24 January 2018

The Best Computer Security and Antivirus Tools


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Malware is on the rise. And phishing attacks. How about ransomware, data theft, and data breaches? Yup — all on the rise. Not only are cybersecurity attacks and vulnerabilities on the rise, but their impact also costs more, takes longer to recover from, and can be extremely damaging. With that bleak outlook in mind, it is high time for you to consider your system security. There are so many anti-this and anti-that programs out there it is difficult separating the security wheat from the cyber chaff. If you’re confused about security apps, you need this guide. If you don’t know...

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You Can Now Watch Plex in Virtual Reality


Plex has launched a new app called Plex VR. As the name suggests this brings support for virtual reality to Plex for the first time. Which means you can watch Plex in a virtual apartment or drive-in theater, and even invite your real friends along to share your virtual popcorn. Most of us haven’t got the space for a cinema room in our home, or the money to furnish it with a giant television set. Using a projector is one way of achieving similar results on a budget, but there’s also the virtual reality option… which can turn a small...

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This Is What Other People Ask Google


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While there are a variety of smart assistants on the market, Google Assistant is one of the most popular and freely available artificial intelligence (AI) assistants around. With the assistant embedded in smartphones, Google Home devices, and even third-party smart speakers, Google gets many questions and commands from people across the world. But which questions and commands are the most popular? While some are the typical run-of-the-mill commands, others are more unexpected or turn out to be fun Easter eggs. Some of the things people ask Google Assistant may even surprise you. We crunched the data to find out. Here...

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Apple to take on messaging rivals with launch of Business Chat


 Apple is preparing to roll out a new feature in iMessage that will allow consumers to chat directly with businesses through Apple’s messaging platform. The feature, called Business Chat, was announced last year at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, and will debut this spring with launch partners including Discover, Hilton, Lowe’s and Wells Fargo. The feature will… Read More

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Facebook to roll out global privacy settings hub — thanks to GDPR


 Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has said major privacy changes are coming to the platform later this year, as it prepares to comply with the European Union’s incoming data protection regulation. Read More
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How Jam Sessions and Google Calendar Can Increase Your Productivity


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Some productivity tips seemingly take so long to implement, you immediately feel discouraged by reading about them. Jam sessions are different. Maybe the only jam sessions you know about relate to musicians collaborating creatively and spontaneously. But there are jam sessions related to productivity too. Let us show you how you can add them to your day. What’s a Jam Session and How Does It Boost Productivity? For productivity purposes, a jam session is a designated block of time for solely focusing on priorities. The length of a jam session varies, but it’s typically between 60 and 90 minutes. Plan...

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The Best Smart Doorbells We Saw at CES 2018


It was over in a flash. The 2018 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas drew to a conclusion on January 12 after four days of action. MakeUseOf was there for the duration; check out our videos over on YouTube if you’ve not already. Now that the stalls have been cleared away, and the initial excitement has worn off, it’s time to take a step back and have a closer look at what we saw. Sure, parts of this year’s show were a bit underwhelming, but we still fell in love with a robodog and were blown...

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ReactOS: The Open-Source Windows Clone You’ve Been Looking For?


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If you wish Windows was open source, you should look into ReactOS! Microsoft has made many strides towards being more open. This trend ranges from participation in industry groups to interoperability of its files and applications. Heck, it’s even released many of its own tools and applications as open source. But one area where it’s yet to budge is the Windows operating system (OS). As the combination of Windows and Office provide a large portion of Microsoft’s yearly revenue, it may be a while until we can download the OS code for ourselves. As a result, some intrepid community members...

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Qualcomm to appeal $1.23B fine from EU over LTE chip dominance in the iPhone


 Qualcomm’s longstanding dominance in LTE chipsets for smartphones, and specifically with Apple’s iPhone, is getting a major hit today. The European Commission today announced that it would be fining the company €997 million, or $1.23 billion, for abusing its market position between 2011 and 2016, related to its relationship with Apple. The figure works out to 4.9 percent of… Read More

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Mophie’s Powerstation AC is the only backup battery you’ll ever need


 Mophie’s been a solid, consistent maker of external batteries and backup power sources, but its new Powerstation AC just might top them all. The large, 22,000 mAh powerhouse has ample output options – including a crucial one that most backup batteries lack: a standard AC plug, just like you’d find in a wall in your home. The Powerstation AC also has a 30W USB-C port with… Read More

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Mophie’s Powerstation AC is the only backup battery you’ll ever need


 Mophie’s been a solid, consistent maker of external batteries and backup power sources, but its new Powerstation AC just might top them all. The large, 22,000 mAh powerhouse has ample output options – including a crucial one that most backup batteries lack: a standard AC plug, just like you’d find in a wall in your home. The Powerstation AC also has a 30W USB-C port with… Read More

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Apple wants to gather all your medical records in the Health app


 Apple announced a new health effort as part of iOS 11.3. The new Health Records section in the Health app lets you gather and view all your medical records. The company is partnering with hospitals and clinics. Apple released the first beta version of iOS 11.3 today. While the new version of iOS is going to remain in beta testing for a couple of months, it should be available as a free download… Read More

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Apple wants to gather all your medical records in the Health app


 Apple announced a new health effort as part of iOS 11.3. The new Health Records section in the Health app lets you gather and view all your medical records. The company is partnering with hospitals and clinics. Apple released the first beta version of iOS 11.3 today. While the new version of iOS is going to remain in beta testing for a couple of months, it should be available as a free download… Read More

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25 Cool DuckDuckGo Bangs That Make Google Search Look Slow


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You probably know that DuckDuckGo is famous for its focus on privacy. While Google has become the standard for search, it’s no secret that it tracks everything you do and more. Because of this, many people feel that you should quit using Google and use a search engine that respects your privacy. But using a less popular search engine doesn’t mean giving up cool features. In fact, DuckDuckGo packs in tons of cool tricks you won’t find on Google. One of its best are !bangs. What Are Bangs? !bangs are short commands you can type into DuckDuckGo to search another...

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Apple previews iOS 11.3’s new Animojis and battery service warnings


 More big news out of Apple this morning. The company’s offering up a preview of what’s to come in the latest version of its mobile operating system. The biggest updates here are coming to power management, its augmented reality platform ARKit, Animoji and the company’s Health app. You can check out a more in-depth preview of ARKit 1.5 over here. The new platform brings… Read More

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Why JavaScript Is the Top Programming Language to Learn for the Future


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With dozens of industry-standard programming languages and hundreds of other active languages to consider, picking the best programming language to learn can be tough. If you’re going to pour thousands of hours into study and practice, you want the result to be worthwhile. To be fair, there are lots of strong options (including Java, Python, C#) and you can’t go wrong with any of them. But if you could only pick one language to learn and master for the future, there’s no contest: it must be JavaScript. JavaScript Is Easy to Pick Up A disclaimer up front: “easy” is relative...

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UK to set up security unit to combat state disinformation campaigns


 The UK government has announced plans to set up a dedicated national security unit to combat state-led disinformation campaigns — raising questions about how broad its ‘fake news’ bullseye will be. Read More
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Nexar gets $30M Series B for its AI-based road safety dashcams and network


 Nexar, a startup that makes an AI-based dashcam app to monitor road safety, announced today that it has raised a $30 million Series B led by Ibex Ventures. Participants included Alibaba Innovation Ventures (the venture capital investment arm of Alibaba Group), Nationwide Insurance and returning investors Aleph, Mosaic Ventures, Slow Ventures, True Ventures and Tusk Ventures. Read More

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How to Delete a Facebook Business Page


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Running a Facebook page can be a great way to promote our business and connect with fans, but with more and more engagement in private Facebook groups, and some pretty big changes happening to your Facebook news feed, it’s becoming a lot more difficult to successfully run a Facebook page. If you’ve decided to forego your Facebook page for a different way to reach your audience, or if you’re moving in a new direction with your career, getting rid of that Facebook page is a thankfully painless process. How to Delete a Business Facebook Page To delete a Facebook page you’ve created for your business navigate to...

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How to Crop Images in Photoshop


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A badly composed photo can often be set right in Adobe Photoshop with something as simple as the Crop tool. Learn the tricks for cropping a photo, shaping up the frame, focusing on the right subject, and even changing the perspective of the scene. Thanks to the latest versions of Adobe Photoshop CC, you can even straighten a tilted photo without subtracting any content. More on that later. Let’s see how to use the Crop tool in Photoshop CC 2018. How to Do a Basic Crop in Photoshop The Crop tool in Photoshop CC 2018 offers more options even as its basic function remains...

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How to Turn Off “Last Online” on Instagram


Social networks are always coming up with new ways to compromise your privacy, and in 2018, the first annoying new setting comes from Instagram. Its apps have a new setting that allows accounts you follow (plus anyone you’ve messaged) to see when you were last online. This isn’t a terribly invasive feature, but it’s just another way for people to know what you’re doing every second of the day, and you probably want to browse Instagram without others being able to see that you’re online. And because Instagram enabled this without telling anyone, it’s really rubbing users the wrong way. How...

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Facebook and Twitter face a short deadline on Russian bot #ReleaseTheMemo reports for Congress


 Two leading Democrats in Congress are calling for new disclosures from Facebook and Twitter about Russian disinformation campaigns on their platforms. In a letter, Rep. Adam Schiff and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, minority leads on the House Intel and Senate Judiciary committees respectively, called for the two tech companies to release any information that have about Russian ties to the recent… Read More
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14 Tips to Save Time in Microsoft Excel


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Microsoft Excel is a robust, full-featured tool for workbooks and spreadsheets. Whether you use it at work or at home, using features that save you time means that you can move onto your next chore faster. Here are several convenient ways to fly through your workbooks, spreadsheets, and related tasks quickly. 1. Time-Saving Templates One of the best time-savers for most any task is the use of a template. You may use them in Microsoft Word for meeting agendas, newsletters, or reports. In Excel, templates are just as useful. For project timelines, calendars, invoices, budgets, and more, taking advantage of...

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Die With Me Is a Chat App That Kills Phones


What do you do when your smartphone is about to die? If you’re anything like me you’ll preserve the little bit of battery life you have left until you can plug your phone in. And then let out a huge sigh of relief when you make it with 1 percent left to spare. This is normal. However, a new app could make you change this rational behavior. Because Die With Me is only accessible when you have less than 5 percent of your battery life left. Which means you instantly have something in common with everyone else present. Still, this...

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Facebook acquires biometric ID verification startup Confirm.io


 Facebook has confirmed to TechCrunch that it’s acquired…Confirm.io. The startup offered an API that let other companies quickly verify someone’s government issued identification card like a driver’s license was authentic. The Boston-based startup will shut down as both its team and technology are rolled into Facebook, where it could help users who are locked out of… Read More
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Facebook acquires biometric ID verification startup Confirm.io


 Facebook has confirmed to TechCrunch that it’s acquired…Confirm.io. The startup offered an API that let other companies quickly verify someone’s government issued identification card like a driver’s license was authentic. The Boston-based startup will shut down as both its team and technology are rolled into Facebook, where it could help users who are locked out of… Read More

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The latest iOS update fixes a glitch that would let others crash your phone with a text message


 Last week, software developer and researcher Abraham Masri shared details of a bug that would allow others to freeze your iPhone with little more than a quick text message. Apple has just pushed out iOS 11.2.5, which patches that issue. Read More

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