When Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella extolled his company's SQL Server, one of the most popular pieces of database server software, and a crown jewel of Microsoft's enterprise software empire,
Origin PC’s custom-designed tiny Chronos is finally shipping, but what’s more intriguing for PC gaming is what this new computer foreshadows. In a nutshell, the Chronos is an updated micro-tower from boutique builder Origin PC that includes some pretty clever touches, such as a front logo that rotates and magnetic feet that can be relocated. Inside, it’ll take a high-end Skylake or Haswell-E chip as well as SSDs or hard drives. Yes, there’s even custom lighting. So far, nothing too ground-breaking right? Here’s the thing: One of the touted features of the new Chronos chassis is its support for a GeForce Titan Z GPU. The Titan Z cost $3,000 when introduced and was the only dual-GPU card that fit into tiny PCs.
Fire OS 5, the latest version of the operating system that drives Amazon’s more sophisticated tablets, removed a full-device encryption option available in the previous release. Amazon says it was because
Somewhere, Peter Molyneux just poured one out for his old studio. After nearly twenty years serving as an outlet for Molyneux’s craziest dreams (though he’s moved on to 22Cans), it’s looking like the end for Lionhead Studios. On Monday, Microsoft announced that it’s “in discussions with employees about the proposed closure of Lionhead Studios in the UK.” Note that in PR terms, “proposed closure” normally means “It’s definitely closing.” Yes, this also means that Microsoft has canceled co-op hack ‘n’ slash “These have been tough decisions and we have not made them lightly, nor are they a reflection on these development teams—we are incredibly fortunate to have the talent, creativity and commitment of the people at these studios. These changes are taking effect as Microsoft Studios continues to focus its investment and development on the games and franchises that fans find most exciting and want to play.”
Verizon Wireless is getting slapped with a fine and privacy requirements after inserting undeletable tracking cookies into users’ browsing sessions. As part of a settlement with the Federal Communications Commission, Verizon will have to get users’ permission to share these “supercookies” with third-party partners. However, users will still have to opt out of tracking by Verizon itself. Verizon will be notifying subscribers about the changes, and has also agreed to a $1.35 million fine. With tracking cookies, users are assigned a unique identifier that’s tied to their web activity, building up anonymized profiles that advertisers can target. But unlike conventional tracking cookies, which users can erase or avoid by opening a private browsing session, supercookies or “perma-cookies” cannot easily be deleted.
Google may rule the roost on Android, but sometimes it's good to explore what's outside of the nest.
Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) that have sprung up in recent years have become a magnet for cybercriminals, to the point where some of them host more malicious domains than legitimate ones. Spamhaus, an organization that monitors spam, botnet and malware activity on the Internet, has Over the years, lists of spam-friendly top level domains have typically had .com, .net and .org at the top. However, a TLD's trustworthiness ultimately relies on the ability of the organization that manages it -- known as the registry -- to police its name space and to enforce rules for its resellers, the registrars.
In-flight Internet provider Gogo plans to boost access speeds after a legal spat with customer American Airlines over slow service. Gogo plans to add bandwidth in two stages, first by buying more capacity on geostationary satellites from Intelsat and, some time after 2018, adding links to a future low-earth-orbit satellite system being built by OneWeb. Unsatisfied with the speed of Gogo's existing service, customer American Airlines recently took the company to court in a dispute over whether their contract allowed American to switch to a different provider. The airline ultimately
The Internet Archive has been on a roll lately, bringing back classic MS-DOS games, Windows 3.1 software, and even defanged versions of old PC viruses. Now, the site has hit a milestone with its Apple II collection: A group of anonymous hackers have successfully broken the elaborate copy-protection schemes on It’s worth noting that
Virtually everyone in technology knows about Kevin Mitnick, who in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s was a notorious fugitive hacker on the run from the FBI. (If you’re not familiar with the details of Mitnick’s exploits, I recommend his book, Most experts also know that he’s made his living since being released from prison as a security consultant. But did you know that he still hacks for a living? Mitnick has always emphasized the importance of social engineering for hacking, an emphasis that’s lacking in most security advice. He also focuses on how to get through to a public that struggles to appreciate the risks.
Google’s digital assistant can do way more than quickly search the web, once you learn all of its hidden tools.
The market is awash in Bluetooth speakers, so a new model has to offer something extra special or really different to capture our attention, especially when that new speaker is from a new company. Riva Audio promises that its Riva S portable Bluetooth speaker meets that objective by reproducing music in a manner that will satisfy both music lovers and audiophiles. Not only has the company largely delivered on that promise, it’s also come up with a number of new features that differentiate its speaker from the broad competition. The rectangular Riva S is small at only 7.5 inches wide, 2.6 inches high, and 2.5 inches thick. While It weighs a mere 1.5 pounds, it feels solid and dense as though every square inch of the Riva S is filled.
Raymond Samuel Tomlinson, who is credited with inventing email and putting the now ubiquitous “@” sign in addresses, has died at the age of 74. Tomlinson, who helped in the evolution of single-computer email into electronic mail that could send communications across network connections to other hosts, used the sign in the address to connect the user name with the destination address and provide a way to distinguish local mail from network mail. “I chose to append an at sign and the host name to the user’s (login) name. I am frequently asked why I chose the at sign, but the at sign just makes sense,” he wrote in
With the help of security researchers, Apple over the weekend quickly blocked a cyberattack aimed at infecting Mac users with file-encrypting malware known as ransomware. The incident is believed to be the first Apple-focused attack using Victims of ransomware are asked to pay a fee, usually in bitcoin, to get access to the decryption key to recover their files. Security company Palo Alto Networks wrote on Sunday that it found the “KeRanger” ransomware wrapped into Transmission, which is a free Mac BitTorrent client.
Meerkat may have effectively kicked off the current livestreaming boom, but it’s looking to switch gears. Although Meerkat continues to attract lots of viewers, CEO Ben Rubin
It’s Spring Training time for big-league baseball teams. And while it’s usually a time for players to hone their skills and prepare for the long Major League Baseball season that’s ahead, this year, it’s giving players a chance to refine their social media skills, too. Sort of. On Friday, March 11, Major League Baseball and Snapchat will team up for the league’s first-ever Snapchat day. According to
A few days ago, we all awoke to the realization that Amazon “We will return the option for full disk encryption with a Fire OS update coming this spring,” the company said in a statement.