Latest Technology News

There are too many Linux distributions nowadays. While many people feel that there is no such thing as too much choice, I respectfully disagree. Quite frankly, the Linux developer community is spread too thin, leading to wasted resources and slow movement on projects. For end users, it can be hard to find the best operating system for them, as there are far too many from which to pick.

With all of that said, there is plenty of room for some distributions -- when they make a substantial impact, that is. Elementary OS (stylized as elementary OS) isn't the most popular Linux distro, and it certainly isn't the best. However, this Ubuntu-based operating system is focusing on something that some competitors do not -- user interface, which ultimately contributes to the overall user experience. It is because of this that Elementary is so important to the Linux community -- it matters. Today, Elementary 0.4 (code-named 'Loki'), achieves stable status.

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I’m right-handed, but could easily have been born a leftie as both my dad, sister and nephew are left-handed. There are a lot of disadvantages to not being right-handed, although it’s not as bad as it once was, thanks to the introduction of things like left-handed scissors.

One modern issue you may not be aware of though, is being left-handed can seriously impact on the quality of calls you make and receive on a smartphone. Or, more precisely, on an Apple iPhone.

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Just days after announcing a similar deal with Visa, PayPal has now announced it has come to an agreement with MasterCard, as well. This will allow customers to use PayPal to pay in stores, it was said, through the use of smartphones and contactless payment cards. According to multiple media reports, this deal actually means losses for PayPal in the short term.

Wall Street Journal reported that PayPal is "shifting away from promoting free bank transfers to fund customers' transactions and toward the networks, which charge a fee". But with strong competition coming from the likes of Apple or Stripe, PayPal wants to become a "ubiquitous" payment tool, as soon as possible.

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The darknet can be described as the internet black market, home to sites that sell drugs, weapons, leaked security data, and even assassins -- and it’s so well-organized, it’s practically the dark cousin of Amazon.

In simple terms, it operates like a ghost. The websites within it coexist with the rest of the internet, but are inaccessible unless you have the software to open a window for you between realms. For example, this is a darknet URL: http://dppmfxaacucguzpc.onion/. If you have Tor -- the software designed to grant you access to the darknet -- it will lead you to the Tor webpage. If you don’t, it leads absolutely nowhere. On darknet, you’re untraceable and completely anonymous.

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Regardless of your feelings about the iPhone, you cannot deny that this week belongs to Apple. The company is certainly dominating much of the world's attention. With that said, there is certainly more going on in the technology world than a new version of a popular smartphone. Some desktop Linux users for instance, would probably be more excited about a new version of a distribution, and today, a significant OS sees release.

What is the desktop OS of which I speak? Linux Mint 18 'Sarah'. True, that distribution is not really new, but this variation is -- KDE. Yes, a new version of Mint -- featuring the Plasma desktop environment and associated apps -- is available today. Could the open source operating system be a good alternative to Windows 10?

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Intel has made the decision to sell off a majority stake in its security software arm, which was previously known as McAfee, to the private equity firm TPG.

In 2010, the chip maker acquired the security software company for $7.6 billion and then four years later it decided to do away with the McAfee name entirely in favor of Intel Security. TPG, which will own 51 percent of the company after the sale, will be reverting the company name back to McAfee, likely due to the security software being a household name and having a large user base.

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The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus feature some pretty big improvements over the previous generation, but some folks are not convinced whether it is worth upgrading from an older iPhone or an Android smartphone. The main problem is the removal of the headphone jack, though it seems that the lack of enough (visual) differentiating features compared to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus also play a part in this.

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus may end up breaking sales records, but we will not find out until later this year. However, IDC already predicts that Apple's flagships will underperform in the world's largest market -- China. And there is some logic behind that.

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News of software vulnerabilities often centers on products from well-known companies that potentially put large numbers of end users at risk.

But a new report from software solutions company Flexera Software reveals that the niche products used by specialist industries can be just as much of a problem.

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During BoxWorks 2016, the annual Box conference taking place in San Francisco, the enterprise content platform announced it is teaming up with Google to make working and collaborating in the cloud simpler and easier.

Box will become third-party content repository for Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides, it was unveiled during the conference. Once the new offering is available, it will enable Box users to create and edit Google documents directly from its cloud services.

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One-hundred and ninety-seven in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

The week was rather slow in regards to new releases. Microsoft did bring video game pre-orders to the Store however, and seems to have removed thousands of low quality apps recently too.

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Thanks to a new partnership between Box and IBM, Box users will be getting a new workflow solution which will allow any business users to build, manage and track custom and pre-built workflows.

The new solution, called Box Relay, will be a part of the "all new Box", to be presented during BoxWorks 2016, Box's annual San Francisco conference.

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The photograph taken by Nick Ut showing Kim Phúc (sometimes referred to a 'napalm girl') fleeing a napalm attack is one of the most iconic images of the Vietnam war. It's a picture that's seared into the memory of anyone who has seen it, and the Pulitzer prize-winning photograph is often held up as an anti-war image.

But Facebook sees things differently. The company saw fit to censor the image by deleting a post by a Norwegian writer who used the photo. The writer, Tom Egeland, was also suspended from the site. Facebook stands accused of abusing its position as "the world's most powerful editor" in a scathing attack by the editor-in-chief and CEO of Norway's largest newspaper, Aftenposten. Today Espen Egil Hansen uses a front page editorial to launch a blistering diatribe against Mark Zuckerberg.

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There are many ways to find lyrics to whatever you’re playing online, but they’re usually slow, inconvenient, maybe inaccurate, and sometimes all three. Lyrics Here is a browser addon for Chrome, Firefox and more which instantly finds and shows the lyrics for whatever you’re playing on YouTube, Spofify, Deezer, Google Music, SoundCloud and 40+ similar sites.

There’s nothing to set up or configure. Just visit YouTube or a music site, find and play something, and a new pane quickly appears (usually at the same time as playback starts) with the song title and lyrics.

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Google's regular Transparency Reports make for interesting reading for those with an interest in how the company operates. As well as revealing how Google responds to government requests for data, they also show how it deals with copyright removal requests.

Now the company has updated its reports to make the data easier to read and easier to interpret. It also shows more information about the sites and companies associated with removals.

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Yesterday, Apple announced that it was removing the 3.5mm audio jack from its upcoming iPhone 7 and 7 Plus smartphones; some people are still comically reeling from the news. Understandably, not everyone can see the benefits of Apple's forward thinking subtraction now, but the world will catch up eventually -- as usual.

While killing the outdated decades-old audio port was the correct choice, understandably, not everyone is ready to invest in Apple's AirPods. Some folks will prefer wired headphones. Luckily, Apple is bundling both a 3.5mm dongle and Lightning audio wired earbuds with the iPhone 7 (and Plus). While that partly solves the dilemma, some folks will hit a roadblock -- they cannot listen to wired headphones while charging their iPhone devices. Today, Belkin creates a solution for that problem with the all new 'Lightning Audio + Charge RockStar' adapter.

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