Roku and Alexa are friends now
Amazon Alexa and Roku. These are two things I greatly appreciate. Why? Well, they are fairly open and don't lock the user into any specific service. In other words, both Roku and Alexa support countless third-party services, making it easy for the owner to switch without compromise. Don't like Amazon Music? Change to Spotify. Not a fan of Sling TV? Go with YouTube TV. It's no surprise that both developers and consumers love Alexa and Roku.
Today, Roku and Alexa finally become friends. You see, Roku has released an official "skill" for Alexa, enabling the user to control the media box with their voice through Amazon's assistant. The skill is also compatible with Roku TV (televisions with the platform built in).
Confused about what Windows 10 test builds are in which Insider ring? There's an easy way to find out
The Windows Insider program is a mess. It used to be as an Insider you got to test just early versions of the next big OS feature update, but now -- depending on which ring you’re in -- you might be testing versions for the first Windows 10 update of 2020, due out over a year from now.
As if that’s not bad enough, Fast ring Insiders are currently receiving new builds at a rate of two a week -- which hardly provides enough time to install and test them -- while Slow ring Insiders get only very occasional updates. It’s no wonder some of Microsoft’s loyal legion of unpaid testers are confused.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 19H1 Build 18351 to the Fast ring
Not many Windows 10 users have upgraded to the October 2018 Update yet, but Microsoft is still hard at work on finishing the next big feature update, codenamed 19H1, which is due out next month.
New builds are coming out thick and fast, and today sees the release of Build 18351 to Fast ring Insiders.
System76 Oryx Pro Linux laptop gets powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20-Series GPU upgrade
System76 computers are notable for coming with a Linux-based operating system, but that isn't the only reason you should buy one. Software aside, the company's offerings are often very powerful, and best of all, upgradeable. Unlike Apple, for instance, you can actually service the RAM, SSD, and more -- they aren’t soldered in. Not to mention, System76's customer service and support is very well respected.
If you want a laptop that is powerful without being overly thick, the Oryx Pro (available with either a 16.1-inch or 17.3-inch display) is a great balance. Now, System76 is making that computer even better thanks to a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 20-Series GPU upgrade. When you pair those powerful graphics with a hexa-core 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H processor, you will have an absolute beast. Plus, if you need a lot of memory, you can configure it with up to 32GB of RAM. System76 has also upgraded the speakers for a better multimedia experience.
Microsoft Word bug can be used to bypass security systems
Researchers at email and data security company Mimecast have uncovered a bug in Microsoft Word that can be used to bypass security systems.
The bug incorrectly handles integer overflows and can be used to circumvent security systems and fool parsers to deliver remote code that can take complete control over a compromised machine.
Three trends in tracking software delivery
Over the past decade, software has made giant leaps in allowing us to track, analyze and visualize the incredible amounts of data flowing across our organizations. Storage is rarely a bottleneck, advances in non-relational databases have helped capture growing volumes of data, and machine learning approaches promise to assist with deriving meaning and insight. Yet for the vast majority of large organizations, one kind of data seems immune to providing any kind of business intelligence -- the data for tracking software delivery itself.
Even organizations building the data analysis tools are struggling to find meaningful insights from the many tools and repositories that capture their own largest investment: building software. It would appear that the cobbler’s children have no shoes. Given all the advancements, how is this possible? And how can the situation change? If you have been tasked with providing insight or visibility into the data locked up in tools used to plan, code, deliver and support your organization’s software, here are three trends you should be aware of:
Samsung teams up with Calm to bring mindfulness and meditation to the masses
In recent years, both Apple and Samsung have been expanding into health-related areas, bringing a range of wellbeing services to users. Now Samsung has announced that it is teaming up with popular sleep and meditation app, Calm.
The partnership means that users of Samsung Health will be able to take advantage of things like mindfulness and guided meditation, as well as sleep and relaxation tools.
Internet users are too confident they're protected
Given the number of high profile security breaches that make the headlines, you'd expect people to be wary about online security.
But a new study by Malwarebytes Labs shows a mismatch between people's confidence in their own privacy and security practices and their actual behavior.
Students aren't aware of cybersecurity career opportunities
It's well known that there is a skills shortage in cyber security, with a predicted global shortfall of 1.8 million cybersecurity professionals by 2022.
But new research, commissioned by cybersecurity training organization the SANS Institute and conducted by respected research firm Vanson Bourne polled 4000 students across the UK and EMEA and reveals a lack of awareness of careers in the sector.
Facebook is adding a Tributes section to memorialized accounts of deceased users
When a Facebook user dies, it is possible to transform their profile into a memorialized account. Facebook describes this as a "place for friends and family to gather and share memories after a person has passed away".
Now the social network is rolling out a new feature for memorialized profiles: Tributes. This is essentially a new section that appears on the page of deceased users where friends and family can post new content about their loved ones.
Alphabet startup Chronicle launches enterprise cybersecurity platform Backstory, and partners with Avast
It is a year since Google's parent company Alphabet launched the cybersecurity outfit Chronicle. Now the startup has launched its first product, a security platform called Backstory.
Backstory is an enterprise-level cybersecurity and analytics platform; Chronicle describes it as "the first global security telemetry platform designed for a world that thinks in petabytes". Coinciding with the launch, Chronicle has teamed up with security firms Avast and Proofpoint.
Attack traffic up 32 percent in 2018
Levels of attack traffic observed by F-Secure's network of decoy honeypots in 2018 increased by 32 percent over the previous year, and increased fourfold in the latter half of 2018 compared with the first half of the year.
The report suggests that many companies may not have the visibility they need to catch attacks that make it past preventative measures like firewalls and endpoint protection.
Intel shares Thunderbolt with USB Promoter Group, and USB4 is on the way
Intel's Thunderbolt 3 uses the USB-C connector, which is sort of confusing. Basically, all TB3 ports can also handle USB, but standard USB Type C ports cannot work with Thunderbolt 3. This can lead to confusion for consumers. Intel's standard is much faster, meaning Thunderbolt 3 accessories are often superior to regular USB-C models. Of course, TB3-related things are usually more expensive too.
In an effort to make Thunderbolt ubiquitous, Intel is sharing its TB protocol with the USB Promoter Group. What does this mean? Well, the future of the Universal Serial Bus, USB4, will not only work with USB 2.0 and 3.x devices, but Thunderbolt 3 too. In other words, by having a USB4 port on your computer, you also have TB3.
Google Project Zero reveals 'high severity' macOS vulnerability that Apple has failed to patch
Google's Project Zero has gone public about a "high severity" flaw in the macOS kernel after Apple failed to patch it 90 days after being told about the problem.
A security researcher discovered a problem in XNU that means it is possible to perform malicious activities. The security bug related to copy-on-write (COW) behavior, enabling an attacker to manipulate filesystem images without the operating system being notified. Apple was informed of the vulnerability back in November, but has failed to release a patch.
Open source breaches up by 71 percent
Open source breaches have increased by 71 percent over the last five years, while 26 percent of companies have reported a confirmed or suspected web application breach in the past year alone according to a new report.
The study from open source governance specialist Sonatype also shows 41 percent of executives admit their company doesn’t follow an open source governance programme.
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