• Article

While many people use Windows 10 every day, I sometimes wonder how many actually enjoy doing so. Look, Microsoft's operating system is very popular, but that could be largely out of habit. The interface is very inconsistent, and with aggressive telemetry, it can feel like you are being spied on too. Computers running Microsoft's OS are prone to malware, and even worse, users could find their important files deleted! Hell, even the Surface hardware feels uninspired these days. Once people start looking at alternatives, such as the excellent Linux-based Chromebooks, they may wonder why they need Windows 10 at all.

For education in particular, many schools find Chromebooks safer and easier to manage. Not to mention, they can be quite cost effective too. So it should come as no surprise that a major country has chosen Chromebooks over Windows 10 devices for education. What is the country of which I speak? New Zealand. You see, all public schools there now have access to Chrome Education licenses.

Continue reading →

Mozilla has released Firefox Quantum 63.0 for desktop, along with Firefox for Android 63.0.

Like the previous release there are no major highlights to report, but both Windows and Mac users will be encouraged to update thanks to the promise of performance improvements. The Windows build will also change theme to match Light and Dark modes in Windows 10.

Continue reading →

System76 is making huge moves lately. The company used to just sell re-branded computers running Ubuntu, and while there was nothing wrong with that, it has much more lofty goals. You see, it released its own Ubuntu-based operating system called "Pop!_OS," and now, it is preparing to release its own self-designed and built open source computers. In other words, much like Apple, System76 is maintaining both the software and hardware aspects of the customer experience.

While its new hardware is not yet available, the latest version of its operating system is. Following the release of Ubuntu 18.10, Pop!_OS 18.10 is now available for download. While it is based on Ubuntu, it is not merely Canonical's operating system with System76 branding and artwork. Actually, there are some significant customizations that make Pop!_OS its own.

Continue reading →

After taking some time out from the Linux community to "change some of [his] behavior", Linux Torvalds is back. In a post to the Linux Kernel Mailing List announcing the release of Linux kernel 4.19, Greg Kroah-Hartman -- his temporary replacement -- handed back the reins.

After writing about the changes to be found in the latest release, Kroah-Hartman signed off by saying: "Linus, I'm handing the kernel tree back to you. You can have the joy of dealing with the merge window :)".

Continue reading →

Email is still one of the most common ways for attackers to target individuals or businesses, whether it’s through phishing attacks or delivering malware. Although you may have protection measures in place it can be hard to know if they’re working effectively.

Intelligence-led security company FireEye is launching a new capability that allows organizations to evaluate email threat detection efficacy with a no-charge evaluation service

Continue reading →

Users of Google's own Android keyboard app Gboard have a new option available to them. In an update that is rolling out, a new floating keyboard feature lets you move the location of the keyboard as you see fit.

This is not something that is unique to Gboard by any means; floating keyboards have been available in other keyboard apps for a while, so this is really just Google playing catch-up. But for existing users -- as well as those who are looking for a reason to try out Gboard for the first time -- this update is great news.

Continue reading →

The Chrome web browser was starting to get some bad press after problems with extensions and then concerns over automatic sign-ins. Google listened to the complaints and promised to do something about it -- the result is Chrome 70.

But Chrome 70 is about more than just security and privacy changes. Google has also used this released to introduce a handful of new features. One of the best is picture-in-picture mode (PiP) which lets you keep watching a video in an overlay while you continue to browse other sites. Here's how to use it.

Continue reading →

Just yesterday, Ubuntu 18.10 was released. "Cosmic Cuttlefish," as the operating system is called, is available in several flavors featuring various desktop environments other than the stock GNOME -- Xfce (Xbuntu), KDE (Kubuntu), and more.

One such variant, Ubuntu MATE 18.10, is popular thanks to its low system requirements -- it works very well on meager hardware. To highlight just how adaptable the operating system is, a special image has been released for both the GPD Pocket and GPD Pocket 2. If you aren’t familiar with these mini-laptops, please know they are essentially what used to be called a "Palmtop."

Continue reading →

We often hear the term 'ethical hacker', but what exactly does this involve and is it something you can actually make a career out of?

We spoke to Jim O'Gorman president of online penetration testing training provider Offensive Security to find out what being an ethical hacker is all about and what skills you need if you want to become one.

Continue reading →

One of the big knocks against Linux-based operating systems is lack of software. The truth is, there are countless excellent programs for both productivity and fun. One fair criticism, however, is fragmentation between distributions. For end users, it can be difficult installing an app that isn't designed for their distro. And yeah, that has been a pain point for years.

Thankfully, Canonical -- maker of Ubuntu -- aimed to alleviate that problem with Snaps. These containerized packages can be installed on pretty much any Linux distribution, making things easier for both users and developers. But has the organization's standard been a success? Apparently, very much so. As a way to celebrate yesterday's release of Cosmic Cuttlefish, Canonical shares the following infographic.

Continue reading →

Bill Gates is a legendary figure, and not just in the world of technology. With countless awards and titles attached to his name, he has over the years been consistently recognized as one of the world's wealthiest, most powerful and most influential individuals. Also, anybody who can call themselves a 'philanthropist' in today's world has, more often than not, probably achieved something pretty grand.

However, back in the day, Gates was merely a university dropout with a thirst for hacking computer systems. True, the university was Harvard, but Gates wasn't exactly on course to becoming the multi-billionaire entrepreneur he is today.

Continue reading →

I am old enough to remember the days before USB, and let me tell you -- when it came out, everything changed. It became so much easier to add hardware to a PC -- no need to open the case. USB largely made the term "plug and play" a reality. The problem? The damn thing wasn't reversible! As we all know, you had a 50/50 shot of plugging the Type-A connector in correctly, yet for some reason, it felt like you were almost always wrong the first time. Maddening!

USB-C solved that dilemma, as the connector is reversible. Long gone is the frustration of having to turn the connector around. Adoption of USB-C has been frustratingly slow, with companies like Microsoft still refusing to add it to the Surface Laptop 2. Sigh. With that said, there are many nice USB-C products on the market, and today, StarTech launches a trio. All three products are USB-C hubs, but they are quite different from each other.

Continue reading →

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen died on Monday at age 65. His cause of death was Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, the same disease that nearly killed him back in 1983. Allen, who was every bit as important to the history of the personal computer as Bill Gates, had found an extra 35 years of life back then thanks to a bone marrow transplant. And from the outside looking-in, I’d say he made great use of those 35 extra years.

Of all the early PC guys, Allen was probably the most reclusive. Following his departure from Microsoft in 1983 I met him only four times. But prior to his illness Allen had been a major factor at Microsoft and at MITS, maker of the original Altair 8800 microcomputer for which Microsoft provided the BASIC interpreter and where Allen was later head of software.

Continue reading →

There has never been a better time to be a Linux enthusiast. There are so many great distributions from which to choose, including elementary OS 5 Juno, Linux Mint 19, and Bodhi 5.0.0. What do those aforementioned operating systems have in common? They are based on Ubuntu. To take things a step further, Canonical's operating system is based on Debian, but I digress.

But yeah, Ubuntu is wildly popular -- with both end users and other Linux distro maintainers. When a new version of the operating system is released, the world goes wild. Well, it's time to get excited, yall! Today -- after a short Beta period -- Ubuntu Linux 18.10 Cosmic Cuttlefish is finally available for download!

Continue reading →

Recently, we reported the Sentry K300 keypad flash drive from DataLocker Inc. What made that flash drive newsworthy? Well, besides its 256-bit AES hardware encryption, it has an industry first -- an OLED screen.

While entering a passcode into keypad on a flash drive is cool, Lexar has a new drive that makes it look like old hat. The JumpDrive Fingerprint F35, as it is called, uses biometrics for decryption. Much like the fingerprint reader found on a smartphone, you can use your finger to unlock the flash drive. How cool is that?

Continue reading →