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Star Wars fever is once again high as The Last Jedi arrives in cinemas around the world. Sphero offers a range of Star Wars droids -- R2-D2, R2-Q5, BB-8 and BB-9E -- which you can control via an app, and which also interact with one another.

The BB-8 model I’ve been testing for a few weeks now is a perfect scaled down version of the orange and white droid first introduced in The Force Awakens. Like most of Sphero’s robots, it’s a gyroscopic ball that rolls around, but with a dome on top that moves independently.

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Apple Pay is amazing. I use it regularly wherever it is accepted. Two stores where it is particularly good are Walgreens and Kohl’s. These two retailers offer loyalty reward cards that can be linked to Apple Pay for added convenience. When you pay with your iPhone, the reward card is entered automatically -- no need to swipe a second card. It’s a small thing, but it really is delightful.

Today, Apple announces a promotion that makes using Apple Pay a no-brainer. You see, the iPhone-maker will pay you $5 just for trying it! The deal starts today and ends on December 21. Of course, there is one catch -- not all stores are eligible for the promotion.

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Kodi has been the subject of controversy for some time, and addon repository TVAddons has, in particular, been criticized from many quarters. Having recently announced that it will no longer proactively check for pirated content, TVAddons is suggesting that there's a very good reason to use Kodi addons to stream online content -- security.

The site says that one of the reasons Kodi is so hated by the industry is that addons give users the chance to avoid advertisements and "all forms of monetization." TVAddons says that Kodi addons not only enable people to avoid ads, but also potentially dangerous malware and secretive cryptocurrency miners.

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It's quite interesting to see just how far Microsoft has come since Satya Nadella became CEO. The company has gotten out of its comfort zone and made its products more appealing to a wider range of customers, embracing rival platforms and the open-source community. Having Visual Studio on Macs and tons of apps on Android and iOS is something that would have been unheard of only a few years ago.

The same goes for offering a subsystem for Linux or OpenSSH support on Windows 10. That last bit may not excite everyone, but it is especially useful for those who want to log in remotely on Linux devices -- which would have normally required third-party tools like PuTTY. Microsoft is not stopping there though, as it's taking things to the next level by adding a native OpenSSH client and server to Windows 10.

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Businesses rely more and more on data, but a new study shows up significant differences in the value that is placed on confidential data around the world and in different industries.

The research from cyber security firm Trustwave involved more than 500 IT decision makers in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Japan, examining attitudes towards the value of confidential data.

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SecureMix LLC has released GlassWire 2.0.78, a major update of its security network monitoring and Windows Firewall control tool.

The app, which comes in free and paid-for versions, unveils new features including support for firewall profiles and access to VirusTotal for scanning network-related files. It also unveils a major new redesign and provides users with more granular control over key aspects of the program.

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While machine learning and artificial intelligence are becoming key to cyber security, a new survey shows that a majority of security professionals worry that the technology could be used against them.

The study by cyber security company Webroot reveals that 91 percent are concerned about hackers using AI against companies in cyber attacks.

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As the vote to determine the fate of Net Neutrality regulations looms in the FCC, I've been taking a harder look at where I stand on the issue. Personally, I've got vested interests as a consumer that relies on many net-connected services in my daily life. And professionally, I own an IT business that lives and dies by the availability of countless net-centric ecosystems. But every angle from which I examine the issue upon, I keep coming back to a common conclusion: Net Neutrality just isn't needed.

Before you slam your keyboard and roll me in as some blind Trump admin shill, I want to be transparent about my background. I've been working professionally in the IT industry for almost 13 years now, and have run the Managed IT Services tech business FireLogic for the last 8 of those. That's in addition to a Master's degree in IT PM, countless tech certifications, and being on the SME advisory committee for the globally recognized Computing Technology Industry Association.

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With GDPR coming into effect in may 2018, the complex requirements of the legislation may leave many companies struggling to comply.

Enterprise file service platform FileCloud is adding new features to its platform to deliver compliance support for organizations using private cloud enterprise file sharing.

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While 2017 saw enhancements in defenses -- such as the use of artificial intelligence -- it also demonstrated that cyber criminals continue to find their way around defensive measures with new evasion techniques.

Anti-evasion software specialist Minerva Labs has released its Year in Review report, which takes an in-depth look at the approaches used by common malware families to bypass anti-malware tools, including antivirus and analysis sandboxes.

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Open source is the future of computing. Don't believe me? Three of the most important technology companies -- Microsoft, Apple, and Google -- not only license open source software, but they contribute to open source projects too. While closed source will likely never go away, it is becoming less important.

Today, popular anti-virus and security company, Avast, announces that it too is contributing to the open source community. You see, it is releasing the code for its machine-code decompiler on GitHub. Called "RetDec," the decompiler had been under development since 2011, originally by AVG -- a company Avast bought in 2016.

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Getting around a city is easier than ever and you could use a mix of transport from a hired bike, the underground, bus or even hire a "car club" vehicle for a few hours.

Using a bicycle is the preferred option for many as it includes health benefits as well. However, how do you know where to go? Do you use a GPS? Decent options, but they are designed for cars and not for bikes which can create routing issues, especially in terms of safety. You’d want to cycle on paths which are safer for cyclists and also where you can take in a bit of scenery without getting yourself in danger.

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Thanks in no small part to Bitcoin's incredible performance this year, as it rose from about $1,000 on January 1 to well over $17,000 this month, more and more people are starting to talk about cryptocurrencies these days. But what exactly do folks know about this market?

As it turns out, not a whole lot. According to Ditto's 2017 Cryptocurrency Public Knowledge Report, the vast majority are not familiar with cryptocurrencies, nor do they know what an initial coin offering (ICO) is. That's not surprising and neither are the conflicting perceptions.

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If you have an HP laptop, there's a reasonable chance that you have an keylogger installed. The tool is embedded in Synaptics touchpad drivers.

Before you start panicking too much, it's worth noting that the keylogging capabilities of the tool are disabled by default, but that's not to say there's no cause for alarm. This may all sound slightly familiar; back in May, HP hit the headlines for a keylogger that was buried in an audio driver. If you want to check if you are affected by the latest privacy violation -- and what you can do about it -- read on...

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The cryptocurrency market has come a long way this year. Fueled by the incredible growth of Bitcoin and altcoins like Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin, its valuation rose from 17.7 billion on January 1 to more than $0.5 trillion today.

More than $100 billion were added to the crypto market's capitalization in the past week. Bitcoin's rise has slowed down, but the other major players saw a massive boost that took them to new highs.

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