• Article

When many people think of Linux, they incorrectly assume it is an operating system. Actually, Linux is merely the kernel which many operating systems leverage. An actual operating system is compromised of many things, including a user interface -- after all, users need to interface with their computer!

Most computer users will obviously want a graphical UI nowadays, and for BSD and Linux-based operating systems there are many such desktop environments from which to choose. One of the most popular environments is GNOME. Not only is GNOME a DE, but it has evolved into much more, such as a collection of apps and design rules (Human Interface Guidelines). Today, GNOME is celebrating a very important milestone -- it is an impressive 20 years old!

Continue reading →

Samsung has announced that more Android users will soon be able to download and install its mobile browser on their smartphones.

The news was announced in a blog post by a developer advocate for Samsung Internet named Peter O'Shaughnessy, who revealed that users running Android 5.0 Lollipop or later will be able to sign up to test out the Samsung Internet V6 app, saying:

Continue reading →

NVMe solid state drives are rewarding computer users with exceptional speed nowadays. Compared to SATA, they are much faster, and thanks to the M.2 form factor, they are much smaller too. While 2.5-inch drives are fine for a desktop, they are too large for modern laptops -- especially as manufacturers try to push the boundaries of thinness.

If you are looking to upgrade your laptop or desktop with a fast PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD, ADATA has a new product which might pique your interest. Called "XPG SX9000," it offers tremendous performance using the M.2 2280 form factor. The "XPG" in the product name indicates this ADATA has created this drive for both gamers and enthusiasts. The company is even including a very impressive 5 year warranty.

Continue reading →

Security researchers have managed to infect a computer with malware embedded in a strand of human DNA.

The news sounds like a science-fiction writer's dream, but when biologists want to handle large amounts of DNA samples, they need to digitize them and process them on their computers. But the software that they use to process these samples is usually open-source and often doesn't follow security best practices.

Continue reading →

Today our lives are inextricably tied to our mobile devices. We use them just like mini-computers, handling sensitive personal and work-related matters throughout the day. This trend is concerning because mobile devices were not designed with security in mind and are now arguably the biggest threat to both consumer and enterprise security.

Just like we have seen with the evolution of computer threats, cybercriminals are catching onto the new opportunities mobile presents. This past year, we have witnessed a dramatic spike in mobile-first cyberattacks like social media and SMS phishing, malicious apps and even robocalls. These attacks are also only going to increase with the bring your own device workplace.

Continue reading →

Facebook is rolling out a fairly significant redesign, giving the News Feed a cleaner look, and borrowing ideas from Twitter. The social network says that the changes improve readability and navigation, and they affect various areas.

The redesign is far from insignificant, but perhaps the most instantly noticeable changes are the dropping of blue accents, and the switch to Twitter-style round images. There are, however, more changes to explore.

Continue reading →

IT systems at the Scottish Parliament have been struck by a "brute force cyber-attack" from an unknown source. Staff have been advised to change passwords as a result of the attack.

Paul Grice, Chief Executive at Holyrood, says that the attack is similar to the one Westminster suffered back in June. The hackers have attempted to crack passwords as well as trying to access parliamentary emails.

Continue reading →

The UK is continuing to embrace mobile and contactless payments as the impact of cash continues to decline, new figures have revealed.

British consumers and businesses are increasingly shunning physical money in favor of card and online payments, according to the UK Cash and Cash Machines 2017 report from watchdog UK Finance.

Continue reading →

Learn how to attack and defend the world’s most popular web server platform.

Linux Server Security: Hack and Defend presents a detailed guide for experienced admins, aspiring hackers and other IT professionals seeking a more advanced understanding of Linux security. Written by a 20-year veteran of Linux server deployment, this book provides the insight of experience along with highly practical instruction.

Continue reading →

Portable solid state drives are better than mechanical hard drives for a few reasons. Obviously they are faster, but more importantly, they are more durable, as there are no moving parts. For those that travel a lot, for instance, a portable SSD is a safer product for throwing in a bag. Another big benefit is size -- modern portable SSDs are getting quite small, meaning they take up less room on a desk or in a backpack.

Today, Samsung launches its newest such drive, called the "Portable SSD T5." This beautiful drive features a USB-C connector and comes in two color options -- Deep Black and Alluring Blue. Since this is a Samsung product, it should last. If there are any issues, however, the company is including a three year warranty.

Continue reading →

We'll forgive you if you've lost track of all of the changes Facebook has introduced to the News Feed over the years -- it's often something of an experimental playground. The social network's latest idea is a dedicated "Trending News."

The section is currently rolling out to mobile users, and is something of an extension of Facebook's Trending Topics. It is making its way out to Android and iOS users in the US.

Continue reading →

The .NET Framework transformed with the release of .NET Core last year. From a Windows-only affair, the framework has gone cross-platform. What's more, Microsoft also made it open-source, adding support for macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.

And now it's taking things a step further by rolling out .NET Core 2.0, which comes with some major improvements to make it "easier to use and much more capable as a platform." Let's take a look at what is new.

Continue reading →

A federal judge has told Microsoft to stop preventing "talent management algorithm" hiQ Labs scraping data from public LinkedIn profiles. hiQ Labs has been using information gathered from LinkedIn to predict when people are going to leave their jobs -- information which is incredibly valuable to employers.

Microsoft was not happy at the data that hiQ Labs had been scraping from public profiles, and tried to stop it from happening. The company introduced "various blocking techniques" to prevent the startup from accessing the data and secure user privacy, but the ruling ultimately went in favor of hiQ Labs.

Continue reading →

Kodi is one of the best media centers available. Its cross-platform nature makes it usable on many different operating systems. Not only is it good for locally stored music and video, but with the use of add-ons, the sky is the limit. Fans of Premier League Football (soccer), for instance, can use Kodi to watch matches.

Where Kodi really shines, however, is with Linux. More specifically, the best experience is when the media center is the star of the show. Luckily, there are some Linux distros that exist solely to run Kodi. One such popular distro is LibreELEC -- a fork of OpenELEC. Today, an update to that operating system becomes available and you can download it immediately. There are images available for Raspberry Pi, WeTek, and of course, x86_64.

Continue reading →

It has been difficult to avoid talk of Kodi for one reason or another recently, and it's something that's likely to be on the lips of fans of UK football now the 2017/18 Premier League season has started up.

Watching pirated streams of football matches through IPTV providers and other services has long been a popular use for Kodi, and the English Premier League (EPL) has had enough. The organization previously obtained a High Court order blocking illegal streams in real-time, and a more recently obtained injunction extended this ability. With the new season now under way, football fans are discovering that they now need a VPN like IPVanish to get their fix.

Continue reading →