UK ISP Sky is about to start censoring the web for all of its customers
The UK government is on a mission to protect the young of the country from the dark recesses of the web. And by the darker recesses, what is really meant is porn. The main ISPs have long been required to block access to known piracy sites, but porn is also a concern -- for politicians, at least.
As part of its bid to sanitize and censor the web, Sky -- from the Murdoch stables -- is, as of today, enabling adult content filtering by default for all new customers: Sky Broadband Shield. The company wants to "help families protect their children from inappropriate content", and in a previous experiment discovered -- unsurprisingly -- that content filtering was used by more people if it was automatically enabled.
Microsoft introduces free Skype Meetings
Microsoft has launched Skype Meetings, a new and free version of its popular video and audio conferencing software designed with small businesses in mind.
The company’s latest release will feel quite similar for users already familiar with its Skype for Business solution, albeit stripped down. Whereas Skype for Business allows for meetings with up to 250 people, Skype Meetings limits the maximum participants to 10 people. However after the initial two months of using the product, that number drops down to three people.
Samsung's super fast UFS cards are here to replace microSDs
While microSD cards have seen some notable developments in recent years, in both size and performance, there is no escaping the fact that the underlying technology cannot keep up with the times. They remain popular with both consumers and vendors though, but that's mostly because there has been nothing out there that could successfully replace the ubiquitous microSD.
But with the introduction of UFS cards that may soon change. Samsung today unveils the first in the world, promising a major boost in performance thanks to read and write speeds which can rival those of SSDs. The good old microSD should get ready to meet its maker.
Woman live-streams the police shooting of her boyfriend on Facebook
We've had quite a few shooting deaths lately, some of them caught on video. Just yesterday we saw the cell phone video that was captured of an incident in Baton Rouge. That incident resulted in widespread protests, though all peaceful so far.
Now, just a day later, yet another video surfaces from Minnesota depicting a man shot during a traffic stop. The gentleman died of his wounds.
Create and edit animated GIFs with SoftDigi Easy GIF
SoftDigi Easy GIF is a $20.95 suite of tools for creating and editing animated GIFs. The program doesn’t require any artistic or design ability. Open an existing animation and you can resize it, remove frames, change colors, set transparency and more, all in a few clicks.
A comprehensive editor allows drawing lines and shapes, adding text, spraying or filling areas with color, applying special effects, and more.
90 percent of security events are caused by bots
Bots account for 49 percent of all internet traffic, most of which is from malicious 'bad bots' according to website security company Incapsula.
Of course there are good bots too, such as the crawlers used by major search engines, but according to Incapsula’s figures 90 percent of all security events are caused by bots, and 66 percent of all bot activity is malicious.
Avast to acquire antivirus rival AVG for $1.3BN
Although Avast and AVG both offer paid security tools, they are best known for their free antivirus software.
Some people confuse the two firms because of the similarity of what they do, and the fact their names begin with the same letters, they were founded at around the same time, and originated in the Czech Republic, but that confusion soon won’t be an issue as today Avast announces it is set to acquire AVG.
Facebook malware infects 10,000 users in two days
A new malware was spotted by security researchers at Kaspersky Lab, targeting Facebook users. According to the researchers’ new report, there have been 10,000 victims in two days.
The malware has two stages: firstly, an unsuspecting victim gets a message from a Facebook friend, saying they had mentioned them in a comment. But when the victim clicks to see the comment, they instead download a bunch of malware, including a Chrome add-on which can take over the victim’s Facebook account, once they log back in.
How much storage does your laptop need?
The question nags as I prepare to review TarDisk Pear flash memory expansion. The doohickey is available in 128 or 256 gig capacities for either MacBook Air or Pro. It fits neatly and snuggly into the SDXC card slot, which is required; color and finish match, too. Windows users must look elsewhere, though, and many may be glad to. The tech lists for $149 and $399, respectively. But, hey, the Apple fan club is accustomed to paying more for everything.
I will test TarDisk Pear on my 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display, 3.1GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD. I recently, and unexpectedly, filled up the hard disk with photos and podcast raw recordings. (Hehe, using Chromebooks for so long spoiled me and my awareness of such things.) Doubling storage, particularly with San Diego Comic-Con coming in 14 days, could prove useful for editing audio, pics, and video on the laptop. But is it necessary or contrivance?
Facebook announces an open source wireless access platform called 'OpenCellular'
Here in the good ol' USA, we take a lot of our blessings for granted. Sure, we aren't perfect-- there is poverty in all places -- but a large part of this country has access to things like clean water and internet access. Sadly, there are plenty of people globally without access to either of those aforementioned things. While water is obviously essential for life, internet access is crucial for knowledge -- especially in regions where access to formal education is limited.
Today, Facebook announces an open source wireless access platform called 'OpenCellular'. The goal of this project is to connect more citizens of the globe to the internet. According to the social network, there are still 4 billion folks that don't have access -- shocking. OpenCellular could contribute to lowering that number.
Cost is not the main reason behind cloud adoption
The notion that cloud computing solutions are being driven primarily by reduced costs, and that they’re causing IT teams to shrink everywhere seems to be significantly in the myths area.
A new report by Six Degrees Group (6DG) points out that there are other, more important reasons, businesses opt for cloud solutions, and that teams are not necessarily shrinking, but reshaping mostly.
New macOS malware gives hackers complete access to your files
For security reasons, out of the box macOS is configured to only allow software from the App Store and identified developers to be installed. However, there are times when users may also want to run apps from other sources, in which case it is possible to enable a no holds barred setting. But, along with the extra freedom, it also exponentially increases the risk of running into malware.
You may be inclined to believe that you can stay safe by sticking to known download websites, but that is not always the case. Bitdefender has uncovered a new Mac malware, called Backdoor.Mac.Eleanor, that poses as a document converter on what the security company calls "reputable sites". When installed, it gives hackers complete access to your Mac.
Snapchat 'Memories' is something Facebook won't soon forget
Facebook is a social network that I use begrudgingly, but it sometimes does have value in my life. For instance, its "Memories" feature periodically shows me photos from the past on their anniversary of being uploaded. Sometimes a now-deceased relative pops up and it feels like a "hello" from heaven. It's a killer feature.
Unfortunately for Mark Zuckerberg and company, rival attention-thief Snapchat seems to be borrowing this feature a bit. Also called "Memories", it too aims to leverage photos -- plus videos -- as memories, but in a more robust way. Will millennial users want such a thing?
IT teams of the future will have non-tech members
Leadership, understanding of business objectives and project management are the three most important skills among businesses, a new report by IT resourcing company Experis says.
In the report, entitled "Tomorrows Tech Teams", it was also said that IT teams will see an influx of people from a non-tech background, further complicating the existing IT skills shortage.
[Giveaway] VisionTek USB 3.0 512GB Pocket SSD -- enter to win! [Update]
Nowadays, everyone seems to be obsessed with cloud storage. While there is nothing wrong with utilizing the aforementioned storage option, it should never be your only method. In other words, redundancy is key -- a local backup of your files in addition is very wise.
When it comes to local backups, there are many directions to take, such as a mechanical hard drive. Unfortunately, hard drives have moving parts, are audible, and can be fairly large. Solid state drives are a great choice for storage, and today, we are giving away a USB 3.0 variant.
Most Commented Stories
Windows 12.1 is everything Windows 11 should be -- and the Microsoft operating system we need!
Apple Intelligence will launch in beta and that’s unacceptable for a trillion-dollar company
© 1998-2024 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.