Apple recently removed some VPN clients from the App Store in China at the request of the Chinese Government. Why? That country is largely anti-privacy, and it does not want its citizens bypassing its censorship of the web. If you live in China, the government can decide what you can and can't view online. If you get caught circumventing these controls, the government can harshly punish you. Sad, right? This is why it is imperative that Linux-based privacy-centric open source operating systems such as Tails continue their development -- you never know when it might be needed (including in the USA).

If you aren't familiar with Tails, please know that it is a "Live" Linux distro that focuses on security and privacy. In other words, it can potentially cover your tracks from heavy-handed governments and other entities. Today, Tails achieve a minor point update, making the newest stable version 3.1. While it is hardly monumental from a feature perspective, it is urgent that all users upgrade as some serious vulnerabilities have been patched.

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My love for Fractal Design cases is well documented. Most recently, I -- and other members of the PC building community -- went gaga over the "Define C TG" chassis series from the company, as it featured good looks, solid design, and a beautiful tempered glass window. You really can't go wrong with a Fractal Design case, as it should last you many years without breaking the bank. The designs are evergreen, as the company does not follow the fleeting style du jour.

Today, Fractal Design launches yet another case, and once again, it looks like a winner. The "Meshify C," as it is called, is true to its name, as it features, well, a lot of mesh. The company has designed this chassis to be the pinnacle of cooling, with plenty of mesh, fan mounting options, and the potential for excellent cable management. Of course, it looks sexy too, particularly thanks to a beautiful tinted tempered glass window

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I absolutely love Chromebooks. Well, not for me exactly, but I love suggesting them to other people when appropriate. While they aren't for everybody, they are brilliant when they can meet a user's needs. The underlying Chrome OS operating system is based on Linux and is extremely secure. In fact, it can be argued that Google's laptop operating system is the most secure OS for web browsing. If you are tired of fixing either a friend or family member's Windows 10 PC, and they live in a web browser, get them on a Chromebook and get some of your time -- and sanity -- back.

Today, Acer unveils a new laptop running Chrome OS. The "Chromebook 11 C771," as it is called, is designed primarily for education (where they really shine), plus as thin clients for businesses too. The notebook features an 11.6-inch display with optional touch, and up to 13 hours battery life. Since it is designed primarily for students, and they can be rough on computers, the C771 has military grade (MIL-STD 810G) durability and a spill-resistant keyboard. It can even survive a 4 foot drop.

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There has been a lot of excitement in the processor market lately, but unfortunately for Intel, it has largely been an AMD affair. Don't misunderstand me; I am not saying Intel has been absent -- quite the contrary. What I mean to say is, as consumers awaited substantial news from Intel, the excitement has been focused on Threadripper.

This focus may shift soon, however, as today, Intel announces that its 8th generation Core processors are on the way. In fact, the company plans to officially launch the next-gen chips on August 21 -- the same day as the upcoming solar eclipse. The video platform on which the processors will be unveiled is interesting too -- Intel is leveraging Facebook Live.

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Solid state drives are all the rage nowadays, but as fast as they are, they don't often compare to mechanical hard drives from a capacity standpoint. Heck, my pricey MacBook Pro came with a very fast NVMe drive, but with a mere 256GB of storage. This is quite paltry when cheap laptops using a HDD can often exceed four times that capacity. Of course, there is a big speed tradeoff, making the smaller capacity preferable to some. It stinks that many consumers have to choose between a fast yet small SSD or a slow and roomy HDD.

What if consumers didn't have to choose though? A new NVMe SSD series from Micron, dubbed 9200, offers both extreme speed and monstrous capacity. How much storage, you ask? Up to 11TB! The drive is more focused for businesses, however, as it will likely be priced well out of reach of the average consumer. In other words, it isn't designed for your fancy gaming rig, but instead, servers. Still, it is exciting to think that these large capacity SSDs will trickle down to consumers eventually.

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Now is a very exciting time to be an Ubuntu user. The upcoming 17.10 version of the Linux-based operating system -- codenamed "Artful Aardvark" -- is coming in October with a new desktop environment -- GNOME. That's right, Canonical has decided to kill the Unity environment, making the new version something very exciting. While some people will mourn Unity, it is the right move.

Being that we are already in August, the clock is starting to tick for Canonical, meaning it really needs to get everything running properly if it wants a smooth user experience with 17.10 in October. On August 24 and 25, the Ubuntu Desktop team will be holding a "Fit and Finish Sprint," where they will aggressively test GNOME. Canonical is also asking the Ubuntu community to help with this process. In other words, you might be able to assist with making Artful Aardvark even better. What makes this particularly cool, however, is that Canonical will be selecting some community members to visit its London office on August 24 between 4pm and 9pm.

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There are many discussions nowadays as to who is the best YouTuber. Many people stand by PewDiePie, but Jake Paul and his Team 10 squad are quickly becoming a force to recon with. Heck, even Jake's brother, Logan Paul, is delivering some amazing content lately. OK, before you get too mad, please know that I am being facetious. The Paul brothers are probably the worst thing on YouTube these days, but I'll confess that the drama surrounding them keeps me on the edge of my seat. Seeing Killa' Keemstar report on the latest foolishness by Jake and Logan on Drama Alert is pure gold.

If you want to share the latest videos by Jake, Logan, or any other YouTuber, Google has a new solution that you may appreciate. Rather than just send a link, you can share and discuss the video from within the YouTube app itself. Very cool.

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When you are working on a team -- whether large or small -- collaboration can be a huge pain point. Nowadays, there are more and more remote workers, meaning teammates aren't always in the same state or country, let alone the same office building. After all, there is talent all over the globe -- not just in a 30 mile radius surrounding your place of business. This is one of the reasons why chat solutions like Slack have gained in popularity.

Speaking from experience, many software solutions are quite deficient in maximizing productivity and collaboration. There are still many instances where employees duplicate work and find themselves working off of outdated document revisions. A new startup called "The Mad Botter" is hoping to change this with a new "Wonderland" themed artificial intelligence bot called "Alice." This isn't an entirely new platform, however, and that is a good thing. Instead, the bot ties into existing solutions, such as the aforementioned Slack, plus other services like Trello and GitHub.

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Smartphones have forever changed the photography market. While a standalone camera, such as a DSLR, may take a better photo, they can be a chore to carry and maintain. Not to mention, they can be very expensive. For many non-professional photographers, their phone is more than good enough. Heck, some people claim an iPhone, for example, can rival dedicated cameras.

Apple seems keen to brag about how good its iPhone is at photography -- there are countless TV commercials produced by the company that highlight that exact thing. Apple is also taking its bragging a bit further by way of social media. After increasing its activity on Twitter lately, the company has now joined Instagram too. Under the @Apple handle, the MacBook-maker is not sharing photos of its products, but instead, photos taken with them.

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There are many great wireless routers on the market nowadays, from companies like Netgear, Linksys, and D-Link. My favorite router of all time is not being made anymore, sadly. Unfortunately, the company that made the aforementioned product is no longer making routers at all. That company's name is Apple. The AirPort Extreme was a great wireless router for many reasons -- it was secure, easy to use, and looked great. Yes, when you are putting a router in, say, your living room, the appearance does matter.

A new router that borrows design cues from Apple's routers caught my eye recently, and I knew I had to try it. Not only does the AmpliFi HD Mesh Wi-Fi System sort of look like an AirPort router, but it promised an easy app-based setup. What really sweetens the pot, however, is that the 802.11ac system uses "mesh" technology, allowing several access points to work together. Oh, and let's not forget that this home-based product is made by the much-respected Ubiquiti Networks.

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There are so many Bluetooth speakers nowadays, that it is hard for any to stand out. That's not to say they are all equal from a sound quality perspective. Actually, many of them are downright terrible. It is hard to find a model that produces acceptable-sounding music. This is why it is wise to stick with reputable brands, such as JBL, Bose, and Ultimate Ears. Don't misunderstand me, there are solid offerings from some less-known brands, but they are few and far between.

One reputable company that has been involved in sound technology for many years is Creative -- maker of the iconic Sound Blaster series of PC sound cards. Today, Creative unveils an absolutely beautiful Bluetooth speaker called "Halo." What makes it stand out from other such speakers is the cool-looking "halo" effect on the face. This is done with LED lights which feature an impressive 16.8 million color options. The lighting can be customized using a mobile app, allowing the user to find the best color combination for them. How cool is that?

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Whether or not password managers are a good idea is up for debate. I understand the concerns about storing all of your login credentials in a single place -- in the cloud no less. With that said, the benefits outweigh the negatives. Look, it is impossible to remember a unique password for countless web sites nowadays. One alternative to a password manager is reusing the same password on numerous sites, and that is foolish behavior. Right now, a solution like LastPass or 1Password is the best we have, and I suggest it wholeheartedly.

LastPass in particular is great, as it is free to use and is cross-platform. It even works on Linux desktop operating systems such as Ubuntu, Fedora, and Chrome OS. For a single dollar every month, you can opt for a premium account that supports the developer and gives you a few exclusive features. Well, guess what? LastPass is doubling the monthly fee for the Premium tier from one dollar to two. Yes, rather than $12 a year, it is now $24. Still extremely inexpensive, right? No one would complain about that, right? Wrong. Many LastPass users are stupidly complaining.

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Windows 10 has proven to be a bit disappointing for some users, but for others, it can be a satisfying experience. If you cannot afford a Mac, and learning Linux is out of the question, Microsoft's desktop operating system is your best bet. Look, Windows 10 isn't a bad OS at all. Actually, it scales rather well to many computer types and screen sizes. For instance, no other desktop OS can match it on a touch screen.

To highlight this, today, HP announces a beautiful Windows 10 point-of-sale system. Called "ElitePOS," it leverages many of Windows 10's strengths, such as touch-input and security. The little business computer is quite attractive too, which is very important for a customer-facing machine. The machine has solid hardware on the inside as well, featuring Kaby Lake processors and DDR4 memory. The body doesn't just look good, it is built well too, with military-grade ruggedness. In other words, this POS computer is not a "POS."

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One of my favorite computer chassis-makers is Fractal Design. Why? Well, the company's designs are both affordable and no-nonsense. Rather than make its cases look like spaceships for children, the designers focus on conservative designs that real PC builders appreciate. In other words, they are not form over function. Don't misunderstand me, the chassis designs aren't boring; just classy rather than flashy.

Today, Fractal Design launches a tempered glass update to one of its most popular case series  -- Define C. If you aren't familiar these cases, they ditch the front cages, making the chassis less deep. This is not just better for aesthetics, but cooling too. I like this design, as far fewer builders are using optical drives or 3.5-inch hard drives -- it was wasteful to have empty space at the front. There is still room for SATA drives, however, underneath the shroud -- which is also home to the power supply unit. This new "TG" variant with tempered glass makes a great case even better.

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Skype isn't the best communication service. Actually, it is often quite bad. Microsoft's development team seems to not care about the user interface as it looks terrible compared to competitors. Quite frankly, it is often a frustrating experience. The saving grace for Skype is its cross-platform nature -- there are clients for all popular operating systems. Not to mention, many users likely use it out of habit and name recognition.

All is not lost, however, as Microsoft still has plenty of time to right the ship and make Skype better. Today, the Windows-maker unveils a new feature that, while cool, doesn't exactly address Skype's needs. But OK, I'll take it. What is it? Well, Microsoft has partnered with PayPal for a new way to transfer funds using Skype. The unimaginatively named "Send Money" feature lets you easily do things like split a restaurant bill with friends or family, pay a dog-walker, and more.

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