Santa brought you Windows 8.1? Here's what to do first
Windows 8.1 is a great operating system. So if you received it for Christmas, either as a boxed copy, or installed on a new PC or tablet, the first thing to do is not -- as some people will say -- swap it for Windows 7.
If you are going to be running the new OS on a tablet, or on a system with a touch screen, then it’s fine to use pretty much as is. If you’re using it on a desktop, or non-touch laptop however, there are some customizations worth performing to make it more suited to your needs.
Amazon Prime has a record-breaking holiday season
People may chastise American's use of credit cards; spending money on crap during the holidays. However, it is essential for the survival of retail businesses. Think your neighbor is stupid for buying a jet ski and a PlayStation 4 when he's already in hock? You are probably right; for him, it likely is stupid. But for the overall economy, it may be a good thing.
News of the economy always seems to be doom and gloom lately, so it is nice to hear good news every once in a while. Today, Amazon announces record-breaking Amazon Prime memberships and activity. This can mean that consumers have extra money to spend or are just adding to their debt like the previously mentioned neighbor with the jet ski. Either way though, it is good news that people have confidence and are spending.
Edward Snowden calls for an end to spying in Christmas address to the UK
At this time of year in the UK it is traditional for the Queen to record a message to the nation. Broadcast on TV at 3pm just as everyone is recovering from Christmas lunch, she looks back over the year in a speech which usually has a reflective tone. In recent years there have been numerous alternatives to the Queen's speech, with broadcaster Channel 4 giving a platform to the funny, the controversial, the meaningful and the strange. Whilst not necessarily anti-monarchy, it is a broadcast that is certainly non-monarchist, and frequently of a more left-wing bent. This year, Edward Snowden used it as a mouthpiece.
The 30-year-old former NSA worker who blew the cover off the secret surveillance that is being carried out on web users all over the world. He is currently living in Russia where he sought asylum having fled from the US earlier in the year after threats of espionage charges. The two minute long address makes reference to the book 1984, with Snowden saying that George Orwell had forewarned us of such dangers but said that the spying techniques described in the classic work were nothing compared to what actually exists now.
My favorite tech products of 2013 [Brian]
Besides girth, Oprah Winfrey and I have something else in common -- we both like to share our favorite things. At the end of every year, I like to reflect on some of my favorite tech products.
This was a very wild year for me as most of the things on my list changed the way I both interact with and think about computers. It contains both hardware and software. So, without further ado, please read on for my list.
RSA takes one for the team, but which team?
Edward Snowden says (according to Reuters) that RSA Security accepted $10 million from the National Security Agency in exchange for installing (or allowing to have installed) a secret backdoor so the NSA could decrypt messages as it pleased. Hell no says RSA (a division of storage vendor EMC), stating in very strong terms that this was not at all the case. But then in a second day look at the RSA/EMC statement bloggers began to see the company as dissembling, their firm defense as really more of a non-denial denial. So what’s the truth here and what’s the lesson?
For the truth I reached deep into the bowels of elliptic cryptography to an old friend who was one of the technology’s inventors.
UPS ruins Christmas for many -- are you affected?
For a longtime, I was a last-minute shopper. You could find me on Christmas Eve, picking through the remaining greeting cards and scrambling to buy gifts. However, as I got older, I learned to finish my shopping early to avoid the stress.
Unfortunately, delays by UPS have caused some last-minute gift deliveries to miss their Christmas Eve deadline. But who is to blame, UPS or the last-minute shoppers?
Santa brought you a Surface 2? Here's what to do first
If Santa brought you a Surface 2 for Christmas, you will experience one of two emotions -- happiness or anger. If you asked or wished for the tablet, congratulations, you achieved your desire; be happy! Conversely, if you didn't ask for it, there is a good possibility that you are angry because it is not an iPad Air (controversial!).
If you fall into the latter category, you may be wondering what you did for Santa Claus to hate you. Well, I am here to tell you that Santa loves you and the Surface 2 is a wonderful tablet. Consider yourself lucky for scoring such awesome hardware. As someone who owns and loves a Surface 2, I am going to help you to have a great first-day experience with it.
Santa brought you a Kindle Fire HDX? Here's what to do first
It's the big day. You've been waiting to tear the bow and paper off all those gifts that have been temptingly resting beneath the tree, and now you've finally been able to do so. We're curious what you got, but we certainly hope it was all you dreamed for. And, if your holiday haul included the latest tablet from Amazon, then we'd like to give you a bit of help.
Amazon refreshed its lineup of tablets just recently, and several of us here at BetaNews have been enjoying the latest models. Not long ago I reviewed the 7-inch version, and my colleague Mark Wilson has been reveling in the fabulous screen of the 8.9-inch model of the device.
Santa brought you a Google TV? Here's what to do first
The holiday has arrived and you've likely ripped the wrappings off your gifts. There was no doubt a tech item or two under that tree, providing your family knows you as well as we do. Now the real fun begins -- playing with that new toy and discovering all there is you can do with it.
Did you happen to receive a Google TV? There are a number of nice models on the market right now and you’ll likely be quite happy no matter which you got. The little box runs a version of Android and is compatible with the Google Play store, allowing for apps and media.
I'm on a road trip -- here are the tech products I brought
Throughout the year, I work pretty darn hard -- I wear multiple hats. Because of this, I decided to spend the holidays in sunny Florida as a working vacation. Sadly, the airfare was a bit too expensive, so I decided to drive there from New York.
Unfortunately, the place at which I am staying does not have WiFi or Television -- a nerd's worst nightmare. As a tech-writer, I was going to have to think smart about which devices I would bring and which would stay home. You may be surprised by my choices.
Create professional video slideshows with PhotoFilmStrip
Converting your favorite photos into a video slideshow can be a great way to share them with others, and there are plenty of free tools to handle the task (Pic View EXESlide, say). But most deliver only very basic results, simply cutting from one static image to another: not exactly interesting.
PhotoFilmStrip takes this idea a little further by making smart use of the Ken Burns effect, where your slideshow smoothly pans and zooms across each image. It produces a much more engrossing and professional video, and is surprisingly easy to set up.
My favorite tech products of 2013 [Wayne]
Yesterday my colleague Mihaita Bamburic presented his list of the year’s top tech products, which included some obvious big choices, most notably Windows 8.1, iPad Air, Surface 2 and the Xbox One.
My list could easily be a carbon copy of his, after all the biggest tech products are hits for a reason, and despite not being a fan of Windows 8, I really like its successor, and would happily own both the iPad Air and Surface 2 if funds allowed. But I wanted to approach my selection slightly differently by avoiding products which featured on Mihaita’s list, and focusing on items I’ve bought (or been sent) and have used extensively. These are the tech products I’ve really appreciated the most this year.
New Paint.NET 4.0 alpha adds Bezier curve, tweaks status bar
Two months after the initial alpha release, dotPDN LLC has released a brand new build of Paint.NET 4.0 Alpha, its free image-editing tool for Windows. Build 5105 of this pre-release software includes a number of tweaks, improvements as well as the usual flurry of bug fixes associated with pre-release software.
Only one new feature is added to build 5105: a Bezier curve can now be applied using Paint.NET’s Shapes tool. Users should also find both line and curved shapes now work when the rounded line cap styles is applied.
Grandfather of computing Alan Turing granted posthumous royal pardon
Dr Alan Turing, the mathematician who helped to crack the Enigma code during the second world war, has been granted a royal pardon 59 years after he took his own life. His crime? Homosexuality. In spite of his role in code cracking -- which is widely regarded as having helped to shorten the war -- he was convicted for engaging in homosexual activity, and underwent experimental chemical castration as "cure" and punishment in 1952. Two years later he killed himself aged just 41.
It was the illegality of homosexuality that meant Turing's relationship with a man led to a criminal record, and this in turn meant that he was no longer permitted to continue his work at GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters). The UK's justice secretary, Chris Grayling requested the pardon which was then granted under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy. Grayling said:
Surprise! The global PC monitor market sees positive growth for a change
The PC market might still be in the doldrums, but there’s good news in the screen department at least. After three quarters of solid decline, the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Monitor Tracker finally reports some growth.
Although year-over-year growth was down -8.6 percent in 3Q13, due to the ongoing decline in PC sales, monitor shipments topped more than 35 million units, 1.2 million over the forecast, and showed an increase of 4.5 percent compared to the previous quarter.
Recent Headlines
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.