detected any relevant hardware problems with the devices, as this situation [pink screen] is caused when the system is locked." According to the publication, Apple advises users to back up their data, and install the latest update available, in order to rule out incompatibility between an app version and the iOS version. Since then, iOS 15.3 RC doesn't mention fixing the pink screen bug, which also causes confusion among users, since some of these reports first appeared when the iPhone 13 was originally released. The original article via 9To5Mac can be read at: https://9to5mac.com/2022/01/23/some-iphone-13-users-report-pink-screen-issues-apple-says-its-a-software-bug/