Nest introduces Eco Temperatures to its learning thermostat
Nest has become a popular choice for those getting their feet wet in the new world of home automation. A thermostat that thinks for you, learning your habits and adjusting the temperature in your home accordingly, sounds great. It's not always perfect, but it improves over time as it gathers more and more information.
Now the company is aiming to push this feature further, welcome news for those who have found the process a bit off with temperatures adjusting by themselves, sometimes at inopportune times.
NirSoft's EncryptedRegView decrypts and displays secret Registry data
NirSoft has released EncryptedRegView, a free tool which finds, decrypts and displays Registry data protected by Windows’ DPAPI encryption scheme.
DPAPI isn’t widely used, even by Microsoft products, but the program managed to find Outlook passwords, Microsoft Edge details and a few other interesting items on our test PC.
BBC micro:bit computer to roll out globally
The BBC micro:bit is a tiny programmable computer like the Raspberry Pi, except it’s even smaller -- it measures just 4cm x 5cm.
The device is powered by a 32-bit ARM Cortex Processor and comes with a built-in 5x5 LED matrix that gives you 25 individually programmable red LEDS to use as a display, some push buttons, so you can interact with games and programs, and an Accelerometer, Magnetometer and Bluetooth antenna.
Social logins -- the convenience and the risks
Increasingly people are suffering from password fatigue, so when signing up to websites it's very tempting to use existing social media accounts.
However, according to a survey from customer identity and access management specialist Janrain, 93 percent of people are concerned about how their account data and activity are being shared and used.
What you need to know about object storage
Storage architectures from the early days of computing typically used block storage and managed data as hierarchy of files. While this was fine when the amount of data involved was relatively small, as storage requirements grew it meant that the management of data became a major task. What was needed was a way of making handling data simpler whilst allowing scalability and ease of access to the information.
Object storage treats data as objects, each being made up of the data itself, metadata that defines it and a unique identifier. The advantage of this is that it makes it possible to store large amounts of unstructured data in a way that’s affordable, scalable and capable of a degree of self-management. In recent years its use has been driven by online sharing and streaming services, allowing a diverse range of digital content to be easily and quickly accessed from anywhere without the need for complex, specialist software.
Ecuador severs Julian Assange's internet connection to prevent US election interference
News emerged this week that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had been cut off from the internet. Now Ecuador -- in whose embassy he is holed up in London -- has said that it is responsible.
The move comes after WikiLeaks continued with its threats to release damaging information about Hillary Clinton, which could possibly boost the popularity of Donald Trump. The country is keen not to be seen to be interfering with, or allowing interference with, the US election, saying it "respects the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states".
Companies are losing confidence in Yahoo
Yahoo users have started to lose faith in the company following the theft of millions of account details and the revelation of collusion with the NSA and FBI. But it is not just users who are becoming disillusioned and looking to move elsewhere -- Yahoo's partners are also concerned.
One such company is StartPage, described as "the world's most private search engine". Concerned by privacy violations, it is ditching Yahoo search results from its metasearch tool Ixquick.eu. The parting of ways will take place by the end of the month, and StartPage CEO Robert Beens believes more companies will follow suit.
Win a Microsoft Xbox One S Battlefield 1 Special Edition Bundle from Major Nelson
This Friday, the video game 'Battlefield 1' hits stores. Many gamers have anticipated this game, as both the graphics and gameplay look amazing. As with previous Battlefield titles, the multiplayer and campaigns should be very rewarding. When completing the latter, gamers should expect solid storytelling.
If you are interested in playing Battlefield 1, the Electronic Arts-published title will be made available for Windows PC. If you prefer gaming on consoles, it will also be available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. If you don't own either console, don't panic -- Larry Hryb (aka Major Nelson) of Microsoft is giving away an Xbox One S. The grand prize is no ordinary version of the console, however, but the limited-edition Battlefield 1 Special Edition Bundle. There will be additional runner-up prizes given away too.
NVIDIA unveils affordable GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti gaming cards starting at $109
When it comes to shopping for PC gaming hardware, there are often three types of consumers -- hardcore, budget, and those that fall in between. Hardcore gamers will spend massive amounts of money to get the absolute best performance. Budget gamers, however, aim for respectable specifications at affordable prices.
If you fall into the budget category, today, NVIDIA announces two new graphics cards that will make you very excited -- GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti. While neither card is top of the line, they should be able to achieve solid performance at 1080p. Best of all? The 1050 starts at a super-low $109.
AWS now powers VMware Cloud
Amazon Web Services (AWS) and VMware have announced a strategic partnership in the cloud computing business. It will create new technology allowing customers to use VMware's datacenter management software on Amazon’s cloud. Basically, VMware's infrastructure software (vSphere, NSX) will run on Amazon Web Services.
"Our customers continue to ask us to make it easier for them to run their existing data center investments alongside AWS", Andy Jassy, CEO, AWS, tells Tech Crunch.
How large can GDPR fines get in UK?
When GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) comes into force in 2018, businesses not adhering to cybersecurity best practices risk either €20 million in fines or four percent of their annual global turnover, whichever is bigger.
The media has been buzzing about this a lot lately, but how much is four percent really, at least among UK organizations? According to PCI Security Standards Council -- that could be up to £122 billion. Here’s how PCI SSC came to that conclusion.
Morphine: a web distraction-blocker you might actually use
However busy you might be, it’s all-too-easy to waste time checking Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and many other distracting domains.
Browser add-ons can help you block these sites, but they’re often too restrictive. Limiting access is good, but if they go too far you’ll just uninstall them in a day or two and carry on as before.
Chrome's bleeding edge Canary build now available for Android
Google offers a choice of Chrome versions, depending on how close to the cutting edge you want to be. You can choose to run either the stable release, or gain access to additional features by opting to join the beta channel. There’s also Canary, a "bleeding edge" build of Chrome that installs, runs and updates separately from the main browser.
This has previously only been available for Windows or Mac, but it’s now available on Android too.
Google releases open source 'Nomulus' TLD registry platform
Google is one of the biggest champions of open source, releasing very useful projects such as Cartographer and Noto. Heck, the company is so proud of its open source efforts, that it graded itself with a public report card.
Today, the search giant releases yet another open source tool. Called "Nomulus", it is designed to be a top-level domain (TLD) registry platform. This is not a young or incomplete project, however, as Google began developing it way back in 2011. Now that Nomulus is in the wild and free to use, it will be interesting to see how it is leveraged.
Mobile games pose a risk to business
Mobile games are increasing in popularity, boosted by augmented reality apps like Pokémon GO. But if individuals are using their devices for BYOD too then these games could present a major security risk.
According to a new study from licensing specialist Flexera Software which tested 60 of the most popular iOS games, 73 percent support location services and tracking. 68 percent support social networking, 58 have calendar access and 54 percent support SMS.
Most Commented Stories
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. About Us - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Sitemap.