New York Times endorses Hillary Clinton for president, but sexist online ad taints it
The New York Times is one of the most respected news publications. Yeah, some folks call it a liberal propaganda tool, but I disagree with that stereotype. While the paper does tend to lean left, ultimately, it is based on common sense and forward-thinking.
Today, the aforementioned paper endorses Hillary Clinton. While this was totally expected, it is still historic. Why? Because it is backing the first-ever female candidate for president that is representing a major party. When I clicked the link for the article, I was excited to read it -- I have many women in my family, and it made me proud. Unfortunately, my pride quickly turned to disappointment and shame. There, in the middle of the endorsement, was an online advertisement featuring an almost naked woman.
Protect your web privacy with ScriptSafe for Chrome
ScriptSafe is a free Chrome extension which has been helping users manage their web privacy for years, building up a huge list of features along the way.
The add-on can help block various content types, fingerprinting technologies, cookies, web bugs, Google analytics, cross media requests, social media buttons and a whole lot more.
Pippa Middleton is the latest celebrity to suffer an iCloud account hack
There have been numerous cases of iCloud accounts being hacked over the years, but it's the celebrity ones that hit the headlines. Well, that and things like the Fappening. The latest celebrity account to fall victim to hackers is Pippa Middleton, sister of British royal Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge.
A reported 3,000 images have been stolen from Pippa's account, and these are said to include photographs of Kate and her children. Leaked images also show photos from private parties, and shots of wedding dresses.
Don't fall for the secret hack to add a headphone jack to the iPhone 7
As you're probably well aware, with the launch of the iPhone 7 Apple ditched the familiar headphone jack in favour of a wireless audio option. Many people have questioned the sense in this 'courageous' decision which has led some owners to take drastic steps to allow them to use their favorite set of wired headphones.
Some have been spurred on by a YouTube video that reveals a 'secret hack' for returning the headphone jack to the iPhone 7. YouTuber TechRax has created a tutorial for uncovering the hidden jack that Apple left inside the new phone. Except, of course, it is complete nonsense.
Snapchat rebrands as Snap Inc and announces Google Glass competitor called Spectacles
Snapchat today makes two big announcements, the first of which is that it is no longer called Snapchat. The company is starting to branch out into products and services beyond the Snapchat app and therefore decided it is time to drop 'chat' from the name. Snap Inc is the new company name.
The second announcement is a new product called Spectacles. These are sunglasses with an integrated video camera offering a 115-degree field of view. There's no word on exactly when it will be released, but the marketing machine is already in motion, building up momentum and drumming up interest.
Most employees don't want to share passwords
For many people, both business owners and employees, remote working is the future of business. It’s at the very heart of business transformation, together with cloud computing, automation and artificial intelligence. However, a new poll by OneLogin seems to suggest that certain workers aren’t really fond of the idea of remote working.
Half of full-time workers believe employees below mid-manager level shouldn’t be allowed remote access to the corporate network. This remote access refers to both work-owned devices (47 percent) and private devices (54 percent).
BT to offer customers Microsoft Azure services
British telecommunications company BT has announced a new offering, expanding the cloud choice for its customers. BT Computer for Microsoft Azure allows BT’s customers to order Microsoft Azure together with BT’s cloud.
With the new offering, according to BT, customers will be able to create hybrid cloud infrastructure with a single service wrap, on a single bill.
Knowing your unknowns
On a daily basis, the news is filled with stories about things that "should never have happened". Last weekend’s headline, "Improvised Explosive Device Explodes in New York City’s Chelsea Neighborhood", is one tragic example. No one could have anticipated the attack, but through the use of cameras placed throughout the area, law enforcement was able to identify a suspect and track his movements within hours.
In the real world, no one can know every single threat that could exist in the future, or when it might happen. You can make educated guesses with the right intelligence and data, but you can’t predict with certainty. This is why New York, London, and other metropolitan areas have installed surveillance cameras. They’ve done this so that if a situation does unfold, they can quickly triage and provide authorities with immediate and accurate information to inform response and investigation.
TunnelBear 3.0 brings faster, more secure VPN connections
Canadian VPN provider TunnelBear has updated its Windows and Mac clients to version 3.0. The Windows release features a simplified, stripped-back interface and connects and reconnects up to 60 percent faster than before.
There’s a new option to mark networks as "Trusted". TunnelBear then connects to trusted networks rather than others, whenever there’s a choice.
Benchmark report reveals effectiveness of marketing emails
Email is still among the most popular ways of delivering marketing messages to customers, but it can be hard to measure how well it works.
A new study from delivery platform SendGrid measures the engagement numbers for the average percentage of male and female recipients, the percentage of emails that are opened on mobile and non-mobile devices, open rates, click rate, click-to-open rates and monthly send rates across 10 industries.
Office workers want the latest technology, or else they'll quit
Business owners, pay attention. If you don't step up your technology game, your employees might leave you. This is according to a new global report from Dell and Intel, entitled Future Workforce.
Based on a poll of 4,000 full-time employees all over the world, it tried to understand how modern technologies are shaping the office world.
9 best practices for accepting payments via mobile device and mPOS
Is your business accepting payments on mobile devices, or considering it? If so, you are in good company. Large retailers, such as Nordstrom’s, have seen increased sales after integrating an mPOS (mobile point of sale) solution. Major restaurant chains, including McDonald’s and Olive Garden, are using it, too. In fact, a report by 451 Research projected that by 2019, the global mPOS installed base will reach 54 million units, which is quadruple the number from 2015.
According to a Juniper Research report, by 2021, more than one in three POS systems will be mobile. It’s no wonder mPOS solutions are catching on. They are not only convenient, but also provide tangible benefits to both merchants and customers. Shortened transaction time, elimination of lines, scalability capability, and less reliance on cash all increase sales and heighten customer satisfaction. But any data transfer comes with risk. To ensure a safe and secure mPOS experience, follow these best practices:
Most US Samsung Galaxy Note7 users choose replacements over refunds
Another day, another development in the Galaxy Note7 recall. This time, Samsung indicates that it is making good progress getting US customers to turn in their affected units, after a report by Apteligent released earlier this month revealed consistent usage rates following the recall program's introduction.
Samsung says that it has exchanged "about half" of the Galaxy Note7 units that it has sold in the US. The company has already shipped 500,000 safe devices in the country, and is believed to have sold around one million units before the recall news broke.
MathMagic Lite is a versatile equation editor
Math is hard to avoid, even if you’re a total mathphobe, and anyone might find they occasionally need to use an equation in a document.
High-end packages like Microsoft Word have equation editors built-in, but if you’re not so lucky then MathMagic Lite is a convenient free-for-personal-use alternative.
Best Windows apps this week
One-hundred and ninety-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.
This week saw the release of a first batch of converted win32 applications like Kodi, Tweeten or PhotoScape X Pro in Store.