Mozilla rebrands with clever new logo and open source design principles
Mozilla is a very important organization for the open web. While Firefox's share of usage has not been lighting the world on fire lately, Mozilla is much more than just a web browser developer. It often fights for the rights of web users. Since it is a not-for-profit organization, you can be fairly confident that its intentions are pure.
Today, the organization announces a massive rebrand, including a partially crowd-sourced new logo. The logo is quite brilliant, as it is both pretty and sensical -- it incorporates the :// used in web addresses. While the clever logo is the star of the show, it is hardly the only new aspect. Mozilla is using open source design principles as well for things like colors, images, and fonts. In fact, the all new "Zilla" font is free to use by all.
Businesses not prepared for the risk from mobile and IoT apps
Despite widespread concern about the security of mobile and IoT applications, organizations are ill-prepared for the risks they pose, according to new research.
The study from threat prevention company Arxan Technologies, IBM Security and the Ponemon Institute reveals that 60 percent of respondents believe it’s either certain or likely their organization has experienced a material data breach or cyber attack over the past 12 months that was caused by an insecure mobile app.
What we learned from predicting the 2016 US presidential election
As we approach the end of 2016, what feels like a very long election cycle in the US is finally coming to an end, complete with what, for many, was a surprising conclusion based on the pre-election polls (or, more accurately, how those polls were interpreted). Given the pre-election polls and the subsequent critical press coverage, it is natural to wonder whether the data presented in various 2016 presidential election predictions had some "issues".
Four years ago we were interested in how data analytics could be used in pre-election polling to make it statistically more accurate so we created an analytic app that was based on Gallup polling data to predict the winner (Barack Obama or Mitt Romney) of the election. It was a simpler application, but we got some accurate results, predicting 85 percent of the counties correctly.
Many consumers don't care about the impact of piracy
Almost a third of consumers watch pirated content even though they know it's illegal to do so and that it deprives the content creators of revenue.
The study for platform security company Irdeto conducted by YouGov finds that 74 percent of US consumers know that sharing pirated content is illegal and 69 percent that downloading it is.
New Flock plug-in targets fake news -- you'll never guess what happens next
Fake and misleading stories plague the internet and there's always a risk that if not spotted they can influence decisions within an organization.
Enterprise collaboration platform Flock is aiming to stop the spread of unreliable news, especially within business environments with the launch of a Fake News Detector plug-in.
Leaked Windows 10 build shows Creators Update is getting an ebook store
Google has one, Apple has one, Amazon has one, so Microsoft seems to feel that it should have one too. We're talking ebook stores, and a leaked version of Windows Mobile reveals that this is something that is due to be added to the Windows Store.
While Microsoft has been slowly but surely building up its store ecosystem, the focus has been mainly on apps so far, with music and video thrown in for good measure. With the company having fairly recently added EPUB support to Microsoft Edge, the arrival of ebooks is perhaps not entirely surprising, but Microsoft is very late to the party.
Create stylish product mockups with Mockuuups Studio
Mockuuups Studio is a simple tool which makes it easy to create professional product mockups. These are photos where your design appears on a phone, tablet, watch or other device, sometimes as it’s apparently being used.
The program doesn’t require any design skills. Just import a file and it’s instantly cropped and rotated to fit around 250 mockup templates, which are all then displayed in large preview thumbnails.
Now you can perform offline Google searches... sort of
There must have been times when you're in an area with no Wi-Fi and terrible phone reception. It's almost certainly when you find yourself in this situation that you think of something you want to look up. With no signal to perform a Google search, you may mentally log your query and pledge to run it later -- but of course you will forget.
Google has a solution. The latest version of the Google app heralds the arrival of pseudo offline searching, so you can perform searches with no signal, or if your phone is in airplane mode.
Evernote for iOS ushers in new streamlined era for note-taking tool
If this were a TV show or movie franchise it would be a reboot. After a period of behind-the-scenes consolidation and soul-searching, Evernote Corporation has signaled a new approach to its note-taking tool with the release of Evernote for iOS 8.0.
Version 8.0 sees the cluttered green interface of yesteryear banished, replaced by a more minimalist design as Evernote attempts to reposition its note-taking app with speed and user-friendliness at its core.
UK will face a shortage of three million highly skilled workers
By 2022, the UK could be missing approximately three million highly skilled workers, according to a new annual CEO survey by PwC. The report says that, by that time, there will be 15 million high-skill jobs in the country. This state will actually come as a result of automating low-skill, routine tasks, which will place more emphasis on higher-skill, agile roles.
Another interesting conclusion is that more than nine million people could be chasing four million jobs. This is according to the government’s State of the Nation report.
EFF sets out privacy and security plans for the first 100 days under President Trump
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has set out its plans for the first 100 days under Trump, during which time it says it will continue to fight for the rights of internet and technology users.
The digital rights group has already drawn up a wishlist for covering its privacy and security dreams for 2017, but the 100-day plan sees the EFF setting out its agenda for the first few months under Trump. Having claimed that "our civil liberties need an independent defense force" and that "free speech and the rights to privacy, transparency, and innovation won’t survive on their own", EFF is prepared to go to court -- again -- to hold the new administration to account when necessary.
SCOSCHE unveils MagicMount PowerBank for USB-C devices like Google Pixel and LG V20
USB Type-C is the future. The connector type is quickly replacing micro USB on many devices. Two of the top Android phones -- the LG V20 and Google Pixel -- use the new USB-C standard. the While Apple has not yet used it for the iPhone, the company has embraced it for the newest MacBook Pro.
Today, SCOSCHE unveils MagicMount PowerBank for USB-C devices. Like the existing microUSB and Lightning versions, the new Type-C variant attaches to the rear of the smartphone using magnets. It can be used with or without a phone case.
Google has not given up on Google+ -- requested changes are incoming, and the 'classic' site will go!
Despite the competition from other social networks, and widespread ridicule, Google is determined not to pull the plug on Google+. Instead, the company today announces that a trio of changes are coming to the service based on user feedback.
Google is keen for users to experience its services on any device they may have, so it's little surprise that one of the changes sees the addition of a zoom function so Google+ users on smartphones can get a closer look at photos. There are also key changes to the commenting system and the welcome arrival of a much-requested feature.
Nintendo Switch will be a failure
As someone born in the 1980s, Nintendo was a huge part of my life. I owned every one of its home consoles from the NES to the Wii. Yes, I even bought the Virtual Boy, which I still have. Unfortunately, I sat out the Wii U due to poor design and a lack of quality games. Apparently, I was not alone in not embracing that console, as it is largely considered a flop.
The company's latest console, however, got me very excited. The Nintendo Switch doubles as both a home and portable console, making it more useful. Based on the company's presentation, it looked very fun. I pre-ordered it immediately, for fear of it selling out. This was a good idea, apparently, as pre-orders are no longer available at major retailers. Here's the problem -- I am considering canceling my order, as it is looking to be a failure.
Android Nougat on Samsung Galaxy S7: A big step in the right direction
Samsung started the Android Nougat roll-out for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge last week, but only members of the Galaxy Beta Program could get it right away. That changes today, as Samsung is finally making the much-awaited update available to more users, starting in China and UK.
After installing the hefty Android Nougat update on my Galaxy S7 edge, it became immediately clear that Samsung has put in a lot of effort to deliver a much more user-friendly experience. Its skin is much improved over what we had before on Android Marshmallow, packing lots of nice changes, both visual and under the hood. It is not perfect, but there is lots more to like now.
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