ffDiaporama: not just another video slideshow builder
If you've used one or two video slideshow builders then you'll know they tend to work in a very similar way. Open a set of pictures or videos; drag or drop to rearrange them; optionally add transitions, titles or a soundtrack, then export the results as a movie.
Install the free ffDiaporama, and you might start in much the same way. The results aren't bad, either, with a reasonable set of transitions and plenty of video export options (MP4, FLV, 3GP, AVI, MKV, MPEG, WEBM, OGV).
NFL and Yahoo plan to live stream a game free of charge
Football season is coming, despite that it isn't even officially summer yet. The draft is behind us and OTAs are underway. Training camp is just around the corner in July. But one thing has lacked with the National Football League, and that's live streaming games. Thanks to a deal with DirecTV, the league has been locked up while other sports like MLB have thrived in this market. Things are changing though, but the wheels turn slowly.
The NFL has inked a deal with Yahoo -- yes, the also-ran search competitor -- to live stream a game for free, It's a start and we'll see where things go from here. In the meantime write down the date October 25th. That's the day the Buffalo Bills take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. Sound like a boring game? It isn't, because it will test this new plan.
Want a career in Linux? Take this edX course
There comes a point in every person's life when they must grow up and plan for their future. It is important to remember that you can be anything you want if you try hard enough. Of course, some jobs such as astronaut, President of the USA or NBA player are harder to get than others!
A smart choice in today's world is to be involved with Linux. There are many careers in Linux that are in demand nowadays. If you want to be a Linux Systems Admin, I have good news -- you can now become qualified online thanks to a partnership between edX and the Linux Foundation.
Japanese porn sites may infect your iPhone and iPad with malicious apps
If you are an adult that likes to visit Japanese porno websites on your iPhone or iPad, I will not judge you. It is your life and you can do with it what you want. Quite frankly, watching x-rated videos is safer than visiting sex workers, as you cannot catch a virus from your Apple device.
Or can you? While not a virus per se, Symantec has discovered a malicious app in the wild that is targeting iOS users that search for Japanese sex videos and visit certain spam links. Unfortunately, wearing a condom on your finger will not protect you -- here is how to stay safe.
Tim Cook is an opportunist
Nine years ago, a NPR interviewer asked me about Google and other U.S. companies censoring search results in China. The question was one of morality -- to which I gave answer she didn't expect. That response, or my recollection of it, is appropriate for rather ridiculous and self-serving statements that Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly made two days ago.
"We believe that people have a fundamental right to privacy", Cook said, Matthew Panzarino reports for TechCrunch. "The American people demand it, the constitution demands it, morality demands it". Oh? What is moral? The answer I gave NPR in 2006 applies: There is no moral high ground in business. The high ground is quagmire, because all public companies -- Apple surely among them -- share a single, moral objective: Make profits for stockholders. Plain, pure, and simple.
Microsoft revamps Skype for Outlook.com
It's not long since Microsoft started the rollout of a redesigned version of Outlook.com, and today the company gives Skype for Outlook.com a revamp. The update brings tighter integration between Outlook.com and the messaging tool.
In beta for the time being, the updated version of Skype for Outlook.com aims to make it easier to use the two tools together. It’s the same update that was rolled out on a preview basis to a limit number of users last month, but now it’s being made available to everyone.
Security firm Tiversa refutes allegations of hacking and extorting potential clients
Last month we reported that Tiversa, a security firm, was being accused of fraud by one of its former employees, Richard Wallace. In his testament, Wallace claims that the company was hacking potential clients to force them to buy its services. The firm has reached out to us to share its side of the story and shed more light on the matter.
The testimony, provided by Wallace in front of a Washington DC courtroom, also accuses Bob Boback, the CEO of Tiversa, of making his employees look for IP addresses of known identity thieves utilizing the company's ties to law enforcement agencies. The firm would then present these addresses to potential clients to scare them.
Autodesk's John Walker explained HP and IBM in 1991
One reader of this column in particular has been urging me to abandon for a moment my obsession with IBM and look, instead, at his employer -- Hewlett Packard. HP, he tells me, suffers from all the same problems as IBM while lacking IBM’s depth and resources. And he’s correct: HP is a shadow of its former self and probably doomed if it continues to follow its current course. I’ve explained some of this before in an earlier column, and another, and another you might want to re-read. More of HP’s problems are covered in a very fine presentation you can read here. Were I to follow a familiar path at this point I’d be laying out a long list of HP mistakes. And while I may well do exactly that later in the week, right here and now I am inspired to do what they call in the movies "cutting to the chase", which in this case means pushing through bad tactics to find a good strategy. I want to lay out in a structural sense what’s really happening at both HP and IBM (and at a lot of other companies, too) so we can understand how to fix them, if indeed they can be fixed at all.
So I’ll turn to the works of Autodesk founder John Walker, specifically his Final Days of Autodesk memo, also called Information Letter 14, written in 1991. You can find this 30-page memo and a whole lot more at Walker’s web site. He has for most of this century lived in Switzerland where the server resides in a fortress today. We may even hear from Walker, himself, if word gets back that I’ve too brazenly stolen his ideas. Having never met the man, I’d like that.
Logitech announces MX Anywhere 2 Wireless Mobile Mouse
As hard as I try, I can never truly love a touch pad. I grew up with keyboards and mice -- nothing can compare to the accuracy of a good mouse. Unfortunately, I cannot use my desktop everywhere; I use a laptop when on the go. To save my sanity, I usually pack a small mouse in my bag.
Sadly, a good mobile mouse can be hard to find. No worries though, as long as you look to Logitech, you can be guaranteed a great product. The company's mice are legendary. Today, it announces the MX Anywhere 2 Wireless Mobile Mouse. This diminutive pointing device looks like another winner.
Bromium launches smoother endpoint protection for enterprises
Enterprise security teams are under increasing pressure to respond to threats from breaches as well as more traditional security threats.
To ease their workload threat isolation specialist Bromium is launching a new platform designed to speed deployment time and give security teams better management capabilities.
Apple values customer safety over money -- voluntarily recalls Beats Pill XL over fire risk
About 10 years ago, I was relaxing in my apartment watching TV. All of a sudden, I noticed smoke beginning to come from the walls. In a panic, I looked out my door to see that the auto parts store below me was on fire. Rather than put on shoes or grab any belongings, I ran onto the busy road and asked a motorist to call 911. Long story short, I lost all of my belongings.
Living through a fire is a traumatic experience, and anything that can prevent such a tragedy is worthwhile. That is why today I applaud Apple for voluntarily recalling the potentially dangerous Beats Pill XL. Yes, this popular speaker can carry the risk of fire.
Doing business overseas: The hidden risks
Startups are a lot easier than stay ups. Within the first 18 months, 50 to 70 percent of new, small businesses crash and burn. Only a fraction of that number ever make it to the ten year mark. That is what happens to US businesses started by US citizens. They know the language, the geography, understand the money and finances, are familiar with the weather patterns, and are fully assimilated into society. With all those advantages, they still fail at an alarming rate.
The risk of failure is even higher when setting out to do business overseas, in a land that is completely foreign. The language is Wookie-speak. And the currency might just as well be monopoly money. Then, there are the politics and laws. It is hard enough to keep up with ours own here in the US. What about taboos and social mores? It is all too easy to cross lines you don’t know are there. While a risk is nothing more than a challenge, to some, consider these challenges before setting up "shoppe" abroad.
Hacker groups aiding ISIS in takedown of news media sites
For a while now we've witnessed the brutality of Islamic State, but less in the news is the cyber terrorism carried out by it. However that's a big part of the arsenal for this group and media outlets have been a primary target in the war. Recently the site and social media of a French TV station was taken down and defaced with messages from the group.
Following the attack on TV5Monde, media groups within France held an emergency meeting. This came after all of the network went black for more than three hours in April.
Firefox gains Reader View, adds screen sharing capabilities to Hello chat tool
Mozilla has unveiled Firefox 38.0.5 FINAL for desktop and Firefox 38.0.5 for Android, the second time the browser has released a major interim update since switching to a rapid-release cycle back in 2013.
The new desktop build contains three major items of interest: a new Reader View, integration with the Pocket offline reading service, and improvements to Firefox’s Hello chat tool.
Datameer launches regulatory tools for Hadoop
The popularity of big data has boosted demand for Hadoop systems. Yet data handling and analytic capabilities are often seen as the key features while governance and security get relegated to a support role.
In corporate environments though the governance side of things is important which is why big data specialist Datameer is launching new tools for maintaining data validity and manageability in the Hadoop ecosystem.
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