• Article

Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 DNS switching tool has proved very popular with iOS and Android users looking to take control of their internet connections, and there was much excitement when the company announced that it would be releasing a free VPN tool called Warp.

At the moment, there is a lengthy waiting list for the free VPN (I'm number 278100 on the list, for instance) but we've been given a sneak peak at what to expect. Leaked screenshots show off the free VPN, and a video gives you an idea of the sort of performance you can expect.

Continue reading →

Eating is one of life's greatest pleasures. Whether it's a $1 hotdog or a $200 steak, enjoyment from food can be had with any budget. Hell, sometimes the food at a less expensive restaurant can be better than the fancy ones that charge a lot. Ultimately, it comes down to doing your homework on an eatery before going there -- reading online reviews, perusing the menu, and finding out which of its dishes are best.

Today, Google announces an update to its wildly popular Maps service that should prove to be very helpful. Called "Popular Dishes," the search giant is enabling the ability to discover the best food to order at many restaurants. In other words, it should reduce the possibility of you making a poor decision and spending your hard earned money on an unimpressive meal that you don't truly enjoy.

Continue reading →

OnePlus smartphones are very well received by those wanting a pure Android experience. They are also popular with budget shoppers, as they have historically been very affordable. Over time, however, OnePlus has been increasing prices, reducing the perceived value of these devices. With the OnePlus 7 Pro, for instance, the starting price is $700 -- a significant amount of money. With that said, it stills costs less than some flagship phones from other manufacturers, such as Samsung and Apple.

If you do decide to drop a big chunk of change on the OnePlus 7 Pro, I hope you would protect it with a case. Today, famed case manufacturer Urban Armor Gear releases such a product -- the Plasma Series case for OnePlus 7 Pro. It is a very rugged case with a pretty reasonable price tag. And yes, the case is designed to accommodate the device's unique pop-up front-facing camera.

Continue reading →

One of the best ways of preventing sensitive files from falling into the wrong hands is to encrypt them, but the process of encrypting and decrypting can be a chore, especially if you want to share the information.

VPN service NordVPN is set to launch its own NordLocker security tool, designed to safeguard files whether they are stored locally or in the public cloud, and make them easy to share.

Continue reading →

Back in 2015, Microsoft said that Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows. The software giant views its newest operating system as a service that’s continually updated. Although problems with both the October 2018 Update and May 2019 Update mean that’s not really true at the moment. Most Windows 10 users are still on the April 2018 Update.

Device manufacturers are continuing to innovate, and Chromebooks are showing a very different future from the one Windows 10 is offering us. This is where the modern "Windows Lite" comes in.

Continue reading →

In a world that appears to be lurching ever further to the right, it is perhaps little wonder that white nationalists, white supremacists and other extremists are becoming more prevalent online. Social media sites have a balancing act to perform -- not wanting to be seen to be advocating censorship, but also removing troublesome elements from their networks.

And this is the problem that Twitter faces. The platform has long been home to a glut of racist content and users -- as well as other unsavoury material -- and now the site is conducting research to determine how best to tackle this. Specifically, it is looking at whether white nationalists and supremacists should simply be banned, or whether their posts should be left available for others to debate.

Continue reading →

Apple has become more familiar with controversy than it might be entirely comfortable with in recent times. Once a near-untouchable company that could, in many people's eyes, do no wrong, there have been numerous scandals over the last few years -- legal battles, problematic hardware, canceled products, and accusations of anticompetitive behavior.

Faced with an antitrust legal battle after complaints of "monopolistic" practices in the App Store, Apple has launched a new site that appears to be a very public defense of what it stands accused of. The new "principles and practices" pages find Apple going out of its way, falling over itself to expose just how anticompetitive the App Store isn't. This is a company on the defensive.

Continue reading →

Microsoft has been teasing us with talk of a new "modern" operating system, but that doesn’t mean it’s forgotten about Windows 10.

Today it releases a new Fast ring build on the 20H1 branch -- the feature update set to roll out to users a year from now -- and adds a wealth of new features to the Your Phone app.

Continue reading →

Earlier this month, Google announced the Nest Hub Max -- voice assistant hardware with a camera and touch screen -- and I was instantly intrigued. At the same time, I was also very scared of it. After all, Google makes its money through tracking users' activity and by displaying advertising -- did I really want that company having a camera in my house? No, of course not. Despite the claims of hardware switches to disable the camera, I quickly made up my mind to not buy it when it goes on sale.

Amazon has a similar device called Echo Show, and today it announces an additional model. Called "Echo Show 5," it has a smaller screen (5.5 inch) and even smaller price tag. It is an adorably small Alexa device with an HD camera. Unlike the round Echo Spot, Echo Show 5 has a more useful rectangular screen. As someone who owns many Echo devices, and trusts Amazon a bit more than Google, I think I might invite Echo Show 5 into my house. I wouldn't want the camera watching my family 24/7, so thankfully I can take control of my privacy by sliding the included shutter over the lens -- an old-school (yet effective) means of blocking a camera.

Continue reading →

In 2019, cyber threats are occurring at a rapid pace. In fact, cyber attacks are the fastest growing crime globally and are continuously increasing in sophistication, size, and impact. At the same time, the number of qualified cybersecurity professionals is dwindling. In a recent blog post, Ann Johnson, the head of Microsoft’s cybersecurity solutions group, used estimated data from the research firm Cybersecurity Ventures to project a shortage of about 3.5 million qualified cybersecurity workers by 2022.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can serve as a helpful tool in cybersecurity. AI can help businesses of all sizes and across many industries better prepare for impending security threats. Here are three of the most impactful benefits of AI in online security:

Continue reading →

Microsoft’s original grand plan for Windows 10 was an operating system that was always up-to-date. Updates were intended to be mandatory, and while you could delay them a bit, you couldn’t opt out of them entirely. And the software giant was committed to rolling out two major feature updates a year.

Fast forward to now, and things are very different. You can delay, or avoid, most updates, including feature updates -- assuming you’re even offered them in the first place.

Continue reading →

It’s been hinted for a while that Microsoft is working on a new operating system for dual-screen and Chromebook-like PCs, and while the software giant has yet to confirm the existence of the rumored "Windows Lite" OS, Nick Parker, Corporate Vice President, Consumer and Device Sales, did drop some pretty big hints about it at Computex 2019 in Taipei.

While on stage he referred continually to a modern operating system designed to run on "modern PCs and innovative devices" that offers seamless background updates and zero interruptions, greater security, and always on connectivity.

Continue reading →

The more the internet has become essential to our daily lives, the more people are waking up to the threats that it poses to their safety.

In a new study by F-Secure, 71 percent of respondents say they feel that they will become a victim of cybercrime or identity theft, while 73 percent express similar fears about their children.

Continue reading →

According to a new study, businesses find identity and access management (IAM) and privileged access management (PAM) among their most difficult operational tasks.

The survey, by access management firm One Identity, of 200 attendees to the 2019 RSA Conference, finds that while a third of respondents say PAM is the most difficult operational task, only 16 percent of respondents cite implementing adequate IAM practices as a top-three concern when it comes to securing the cloud.

Continue reading →

Every company these days is on a path to digital transformation, using technology to rise above the competition and show customers it is modern, efficient and optimized for success.

But as companies work through this transformation, they often uncover processes that have fallen behind the times and seem impossible to fix -- either because these processes are tightly interwoven with other core business processes, or because it’s not clear where to even begin.

Continue reading →