Latest Technology News

Last month Windows 8.x's usage share did something very surprising -- it went up. Massively, according to figures from web analytics firm NetMarketShare. The tiled OS had been losing share for months, but in October it suddenly took off like a rocket, packing on 4.54 percentage points share in a single month, mostly at the expense of Windows XP.

It wouldn’t have been a total surprise to see Windows 8.x's growth stop, or go back into reverse gear in November, but actually, both Windows 8 and 8.1 showed positive gains once again.

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Researchers have warned that big data trends discerned from social networks, like Twitter and Facebook, misrepresent the real world because they use biased information.

Computer scientists at McGill University, Montreal and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, have discovered that social media is often guilty of "population bias", as large sections of society are not represented by the sites.

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East-Tec has released East-Tec Eraser 2015, the latest edition of its comprehensive PC privacy tool.

This version introduces the Risk Monitor, which warns you of potential privacy risks as soon as they happen, removing them with a click.

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Christmas is coming, which means lots of festivities are about to happen. For me, however, the holiday is all about one thing -- smells. No, I'm not crazy, although many will disagree. What I mean to say is, the smells of Christmas resonate with me more than any other aspect. Of course, the smell of pine trees conjure images of decorated trees with gifts underneath, but don't forget the smells of cookies baking and grandma's perfume. All of these scents comes together to culminate Christmastime.

While it is not typically associated with the holiday, the smell of mint makes me as giddy as a child on Christmas morn. Why? It makes me think of Linux Mint, one of my favorite distros. Fans of the operating system are getting an early Christmas present, as the release of 17.1, "Rebecca", is here.

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It’s the time of year when attention turns to buying gifts. Black Friday is now out of the way, but there's still Cyber Monday for you to stock up on low-cost presents for yourself and others. There are plenty of electronic devices vying for attention as companies try to tempt you into parting with your cash, but if you're the indecisive type, there's always the trusty fall-back of the gift card.

Keen to give you as many ways as possible to throw your money in its direction, Microsoft has launched Digital Gift Cards for Windows Phone. This is an app that does very much what you would expect, making it possible to buy and share gift cards from the comfort of your Windows Phone. But Microsoft isn’t stupid. The gift cards themselves are not limited to Windows Phone purchases -- they can be used to buy apps, games, movies and music from Xbox and Windows stores.

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Black Friday is now out of the way, and while there have already been a number of technology deals available, things now get serious as we approach Cyber Monday. As has become the norm, retailers are no longer waiting for the day itself to roll around before trying to lure customers in. Amazon is no different as its Cyber Monday deals start today.

There are, of course, a few headline grabbing offers to be had, but the online giant is looking to maintain shoppers' interest by offering new deals every ten minutes. Don’t see anything that takes your fancy right now? Just stick around, because you never know what may show up in the next batch of deals.

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If your PC is always running, even when you’re not around, then you might want it to alert you about important events. Some backup programs have an email notification feature, for example, which keeps you up-to-date with backup progress.

Alternatively, you could use the free SendSMTP to send emails and files directly from your own scripts, perhaps alerting you when a PC is turned on or off, an application is launched, maybe sending you a daily copy of a text log.

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There has been a lot of discussion in the treasury management software market over the years about which deployment method is the best for clients. The general consensus, both among industry experts and, as evidenced by growth figures put out by analysts such as IDC and Apps Run The World, is that the installed model is on its last legs and SaaS (software as a service) is how the majority of treasury systems will be deployed in the future.

Given this backdrop, it’s not hugely surprising that the treasury vendors themselves are clamoring to talk about how their solutions are SaaS, in order to capitalize on market interest.

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Anvisoft has released PC Plus, a simple tool which provides one-click solutions for 30 common PC problems.

The issues include missing desktop icons, Internet Explorer crashes, assorted DLL error messages, can’t run Task Manager or Regedit, 3D games not running full screen, and more, all organized across five categories: Desktop, Network, System, Software, Games.

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One-hundred and nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8 in the last seven days.

This week has seen several new game releases but not a single app release of note. Notable games include Pastry Paradise, a match-3 type of game that introduces several new elements to the genre and Brave Furries, a great looking and playing puzzle game.

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The US military is preparing to wage war on car crime with the specific remit to develop a plan with manufacturers that prevents hackers stealing cars and one day turning them into weapons.

A group of hackers was recently hired by the US Defense Department to see if they could break into a 2012 model car and computer scientist Kathleen Fisher, who heads the group, showed that an electronic key could be created to unlock to car’s network.

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Is your PC slow? Unstable? Whenever your system is misbehaving, it’s wise to take a look at how it’s configured, and the various processes it might be running.

You could get a basic view with Task Manager and assorted Control Panel applets. But the open source Listsp is a more complete solution, and gives you access to processes, services and driver information from a single interface.

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For those of you who have made the commitment of purchasing the new iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, you’ve probably spent a fair bit of time figuring out all the cool tricks and shortcuts that they offer. The same may also be true for anyone who has recently upgraded to Apple’s new operating system, iOS 8.1.

However, there are always a few secrets that slip under the radar. With that in mind, here are 11 tips and tricks for your iPhone 6 and iOS 8.1 that you may not know yet, but definitely should.

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We're frequently being told that the real potential for growth in mobile devices sales is coming from emerging markets, particularly in Asia and the Far East.

The latest research findings from IDC into the Indian market bears this out with strong growth in sales of both smartphones and tablets.

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The UK parliament is calling on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to simplify their terms and conditions. The Science and Technology Committee has expressed concern that privacy policies and other documents are strewn with legal terms that most people do not read or understand. This means that most social network users are simply not aware that they have agreed for their personal information to be used in various ways -- and are certainly unaware of how it might be used.

The Committee is calling for social networks to make a commitment to explain in very clear terms how personal data is shared and used. It wants to work with the government to draw up a set of standards -- almost a social networking manifesto -- that companies can sign up to.

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