• Article

CERN -- the European Organization for Nuclear Research best known for its particle smashing Large Hadron Collider -- has decided to eschew Microsoft in favor of open source software.

For many years, CERN benefited from hefty discounts on Microsoft products, but this is coming to an end. Rather than paying hugely increased licensing fees, the organization is instead implementing its own Microsoft Alternatives project, known as MAlt. CERN says it is "taking back control using open software".

Continue reading →

Windows Insiders are currently testing builds from the 20H1 branch due out a year from now.

The latest new flight, Build 18917, introduces download throttling and Windows Subsystem for Linux 2, as well as a whole host of other improvements.

Continue reading →

When it comes to Linux, I prefer my distributions to be no-nonsense -- Fedora is my favorite distro, for instance. Is Fedora boring? Yes, I suppose. But that is sort of why I like it. Look, I just want the damn operating system to take a backseat to my actual work. Fedora with GNOME allows me to focus on my tasks without getting in the way.

Understandably though, some Linux users like to "distro hop" where they are constantly moving between distributions, always wondering if the grass is greener on the other side. And yeah, I get that -- new is fun. People want excitement.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has released another big feature update for Windows 10. The May 2019 Update is rolling out to compatible systems now, although you can force the update if required.

Of course, a big update like this requires a big download, and the files that Microsoft places on your system don’t get removed immediately afterwards. In other words, the May 2019 Update -- Windows 10 1903 -- could be responsible for taking up tens of gigabytes on your hard drive. Fortunately it’s easy enough to reclaim this.

Continue reading →

If you’ve got bored with using standard characters for naming things on your PC or if you are just a huge fan of emoji, you might wish to know how to use emoji in folder names on Windows 10 (and, naturally, how to use emoji in file names on Windows 10).

The good news is, the trick is quite simple. We have drawn up a handy guide for those who just can’t get enough of those cool symbols, so read on to make your computer more fun.

Continue reading →

As businesses move more of their systems to the cloud to drive digital transformation and gain a competitive edge, IT security teams can struggle to retain the ability to secure data and manage risk.

Israeli startup Orca Security is announcing its Cloud Visibility Platform which uses patent-pending SideScanning technology to deliver comprehensive visibility into the security posture of an organization's cloud footprint in a matter of minutes.

Continue reading →

Among the top networking challenges for enterprises are lack of skills, fragmented management tools and lack of end-to-end network visibility.

Network automation specialist Itential is launching new purpose-built API adapters for Cisco systems that offer support for third party management tools and provide enterprises and service providers with a single network API that simplifies integration and enables end-to-end automation across complex, multi-domain and multi-vendor environments.

Continue reading →

Security researchers have revealed an exploit that can be used by hackers to steal data from DRAM, even if ECC protection is in place. RAMBleed is a Rowhammer-based attack that can also be used to alter data and increase privilege levels.

Taking advantage of the design of modern memory chips, a Rowhamer attack works by "hammering" the physical rows of data in quick succession causing bit-flipping in neighboring rows. RAMBleed takes this in a different direction, using a similar technique to access data stored in physical memory.

Continue reading →

That Facebook gathers personal information from its users should come as no surprise -- it could be argued that it is the social network's raison d' être. Following numerous privacy scandals, and the controversial (and since-closed) Research and Onavo programs, Facebook is now ready to be open about its data collection, and is even willing to pay people for this.

The new "Study from Facebook" app gives Facebook users the chance to volunteer to share information about their app usage -- and get paid for divulging this information. Sound good to you?

Continue reading →

Most iPhone users do not own a Mac. If they did, Apple's desktop market share wouldn't be so low compared to Windows. That's historically not a big deal for Apple, since its Mac business was never really about volume -- the company make a fortune off the marked up machines as it is.

The problem, however, is the company is increasingly focusing on services. And as great as iCloud is, the Windows experience has been abysmal. Yes, iCloud on Windows is functional, but it is not even close to the elegance of macOS. So when an iOS user needed to use Windows 10 for iCloud, it made the OS seem sort of... terrible. While Microsoft's desktop OS has lots of problems, and some consider it to be quite bad, the iCloud deficiencies (slow, buggy, etc.) were not really the fault of the OS -- that was Apple's failure. Well, except that one time.

Continue reading →

They say when something isn’t broken you shouldn't fix it, and that is largely good advice. I mean, just look at how Microsoft "improved" Windows 7 with the abomination that was Windows 8. Or even more infamous, Coca-Cola and it’s "New Coke."

With that said, sometimes you can truly add to a product that seems to not need fixing and end up with something much better. Today, Logitech does exactly that. It has taken a trio of mice that consumers already loved and simply upgraded them with the excellent HERO 16K sensor. This is the same treatment given to the G502 in May and the MX518 in February.

Continue reading →

Hundreds of cloud applications are being used in businesses and IT teams are pressured to achieve high levels of security without introducing complex authentication processes that may reduce workforce productivity.

LogMeIn, developer of the LastPass password management program is launching a new suite of LastPass Business solutions delivering a comprehensive identity offering, built for small and medium sized businesses.

Continue reading →

Last month $40 million worth of Bitcoin was stolen in the Binance hack and it's estimated that more than $3 billion has been stolen over the last 18 months due to key theft and stolen credentials.

In order to guard against this type of theft, new company Fireblocks is launching an enterprise platform to protect crypto currency and other digital assets in transit.

Continue reading →

Firefox has revealed its redesigned branding, including a new icon for its web browser, as well an introducing the logo for the new Firefox parent brand, some 18 months in the pipeline.

As well as a new look, the icon features an updated color palette which is not just about aesthetics, but also accessibility. There's also a new, modern typeface, as well as what's being described as a "new shape system".

Continue reading →

At least 3.4 billion fake emails are sent around the world every day, according to a new report from email verification company Valimail, with the majority of suspicious emails coming from US-based sources.

The report shows that email impersonation -- accounting for 1.2 percent of all email sent in the first quarter of 2019 -- is a phishing attacker's primary weapon to gain access into an organization's network, systems, intellectual property and other sensitive assets.

Continue reading →