De-Vasive (abbreviated DV here) was invented for Android users and does something good: It let’s you know when apps start using certain camera features. When an app starts the phone's camera. When the microphone is activated. When Bluetooth or WiFi are activated. Detect which apps track your location. That’s a pretty good thing. The free app won’t let you block the app activating a process or warning, but it will let you know it’s been...
If (as happened to Uvah) your laptop or your PC has been stolen or even misplaced (in someone else’s apartment), while it’s not as easy as on an Apple OS device, it’s still possible. All these methods depend on the thief’s greed. If he/she decides to check (or deface) your facebook, gmail or Dropbox accounts, there’s a good chance you can trace your property’s IP address. That doesn’t mean you can find its physical address easily, but the Police can. You or they can obtain ...
Certainly, a good antiviral will help protect your computer (as will common sense), but some 15,000 new viruses are occurring everyday so antivirals are in a little to be envied “catch up” position. But, while no new versions of common sense are available, sometimes it just isn’t your fault if you catch a ‘drive by’. There are additional levels of protection such as virtualization of browsing and to allow running apps in a protected environment…like Sandboxie which also exists i...
Last week I wrote about iOS 8 and the 5th Amendment , the first installment on this topic. I figured it wouldn't take long for the other shoe to drop. The director of the FBI, James Comey feels that in the ‘post-Snowden’ era, the pendulum of distrust in the government has swung too far. He said that encryption software on smart devices will create a ‘black holes’ in which bad people can operate. He asked the question, “Are we so mistrustful of gove...
MS requested feedback for Windows 10 Tech Preview. MS has even opened its OWN Windows suggestion page at the Uservoice feedback site here: https://windows.uservoice.com/forums/265757-feature-suggestions/filters/top Cortana got to keep its name from requests on that site, so they’re watching it closely and listening (for a change). Paul Thurrott has put together his tabulation of the top ten W10 results as well using ‘like’ votes to rank them. You can find them...
Well…the title says it all. Dropbox has “ropBox seems to have bulk reset all accounts appearing on the pastebin leaks, though accounts do not appear to have had their passwords reset as of yet.” I changed mine, thank you. “Hackers claim they will release more of the nearly seven million DropBox accounts if they receive donations to their bitcoin address. Appearing to nearly be holding the account information of millions ransom. - – FreedomHacker DropBox has to...
Another good reason to keep your apps updated: “The company has confirmed that a bug in an older version of its desktop apps could lead to files being deleted permanently, without the user’s knowledge or consent. The problem is related to Selective Sync, which allows users to only synchronize some important folders across machines.” – Neowin Anyway, at least dropbox is trying to recover the lost data and reimburse the users who lost stuff. It’s not clear, though if ...
This is not a political post. I want that absolutely clear from the onset. This is about the impact iOS 8 (and others in the future) on our privacy and our individual rights and those of society. This post is only to demonstrate how the corporate avoidance of compliance with the law (FISA Subpoenas) has set up a situation where law enforcement and Court orders can result in contempt citations and imprisonment when a person refuses to comply based on his/her 5th Amendment rig...
In fact, if you use Pale Moon, you might well have noticed your browser updated to it this morning. The x64 version should be coming should be coming within the next few months is here! http://www.palemoon.org/palemoon-x64.shtml For XP users, no joy. PM 25 will not support XP. But, the ATOM build will, and there are builds available which can be used on XP machines. Not sure how long that will last, though. Important change: If you use sync in the browser, you’l...
Or, if you bought at DQ using a credit card…well, if you use Yahoo…or bank at JPMorgan Chase: bad news. All have been breached. Yahoo, for instance still has some servers vulnerable to the Shellshock bug. You have to wonder about their IT Dep’t.’s thoroughness. In the case of KMart, it’s not yet clear what has been taken. With KMart, it’s not just credit card but also debit card info which were the target of the attack. You’d best be al...
Khara Plicanic (who is an amazing teacher) will be covering the practical basics of Photoshop in a two day course on creativeLive. “This class will take you through the Photoshop program – teaching you easy editing tips and tricks you can use, along the way. You’ll master the basic functions and learn how the system operates. Khara will show you where things are, how to find them, switch between them, and close them when you are done. You’ll learn: Working with...
It’s a nice, free image renamer and resizer. It can make your work really easy if you aren’t into image resizing, don’t want to learn image processing and couldn’t care less about size vs. resolution. First you choose the pictures for resizing individually or by folder, then choose the size by preset buttons or manually. You then go to the “Rotate” button and determine direction, but can also skip that step. Next comes “Rename” and you can modify the original name and pattern. Y...
This is your chance to learn the basics, the right way and for…free. Not only that, learn from a truly great instructor (for finicky Jafo, it should be instructress ). Lesa Snider is simply wonderful: She is blessed with humor and patience… “Lesa Snider, internationally acclaimed author and speaker, is on a mission to teach the world to create better graphics. She’s the author of several books including the best-selling series, Photoshop: The Missin...
Don’t miss it…weather permitting. Because the earth’s atmosphere will be seen on the moon, the predominant color of the moon will be red…hence the misnomer, “Blood Moon”. You guys (AzDude, Philly) out west should start watching around midnight, and the max eclipse will be around 1:17 a.m. and end around 6:32 a.m. In the East, we won’t see the max…but at about 4 a.m. and on, watch the western sky – it’ll help if you...
OK. This was a new one on me. LifeHacker really surprised the heck out of me! F’rinstance, who knew there’s a ‘Quesarito’? There’s tons of stuff pertaining to the ‘secret menus’ of 12 food chains here: http://hackthemenu.com/ F’rinstance, here’s Chipotle’s: http://hackthemenu.com/chipotle/secret-menu/ and “Most importantly, we created detailed instructions on how to order each secret menu item at Chipotl...