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"Is it live? Or is it Memorex?" Those of us who’ve been around a while will recall those iconic TV commercials where the announcer challenged the audience to tell the difference between a recorded performance and a live one (or as "live" as a pre-recorded TV spot can be). The idea was that the recording medium -- in this case, Memorex brand audio cassette tapes -- reproduced the full fidelity of the original so faithfully that, in one case, a singer’s high note recorded on one of their tapes literally shattered a nearby wine glass.

I like to think of the above as the first, crude precursor to what today we call "deepfake" technology. But whereas faithfully reproducing audio content has been a net positive for humanity (you wouldn’t be enjoying your MP3s or Spotify streams without those pioneering first steps), deepfake -- or the ability to recreate and/or completely simulate (using AI) both the audio and video representations of a live person -- has been universally panned because of its potential for abuse. After all, in a world full of fake news, it’s not hard to imagine some bad actor deciding to put out bogus recordings (or recreations) of high-profile individuals for personal or political gain.

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People are spending more of their time and managing more of their lives on the internet, so it's little wonder that the web is a rich hunting ground for cybercriminals and scammers.

In order to make using the internet safer, Malwarebytes is launching Browser Guard, a free browser extension aimed at safeguarding consumers from scammers, and allowing them to browse up to four times faster.

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Sandboxie -- the sandboxing tool with the tagline "Trust no program" -- has been made into a free utility. But more than this, Sophos also plans to make the software open source in the near future.

The company says that it was a difficult decision to make, pointing out that Sandboxie has never been a significant component of its business. While simply shutting down the app would have been the easiest and cheapest thing to do, Sophos says: "we love the technology too much to see it fade away".

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Next month, Microsoft has a Surface event coming up, and it's looking as though it could be a big one.

At the moment there are no hints about what we can expect to see at the event, but Microsoft has decided to live-stream it for the first time ever. We also know that head of Surface, Panos Panay, will be there, along with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

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The IoT has the power to unleash the smart city, providing data-backed insights that can be used to inform sustainability initiatives, enhance operations and influence municipal planning and budgeting. However, the potential of this technology is currently capped by a few critical barriers -- namely, security and cost.

To capitalize on insights derived from the IoT and truly become "smart," resource-strapped cities need a solution that 1) requires lower upfront investment than traditional options, and 2) ensures top-notch security. What is that solution? It could be a 0G network.

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Chipotle's recent experiments with allowing artificial intelligence (AI) to handle some elements of phone orders seem to have met the chain's expectations.

After initially launching the option at 10 locations, it rolled out the technology to 1,800 restaurants. Now, Chipotle intends to bring the high-tech system to all its branches by the end of 2019.

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Updates for Windows 10 have proved to be more problematic than usual recently. The KB4512941 update was found to cause high CPU usage, and then some users started to experience weird orange screenshots.

Now the KB4515384​​​​​ cumulative update that was supposed to address the high CPU usage issue is breaking the SearchUI.exe associated with Windows Desktop Search. On top of this, some users are complaining about problems with the Start menu.

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We're all aware that there is a skills shortage and that it’s particularly acute in some areas -- such as cybersecurity. One of the ways companies can help retain the employees they have -- while making it more attractive to work there -- is by improving the employee work experience.

But what exactly does improving an employee’s work experience actually involve? We spoke to Pedro Bados, CEO of digital experience specialist Nexthink to find out.

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Windows 10 users are accustomed to putting up with the occasional bug here and there, and people who installed the KB4512941 update found they were plagued with an issue that gave screenshots an orange hue.

Now Microsoft says that the issue has been addressed. Well... sort of. In fact, the company has shifted the blame to Lenovo, saying that the Eye Care mode feature of Lenovo Vantage is to blame. Here's what you need to know.

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Pandora is a popular music streaming service that aims to function as sort of a personalized radio station for the listener. There are different tiers of service, including a free option -- a big reason for its popularity. There are also paid tiers, starting at just $4.99.

Today, Pandora releases a new desktop app for Windows 10. This follows the release of the app for Apple macOS, which has been available since May of 2019. This new app for Windows is being offered exclusively from the Microsoft Store, so Windows 7 users, for example, cannot experience it fully. Pandora specifically says it is a Windows 10-only affair. Of course, all platforms can access Pandora thanks to the web player -- something Apple Music is currently beta testing.

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They say that good things come in threes. Three of a kind. Three’s Company (RIP, John Ritter). Three-eyed ravens. There’s even a literary Rule of Three that spans the breadth of human influence and communication. Basically, we humans are hardwired to like things that come as a "pair-plus-one."

However, there are also plenty of bad things that come in threes. Three-eyed monsters. Three-legged invaders from Mars. The "third wheel" friend on what was supposed to be a hot date. So, it comes as somewhat of a surprise that Apple decided to put THREE separate cameras on the back of the new iPhone 11 Pro. Because, from an aesthetic and first impressions standpoint, this is one "fugly" beast!

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There is global concern about the business impact and risk from rampant and unrestricted data growth according to a new report.

In addition the study from StorageCraft shows that the IT infrastructures of many organizations are struggling, and often failing, to deliver business continuity in the event of severe data outages.

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Most US citizens acknowledge and accept that state and local government agencies share their personal data, even when it comes to personal information such as criminal records and income, according to a new survey conducted by YouGov and sponsored by Unisys Corporation.

The survey of nearly 2,000 people across eight states finds that more than three-quarters (77 percent) accept that their data is being shared between government agencies.

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Eager Windows 10 users involved in the Insider program have been able to play with Windows 10 20H1 for a little while now. This has given people a chance to try out new features, but two things we haven't known are what this update will be called, and when it will be released.

Now, thanks to an eagle-eyed user, we know both. Unless, of course, Microsoft chooses to change its mind...

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Manjaro may have lofty goals of becoming a successful company, but let's be honest -- users of the Linux-based operating system don't really care about that. Don't get me wrong, I am sure most members of the Linux community are rooting for the newly-formed company's success, but they are probably more interested in the excellent operating system itself.

Today, Manjaro Linux 18.1.0 "Juhraya" finally becomes available for download, and it isn't without some controversy. You see, rather than just offer up LibreOffice like most distributions, Juhraya offers an alternative choice at installation -- FreeOffice.

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