Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » juin 20, 2016

BetaNews.Com (13 non lus)

Google Chrome is a Windows 10 battery vampire, and Microsoft Edge is the garlic

Publié: juin 20, 2016, 9:46pm CEST par Brian Fagioli

Windows 10 is a great operating system, offering a solid user interface and advanced security. The default browser, however, is not so great. Don't get me wrong, Microsoft Edge has a lot of potential, but Chrome is arguably the superior browser for now. Google's browser is not perfect on Windows 10, apparently, as according to Microsoft, it is a battery vampire. In other words, Chrome -- as well as Firefox and Opera -- will drain your battery faster than the default browser. Using Microsoft Edge is like garlic to these vampires, as it can help you reclaim precious battery life. "We connected a Surface Book… [Continue Reading]
The top three ways to learn from data

Publié: juin 20, 2016, 8:16pm CEST par James Richardson

For as long as I’ve been involved with the field, the hard-headed school of "we need a cost benefit analysis" or "build me an ROI justification" has defined the business-benefit of BI as mainly its ability to "speed up and improve decision making". With the rise of self-service BI, the first part of that aspiration has been successfully satisfied. People are getting decision-relevant data quickly. However, the second outcome -- improved decision making -- is a less certain result (and also much harder to model in an ROI calculation than is agility). The difference in learning What is it that… [Continue Reading]
Doctor Google will soon be able to (more reliably) diagnose what's wrong with you

Publié: juin 20, 2016, 7:15pm CEST par Wayne Williams

Feeling unwell? Not sure whether you’re coming down with a cold or something much more serious? One of the worst things you can do is Google your symptoms, as there’s a good chance that after 10 minutes of browsing you’ll have read enough to convince yourself it’s not flu but rather the early stages of Ebola, and you’re actually going to DIE, HORRIBLY. Time to Google "writing a will…" Despite this being a BAD IDEA, millions of people still Google their symptoms on a daily basis -- the search giant says it amounts to roughly 1 percent of all queries… [Continue Reading]
Oracle's cloud business skyrockets, but software sales dip

Publié: juin 20, 2016, 6:27pm CEST par Anthony Spadafora

The success of Oracle’s cloud computing business this year allowed the company to post better than expected results during the fourth fiscal quarter. The company’s cloud business is made up of two parts: software as a service and platform as a service. Oracle’s customers pay to access its applications online as well as to have access to tools that allow them to program and manage apps and analyze data. Its software as a service segment added 1,600 customers and its platform as a service segment added 2,000 customers during Q4. These additional customers allowed Oracle to beat the previous growth… [Continue Reading]
Find out which version of Windows a program requires with ExeProperties

Publié: juin 20, 2016, 5:10pm CEST par Mike Williams

You’ve downloaded what looks like an interesting program, but it’s not working. Is it for 32, or 64-bit Windows? Maybe it needs a different Windows version? There’s no built-in way to find out. ExeProperties is a tiny free Explorer extension which displays an EXE or DLL’s minimum requirements in a couple of clicks. The program has no interface, doesn’t add any background processes or system tray icons. Install it and there’s no immediate sign that anything has changed at all. There’s just one new feature. If you right-click an EXE or DLL file and select Properties, there’s now an extra… [Continue Reading]
USB devices still represent a major security threat for enterprises

Publié: juin 20, 2016, 4:41pm CEST par Ian Barker

With the increasing move to the cloud, it may seem that USB storage devices are becoming obsolete. However, research by endpoint protection company CoSoSys suggests that USB still has a place. The survey of 2016 Infosecurity Europe visitors looks at the use of USB storage devices in the enterprise and the policies governing them. The research found that 74 percent of respondents' organizations allow employees to use USB devices in their networks, yet only 35 percent of companies force employees to use encrypted USB devices. What's surprising in the age of cloud is that 65 percent of employees still use USB… [Continue Reading]
Protests from Apple and Microsoft mean there won't be a rifle emoji

Publié: juin 20, 2016, 3:20pm CEST par Mark Wilson

With the unstoppable growth of chat apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and the like, emoji have become an incredible phenomenon. The Unicode Consortium is due to publish the Unicode 9.0 spec tomorrow, and it seems that objections from Apple and Microsoft means we're not going to see a rifle emoji included. The intervention is slightly surprising, yet not entirely unexpected. With the large number of high-profile mass-shootings such as in Orlando, debate about guns has come to the fore once again and the censorship of emoji is perhaps not completely unexpected. But at the same time, there is already… [Continue Reading]
Sandboxie 5.12 supports Office Click-to-Run, improves Windows 8/8.1 performance

Publié: juin 20, 2016, 1:56pm CEST par Nick Peers

Sandboxing makes it possible to isolate programs from the rest of your system for testing or security purposes. Sandboxie 5.12 is the latest build of such a shareware tool for Windows. Version 5.12 now adds support sandboxing Microsoft Office 2013, 2016 or 365’s ClickToRun installer for paid users, while improving performance on earlier versions of Windows. As well as supporting the latest click-to-run versions of Microsoft Office, Sandboxie 5.12 also widens support to Google Chrome 52, which works with non-paid versions of the software too. Two changes see sandboxed applications denied access to the system power configuration tool, while the… [Continue Reading]
CCleaner Business Edition: A useful tool for companies with limited support resources [Review]

Publié: juin 20, 2016, 12:59pm CEST par Ian Barker

You’re probably familiar with the free version of the CCleaner system clean up tool. What you might not know is that there’s also a Business Edition aimed at ensuring small and medium business endpoints run efficiently. Like the standard version it can remove unneeded files, recovers hard drive space, speed up Windows, reduces crashes and helps protect privacy and security. Business Edition adds the ability to clean multiple user profiles, it updates itself automatically, supports scripting, and comes with priority technical support. In use When installed CCleaner creates a desktop icon, it also adds itself to the right-click context menu… [Continue Reading]
3 fun alternatives to Windows Solitaire

Publié: juin 20, 2016, 11:33am CEST par Mike Williams

Windows 10 saw Microsoft replace the old-style Solitaire with a Windows app which pesters you with ads every time it runs. This could be much worse -- the ads are only at launch, not while you’re playing -- but if you’re looking for an alternative anyway, here are three fun competitors for Windows XP/ Vista and later. 123 Free Solitaire looks as good as the Microsoft edition, and supports many more game types: FreeCell, Klondike, Diplomat, Forty Thieves, Flower Garden, Golf A-K, Grandfather’s Clock, Golf A-K, Klondike by Threes, Pyramid, Spider Solitaire, Spider Solitaire One Suit, Spider Solitaire Two Suits… [Continue Reading]
Britain has more unicorns than anywhere else in Europe

Publié: juin 20, 2016, 10:52am CEST par Mark Wilson

Unicorns are breeding in Britain. The country is now home to more than a third of European unicorns (tech companies valued at over $1 billion), but the whole of Europe is faring well. A new report by GP Bullhound, an investment banking firm, reveals that there are 47 unicorns in Europe and 18 of them are to be found in Britain. The number of European unicorns has jumped by more than 20 percent in the last year, and the overall valued is placed at $130 billion (around £90 billion). Despite the seemingly high valuations, nearly half of the companies on… [Continue Reading]
LinkedIn gets lucky

Publié: juin 20, 2016, 9:01am CEST par Robert X. Cringely

Several readers have asked for my take on Microsoft’s purchase last week of LinkedIn for $26.2 billion -- a figure some think is too high and others think is a steal. I think there is generally more here than meets the eye. Microsoft definitely needed more presence in social media if it wants to be seen as a legit competitor to Google and Facebook. Yammer wasn’t big enough. LinkedIn fits Redmond’s business orientation and was big enough to show that Satya Nadella isn’t afraid to open up the BIG CHECKBOOK. A simple financial analysis of the deal shows LinkedIn was… [Continue Reading]
nonda ZUS Kevlar reinforced USB-A to Lightning Cable for Apple devices [Review]

Publié: juin 20, 2016, 2:29am CEST par Brian Fagioli

When you are constantly on the go -- and who isn't, nowadays? -- your smartphone becomes an indispensable tool. With all of this phone usage, you will probably need to charge the device a lot. This means having a charger and cable ready in your car, bag, or pocket. The problem? These cables tend to take a lot of abuse and can become damaged over time. Quality cables -- especially MFI certified Apple Lightning variants -- are expensive, and buying replacements can become costly. A new cable -- the ZUS Kevlar Charging Cable by nonda -- is both affordable and built to… [Continue Reading]