Mozilla's WebExtensions APIs allow for cross-browser extensions in Chrome, Opera, Firefox and Edge
Creating add-ons for multiple web browsers can be a nightmare for developers, but Mozilla wants to simplify things. By introducing WebExtensions APIs it is going to become much easier to make extensions that work in multiple web browsers with only minor changes.
Based on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, the aim is to further standardize the APIs to make it even easier to share extensions between browsers. Mozilla is now pushing the technology in the hope that it will gain momentum and a growing following.
Apple pushing macOS devs to release 64-bit apps
Apple has long made it clear that support for 32-bit apps will be phased out eventually. On the iPhone and iPad side, the final nail in the coffin comes with iOS 11. However, macOS developers have a bit more time left to prepare for a 64-bit only future.
Starting next year, Apple will no longer accept 32-bit macOS apps in the App Store, which means that any new titles must be 64-bit from January onwards. However, for existing apps and their upcoming updates there is a different deadline.
Data quality can impact software development
The quality of your company's data can have a major effect on the software deployment, new research has claimed.
According to a report by Delphix, poor data quality is to blame for roughly 15 percent of software defects, with higher-level data a major factor in faster application development.
Split and join MP4 videos with MP4Tools
MP4Tools is a cross-platform collection of tools for the lossless splitting and joining of MP4 files. The package is the project of Alex Thuering, the developer behind DVD authoring application DVDStyler.
Installing MP4Tools gets you two applications, MP4Splitter and MP4Joiner. Despite the single "MP4Tools" brand, they’re separate programs with no integration.
mStream Express is a music server you can set up in seconds
MStream Express is an open-source Chrome-based music server. The program is built for simplicity and can be set up in seconds, without having to install anything.
Basic configuration is as easy as selecting your music folder, and entering a user name and password. Click "Boot Server" and you’re done. To test the program locally, type localhost:3000 in a browser and enter the credentials you’ve just created. MStream Express displays your files and folders and you’re able to select and play whatever you like.
Media players expose users to hacker attacks via subtitles
Security researchers from Check Point have discovered a major vulnerability in popular media players, like VLC, Kodi and Popcorn Time, which leaves users vulnerable to hacker attacks via malicious subtitles. The security firm estimates that the number of potential victims is around 200 million.
Media players give users the option to load subtitles from repositories, which can be tricked by attackers to rank their altered subtitles higher. This leads to those malicious subtitles being recommended to the user. If they are loaded, attackers can gain control over "any device running them." Check Point notes that the "potential damage the attacker can inflict is endless, ranging anywhere from stealing sensitive information, installing ransomware, mass Denial of Service attacks, and much more."
Bitdefender reveals first public beta of Bitdefender Total Security 2018
Bitdefender has announced the availability of Bitdefender Total Security 2018, the first public beta of its next generation security suite.
New features include a Webcam Protection module which notifies you when apps try to access your webcam, and blocks unauthorized usage.
New open source database designed for enterprise users
Businesses are looking for database technology that increases their agility, scalability, security, and supports a range of different use cases, at the same time keeping down costs.
On the other hand developers want a database that is open and extensible, and lets them easily develop many different types of application.
Jarte 6.0 Plus adds Autohotkey scripting and automation
Carolina Read Software has unveiled Jarte 6.0, a major update for its Windows WordPad-based word processor.
The $19.95 Jarte Plus 6.0 build now supports running custom AutoHotkey scripts when you open a document, hit a hotkey or click a custom toolbar button. The system allows automatically entering text, replacing existing text, changing highlighting, colors and more, and you’re able to work with files, run programs, open websites, or do anything else AutoHotkey can normally do.
Ashampoo WinOptimizer 15 revamps user interface, tweaks tools for faster performance
Windows utilities specialist Ashampoo GmbH has released Ashampoo WinOptimizer 15.0, a major new update of its Windows maintenance and optimization tool.
Version 15 has been rebuilt around making the program easier to use via a new usability concept and more intuitive user interface. It’s also fine-tuned many of its system maintenance tools for significant performance improvements.
What you can learn from tech stacks
Marc Andreessen wrote his famous Wall Street Journal essay "Why Software Is Eating the World" in 2011. Today, his prediction -- that software companies would take over large parts of the economy as various industries are disrupted by software -- has largely come to pass.
Software has indeed changed the game, with software and online-based services making it possible to build companies with very little infrastructure. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the tech stack -- a new term that refers to the suite of software tools that a company uses.
UK businesses will spend £37bn on failing agile projects
Businesses in the UK will waste £37 billion on failed agile IT projects in the next 12 months, according to a new report from 6point6. The report is based on a poll of 300 UK and US CIOs. They were asked about their experiences with agile, and how its principles are being applied and executed.
More than half of CIOs (53 percent) see agile development as "discredited," and three quarters (75 percent) don’t even want to defend it any more. Seventy-three percent of CIOs think agile IT is its own industry now, and 50 percent consider it an "IT fad."
How to scale a microservices-based app
The promise of microservices is that you can divide and conquer the problem of a large application by breaking it down into its constituent services and what each one actually accomplishes. Each can be supported by an independent team. You get to the point where you can break the limits on productivity that Fred Brooks described in his book, The Mythical Man-month.
Aside from being able to throw more people at the problem and -- unlike what Brooks observed -- actually become more efficient once you get a microservices-based application into production, you can quickly start thinking about how to scale it. Think resiliency and high-availability. And you can easily determine what services don’t need scaling, or high availability.
fman is a keyboard-powered file manager for desktops
Most Windows file managers sell themselves on working just like Explorer, but adding more features and functionality: more file previews, smarter searching, extra tools, whatever it might be.
Fman’s shareware dual-pane file manager ignores all of that. It’s smaller, has far less functionality than Explorer, is almost entirely powered by the keyboard rather than the mouse, and ignores most Windows conventions. So is there any reason why you might want to install it?
How to increase your laptop volume above 100 percent
Laptop speakers can often be underpowered, and if you’re on the move it might not always be convenient to connect external speakers, or headphones. Another option is to install specialist audio processing software to amplify your system volume beyond the usual maximum.
How well this works depends on the individual device. Your usual volume limit isn’t some definitive physical barrier, and it’s likely you’ll be able to go a little further without any issues, but taking it too far will trash your audio quality.
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