Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » mars 18, 2016

BetaNews.Com (21 non lus)

Apple's fight with the FBI is about LGBTQ issues as well as privacy

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 11:31pm CET par Mark Wilson

As the battle between the FBI and Apple rumbles on, the debate about encryption has intensified, bringing with it renewed discussion about privacy. There are few people who would want to give up their right to privacy and allow unrestricted access to their personal communication, but there are some for whom privacy is even more important.

Tim Cook is just one of the voices shouting that a backdoor for the government would be a backdoor for anyone. Most people and companies have sided with Apple saying that rather than backdoor access, what's needed is stronger encryption, greater security, even more robust privacy. It's something that has the support of people from all walks of life, but it's an issue that's very close to the hearts of the LGBTQ community.

This is an argument put forward by Victoria Ruiz, lead singer of the punk band the Downtown Boys, and Evan Greer, campaign director of digital right group Fight for the Future. They describe the media response to the Apple/FBI case as a circus and suggest that this masks the real human consequences that could follow on from the FBI getting its way. They say that "for millions of people, privacy and digital security are essential for their physical safety. They're not luxuries, they’re necessities".

In some parts of the world, for example, homosexuality remains illegal. Ruiz and Greer also point out that "in the majority of US states, for example, you can still be legally fired just for being gay". With these two facts in mind, the pair say that "the potential consequences of a data breach for many LGBTQ people could be far more severe". This is just one of the reasons strong encryption is not just important, but vital.

LGBTQ people around the world depend on encryption every day to stay alive and to protect themselves from violence and discrimination, relying on the basic security features of their phones to prevent online bullies, stalkers, and others from prying into their personal lives and using their sexuality or gender identity against them.

In areas where being openly queer is dangerous, queer and trans people would be forced into near complete isolation without the ability to connect safely through apps, online forums, and other venues that are only kept safe and private by encryption technology.

These situations are not just theoretical. Terrifying real life examples abound, like the teacher who was targeted by for being gay, and later fired, after his Dropbox account was hacked and a sex video was posted on his school’s website. Or the time a Russian gay dating app was breached, likely by the government, and tens of thousands of users received a message threatening them with arrest under the country’s anti-gay 'propaganda' laws.

Ruiz and Greer side with Tim Cook and others who say that a backdoor into one phone is a backdoor, potentially, into many -- if not all -- phones. They warn that the FBI is looking to "set a precedent that will inevitably be used to force other encrypted services to do the same". While one of the FBI's lines of argument is that one of the aims of accessing the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone is to protect lives, "they're conveniently omitting the very real ways that punching holes in digital security puts even more people in danger".

Some people will almost certainly pooh-pooh what Ruiz and Greer put forward, and will ask why this is an LGBTQ issue. It's all too easy to forget that the LGBTQ community is frequently a vulnerable one, a community that often needs protection from archaic thinking and abusive groups. In short, encryption can help save lives.

Encryption technology is doing as much, if not more, to keep queer and trans people safe as legislation -- which is spottily enforced, and does not prevent the violence and oppression that many of the most vulnerable LGBTQ populations experience.

If you care about the lives of queer and trans people, you should join the growing movement opposing government backdoors in our phones and computers. Strong encryption is saving lives every day. If we lose it, we risk a lot more than our privacy. We risk losing our most basic right: the right to be ourselves.

Photo credit: VectorShots / Shutterstock
Email marketing works

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 7:05pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

You might be annoyed by the constant marketing you’re getting in your email, but that’s only because research shows that the method works. Not only does it work, but it’s working better than (almost) ever.

Email marketing software provider Sign-Up.to released its new annual Email Marketing Benchmark Report, looking at how successful email marketing campaigns are. It employed some serious numbers into its results -- more than a billion emails across 29 industry sectors, looking at various parameters such as click through rates, open rates and so on.

The report says that the average open rate of marketing email jumped 1.8 percent year-on-year, to 24.88 percent. This also means the average open rate has been growing for seven consecutive years. The best performers come from the Legal/Accounting sector, TV/Radio/Film and the Government.

Click-through rates also jumped 9.3 percent to 3.42 percent, returning to the highest level since 2010, the report says. Mobile is also jumping, with open rates on mobile devices increasing 1.2 percent year-on-year, to 54.59 percent. Unsubscribe rates (0.52 percent) showed a 5.5 percent decrease from the 2015 figures.

"Our 2016 Email Marketing Benchmark Report continues to indicate that the benefits of email marketing are growing", said Matt McNeill, brand director, Sign-Up.to. "Overall, the report shows that brands that take the opportunity to understand and profile their audience and offer relevant, timely and valuable messages are rewarded with better open rates, improved levels of engagement and ultimately greater customer loyalty".

"Most reports available to UK businesses provide global figures or focus on large companies. It’s important for us to provide a viable benchmark for SMEs in the UK. We want to help them make the most of their assets and our report shows that focusing on areas like mobile responsive design, automation and precision targeting can dramatically increase their rates of success".

The full report can be found on this link.

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.

Photo credit: Pavel Ignatov/ Shutterstock
Google Maps for Android gets pretty stickers

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 6:02pm CET par Brian Fagioli

When I was in elementary school, and even early into high school, I would decorate my notebooks and binders with stickers. In the 80s, it was Garbage Pail Kids, and as I got older, rock bands and such. Yeah, I was totally cool.

In the tech world, customization is always popular, including stickers. Think about it -- some people decorate their laptops with stickers, while other folks put case badges on their gaming PCs. Today, Google is bringing virtual stickers to Google Maps on Android.

"Have you ever dreamed of living in a treehouse? Maybe an igloo or a farm house? Or how about an RV -- free to go wherever your wheels take you? Whatever your dream home may be, Google Maps can help make it a little less make-believe. Starting today you can customize your home and work addresses in Google Maps on Android with stickers, so your map is a little more you", says Beth Findley, Software Engineer Google Maps.

Findley further says, "home and work are not the only places you can label in Google Maps. For example, if you look up the best route to avoid traffic on your way to your kid’s school, or to see when the next bus is coming to get to your friend’s house for your favorite sitcom every Thursday, or the gym on Mondays and Wednesdays, you can now label these places for quick access to directions, traffic conditions, best routes and more".

Why this is limited to the Android version of Maps is not clear -- I am sure we iOS users would appreciate adding virtual stickers to our favorite locations too. If it proves popular, maybe Google will expand it beyond its own mobile OS.

While many people will consider this nothing more than fluff, it actually serves an important purpose -- organization and speed of recollection. Some human brains could react quickly to icons rather than words.

Will you use this new feature of Google Maps? Tell me in the comments.
Want the best customer support? Use Facebook

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 5:59pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

Facebook is the number one channel for people looking to get answers from retailers’ customer service in the UK, a new study shows.

According to the Eptica Multichannel Customer Experience study, Facebook is the channel through which retail customer service answers most frequently and most accurately, followed by email. Twitter came in third, with pretty poor results.

The study looked at 40 "leading" UK retailers, split into four sectors (food and wine, consumer electronics, entertainment, and fashion), and sent them questions on the three channels, mimicking customer interaction.

The study says that UK retailers could successfully answer 59 percent of questions asked via Facebook, 55 percent on email and 45 percent on Twitter. Only 10 percent responded on all three platforms.

Despite solid results over email, more and more retailers seem to be switching off from the channel. Today, 88 percent of retailers offered email to non-customers, 10 percent down from a year before.

Across the pond, the results are somewhat different. In the US, retailers answered, successfully, to 73 percent of emailed questions, 54 percent of questions on Facebook, and 20 percent on Twitter. Things aren’t looking good for the micro-blogging site, on both sides of the Atlantic.

"Retailers on both sides of the Atlantic seem to be adopting fundamentally different strategies when it comes to customer service", said Olivier Njamfa, CEO and co-founder, Eptica. "What the Eptica research demonstrates is that retailers in the UK and US are focusing on specific channels, rather than adopting a truly multichannel approach that delivers high levels of service, whatever the customer’s channel of choice. Companies need to learn from each other and deliver a consistent experience if they are to thrive in increasingly global markets".

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.

Photo credit: nevodka / Shutterstock
Chelsea Manning: Insider Threat document shows US government employees are under surveillance

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 5:49pm CET par Mark Wilson

The US government is busy putting thousands of its own employees under 'permanent surveillance' according to a document obtained by Chelsea Manning. In the wake of leaks by the likes of Edward Snowden and WikiLeaks, the government set up the Insider Threat program in an attempt to nip future leaks in the bud.

It's a while since Manning was in the news, the last notable appearance being when the solider formerly known as Bradley Manning joined Twitter from prison. But the latest document released by Manning -- obtained using a freedom of information request -- shows that the government is not afraid to use NSA-style tactics on its own employees.

The Insider Threat program indicates that certain employees have been earmarked for 'continuous evaluation' if they exhibit particular characteristics or are thought to have certain motives. On the list of 'Insider Threat Motives' are people with financial difficulties, those with divided loyalties and those with certain ideologies.

The document, obtained by the Guardian, has been published online, and makes for interesting viewing.

The government runs through the history of Manning's case (referred to as Bradley Manning throughout, as he was known in the army at the time) and goes on to define his motive for leaking data to WikiLeaks. He is described as being disgruntled with the army's attitude towards homosexuality, and also as aligning himself with a 'group of hackers' whose ideology he shared. Manning is also slapped with the labels of 'Ego and Ingratiation' and 'Family/Personal Issues'. Manning's 'behavior indicators' are also singled out.

The document concludes by saying that:

Due to the actions of PVT Manning, OPSEC/INFOSEC in deployed enviroments have become stricter (no USB drives, CD burning capabilities restricted/managed, SIPRNet token cards, etc...).

Writing for the Guardian, Manning describes the government's internal surveillance program as " unsustainable, ineffective, morally reprehensible, inherently dangerous and ultimately counterproductive". She writes:

In the months following the US government's initial charges against me over the release of government records in 2010, the current administration formed the National Insider Threat Task Force under the authority of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and several other US government agencies.

The mission of this taskforce is breathtakingly broad. It aims at deterring threats to national security by anyone "who misuses or betrays, wittingly or unwittingly, his or her authorized access to any US Government resource". Unfortunately, the methods it outlines amount to thousands of government personnel being effectively under total surveillance.

It's a microcosm of the surveillance that is carried out in the wider world and Manning warns that there is a danger stemming from "a reliance on 'anonymous feedback' which can create endless witch-hunts, 'general invitations' to report or file complaints through so-called open door policies, and vagueness about what feedback is expected". The real concern is the carte blanche the program appears to afford the government:

The broad sweep of the program means officials have been given a blank check for surveillance. Agencies implementing the Insider Threat program could examine anyone who has motives of "greed", "financial difficulties", is "disgruntled”, has "an ideology" a "divided loyalty", an "ego" or "self-image", or "any family/personal issues" -- the words used to describe my motives. Such subjective labelling could easily be applied to virtually every single person currently holding a security clearance.

Manning may have concerns about the surveillance programs the government undertake, but she also has suggestions:

The Insider Threat program works against innovation, creativity and the prevention of institutional corruption. Perhaps this is the real intent of the intelligence community and the Insider Threat Task Force -- to instill fear and project dominance throughout the intelligence community, the military, and among government employees and contractors at large.

Perhaps a better approach for the government would be to create a Transparency and Accountability Task Force, comprising different government agencies and departments, the inspectors general, the National Archives and Office of Government Information Services, and a committee or other body that can work directly with current and former government employees, service members, veterans and journalists.

Such a taskforce could focus on advocating for and protecting employees who have concerns. It would help to send a message to employees, military service members, contractors and department and agency heads that even if the official channels fail, those who raise concerns will still be protected, listened to and given the chance to speak out in a meaningful forum. It would encourage dissent. It would allow dirty laundry, drama and corruption to be aired out rather than allowed to fester.

We could all -- citizens, the government and its employees -- benefit from that.
Communifire makes building an intranet easier for smaller businesses

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 4:38pm CET par Ian Barker

The use of an intranet helps businesses promote engagement in teams and enable staff to become more productive. But often intranets are seen as the preserve of large corporations.

Software company Axero is launching the latest version of its Communifire intranet platform aimed at small and medium enterprises.

Communifire 5.2 offers an array of new features that improve the user experience for administrators, enabling organizations to unlock the value of the platform and improve employee communication, collaboration and performance.

The main new feature is Page Builder, an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop interface that administrators can use to create page layouts. It turns elements into visual building blocks that allow anyone to understand and edit the layout and content of their pages without touching any code.

The latest Communifire also offers gamification capabilities that allow users to recognize other users by granting them badges. Badges can be earned by completing a customized series of actions within the community.

"Axero's mission is to empower organizations and employees with all the tools and features they need to perform their best," says the company's cofounder and President Tim Eisenhauer. "Communifire has always grown and evolved based on the voice of our customers, and version 5.2 reflects our ongoing commitment to delivering the best, most effective intranet software on the market".

Other updated feature include search enhancements to allow users to find content more easily, these include a 'fuzzy search' feature that tries to predict what users are looking for and accounts for typos and misspellings. There's also the ability to receive more focused digest emails, and an updated chat and messaging interface.

For more information and a 14-day free trial you can visit the Axero website.

Image Credit: alphaspirit / Shutterstock
More than a third of UK universities are under attack every hour

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 4:35pm CET par Alasdair Gilchrist
VMware today announced research revealing that over a third (36 percent) of UK universities are under attack by a cyber attack, on not just on a daily basis, but each hour. Furthermore, the attacks are so frequent and widespread that 83 percent of universities believe that cyber attacks are increasing in frequency and sophistication.

VMware’s research shows that a high percentage of University campuses are being singled out and attacked due to their open architecture.
- VMware believes that over a third (36 percent) are experiencing a successful cyber attack each hour and 87 percent of total universities report experiencing cyber attacks.
- Twenty-five percent have had critical research data infiltrated and 43 percent have had student data such as dissertations attacked.
- The report reveals that more than six in 10 (63 percent) of UK universities claim domestic students pose the biggest threat to data
VMware’s report also shows that confidence is not high within Universities as a quarter of students admit to having critical intellectual property (IP) data infiltrated. This relates to highly confidential and valuable data including national defense, social, economic and medical research.

Furthermore, more than two in five (43 percent) of respondents confirmed that they have had student IP infiltrated, including dissertation materials and exam results. Respondents believe that some of the greatest threats posed by cyber attacks to the data held by their organization come internally, with 63 percent claiming domestic students pose a threat to data.

However, there is also a considerable financial impact, the ramifications of every breach are costly, with 79 percent citing damage to reputation, 77 percent a possible impact on national security and almost three quarters (74 percent) having had to halt a valuable research project.

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.

Photo credit: arda savasciogullari / Shutterstock
OS X and Linux threaten Windows' dominance in developer market

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 3:58pm CET par Mihăiță Bamburic

OS X and Linux are nowhere near as popular as Windows when we look at the PC market as a whole, but the two platforms are actually extremely popular with a certain crowd. According to a StackOverflow survey, 26.2 percent of developers use Apple's Mac operating system, while distributions based on the open-source kernel are not that far behind, having a combined 21.7 percent usage share.

This may come as a bit of a shock, but, yes, OS X and Linux are nearly as popular as Windows among developers. In fact, according to StackOverflow, "If OS adoption rates hold steady, by next year's survey fewer than 50 percent of developers may be using Windows" -- and, obviously, OS X and Linux will come out even more popular in the process.

However, right now, Windows 7 is the most popular operating system, with 22.5 percent usage share. Windows 10 follows closely from behind, being used by 20.8 percent of developers. Interestingly enough, 8.4 percent of developers say that they are using Windows 8, with the numbers falling to 0.4 percent and 0.1 percent in the case of Windows Vista and Windows XP, respectively.

While StackOverflow does not offer a breakdown for OS X releases, it has revealed which Linux distributions are most popular with developers. Unsurprisingly, Ubuntu takes first place with 12.3 percent usage share (of the whole market, not just Linux), followed by Debian with 1.9 percent, Mint with 1.7 percent and Fedora with 1.7 percent usage share.

Looking at the historical data, Windows 7 has been losing usage share fast since 2013. At the time, 48 percent of developers said that they were using this operating system, compared to just 18.7 percent for OS X and 19.9 percent for Linux. Things seem to have changed dramatically in this past year though. In 2015, Windows 7 had a 33.8 percent usage share, while OS X and Linux were following from behind with 21.5 percent and 20.5 percent, respectively.

Windows 10 seems to have climbed in the charts at the expense of Windows 7 and Windows 8, and is likely to stay on the same path in the year to come as more and more developers will be looking at creating Universal Apps.

StackOverflow surveyed "56,033 coders in 173 countries", which is a large-enough sample size to suggest that the results accurately reflect the developer market. However, as the site points out, "it’s still biased against devs who don't speak English, or who don't like taking English-language surveys. In some sections we've augmented the results with insights gleaned from the activity of Stack Overflow's 40 million monthly visitors".

You can find more interesting findings here. It is a very interesting read, so I highly recommend you go through them. For instance, did you know that more developers prefer dogs over cats?

Photo Credit: Carsten Reisinger/Shutterstock
Off-the-shelf BYOD systems bring privacy and security risks

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 3:56pm CET par Ian Barker

When companies allow staff to use their own systems to access corporate data, the devices used can often be outside of IT department control.

But how much of a security and privacy hazard is presented by a new off-the-shelf laptop? Security company Duo Labs set out to discover the risks by buying a number of OEM Windows 10 machines in the US, Canada and the UK and testing them for vulnerabilities.

All of the systems tested were found to have privacy issues, some were more serious than others and many of them affected all the machines. Network protocol-related security issues affected all the laptops, starting as soon as the laptop appeared on the network during initial boot.

Following the application of Patch Tuesday updates, some privacy settings were reset to their default values, without the user being notified that they'd changed. Default laptop settings and protocols make it easier for an attacker to sniff, grab, view and redirect an unsuspecting user’s traffic especially on public networks.

Bloatware and trial software was at the root of questionable traffic on some of the systems too. The OEM Microsoft Signature Edition machine tested came in for praise here as it had less unnecessary software installed. It did, however, still have some of the Windows 10 privacy concerns identified elsewhere.

Systems with McAfee security trials installed were found to contain web bugs that could be used to track and serve advertising to users. "We observed web bugs which are used typically by advertisers to track surfing habits. You'd expect to see this in web browsers as they're a reality of internet advertising today. It seems curious to us that a security company would do this, because as an attacker if I were to compromise a third-party advertising company I would then have the ability to feed my content out to all the systems using that platform," says Steve Manzuik Director of Research at Duo. "I don't think there's anything nefarious going on, they're using it to track their trial versions and get people to buy the software, but it seems odd that this would be the route they decided to use".

More information and the full report, along with recommendations for making out-of-the-box machines more secure, is available from the Duo website.

Image Credit: Maslowski Marcin / Shutterstock
Twitter drops TweetDeck for Windows, but Mac version is safe

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 3:28pm CET par Mihăiță Bamburic

Even though TweetDeck is one of the most powerful and beloved Twitter clients for Windows, the social network has announced that it will soon drop support for the program, leaving fans with just the web app at their disposal. However, the Mac version of TweetDeck is not affected, remaining in the lineup for the foreseeable future.

Twitter has not exactly provided a reason why it is pulling TweetDeck for Windows, only saying that this is being done "to better focus on enhancing [users'] TweetDeck experience". However, the fact that it just launched a new version of Twitter for Windows 10 likely plays a role in its decision.

On top of that new app, as I mentioned above there is also the web version of TweetDeck that users can access from Windows, which offers similar levels of functionality as the former client. And it has been improved to make the transition from the Windows client more seamless.

If you are logged in on Twitter, the web app will automatically log you in, so you do not have to enter any more credentials. "We’ve been working on infrastructure projects like this to ensure we have a stable foundation to continue improving TweetDeck in the future", explains Twitter.

There is also an easy way to pin TweetDeck on your Windows taskbar, so you can have quicker access to the web app. That can be done by going to Customize and control, then More tools, and clicking on the Add to taskbar button.

TweetDeck for Windows will no longer be supported starting April 15, but it looks like the program has already been pulled from the TweetDeck website. Twitter does not say whether those who are currently using it will still be able to do so past the middle of April, but there is a very good chance that will not be the case.
Cooperating with the good guys: Is NSA snooping really that bad?

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 3:22pm CET par Mauricio Prinzlau

Ever since Edward Snowden, a former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, leaked information about the internet spying activities conducted by the NSA, there has been an unrest among Americans. The main concern for most people is that their privacy has been intruded without their permission.

Many Americans are also worried about the things that the NSA and the US administration could do with access to such "private" data. And the revelation about several tech giants, including Yahoo and Google, being involved has probably made people even more circumspect about using online services based in the US.

But, why is the NSA really spying? And why are people so worried about their internet privacy -- are they trying to hide some suspicious internet activity?

The truth is many of the same people do not give a second thought to their privacy when using public platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. In fact, the internet has never really been that private. It is a public medium that enables people to reach out to different corners of the world.

You need to understand that nothing online is 100 percent secure (even if the NSA was not spying). So, if you are a "private" person, you should never share anything online that you would not want a stranger to know about. It is wise to only share information in emails or on social media platforms that you would be willing to display on a public banner. This is one of the most basic principles you should follow to ensure your information is secure at a personal and/or professional level.

So, why all the fuss about "privacy" with regard to the NSA? Is this so-called intrusion on our online activities a threat to the common man or only to those with cruel intentions?

Let us first try to analyze whether the NSA’s spying activities are justified in the sense that it is more about cooperating with the good guys than anything else!

Agreed, it is probably not that essential to get information about every phone call that is made in the US and to determine who called whom at any given moment. Yet, a record of all the phone calls from the relevant telephone companies does help to track some suspicious calls.

And much of the NSA’s spying is focused on tracking international Internet traffic. Such dedicated surveillance is necessary to avoid another 9/11 attack or the recent Paris attacks. The major threat of terrorism thus fuels the need for the NSA’s surveillance.

Yet, the fact that the spying activities of security services could not have prevented a terrorist attack like the one in Paris goes to show that there is a lot of scope for the NSA to improve strategies, coordination and communication with its European partners.

And, you would agree that there have not been any major terrorist attacks in the US for quite some time. This does not necessarily indicate that the NSA’s surveillance has been successful, but it may have caused fear among terrorist groups and prevented them from attempting any attacks in the US, which is the base location for all the NSA spying activities.

Moreover, the number of extraordinary cyber-attacks on several governmental agencies, financial institutions and businesses over the last couple of years has also been on the rise. To curb such foreign attacks, the NSA’s surveillance plays a major role. It enables them to identify suspected hackers and to take preventive action.

Even though the NSA have not revealed any cases where such cyber-attacks were prevented by their spying activity, it is critical to understand that just the knowledge about the NSA spying might have prevented several small hackers or first-time hackers from making such attempts. Their online presence makes a much bigger difference than we can ever imagine. Sometimes, it is not only about the facts and numbers; one must also consider the impact of the NSA’s surveillance on the world of hackers.

It is also worth mentioning that such hackers may not always be domestic ones. There have been reports of several suspicious activities of foreign governments and the NSA’s surveillance is thus also targeted at searching for hacking attempts from abroad.

So, even though Edward Snowden leaked information about the NSA’s permission to spy on Internet cables for data linked to computer intrusions from abroad, it feels justified. The NSA is making a genuine attempt to track down suspicious Internet addresses. So, if you are not doing anything wrong or getting involved in any malicious computer activities, then you have no reason to be worried, right?

We are not aware of the process used by the NSA to only identify or search for international hacking attempts. In our view, it would be extremely difficult to be sure whether a foreign intelligence service is behind a hack or whether it was a group of domestic hackers.

Many argue that the NSA should only focus on foreign intelligence and should not bring about law enforcement for domestic attacks. But is the intention of the surveillance not good in either case? More than anything else, it should help you feel more secure about your organization!

The Internet is an ocean and, with the advancement of technology, the number of security threats is increasing. A reputable agency like the NSA is needed to conduct surveillance to protect the people of America from terrorist attacks, international hacking attempts, and so on. So, when they are trying to do something good, it makes sense to trust them.

To run a successful business, you often have to trust your employees, partners, vendors, and even the applications you use, such as cloud storage, accounting software, and CRM, do you not? Similarly, to run a nation (as big as the US) successfully and securely, you need the common man to trust and cooperate with the right people!

It should be pointed out that, at the time when the news about the NSA’s surveillance was leaked, Americans were better served. They did not have to express their opinions on something they did not fully understand. So, you need to consider whether any NSA activity caused harm to any innocent American prior to the news breaking or even after.

If no, then why do we hear protests to the NSA’s surveillance programs? Can we not as a nation get behind the NSA and allow them to work within their limitations?

Agreed, the NSA has not yet proved that it can stop a major terrorist attack or hacking attempt. But, if the people offer their full support to the NSA and give it more freedom with its spying activities, would the terrorists or hackers not think twice before attacking the US and its citizens?

The idea of the NSA is to build a full-proof system for spying activities and it takes time to design something so big. There may currently be several loopholes and we can help the NSA and the government to fix them for better protection against terrorist attacks or online hacks.

The people of America must decide whether they value their "privacy" or the security of their nation in general more.

Photo Credit: auremar/Shutterstock

Mauricio Prinzlau is the CEO of Cloudwards.net, a data and user feedback driven comparison engine for cloud apps and services. He enjoys writing and producing educational videos around the cloud to help people find the best cloud service for their needs.
Apple vs FBI: Tim Cook concedes helping authorities is a theoretical possibility

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 1:46pm CET par Mark Wilson

In the Apple vs FBI fight, the issue is very black and white for many people; you support Apple's position of standing firm against the FBI, or you believe the FBI should have unfettered access to whatever data it wants, regardless of the consequences.

Tim Cook has been steadfast in his position, but in an interview with TIME the Apple CEO admits that the situation is not entirely binary. Presented with a thought experiment Cook appears to concede there are gray areas, opening up the possibility of assisting the FBI to break into the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone.

The full transcript of Tim Cook's interview has been added to the TIME website, and it makes for interesting reading. Cook comes across as understandably weary of answering, largely, the same questions over and over again, and it's clear that the situation is taking its toll. He says that one of the reasons -- and there are many -- Apple is not going to help the FBI to crack or disable encryption is that "they don’t know if there’s anything on it".

He continues:

I think everybody recognizes that there may not be anything on it, there may be something on it. What I'm saying is, to invent what they want me to invent puts millions of people at risk.

This is a point that many people have raised, so Cook is not winning any points for originality here. But the interview takes an interesting turn when he is presented with a theoretical situation that has many parallels with the Apple vs FBI case

TIME: So being mindful of the fallacy of the hypothetical, suppose on the other side of the door is the nuclear device that's on a timer, or the child who's being tortured. And you have a key to that door.

COOK: If I had a key to that door I would turn that door. But that's not the issue here, just to be clear. It's not that I have information on this phone, and I'm not giving it. I had information. I gave all of it. Now they're saying, hey, you could invent something to grab some additional information. We're not sure there's anything on there, but we want you to invent this in case there is. And the thing that they want me to invent, that key can turn millions of locks.

Cook also highlights another problem with forcing companies to making their encryption algorithms available to government or law enforcement agencies -- ultimately it just pushes people into using other services and going deeper underground:

If you're worried about messaging, which I think is primarily the worry in this scenario, people will just move to something else. You know if you legislate against Facebook and Apple and Google and whatever else in the US, they'll just use something else. So are we really safer then? I would say no. I would say we're less safe, because now we’ve opened up all of the infrastructure for people to go wacko at.

He is quick to stress that he is aware of the trade-off between privacy of individuals and the ability of government to gather data for security purposes:

I'm not targeting government. I'm not saying hey, I'm closing it because I don't want to give you any data. I'm saying that to protect our customers, we have to encrypt. And a side effect of that is, I don't have the data.

If the on-going encryption debate that Apple finds itself at the center of seems faintly absurd to you, Tim Cook gets you. He feels the same. Speaking about the fallout of Congress ruling against Apple, he says:

I think, first of all it's bad for the United States. Because going against us doesn't just mean going against us. It means likely banning, limiting or forcing back doors for [everyone]. I think it makes the US much more vulnerable. Not only in privacy but also in security. The national infrastructure, everything. And I can't imagine it happening because it would be outlandish for something like that to happen. I think everybody has better judgment than that.

But at the end of the day, we're going to fight the good fight not only for our customers but for the country. We're in this bizarre position where we're defending the civil liberties of the country against the government. Who would have ever thought this would happen?

Photo credit: JStone / Shutterstock
How to install and use extensions in Microsoft Edge on Windows 10

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 1:15pm CET par Wayne Williams

Starting in Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14291, Microsoft has introduced a selection of extensions for its Edge browser.

While the software giant promises that popular add-ons like AdBlock, Adblock Plus, Amazon, LastPass, and Evernote are on their way, it’s launched the feature with three rather less-exciting offerings -- Mouse Gestures, Microsoft Translator and an early version of Reddit Enhancement Suite.

SEE ALSO: How to fix Microsoft Edge's worst problems

Getting extensions up and running in Edge is currently a matter of clicking the ellipses (…) button at the top right and then clicking Extensions and choosing to Get extensions. A developer resources page will open, and you’ll then need to click the Download extensions button.

Browse the extensions on offer (as there’s only three it won’t take long) and then click the Download button for the one you want. Select Run from the download notification, then click the ellipses in Edge again and select Extensions > Load extension. Select the extension you saved in the Downloads and click Select Folder.

The extension will load and appear as enabled in the sidebar. The Mouse Gestures one also shows shown some information about it in a new tab.

Hover your mouse over an extension to access its settings. For most you’ll just be able to remove unwanted add-ons, although Mouse Gestures also lets you add a button next to the address bar.

It’s reasonably easy to set up extensions, although in the future it will be even simpler as Microsoft intends to offer add-ons through the Windows Store.

What do you think of Edge’s extension support so far?
Best Windows apps this week

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 12:18pm CET par Martin Brinkmann
One-hundred and seventy-two in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

Microsoft released a new Insider Build yesterday, the first with support for Microsoft Edge extensions. Extensions will be offered through Windows Store once they are rolled out to all users.

App of the week is Disney Magic Kingdom, a quest-driven adventure game in which you rebuild the Magic Kingdom after disaster strikes.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The following discounts are provided by Red Stripe Deals, a weekly changing list of offers, and the Deals Hub application.

The following is this week's selection:
- Snap-Link Mobile for Windows, turn Windows 10 into a remote control, for $15.99
- My Notes, note-taking application for $0.99
- Freda+ Ebook Reader, for $0.99
- Rails and Metal, train game for $0.99
- MagiCraft Balance, a strategy game for $0.99
- Mahjong Secrets HD (Full), a mahjong game, for $0.99
- Tennis in the Face, an action game, for $1.49
- PDF Annotation, a PDF editor, for $2.99
- Readiy Pro, RSS feed reader, for $1.99
App of the week

Disney Magic Kingdoms

An evil spell has been cast on the Magic Kingdom taking away all of its magic. It is the player's task to bring back the magic by lifting the curse with the help of popular Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald and Daisy.

The game is not a "city builder" game even though it shares several mechanics such as resource collection and quests with it.

Instead, it is a light adventure game in which you follow leads and complete quests. While you do build attractions such as Mickey's Fun Wheel at times, it is just one part of the game.

Other apps

Dawn of Steel

Dawn of Steel is a real-time strategy game in which you command mechs and establish your own base.

The game is divided into a build part in which you add structures to your base, and a fighting part in which you control mechs and attack enemy bases in real-time.

LiveBeard

LiveBeard is an unofficial Twitch client for Windows 10 that is currently available as a beta.

It features Cortana integration, a search to find channels, a feature's listing, full screen playback, and options to pin favorite channels to the Start screen of the operating system.

Draw-A-Way

Use the mouse or touch to draw lines on the screen to direct a ball from start to finish, and to collect the five stars on each level with the ball as well.

The physics-based game is challenging at times but it is easy enough to restart the game to try another strategy. Video ads are loaded regularly between levels of the game.

Mediafire

The official Mediafire application for Windows 10 lets you manage your files directly from within the application.

Load files directly using the application, or upload new files to your Mediafire storage.

Boltstorm

Boltstorm is an action game in which you control a knight in an area. Your task in the game is to survive, rescue other knights, and defeat the executioners that come rushing at you in increasing numbers.

Knights you pick up increase your firepower but they decrease your maneuverability at the same time.

In the end, it all comes down to surviving for as long as possible.

Office 365 Admin Universal (Beta)

The Microsoft app provides options to manage Office 365 accounts. Features include adding, blocking, editing or deleting users, resetting passwords, assigning product licenses, and contacting Microsoft support.

Dungeon Hero

Dungeon Hero is a classic dungeon crawler that uses the same mechanics as Dungeon Master or Legend of Grimrock, but instead of controlling a party of adventurers, you control only one character.

The visuals are great but controls are a bit wacky especially if you are using the mouse to control the game.

You can only play random or custom games while hand-designed maps are only available for a price in the built-in store.

Windows App Studio Installer

A helper application for apps created with Windows App Studio.

The application configures the Windows device and deploys the package created with Windows App Studio.

Mini Metal ($4.99, free trial available)

Mini Metal is a fast paced arena shooting game in which you control a battle tank equipped with different kinds of weapons and extras.

Your task is to survive for as long as possible by defeating wave after wave of enemies.

Notable updates

Line has been released as a universal application.

OneNote updated with options to play videos from TED, YouTube, and Office Mix among other options.

Simply Text, a text editor for developers, is a universal application now.

Twitter is a universal application now. It features a new dark theme and other improvements as well.

Uber app stability improved significantly.

Wikio for Wikipedia features updated with a new dark mode, an auto-mode that switches between light and dark based on the time of day, and Spanish/Russian translations.
How to play Facebook's secret basketball game

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 11:56am CET par Mark Wilson

Who doesn't love a good Easter egg? Apps, games and websites have all manner of hidden secrets, and Facebook is no different. It's not all that long ago that we showed you how to play the chess game secreted in Facebook Messenger and now another gem has been unearthed.

Also hidden away in Facebook Messenger you'll find a basketball game -- just in time for March Madness. Be warned, it's quite addictive but shooting some hoops is a great way to kill some time with a friend. All you need is an Android smartphone or an iPhone.

Before you begin, make sure that you have the latest version of Facebook Messenger installed -- head to Google Play or the App Store to see if there's an update waiting for you. With this done, you can instigate a game.

In a chat, send a basketball emoji to the person you're talking with, tap the emoji in the chat window and the game will launch. It's a very basic mini-game; just flick up with your finger to fire the ball at the hoop and see if you can push up the high score. Things start off nice and easy, but as your score increases you'll notice that the hoop starts to move.

Have fun!

Photo credit: Lightspring / Shutterstock
Check Windows and Firefox for rogue root certificates with RCC

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 11:53am CET par Mike Williams

Root certificates are a cornerstone of web security, a vital element in ensuring the sites you visit are who they claim to be.

Windows ships with a lengthy list of known trusted certificates, but applications -- and malware -- can add more, and there’s no easy way to tell which are legitimate, and which might be a problem.

RCC (Root Certificate Check) is a 48KB freeware application which scans the Windows and Firefox trusted certificate lists and highlights anything unusual.

RCC is console-based, but easy to use: double-click it, and a few seconds later the program highlights certificates which aren’t part of the baseline trusted set. (The developer says it also considers "timestamp metadata", though we’re not sure what this involves.)

This doesn’t mean the certificates are necessarily dangerous, just that they’ve been installed by some other application. For example, on our test system RCC listed certificates from Kaspersky, Bitdefender, BullGuard and "Disk Master" developer Chengdu QILING, but as these all related to packages we trusted, and had been installed on the computer, they weren’t a concern.

If your system is different, and you see items you don’t recognize, you should research them further to try and understand why they might be installed.

We launched the certificate manager (certmgr.msc), found and double-clicked the entry for Chengdu QILING (Trusted Root Certification Authorities\Certificates). This gave us information about the certificate, including a numeric ID -- 2.16.840.1.113733.1.7.23.3 -- we could search for online to gather more details. There’s a right-click Delete option to remove anything worrying.

In Firefox, click Tools > Options > Advanced > Certificates > View > Authorities to see your certificates, and click "Delete or Distrust" to remove a selected item you’ve decided you don’t need.

Keep in mind that deleting legitimate certificates can cause all kinds of odd problems: be very careful.

Even if you delete something malicious, this may not completely solve the problem. If there’s active malware on your PC then it could reinstall the certificate later.

Despite that, RCC does provide useful security information which you can’t easily get in any other way, and it’s worth having a copy around for your next security audit.

RCC is a free application for Windows 7 and later.
IT pros: Security solutions are slowing down our systems

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 10:20am CET par Alasdair Gilchrist

Despite the inherent insecurities of the cybersecurity industry, a new report from Barkly, an endpoint security company, reveals that the biggest issue IT security teams have to face with current security solutions is that they slow down the system.

When asked about the options of productivity vs security and the potential downfalls of security solutions, 41 percent of respondents said that they were dissatisfied with their current solution, not because it failed to deliver security, but because it slows down their system.

If security products are slowing systems and by extension lowering productivity, then IT pros should consider whether or not their colleagues are taking insecure shortcuts to improve efficiency, such as using unauthorized third-party apps or connecting unsanctioned devices to the network.

In addition to this system lag, as communications pass through firewalls and routers that slow down data transfer, IT professionals are also having to deal with too many updates (36 percent) and systems that are too expensive (33 percent) and provide no protection against zero-day attacks (33 percent).

However, it seems that the C-level is more worried about insider threats. "This report proves that from the CISO to the entry-level IT pro, organizations must be better aligned when it comes to security. When there’s a disconnect in priorities, level of understanding and measurement, even a seemingly strong security initiative is destined to fail", said Jack Danahy, co-founder and CTO of Barkly.

"Once teams understand each other’s priorities and concerns around security, they can implement the tools they really need, that will best protect their endpoints from ever-increasing, complex threats".

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.

Photo Credit: nito/Shutterstock
$99 Mineserver: The devil is in the details

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 9:00am CET par Robert X. Cringely

You may recall my three sons ran a successful Kickstarter campaign last fall for their $99 Mineserver, a multiuser Minecraft server the size of a pack (not a carton) of cigarettes. On the eve of their product finally shipping here’s an update with some lessons for any complex technical project.

At the time we shot the Kickstarter video my kids already had in hand a functional prototype. Everything seen in the video was real and the boys felt that only producing custom cases really stood in the way of shipping. How wrong they were!

First we needed a mobile app to administer the server so we hired an experienced mobile developer through guru.com. His credentials were great but maybe it should have been a tip-off when, right after we made the first payment, the developer moved from Europe to India. The United States Postal Service guaranteed us it would take no more than five days for our development hardware to reach Mumbai. It took three weeks. And our USPS refund for busting the delivery guarantee has yet to appear.

We were naive. The original development estimate was exceeded in the first week and we were up to more than 8X by the time we pulled the plug. Still the developer kept trying to charge us, eventually sending the project to arbitration, which we won.

Our saving grace was we found a commercial app we could license for less than a dollar per unit. Why hadn’t we done this earlier? Well it wasn’t available for our ARM platform and didn’t work with our preferred Minecraft server, called Cuberite (formerly MC Server).

Enter, stage right, the lawyers of Minecraft developer Mojang in Sweden.

Mojang is a peculiar outfit. They are nominally owned by Microsoft yet Redmond is only very slowly starting to exert control. I’m not sure the boys and girls in Sweden even know that. Minecraft server software is free, Mojang makes its money (lots of money) from client licenses, so they and Microsoft ought to want third-party hardware like ours to be successful. But no, that’s not the case.

I’ve known people at Microsoft since the company was two years old so it was easy to reach out for support. Maybe we could do some co-marketing?

Nope, that’s against Mojang rules, Redmond told us, their eyes rolling at the same time.

We urged them to consider a hardware certification program. We’d gladly pay a small royalty to be deemed Ready-for-Minecraft.

Nope, Mojang refuses to have anything to do with hardware developers. Oh, and both our logo and font were in violation of Mojang copyrights, so change those right away, please.

Swedes are very polite but firm, much like Volvos.

Minecraft, which is written in Java, is nominally Open Source, but there are some peculiar restrictions on distributing the code. The server software can’t be distributed pre-compiled. For that matter it also can’t be distributed even as source code if the delivery vehicle is a piece of operational hardware like our Mineserver. Our box would have to ship empty then download the source and compile it for our ARM platform before the first use, making everything a lot more difficult.

Now let’s be clear, this particular restriction technically only applies to one version of the Minecraft server, usually called Vanilla -- the multiuser server distributed for free directly by Mojang. There are other Minecraft servers that, in theory, we ought to be able to ship with our little boxes except Mojang has all the developers so freaked that nobody does it. Besides, Vanilla is the official Minecraft server and some people won’t accept anything else.

But our experience shows Vanilla Minecraft isn’t very good at all. In fact it is our least favorite server, primarily because it supports only a single core on our four-core and eight-core boxes. As such Vanilla supports the lowest number of concurrent Minecraft players. A better server like Spigot can support 2-3 times as many users as Vanilla.

The best Minecraft server of all in our opinion is Cuberite, which is also the only one written in C++ instead of Java. Cuberite extracts far more performance from our hardware than any other server, which is why we chose to make it our de facto installation. We’ll also support Vanilla, Spigot and Tekkit Lite (you can switch between them), but Cuberite will be the first server to compile on the machine.

The only problem with Cuberite is that the off-the-shelf admin application we discovered doesn’t support it. Or didn’t. The very cooperative admin developer in the UK is extending his product to support Cuberite. This should be done soon and waiting for Cuberite is a major reason why we haven’t shipped. We’re hoping to have it in a few more days.

But waiting for Cuberite wasn’t our only problem. We had to develop a dynamic DNS system, Wi-Fi support, and make sure the units were totally reliable.

Oh, and our laser cutter burst into flames.

Understand that for a Mineserver or Mineserver Pro, the sysadmin also typically goes by another title -- Mom. Our administration tool allows her to control the server from any Internet-connected computer including Android and iOS mobile phones. She can bump or ban players from the frozen food aisle, monitor in-game text chat, reboot the server -- anything. It’s a very powerful and easy-to-use tool.

While we were waiting for Cuberite support we added something else for Mom to worry about, a Mumble server. Mumble is open source voice chat with very low latency. We were able to add Mumble to Mineserver because the CPU load is very low with all encoding and decoding done in the client and the server acting mainly as a VoIP switch. If she wants to, Mama can listen to the Mumble feed and step-in if little Johnny drops an F-bomb.

Every Mineserver has its own individual name chosen by the customer. This server name, rather than an IP address, is how whitelisted players find the game. Consulting with dynamic DNS experts prior to the Kickstarter campaign this sounded easy to do with a combination of A records and SRV records. But it’s not so easy because Mom doesn’t want to have to do port forwarding, so that meant adding other techniques like UPnP, which is tough to do if it’s not turned-on in your router. We eventually developed what the boys believe is a 95 percent solution. In 95 percent of cases it should work right out of the box with the remaining five percent falling on the slim shoulders of some Cringely kid.

Every Mineserver is assembled by a specific child who is also responsible for product support. His e-mail address is right on the case and if something doesn’t work he can ssh, telnet, or VNC into the box to fix it.

Somewhere in this mix of challenges we lost our primary Linux consultant. We still don’t know what happened to him, he just stopped responding to e-mails. The next consultant really didn’t have enough time for us, but finally we found a guy with the help of our admin developer who has been doing a great job. He helped us switch our Linux server distribution with several positive results and helped come up with the custom distro we use today.

But still there were problems, specifically Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi was something we’d rather not do at all, but it has become the new Ethernet (even Ethernet inventor Bob Metcalfe pretends Wi-Fi is Ethernet, which it isn’t but we still love Bob). Many home networks are entirely Wi-Fi. We feel the best way to use a Mineserver even in Wi-Fi-only homes is by plugging the included CAT6 cable into a router or access point port and using the router’s Wi-Fi capability. But some customers don’t want to plug anything into anything, so we’ve included native Wi-Fi support in some Mineservers and all Mineserver Pros. That sounds easier to do than it actually was.

Mineservers are headless so how do you set an SSID or password the first time? Good question, but one we finally solved. Mineservers can be configured and administered entirely without wires if needed. In most situations the customer will plug-in their Mineserver to power and it will just work. If it doesn’t, then an 11 year-old will fix it. That first power-up will involve downloading and compiling the selected server software, which can be changed at any time. It’s a process that takes 5-10 minutes and then you are up and running.

What we hope is our final technical problem has been particularly vexing. We now have three Mineservers and three Mineserver Pros running at the sonic.net data center here in Santa Rosa. All six servers plus a power strip and a gig-Ethernet switch fit on a one foot square piece of plywood. The truly great folks at Sonic gave us half a rack and we fill perhaps one percent of that, meaning you could probably put 1200 Mineservers in a full rack -- enough to support up to 60,000 players. But operating in this highly-secure facility with its ultra-clean power and unlimited bandwidth we began to notice during testing that sometimes the servers would just disappear from the net. One minute the IP would be there and the next minute it would be gone.

We’re still waiting for Cuberite support of course, but we even if we had that today we still can’t ship a product that disappears from the net. We’ve tried swapping-out boards but the problem still occurs. Maybe it was the gig-Ethernet switch, so we got a new one, then a bigger one, then an even bigger managed switch. We changed cables. We started fiddling with the software. Each Mineserver board has a serial port so we converted an old Mac Mini to Linux, added a powered USB hub and six UART-to-USB adapters so now our consultant in Texas can use six virtual serial terminals to monitor the test Mineservers 24/7 without having to rely on their Ethernet connections. Everything is being logged so the next time one goes down we’ll know exactly what’s happening.

We’re also in touch with other users of the same board like Lockheed Martin and Lawrence Livermore Lab where they have a cluster of 160. But that’s nothing compared to three kids in Santa Rosa who are right now burning-in 500 boards.

It’s the final bug, we’re approaching it with planning, gusto, and plenty of Captain Crunch, and fully expect to solve this last issue and start shipping next week when the kids are off school for Spring Break.

Mineservers as a business so far aren’t quite as good as the boys had hoped. The Kickstarter units are losing an average of $15 each (so far). But $7500 in the hole is not much cost to start a technology business. And with their marketing strategy (called "F-ing brilliant" by a VC friend) the boys are hoping to sell 100+ post-Kickstarter units per month to eventually pay for college.
Amazon Echo meets Automatic, attempts to make your car smarter

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 2:56am CET par Alan Buckingham
It seems every product hitting the market these days is touted to be smart, with the catch-phrase Internet of Things being thrown around everywhere. While there have been security issues in this new product line, there are also some really cool things available, and it captures the imagination.

Alexa, the persona behind Amazon Echo, is one way to enter the market, though you need to add devices to pair with it. Lights, door locks, thermostats, there's no shortage of items to choose from and it's growing all the time.

One place you wouldn't expect Alexa to appear is in your car. After all, the device is plugged in back at home, right? Not so fast, that's coming now also thanks to a partnership with Automatic.

Amazon claims it is "reaching out to share some details about their integration with Automatic". What does this mean to you?

Here are a few options you can choose from in the form of questions you can ask:
- "Alexa, ask Automatic where's my car?" When you need to locate your vehicle in a city or parking lot.
- "Alexa, ask Automatic what my fuel level is". It will let you know if you need to leave a bit early in the morning to stop off for a fill-up.
- "Alexa, ask Automatic how much I drove last week". In fact, you can check this for the month or even the year.
Amazon concludes "This integration is just one of Automatic’s growing roster of integrations with voice commands, joining IFTTT, Nest, and Concur, among others".
Windows 10 Insider Preview Redstone Build 14291 delivers extensions to Microsoft Edge and other improvements

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 1:18am CET par Wayne Williams
Microsoft is having a very busy Thursday. As well as beginning the long-awaited rollout of Windows 10 Mobile, the software giant has also pushed the button on a new PC build for Insiders on the Fast ring.

Fast ring updates sometimes offer new features, but other times it’s just tweaks to the core and bug fixes. Windows 10 Insider Build 14291 is one the more noteworthy updates, finally delivering the long awaited extensions in Microsoft Edge, as well as pinned tabs and other Edge enhancements. There’s also an updated Maps app, and a wealth of other changes, including the introduction of a new Feedback Hub.

Extension support is of course the biggie and finally gives Microsoft Edge a chance to compete with the likes of Firefox and Chrome. To try out an extension, just click on the ellipses (…) at the top right and then click Extensions. In the Extensions pane click Get extensions.

This is obviously a new feature, so there aren’t many add-ons available at the moment, but you can try out Mouse Gestures, Microsoft Translator (automatically translates pages in over 50 different languages) and an early version of Reddit Enhancement Suite.

More extensions are on the way, including AdBlock, Adblock Plus, Amazon, LastPass, Evernote.

Although extensions currently have to be downloaded and sideloaded they will eventually be made available through the Windows Store.

Edge also now lets you pin tabs so you can have easy access to favorite and regularly used sites. This feature works exactly as you’d expect. To pin a tab, right-click on it and choose Pin tab. To unpin a tab, right-click on it and choose Unpin tab. Pinned tabs don’t show a close button, so can’t be closed accidentally.

Finally, you can now copy any link into your clipboard, and right-click on the address bar in Microsoft Edge and choose "Paste and go" from the context menu. This is a standard feature found in most other browsers, and is a welcome inclusion in Edge.

Other Changes

The updated Maps app offers a more lightweight and improved UI as well as general improvements and new features including one-tap access to search and directions from anywhere, the ability to view multiple searches and directions at the same time, and Cortana based turn-by-turn directions. You can read more about the changes to the app here.

The Alarms & Clock app has been updated as well with a new inline time picker, and there are a couple of big improvements for Japanese users (one-handed kana touch keyboard and Lined-mode Text Input Canvas).

The Feedback Hub, which combines the Insider Hub and Windows Feedback apps, also makes its debut in this new build.

In addition to all those new features Build 14291 includes the following fixes:
- The issue causing the notification area ("systray") to look out of alignment when turning on the "always show all icons in the notification area" should now be fixed.
- Fixed the issue where connectivity to older Wi-Fi networks using the WEP encryption security method may be broken.
- Fixed an issue where the "X" to close the "Find of Page" toolbar in Microsoft Edge is displayed off screen on 8-inch devices when in portrait mode.
- Fixed an issue where the USB icon in the notification area was reverting to the old icon when ejecting drives.
- Fixed an issue where clicking the suggested search in Microsoft Edge resulted in a URL to the search as the search string.
With this being a Fast ring release, there are the usual list of known issues to be aware of including:
- Microsoft is continue to investigate an issue in which some Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4, and Surface Book devices experience a freeze or hang and all input such as keyboard/trackpad and touch do not work. The workaround is to hold down the power button to force the device to hard-reboot.
- Your PC may freeze when plugging in an Xbox One or Xbox 360 controller and other gamepads in this build.
- If you use Hyper-V and have a Virtual Switch configured for your network adapter, you may see an error indicator (red-colored "X") for your network adapter in the notification area of your taskbar. The error indicator is incorrect and your network adapter should continue to work just fine.
- We are seeing reports of some apps such as QQ crashing. We are currently investigating, and this bug may also impact older apps such as Windows Live Mail and Expression Encoder 4.
- If you have Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Internet Security, or the Kaspersky Total Security Suite installed on your PC there is a known driver bug that prevents these programs from working as expected in builds from the Development Branch. We are partnering with Kaspersky to fix this issue for a future release, but at this time there are no known workarounds. While this issue is present, we recommend using Windows Defender or another third party anti-virus product of your choice to remain protected.
Are you excited about the introduction of extensions in Edge? Will it make you use Microsoft's new browser?

Photo credit: charnsitr / Shutterstock
Windows 10 Insider Preview Redstone Build 14291 delivers extensions to Microsoft Edge and other new features

Publié: mars 18, 2016, 1:18am CET par Wayne Williams
Microsoft is having a very busy Thursday. As well as beginning the long-awaited rollout of Windows 10 Mobile, the software giant has also pushed the button on a new PC build for Insiders on the Fast ring.

Fast ring updates sometimes offer new features, but other times it’s just tweaks to the core and bug fixes. Windows 10 Insider Build 14291 is one the more noteworthy updates, finally delivering the long awaited extensions in Microsoft Edge, as well as pinned tabs and other Edge enhancements. There’s also an updated Maps app, and a wealth of other changes, including the introduction of a new Feedback Hub.

Extension support is of course the biggie and finally gives Microsoft Edge a chance to compete with the likes of Firefox and Chrome. To try out an extension, just click on the ellipses (…) at the top right and then click Extensions. In the Extensions pane click Get extensions.

This is obviously a new feature, so there aren’t many add-ons available at the moment, but you can try out Mouse Gestures, Microsoft Translator (automatically translates pages in over 50 different languages) and an early version of Reddit Enhancement Suite.

More extensions are on the way, including AdBlock, Adblock Plus, Amazon, LastPass, Evernote.

Although extensions currently have to be downloaded and sideloaded they will eventually be made available through the Windows Store.

Edge also now lets you pin tabs so you can have easy access to favorite and regularly used sites. This feature works exactly as you’d expect. To pin a tab, right-click on it and choose Pin tab. To unpin a tab, right-click on it and choose Unpin tab. Pinned tabs don’t show a close button, so can’t be closed accidentally.

Finally, you can now copy any link into your clipboard, and right-click on the address bar in Microsoft Edge and choose "Paste and go" from the context menu. This is a standard feature found in most other browsers, and is a welcome inclusion in Edge.

Other Changes

The updated Maps app offers a more lightweight and improved UI as well as general improvements and new features including one-tap access to search and directions from anywhere, the ability to view multiple searches and directions at the same time, and Cortana based turn-by-turn directions. You can read more about the changes to the app here.

The Alarms & Clock app has been updated as well with a new inline time picker, and there are a couple of big improvements for Japanese users (one-handed kana touch keyboard and Lined-mode Text Input Canvas).

The Feedback Hub, which combines the Insider Hub and Windows Feedback apps, also makes its debut in this new build.

In addition to all those new features Build 14291 includes the following fixes:
- The issue causing the notification area ("systray") to look out of alignment when turning on the "always show all icons in the notification area" should now be fixed.
- Fixed the issue where connectivity to older Wi-Fi networks using the WEP encryption security method may be broken.
- Fixed an issue where the "X" to close the "Find of Page" toolbar in Microsoft Edge is displayed off screen on 8-inch devices when in portrait mode.
- Fixed an issue where the USB icon in the notification area was reverting to the old icon when ejecting drives.
- Fixed an issue where clicking the suggested search in Microsoft Edge resulted in a URL to the search as the search string.
With this being a Fast ring release, there are the usual list of known issues to be aware of including:
- Microsoft is continue to investigate an issue in which some Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4, and Surface Book devices experience a freeze or hang and all input such as keyboard/trackpad and touch do not work. The workaround is to hold down the power button to force the device to hard-reboot.
- Your PC may freeze when plugging in an Xbox One or Xbox 360 controller and other gamepads in this build.
- If you use Hyper-V and have a Virtual Switch configured for your network adapter, you may see an error indicator (red-colored "X") for your network adapter in the notification area of your taskbar. The error indicator is incorrect and your network adapter should continue to work just fine.
- We are seeing reports of some apps such as QQ crashing. We are currently investigating, and this bug may also impact older apps such as Windows Live Mail and Expression Encoder 4.
- If you have Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Internet Security, or the Kaspersky Total Security Suite installed on your PC there is a known driver bug that prevents these programs from working as expected in builds from the Development Branch. We are partnering with Kaspersky to fix this issue for a future release, but at this time there are no known workarounds. While this issue is present, we recommend using Windows Defender or another third party anti-virus product of your choice to remain protected.
Are you excited about the introduction of extensions in Edge? Will it make you use Microsoft's new browser?

Photo credit: charnsitr / Shutterstock