The year 2016 is when the United States sold its soul to Donald Trump and I signed over mine to Apple. How's that for introduction to the five favs series, joining colleagues Alan Buckingham, Brian Fagioli, and Wayne Williams? Yup. I'm an Apple whore as 2017 opens onto its second day. The fruit-logo company won back my business as I gave up the Google lifestyle. Three main reasons: 1) I believed CEO Tim Cook's privacy promises, all while my concerns about Big G information collection increased. 2) I found the visual acuity of Apple fonts and user interfaces to be far superior to Google's, which helped… [Continue Reading]
SingularLabs has updated its PC maintenance tool System Ninja to version 3.1.6. New features include a Duplicate File Finder which can locate matches to a particular file or MD5 hash, as well as finding all duplicates in a folder tree. The Junk Scanner now supports cleaning Vuze, Steam and .NET Framework logs. Windows 10 improvements include fixes for icon resolution issues, and better cleaning of Internet Explorer. The Startup Manager can now provide information and make recommendations about even more startup items. If you’ve not used System Ninja before, it has all the usual PC maintenance features: junk file cleaning,… [Continue Reading]
Tech companies use CES to launch a ton of products. Most of them are boring, but some are actually quite interesting. Dell's new 27-inch Ultrathin monitor falls in the latter category, thanks to a very slim profile, sleek design, and some pretty attractive specifications. The appeal of the 27 Ultrathin, as it's officially called, obviously comes from its thin side profile, which Dell has managed to achieve by having the components that are traditionally placed behind the screen moved to the base of the monitor. That's an elegant solution, which makes the 27 Ultrathin a pretty appealing option for a home office.… [Continue Reading]
The reign of the cloud has begun. Employing a strong cloud strategy has escalated from being a luxury to a must have for the enterprise. Meanwhile, as companies around the world struggle with their digital transformation efforts, Bimodal IT has become the new norm, for good or bad. I anticipate we’ll see companies look to take their cloud strategies to the next level in an effort to bridge the divide between the two modes of IT in 2017. They’ll do that through the use of hybrid approaches including the expansion of private cloud usage and new solutions that facilitate legacy… [Continue Reading]
The election of Donald Trump has alarmed privacy advocates who worry that the self-described "law-and-order" president will take a more heavy-handed approach towards issues of security and privacy. Of particular concern are fears that there will be attempts to weaken or otherwise disable the encryption that is widely used to protect sensitive data and maintain user privacy. Based on the proposed cabinet-level nominees put forth by Trump, these fears may be well-founded. The nominee for the Director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo, is on record as saying that the use of strong encryption is a "red flag" of nefarious activity.… [Continue Reading]
When you install apps from Google Play, you'll be notified whenever an update is available. If you have opted to side-load apps from other sources, however, this update notification is not available, leaving you having to keep manually checking for new versions. This is, of course, a massive pain in the derriere, and far too much like hard work. Install APKUpdater, and your side-loaded apps will be kept up to date just like those from more official sources. Here's what you need to know. The first thing you'll need to do is install the APKUpdater app from Guthub -- as… [Continue Reading]
REX is a streamlined chess-like digital board game that’s easy to learn and quick to play. The board is a compact 5×5 squares, and each player starts with only 5 pieces: two "Guards", two "Priests" and a "King". Each piece has different rules for moving -- essentially, they’ve able to jump 1, 2 or 3 squares -- and a built-in tutorial explains every point. Even if you forget, there are hotkeys to remind you which piece is which, and where it can move. There are multiple playing modes, including computer opponents with four levels of AI, and an option to… [Continue Reading]
Unlike Facebook, Twitter lacks the option to edit what you have posted in order to correct typos or other mistakes. It's something that has been the subject of complaints and discussion for years now, and Jack Dorsey is finally starting to listen. Writing -- on Twitter, funnily enough -- just before New Year, Dorsey said that an edit function is "def needed. But for everyone, not just those w badges". At the moment it is not known whether the feature is due to arrive, but it's clearly something that Twitter is considering. Dorsey makes it clear that he understands the… [Continue Reading]
SoftPerfect has updated its network monitor NetWorx to version 6.0. The big change, in line with other recent SoftPerfect updates, is that NetWorx is now only available as commercial software. The program is still available as an unrestricted 30-day trial, but continued usage requires a license. Prices start at $29 for home users to cover up to 5 devices, and business users pay from $49. All licenses get you updates and support for one year only. Other additions in NetWorx 6.0 include persistent height and width for the usage window, and an option to attach usage reports to email quota… [Continue Reading]
It's no secret that despite being billed as a great way to download large Linux distros and copyright free software, BitTorrent is primarily used to download the latest Star Wars movie, episodes of The Grand Tour, and illicit copies of Photoshop. A new website -- unsophisticatedly named 'I Know What You Download' -- does exactly what you might expect: it exposes the torrents you have downloaded. More than this, it can be used to check what has been downloaded by any IP address, and there is even an option to trick people you know into letting you spy on what… [Continue Reading]
We are less than 48 hours into 2017, and Samsung is already on the ball with a series of new smartphone announcements. Kicking things off for the new year is the updated Galaxy A series -- comprising the Galaxy A7, Galaxy A5, and Galaxy A3. Available in Black Sky, Gold Sand, Blue Mist and Peach Cloud, the handsets feature 5.7-, 5.2- and 4.7-inch screens respectively. The main focus of the product line refresh is the enhanced camera, but Samsung also highlights the metal frame and 3D glass back which it says draws on the company's "premium design heritage". All three… [Continue Reading]
If you need a Windows 10 laptop, you really can't go wrong with the Dell XPS 13 -- it has great specs and exceptional battery life. Heck, the company even sells a version pre-loaded with Ubuntu, making it a popular choice for Linux users too. While you could configure the laptop with a touchscreen, there was no option for a convertible 2-in-1 version, sadly. This was particularly disappointing, since Windows 10 works wonderfully on both a laptop and a tablet. This is soon to change, apparently, as Dell has leaked a new version of the laptop -- seemingly by accident --… [Continue Reading]
If you need a Windows 10 laptop, you really can't go wrong with the Dell XPS 13 -- it has great specs and exceptional battery life. Heck, the company even sells a version pre-loaded with Ubuntu, making it a popular choice for Linux users too. While you could configure the laptop with a touchscreen, there was no option for a convertible 2-in-1 version, sadly. This was particularly disappointing, since Windows 10 works wonderfully on both a laptop and a tablet. This is soon to change, apparently, as Dell has leaked a new version of the laptop -- seemingly by accident --… [Continue Reading]