IE 11, which is part of the W8.1 update for W8.1 from W8 has been released for Windows 7 as well. Interestingly, it hasn’t been released for Windows 8, and won’t be released for Windows Vista nor XP. I doubt it will be the reason to update to W8.1, by itself. If you don’t want it, there’s a tool to block the update from your network: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40722 However, when compared to IE 9 or 10, it is improved, notica...
I've written about Google Glass before...never figured California had the brains to enact a truly positive statute like this one. Well, that lady just received a citation in part for distracted driving.... She might just beat it: "California state law pertaining to the incident, V C Section 27602 Television, states that a person “shall not drive a motor vehicle if a television receiver, a video monitor, or a television or video screen, or any other similar means of ...
This is a bad one. Really bad. Once on your computer, it will encrypt all your files and supposedly send you a key to release them only after paying $380 US in Bitcoins or $300 in cash (there are other payment arrangements as well). The encryption is super strong – 2048 bit RSA, the key supposedly stored on a remote server accessible only after payment. If you don’t pay within 72 hrs, the key evaporates and you’re cooked…no access to your files forever. How does it ge...
IE 11 has proven remarkably unstable. Makes one wonder why it was issued in the first place. More questions about MS patch and software testing. IE 11 was supposedly able to load up to 100 tabs in side by side mode and a reading view tool. However, it could not render Google’s pages accurately, G+, nor Youtube Google apparently made some changes to its search engine which caused the pages to render incorrectly, according to MS. Unfortunately, IE 11 couldn’t render MS’...
Besides XKCD being pretty funny, it can come up with interesting ideas. Here’s one I found fascinating for its shaking everything we consider to be axiomatic. What I find to be truly thought provoking is: “Through 20 years of effort, we’ve successfully trained everyone to use passwords that are hard for humans to remember, but easy for computers to guess.” Certainly, it’s hard to argue with the math if the conversion from words to bits...
MS decided to put out 10 new themepacks to honor W8.1’s release. he themes have some truly beautiful photography and the subjects? Beaches , Sunny Shores , Small and Large Birds , Muscle Cars , Classic Sports Cars , Scenic Europe , Color Splashes and even Wild Animals for Dual Screens . Missed one: An Xbox One Game (World of Ryse) They’re really beautiful…well worth taking a look, and you can even inspect the walls before downloading. Not that I’m using W8...
You’re a commodity. Not just your data, you personally. Google’s coming out with a new twist to their targeted ads. If you’ve ever said anything good about a product or service, starting on November 11th, Google will make the ads you see (and no matter what you do, you’ll see ads), Google will make things really personal. It will do that by referencing your Google + username, profile photo and implied endorsements via comments and +1s. You can ...
I’m not referring to skinning. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good browser, and a fast one. The flaw is a serious one, though. While logon data (password and username) were stored in plaintext without any sort of protection, the use of a master password could have prevented possible breaches…but that could open the user’s computer to other attacks as well. Now, another flaw has come to light. Identity Finder has found this: “Last week, Identity Finder security research...
I love Auslogics. You probably use their BoostSpeed and Disk Sefrag. Both excellent at their tasks. Browser Care won’t do anything you can’t do from within each browser, but it affords you a single ‘go to’ window to do it all for all your browsers using the tabs. Features: Keep a watch on your home page and change the hijacked home page, if need be Remove unwanted toolbars, add-ons and plugins Set your preferred search engine as default and keep a w...
For those who use Skype, WOM found some good hacks here: http://lifehacker.com/disable-the-ads-in-skype-contact-lists-1442903511 1. Here’s how to remove ads (in the contact list): 2. For those who help others fix their computers or to save a thousand plus words, this might save a trip. It can also be useful in showing a presentation, for instance. There are other tips there, so it might be worth your while to look. Thanks to WOM a...
Good news. Now MS has released a new option in the Disk Cleanup tool called “Windows Update Cleanup”. This is for Windows 7 SP1. Windows 8.1 already has it. You just might regain a few gigs of disk space. So why can’t you just delete stuff manually? Why a special tool? Well, because some files are needed just in case a system file gets corrupted or you need to roll back a Windows Update. The tool isn’t called that in the update. It’s ...
As the title says… You can read more here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/bulletin/ms13-oct I’ll only say that it’s a good idea to do the patches… If you don’t use the browser, etc. fine. a screenie about the updates:
Neat! On my iPad I use Dragonspeak. Now I’ve got something for my PC. Granted, there is a native Windows utility, but it won’t do what even the free version of this software will. If your PC doesn’t have an embedded mike, you’ll have to get one. It has some nice features. You can send the messages by email, post them to face book, even attach pictures, eCards and screenshots to the voice recordings…which is pretty nice. I’m posting a comparison of the free and paid versions, bu...
Just saw this, folks. If you have an Adobe account, you might want to watch your credit reports even though Adobe states all that info was hashed and salted. “Adobe said it does not believe the attackers got their hands on decrypted credit or debit card numbers. However, the company is in the process of notifying customers whose credit or debit card information is believed to be involved in the incident, so that they can take appropriate steps to protect themselves against p...
If you’re into typography (as I am), this is a great opportunity to pick up a whole bunch for free. All you have to do is navigate to bitsdujour.com and click. To get the download and the deal, you have to like their page on face book, but there’s a way to do that if you don’t have a face book page as well…just read what’s on the link at bitsdujour. It’s a 25.6 Mb download…you can probably pick and choose which you want and which you don’t after decompressing it. Anywa...