Think twice before accepting LinkedIn invitations from strangers
Have you ever wondered if someone on LinkedIn is not really who they say they are? I’m not being paranoid here, this is a legitimate question.
If your answer is "No", you’re not alone. A vast majority of people never wonder if there are fake accounts requesting to connect on the professional social network, and almost a quarter accept requests from people they don’t really know.
Best Windows apps this week
One-hundred and eighty-six 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.
Microsoft pushed out a Windows Store update this week that displays a prompt during the installation of large apps and games so you can choose the install location. The feature will be part of this Summer's Anniversary update.
ExtraBits is a time-saving Explorer extension
ExtraBits is an Explorer extension which adds some time-saving commands to the file and folder right-click menu. The program is free for non-commercial use, but has a notable limitation: it only works on up to 100 files or folders in a single operation.
ExtraBits doesn’t make any obvious changes during installation, but if you select and right-click multiple files or folders you’ll find a new ExtraBit menu with several options.
37 percent of Americans would prefer better automation at work to a better sex life
Whether it says more about their work lives or home lives is unclear, but it seems that more than 1 in 3 working Americans would prefer having a better way to automate all their routine work tasks, such as booking meetings, than have a better sex life. What's also interesting is that 44 percent of those were women and 30 percent were men.
This is among the findings of a survey by automation specialist Built.io carried out in conjunction with Wakefield Research. It also finds that Americans are willing to give up some personal information in exchange for a more automated life.
Dropbox update introduces document scanning on Android, iOS
Dropbox has just announced a host of new features that will hopefully help the service retain its current users and possibly attract some new users as well.
The company has added many new features to its cloud storage software, but the most notable is the ability to use a mobile device’s camera to scan documents. Receipts, articles, whiteboard drawings and other text found in the real world can be captured with the app and then saved to Dropbox as a digital copy.
Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14372 for PC and Mobile arrives on the Fast ring
Windows 10 Insider Preview builds are coming thick and fast now in preparation for the Anniversary Update on 29 July.
We had a new build on Tuesday (Build 14371), and today Windows Insider chief Dona Sarkar has pushed the button on another new release -- Build 14372 for PC and Mobile. That’s just one build newer, but includes fixes designed to improve overall performance and reliability. But that’s not all.
DevOps can help bridge the gap between software companies
High-performing organizations are widening the gap against low-performing ones, a new report on DevOps suggests. Entitled 2016 State of DevOps Report, it was released by Puppet and DORA (DevOps Research and Assessment), and is considered one of the largest, most comprehensive and longest-running studies on the topic of DevOps.
High-performers deploy 200 times more frequently and have 2,555 times faster lead times. They recover 24 times faster from failed changes and have three times lower change fail rates. The report also said high-performers spend 22 percent less time on unplanned work and rework, and are able to spend 29 percent more time on new work.
Samsung unveils 'Notebook 7 spin' convertible Windows 10 laptop
Samsung is probably best known for its Android smartphones and tablets nowadays, but the company is so much more. It makes amazing televisions, plus appliances like refrigerators and washing machines. Samsung even makes Windows laptops and tablets, such as the 2-in-1 TabPro S.
Today, Samsung unveils the all-new 'Notebook 7 spin' laptop. This convertible Windows 10 computer can double as a tablet -- the touch screen can rotate and sit flush on the rear. It even has a backlit keyboard by default -- nice. Best of all, the pricing is rather competitive.
Google's free Android Basics Nanodegree helps you learn how to code
Google wants more people to make Android apps, so it has teamed up with Udacity to create a new program aimed at aspiring developers. Called Android Basics Nanodegree, it offers a series of courses and services that will teach students, with little to no coding experience, how to make their first Android app.
"The courses walk you through step-by-step on how to build an order form for a coffee shop, an app to track pets in a shelter, an app that teaches vocabulary words from the Native American Miwok tribe, and an app on recent earthquakes in the world. At the end of the course, you will have an entire portfolio of apps to share with your friends and family", says Google.
'No-cloud' policy to soon go extinct
Within the next four years, the extreme "no-cloud" policy among businesses will be as rare as "no-internet" policy is today, Gartner predicts.
By 2020, however, not everything will be cloud-based, but companies having absolutely nothing in that respect will be almost extinct.
90 percent of Android devices vulnerable to Godless malware
When we take a look at the Android distribution updates that Google posts every month one thing seems to never change, and that is the overwhelming number of devices that run an outdated version of the operating system. As of early-June 2016, nearly 90 percent of the handsets with Google Play access are rocking Lollipop, Jelly Bean or another old distribution. Meanwhile, Marshmallow powers only 10.1 percent of Android devices.
And, as Trend Micro security researchers point out, that can be a serious problem in terms of security as there is a new family of malware, known as Godless, that affects "virtually any Android device running on Android 5.1 (Lollipop) or earlier". Using Google's figures, that's 89.9 percent of the Android handsets in use. What's really worrying is that this malware is actually linked to apps available in major app stores, like Google's Play, and it has already made 850,000 victims across the globe.
Why can't 'no' just mean 'no' when it comes to free software?
As we’ve reported numerous times before, and with increasing levels of frustration, Microsoft won’t ever seem to take no for an answer when it comes to Windows 10. When the Get Windows 10 app appears to users of Windows 7 or 8.1 they might reasonably expect to have the choice of saying "yes" or "no" to the free upgrade offer. Except while "yes" means "yes", "no" apparently means "yes, but you’ll need to trick me into installing it".
It’s not just Microsoft which pulls this kind of stunt either. This is a recent experience I had when installing Auslogics Disk Defrag.
How mobile device management could be invading your privacy
Many companies now turn to mobile device management (MDM) to control and monitor their employees' mobile use. But a new study from data protection company Bitglass reveals that MDM itself represents a threat to privacy.
Bitglass researchers configured MDM software to route mobile data traffic through a corporate proxy and installed corporate-issued certificates on employee devices to decrypt SSL traffic. This, a common configuration in enterprise MDM deployments for inspecting traffic for malware, enabled researchers to see the contents of employees' personal email inboxes, social networking accounts and even banking information.
Edit and analyze written content with Word Doctor
Word Doctor’s developer says it’s a word editor and writer’s aid, "designed to analyze both writing content and style". At first glance, that seems hard to believe, because the editor looks only marginally more powerful than Notepad. But start exploring and you’ll begin to change your mind.
Type or click a word, for instance, and an instant definition appears in the status bar ("word -- noun -- a unit of language"). Select a word, right-click, and there’s a synonym finder, a more detailed definition, even an audio pronunciation guide.
Docker Engine will get built-in container orchestration
During its developer conference in Seattle this week, Docker announced that container orchestration will now be built right into its Docker Engine, making the process of building, deploying and orchestrating containers far easier for its users.
The company has basically taken the core features of Docker Swarm and Compose and has added them to its core Engine to simplify the process of using containers in production. Both of these standalone products only recently exited their beta phases last November and it is impressive that Docker has been able to add them to Docker Engine in such a short period of time.
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