XPG-DEFENDER-PRO

ADATA XPG DEFENDER PRO is a mid-tower PC case for both NVIDIA and AMD gamers

We recently told you about the ADATA XPG STARKER -- a beautiful compact ATX mid-tower gaming PC chassis. That case was notable for being small while also accommodating a full-ATX motherboard.

And now, ADATA has another elegant chassis that goes in the other direction. Called "XPG DEFENDER PRO," it is instead quite deep, allowing it to support up to E-ATX boards. It should also be able to fit the latest NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards without issue. The front of the case is a beautiful mesh, which will allow optimal air-pull.

By Brian Fagioli -
10th-birthday

Happy 10th Birthday, Google Play Books!

Reading books is for nerds, right? Well, that depends on your definition of "nerd," I suppose. While I must confess to not being a regular reader, I greatly admire those that are. Reading is surely a better way to spend time than mindlessly watching sports on TV -- something I am quite guilty of doing.

So no, reading is not for nerds, nor is it nerdy -- it is quite the respected hobby, actually. And thanks to technology, many folks now read eBooks -- paper books are so last century. While Amazon is likely the most popular company for selling digital books via Kindle, it should not be forgotten that Google does this as well. In fact, Google Play Books (the search giant's book store), is celebrating a 10th Birthday this week. Time really flies, eh?

By Brian Fagioli -
Small business owner laptop

92 percent of SMBs turn to new technology during the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a dramatic evolution in the ways that smaller businesses interact with their customers.

In fact, 92 percent of all small business personnel surveyed in a new study from Moxtra say their organizations have adopted new technologies during the pandemic.

By Ian Barker -
Software testing

Number of 2020 vulnerabilities set to overtake last year

The latest report from Risk Based Security reveals that the number of vulnerability disclosures this year is back on track to reach or surpass 2019 after a decline in the first quarter.

Earlier in the year there had been a sharp decline of 19.2 percent in the number of vulnerabilities disclosed. But on the latest figures Risk Based Security's VulnDB team aggregated 17,129 vulnerabilities disclosed during the first three quarters of 2020, marking a mere 4.6 percent gap when compared to last year.

By Ian Barker -
Insider threat

Insider threats now more common than external ones

A new report from Netwrix shows that cybersecurity risks related to insiders are now more common than external threat actors.

In fact, since organizations have increased remote working, four of the top six types of cybersecurity incidents they experienced have been caused by internal users. These are: accidental mistakes by admins (27 percent), accidental improper sharing of data by employees (26 percent), misconfiguration of cloud services (16 percent) and data theft by employees (14 percent).

By Ian Barker -
Kodi-Matrix-Beta2

Brand new Kodi 19 'Matrix' available -- download it NOW!

The Kodi Foundation has been hard at work finishing up the next iteration of its hugely popular home theater software. Kodi 19 'Matrix' offers a number of big changes, including a switch to Python 3 for add-ons, improved music handling, an interface makeover, and PVR reminders.

Today, the team rolls out a new update and you won’t want to miss it.

By Wayne Williams -
Black iPhone

Apple is offering free screen replacements for iPhones with touch issues

If you have an iPhone with a screen which has become unresponsive to touch, you might be in line for a free replacement.

Apple has launched a new display module replacement program for iPhone 11 handsets. The company says that it is only this model of iPhone that is affected, and in order to qualify for a free replacement, the handset needs to have been produced between November 2019 and May 2020.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
circle-view-doorbell-gallery1

Logitech Circle View Doorbell only works with Apple HomeKit

Video doorbells are friggin' awesome. For my home, I rely on the Arlo smart doorbell and I couldn't be happier with it. Arlo's offering was very easy to install, but more importantly, it lets me know when there is any activity at my front door, such as food delivery people, packages, the occasional nighttime raccoon, and more. For a few dollars a month, I can even save recordings to the cloud.

Of course, not all video doorbells are the same. For instance, you should avoid Amazon's Ring Doorbells as there are too many privacy red flags surrounding it. While Arlo is great, another respected company is getting into the doorbell game. You see, Logitech has launched the Circle View Doorbell, and it looks like a solid product. Unfortunately, it only works with Apple HomeKit, meaning Android users should look elsewhere.

By Brian Fagioli -
apple_airpods-max_listening-

Apple AirPods Max are wireless headphones for rich people that don't value money

Are you rich? Me neither. While I am not poor, I work hard for my money, and I am not about to waste it on frivolous things. So when I saw the price of Apple's new AirPods Max wireless headphones, I nearly fainted. Are you ready for this, folks? The company is asking $550! Seriously. Oh, Apple...

Don't get me wrong, they actually look like nice over-ear headphones. I really like the design; they look well-made and comfortable. And of course, Apple has all kinds of fancy technology to try and justify the asking price. But let's cut out the marketing for a moment and be honest -- you'd be a fool to spend so much money. Hell, these beautiful Audio-Techinca Bluetooth headphones can be had for less than a third of the price!

By Brian Fagioli -
GitHub Dark

GitHub now has a cool dark mode -- here's how to apply it

As part of GitHub Universe week, the Microsoft-owned software code hosting platform has announced a number of changes, improvements and new features. These include GitHub Sponsors for companies, auto-merge pull requests, discussions for all public repositories, and dependency review.

For a lot of people though, the big news is GitHub now has a stylish dark mode and you can enable it today.

By Wayne Williams -
identity management

Linux Foundation launches open source identity and access management platform

Verifying digital identity is fundamental to building trust in online security and conducting commercial and personal transactions safely. But it can also prove a performance headache for businesses.

Non-profit organization, The Linux Foundation, is today announcing the launch of the Janssen Project, a cloud native identity and access management software platform that prioritizes security and performance.

By Ian Barker -
Business security

User experience wins out over security

While security is clearly a concern for IT professionals, providing the best application experience is more important, with 87 percent saying that security will need to better support the user experience.

This is among the findings of a new study of IT decision makers from Menlo Security, which shows slow access speeds (46 percent), poor connectivity (33 percent), no/ loss of access to resources (28 percent), downtime (27 percent) and decreased productivity due to increased security (27 percent) are all experience-related issues cited by respondents.

By Ian Barker -
Burning studio

Ashampoo Burning Studio 22 adds H.265 support, improves metadata search and retrieval

Ashampoo Technology GmbH has released Ashampoo Burning Studio 22, a major new version of its disc-burning suite for Windows users.

Burning Studio supports the creation of video, audio, and data discs, including DVDs and Blu-rays. There’s also built-in support for ripping CDs to hard drive and creating disc image files such as ISO and BIN. Version 22 adds several new features, including support for H.265-encoded video, an improved metadata search and retrieval tool, and support for customizable desktop shortcuts.

By Nick Peers -
software development

DevSecOps adoption grows worldwide despite security concerns

DevSecOps methodology is an important, rapidly growing trend worldwide, with 63 percent of respondents to a new study reporting they are incorporating some measure of DevSecOps into their software development pipelines.

The survey of 1,500 IT professionals conducted by the Synopsys Cybersecurity Research Center (CyRC) and Censuswide also shows 33 percent have DevSecOps in a mature or widely deployed state in their business.

By Ian Barker -
open source

Open source developers spend less than three percent of their time on security

The latest FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) contributor survey from the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) and the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard shows respondents spend on average, just 2.27 percent of their total time on security and express little desire to increase that time.

The survey of almost 1,200 respondents working on FOSS software shows the majority of respondents (74.87 percent) are already employed full-time and more than half (51.65 percent) are specifically paid to develop FOSS.

By Ian Barker -
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