Google to block revenge porn from search results
Google is to start honouring requests to remove links to revenge porn from its search results. In a move that has echoes of the Right to Be Forgotten in Europe, today's announcement indicates that the search giant is now willing to start censoring search results if people request that explicit personal images of them be removed.
This is not supposed to be carte blanche for people to request the removal of any image they are unhappy with -- it is a move designed to target images that might be posted to sexploitation websites with a view to bribing their subjects.
Google Now on tap: PageRank for apps
Google's implementation of the PageRank algorithm was a transformational moment for the desktop web. In the pre-PageRank era, scouring search directories for relevant websites and manually typing long URLs into a browser's address bar was common. Google's use of links as a "voting" system for discovering websites changed online discovery forever. The app interaction and discovery model prevalent today bears many similarities with the pre-PageRank era of the web, with apps listed under numerous app store categories. Google's Now on Tap may usher in the very "PageRank for Apps" era we have been waiting for.
Before diving into the importance of Now on Tap, let's take a look at how Google describes the service:
UK CD ripping legislation is unlawful and hurts the music industry
The casual copying of CDs has been going on for years, but it is only relatively recently that it was made legal in the UK. It was only in the latter half of 2014 that the UK government passed legislation that permitted the copying and ripping of CDs for personal use. Today the High Court in London said that the government's earlier suggestion that ripping would not harm the music industry is incorrect.
When the legislation was passed last year, representatives of songwriters and musicians appealed. They were not unhappy with the legalization of CD ripping, but at the suggestion that financial harm would not be caused and compensation was not needed. Mr Justice Green said that "the absence of a compensation mechanism is unlawful".
Xbox One gets even better -- Microsoft lets buyers choose a free game
2015 is proving to be a very strong year for gaming, with E3 underlining that fact. Both Sony and Microsoft had big announcements regarding their consoles, while AMD announced amazing graphics cards for PC gamers. What a great time to be a games player.
If you want to jump into the current generation of console gaming, you really have one decision to make -- PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. While it has arguably been a tossup -- both have much to offer -- Microsoft's console has now pulled ahead in one major way -- value. Not only can the console be bought with the Halo Master Chief Collection, but you now get another game included too, for free. Best of all? You get to choose the free game. Whoa.
Sling brings Arabic language channels to customers
The world is increasingly a melting pot, with all countries containing citizens not native to them. This results in a plethora of languages being spoken and heard. To deal with this, countries carry an increasing number of foreign language channels to accommodate all people.
Now Sling TV, a new kind of "cable" service, is getting into the game, introducing a package of Arabic language channels for those people who may be feeling a bit out of place away from their home lands.
WinZip Mac Edition 4.0 gains support for iCloud and ZipShare sharing
Corel’s WinZip subsidiary has unveiled a major new release for the Mac edition of its renowned zip archiving tool. WinZip Mac Edition 4.0 focuses on improving its sharing tools, but also implements support for Retina displays.
The tool first updates its direct integration cloud tool to add support for Apple’s iCloud Drive as well as its own proprietary ZipShare service. This increases the number of supported tools to four, the other two being Google Drive and Dropbox.
Amazing Windows 10 shortcuts to individual Settings
For anyone who has been using the Windows 10 preview builds, there has been plenty of time to explore the operating system. It's now only a matter of weeks until the final version is released, and whether the gold build will be your first foray into Windows 10, or you're a seasoned tester, there are still plenty of new tricks to learn.
Whatever you use your computer for, you want to be able to get things done as a quickly as possible. In previous versions of Windows, the Control Panel was used to access all manner of options -- now things are split between the Control Panel and Settings. If there are some settings you change frequently, you can create your own shortcuts to jump to them in a couple of clicks; you can also assign keyboard shortcuts to make things even easier. Here's what you need to know...
Sond Audio Bookshelf Speakers: Quality Bluetooth speakers for the home [Review]
We review -- and get asked to review -- a lot of Bluetooth speakers. While the ones we look at might be from different makers, and of varying quality, they all share one thing in common. They’re small, and portable. Not so the Sond Audio Active Bookshelf Speakers.
The twin speakers are large, and designed to sit in the one place. This could be a bookshelf, provided you have one that’s deep enough to accommodate them, or the floor. If you enjoy listening to music, and the sound quality delivered by portable speakers doesn’t cut it for you, then the 180w these speakers offer could well be what you’re looking for.
Best Windows apps this week
One-hundred and thirty-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.
Microsoft continues to work on Windows 10 despite the operating system's pressing July release date. The latest Insider Builds improve functionality for developers by making it easier to sideload apps.
It just got a whole lot easier to switch broadband provider
Moving from one broadband provider to another has long been something of a chore. Starting this weekend (June 20), switchers in the UK will no longer have to go through the hassle of requesting a Migration Authorisation Code (MAC) from their current supplier, as their new ISP will be able to handle the entire process from start to finish.
This should not only help to speed up the process of switching provider, but also eliminate the pestering from ISPs to stay with them. The new rules do not cover all ISPs, just those that use the Openreach network -- this includes major players such as BT, Plusnet, TalkTalk, and Sky -- but it should still make life easier for a lot of people.
Samsung announces fix for Galaxy keyboard vulnerability
We reported on Wednesday that a flaw in the pre-installed SwiftKey keyboard software could put millions of Galaxy devices at risk.
Samsung has moved fast to reassure users and has announced that it's preparing a fix which will be pushed out to devices in the next few days. In addition to the update the company says it will continue to work with third-parties like SwiftKey to address risks in future.
Lock your PC with a USB flash drive
KeyLock is a free Windows tool which allows you to lock your PC with a USB flash drive. If you need to leave it unattended for a while, just unplug the drive, a custom lock screen appears, and you won’t be able to continue until it’s reconnected.
Setup is easy. Connect a USB key, choose it in the Drives list, and you can save the details and start protection in a couple of clicks.
Forensics for everyone as a new approach to network security [Q&A]
Organizations are increasingly under pressure to respond to security incidents quickly in order to minimise damage and losses. Yet conventional security approaches don't always provide enough information, or make it accessible enough, for this to happen.
Is it time for businesses to take a more forensic approach to securing their networks? And won’t this involve time-consuming trawls through masses of raw packet data? We spoke to Uriel Cohen, head of marketing at network forensics specialist WireX Systems to find out.
How to easily switch from Android to Windows Phone
Once people have made the decision to go with a particular mobile operating system, they tend to stick with it. Moving all of your data from one device to another can be a bit of a pain, and it’s made even harder if you’re also switching operating systems, and have to find and re-buy all of your favorite apps.
If you’re thinking of making the move from Android to Windows Phone -- perhaps in anticipation of Windows 10 Mobile later in the year -- the process doesn’t have to be stressful. Here’s what you need to do.
DuckDuckGo sees 600 percent growth off the back of NSA surveillance fears
For all those that say Edward Snowden’s leaks didn’t change public opinion on surveillance, "We’ve grown 600 percent since the surveillance revelations started two years ago", said DuckDuckGo CEO Gabe Weinberg on CNBC.
DuckDuckGo, for those unfamiliar, is a search engine that does not track users. To make money, it simply allows advertisers to bid on keyword search like 'cars', 'insurance', similar to what Google did in the early days.
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