Showing 61 - 70 of 135
Fuzzy logic and online translations
Life, James Hein, Published on 07/09/2016
» In the IT world it is very important to get things exactly right, unless of course you are dealing with fuzzy logic. If your banking system, for example, is out by a decimal place, this can lead to some very unhappy customers or some very happy ones and a less than happy bank. There are many areas where calculations and units of measure are vital, just ask one of the Mars exploration landing teams.
Much-wanted Windows 10 improvements
Life, James Hein, Published on 10/08/2016
» The Windows 10 anniversary update is out and reviews are mixed. The original Windows 10 was somewhat of a rushed release so this update addresses some of that. The Start menu has been improved but still not up to Windows 7 standards. Cortana still does a web search so that hasn't improved, it was a lot better under Windows 7 where the result was always something on the current machine. For tablet users there is a new Ink Workspace supporting pen-based applications better and will make Windows 8 lovers feel more comfortable.
Let it all go with Pokémon
Life, James Hein, Published on 20/07/2016
» The Pokémon Go game is taking the smartphone world by storm. Like Ingress before it, it is a real world location based game so you physically have to get out of the house to play it. Unlike Ingress, it has a cartoon character so kids love it but mums and dads don't so much because they have to drive their kids around to out of the way places to get the next Pokémon. This is another game by Niantic, a group within Google and the ones who built Ingress. The game was also quite insecure on iOS phones but that was apparently fixed with a patch. There have been no issues reported by Android phone users.
Google wants your Android
Life, James Hein, Published on 15/06/2016
» Which is the world's most valuable brand? A number of them should pop into mind like Coca-Cola, Apple and Cartier. The new leader of the pack however is Google taking the slot from Apple based on the recent BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study. With a 32% increase in brand value they were a big mover since last year, while Apple dropped in value over the same period. Other IT names are in the top 10 like Microsoft at third, Facebook at fifth and Amazon at seventh place.
LAN cable connectivity fails me
Life, James Hein, Published on 08/06/2016
» If you are an Android user then you will have heard the saying "there is an app for that". More accurately the saying should be "there are lots of apps for that", and for the most part this is accurate. With the recent purchases of some Android-based media players, I've found the app that seems to have the least variants are those that can connect to a Windows shared drive. In particular if you want an app that can connect to a shared drive and make it visible to other apps.
Look before loading
Life, James Hein, Published on 01/06/2016
» Loading a couple of Android apps on the new tablet, I was about to load Facebook before I stopped to read the permissions required, something unnecessary if you use a PC. The list is 56 items long and reading through them it seemed to be about the same as holding your computer out in the street and saying: "Take me". One question I have is: "How many people actually read the required-permissions list?" Some scary permissions you might miss include "Find accounts on the device" and "Send email to guests without owner's knowledge". Then there is "Read your text messages", "Modify or delete contents of your USB storage", "Record audio" and "Full network access".
Plugged in, but not all wired up
Life, James Hein, Published on 27/04/2016
» So I was talking to a young couple the other day who expressed some surprise at me having a fixed line ADSL connection as my primary internet source at home. They were part of the ever-growing group of younger users that do not have any fixed line services, phone or data. According to the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for example they have found that in the past two years American households having no fixed line services and relying on mobile networks instead has doubled to 20%. This has been accompanied by a drop in ADSL and satellite connections. So while wired connections are still in the majority in the US they are falling.
Microsoft to port to Linux
Life, James Hein, Published on 16/03/2016
» As covered in an earlier article Microsoft is not porting Android but they are porting to Linux. According to a recent announcement Microsoft's SQL Server 2016 will be available for Linux users to use by the middle of 2017. The Microsoft marketing perspective is that the Linux version will "enable SQL Server to deliver a consistent data platform across Windows Server and Linux, as well as on-premises and cloud" in addition to providing customers "even more flexibility in their data solution".
Are PCs as good as humans?
Life, James Hein, Published on 09/12/2015
» If you are a Dell laptop user, have Microsoft Windows installed and your Windows Defender is up to date then the root kit that is part of the Dell machines will be killed by Defender. As explained before the problem is a self-signed certificate and private key on new laptops, which allows attackers on public Wi-Fi to steal otherwise encrypted usernames, passwords and other sensitive data. Not a very good reveal for Dell but some good security news for Microsoft and Windows for a change.
Hackers, humans and sim cards
Life, James Hein, Published on 25/11/2015
» Love them or hate them, the hacker group known as Anonymous has had an impact on the world. In its latest announcement the group has declared war on Islamic State and according to a video they posted "To defend our values and our freedom, we're tracking down members of the terrorist group responsible for these attacks. We will not give up, we will not forgive and we'll do all that is necessary to end their actions". Their target is to shut down websites and social media accounts used by terrorists as recruiting tools, slowing down their activities as much as possible in the digital world.