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With everything going on in the world these days, it can feel like you are naked when using your computer. If you previously felt safe and secure, these last several years have probably eroded all of your confidence. Between Edward Snowden's revelations and the many vulnerabilities constantly hitting the news, it is tempting to just live in the woods without electricity.

Before you sell your house, buy a tent, and become a nomad, you should consider a Linux distribution that helps you fight back against evil governments, nefarious hackers, and other bad people. Called "Tails," this Linux-based operating system is designed to be run from a live environment, such as on a DVD or flash drive, so you can hide your tracks and enjoy your God-given right to privacy. Today, version 3.4 becomes available and if you are already a Tails user, you should upgrade immediately. Why? Because it includes kernel 4.14.12 which offers fixes for Meltdown and Spectre (partially).

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When you think of elegant computers and devices, your mind probably goes to Apple, and rightfully so. After all, the iPhone-maker has long pioneered the concept of technology being more than just function. With Apple, exterior design is equally as important as the internals. The first iMac, for instance, showed that a computer could be more than a beige tower.

Nowadays, there are many other companies that focus on external beauty, but one in particular really shines in this regard -- Huawei. That manufacturer sells elegant phones, tablets, computers, and more. Its previously announced Mate 10 Pro had many people drooling (including yours truly), but tragically, it was not available in the USA. Today, however, Huawei announces that the much anticipated smartphone is finally coming to the country sandwiched between Mexico and Canada.

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As children, most of us learned the hard way not to touch a hot stove. The instant searing pain and the lingering bite that followed and lasted for at least a couple days is the bitter reminder that we had messed up. But ask yourself, have you touched a hot stove since?

The lesson learned here still follows us throughout our lives because learning from failure is the quickest path to growth. The first time one falls for a phishing email is no different.

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The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) is changing everything about the way we live, shop and communicate. From Amazon’s incredibly helpful recommendation engine, and Target’s startlingly accurate pregnancy predictor, to the diagnosis and prediction of medical conditions, we’ve become simultaneously slightly creeped out, yet also somewhat dependent, on AI.

In some cases, it’s become so seamlessly woven into our daily lives that we hardly even notice. For example, Apple’s QuickType keyboard, which suggests the next word based on the context of your message, is an AI technology that many of us rely on every day without even realizing it.

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Solid state drives are ideal for portable storage. Why? They are small, fast, and have no moving parts. Unfortunately, SSDs are also a bit expensive per gigabyte compared to mechanical hard drives.

If you need external storage that won’t break the bank, and speed is not a major factor, a mechanical USB hard drive is still a great choice. Over the years, I’ve had great experiences with Toshiba CANVIO drives. Today, the company unveils three new models -- CANVIO BASICS, ADVANCE, and PREMIUM.

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Security, management and compliance challenges are hitting the benefits businesses are getting from using the cloud as their infrastructures become more complex, according to new research.

The study from security and compliance specialist WinMagic reveals that 39 percent of respondents report their infrastructure is more complex since using the cloud, and 53 percent spend more time on management tasks than they have done previously.

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Wi-Fi Protected Access is commonly used to secure Wi-Fi connections between pretty much all devices that we use nowadays. For many of us, WPA2 -- the most-recent version of the protocol -- is what we tick to make our router's wireless network private. But, pretty soon, there will be a new option available.

The Wi-Fi Alliance has announced the introduction of WPA3, which will be available for both personal and enterprise Wi-Fi devices this year. The big additions over its predecessor, for which certifications began in late-2004, are improved security and privacy.

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There have long been rumors that Apple slows down iPhones in a bid to encourage owners to upgrade to newer models. While not admitting to this precise accusation, the company had said that it reduces performance of iPhones to counteract aging batteries.

Now the French consumer fraud watchdog DGCCRF is launching an investigation into what is described as "planned obsolescence." In France it is illegal to purposely shorten the life of a product to encourage replacement purchases, and the investigation comes after a complaint from a consumer group.

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Shadow applications -- where employees use their own cloud and other software that isn't approved by the IT department -- is a growing problem for many enterprises as it leaves data exposed outside the corporate firewall.

Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) specialist Bitglass is launching a new Shadow IT Discovery tool as part of its Zero-day CASB Core product to help businesses to get a handle on the problem.

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Say goodbye to unproductive Linux habits and switch to the express lane with Working with Linux -- Quick Hacks for the Command Line from Packt Publishing.

Websites, online services, databases, and pretty much every other computer that offers public services runs on Linux. With such a broad usage, the demand for Linux specialists is ever growing. Through this book, you will improve your terminal productivity by seeing how to use different tools.

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A new beta of the Android tweaking tool Xposed Framework has been released. The big news is that the release brings support for Oreo, something of a surprise considering how recently Google pushed the latest version of its mobile operating system out of the door.

The latest Xposed Framework release comes mere months after Nougat support was added. While the Oreo-supporting release will be welcomed by mobile tweakers, the developer says it should be treated as a beta, and may be buggy.

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Following reports that its Spectre and Meltdown fixes were leaving some AMD systems unbootable, Microsoft has stopped the patches from rolling out to certain devices.

The company is blaming AMD's failure to comply with "the documentation previously provided to Microsoft to develop the Windows operating system mitigations to protect against the chipset vulnerabilities known as Spectre and Meltdown."

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We are living in very scary times, and I'm only referring to technology. Concerns about nuclear war and unstable world leaders aside, our computers and devices are like Swiss cheese nowadays thanks to Spectre and Meltdown. Hell, there are hardcoded backdoors in consumer devices! What a sad state of affairs...

If you want to help keep your home network safe, a quality router is always a smart purchase. Not only do you want something that is reliable, but it should be from a reputable manufacturer that issues regular updates. One such company is D-Link, and today, it unveils a new 802.11ac wireless router that leverages the McAfee Secure Home Platform to keep you safe. Called "DIR-2680," it features an absolutely gorgeous industrial design that, quite frankly, makes it appear as something other than a router entirely.

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The annual scourge is upon us, as tens of thousands of attention seekers descend on Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. Nowhere else can you watch bloggers and journalists in a constant chase of their public relations foibles, who desperately hunt for all the attention they can get their clients. Think a thousand kids in a small room, calling for mommy and groping her dress. Then multiply ten times.

My last CES pilgrimage was 2008. That's right, I haven't gone in 10 years. No-o-o-o regrets. Nothing important ever comes out of the show, even though each year the hype suggests otherwise. Most new unveiled products won't ship until second half of the year. If ever. There's more vaporware at CES than hot air—and that's no easy feat. Surely the Las Vegas Convention Center installs extra carbon dioxide scrubbers so that participants don't asphyxiate. If there was an alarm for toxic babble, it would sound incessantly.

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Following the Meltdown and Spectre revelations, let's just say that 2018 is off to a bad start for many tech companies. Apple is among the biggest players affected by the two security vulnerabilities, with all iOS and Mac users at risk.

The company was quick to patch Meltdown, however, with iOS 11.2, macOS 10.13.2 and tvOS 11.2 getting mitigations against the vulnerability. And, now, it's tackling Spectre too through new updates for its major operating systems.

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