Google will eliminate accidental mobile ad clicks
Ads are part and parcel of being online, but they can be particularly annoying for mobile users. When playing games on a phone or tablet, it's all too easy to accidentally tap an ad you have absolutely no interest in, pulling you out of the game you were playing or the site you were reading. If you've cursed when this happened to you, Google hears you.
The company is taking steps to make the "user experience" of ads a little better. It recognizes that advertisements that get clicked accidentally don't benefit anybody. They end up irritating the clicker, and are unlikely to be of value to the company that placed the ad. With around half of ad clicks being made by mistake, Google is now taking steps to stop this from happening -- great news for users and advertisers alike.
Anti-trolling site aims to stamp out online abuse, sexism, and homophobia
The day after the US Supreme Court voted to legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 states, the self-explanatorily named Stop Abuse Online website has launched. While the site has been set up with the intention of combating online abuse and trolling in general, female and LGBT victims are a particular focus.
The aim of Stop Abuse Online is to offer advice to those who find themselves falling victim to abuse -- be it online harassment, stalking revenge porn, or blackmail -- complete with legal tips about how to deal with different circumstances. The site is run by seven voluntary organizations in the UK and looks to bring the same protection to the web that people expect in the real world.
OneDrive adds Chromecast support to its Android app
Since debuting Chromecast has continued to gain wider support, with new services being added regularly. Now Microsoft, which has a history of supporting Android with apps and updates, is getting in a bit deeper.
The company has added support for Chromecast in it's latest update. Version 3.2 of the app allows customers to "cast" photos and videos right from their phone or tablet and display them on the big screen.
Find similar audio files with MediaPurge
Building a media collection is much more fun than organising it, and no matter how good your intentions, it’s all too easy to end up having to navigate a scattered mess of audio and video files.
MediaPurge is a freeware Windows application which provides several ways to restore order, including finding audio duplicates, tagging, renaming or sorting files into a new folder structure.
Bill Cosby and Wikipedia: Legal intimidation or fear?
There have now been nearly 50 women who have publicly accused venerable comedian Bill Cosby of inappropriate sexual conduct throughout his entire career, but what will you find on his public Wikipedia page?
In his introductory Wikipedia paragraph, visitors will see nothing but the glowing commendations Cosby has earned over the years. Only in the deeply buried sections of his online encyclopedia entry will anyone eventually find a brief description of the ongoing sexual allegations and lawsuits. Visitors to the page are also greeted with a warning that "the neutrality of this article's introduction is disputed".
Biggest healthcare technology advancements in 2015
According to the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, "constant change is the new normal" for healthcare technology professions. Every year there are many impressive advances with medical equipment which allow medical professionals to manage diseases and improve the quality of lives for their patients.
Below we explain some of the most amazing hospital equipment technological advances of this year and what you can expect to see in your local clinics in future.
AppleCare+ now covers batteries that drop to 80%
For anyone concerned about their new Apple device, AppleCare+ protection can sound appealing -- even if it might seem expensive in some instances. Today Apple has updated the terms of AppleCare+ for iPhone, iPad, iPod and Apple Watch giving a better deal for people worried about their batteries.
Previously, the extended warranty only covered batteries that would hold 50 percent charge or less. Now this has been updated so that you can request a free replacement within the coverage period if your device's battery is only able to hold 80 percent of full charge. The new terms do not apply to everyone -- it all depends on when you bought your Apple device.
Reddit blocked in China, Wayback Machine blocked in Russia
It is becoming increasingly common for governments around the world to block access to websites they don’t approve of for one reason or another. The most frequent censor is China, and the latest site to fall victim to the Great Firewall of China is Reddit. If you're not able to pop over to China to check whether the site is blocked, you can use Blocked In China to test whether any site is accessible from within the country.
This is not the only site which people are having trouble accessing. Over in Russia, the Internet Archive -- responsible for the nostalgia-inducing Wayback Machine -- is also blocked. While the blocking of Reddit in China has probably been done on purpose, the same may not necessarily be true in Russia.
ARCHOS PC Stick is a tiny $99 Windows 10 computer
The 'Stick' computing form-factor may have a big future. As many consumers move to tablets and smartphones for the majority of their computing, the need for a full-fledged PC dwindles. Being able to buy an affordable Windows PC the size of a flash drive can fill in the gaps that mobile devices leave.
Both Intel and Lenovo have released their versions of the diminutive PC, and now it is ARCHOS' turn. At first I yawned, but then I saw the price -- $99. This greatly undercuts pricing on both of the aforementioned manufacturers offerings and looks to be an amazing value.
Google car cuts off rival self-driving vehicle [Updated]
A case of autonomous road rage nearly broke out on Thursday, after two competing self-driving cars barely avoided colliding with one another on a California roadway. It's being called the first incident of its kind.
As Reuters reports, one of Google's driverless car prototypes -- a modified Lexus RX400h crossover -- was cruising along San Antonia Rd in Palo Alto, CA. By happenstance, another driverless car powered by automotive company Delphi, was driving on the same road. Google's corporate headquarters and Delphi's self-driving research facility are both located nearby in Mountain View, CA.
Ubuntu Linux 15.10 'Wily Werewolf' Alpha 1 now available
Ubuntu is one of the most popular Linux distributions -- arguably the most popular -- which is very much deserved. Canonical has taken the complicated and intimidating world of Linux and transformed it into an inviting operating system for the masses. While not as user-friendly as Windows or OS X, Ubuntu is certainly easier to use than Fedora or the dreaded Arch.
Today, Canonical announces that the next version of Ubuntu -- 15.10 'Wily Werewolf' -- reaches Alpha status. If you are a fan of the Unity desktop environment, however, you are not in luck. Alpha releases only represent the other flavors of the distro. Sadly, Ubuntu GNOME (my favorite) and Xubuntu are not yet available.
BBC reveals links censored by Google's Right To Be Forgotten
Google's Right To Be Forgotten gives people the chance to request the removal of search results linking to pages that contain information they believe to be "inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant". Google says it rejects more requests than it complies with, but there is still concern that the company is not providing enough detail about what it is doing. There have been calls for greater transparency from the company about the censorship that is taking place.
The BBC has published a list of all of the stories from its own site that have been removed from Google search results. The corporation announced that it wanted to be clear with people about which links has been deleted and plans to update the list each month. It already extends to nearly 200 entries and the BBC explains that while the stories may no longer be shown by Google, they are still available uncensored on the BBC site.
Java installer is making changes, but don't get excited just yet
Security problems aside, Java has been a thorn in people's sides for other reasons. When installed or updated, the app breezes you right past the part where it installs the Ask Toolbar. Sure it does put it on the screen, but it's set to opt in and many people are too busy clicking OK to notice. So when Ask's inclusion was canceled it seemed like good news.
Not really. Instead, Oracle has opted to move on and will now start changing the default search for its customers. If you aren't careful, then you can expect to find Yahoo as your new default. Are you excited yet?
Google introduces Cloud Source Repositories -- new GitHub rival
Google closed its own project hosting site, named Google Code, earlier this year, in a move that allowed GitHub and Bitbucket to become the dominant platforms. The move away from project hosting only lasted a few months, with a new place called Cloud Source Repositories now available on the Google Cloud Platform.
Part of Google’s ever growing line of services on the cloud platform, Cloud Source Repositories allows users and teams to upload, build and deploy applications for the web and mobile.
Most IT pros will deploy Windows 10 in the next two years
A total of 73 percent of IT professionals will deploy Windows 10 within the first two years, a new report by Spiceworks shows.
The report, called Windows 10: Will it Soar? found that 96 percent of IT decision-makers are interested in Windows 10, and 60 percent of IT departments have tested or are actively testing the new operating system. The survey also found that 40 percent of companies plan to begin rolling out Windows 10 within the first year and an additional 33 percent expect to begin deploying Windows 10 within two years.
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