Showing 91 - 100 of 146
How secure are our secure transactions?
Life, James Hein, Published on 22/10/2014
» So far, this month has been security issue after security issue. Not counting the usual Microsoft updates, Adobe has been having all sorts of vulnerability problems, which explains the rapid fire updates you keep seeing on your computer. The biggest hit nation so far this month, however, has to be South Korea.
Watch out, Google and pirates of Oz
Life, James Hein, Published on 17/09/2014
» The iHeart Apple lovers, pundits and columnists were out in force after the recent announcements of the latest iPhone and Apple Watch versions.
Safe surfing with a VPN
Life, James Hein, Published on 27/08/2014
» So how safe is your surfing? Not the water, board and shark kind, but what you do on the web. Sitting in front of your computer you will either have your own internet protocol (IP) address or be assigned one as part of a pool that is doled out by your internet service provider (ISP). Somewhere between you and the rest of the internet will be a domain name server (DNS) that knows how to get a message from out there back to you and vice versa. Or to put it another way, they know where you are.
Do I really need my new Galaxy S5?
Life, James Hein, Published on 06/08/2014
» I've had the Galaxy S5 for some time now and so far the experience has been a pleasant one. One of my first add-ons was a 0.3mm glass screen protector that when compared to an unadorned S5 provides better clarity and viewability outside. I always use a case of some kind just in case I drop the unit so the combination should protect my device from standard heights, I hope.
Tablet sales a bitter pill for top firms
Life, James Hein, Published on 14/05/2014
» According to International Data Corporation analysts, tablet sales are starting to flatten and are not making the latest estimated quarterly shipments. There is still some growth, but nothing like the previous steep rise. Hit hardest was Apple, dropping from 40% to under 33% of the total market share. Second was Samsung, which went from 18% to a bit over 22%. Lenovo also jumped, but was still fourth behind Asus that saw a drop of almost 3%. As predicted, the boom time for tablets is almost over. Let’s see where they are at the end of the year.
Happy birthday, Gmail
Life, James Hein, Published on 30/04/2014
» This month Gmail turned 10. According to legend, it was created in the free time of Google engineers, who were allocated 20% of their time for personal projects. In those days there was Microsoft (who managed to lose all of my Hotmail emails one year; I’ve never touched it since), Yahoo! and AOL, making Gmail’s rise from nothing quite an achievement. Gmail introduced threaded mail, more data storage and allowed users to send larger emails. They also introduced an “undo send” option, long-term storage of emails, better searching and didn’t delete your account if you remained inactive for a while. It handled spam decently and worked on almost every browser. Microsoft responded by charging for extra space. No wonder it is now the top free email service, at least according to some measures.
Hackers getting younger
Life, James Hein, Published on 16/04/2014
» As a parent here is a headline you don’t want to see every day "A five-year-old boy has found and exploited a password flaw in his Xbox to hack into his father's Xbox Live account". Special irony points for this story comes via the father who is a computer security specialist. Kristoffer, yes you guessed it, from California, broke in by entering the wrong password, navigating to the verification screen and entering spaces before hitting submit. This allowed him entry and exposed a password bug. Microsoft has since fixed the problem and rewarded Kristoffer. As a one-year-old he held down the home key on Dad’s phone to defeat a lockout so it looks like this kid is going places.
Passing the hacker hat
Life, James Hein, Published on 02/04/2014
» A “black hat” is a skilled hacker who tends to lurk in the background, rarely gets caught and is a master at breaking into systems, programs and data. These people have been represented in movies and are usually considered shady characters. There are, of course, rewards in being skilled in this field — both monetarily and in terms of underground notoriety — but there are also risks, such as retaliation from those that have been hacked and the continual threat of government agencies tracking them down. Lesser known but becoming more so are those called “grey hats”, who often straddle the line of legality. And as a recent conference showed, you can be rewarded for finding vulnerabilities in operating systems and application codes. There is a growing market for skilled grey hats, who are used to find holes in social media platforms and all manner of other products, ranging from smartphones to major systems. Government departments will even hire ex-black hats to secure their systems against attack. Major corporations do the same thing. So if you are a budding young hacker, you can potentially make up to $250,000 (8 million baht) if you find a zero-day problem in iOS or around half that for a Windows problem. The zero-day issue was recently represented in an episode of NCIS: Los Angeles.
The death of the PC?
Life, James Hein, Published on 12/03/2014
» According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), the PC market contracted in 2013. Along with Gartner, IDC predicts a continued contraction until at least 2018. Reasons include the popularity of tablets, smartphones, a slowing world economy, people sticking with their PCs longer and operating system issues. Some are predicting the death of the PC, but I disagree, because what is the alternative? In a work environment and even for many home users, the PC still reigns. Other devices are good toys, but the PC is still the base.
Phone disappoints galactic expectations
Life, James Hein, Published on 05/03/2014
» So it appears the new Galaxy S5 was well overhyped in the rumour mill. No 5.3-inch. screen, but instead a 5.1-inch one. No super-high resolution, and considering it’s slightly larger screen (Galaxy S4 was 5-inch), there were actually fewer pixels per inch and neither was it, as rumours suggested, bezel free. No 20MP camera but instead 16MP and not 64-bit but at least quad core. The Galaxy S5 does not have a metal case, but it is waterproof — up to one metre for 30 minutes which will help those with slippery fingers who take their smartphones to the toilet.