Fedora 28 wallpaper contest now open -- submit your image to the Linux distro!
One of the first things I do after installing a new Linux distribution is set a different wallpaper. Why? Desktop pictures really inspire me -- my mood can be positively altered by a beautiful image. The default wallpaper is often boring. For the most part, I prefer images of nature with bright colors. After all, if I am stuck indoors working on my computer, a wallpaper of the beach, mountains, or a colorful bird, for instance, can transport me to the outdoors -- in my mind.
Sadly, not every distro has beautiful high-quality images. Fedora, however, often does -- thanks to its "supplemental" wallpapers. What is particularly cool about that operating system, is that it regularly accepts wallpaper submissions from the community as part of a contest. In other words, anybody can potentially contribute to a new version of the distro by simply uploading a photo, drawing, or other picture. Fedora 28 is the upcoming version of the OS, and the developers are now calling for wallpaper submissions for it. Will you submit an entry to the contest?
Top enterprise security predictions for 2018
2017 delivered a good deal of excitement (as well as massive, massive headaches) in IT security. WannaCry attacked more than 300,000 computers in 150 countries only to be followed by Petya a month later. And the pain extended beyond the enterprise when consumers bore the brunt of one of the most devastating hacks to hit the U.S.: the Equifax breach. The Equifax hack reportedly affected 145.5 million U.S. consumers -- or approximately 44 percent of the U.S. population -- leaving people vulnerable to financial fraud for potentially the rest of their lives.
These were just some of the year’s lowlights, all of which point to a future where nearly every organization is reliant on successful cybersecurity. It can literally mean the difference between a company’s survival and extension. As such, 2018 should be all about advancing enterprise security initiatives, and below are my top predictions to ensure the integrity of systems across the globe.
Are Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) the future of mobile?
There are two types of businesses in today’s mobile-first world: businesses that have a mobile app and those that do not. The one thing that these two sides have in common is that both are looking towards progressive web apps (PWAs) and wondering what the impact of this new app experience will be and how it will change the mobile world.
Businesses that have already invested in developing a native mobile app are looking at PWAs cautiously. While these new apps represent a new frontier to be explored and leveraged to improve and expand on an existing app experience, they also have the potential to elbow native apps out of the spotlight. Thus, these companies may find that their investment into a native app was not as long-term as they anticipated.
OnePlus investigating credit card fraud reports
A number of OnePlus customers have reported unusual credit card transactions after buying products from the smartphone maker's online store. And, today, OnePlus announces a formal investigation.
OnePlus reveals that the complaints come only from users who have made direct purchases and adds that purchases involving third-party services -- PayPal, for example -- are not affected.
Getting a good Google ranking is a long game
Whenever a business gets a new website it wants to see it ranking highly in search results. But getting to the top in Google and other search engines is a long game, according to SEO company Ahrefs.
UK web design company The Website Group has produced an infographic based on the Ahrefs research. It shows that -- based on random keywords -- the top 10 ranking pages on Google are on average more than two years old.
Malwarebytes warns that fake Meltdown and Spectre patches are being used to spread Smoke Loader malware
News of the Meltdown and Spectre processor bugs quickly spread around the world, as companies and individuals tried to protect their systems. But in addition to concerns about the performance hit patches may have on computers, Malwarebytes has also issued a stark warning about fake patches.
The security firm warns that criminals have used interest in Meltdown and Spectre to push out fraudulent bug fixes that are laced with Smoke Loader malware.
Raspberry Pi Zero WH has pre-soldered header
In a surprising announcement, a new Raspberry Pi model appears! With little fanfare, the "Raspberry Pi Zero WH," as it is called, becomes an official variant of the diminutive Zero W.
While it is technically not entirely new, it is still an exciting new model nonetheless. You see, the "H" seems to indicate "header" as this is a Raspberry Pi Zero W with a GPIO header soldered on. If you have a need for a Zero W with these pins, but don't have soldering skills (or don't have the time to do it yourself), this could be the ideal Pi for you.
Google kicks over 60 games out of the Play Store for serving up porn ads via AdultSwine malware
Google has removed more than 60 games from the Play Store after security firm Check Point discovered they were laced with malware and serving up porn ads. Check Point claims that the games were aimed at children, but Google says this was not the case.
The AdultSwine malware was found to be bundled in a number of games, many of which had been downloaded millions of times. As well as displaying pornographic ads, the malware also tried to trick users into installing fake security tools, and also encouraged people to register for expensive premium services.
PC market is up... or down -- what would you like to hear?
Boy, do we have something for everyone today. If you think the PC market has no future and that it's all going downhill, you're going to love this story. If, on the other hand, you think that there's hope and that people are still loving the PC, guess what? You're going to love it too!
You must be sitting there confused, wondering what the heck I am on about. It can't be both, right? Well, no, but if you read the latest reports on PC shipments in Q4 2017 from IDC and Gartner you are going to get that impression. IDC thinks we've just had the first growth quarter in six years, while Gartner claims shipments are down year over year. Isn't this interesting?
Spectre patch in iOS 11.2.2 is slowing down iPhones
As technology firms around the world try to mop up the mess that the Meltdown and Spectre chip bugs are making, Intel has been keen to stress that the impact patches will have on performance will be minimal. The company has already released benchmark results that show the hardest hit will be older computers. Now new benchmarks show that iPhone users may notice slowdowns too.
One iPhone 6 owner decided to benchmark his phone and found that the performance hit is significant. So significant, in fact, that some tasks see a performance degradation of more than 50 percent.
Big changes to Facebook's news feed mean you'll probably spend less time on the social network
Facebook is planning major changes to the way its news feed works, and Mark Zuckerberg says he believes that the amount of time people spend using the social network will go down as a result.
This might seem like a slightly strange thing for the company to do, but these changes are about improving the overall experience. Zuckerberg says that "the time you do spend on Facebook will be more valuable." So what can we expect from the changes? For starters, you should see more posts from the people you know, and fewer from brands and pages.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 Preview Build 17074 to the Fast ring, with lots of big new changes
Windows 10 Insiders on the Fast ring have got used to weekly new builds from Microsoft, but just lately we’ve been having to go a lot longer between releases. There have been just two new builds in the past seven weeks, although both have been jam packed with new features and improvements, so it's easy to understand the reason for the delay.
Build 17074, the latest release for the Fast ring (and Skip Ahead), has a lot to offer users and shows the direction the OS is taking these days. Here’s what’s new.
Microsoft releases PowerShell Core 6.0 for Windows, macOS and Linux
Microsoft has released an updated version of PowerShell which adds support for macOS and Linux. PowerShell Core 6.0 uses .NET Core rather than the .NET framework, and this means it is able to break out of being a Windows-only tool.
The tool is described as a "new edition of PowerShell that is cross-platform (Windows, macOS, and Linux), open-source, and built for heterogeneous environments and the hybrid cloud." The arrival of the scripting tool on new platforms will be welcomed by those working in mixed environments.
Intel promises transparency as Meltdown patch causes reboot problems with Broadwell and Haswell chips
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich has written an open letter to the technology community addressing the fallout from the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerability revelations. In it he promises transparency from the company and reiterates a previous promise that patches will be made available for the majority of processors by next week.
The letter comes as users of systems with Broadwell and Haswell chips report problems with increased reboots.
The PC market could be on the road to recovery
The PC market has been in bad shape for several years. While the why is up for debate, it certainly wasn't helped by two disappointing versions of Windows in a row -- 8.x and 10. Not to mention, hardware lasts much longer these days, as performance has long surpassed the needs of many consumers -- the concept of needing to upgrade a PC every two or three years is dead. Hell, many consumers can get by with just their smartphones and tablets -- a traditional PC just isn't as necessary as it once was.
Shockingly, according to IDC, the PC market could finally be on the road to recovery. While the market is still very unhealthy overall, there is one stat that signals something special could be on the horizon. You see, for the first time in six years, the worldwide PC market saw a Q4 increase year over year. In other words, Q4 2017 outperformed Q4 2016. This is particularly significant, as both Christmas and the holiday shopping season are in these months.
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