Microsoft is a hero -- defies US Government, held in contempt of court
By respecting the law and following the rules, you should live a relatively calm life. However, not all laws and rules are just, and heroes are not born from serenity. As a loyal citizen of the United States, I grew up being told stories of the revolutionary war. Had colonists followed the rules and obeyed all British laws, the USA would likely never exist. You see, sometimes it is necessary to take a stand against the status quo. After all, if we all bury our heads in the sand, positive change will never happen.
The latest American hero is an unlikely one -- a corporation named Microsoft. While it is odd to call a company a hero, from a security and privacy standpoint, it is justified. While not on the same level as a fireman, police officer or the troops, Microsoft is taking a risk and standing up to the US government to fight for what it thinks is right. As a result, the company has been held in contempt of court.
Matrox announces the C-Series -- quad and six-head graphics cards for Windows and Linux
When enthusiasts hear the term "graphics card", images of gaming cards are conjured. However, gaming cards and graphics cards are not synonymous. No, believe it or not, people use computers for things other than Wolfenstein and Crysis. Actually, there are many uses, such as powering multiple monitors for things like advertising, security monitoring and media events. Hell, a business may utilize a multi-monitor setup for a litany of reasons.
Today, long-time hardware manufacture, Matrox, announces a pair of sexy graphics cards aimed at the business world. Dubbed the "C-Series", they are based on AMD GPUs and can power either 4 or 6 monitors. Whoa.
Nest grows its home automation integration, Dropcam now in use
Home automation and the Internet of Things have become popular topics today. Users either love it or fear it, the latter thanks to very real security problems which have been discovered. Nest is no stranger to problems, thanks to its Protect issue from not long ago, but that hasn't stopped the company from moving forward, adding further integration.
The latest move is to partner with more home automation products in an effort to make everything play nicely together. The company, known for its smart thermostat, has joined forces with Whirlpool, Jawbone and LIFX under a program it calls "Works with Nest". It has also been working with home automation makers to get better integration.
OneDrive file size limits jumps to 10GB, while syncing, sharing and uploading improve
A couple of weeks ago it looked as though Microsoft was lifting the 2GB file size limit for OneDrive users. Although no announcement was made, some users of the cloud storage service found that they were able to sync files larger than 2GB. Now, the increase in supported file size is official. OneDrive users can now upload files up to 10GB in size, bringing Microsoft's service in line with Dropbox and Google Drive. This is the latest example of Microsoft responding directly to user feedback, specifically a UserVoice thread in which users called for the 2GB file size limit to be banished.
Today Jason Moore, Group Program Manager of OneDrive, responded to the demands with a simple message: "We're proud to announce OneDrive now supports up to 10 GB files". While this is not quite the unlimited file size some people were looking for, it is a big improvement and something that will be widely welcomed. Considering the free version of OneDrive offers 15GB of storage, it is now possible to fill up your account with just two files. If you're an Office 365 customer with access to 1TB of space, you'll need to upload at least 100 files.
iPod Classic is gone, but fondly remembered
In my professional life as a journalist, I only wrote one rumor story for which sourcing was truly sketchy. Generally my rule is this: Write what you know to be true in the moment based on the most reliable -- and identified, meaning we directly communicated -- sources available. But I didn't feel confident about my Oct. 17, 2001 iPod story. My source (only one) confirmed that six days later Apple would unveil a "digital music device", but it wasn't clear what that meant, something the story reflects.
I reminisce about iPod because it's gone. CNET, where I worked when writing about the mystery music device, reported the device's disappearance yesterday. The link for iPod Classic now goes to iPod touch, and the music player is no longer sold at Apple Store Online -- not even refurbished. The extended name, adopted in 2007, is appropriate. The original iPod is a "classic". It is one of four foundational products released in 2001 that still drive everything Apple in 2014. Music changed the fruit-logo company long before iPhone established the world's largest tech company. iPod is part of the story.
What do you want from Windows 9? Can Microsoft get it right?
Microsoft has its listening ears on these days. When it comes to Windows Phone, Xbox One, and Office, the company has been far more responsive to user feedback than ever before. For Windows users who found Windows 8.x to be a disappointment, this bodes well for the follow-up release. Windows 9 (we can drop the Threshold placeholder now, I think) is now not all that far away -- we could see a preview release in just a couple of weeks. Now that Apple's iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch announcements are out of the way, this is going to be the next big launch in the world of tech, and the computing world eagerly anticipates what the operating system may have to offer.
One of the biggest complaints people levelled at Windows 8.x -- and there have been many -- was the lack of Start menu. Sure, there's the Start screen, but for Windows stalwarts it's just not the same. These complaints do not necessarily stem from an unwillingness to try something new, more that the Start menu's successor seems less powerful, poorly thought through, and a road hump to established workflows. Rather than helping to improve production and efficiency, many users found that it actually slowed them down.
What your choice of smartphone brand says about you (maybe)
Digital advertising intelligence firm Exponential Interactive analyzed the anonymous online behavior of 1.7 million Britons researching mobile phones in May 2014, and used this data to work out what the key interests of the different groups was.
For each of the brands -- Apple, Sony, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, HTC, LG and BlackBerry -- it noted the top interests in categories such as Celebrity, Movies, Cars, Travel, Home, Shopping and Sport. And what did it find? Those interested in Apple phones are 16x more likely to be interested in Brad Pitt than the average person online, apparently, while Samsung devotees are 12x more likely to be into Rafael Nadal, and Motorola fans are 89x more in love with Emma Watson. And that's just for starters.
System Mechanic 14: An excellent PC maintenance suite, packed with capable features [Review]
Keeping your PC running smoothly can be a complicated, time-consuming business. There are so many important issues to consider that even expert users can struggle to monitor them all.
Iolo’s System Mechanic 14 claims it can help by cleaning up your system, optimizing settings, and then running in the background, fixing problems as soon as they appear. This isn’t just marketing spin, either, as over the years the suite has built up a very impressive feature list. There are tools to clean and defragment your hard drive, repair the Registry, find and fix system problems, tune your internet connection, even optimize running processes in real time.
AVG AntiVirus Free 2015 debuts zero-day protection, redesigned user interface
AVG Technologies has updated its entire range of PC products, launching AVG AntiVirus Free 2015, AVG AntiVirus 2015, AVG Internet Security 2015 and AVG PC TuneUp 2015.
After the relatively major changes introduced in the 2014 versions, this year’s updates are restricted to a redesigned user interface and new Outbreak Detection feature, which helps block zero-day malware exploits.
Like Chinese food? Like the internet? Panda Express online ordering will blow your mind!
A home-cooked meal is great, as it is often healthier than getting take-out or visiting a restaurant. While it is not impossible to eat healthy away from home, it can be difficult. Chinese food is typically very bad for you; the sauces can be high in fats and sugars and many things are deep fried. However, I find these types of restaurants the best for healthy eating too. For instance, where else can you get steamed tofu with vegetables and brown rice? Certainly not Taco Bell or McDonalds.
Unfortunately, many local Chinese restaurants do not take credit cards, and when they do, they have minimum dollar amounts for usage (often $10 minimum). Sometimes, language barriers can make ordering over the phone problematic, leading to incorrect orders due to misunderstandings. Today, Chinese food chain Panda Express is taking the pain out of ordering Chinese food with all-new online ordering.
5 million Google Account credentials reportedly leaked online [Updated]
According to the IBTimes, around five million Google Account credentials have been leaked online by hackers, with around 60 percent of the compromised accounts judged to still be active.
A user called "tvskit" made the announcement on the Bitcoin Security forum along with a link to the alleged email list. The majority of the leaked accounts seem to belong to Russian users.
Fewer than half of European businesses are ready for the cloud
Given the hype surrounding it, it’s easy to believe that the cloud is increasingly the first choice when it comes to business systems.
Yet a new survey by IDC reveals that a majority of European IT departments have yet to fully embrace its benefits. When asked about their readiness to move to a cloud-based strategy levels of confidence were low.
Cirqle gives you more control over sharing photos and videos
We all have photos and videos that we want to share with other folks. We do it all too often on Facebook, sometimes without even considering that it's a broad audience we are sharing them with, who may not want to, or should not, see all our intimate moments on display.
And let's be real for a minute: not all of us are in awe about someone drunk dancing on video, baby pictures, or mirror selfies (sorry that you had to hear that now) -- some of us may be, sure, but others may be more interested in, just as a totally and completely random example, seeing photos of fast cars (guilty as charged!). For those who want to fully control who can see their photos and videos, there is new app to consider, and it's called Cirqle.
Google Street View visits Egypt, tours pyramids and more
The Pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx, there's a lot to see in Egypt. However, it may not be a place you wish to travel to right at this moment, though there are no official warnings against it from the State Department. Fortunately you don't need to make the trip now, thanks to Google.
Street View, the ever-growing portfolio of images from the Google Maps team, has visited the North African nation and captured the sites in great detail. Included are all of the things that drive tourists to this location -- Pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx, ancient burial grounds and more.
Heartbleed bug not exploited before disclosure
The Heartbleed bug has gone down in history as one of the most serious flaws to affect the internet. But new research reveals that prior to its disclosure in April there's no evidence of Heartbleed having being exploited.
The disclosure of Heartbleed sent websites scrambling to apply patches. However, a study by academics at a number of US universities allays fears that the flaw may have been exploited for surveillance by government agencies before it became public.
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