It’s almost impossible to do anything these days without leaving a tell-tale digital trail behind you, particularly when accessing internet-related services. Given many apps now spend a significant amount of time connected to the internet, you can’t rely on just locking down your web browser either.

This where Avira Privacy Pal 1.8.0 for Windows PCs comes in. It promises to become your privacy-focused personal assistant, offering quick and simple fixes for over 200 privacy issues.

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If you want to rip and copy any DVD disc, ISO image, or DVD folders to hard drive, computer, mobile device or digital formats, then WinX DVD Ripper Platinum v8.9.0 is the perfect tool for the job.

It usually retails for $67.95, but for a limited time BetaNews readers can get it entirely free.

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Anyone who’s got a load of digital media lying about needs a media server, and while the obvious solution is to install Kodi or Plex, you might be missing a trick.

Although it’s still overshadowed by its better-known rivals, Emby Server 4.0 has just been released for Windows, Mac and Linux, plus is now available for Nvidia Shield and Android devices too.

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Although we’d regard ourselves as technically proficient, even we can get caught out online. Over the New Year period we were searching for a product from a reputable brand, seeking the best price available through Google search.

Browsing through the shopping results, we found an official store which sold this brand and was offering a discounted new year sale. Looked legit. But the discount was too high and it was tricky to find any definitive location information. The online store was either selling fake products or simply extracting funds with no intention of shipping. Most people trust sources such as Google Search, but unless individuals report fake or phishing websites, it’s easy to get caught out.

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If you’re looking for an open, trustworthy and decentralized alternative to cloud sync platforms, then Syncthing is the tool for you. And today is a milestone -- after five long years in beta, Syncthing 1.0.0 (32-bit) and Syncthing 1.0.0 (64-bit) has been released for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android.

The new release has been given a new code name: Erbium Earthworm, continuing the tradition of alphabetic code names (the previous release was Dysprosium Dragonfly). It’s also been dubbed "Graduation Day" by lead developer Jakob Borg.

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As 2018 draws to a close, it's a time not only for looking back over what the past year has offered, but also for looking forward to the new year and what's on the horizon. There's certainly a lot to look forward to in terms of hardware in 2019, but there's also a great deal on the software front.

The developer of the popular image editing tool Paint.NET, Rick Brewster, has shared his vision of what the coming year holds for his software. The 2019 roadmap for Paint.NET is an exciting one, promising migration to .NET Core, support for brushes and pressure sensitivity, and an expanded plugin system.

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The rise of homeworking means one thing, trying to focus on work whilst the family and daily chores are going on around you. Get on a conference call and you have to try and eliminate background noise to sound professional. When you’re on a call you suddenly realize how much noise is going on around you.

Get in the car and head to a coffee shop and you'll find there are people talking around you -- it’s no better at all. You just cannot seem to get away from surrounding noise. And that’s if you can even get a fast enough internet connection and a stable enough call to make it worthwhile and professional enough to impress the other callers.

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Oracle has released VirtualBox 6.0, a major new release of its free virtualization tool for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Version 6.0 unveils major improvements to -- and a redesign of -- the user interface, plus beefs up 3D support (including first-time support on Linux and Solaris guests). Hyper-V emulation is now also supported on Windows as a fall-back execution core helping fix problems running 64-bit guests when Windows Security’s sandboxing feature was enabled.

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How many of us have time to keep an eye on every website, especially when you need to track the latest news, promotions, offers and deals? Some of us dislike all-in-one apps such as iTunes, but at least they bring together a range of sources within one handy tool.

With this in mind, we’ve created an Update Scanner for our Downloadcrew website, which enables you to follow the latest software releases, check for updates against your installed desktop apps, the latest news, store promotions and whether there’s a full software Giveaway available.

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Everyone needs a password manager to surf the web safely -- they enable you to set virtually crack-proof passwords for all your online accounts, plus store a range of other sensitive data too, all locked behind a single master password.

If you’re unsatisfied with your current offering, or looking to support an open source alternative, then look at 8bit Solutions LLC’s Bitwarden 1.10.0 and Bitwarden for mobile 1.19.4.

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There are some tasks we take for granted. One of these is creating and sending PDF files when issuing invoices or providing documents in a readable format you know will be accessible by most users.

With Windows, you can use the built-in Print to PDF function, or save the document as a PDF in Microsoft Word. Similarly, whenever you print any document in macOS you can choose to save the file as a PDF.

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Every so often Google starts to feel a little generous and decides to give things away. It's happening again, and you might just find that you've been given a few dollars in free credit to spend in the Play Store.

Seemingly at random, Google is handing out between $1 and $5 to Android users -- so you should check to see if you're one of the lucky ones.

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Should you keep your system optimized or simply allow Windows to keep your computer in-check? A few years ago, data would build, junk would collate and it was relatively easy to cause a blue screen of death or even stop Windows from booting at all, requiring a system restore.

These days Windows 10 is far better engineered and will do a good job keeping your system maintained. With this in mind, system maintenance suites are turning their hand to security, adding features to enable you to keep yourself safe and secure whilst you browse the internet (although your security software should be more than capable…).

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We handle support for novice computer users and you’ll be surprised how many of these customers do not understand the basics of computing. Sell them security software and many can’t install the new suite as they’ve never fully removed the previous one. So frustrating.

The easiest solution is to employ TeamViewer and remotely advise the user via their computer, that than either over the phone or by email. It’s quicker to perform a task yourself than guide someone, which has made the software a godsend for any remote support facility.

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Dark mode is a fantastic addition to any operating system, enabling late-night work to more productive. We have the theme switched on as default on Windows 10, which has always suited a darker user-interface.

Apple introduced a system-wide dark mode with Mojave and some of the recent apps look hugely better on a dark background. iPhoto is a very good example, making photos pop on the dark shade and editing easier on the eyes.

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