Latest Technology News

There has been great concern over the last day or so following an update to Evernote's Privacy Policy. The update said that Evernote employees might be able to access unencrypted notes as part of a human review of machine learning technologies. Users were unsurprisingly rather concerned, and there was much talk online of a mass exodus to OneNote and other alternatives.

In the face of a user backlash, Evernote CEO Chris O'Neill has issued an apology for any "angst we may have caused" and stressed that "privacy has always been at the heart" of the company. He concedes that the changes to the Privacy Policy were "communicated poorly"... but then managed to half-shift the blame for upset back onto users by saying the change "resulted in some understandable confusion".

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Vectr is a well-designed cross-platform vector editor with a strong focus on sharing and collaboration. The simple interface may look basic, at least initially: a few basic shapes, pen, pencil and text tools and not much else.

A bonus "More Shapes" panel is just one click away, though, giving you arrows, stars, lightning bolts, image and calendar icons, and assorted other clipart-type designs.

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Hot on the heels of Opera’s final release of the year comes Vivaldi 1.6, a new version of the world’s most flexible web browser from Opera co-founder Jon S von Tetzhner.

Version 1.6 -- available for Mac, Windows and Linux -- debuts three new features, all revolving around the browser’s flexible tab management system. The highlight of these is the new tab notification feature.

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While 75 percent of organizations set fixed time limits for investigating potential security incidents, many of them fail to meet their investigating and reporting targets.

According to a study from contextual security technology company Balabit 44 percent of respondents report missing internal or external deadlines for investigating or reporting a breach in the last year, and seven percent say a missed deadline had resulted in serious consequences.

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The fact that Google scans the contents of emails sent and received through Gmail has been known for some time now. It's just one of the ways in which the company gathers information about users to help deliver targeted advertising. Faced with a lawsuit over the privacy implications of this technique, Google has agreed to change its scanning systems.

Before you check to see whether hell has indeed frozen over, this is hardly a dramatic change of heart for Google. The change is only very slight, and in practice it will make little -- if any difference -- to end users.

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The world of cyber-security presents us with a tangled web of information. 2016 had its fair share cyber security tales and it’s clear that the hackers aren’t slowing down in their attacks.

In our increasingly paranoid online world, we are told what we can and can’t open, when and where we will be hacked, and how the cyber criminals are inescapable. Individuals and businesses are bombarded by the influx of guidelines on how to live their internet lives -- but how can this information be filtered into something tangible for everyday use?

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At a meeting in Trump Tower, the president-elect brought together leaders from the world of technology, telling them: "We’re going to make it a lot easier for you to trade across borders".

But while Donald Trump was quick to lavish praise upon the likes of Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel and Tim Cook, Jack Dorsey (or, indeed, any representative of Twitter) was notable by his absence. The official story is that "the conference table was only so big", but there are reports that Trump is still riled by Twitter's unwillingness to create an anti-Clinton emoji to tie in with his #CrookedHillary election campaign.

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Amazon is my favorite store. I don't just mean online either -- there is nowhere I'd rather shop, including brick-and-mortar retailers too. This is not just because of convenience either -- it has great product selection and competitive prices too. As a Prime member, I can even get my packages in two business days at no additional cost!

While I am totally satisfied waiting two days for my stuff, apparently some people aren't. Using drone technology, Amazon recently (December 7, 2016) delivered a package in a mere 13 minutes! This was the first-ever customer delivery using an Amazon Prime Air drone. Today, the company releases a video of the historic delivery, and it is pretty darn cool.

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Here we go again. Friggin' Yahoo. Sigh.

Earlier this year, the company announced that 500 million Yahoo accounts were hacked in a massive breach. This was very upsetting, as it happened back in 2014, meaning users were not made aware for years. Today, an entirely different hack is brought to light. It is even worse than the previously announced breach, as it happened a year earlier (in 2013), and it impacts twice as many accounts -- more than one billion!

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The Windows 10 Anniversary Update introduced a very welcome change to Microsoft Edge, the operating system’s default browser. In a smart move, Microsoft gave users the ability to selectively pause non-essential "peripheral” Flash content, such as animations and ads.

That was always just going to be the start of things however, as John Hazen, Principal Program Manager Lead, Microsoft Edge, had previously promised "We are planning for and look forward to a future where Flash is no longer necessary as a default experience in Microsoft Edge". And today, that future got a little bit closer.

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Evernote has published an update to its Privacy Policy, revealing that as of 23 January 2017, employees will be able to access unencrypted notes. The change is being wheeled in because of the apparent failings of machine learning.

Perhaps more worrying is the fact that Evernote says that it is not possible to opt out of having employees possibly accessing your unencrypted notes. The only way to fully protect your privacy is to delete all your notes and close your Evernote account.

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Twitter is rolling out a new feature to iOS and Android users that enables users to broadcast live video from within the app. If this sounds rather familiar, it's because it's a feature copied from Facebook -- and something that is already offered by Twitter-owned Periscope.

But live video broadcasting on Twitter is not replacing Periscope, it is powered by Periscope. By moving live video direct into the app, Twitter acknowledges the importance that users place on the feature, something which has been proven by the popularity of Facebook Live videos.

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Software asset management and IT managers around the world, mostly fear being audited by Microsoft, Oracle and SAP. This is according to a new report, just released by SAM solutions developer Snow Software.

Polling managers worldwide, three quarters (75 percent) say they fear being audited by Microsoft. Just over half (53 percent) say the same for Oracle, and a third (33 percent) about SAP.

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When people think of the technology behind video games and movies, they often just focus on the visuals. True, when creating an immersive experience, the video is probably the most important aspect from a technological perspective. With that said, audio quality is very important too.

Today, Microsoft announces that both Xbox One And Windows 10 will be getting Dolby Atmos support in future updates. If you aren't familiar, it is a surround sound technology with a focus on immersion. Don't have compatible audio hardware? Don't worry -- the Windows-maker is promising a "virtual" Atmos experience too.

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Water smacked the windshield -- a torrent of heavy droplets -- as my wife struggled to feed money into the tollbooth machine. Pelting rain is uncommon during November in San Diego, but we had purpose for driving 36 km through the downpour to Chula Vista and the Otay Ranch Apple Store, where I had never been before. The shop was the only one around that had the 15.4-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar in stock.

Eleven days earlier, Nov. 15, 2016, I received the 13.3-inch model that was ordered on October 27th. While first impressions were wow, the laptop felt slow compared to my previous MBP, and the battery drained in about half the time as specs stated. I worried that Apple produced a defective unit. No store in the area had the smaller laptop in stock, should I want to take advantage of the 14-day return policy. Deadline approached, so I considered as alternative my first 15-incher in more than a decade, tempted in part by quad-core processor and discreet graphics.

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