27 November 2017

How Android Became My New Windows Phone


Windows Mobile 10, and its predecessor, Windows Phone, are dead. Updates, and support, are ending. There are no new devices on the horizon. PC-in-your-pocket system Continuum has proved to be of little interest. Mobile users don’t want a PC in their pocket, they want a phone — like an Android, for example. One of the things that Microsoft did well on Windows Phone devices was produce intuitive apps, and make mobile data management simpler. The user interface was unique and pleasing to use, too. But this is not the end for Microsoft’s mobile ambitions. They have a number of apps,...

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Twitter blames human error after blocking a New York Times account over the weekend


 Over the holiday weekend, The New York Times found that one of its Twitter accounts had been locked. @nytimesworld was frozen for a full 24 hours over a innocuous tweet about a story in which Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apologized for the country’s treatment of indigenous school children. Twitter restored the account Sunday afternoon, apologizing to The Times “for… Read More
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Celebrate Cyber Monday With a Firefox Download-A-Thon


Today is November 27th. Which means it’s Cyber Monday. Thanksgiving is over, Black Friday has been and gone, and now it’s time for online retailers to drop their prices in order to dump their old stock. You could spend the day shopping online, but Mozilla is offering a tempting alternative. Experience The Firefox Download-A-Thon! Mozilla is celebrating Cyber Monday 2017 with what it has labelled The Firefox Download-A-Thon. This fun, tongue-in-cheek event is taking place today (11/27), so if you’re reading this any day after that you’ll be stuck watching the replay. Which won’t be half as much fun. As...

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Jellies is a kid-friendly, parent-approved alternative to YouTube Kids


 As YouTube reels from a series of scandals related to its lack of policing around inappropriate content aimed at children, obscene comments on videos of children, horrifying search suggestions, and more, a new app called Jellies has arrived to offer parents a safer way to let their kids watch videos on mobile devices. Jellies was built by Ken Yarmosh, founder of Savvy Apps, which has been… Read More

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Watch Out for These New Security Threats in 2017


With every passing year, we entrust our digital devices to store more of our personal information, with the internet turning into the backbone of the modern world. This has brought immeasurable benefit to billions of people around the world, but it’s also opened a huge opportunity for those that want to hurt us. Crime is no longer bound by geography — someone you’ve never met, from a country you’ve never been to, may be targeting you. Some threats we have become familiar with (phishing, viruses, and spam) are now staples of our online lives. However, each passing year brings with...

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Facebook rolls out AI to detect suicidal posts before they’re reported


 This is software to save lives. Facebook’s new “proactive detection” artificial intelligence technology will scan all posts for patterns of suicidal thoughts, and when necessary send mental health resources to the user at risk or their friends, or contact local first-responders. By using AI to flag worrisome posts to human moderators instead of waiting for user reports,… Read More

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Facebook rolls out AI to detect suicidal posts before they’re reported


 This is software to save lives. Facebook’s new “proactive detection” artificial intelligence technology will scan all posts for patterns of suicidal thoughts, and when necessary send mental health resources to the user at risk or their friends, or contact local first-responders. By using AI to flag worrisome posts to human moderators instead of waiting for user reports,… Read More
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Why Your Linux OS Ships With a Default Desktop Environment


Have you ever wondered why your Linux operating system looks the way it does? Free and open source desktops offer numerous interfaces. The interface that appeared when you fired up your Linux USB stick for the first time didn’t come out of nowhere. Most distributions of Linux turn to one of two desktop environments to provide the crux of what their users see: GNOME or KDE. That’s because these are the two oldest desktop environments for free and open source desktops. KDE came first in 1996, with GNOME following a few years later in 1999. Of the two, GNOME appears...

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Cyber Monday’s best tech bets


 So you’ve had a nice, calming two-day respite from all of the bargain hunting. But don’t worry, it’s almost over. It’s Cyber Monday, a holiday made up in 2005 because Black Friday wasn’t quite doing the trick. Sure it’s a crass cash-in and yet more grist for the end of year Capitalist mill — but the deals! Over the past few years, Cyber… Read More
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iOS jailbreak repositories close as user interest wanes


 A few years ago jailbreaking your iPhone was all the rage. The cat-and-mouse game of hackers versus Apple was great fun and some of the open source products available to jailbreakers – namely the Cydia alternative app store – added amazing features and customizability to the iPhone. Some devs even launched only on jailbroken phones, thumbing their noses at Apple’s walled… Read More

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YouTube faces brand freeze over ads and obscene comments on videos of kids


 YouTube is firefighting another child safety content moderation scandal which has led several major brands to suspend advertising on its platform.  Read More
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iOS jailbreak repositories close as user interest wanes


 A few years ago jailbreaking your iPhone was all the rage. The cat-and-mouse game of hackers versus Apple was great fun and some of the open source products available to jailbreakers – namely the Cydia alternative app store – added amazing features and customizability to the iPhone. Some devs even launched only on jailbroken phones, thumbing their noses at Apple’s walled… Read More

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Snapchat’s newest filters can recognize what’s in your photos


 Snapchat is rolling out new filters that can recognize what’s in your photos in order to suggest graphics, like borders or stickers, to accompany your posts. These filters today are capable of recognizing images of objects like pets, sports, and food, as well as specific locations, like beaches or concerts. The quiet release of the new filters was first spotted by Mashable, which… Read More

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Human pilot beats AI in drone race


 Anything you can do, AI can do better. Eventually. On October 12, NASA put on its own demonstration, pitting an AI-piloted racing drone against world-renowned drone pilot Ken Loo. Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who have spent the last two years working on drone autonomy (which was funded by Google), built three custom drones equipped with cameras for vision and… Read More
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Human pilot beats AI in drone race


 Anything you can do, AI can do better. Eventually. On October 12, NASA put on its own demonstration, pitting an AI-piloted racing drone against world-renowned drone pilot Ken Loo. Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who have spent the last two years working on drone autonomy (which was funded by Google), built three custom drones equipped with cameras for vision and… Read More

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It Only Takes One Minute to Secure Your Excel Files


You need to password protect your Excel files to keep your spreadsheets safe. Email inboxes, social media accounts, even our devices themselves — pretty much anything of importance is secured by some kind of password these days. If you rely on an Excel spreadsheet for any reason, it’s well worth considering whether you should add password protection to that too. Whether you want to restrict access to the whole document, or simply prevent certain people from making changes to the file, it only takes a minute or two to set up a password. If your spreadsheet falls into the wrong...

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The Best Websites to Order 3D Prints From


The 3D printing trend has lost a lot of its mainstream buzz, but that doesn’t mean it’s dead or dying. The industry continues to grow, evolve, and expose itself to new opportunities all the time. You can 3D print a lot of cool and clever stuff these days, and there’s no end in sight for this nifty new technology. But with an average cost of $200-$300, buying a 3D printer is beyond most people’s budgets — and that doesn’t include the recurring cost of filament (3D ink)! For one-off prints, you should consider an online 3D printing service instead. Here are...

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How to Clean Your Windows Computer: The Ultimate Checklist


Over time, computers slow down. Of course aging hardware plays a part, but for most people, a more common cause is poor operating system maintenance. If you’ve ever done a clean install of Windows, you’ll know what we’re talking about. Getting rid of all the accumulated junk and starting afresh instantly makes your machine run faster and smoother. However, you don’t need to take such drastic steps. Spending some time cleaning up Windows can yield almost identical results. Sure, your five-year-old laptop might never be able to play the latest AAA game, but you’ll still see vast improvements. Here’s the...

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Imgur says 1.7M emails and passwords were breached in 2014 hack


 Image-hosting site turned meme social network, Imgur, is the latest tech service to ‘fess up to a security breach. In a blog post Friday it revealed that hackers had compromised its systems in 2014, with ~1.7M emails and passwords affected.  Read More
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How to View Slideshow Articles on One Page


You’re on Facebook. You see a clickbait title you can’t resist. You click on it only to discover you have to click through 20 different pages just to see the whole article. Annoying, right? Luckily, there are a few easy to use tools out there that can quickly convert an annoying slideshow article into one convenient and easy-to-read page. Deslide With Deslide you can copy and paste the link into their website and choose from a variety of ways to have the page displayed. You can control the size of the image, and how much of the text you want displayed. Deslide actually...

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UK to give police new powers to ground drones


 The UK government has announced it will introduce draft legislation in the spring aimed at preventing unsafe or criminal use of drones. Read More

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How to Identify Fonts Used in Any Photo or Image


Font hunting can be a fun side hobby, especially when you constantly see nice typography used on Instagram or Pinterest images, or anywhere else. I have a particular fancy for beautiful handwriting fonts. But what do you do when you come across a wonderful new font and don’t know what it is? How do you find out? Fortunately, Photoshop CC 2017 has just the “forensic tool” to help you. Identify Fonts and Use Them in Your Own Images You don’t have to play the “guess the font name” game. Photoshop has a precise tool to help you identify the right font, or...

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The Free Internet Needs 2 Minutes of Your Help Right Now


Net neutrality in the United States is under attack again. The FCC is planning to vote on whether to repeal net neutrality policies on Thursday, December 14. Before that day comes, it’s critical to let your representatives know that you want to keep the internet free and open as it is now. What Is Net Neutrality? Net neutrality is the principle that all traffic on the internet should be treated equally. With net neutrality in place, internet service providers (ISPs) like Comcast and Verizon cannot give special treatment to certain kinds of traffic (e.g. slower speeds for Netflix or YouTube streams...

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