20 December 2013

God of the Air Gaps: How Malware Can Be Spread By Microphone



badbios-featured

There is an accepted wisdom when it comes to avoiding getting infected with malware. Don’t install software from websites you don’t trust. Make sure your computer is up to date, patched and all software installed is running the latest updates. Don’t open any suspicious-looking attachments, no matter who sends them to you. Ensure you have a current anti-virus system in place. That sort of thing. As Internet access, email and wireless technologies have progressively became more widespread, we have had to adjust to keep ourselves secure from malicious software and from hackers. With each new threat that emerges, our accepted...


Read the full article: God of the Air Gaps: How Malware Can Be Spread By Microphone



God of the Air Gaps: How Malware Can Be Spread By Microphone



badbios-featured

There is an accepted wisdom when it comes to avoiding getting infected with malware. Don’t install software from websites you don’t trust. Make sure your computer is up to date, patched and all software installed is running the latest updates. Don’t open any suspicious-looking attachments, no matter who sends them to you. Ensure you have a current anti-virus system in place. That sort of thing. As Internet access, email and wireless technologies have progressively became more widespread, we have had to adjust to keep ourselves secure from malicious software and from hackers. With each new threat that emerges, our accepted...


Read the full article: God of the Air Gaps: How Malware Can Be Spread By Microphone



5 Easy Ways To Have A Frugal Christmas And Not Be Called A Scrooge



frugal-christmas

Christmas is expensive. The tradition of exchanging gifts with friends, family members, and acquaintances can put a real dent in your wallet and leave you feeling bitter, especially since most gifts tend to be given out of obligation rather than actual joy. This Christmas season, why not give your wallet a break? Depending on whom you ask, frugality can be seen as a negative. The immediate assumption is that frugal implies poor, as if frugality were an insane decision that people would only make when no other options are available. I tend to see it from the opposite angle —...


Read the full article: 5 Easy Ways To Have A Frugal Christmas And Not Be Called A Scrooge



Feel Like Living Dangerously? Then Try Out The New Valve Steam OS



Morguefile-Caprisco-News-1680x840

Are you a reckless brave Linux user who wants to live dangerously during the holidays? If so, Valve, the company behind the Steam gaming marketplace, has just the experiment for you. The company has released their Linux-based gaming operating system for anyone with a spare hard-drive, an NVIDIA graphics card, and nerves of pure steel. Step forward Linux commandos! The new SteamOS was designed for the specially-made hardware – the “Steam Machines” – which are now in the hands of 300 lucky people. Eventually the company wants everyone to have the operating system set up in their homes (the company...


Read the full article: Feel Like Living Dangerously? Then Try Out The New Valve Steam OS



What Is The Best Way To Find New Podcasts?



podcasts

There’s a good chance that you are reading this article on your own time and at your own pace. Great; but there’s just one slight “hitch”. You are somewhat tied to your screen from the start to the end (I don’t mind, by the way!). That’s where a podcast shows its merit. Listening as against reading, is a more immersive experience. That’s why anyone who loves podcasts would recommend it for all the idle minutes you have…or for simply relaxing while commuting or after. Podcasting followed blogging into the mainstream. A podcast combines the liveliness of a radio show with...


Read the full article: What Is The Best Way To Find New Podcasts?



Windows 8 Refresh Not Working? Try These Tips



windows 8 laptop

Windows 8′s Refresh feature allows you to quickly revert your Windows system back to a clean, freshly installed state. It’s like reinstalling Windows, but it’s easier, faster, and preserves your personal files. If Refresh fails or doesn’t solve your problems, these troubleshooting tips should help you fix things. Bear in mind that refreshing your PC will remove all your installed desktop software. This gives you a clean, fresh Windows desktop and eliminates problems caused by third-party software, but means that you’ll have to reinstall your software later. Resetting your PC instead of refreshing it will erase everything, including any personal...


Read the full article: Windows 8 Refresh Not Working? Try These Tips



Mac Pro Sale, Hacking Target, Porn Filters Include Sex Ed, Google Tips [Tech News Digest]




Today in Tech News Digest, the Mac Pro 2013 is here, Target becomes a target, Yahoo brings tabs back, Google launches a tips service, porn filters in the U.K. are shown to not work, and Microsoft sets off on a search for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. No, really. Mac Pro 2013 Now On Sale We have begun manufacturing the Mac Pro in Austin. It’s the most powerful Mac ever. Orders start tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/Jrd1Gic3Ya — Tim Cook (@tim_cook) December 18, 2013 Apple has started selling the new Mac Pro 2013, but people who want one will need serious amounts of both cash...


Read the full article: Mac Pro Sale, Hacking Target, Porn Filters Include Sex Ed, Google Tips [Tech News Digest]



19 December 2013

Everything You Need To Know About Switching To A Chromebook



chromebook

Chromebooks are Google’s take on the laptop. They run a slimmed-down operating system optimized for getting on the web with just the Chrome browser and Chrome apps. If you can do everything in your browser with web-based services and online storage, you can switch to a Chromebook. Many Chromebook users haven’t actually “switched” to a Chromebook — they’ve purchased a Chromebook as an additional device, not one that replaces their current computer entirely. A Chromebook is the simple laptop you pick up when you need to browse the web, watch videos, type emails, write documents, and do other things you...


Read the full article: Everything You Need To Know About Switching To A Chromebook



A Full Guide To Getting Started With Mining Litecoin



litecoin

Missed out on making millions with Bitcoin (what’s Bitcoin, you ask)? Don’t worry – you’ve still got time to jump in on alternative cryptocurrencies, like Litecoin and Feathercoin. Thanks to a different algorithm at the core, those can still be mined by anyone with a graphics card – expensive ASIC Bitcoin miners won’t work. What are you waiting for?! Kannon published a tutorial back in July about getting started with Litecoin, but the software tools have improved since then, so I thought it would be worth publishing an update. One point to note is that at the time of Kannon’s...


Read the full article: A Full Guide To Getting Started With Mining Litecoin



Google Maps Easter Egg for Christmas



The Pegman icon from the new Google Maps looks different: it now has a Santa hat. The classic Google Maps still shows the standard icon.









Check this Google+ album to see almost 200 outfits created when Pegman was added to the new Google Maps.






{ Thanks, Mukil. }




How To Use WinSetupFromUSB To Create Multiboot Windows USB



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In our previous post, we let you know about the release of WinSetupFromUSB v.1.1, the free software that enables you prepare multi-boot USB drive with a few mouse clicks. Even though the interface is very simple and straight-forward, first time users may need a little help in preparing multi-boot USB drives. In this guide, we […]

What Are Your Predictions For Technology In 2014? [We Ask You]




Technology isn’t an industry that stands still. Instead, each year brings new innovations, new gadgets, and new inventions. Existing tech companies and products also change and evolve, though not always for the better. For us geeks, the end of the year is a time to look forward rather than back; to imagine what the tech world will look like in 12 months time. Which is our challenge to you, dear reader, in this edition of We Ask You. In 2014, I Predict… We want to know, What Are Your Predictions For Technology In 2014? Just tell us at least one...


Read the full article: What Are Your Predictions For Technology In 2014? [We Ask You]



The Perfect Modern Notetaking App: OneNote For Windows 8



OneNote-Featured

One of the most convenient parts of having a Windows 8 tablet is the ability to quickly scribble notes in it just like a notebook, and Microsoft’s OneNote application is perfect for that. Even if you’ve got a Windows 8 laptop, OneNote also supports typing notes, as well as a host of other features like Camera Scan, Optical Character Recognition, and a Share Charm. Let’s take a closer look at this modern notetaking app. Creating Notes The basic structure of OneNote’s organization involves three layers: Notebooks, Sections, and Pages. Below, you can see that I have two notebooks, one for...


Read the full article: The Perfect Modern Notetaking App: OneNote For Windows 8



See all the Major Events of 2013 in One Drawing (Picture)



2013 comes to an end. Mario Zucca has collected almost 90 major news stories that broke this year and formulated in the form of a picture. He called the drawing here's to 2013. He has covered almost all the major stories like Miley Twerking, iPhone 5S & 5C Release, GTA V, X Box and much more that shook the whole Internet.


You can check the Original Drawing below



To collect all the major stories of 2013 was quite a big task and we appreciate the efforts of Mario Zucca for his remarkable efforts. Do let us know what was your major event in 2013 in your comments.




Super Fast Browser: The Android Browser That Lives Up to Its Name



superfast-browser-android

Tired of sluggish apps bogging down your phone and bringing it to a crawl? Who doesn’t want a faster phone with faster apps so we can accomplish our tasks faster, faster, fast? Mobile browsers can sometimes be packed with unnecessary features, resulting in lag and frustration while surfing the web. Super Fast Browser attempts to fix that. There is, of course, the danger of swinging to the other side of the spectrum. Even if we didn’t want a fat and bloated browser, a barebones browser without any features would be just as frustrating. Super Fast Browser understands this and strives...


Read the full article: Super Fast Browser: The Android Browser That Lives Up to Its Name



Google Music to Add Upload Feature



To upload audio files to Google Play Music, you need to use Music Manager. It's only available as a native app for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, so you can't use it if you have a Chromebook or a mobile device.



What if you need to upload a few songs and you don't want to wait until Music Manager syncs your files? What if you're using someone else's computer and you can't install Music Manager?



Google Play Music's source code includes a message which suggests that you'll be able to upload songs from your browser: "Drag songs or folders here to add music to your library. Or, if you prefer, select from your computer."






{ Thanks, Florian K. }

Sound Search Playlist in Google Music



Google's Sound Search widget for Android has a history page which shows all the songs that have been recognized by the application. You can also find this list inside Google Play Music if you go to this playlist. This is especially useful if you subscribe to the All Access feature and you can play all the songs.









A Google screenshot shows the Sound Search playlist in the sidebar:






"Hear a song you like while you're out and about? Touch the microphone on the home screen of your Android phone or tablet. Google Play identifies the song and adds it to the Song Match playlist. You can also use the Sound Search for Google Play app," mentions the page.



The first feature doesn't work for me, but maybe it will be added in the future.



{ Thanks, Florian K. }

Google Zeitgeist 2013



Google's Zeitgeist site redirects to Google Trends, which shows the year in review lists and some clever visualizations.



The search topics with the largest increase in search volume are: Nelson Mandela, Paul Walker, iPhone 5S, Cory Monteith, Harlem Shake, Boston Marathon, Royal Baby, Samsung Galaxy S4, PlayStation 4 and North Korea. Other popular gadgets: Xbox One, Nexus 5, HTC One, iPad Air, Blackberry 10 phones, Galaxy Note 3 and Nokia Lumia 1020. The most popular movie is Man of Steel and the most popular TV show is Under the Dome.



Google also shows a list of popular Google+ hashtags (#Boston, #BreakingBad, #TyphoonHaiyan) and YouTube videos (The Fox, Harlem Shake Army Edition, How Animals Eat Their Food).






You can select different countries and find the trending topics from other places. For example, the hottest technology topic in South Africa was BBM for Android, the hottest search in Spain was Outlook and the second most popular phone in India is Nokia Lumia 520.



There's also a globe that "visualizes the hottest daily Google searches in 2013 in over 150 cities. Explore what mattered to people by turning the globe, selecting a city, and sliding the date slider to any day of the year."






This video highlights the most important events from 2013 (some Google features too):





18 December 2013

Google's Christmas Carols Easter Egg



Google has a new Easter Egg for Christmas, but this time it's only for mobile devices. Search for [let's go caroling] using an Android or iOS device or use voice search and say "let's go caroling" and you'll see a list of 5 carols you can play: "Jingle Bells", "Up on the House Top", "Deck the Halls", "O Christmas Tree" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". Tap one of the carols and Google will start playing the karaoke version of the carol, while also displaying the lyrics.















Maybe this Easter Egg will actually be useful.

More About Gmail's Proxy



Last week, Google announced that Gmail will load external images using a proxy. I have the new feature in my Gmail account and it's easy to tell when it's enabled - Gmail will show this message:



"Loading images in Gmail is now safer, so you'll automatically see all images within a message when you open it. You can learn about images or change this option in Settings."






So what's new? You no longer have to click "Display images below" to see the images from a message. Until now, Gmail only displayed the images automatically for the people added to your address book (you had to send them a message at least once or manually add them to the address book). Now Gmail shows all the images, except for spam and other messages that are likely to be dangerous. "Gmail scans every message for suspicious content and if Gmail considers a sender or message potentially suspicious, images won't be displayed and you'll be asked whether you want to see the images."



Images are no longer loaded directly from external sites, they're loaded using a Google proxy. Here's an example of URL (I highlighted the original URL of the image):



https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEiZ_R_DkAiV3VbQF29B41xE6ZN5EZo-zDyjrqm9ZjkuzbsapQHNVdOVa99DXxkgLUo2lUkSO_CGm0xhRZQcpf58uIGW1YvgnSHEbApC1fG0lxXngZZ8IxNvPrhlk3elCzolZmxPgVrkZcTRJ-X9tNGw=s0-d-e1-fthttp://qsf.is.quoracdn.net/-b94cd3f312ea9653.png



Images are only loaded the first time when you open a message and they're cached. Google's requests include: "via ggpht.com GoogleImageProxy" and appear to be from Firefox 3.0.7.



The proxy feature can't be disabled. You can only go to Gmail's settings and enable "Ask before displaying external images", so you can manually enable images, but this doesn't disable the proxy.