20 awesome office gadgets and must-haves – With these gadgets and must-haves, you’ll have everyone in the office wondering how so much win could possibly come from one person! Be the awesome you want your office to be.
Five user-friendly archiving and compression tools – You’re not stuck using the built-in archiving/compression app that comes with your OS. Here are a few alternatives to consider.
YouTube Adds Face-Blurring Tool – To take advantage of this feature, select the video you’d like to edit within YouTube’s Video Enhancement tool, go to Additional Features, and click the “Apply” button below the Blur All Faces option. You can preview the video before publishing and once you do, there will be the option to delete the non-blurred, original copy of the video from your YouTube account.
11 Powerful Password Managers – You absolutely must use strong passwords for your secure site logins, and every single password needs to be different. The only way to manage both of these imperatives is to get help from a password manager.
The Australian Government wants to be your Facebook friend – The Government is using a triple bogeyman threat – terrorists, paedophiles, and organised criminals – to justify Big Brother-style cyberstalking and trying to be your Facebook friend, policy analyst Andrew Baker says. Mr Baker says the proposals currently before the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security are “creepy”. “The Government wants to be your Facebook friend, follow you on Twitter, read your emails and text messages, and know which websites you visit” he said. (recommended by Mal C.)
Telecom firm says “No” to FBI surveillance demands – In a case that has been cloaked in secrecy, a phone company is fighting an FBI request to access customer records.
New 7-Inch Nook will Reportedly Have ‘Revolutionary’ Screen – Seven-inch tablet rumors are hot right now. Here’s the latest one: Barnes & Noble will release a new Nook tablet with a “revolutionary” screen.
Microsoft Launching Windows 8 on Oct. 26 – Microsoft today confirmed that it will release the final version of Windows 8 on Oct. 26. Windows chief Steven Sinofsky made the announcement at Microsoft’s annual sales meeting, according to a Microsoft blog post.
MyFreeCopyright.com Is Now An Official Scam – When Matthew Whittaker launched MyFreeCopyright.com in 2006, many people questioned whether the service was a scam. Legally, the service is not linked to any government copyright office. What it was designed to do was to prove that a person had created a specific work on a specific date and time, by digitally registering that work. Since there was nothing illegal about what the service was, and it did that service well, it became popular with thousands of bloggers, web site developers, artists and others creating intellectual property that they wanted proof of creation for. Now, all that has changed. In May of this year, six years and one month after he created it, Matthew Whittaker sold the web site and it appears that it is now owned by one Regge Chan in Hong Kong.
10 Free Mac OS X Utilities – You may think you know all there is to know about your Mac. You may even think it’s perfect. Both statements would likely be incorrect. Teach your Mac some new, cool tricks with these ten utilities.
Security:
Wi-Fi Networks on NYC Payphones Pose Security Risks – Free wireless hotspots means getting online is easier than ever, but don’t let down your guard when connecting to these networks. Free Wi-Fi is not just a boon to end-users; criminals can take advantage of the service to set up man-in-the-middle attacks.
Android malware is booming – Trend Micro’s January prediction that some 11,000 pieces of Android malware will be detected by June this year has proved completely inaccurate, as the number of malicious applications in the wild for Google’s mobile OS has exploded and now reaches over 25,000.
Download Firefox 14.0.1 for Extra Browsing Security – This latest major release of Mozilla’s popular browser adds several new features to keep users safe on the Web.
Compromised online accounts for sale – The recently unearthed website of a service specializing in selling access to compromised email and social networking accounts of Russian and Ukrainian users offers a fascinating glimpse into just how much one such account is worth to spammers.
Furtive French photos feign as Facebook, but it’s a malware attack – A quasi-French malware attack has been spammed out, offering photographs. Don’t open the attachment – or you could end up with an infected computer!
Apple adds unique identifiers to fight iOS in-app purchase hack – Apple is starting to provide a solution to the hacking of its In-App Purchase program for iOS. The company has added unique identifiers to the receipts of purchases but there’s still more to be done before app developers are protected.
Company News:
Microsoft muffs up browser choices for Windows 7 users, Europe isn’t happy – Although ordered to let Windows users choose which browser they would prefer, a Microsoft “technical error” meant 28 million Windows 7 users were given no choice at all.
Skybox Security Introduces Next-Generation Vulnerability Management Solution – The new technologies are embedded in Skybox Risk Control 6.5, the first integrated vulnerability management solution that combines the capabilities to discover vulnerabilities, prioritize risk automatically, and drive remediation activities.
AVG Debuts Powerful Social Media Integrator – MultiMi is a social media integrator that helps people stay in touch with the people that matter in their life. Whether it’s Facebook, Gmail, Twitter or any other platform, MultiMi lets users stay in touch with one click. They can drag a tweet into an email while simultaneously updating their Facebook status or move a photo from email into Flickr or Picasa. Not only does MultiMi help users to seamlessly integrate multiple channels, it protects people’s online activity with AVG’s renowned LinkScanner technology.
Judge: Apple must publicly state Samsung didn’t copy iPad – Apple has been told by a U.K. judge that it must publicly admit — online and in newspapers — that Samsung’s tablets did not infringe the iPad’s design following an earlier ruling.
ManageEngine Ships Private Social Network Exclusively for IT – ManageEngine, the real-time IT management company, today announced the general availability of ITPulse, the industry’s first private social network built exclusively for IT teams. ITPulse engages and socializes IT teams by establishing a one-stop, cascading wall for real-time display of IT infrastructure health and collaboration in a secure and fun environment.
Judge Dismisses Privacy Lawsuit Against LinkedIn – A federal judge in California dismissed a privacy class-action lawsuit against LinkedIn that alleged the social media network violated provisions of the Stored Communications Act (SCA) when it disclosed the IDs and browsing histories of LinkedIn users to advertising companies.
Webopedia Daily:
Windows RT – One of the three editions of the forthcoming Windows 8 (along with Windows 8 standard and Windows 8 Pro), Windows RT is a tablet-focused operating system designed to run on mobile devices powered by ARM-based chips. While Windows RT has been developed for use on tablets and similar mobile devices, it isn’t designed for smartphones, which will instead utilize the forthcoming Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system. The “RT” in Windows RT stands for runtime, and unlike the other two versions of Windows 8, Windows RT (also called WinRT and Windows on ARM) is an OEM-only edition that won’t be available for purchase in stores.
Off Topic (Sort of):
BYOD Has Americans Working Overtime – Answering work-related phone calls and emails from home is eating into the off-hours of the average American, according to a recent survey by mobile security software vendor Good Technology. In fact, we’re putting in close to 30 hours of extra work each month, the survey found. The line between work and personal time is growing increasingly fuzzy, and it’s not without consequences. About half of the survey’s 1,000 respondents said they have trouble switching off when not at work, and a quarter say it’s caused relationship discord.
Most Americans Reach for the Phone While Watching TV – If you frequently turn to one of your many mobile devices to keep you busy or otherwise distracted during a TV show, you’re not alone. According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, 38 percent of cell owners used their phone to stay occupied during television commercial breaks.
The $99 Ouya game console: Exciting, innovative — and probably doomed – The Kickstarter console Ouya has gotten a lot of attention — and funding — but will that be enough to help the company fight the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo?
The laser-powered bionic eye that gives 576-pixel grayscale vision to the blind – After a lot of theorizing, postulating, and non-human trials, it looks like bionic eye implants are finally hitting the market — first in Europe, and hopefully soon in the US. It’s an exciting time, for blind people and transhumanists alike!
IT: Becoming less about tech skills, more about integration – Patrick Gray talks about a seismic shift going on in IT where knowledgeable technicians no longer rule the roost.
Today’s Quote:
“Get all the fools on your side and you can be elected to anything.”
– Frank Dane
Today’s Free Downloads:
ZoneAlarm Free – ZoneAlarm makes it easy. Unlike other personal firewalls, ZoneAlarm protects automatically from the moment it’s installed – no programming required. ZoneAlarm barricades your PC with immediate and complete port blocking. And, then runs in Stealth Mode to make your PC invisible on the Internet – if you can’t be seen, you can’t be attacked.
Allway Sync – Folder synchronization tool for synchronizing your data between desktop PCs, laptops, USB drives, remote FTP/SFTP servers, different online data storages and more. Encrypted archives are supported. Allway Sync combines bulletproof reliability with extremely easy-to-use interface.