Posts
Showing posts from 2014
It's Merry Christmas! Share the spirit of peace and joy on this occasion of Merry Christmas with your acquaintances
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
Forensic software gets around Apple's iCloud security features
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
by denis A Russian software company has updated its forensic software to work-around the security features Apple recently added to iCloud and increased what information can be extracted from the cloud storage service. Elcomsoft’s Phone Breaker software now supports the two-factor authentication process Apple added to iOS 8 in September for accessing iCloud, Vladimir Katalov, CEO of the Moscow company, said Wednesday in a blog post. The catch to using the software, which pulls files including photos, calendar information and call logs from iCloud, is that some information about the account is required to access the storage service, according to information on the company’s website. Either an Apple ID, password and the second form of authentication or a binary authentication token are needed to use Phone Breaker. Of course, with that information an iCloud account could be accessed without using Phone Breaker. Phone Breaker’s advantage is that it allows a pe
Google Maps 9.2 adds navigation voice controls, calibration tool
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
by denis The Google Maps team isn’t quite done yet for the year. It has cranked out another update with a couple of nice tweaks to its navigation feature. They’re rather subtle, but if you head to the settings you’ll now find an option to re-calibrate your phone for more accurate map views and the ability to change the volume of voice instructions. Tilt gives you a more angled view of the map during navigation, whereas the traditional viewpoint is closer to a top-down view. If the app detects your calibration is off, it will ask you to wave your phone through the air in a back-and-forth pattern. You can crank up or down the volume of Google Maps voice navigation. Google Maps is also now more aggressive with its autocorrect suggestions. You’ll get a popup message at the bottom of the screen to alert you the app changed the spelling when you type in the name of a place. Another surprise, though not specific to version 9.2, is a link for Santa’s village in
The 10 weirdest, wildest, most shocking security exploits ever
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
This ain't your momma's Internet Update your browser. Ditch Java. Don't click weird links from even weirder people. Ho-hum. The basic tenets of PC security are burned into the brains of most Web surfers by now. The old malware tricks just don't work as well anymore. Surprise! Bad guys are getting creative. (Never underestimate the oh-so-powerful combination of greed, boredom, and cleverness.) Rather than targeting Internet Explorer, now they're gunning for your virtual machine, your video games, and your Web-connected thermostat. "The more digital our lives become, the greater the number of potential nontraditional entry points for cybercriminals attempting to steal data and wreak havoc," says McAfee Labs security strategist Toralv Dirro, who referred us to some of the wild exploits highlighted here. Grab your tinfoil hat, and let's take a walk down wacky-hack lane. The chamber of chaos First things first: Many
Dropbox users, try these: Hands-on with the free Mailbox and Carousel apps
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
by denis You probably think of Dropbox as a great place to store your digital stuff. And it is. But now Dropbox is looking beyond simple cloud storage, offering apps that do a whole lot more. Here’s the lowdown on two Dropbox apps: Carousel and Mailbox. Carousel Dropbox is a great tool for storing your digital files in a central location – especially digital photos that may be scattered across devices and various Web services. But it hasn’t always been a great place for viewing those photos or sharing them in a visually compelling way. Now, Carousel for Dropbox, an app for Android and iOS, is hoping to change that. Carousel bills itself as a “gallery for all the photos and videos from your life.” It achieves that goal by combining the photos stored on your phone with all of those stored in your Dropbox. If you’d like to use Carousel as your central photo storage service and you already have photos spread across services like Flickr and Facebook, you’ll have to m
ACDSee Pro 8 review: New editing features plus online storage
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
by denis ACDSee Pro is considered one of the premier photo organizing and editing packages, and for good reason. Although sometimes awkward, it’s powerful and “gets it” when it comes to the needs of photographers. Version 8 adds some nice new editing features that "get it," a subscription-based purchase option, and some rather expensive online storage. ACDSee is a now available on a subscription basis. You manage it with your ACDSee account. ACDSee Pro 8 fulfills four major functions: organizing images, viewing images, non-destructive editing with filters (called Developing), as well as traditional destructive editing (which alters the original image). That’s destructive only upon saving the file—you’re always free to undo changes up to that point. The array of filters in both Develop and Edi
These Norton-approved jeans can keep hackers out of your pants
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
Worried about hackers taking a crack at the cards stashed in your pants? The year's most low-tech "wearable" has your back (pocket). Clothing maker Betabrand is currently running a crowd funding campaign for RFID-defeating clothing in partnership with PC security firm Norton. The line-up includes a $198 blazer and a pair of $168 jeans. The ‘Ready Jeans Protected by Norton’ feature two pockets—one in the front and back—protected by RFID-blocking fabrics. The clothing should protect your credit cards, passports, and other RFID-enabled items from bad guys looking to get friendly with an RFID reader. It’s not clear what Norton’s contribution to the project is, but it appears the company is just lending its name to the new clothing. Why this matters: Radio frequency identification (RFID) chips use radio waves to transmit data such as your credit card details through the air to data-reading terminals. Ever since RFID became standard fare, security experts have
Firefox in-browser fundraiser begs for cash as Mozilla scrambles to diversify income
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
by denis Mozilla has been running a fundraiser from within its Firefox browser, a program that will run through the end of the year. When users launch Firefox they may see a PBS-style pitch for money on the browser’s start screen, which normally is a minimalist display of a search field and a few tool icons. “Dear Firefox users: Mozilla puts the public good and user privacy before profit,” the screen states. “If Firefox is useful to you, take one minute to support the non-profit behind it. If everyone reading this donates $3, Mozilla’s fundraiser would be over within an hour. Thank you.” After clicking through to the donation page, users see choices ranging from $3 to $20, and will be asked to enter their credit card or PayPal account information. Although Mozilla also accepts Bitcoin donations, those must be processed through another mechanism. The fundraiser does not appear on everyone’s Firefox start screen, nor does it show every time the browser is launched
Google Drive gets Gmail attachment capabilities, Open Doc Format support, and more
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
Google is on a tear adding new features to Google Drive. The company recently rolled out an improvement to how Gmail handles Drive attachments, as well as some nice feature updates to Drive for Android and iOS. Two years after Google added the ability to share Drive links via Gmail with just one click, the company is now adding the ability to send actual attachments using the same mechanism. Google's productivity suite also gained the ability to handle Open document formats—ODT, ODS, and ODP—which should come in handy for Linux lovers and users in countries that have adopted Open formats over their proprietary counterparts, like Microsoft's DOCX. Drive for Android, meanwhile, is getting Google Now integration, which lets you use an "Ok Google" voice command to search for Drive documents. And users of iPhone and iPads are getting the ability to upload content from other apps on their device. The impact on you at home: Earlier in December, Goo
The best Android phones, tablet, and watch of 2014
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
by denis The best thing about Android is that there are lots of choices. The worst thing about Android is that there are lots of choices . There are just too many damn phones to choose from! You've got metal phones, plastic phones, cheap phones, phones with a higher resolution than your TV, and phones as big as your head. You don't need to know what every Android thing on the market does, you just need to know what the best ones are. There were many worthy Android products this year, but a few stood out for their excellent design, fantastic value, incredible hardware, or superb software. These are the best Android-based products of the year. Best all-around smartphone The HTC One (M8) is our pick for smartphone of the year. I use my phone for everything: rea