• Article

When faced with the chance of clinching a major deal people are willing to throw security controls out of the window.

This is according to research by contextual security company Balabit which asked over 380 European IT executives, CIOs, CISOs, auditors and other IT professionals about their thoughts on IT security and business flexibility.

Continue reading →

With the level of excitement that surrounded the launch of the iPad Pro, it would be reasonable to expect sales to be high. They're not. Adoption of this particular model are the slowest for any iPad version yet.

It may only be a week since launch, but Apple would almost certainly be hoping that the new Pro version of its tablet would have captured more than 0.3 percent of the iPad market. Not even the tablet market, just iPads. Experts suggest that part of the reason for this is confusion about who the iPad Pro is aimed at.

Continue reading →

After five years of stop-start development, 7-Zip has just released a new stable version 15.12.

It’s been a long wait, but if you’re still using the latest stable build -- 9.20 -- then there are plenty of reasons to upgrade.

Continue reading →

Selecting the best colors is a key part of any graphic design project, yet most color pickers only display your chosen shades in tiny boxes.

Colortypist is a portable Windows freebie which allows you type color names or codes and displays them full-screen, in real time.

Continue reading →

I first started using Windows back in 1992, shortly after the release of Windows 3.1, and I’ve used every iteration since, including both the good (Windows XP, Windows 7) and the bad (Vista, Windows 8). Every time a new version was released, I upgraded pretty much immediately. I might own various Apple devices, and dip into Linux products from time to time, but for me there will only ever be one desktop operating system of worth, and that’s Windows.

Today is a huge milestone for the operating system that popularized home computing, and changed the world in so many ways. Microsoft Windows 1.0 was released on 20th November 1985, two years after it was first announced, and for the first time PC owners were able to control things using a mouse, rather than just typing in commands in DOS.

Continue reading →

The hotly anticipated LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition -- the first Android Wear device with cellular support -- may never be released. LG has cancelled plans for a global rollout of the smartwatch after the discovery of a 'complicated' hardware issue.

At the moment it is not clear whether the wearable will ever see the light of day as LG is investigating quality standards. The company has not provided any details about the nature of the problem, but the decision to cancel such a huge launch is not one that will have been taken lightly.

Continue reading →

Korean tech giant LG has announced it will soon be launching its own mobile payment service. The service, which will be a direct competitor to Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay and other mobile payment systems, will be available in South Korea and the US, for starters.

According to IB Times, LG has registered the trademark LG Pay in South Korea and United States, so it’s very likely that will be the service’s name.

Continue reading →

It's that time of year with the weather turning cold, shopping lists in mind and a general feeling of...well, it depends on the person. However, many folks like a bit of spirit for the season and holiday music purveys that, frequently bringing back memories of youth with the likes of Bing Crosby and Burl Ives.

Now WebRadio, a BRS Media company, is trying to bring you the best of the holidays with a long list of channels to choose from.

Continue reading →

The use of other people's copyright material on YouTube is permitted in certain circumstances. Fair use rules allow for the use of copyright material for the purposes of review, parody, and more -- but this doesn't stop copyright holders from issuing DMCA takedown notices.

YouTube is a natural breeding ground for copyright violations, but there are also countless examples of fair use that end up in court. This is something that many people are scared of, and rather than fighting back, will tend to cave in. Now Google has said that it is willing to stand up for users and will defend them in court.

Continue reading →

Digital assistants such as Siri are billed as great time-savers, and there's no denying that Apple's voice-activated feature can be a real help. But security experts at Trend Micro warn that it also poses a serious privacy risk for iPhone owners.

Even if your iPhone is protected with a PIN or passcode, it could still be possible for someone else to use Siri to learn personal information about not just you, but your relations and other contacts, as well as details about your schedule.  Described by Trend Micro as a 'flaw', Siri actually acts as a backdoor that enables anyone with physical access to your phone to bypass security features.

Continue reading →

Shopping for a new laptop can be fun and exciting, but the wide array of mobile PCs to choose from, along with the assortment of screen sizes and task-specific features, can make the process rather confusing.

To avoid winding up with a laptop that costs too much, weighs too much, and does too little, be sure to consider your options ahead of time. Here are five suggestions.

Continue reading →

Modern cyber attacks are targeted, stealthy and evasive. Cybercriminals commonly attempt to penetrate enterprise networks by exploiting vulnerabilities in applications, web browsers and operating systems. The best defense available to enterprises is to rapidly patch these vulnerabilities -- or is it?

Patching is costly and risky, and it can disrupt ongoing business activities. Clearly, this conundrum creates tension between IT teams, security departments and management. Can enterprises achieve a healthy balance without compromising their cyber security?

Continue reading →

Break ups happen. Relationships come to an end. It might be an amicable termination, but the chances are that it's not. You probably never want to hear from your ex partner again. Unfortunately, over the years, you have built up a shared circle of friends, and you're both connected to them on Facebook.

Depending on the circumstances of the break up, you might want to go as far as ditching the online friendship and blocking your former beau. But you might not want to take things quite that far. With this in mind, Facebook is now rolling out new features that kick in when you indicate that you're no longer in a relationship, so you won’t be constantly reminded of what you have lost.

Continue reading →

There are many problems with the censoring of online content, not least that it can limit free speech. But there is also the question of transparency. By the very nature of censorship, unless you have been kept in the loop you would simply not know that anything had been censored.

This is something the Electronic Frontier Foundation wants to change, and today the digital rights organization launches Onlinecensorship.org to blow the lid off online censorship. The site, run by EFF and Visualizing Impact, aims to reveal the content that is censored on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, and YouTube -- not just the 'what' but the 'why'. If you find yourself the subject of censorship, the site also explains how to lodge an appeal.

Continue reading →

While Intel and Nvidia produce some amazing hardware, I always have a place in my heart for AMD. True, the company often lags behind Intel for raw power and efficiency, plus its Linux driver support can be iffy, but from a value perspective, its products are great. You get a lot of power, often for less money than competitors.

AMD's 300 series cards have been really popular with the gaming community, yet many people have not upgraded. In a tough economy, this is understandable. Today, however, AMD officially announces a card that is not only powerful, but affordable too. The R9 380X may be the perfect balance. Will you upgrade?

Continue reading →