Best Windows 10 apps this week
PDF Shaper 8.2 improves text detection and extraction, supports system fonts and more
Burnaware Technologies has released PDF Shaper Free 8.2, a major update to its freeware PDF toolkit for Windows users. PDF Shaper provides a series of tools for managing and optimizing PDF files, and is also available in Premium and Professional editions.
It’s the paid-for editions that get the most love in this new release, with the non-free Watermark tool gaining three new features. All versions gain support for system TrueType fonts, codepages and styles as well as an option to select specific pages when converting a PDF to an image file.
Judge: Trump should mute rather than block critics on Twitter
Donald Trump's use of Twitter is well known, and it's also been the source of some controversy for one reason or another. As well as his seemingly ill-thought out ramblings causing delight, amazement, disbelief and horror in just about equal measure, it has been suggested that the president's decision to block people who criticize him is unconstitutional.
Now a district judge may have come up with a solution, avoiding concerns about potential violation of the First Amendment. She suggests that rather than blocking people, Trump should just mute their accounts.
Microsoft Windows Defender fights off massive currency miner attack
Microsoft has stopped a large scale malware distribution campaign that tried to infect almost 500,000 Windows PCs with a cryptocurrency miner.
Windows Defender antivirus software detected 80,000 instances of several Trojans with the payload known as Dofoil or Smoke loader, at noon PST on March 6.
Ad-blocker and privacy tool Ghostery goes open source, and has new ways to make money
In an attempt to improve trust and transparency, ad-blocking tool Ghostery has gone open source. It comes after Ghostery was acquired by Cliqz last year and raised a few eyebrows with the business model it put in place.
As well as going open source, Ghostery is also introducing new ways of making money. Rather than selling anonymized user data to third parties, there are now two income streams: Ghostery Insights and Ghostery Rewards. The former is a premium product for which details have not been revealed, the latter an opt-in marketing system.
Want to get verified on Twitter? Jack Dorsey wants that for you too
For a large number of Twitter users, there is one question that crops up time and time again -- "How do I get verified on Twitter?". Once dominated by celebrities and politicians, Twitter eventually allowed anyone to ask for a coveted tick -- but then closed down open applications after problems with white supremacists.
A lot of users were stripped of their verified status, but gaining the tick still remains a goal for many. Now Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has some good news. The plan is to open up verification to everyone -- and Twitter will not be acting as judge and jury.
Microsoft Translator adds Bulgarian, Croatian, Malay, Slovenian, Tamil, and Vietnamese as text-to-speech languages
If you like to travel internationally, you know that language differences can be a huge pain point. English speakers are lucky, as that language is often spoken as a second language. That isn't always the case, however, so communication can be a huge barrier. This isn't just an issue for those that travel for pleasure, but for business travelers too.
Luckily, technology has minimized this pain. Software allows convenient translation, making both communication and the consumption of foreign language media much easier. Microsoft translator is one such great solution, and today, it gets six new text-to-speech languages -- Bulgarian, Croatian, Malay, Slovenian, Tamil, and Vietnamese.
Hardcoded password in Cisco software could be used to gain control of systems
Cisco's Prime Collaboration Provisioning (PCP) software has a hardcoded password that could be used by an attacker to gain full control of a system. The company even says that "extenuating circumstances" exist that could enable an attacker to elevate privileges to root.
The vulnerability (CVE-2018-0141) affects version 11.6 of the software. A patch has been made available, and users are encouraged to install it as soon as possible as there are no other workarounds.
Mobile ad Trojan numbers fall but monetization techniques improve
Advertising Trojans were the top mobile malware threat in 2016, however, new figures from Kaspersky Lab show their numbers declined last year but their creators turned to improved monetization methods.
Taking advantage of super-user rights to secretly install various applications or bombard an infected device with ads to make use of the smartphone impossible, ad trojans have become a major threat and are also extremely difficult to detect and remove.
McAfee buys VPN firm TunnelBear
Security firm McAfee has announced the acquisition of VPN company TunnelBear. Full details of the deal have not been revealed, and it is not known how much money has changed hands.
With a growing awareness of the importance of online security and privacy, VPN tools have grown in popularity in recent years, and the Canada-based TunnelBear has managed to gather 20 million users around the world.
Malwarebytes brings endpoint protection to Macs
Among IT professionals Malwarebytes is one of the most trusted names for malware detection and removal.
Perhaps less well known is that it also provides endpoint protection for businesses and it's now extending that to cover Apple Mac computers.
Microsoft expects users of Windows 10 S mode to stick with it, but switching to Windows 10 Home or Pro will be free
Having confirmed that Windows 10 S is going to become a "mode" in future versions of Windows 10, rather than a standalone product, Microsoft has revealed more about its future plans for the soon-to-be ex-operating system.
While Windows 10 S, in its current form, has been perceived by many as a flop, Joe Belfiore, Corporate Vice President, Windows, says, "we’ve received great feedback from customers and partners on Windows 10 S. Customers love the security, faster boot time, better battery life and consistent performance over time." Although he would say that.
Here's what's new in Android P
Google has released the first developer preview of Android P, giving us a glimpse into the future of its mobile OS. There's a lot to explore in this latest version of Android, but just what can you expect -- apart from notch support, of course?
As this is just the first preview version, there's not -- currently -- a huge number of new features. The focus at the moment is on under-the-hood changes, but there's still plenty to explore, and more than enough to pique interest for future builds. So… let's take a look.
Download Android P developer preview as Google reveals release schedule
It's mere days since we were talking about the impending release of Android P for developers. Now, slightly earlier than expected, a preview of the latest version of Google's mobile operating system is here.
As this is a preview build, it is not only not aimed at the masses, but is also only compatible with a handful of Android phones -- specifically the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. If you have one of these devices, you can try out Android P for yourself, but Google has revealed that we’ll have to wait until Q3 for the final release.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 Redstone 5 Build 17618 for Skip Ahead -- and it includes Sets!
While Microsoft is busy putting the finishing touches to the Windows 10 Spring Update, codenamed Redstone 4, work is well underway on its successor, due around October time.
Windows Insiders who opted to "skip ahead" can try out early Redstone 5 builds, and today Microsoft releases Build 17618 on that branch. Usually at this stage in development there’s nothing much to get excited about, but that’s not the case here.
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