To store or not to store, that is the cloud question
Eighty feet below street level, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York holds one the world’s most secure vaults. With a comprehensive multichannel security system, tons of steel, concrete and a 24-hour monitoring service, the gold housed within is virtually theft-proof.
With such stringent security measures, it would be foolish to store items less precious than gold inside. However, when it comes to storing personal items on the cloud, 'precious' is a highly subjective notion. Although the items stored within a safe and on the cloud are often similar, there is no universal code for what users should be storing and digitally encrypting. What’s important to one user may not be so important to the next, and, with such unpredictable tendencies, cloud storage providers should allow users to decide what needs the most protection.
Space Combat is a fun TIE FIGHTER-style space game
Hobbyist programmers have been producing their own games since the very first computers appeared, but the professional products are now so hugely impressive that it’s almost impossible for a single developer to compete.
Still, if you can live without photo-realistic graphics and a soundtrack by Hans Zimmer then there are still plenty of smaller projects worth exploring, and Space Combat is a great place to start.
New aluminum-ion battery can be fully charged in a minute
A new fast charging battery tech could mean the end of inconvenient waits when it comes to juicing smartphones up.
It’s always a major pain when you realize you forgot to charge your handset, and haven’t much time before you leave the house -- meaning you will likely run out of battery well before the day is out. And while there are quick-charge technologies out there, the new battery -- an aluminum-ion affair rather than lithium-ion power pack -- can be charged in just a minute flat, as opposed to a matter of hours.
HDMI Forum releases finalized 2.0a specification
Video connections are constantly changing, which can be frustrating for consumers. While some will interpret it as a money grab, the evolution is necessary to push boundaries. One of the most significant changes was the move to digital, with HDMI ultimately becoming a huge success.
With DisplayPort starting to grow in popularity, the HDMI Forum is still looking forward and constantly improving the standard. Today, the HDMI Forum releases the finalized 2.0a specification.
Intel's RealSense 3D camera could be in your next smartphone
Intel has managed to shrink its depth-sensitive RealSense 3D Camera to the extent that it could be used in the next generation of cell phones. This is about more than just 3D photography, this is about taking photographs and changing the focus afterwards, as well as bringing Kinect-like gesture support to mobile devices.
Talking at an event in Shenzhen, China, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich demonstrated a much smaller version of its existing technology. So far we have only seen the RealSense 3D camera in laptops such as the Acer Aspire V 17 Nitro, but the miniaturization means that it could be a feature of your next phone or tablet.
Logitech brings Keys-To-Go Ultra-Portable Keyboard to Android and Windows
Typing on a glass screen is OK for Twitter and short text messages, but if you want to write longer pieces, a physical keyboard is ideal. Not only does it offer a more comfortable experience, but potentially more accurate too.
Unfortunately, many keyboards for tablets and phones are clunky affairs, leading to a poor overall experience. Logitech is known for its great mobile keyboards, so when its svelte Keys-To-Go was released, I was excited, but also dismayed as it was an iOS focused product. While I do use an iPad, I use Android and Windows far more often. Today, the company brings the awesome typing solution to Android and Windows too.
Microsoft announces OTA TV Tuner for Xbox One-owning cord-cutters
These days Xbox is about much more than just gaming and it's a platform that is increasingly appealing to cord-cutters. Microsoft and its partners have gradually increased the number and variety of apps that are available for a diverse viewing experience, but now things have taken a new twist. If the likes of Netflix and HBO are not enough, there's now an over-the-air TV tuner available.
Live TV is something that Xbox One users have been asking for for some time, and Microsoft has teamed up with Hauppauge to come up with the goods. Anyone who is a member of the Xbox One Preview is able to buy the Hauppauge WinTV-955Q and gain access to a wealth of free networks such as NBC and CBS.
Windows RT: Did it really die? Absolutely not and here's why
There's no need to ask for a show of hands. To get a sense of how long the Windows RT hate-train is, you can just spend a few minutes Googling. A few weeks ago when Microsoft let loose that official Windows RT devices, like the Surface 2, were not getting Windows 10 in any proper shape, the anti-RT chorus cheered that they have been finally vindicated.
Stories like this one which adorned The Verge planted their flags pretty clearly: "Windows RT is officially dead".
HTC One M9+: Bigger and uglier, but with a fingerprint sensor
HTC today revealed a new interpretation of its One M9 flagship. Dubbed One M9+, it is slightly bigger, powered by a different processor, offered with a proper fingerprint sensor on the front and fitted with a Duo Camera setup on the back. Oh, and it's also hideous.
There's no sensible way to describe how One M9+ looks. HTC has taken One M9, enlarged it so it fits a marginally bigger display and that fingerprint sensor, and called it a day. The ugly HTC bar above the BoomSound speakers is still there, and so are all the soft navigation buttons. Clearly, the company's designers haven't put much thought into One M9+.
Dell diagnostic software getting flagged as malware due to security problems
Computers come with a lot of pre-installed software these days -- it's a trade-off for low pricing that forces OEMs to make deals with companies like McAfee, Norton and others. However, some of what comes with that new desktop or laptop is actually there to help you. Dell pre-installs diagnostic software to aid in a problematic situation.
Apparently Malwarebytes doesn't see it that way. The security software is recognizing this as a problem for your system -- and it is, or was. The problem is that older versions had a vulnerability that could allow malicious code execution. Dell has since updated its software to close the hole, which was recently discovered by a security researcher.
Twitter rolls out 'retweet with comment' feature
Twitter has rolled out a revamped retweet feature, allowing users to post comments on other people’s tweets without having to shorten the original post.
If the above statement is a bit confusing, that’s because I tried, and most likely failed, to explain a somewhat complex feature with a single sentence.
Google is too slow at clearing crap from the Chrome extension store
Malware is something computer users -- and even mobile and tablet owners -- are now more aware of than ever. That said, many people do not give a second thought to installing a browser extension to add new features to their most frequently used application. Despite the increased awareness, malware is not something a lot of web users think of in relation to extensions; but they should.
Since the beginning of 2015 -- just over three months -- Google has already received over 100,000 complaints from Chrome users about "ad injectors" hidden in extensions. Security researchers have also discovered that a popular extension -- Webpage Screenshot -- includes code that could be used to send browsing history back to a remote server. Google is taking steps to clean up the extension store to try to prevent things like this from happening, but security still needs to be tightened up.
Emsisoft Anti-Malware and Internet Security 10 betas now available
Emsisoft has announced that beta versions of Emsisoft Anti-Malware and Emsisoft Internet Security 10 are now available for testing.
The headline improvement is in scan speed, with Emsisoft claiming a typical malware scan fell from 5 minutes 42 seconds to 57 seconds, an 83 percent drop.
Microsoft confirms the Windows 10 Start menu will be resizable
The thing I dislike most about the Windows 10 Technical Preview -- and there are a few design points I’m really not a fan of, including those ridiculous icons -- is the current Start menu. In the latest builds this is a fixed size (with a full screen option), that takes up too much space, and is very tile heavy. If you don’t like, or simply don’t require, the Modern UI, it’s awful.
The Start menu in the first official build was far superior, and could be resized in different ways. It would automatically grow or shrink depending on how many (or how few) tiles you had. If you don’t like tiles, all you had to do was remove them, and it would turn into a traditional Windows 7-style menu. When Microsoft removed this feature, Windows 10 became much poorer for it. Well, the good news is the resizable menu is definitely coming back.
Facebook usage linked to depression
If you’re feeling a bit depressed lately, try logging off Facebook. No, seriously, get off Facebook.
According to a recent study, there is a link between people becoming depressed, and them scrolling through Facebook all day. It’s not the social media itself which causes depression though, it’s a bit more complicated than that.
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