Technologies

Freelance workers have proven to be an extremely useful resource for many small companies in recent years, allowing for specialised expertise to be recruited when needed the most. However a new research report from security firm Tripwire has found that using such workers, particularly for IT projects, might actually be putting your business in danger of a major security breach. The company set up an experiment which recruited 25 freelancers to create a site for a staged project. Each developer received the same email with the exact same criteria, with 10 contractors eventually chosen to create a finished project - however when investigated by the Tripwire Vulnerability and Exposure Research Team (VERT), every single website was plagued with critical security failures. This included the shocking finding that every website failed to protect any documents from unauthorised users, and that none of the websites effectively prevented hackers from uploading a backdoor, which would...

If you’re an Android TV user, you have to ask yourself one question: how much time do you really spend on the home screen? The odds are you launch the same app every time to turn it on, and now there’s a new app that lets you do that automatically. For the sake of simplicity, let’s say you only watch Netflix on your Android TV. The last thing you want is a step between a binge session of Orange is the New Black, so there’s really no good reason to go to the home screen. Instead, why not just fire up Netflix as soon as your turn on the Android TV? To do this, we’re going to use an app called Launch on Boot. Basically, this tells Android TV to launch a specific app on both boot and wake up (if you choose—if can do just one or the other). It’s very simple, very intuitive, and it just works. So, if you haven’t already, go ahead and download it onto your Android TV. As soon as you boot the app, a short tutorial will appear. Feel free to read through it, or just hit the back button...

With Microsoft’s new Fluent Design, announced alongside the Fall Creators Update, Windows 10 is gaining more and more transparency—or, technically, translucency. If you don’t like this effect, you can flip a switch to disable transparency in all parts of Windows 10, from the taskbar and Start menu to apps like Calculator and People. To find this option, open the Settings app from your Start menu. Click or tap the “Personalization” icon in the Settings window. Select “Colors” at the left side of the Settings window and scroll down to the More options section. Set the “Transparency effects” slider to “Off”. At the moment, this option is all or nothing. There’s just a single switch that controls all the transparency effects across the entire operating system. If you want the transparency effect in the Start menu and taskbar, you’ll have to allow it in apps. Microsoft may or may not allow more fine-grained control in the future. Source:  howtogeek

We have shown you a lot of tips and tricks over the years that involve modifying Local Group Policy. If you would ever like to see all the Group Policy settings in effect on your PC, here’s how to do it. In the Windows world, Group Policy provides a way for network administrators to assign specific settings to groups of users or computers. Those settings then get applied whenever a user in the group logs in to a networked PC or whenever a PC in the group is started. Local Group Policy is a slightly more limited version that applies settings only to a local computer or users—or even a group of local users. We’ve featured a number of tricks here in the past that use Local Group Policy to change settings that you can’t change anywhere else—except by editing the Windows Registry. If you’re in the habit of changing Local Group Policy settings, you might find it useful to see all the changes you’ve made in one place, rather than digging through the Local Group Policy Editor. View App...

Wi-Fi is obviously more convenient than wired Ethernet cables, but Ethernet still offers significant advantages. Join us as we take a look at the pros and cons of wired and wireless connections. You probably won’t be connecting an Ethernet cable to your smartphone any time soon. But it’s usually worth running Ethernet cables to the devices that matter, if you can—gaming and media PCs (or consoles), backup devices, and set-top boxes being just a few examples. To help you make the decision, we’re going to take a look at the three main advantages of using Ethernet over Wi-Fi—faster speeds, lower latency, and reliable connections. How Much Faster Is Ethernet? Ethernet is just plain faster than Wi-Fi—there’s no getting around that fact. But the real-world differences are smaller than you might think. Wi-Fi has gotten significantly faster over the last few years, thanks to new standards like 802.11ac and 802.11n, which offer maximum speeds of 866.7 Mb/s and 150 Mb/s, respectively. ...

The 2017 ICC Champions Trophy is set to be possibly the smartest sports tournament ever thanks to a new partnership with Intel. The technology giant has revealed details on a number of new technology platforms it is launching to help make this year’s tournament, which kicks off in London on Wednesday, the most connected to date. This includes an all-new approach to media analysis, as well as a chance for cricket aficionados to get a real hands-on experience that will help them improve their own game. However fans attending any of the games at Lord’s and The Oval in London, as well as Edgbaston in Birmingham, will be able to benefit from free and fast Wi-Fi in the stadium, as well as enjoy a futuristic Virtual Reality experience that puts them at the heart of the action. In a first for a sports tournament in England, Intel-powered drones will scan every inch of the wicket at the three grounds to provide in-depth information on the state of the pitch, crucial information for ...

Free Wi-Fi connectivity will soon be coming to public spaces such as parks, squares, public buildings, and hospitals all over the EU thanks to a new agreement. This comes after the European Parliament, Council and Commission have reached an agreement regarding the decision to fund the WiFi4EU project.  The goal of the project is to provide “every European village and every city with free wireless internet access around the main centres of public life by 2020” and €120 million has been allocated to pay for the initial setup and operating costs of the project.  6,000 to 8,000 municipalities will be given a chance to participate and will be given the necessary funds to buy, install and maintain the Wi-Fi for three years while cities and towns will have to use their own funds for internet services.  WiFi4EU will only be made available in areas where a similar free public or private Wi-Fi network is not currently available.  However, it is still unknown as to wh...