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jpkee-blog · 7 years

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10 Websites All Linux Users Should Have Bookmarked

You love Linux, and you’re checking some of the best websites. But you don’t know all of them. Perhaps you get your fix here at MakeUseOf, or perhaps you have a list of sites that teach you about Linux The Linux Advantage: 5 Websites You Should Head to for Learning Linux The Linux Advantage: 5 Websites You Should Head to for Learning Linux Whether you’ve been putting off Linux for years or you’re just hearing about it, there are ample reasons to start today. Want to try now? These resources will get you started. Read More but don’t tell you much about what is happening day to day.

There are hundreds of Linux sites out there, websites, blogs, communities, and so on. But which ones should you be following? Well, aside from MakeUseOf, you should be looking at these 10 great Linux sites.

Probably the most fun and engaging website on my entire list of bookmarks, OMG! Ubuntu! is almost completely written by one guy, Joey Sneddon. While there are other contributors from time to time, Sneddon is the driving force.

Offering reliable news on the latest Linux developments, and with a focus on Ubuntu (and Unity and other Ubuntu desktop environments), you’ll also find tutorials, gaming news, the latest on Ubuntu Phone, and details on apps, games, and desktop themes.

With its pleasing website theme, and offering great advice, OMG! Ubuntu! is a vital online destination.

A lovely site with a weekly newsletter, It’s FOSS (short for “free and open source software Your Complete Guide to Living a 100% Free and Open Source Life Your Complete Guide to Living a 100% Free and Open Source Life Windows and macOS are commercial, proprietary, closed source operating systems. Linux, and its many applications, are free and open source. Want to use only free and open source software? Here’s how. Read More “) goes beyond just Linux, and presents a cavalcade of open source news and tips. With tutorials and free ebooks, this website features a team of six contributors, so you can expect a number of different voices.

One of the great things about It’s FOSS is the way it manages to find news that most other sites have completely missed. Couple this with some great presentation, and a passionate community, keeping tabs on the latest news and articles from It’s FOSS is highly recommended.

Add it to your favorites today!

Getting started with Linux is simpler than it has ever been. Expanding that knowledge, and troubleshooting, can be tougher. Unlike Windows, you can’t just ask a colleague or a mate down the pub. What you can do, however, is go online and find the right place to ask questions.

That place might be Reddit (see below) or it might be Ask Ubuntu, one of the biggest Linux question and answer sites out there. The idea is simple: you search for the problem and read the solutions. If nothing matches your own scenario, create an account, ask the question (giving as much relevant information as possible), and wait. Sooner, rather than later, you should have a reply, and be on the way to a solution.

A print magazine (also available in digital formats) with a detailed website, Linux Journal has been running for over 20 years. Offering a 360-degree look at the world of Linux, this is a great resource if you’re trying to learn more about the platform. Go beyond bash and your favorite distros, and find out how Linux is used in science, technology, healthcare, and beyond.

Old magazine articles are repurposed as new website content from time to time, giving you plenty to read. The usual how-tos and reviews can be found, alongside blogs by long-term Linux Journal contributors.

Whether you subscribe to the magazine or not, it’s worth having the Linux Journal website in your bookmarks.

Approaching the Linux world purely from the corporate angle, Linux Today is chock full of news and information. Quite unusual in its serious tone, Linux Today features news categories such as IT Management, Infrastructure, Security, and Storage.

In many ways, its existence underlines the importance of Linux to the internet, server management, and cloud computing. The content can seem a bit dry at first, and it’s certainly pitched like an industry publication. But you’ll find features and news in Linux Today that are unlikely to feature on other sites. As such, this site is certainly worth a read.

This is one of the most important websites in the world of Linux. DistroWatch features links to almost every single Linux operating system out there.

The news section is regularly updated with details of the latest stable and test distributions, giving the Linux community a good idea of what’s out, and when.

Meanwhile, links through DistroWatch to distro download pages are used to judge how popular each distro is. The Page Hit Ranking table is used by many websites and publications as an indicator of the current shape of Linux. As an example, Linux Mint has sat atop the DistroWatch ranking table for a few years now, matching its dominance over a declining Ubuntu.

As the growth of gaming on Linux continues, it should come as no surprise to find a dedicated website! Described as a “Linux and SteamOS gaming community,” you will find a remarkable number of games featured, complete with screens and video clips.

The Gaming on Linux site also features a Twitch channel, where you can watch some live gaming. You’ll also find a community forum, IRC channel, and livestreams from community members.

What is particularly interesting about Gaming on Linux is the way the site approaches particular topics. They don’t just write about issues concerning the porting of Civilization VI to Linux (which features the same win conditions as the Windows version 11 Tips and Tricks to Bring You Victory in Civilization VI 11 Tips and Tricks to Bring You Victory in Civilization VI Civilization VI is the biggest, most intricate game in the series so far! Here are a few tips that will put you ahead when you start your civilization! Read More ) — they go and talk to the developers overseeing the project to find out more. It’s a smart approach that makes Gaming on Linux an unmissable online read.

You shouldn’t be surprised to see Reddit on this list. After all, the popular online destination is the biggest community for so many different topics. While several Linux subreddits exist, this one is the place to start, with tens of new links and hundreds of new comments every day.

It’s probably the most eclectic collection of Linux-related content on the web, and there’s always something to comment on. It might be a YouTube video or an interesting link. Or you could find yourself sharing with Reddit how long you’ve run your current distro, how long you’ve been using Linux, or what you really think about Windows…

Available in print or PDF, Linux Magazine is a U.S. publication that can be bought online or on newsstands. When you’re between issues, however, the website features a wealth of information for you to read.

With features, tutorials, white papers, and a heavy focus on the running a Linux network, if you’re a Linux technician or system admin, you probably need to have a subscription to Linux Magazine. If you don’t, then you really should have it in your list of favorite bookmarks.

This simple-looking blog has been running since 2000, and regularly shares useful Linux news and how-tos. But these aren’t the usual, run-of-the-mill type of articles. Sure, you’ll find the latest news about the coolest Linux hardware (for instance, the Librem 5 phone from Purism 3 Linux Smartphone Operating Systems You Can Install Today 3 Linux Smartphone Operating Systems You Can Install Today Linux has dramatically increased in popularity, but there remains one relatively untapped market: smartphones. Browse through these Linux smartphone solutions and see what suits your needs. Read More ), but hidden away in NixCraft is a collection of troubleshooting articles, along with some fringe tutorials.

For instance, you probably don’t need to know how to create an RSS 2.0 feed in Python unless you want to learn the language 10 Basic Python Examples That Will Help You Learn Fast 10 Basic Python Examples That Will Help You Learn Fast This article of basic python examples is for those who already have some programming experience and simply want to transition to Python as quickly as possible. Read More . But this information — and much more — is there on NixCraft

Do you use these sites? Would you like to suggest some alternatives? Tell us what you think.

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Protect Your Google Accounts With This Official Extension

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jpkee-blog · 7 years

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7 Console Games Gone Mobile: Chrono Trigger, The Witness, and More

In another time, consoles and PCs reigned supreme for gaming PlayStation 4 and Xbox One Are Cheaper Than PC for Gamers in 2017 PlayStation 4 and Xbox One Are Cheaper Than PC for Gamers in 2017 So you want to invest in a new gaming set-up, and you want to choose between a PC or a new console. Here’s how your options compare! Read More . And while they are still the better option for most people, there’s no denying the power of those pocket computers we’re carrying around with us everywhere.

Throughout the years, the technological capabilities of smartphones continues to improve. And because of this, we’re able to play games that were otherwise only available on dedicated gaming rigs.

Many games have been ported over to iOS and Android smartphones by now, but what are the absolute must-haves? We’ve rounded up a list of some of the best mobile ports of console games around, so let’s dive in!

1. The Witness

The most recent port is one of the best that money can buy (and for a fraction of the price). The Witness was originally announced in 2009 and launched in 2016, so it was in development for some time. However, the end result proves that it was well worth the wait.

In The Witness, players find themselves waking up on a remote island, all alone. The game’s inspired by Myst, and it involves open-world exploration, puzzle solving, and a narrative experience.

Who are you? Why are you on this island? How’d you get here? Why aren’t there any signs of life other than yourself? These are questions that you’ll constantly ask while you play. The answers reveal themselves to you as you progress.

The puzzles in The Witness are all interactive mazes and labyrinths found in both natural and man-made structures. Sometimes they’re obvious, but more often than not they’re hidden and require some digging around before you’re able to find them.

A Puzzling Adventure

The Witness has over 650 puzzles for players to solve, though you don’t have to do all of them to complete the game. The island’s split up into 11 sections arranged around a mountain in the center, which is the final destination. However, the player must reach and activate the gold box in each sector to move on to the next area.

It’s vital to note the importance of the visuals and sound in The Witness. The game not only has a beautiful and immersive world, but it packs in a lot of details that you’ll want to pay attention to.

The game also lacks a soundtrack for good reason — it forces you to listen to your surroundings. The island can be eerily quiet to emphasize that there are no other signs of life around you. The lack of sound, aside from hearing your own footsteps in various terrain, adds depth and texture to the overall product.

If you like puzzle solving (we have free Mac puzzle games 13 Free Mac Puzzle Games to Test Your Solving Skills 13 Free Mac Puzzle Games to Test Your Solving Skills Are you a puzzle game fan looking to solve all kinds of brain teasers on your Mac? These free games offer hundreds of levels for you to match three, clear word tiles, and more. Read More too), exploration, and an intriguing story, then The Witness is definitely one you must check out.

Download: The Witness for iOS ($9.99)

2. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

Itching for an intense action shooter RPG? Then The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth should satisfy your cravings with grotesque and controversial themes.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth came out in 2014 and is a remake of the 2011 original. In this roguelike The Best Roguelikes To Play When You’re On A Coffee Break The Best Roguelikes To Play When You’re On A Coffee Break Some roguelikes can take a while to beat. What if your time is limited? Introducing the coffeebreak roguelike! Read More action RPG shooter, players learn about a boy named Isaac and his mother. The mother, however, becomes brainwashed and gets a message from God, demanding the life of her son in order to prove her faith. It’s dark and grim, yet oddly addictive.

In the game, players take control of Isaac, who has escaped his mother by running into the creepy basement. Using his tears as bullets, Isaac must fight his way through the basement dungeon filled with hideous monsters and other abnormal critters. Eventually, he’ll have to face off against his own mother, who has turned into a deformed beast.

Intensity, Rebirthed

All dungeons in The Binding of Isaac are procedurally generated No Man’s Sky and the Future of Procedural Games No Man’s Sky and the Future of Procedural Games If you haven’t heard of No Man’s Sky yet, you’re missing out. This open-world adventure game is set to pioneer a new standard in procedural generation, a topic that’s deeply interesting even if you don’t… Read More , so they’re different on each run. This also means that enemies you encounter and items you loot vary. And since it’s a roguelike, death is permanent. The game plays like a dual-stick shooter, and features a top-down perspective.

In the Rebirth version, there’s more content and gameplay modes for you to enjoy. This includes 10 other playable characters and hundreds of new power-ups and items. Gameplay modes include Challenges, where each dungeon has a modifier, such as complete darkness. No matter which mode you decide to play, the goal is to survive for as long as you can for the best score.

The Binding of Isaac has made its way to pretty much every platform, and for good reason. It’s a high-quality experience that’s just downright fun to play. Whether you’ve played it before or want to jump into the fray for the first time, the mobile port is a pretty good version, since you can keep it in your pocket.

Download: The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth for iOS ($14.99)

3. Chrono Trigger

If you’re a fan of Japanese RPGs (check out the best free Japanese games on the App Store The 6 Best Free Japanese iPhone Games In The App Store The 6 Best Free Japanese iPhone Games In The App Store A lot of Japanese iPhone games have now made the jump to the Western market. Here are several free games we recommend! Read More ), then you absolutely must play Chrono Trigger. Whether or not you’ve played the SNES original back in 1995, the mobile port is a worthy addition to anyone’s game collection.

Why is Chrono Trigger a masterpiece? The original crew who made the game consisted of what many call the “Dream Team”: Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series, Yuji Horii of the Dragon Quest franchise, and Akira Toriyama of Dragon Quest and Dragon Ball fame. These are all big names, so Chrono Trigger was definitely made by people who knew a thing or two about JRPGs.

Chrono Trigger is your typical JRPG with familiar mechanics. Players travel through the overworld map and explore various terrain, including forests, deserts, cities, and dungeons. There’s a varied cast of characters from different eras (time travel is involved) that you’ll encounter and get to team up with. Each one brings their own unique personality and traits to the group.

The Legendary Battle System

However, the biggest aspect about Chrono Trigger that set it apart from other JRPGs is the battle system 5 Classic RPGs With Unique Battle Systems You’ll Love 5 Classic RPGs With Unique Battle Systems You’ll Love Skips the usual affair and start playing these 5 RPGs with unique battle systems you’ll fall in love with. Read More . Chrono Trigger shows enemies on the map as players navigate around, so there are no random encounters. And when players engage with enemies on the map, battles take place rightthere, rather than a separate battle screen.

The battle system in Chrono Trigger makes use of the Active Time Battle 2.0 system (ATB is a staple of Final Fantasy IV). This means each character can only take action in the battle when their personal timer (speed stat dependent) hits zero.

Actions consist of basic attacks and “Techs,” which are special skills or magic spells that usually affect an area. Each character has Techs that you can use in conjunction with a teammates to create powerful Double or even Triple Techs. This distinctive system is key to victory, especially considering that enemies can change positions during battle.

At the time of its release, Chrono Trigger was revolutionary, and is still considered by many as one of the best video games of all time 6 Places To Find Out What Are The Best Video Games Ever 6 Places To Find Out What Are The Best Video Games Ever It’s only natural for a fan of gaming to wonder what the best games ever made are, or at least what the experts think are the best. Read More . This was due to the multiple endings, character-developing side quests, ATB 2.0 battle system, and graphics.

In 2008, Chrono Trigger came onto the Nintendo DS, along with bonus content from the enhanced PlayStation port in 1999. The DS version added an arena where you battle monsters, two new dungeons, and a new ending that foreshadows events that occur in Chrono Cross. When you buy the iOS or Android port, you get all of this extra content as well.

Chrono Trigger is a piece of video game history that has inspired many modern JRPGs of today. And even though Chrono Trigger originally launched in 1995, it still holds up incredibly well today.

Download: Chrono Trigger for iOS | Android ($9.99)

4. The World Ends With You

Do you love JRPGs but crave something fresh and unlike anything you’ve played before? The World Ends With You fits this bill.

The first part of The World Ends With You that’ll catch your eye is the stylish art and aesthetic. The game carries a design that is much more modern than most other Square Enix titles, and it’s done incredibly well.

All of the characters have cool motifs, personalities, and traits, and are easily distinguishable from each other. Plus, the game takes place in a fictional version of Shibuya, Japan, so fashion plays an important role.

Music also plays a big part in The World Ends With You. Since the main setting is Shibuya, the soundtrack encompasses a wide variety of music genres, including rock, hip hop, and electronica. With this combination, there’s a track that represents all moods and tones of Shibuya. The tunes in The World Ends With You are downright fantastic 11 Best Video Game Soundtracks For Studying 11 Best Video Game Soundtracks For Studying Video game music is engineered to allow you to focus while still enjoying background noise. If you need some studying music, look no further than these 11 awesome games. Read More , and well worth the price of the game.

The story for The World Ends With You involves a boy named Neku, who wakes up and finds himself in a game of life or death: the Reaper’s Game. The Reaper’s Game lasts for seven days, and he must survive the entire time in order to find out why he’s even been chosen in the first place.

The game’s split up into three chapters based on the three weeks in which Neku is a player in the Reaper’s Game. During each week, Neku encounters other players who end up being his partner for that time. New missions occur each day, and Neku and his partner must complete them or face erasure. Neku’s partners each have their own set of skills to utilize in combat.

During battles with the Noise enemies, the skills that Neku has are dependent upon the player’s choice of equipped pins. There are many pins to find and collect in the game, and they let you take actions like healing, slashing enemies, firing bullets, and more.

In each district of Shibuya, there are specific brands of pins and clothes that are popular and trending. If you’re wearing items associated with these brands, they boost your capabilities in battle. Conversely, when you wear brands that aren’t fashionable, your abilities suffer.

It’s important to note that since The World Ends With You was originally a Nintendo DS game, it utilized two screens. However, the mobile ports only have one screen to work with, so they come with a simplified battle system.

There are a lot of riddles and puzzles to solve in The World Ends With You. Sometimes districts in Shibuya get blocked off from players until they satisfy the requests of nearby Reapers. These can consists of tasks like erasing Noise symbols, having certain clothing brands equipped, or even giving them specific items.

Plenty of content awaits players in The World Ends With You, and the storyline is intriguing and captivating. It’s a modern classic JRPG that is a must-play for any fans of the genre.

Download: The World Ends With You for iOS | Android ($17.99)

5. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

If you’re in the mood for something more action-packed and crazy, then you can’t go wrong with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Originally released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2, then Windows and Xbox in 2005, many consider San Andreas a gaming masterpiece.

The Grand Theft Auto franchise has always been popular for its open-world environments, engaging stories, music, and insane gameplay. With Grand Theft Auto, players get a combination of third-person shooter with driving game elements, and these two combined lead to chaos in the streets 10 More of the Funniest Video Games Ever Made 10 More of the Funniest Video Games Ever Made Looking to laugh when you play video games? We’ve rounded up ten more funny titles that will keep you chuckling throughout. There’s something for every sense of humor here! Read More .

San Andreas follows in the footsteps of previous games with the third-person perspective and vast, open world. The game takes place in the fictional state of San Andreas, which is heavily based on California (Los Angeles and San Francisco) and Nevada (Las Vegas).

Players take on the role of Carl “CJ” Johnson, who returns home after his mother’s death. Old friends and family show up in hysterics, forcing CJ to get his old gang back together for clashes with cops and other activities. Throughout the campaign, secrets behind his mother’s death reveal themselves.

Sandbox Adventure

As you play, you’re able to move around San Andreas by foot or car. Due to the open nature of the game, players are free to explore at their leisure, pretty much doing whatever they want.

While on foot, CJ can walk, run, swim, climb, and jump while using weapons or engaging in hand-to-hand combat. If you want a vehicle, you can do some grand theft (hence the name) and snag cars, bikes, buses, semis, boats, aircraft, tanks, trains, and pretty much any other vehicle you can think of. Stealing vehicles is a major element of the game, and the key to getting away from police quickly.

In the single player campaign, while there’s a storyline to follow, it probably won’t be your first priority. There are a ton of side quests that you can do between main missions, and they reward character attribute points or money. These quests include many types of jobs, such as rescuing people, putting out fires, driving a taxi, and some unsavory tasks, such as burglaries.

Whether you’re a fan of the Grand Theft Auto series or a newcomer, San Andreas is one of the best installments that you can play. And with the power of smartphones, this classic game can now go with you everywhere.

Download: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for iOS | Android ($6.99)

6. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Do you feel that the Force is strong with you? Then you’ll want to give Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic a try. It released in 2003 on Xbox and PC, and is also held in high regard among gamers What’s the Best Star Wars Mobile Game? What’s the Best Star Wars Mobile Game? Are any of the Star Wars mobile games worthy of the venerated Star Wars license? I played 13 of them to find out. Here’s what I thought of each one. Read More , regardless of the Star Wars branding.

In Knights of the Old Republic, players get a fresh story that separates itself from the movies. Knights occurs 4,000 years before the formation of the Galactic Empire. A Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Malak, attacks the Republic with his deadly Sith fleet. Players take on the role of a young Jedi and venture forth to stop Malak.

Even though this is a Star Wars game, it plays much like other RPGs. In the beginning, players choose from three basic character classes: Soldier, Scout, and Scoundrel. Later on, after you pass the Jedi trials, you’ll get your Jedi subclass: Guardian, Sentinel, or Consular. You’re able to have up to two companions traveling with you. Each character also has skill stats, feats, and Force powers (similar to magical spells).

The combat system in Knights of the Old Republic is unique and simulates real-time combat. However, it’s actually based on rounds, and all combat actions are calculated based on rules similar to Dungeons & Dragons. Each character attacks and reacts to enemies simultaneously, and it appears seamless because it’s sequential. You only get a limited number of actions per round, so you’ll have to plan your moves strategically.

There’s plenty to do in Knights of the Old Republic as well, besides just engaging in epic lightsaber battles. You’ll find main storyline quests, as well as side missions that you can start by interacting with teammates and other NPCs. Players also must make many decisions during the course of the game, which affect their alignment with the light (Jedi) or dark (Sith) side of the Force.

If you’ve never played Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic before, there’s no better time than now to check it out. Be sure to also check out more games that you’ll like if you’re a Star Wars fan.

Download: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for iOS | Android ($9.99)

7. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions

Love the world of Final Fantasy but want something more strategic and tactical? Then look no further than Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. This mobile port is the updated 2007 PlayStation Portable version of the original 1997 Final Fantasy Tactics on PlayStation.

What makes Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions different from most typical Final Fantasy games? Instead of your typical JRPG, The War of the Lions is a turn-based tactical role-playing game, with battles feeling like a chess match as they happen on grids with various terrain.

In The War of the Lions, players control a mercenary named Ramza. The world of Ivalice is in a late medieval era where technology is booming, but magic and the supernatural still exist. A civil war is happening between Ivalice and neighbor Ordalia, while a force of darkness has emerged. It’s up to Ramza, along with any allies he manages to round up, to save both worlds.

While The War of the Lions has many original characters, longtime Final Fantasy fans will see some familiar faces in the mix. The War of the Lions includes Balthier from Final Fantasy XII, Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII, and even Luso Clemens from Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift.

Ramza travels around Ivalice from point-to-point on the overworld map. He’ll encounter various cities and towns, along with patches of wilderness that can hold many surprises, like random battle encounters. While in towns, Ramza can hire new recruits, send party members out on automated quests, and buy equipment and items. The story unravels through a linear series of missions.

Each character on the field is a chess piece, and has limited mobility depending on their job and terrain. The player and enemy alternate turns, moving their units and performing actions during this time. During the player’s turn, units can move and then perform an action, such as attacking or using a special skill. Once all your units have taken action, then it’s the enemy’s turn, and the cycle repeats.

There’s 22 jobs available in The War of the Lions. These include your classic Final Fantasy classes, like White Mage, Black Mage, and Dragoons, to advanced jobs like Summoner, Time Mage, and Orators. Starting jobs are available from the get-go, and more become unlocked as you meet level requirements for specific classes.

Doing actions in battle grants each character experience and job points, with the latter used to purchase new abilities. Once a character learns a skill from a job, they can permanently access it.

But don’t be careless in battle: The War of the Lions can be unforgiving with permadeath. If someone takes excessive damage and is not revived within three turns, they’re gone forever.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is an awesome lesser-known Final Fantasy game, and one that every gamer should check out.

Download: Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions for iOS ($13.99) | Android ($11.99)

What Mobile Ports Are Your Favorite?

It’s really amazing how gaming technology has advanced. Now we can have these amazing classics in the palm of our hand, ready to play at a moment’s notice.

While there are surely more great mobile ports, we’ve handpicked our favorites here. If you want even more great mobile games to check out, we recommend discovering some hidden gems 7 Mobile Gaming Hidden Gems You Must Try 7 Mobile Gaming Hidden Gems You Must Try Everyone knows Candy Crush and Monument Valley, but what about the best mobile games hiding beneath the service? Here are seven great hidden gems for your iPhone or Android guaranteed to be a blast. Read More .

Do you have a favorite game that received a mobile port in recent years? Did we miss your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

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12 Free Browser Match-3 Games to Enjoy on Your Next Break

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jpkee-blog · 7 years

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Protect Your Google Accounts With This Official Extension

“Phishing” entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2005, and for good reason: it’s a major online security nightmare that users should be well aware of. Check out these scary facts by Google:

Phishing attacks succeed 45 percent of the time.

Nearly 2 percent of Gmail messages are designed to trick people into giving up their passwords.

Earlier this year, even Google Docs was targeted in a massive phishing attack Everything You Need to Know About the Google Docs Phishing Scam Everything You Need to Know About the Google Docs Phishing Scam Concerned about the phishing attempt that spoofed Google Docs and abused Google’s OAuth system? How did the attackers compromise Google accounts? Find out what we know and how you can protect yourself. Read More . That just goes to show the high-stakes war we have to fight with cybercriminals every day. You don’t know when you will be ambushed next. You need every tool at your disposal.

Google has a sophisticated security system that does its job behind the scenes, but there’s also an official Google extension that could be should be another line of defense.

Password Alert is a quick install from the Chrome Web Store. After the installation, the open-source extension stands guard on your Google and Google Apps for Work Accounts (also Google Drive) and protects them from phishing attacks.

The extension validates an actual Google sign-in page. If you type your Google password into a site that isn’t a Google sign-in page, the extension will display an alert and warn you about the dubious webpage.

Thanks to the warning, you can quickly change the password you just entered on the fake page. That’s why you should get into the habit of using a different password for every site. Then, it won’t be such a pain to change the compromised password across all the sites you sign into.

How does Password Alert remember your password?

The extension is not a keystroke logger. Chrome keeps a scrambled reduced-bit thumbnail of your password in Chrome’s local storage. It then compares this thumbnail to each password you enter on any website other than accounts.google.com. If you type your password into a site that isn’t a Google sign-in page, Password Alert compares it against the saved thumbnail.

This information for security purposes only and Google doesn’t share it with anyone.

What other features have you set up? Do you use two-factor authentication and conduct a security checkup regularly?

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How to Become an Amazon Vine Reviewer & Get Free Stuff

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jpkee-blog · 7 years

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How to Prevent Google Deleting Your Android Backups Without Warning

You may not realize this, but Google will delete automated Android backups without warning.

This realization came to light thanks to a Reddit post (first highlighted by Android Police) that explains exactly what’s going on. Reddit user Tanglebrook discovered this issue the hard way, after losing all the data from their Android phone backup.

Tanglebrook found out that if you don’t use your Android phone for a certain amount of time, your backup is deleted. Google explains in its support pages:

“Your backup will remain as long as you use your device. If you don’t use your device for 2 weeks, you may see an expiration date below your backup.”

Google doesn’t really go into much detail about the how and why of it, but it appears that the countdown is somewhere over 2 months.

The worst part is that Google will delete your data without warning and without giving you a chance to use your available Google Drive storage to hang on to precious backups. As if that weren’t enough, there’s no way to recover deleted backups.

So if you haven’t used your Android phone in two weeks, you can find out if that countdown has begun by opening up the Google Drive app and doing the following:

Tap the hamburger menu button.

Tap Backups.

You’ll see a list of your backups. If your backup is expiring, you should see how many days are left for your backup to expire, as in the screenshot above.

It appears that using your Android device before that countdown ends should avert the crisis. While it’s understandable that Google wants to clean house when it comes to inactive accounts, a little warning would be nice.

To stay on the safe side, you might want to consider a third-party backup option Don’t Lose Your Data: 5 Top Backup Solutions For Android Don’t Lose Your Data: 5 Top Backup Solutions For Android Everybody needs to back up their data in case something happens to their device. Protect yourself with these amazing backup apps. Read More for your Android device instead.

What do you think of Google’s backup practice? Is two weeks too short a window to activate the countdown? Do you think Google should notify users before deleting that content? Let us know in the comments.

3 Easy Ways to Access Sideloaded Apps on Android TV

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jpkee-blog · 7 years

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How to Add More Storage Space to Android TV

Android TV is rapidly becoming one of the best ways to watch apps like Netflix 10 Niche Streaming Services for Those Who Hate Netflix 10 Niche Streaming Services for Those Who Hate Netflix Mainstream streaming services carry mainstream content. What can you do if you want to watch something a little less conventional? You’re better off checking out these alternative streaming services packed full of niche content. Read More , Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. And thanks to the success of the 2017 Nvidia Shield 7 Reasons the Nvidia Shield Is the Ultimate Tool for Cord-Cutters 7 Reasons the Nvidia Shield Is the Ultimate Tool for Cord-Cutters The Nvidia Shield may just be the ultimate device for cord-cutters everywhere. Here are seven reasons why it beats the competition without much effort. Read More , it’s now starting to rival Roku as the must-have operating system for cordcutters.

But not all Android TV boxes are made equal. At one end of the scale, the $300 Nvidia Shield Pro ships with 500GB of storage. At the other end, some cheap Chinese models on eBay come with as little as 4GB. Luckily, it’s easy to add more storage capacity!

Adding More Storage Capacity to Android TV

If your Android TV device has a USB port, it can read and write to an external drive. However, it cannot use the drive’s space for the installation files of apps and games — unless you first make some changes in the Settings menu:

Plug your USB drive or external hard drive into your Android TV device.

On the home screen, scroll down to Settings.

Go to Storage and reset.

Find your external USB drive and select it.

Choose Set up as internal storage or Format as device storage (exact wording differs between devices).

You may need to select Move now (depending on your device).

Give the device a few moments to format your drive, and you’ll be ready to use it. (Note: You will not be able to remove the external drive and use it on other gadgets while it’s formatted as internal memory.)

Have you used this trick to increase the storage capacity of your Android TV device? Let us know in the comments.

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5 Free SoundCloud Apps to Stream, Discover, or Download Music

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How to Change CHKDSK’s Wait Time Before It Runs

The Windows Disk Check command, or CHKDSK, is a vital Command Prompt tool Essential Windows CMD Commands You Should Know Essential Windows CMD Commands You Should Know The bleak interface of the command prompt is your gateway to advanced Windows tools. We show you essential CMD commands that will let you access them. Read More that lets you scan your hard drive for errors and fix them. Since you typically run this on your Windows disk, the tool can’t check it while Windows is running — so whenever you schedule a CHKDSK, Windows has to run it the next time you boot.

When that happens, you’ll see a message that says A disk check has been scheduled. To skip disk checking, press any key within X second(s). The default is 10 seconds, which may not work for your needs.

Perhaps you’re having problems with CHKDSK Stuck on CHKDSK? How to Use & Fix It the Right Way Stuck on CHKDSK? How to Use & Fix It the Right Way CHKDSK can seriously deflate your Windows boot time. More importantly, it indicates that something’s not right. Here’s what Check Disk does and how you can use it. Read More and need more time to make sure you skip it. Or on an older and slower computer, an automatic CHKDSK after a hard shutdown could hold up your machine for an hour.

The good news is that you can change how long the countdown takes for the disk check:

Type Command Prompt into the search bar of the Start Menu. When you see this entry listed, right-click it and choose Run as administrator.

Enter the following command, substituting the number of seconds you want the countdown to run for 000:

chkntfs /t:000

This will change how long CHKDSK waits to run when it’s scheduled at your next boot.

You can enter any value from 0 to 259,200 seconds (which is three days). If you enter 0, the scan will run immediately without a countdown. You can confirm the current timer by entering the following command:

chkntfs /t

We don’t recommend setting a value that’s too high. Otherwise, if you boot your computer and walk away, it could waste hours sitting at the countdown. Something like 30 seconds gives you more time to cancel it if needed, without wasting too much time if you don’t see it.

For more tricks, check out other CHKDSK features 7 Nifty CHKDSK Features to Use in Windows 10 7 Nifty CHKDSK Features to Use in Windows 10 CHKDSK (“check disk”) is a Windows diagnostic tool that scans data drive volumes, verifies their integrity, and fixes errors when necessary. Here we highlight the improved CHKDSK features you can find in Windows 8 and… Read More to modify how it runs.

Have you ever had issues with the CHKDSK countdown? Will you modify the value for more convenience? Tell us in the comments!

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9 New Settings Features in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

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jpkee-blog · 7 years

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How to Become an Amazon Vine Reviewer & Get Free Stuff

Do you think leaving an Amazon review How to Know If You Can Trust an Amazon Product’s Reviews How to Know If You Can Trust an Amazon Product’s Reviews Amazon product reviews are hit or miss. Sometimes they’re helpful, sometimes they’re fake. Here’s a tool you can use to check the integrity of a given product’s reviews. Read More is a waste of time? Then, an Amazon program that’s been around since 2007 might have you thinking twice. Amazon’s Vine Program consists of a group of handpicked reviewers who get products for free in exchange for honest reviews.

Amazon doesn’t give away too much about how reviewers are selected, but there are some basic guidelines that you can follow in an attempt to be one of the lucky ones receiving free swag.

What is the Amazon Vine Program?

Amazon’s Vine Program is an invite-only group of reviewers that receive products for free in exchange for impartial reviews. They will often receive products before they are released. Amazon explains its purpose:

“[…] to provide customers with more information including honest and unbiased feedback from some of Amazon’s most trusted reviewers.”

Anyone who is a member of the Vine Program will have a badge on all the reviews they leave on Amazon distinguishing them as Vine Voices.

That doesn’t mean every single review they leave is the result of a freebie. If they received the item as part of the program, that review will be labeled Vine Customer Review of Free Product.

While Vine members used to receive a monthly newsletter featuring books and other products they chose from to review — with products valued at anywhere from a few dollars to close to $1,000 — they now have access to a rolling list of items they can order at any time. According to NPR, Vine members cannot sell or give items received through the program away and Amazon can ask for the items back — although they don’t appear to do that.

Amazon says that Vine reviewers are not expected to leave positive reviews and that writing a negative review will have no impact on an Amazon user’s ranking.

How Do You Get An Invite?

So how do you become one of Amazon’s most trusted reviewers? Amazon will reach out to you if they feel you are a good fit for the program but the company does offer some guidance on what it’s looking for in a Vine Voice.

Rather than focus on quantity of reviews, they are focused on quality. It’s no good if you’re out there on Amazon leaving one-word reviews left and right. Being a prolific reviewer is no guarantee of joining the Vine program. Amazon’s guidelines for a Vine Voice are:

A reviewer’s rank, which is based on the overall helpfulness of reviews, while also factoring in the number of reviews.

Demonstrated expertise in one specific product category.

More weight is given to recent reviews. (Rankings are updated every couple of days.)

An interest in products similar to those enrolled in the Vine program.

While an interest in the products enrolled in the program is key to getting an invite — aside from looking for Vine reviews on Amazon (which is not an easy task), there’s no real way to know which products are enrolled. All we know is that vendors pay to have their products included — a fact that Amazon did not initially disclose, leading to some negative coverage of the program in the past.

In any case, in its explanation of the program Amazon writes:

Ultimately, Vine Voices become eligible based on the value and trust other Amazon.com customers place in the Voices’ ability to provide helpful and insightful reviews.

Helpful Votes

So if you want to be considered, avoid leaving extremely brief reviews. Avoid complaining about something in the product that is clearly stated in the description. Think about the questions you were asking yourself before you took the plunge and ordered that $200 gadget that you knew you didn’t need but really, really wanted.

Amazon likely scours the thousands of reviews left on products available on the site and looks at how those reviews are being received by fellow customers.

Reviewers whose feedback is consistently marked as helpful have a better chance of being invited to the program.

Stick to One Category

As for the second criteria – Amazon looks for your interest and expertise in specific product categories. Anecdotal evidence shows that sticking to one product category, and becoming a recognized and helpful expert in that field gives you a better chance of becoming a Vine member.

There’s No Clear Science

Amazon doesn’t provide much information on how it makes that decision. For example, we found Vine Voice reviewers who received 4,000 helpful votes. Some Hall of Famers have received over 88,000 votes but are not a part of the program. There is clearly no exact science in play here. One Vine Voice reviewer posted on Quora that he received his invite with over 30 reviews and over 300 helpful votes. In addition to numbers, according to him, it also depends on which categories Amazon is looking to add new Vine Voices — in other words — there’s no guarantee.

One major piece of information that Amazon does not share is how often it invites users to the Vine program, so it’s never really clear if Amazon is actively recruiting new reviewers. So if you want to be considered, you’ll simply have to keep at it. Most anecdotes found online of Vine members being invited are somewhat dated at this point.

One Reddit user who is also a Vine member claims that Amazon does not add new members unless existing members leave the program.

Tips from Vine Members

Vine Member Laura Knights offers some details on what she did prior to being invited in 2009:

She aimed to write one review per week. (Some of the top Vine reviewers wrote as much as one review a day, and sometimes more.)

She reviewed products mainly from one category: kitchen items.

She did this for a period of one year.

She speculates that being a longtime, active Amazon member may also have something to do with it.

MakeUseOf’s Bakari Chavanu, a Vine Member since 2010, offers this advice:

You need to have been an Amazon member for longer than 6 months.

Write thoughtful and genuine reviews.

Prioritize reviews of products you actually bought on Amazon. (These will be labeled as a Verified Purchase on the site.)

Play the long game by updating your reviews after you’ve used the product for a while.

Consider doing short video reviews as well.

Focus on a product category associated with your profession as this can lend to your credibility and increase the likelihood of helpful votes.

Tips for Writing Reviews

The last thing to consider if you’re trying to get an invite to the Amazon Vine club is to pay attention to Amazon’s own review guidelines. This is what Amazon suggests when you’re about to write a review:

Do explain why you liked or disliked it.

Do compare to similar products or services and share how long you’ve used this product.

Do identify specific attributes (e.g. comfort & fit of a shirt or the battery life of a camera) and whether they met your expectations.

Don’t describe your seller or shipping experience (you can do that at amazon.com/feedback).

Don’t include promotional content of any kind or reviews written in exchange for compensation.

You’re In. Now What?

Once you’re accepted as a Vine reviewer you will want to make sure you follow the guidelines of the program. You are limited to two products at a time and you must write and post your reviews of received products before you can request additional items. Be sure to leave a review within 30 days of delivery.

Only choose products you’re really interested in, and don’t feel compelled to select something just for the sake of a review. If you don’t really want or need the item, you can just skip a month or two.

You’d be surprised but as with most things online, being a top Amazon reviewer doesn’t come without risks. One Amazon reviewer reportedly gets regular hate mail, among them death threats. Other Vine reviewers say their reviews get negative feedback just because of their Vine badge. And while Amazon vowed last year to crack down on ‘incentivized’ reviews Deleting Fake Amazon Reviews, Streaming for Comic-Con Geeks, & More… [Tech News Digest] Deleting Fake Amazon Reviews, Streaming for Comic-Con Geeks, & More… [Tech News Digest] Fake Amazon reviews, streaming movies for Comic-Con geeks, LinkedIn buys Lynda, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Pacapong combines Pac-Man and Pong, and the Netflix Watch is coming soon. Read More , because of a deluge of fake reviews How to Spot Fake Reviews on Amazon How to Spot Fake Reviews on Amazon Don’t trust that review or 5-star rating on Amazon to make up your mind about a product. The only way to find a true opinion is to learn how to spot these fakes. Read More , the Vine program has continued to operate.

A 2016 study by ReviewMeta found that, while they may not be perfect, Vine reviews are often better than incentivized reviews.

For all of the criticism that it’s received, there are some really dedicated reviewers among their ranks, including the current top-ranked Amazon reviewer, who has written 3,451 reviews and received over 84,000 votes from other Amazon users for the helpfulness of her reviews. And, you can’t disagree the value of a good review when you go shopping on Amazon The Amazon Shopping Guide The Amazon Shopping Guide This free Amazon shopping guide outlines everything you need to know to make the best use of Amazon and secure the best deals. Read More .

Do you regularly write reviews on Amazon? Are you a Vine member? Can you share any tips or tricks on how to get invited into the program? What has Amazon sent you to review? Let us know in the comments.

Originally written by Bakari Chavanu on Aug 4, 2010

5 Virtual Stock Market Games That Help You Learn How to Invest

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jpkee-blog · 7 years

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3 Steps to Build the Next Great App

Progress bars inching forward ever so slowly. Confusing application layouts. Downloader’s remorse.

These are a few of my least favorite things, and I’m sure your customers share similar sentiments. In our digital-centric world, applications have become the modern storefront for nearly every business. They’re expected to provide convenient services, perfectly and right now. This is especially true for consumers with a mission to accomplish and limited time to get it done — whether “it” is paying bills, ordering fresh groceries or purchasing event tickets. Applications that don’t nail expectations are quickly abandoned.

In fact, consumers take app perfection so seriously, nearly two-thirds of users who responded to our AppDynamics App Attention Index 2017 said they will delete an app or abandon a website altogether due to performance problems after just one attempt due. An overall poor digital experience has led one-third of respondents to take their business elsewhere. And one-quarter of those surveyed said they’d be less likely to use a service in the future.

Clearly, businesses offering digital services have a lot on the line. Poor performance could cost companies billions per year, and a bad UX can forever tarnish relationships with customers.

Related: The Real Costs of Building a Mobile App For iOS and Android

My time in the trenches of app development for the NFL, Google, Tapjoy and AppDynamics has helped me refine three top strategies to escape the fate of app abandonment and built a product users actually like.

1. Climb the user-first design pyramid.

I’ve been asked one question countless times throughout my career: “I have a great idea for an application. Where do I start?” I always start my answer with a drawing that at first glance looks like the standard food pyramid. Instead of layers of grains and vegetables, though, it contains four building blocks: performance, utility, functionality and delight.

Performance is the base of the pyramid. At the end of the day, no one will use an app that doesn’t work. Performance must be a holistic part of your application so you can measure how well each layer above is operating. Unfortunately, performance often is overlooked or taken for granted. To get it right, you have to deploy the proper tools and infrastructure. Otherwise, you run the risk of crashes, bugs and unhappy end-users.

Utility focuses on how useful your application is and whether it maps back to what your intended audience actually wants. For example, I’m a huge football fan, and I always want to know when the Bears play. Based on utility alone, an app that simply lists all my team’s matchups would meet this need. Delivering value to your customers should be the sole reason your application exists. Concentrate on value, avoid unnecessary clutter and allow your users to find exactly what they’re looking for as quickly as possible.

Functionality encompasses features that make your application easier to use, such as filtering, good UX design or streamlined processes. In my Bears schedule example, consider a default view that shows only upcoming Bears matchups and filters out games already played. Good functionality provides a clear and easy path to fulfill the needs that consumers value most highly.

Delight is the cherry on the top. It’s the small things that make your users smile. That might be the added ability to watch game previews, a slick pull-to-refresh interaction or a Bears-themed loading screen. I’ve seen what happens when developers jump straight to this stage without providing utility first. In the best-case scenario, your user will spend a few seconds trying to find value and then abandon the application (maybe forever).

Related: 3 Ways to Consistently Delight (and Retain) Your Customers

2. Pay attention to retention rates, not customer complaints.

Once your application is off the ground, start paying close attention to metrics that indicate whether users are sticking around. For many mobile applications, the number of daily active users is a good metric to watch. Specifically, at what rate are daily active users converting to monthly active users? This will help establish a standard number or baseline for how sticky your application is.

People often rely on ratings or customer reviews, but be careful: It’s been shown that 96 percent of unhappy customers don’t complain — they’ll simply leave and never come back. Setting key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect retention can help you keep a good pulse on how your application is performing with your users. Any deviation from your baseline should be a red flag that causes you to dig deeper into what’s happening. It could be a sign of natural user attrition or a clue to bigger performance issues.

Related: Why Social Impact Is the Only KPI That Should Matter For Entrepreneurs

3: Don’t let the tyranny of the urgent take over.

Figure out what defines a great customer experience for your application and use it as a north star to set priorities. Let it guide what you’ll fix or improve first. Floods of bugs or customer complaints might come in on any given day, causing you to play whack-a-mole. Developers need to stay focused on the problems that are most strongly tied to the excellent experience they strive to maintain. In the long run, aligning priorities with customers’ leading values will uncover opportunities to build stronger, lasting relationships.

Related: 4 Ways to Balance Urgency and Innovation in Your Startup

Consumers’ preferences are dynamic and ever-changing, so getting an application right is a continuous process. Building the next great application involves regularly putting yourself in the mindset of your end-users. Test for yourself whether your product’s evolution parallels what users want and how they expect to experience it. An application built on user-first design and guided by the proper metrics has a good chance of standing the test of time and ensuring you stay hyper-focused on building great products your customers won’t ditch.

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jpkee-blog · 7 years

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The Unglamorous First Jobs of Successful People Such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos (Infographic)

While it would be convenient to inherit a family fortune, many successful entrepreneurs such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos started from humble roots, working unglamorous day jobs to make their dreams a reality. From flipping hamburgers at McDonald’s to sweeping sweltering factory boiler rooms, even these billionaires know what it’s like to grind.

Related: 5 Ways to Keep Grinding Even When You Aren’t Motivated

Whatever your day job may be, it’s important to use these experiences to learn the value of hard work and perseverance along the way. The ability to work through difficult situations while maintaining a sharp focus on your goals is a skill to be gleaned from even the dirtiest jobs.

Check out this infographic by Fundera and get inspired by these rags-to-riches stories.

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jpkee-blog · 7 years

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How Easy Is It to Crack a Wi-Fi Network?

Updated by James Frew on 11/06/2017

No matter your level of experience with computers, you probably have some idea about Wi-Fi security. You’ll know that your Wi-Fi network comes with a lengthy password with punctuation and numbers thrown into the mix. You may even have stumbled across the setting to hide your network’s name from other people. You’ve used these tools to your advantage — confident in the knowledge that your network is on lockdown. Or so you think. Just how secure are some of the common methods?

Hiding your Network SSID

A common misconception is that hiding your Wi-Fi network’s name is an effective means of obscuring and securing it from attackers. However, any commonly available Wi-Fi scanning tool will still show your network. The only difference is that instead of your chosen SSID, the network will be shown as hidden. All other details about the network are still broadcast and readily available for anyone that wants them How to Hide Your Wi-Fi Network & Prevent It From Being Seen How to Hide Your Wi-Fi Network & Prevent It From Being Seen Wireless networks are inherently less secure than wired networks. Is that why you want to hide your router? We’ll show you how to do that and how to really secure your network. Read More . All this really does is make it harder for your family, friends, or customers to identify and connect to your network.

Instead of using the default Wi-Fi connection settings on their computer, laptop, or mobile device, they will be forced to manually input the network. Not only is this an inconvenience, but can lead to more issues than it solves. Some devices don’t play nicely with hidden networks, and it can cause connectivity problems. As the network is no more secure with the SSID hidden, our advice is to not bother hiding your SSID — the only person it’ll cause problems for is yourself.

WEP Passwords

When setting up and security your Wi-Fi network, you have a couple of options. Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is the oldest standard, and is generally accepted to be almost as secure as having no password at all What Is WEP Wi-Fi Encryption & Why Is It Really Insecure? What Is WEP Wi-Fi Encryption & Why Is It Really Insecure? If you’ve set up a wireless network before, you’ve probably read or been told to use WPA2 instead of WEP, because WEP is bad. Why is that? And what is WEP anyway? Good questions. WEP… Read More . It was superseded by the much improved (but still flawed You’re at Risk From a KRACK Attack: Everything You Need to Know You’re at Risk From a KRACK Attack: Everything You Need to Know An exploit called “KRACK” (Key Reinstallation Attack) is making headlines. But what exactly is a KRACK attack? Can it be fixed? And what can you do about it? Let’s take a look. Read More ) WPA2 in 2006. Even in 2011, it was almost laughably simple How to Crack Your Own WEP Network to Find Out Just How Insecure It Really Is How to Crack Your Own WEP Network to Find Out Just How Insecure It Really Is We’re constantly telling you that using WEP to ‘secure’ your wireless network is really a fools game, yet people still do it. Today I’d like to show you exactly how insecure WEP really is, by… Read More to break into WEP networks. In the years since, the tools to crack WEP have become more user friendly, allowing even novice hackers to compromise the network.

While it was once the case that some older devices were incompatible with WPA2, nearly all modern devices have accepted the newer standard. Although most routers still offer WEP as an option, there is never a good reason to use it. If an older device still relies on WEP, then upgrade it rather than allowing that one device to compromise your network. Stay away from public Wi-Fi networks that use WEP too — they are easy targets for hackers. Public Wi-Fi networks are often easily compromised and used to listen in on your web traffic. This results in the hacker obtaining your passwords, payment information, and even bank login details. Give WEP secured public networks a wide-berth, even if you are using a VPN 7 Secure Strategies to Use Public Wi-Fi Safely on Phones 7 Secure Strategies to Use Public Wi-Fi Safely on Phones Is that public Wi-Fi network you just connected to safe? Before you sip your latte, and read Facebook, consider these simple secure strategies to using public Wi-Fi safely on your phone. Read More .

WPA & WPS

You might think that your 25 character WPA2-PSK WPA2, WEP, And Friends: What’s The Best Way To Encrypt Your Wi-Fi? WPA2, WEP, And Friends: What’s The Best Way To Encrypt Your Wi-Fi? When setting up wireless encryption on your router, you’ll come across a variety of confusing terms — WPA2, WPA, WEP, WPA-Personal, and WPA-Enterprise. Read More password is the best security available. That may be true, but it doesn’t mean you are fully protected. In an attempt to simplify the connection process, many routers use WPS technology. Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) comes in the form of a one-touch button, or as a simple eight digit number printed on your router. The eight digit number bypasses the need for a complex alphanumeric password. Replacing a long, complex password with a short numeric one sounds like the exact opposite of good security advice 7 Ways To Make Up Passwords That Are Both Secure & Memorable 7 Ways To Make Up Passwords That Are Both Secure & Memorable Having a different password for each service is a must in today’s online world, but there’s a terrible weakness to randomly generated passwords: it’s impossible to remember them all. But how can you possibly remember… Read More . The manufacturers are aware of this, so to prevent brute force hacking, there is a 60 second cooldown after three failed attempts. To randomly attack an eight digit password like this would take 6.3 years. You’d probably notice if someone was parked outside for that long.

Unfortunately, they did make a slight oversight — they split the passkey number in 2 sets of 4 digits. After cracking the first four digits, the router sends a helpful confirmation that set was correct. The hacker can then save those four for reference. This means that instead of eight digits, you only need to crack four numbers twice. The 6.3 year calculation time is now reduced to just less than a day.

To make matters worse, some manufacturers don’t even implement the cooldown period between failed attempts. This means that with the right tool Think Your WPA-Protected Wifi Is Secure? Think Again – Here Comes The Reaver Think Your WPA-Protected Wifi Is Secure? Think Again – Here Comes The Reaver By now, we should all be aware of the dangers of securing networks with WEP, which I demonstrated before how you could hack in 5 minutes. The advice has always been to use WPA or… Read More , even your WPA2 network can be cracked in just a few hours. Since WPS is a requirement for all Wi-Fi routers, and enabled by default, your router is almost certainly at risk. To protect yourself, head into your router’s settings and disable WPS completely How to Configure Your Router to Make Your Home Network Really Secure How to Configure Your Router to Make Your Home Network Really Secure Default router settings put your network at risk, allowing freeloading strangers to squeeze nadwidth and potentially commit crimes. Use our summary to configure your standard router settings to prevent unauthorized access to your network. Read More . Be sure to rerun your tests after disabling this — some routers have a separate internal WPS pin that cannot be disabled.

How Secure Is Your Wi-Fi?

The unfortunate reality is that no matter how many precautions you take, the chances of your Wi-Fi network being completely secure are exceedingly low. Given enough motivation and time, even the most secure networks will eventually give in to a hacker’s efforts. The most effective method of preventing wireless attacks is to disable Wi-Fi altogether. However, with so many wireless devices dotted about our homes, this might not be practical.

Instead, if you are using a router provided by your ISP, switch it to modem mode, and use another router for the Wi-Fi network. As always, make sure that all your devices are up to date, and your router is running the latest firmware 7 Tips to Secure Your Wi-Fi Network in Minutes 7 Tips to Secure Your Wi-Fi Network in Minutes Is someone sniffing and eavesdropping on your Wi-Fi traffic, stealing your passwords and credit card numbers? Would you even know if somebody was? Probably not, so secure your wireless network with these 7 simple steps. Read More . If you want to take things one step further, you could replace the default firmware with an alternative like Tomato The Top 6 Alternative Firmwares for Your Router The Top 6 Alternative Firmwares for Your Router Alternative firmwares offer more features and better functionality than stock firmwares. Here are some of the best ones to use. Read More or DD-WRT What Is DD-WRT And How It Can Make Your Router Into A Super-Router What Is DD-WRT And How It Can Make Your Router Into A Super-Router In this article, I’m going to show you some of the coolest features of DD-WRT which, if you decide to make use of, will allow you to transform your own router into the super-router of… Read More .

How many of these vulnerabilities did you know? Have you taken steps to secure yourself? Is there anything you think we missed? Let us know in the comments below!

How Do Search Engines Work?What Is the Most Secure Mainstream Browser?

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jpkee-blog · 7 years

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12 Excellent, Free Screen Sharing & Remote Access Tools You Haven’t Heard Of Yet

Are you constantly being asked for computer help? Or perhaps you’re the one doing the asking. Either way, seeing and controlling screens remotely can save time and confusion on both ends.

Remote access programs aren’t just for helping someone or being helped with a computer problem, they can also be very beneficial in assisting in holding meetings over the computer without actually meeting in person.

We at MakeUseOf have covered article after article about remote access and screen sharing applications, but I’m going to consolidate some of the potentially less common ones that you may not have heard of. We have all likely heard of the popular programs in the game: TeamViewer Provide Remote Assistance And Host Meetings Using TeamViewer 7 Provide Remote Assistance And Host Meetings Using TeamViewer 7 As the internet becomes more evolved, more tools pop up to help each other out and spread information. There are quite a few products out there that make long distance presentations easy, while others can… Read More and LogMeIn Join.me: The Simplest Way to Have a Web Conference Call Between Computers & Mobile Devices Join.me: The Simplest Way to Have a Web Conference Call Between Computers & Mobile Devices Your friend has called. They have a problem with their computer and are asking for your expertise. You want to help, but everything would be so much easier if you could see what’s on the… Read More . But perhaps it’s time to consider some equally solid contenders.

AnyDesk is perhaps the easiest remote desktop access tool 4 Effortless Screen Sharing Tools You Can Use Anytime 4 Effortless Screen Sharing Tools You Can Use Anytime Sharing your screen with your family or colleague can be painless. Use these four free screen-sharing tools to share your screen as quickly as possible without complicated installations. Read More for anyone in the world. It supports all of the major platforms, i.e. Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD, Android, and iOS. And it’s the closest thing you will get to plug-and-play simplicity.

Features Within AnyDesk

The free version of AnyDesk offers all the goodies that any average joe would want. Obviously, you can remotely access the other person’s computer and see their screen. The address or namespace is usually confusing gibberish though. Here’s a pro tip: Hover the mouse cursor over your address to see an alternative 9-digit AnyDesk address number.

Positives

Connecting two devices via AnyDesk is dead easy. It supports audio and video transmission too, so you can talk as you help. The free version also lets you transfer files between the two devices, making it easy to access anything, anywhere.

Negatives

The free account supports only a 1:1 connection, which means only two devices at a time. The AnyDesk premium paid plans let you increase this capacity.

LiteManager is the most powerful of these free remote access tools. At the same time, it’s not a simple and easy interface. But when you get to control 30 PCs at any time, that’s a good enough compromise.

Features Within LiteManager

LiteManager has two different programs to install, on the server side and the viewer side. The viewer can access up to 30 PCs in the free version, and even more with the paid version. This makes LiteManager ideal for IT managers of small teams.

It supports Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. Linux users can run the program with Wine How to Run Windows Apps & Games with Linux Wine How to Run Windows Apps & Games with Linux Wine Is there any way to get Windows software working on Linux? One answer is to use Wine, but while it can be very useful, it probably should only be your last resort. Here’s why. Read More . LiteManager also has a QuickSupport mode for no-installation connections. This mode is ideal for anyone who needs help and doesn’t have LiteManager already installed. The main program is better for system administrators.

Positives

No other free remote desktop tool supports so many PCs at a time. This makes LiteManager unique and a fantastic tool for a system administrator. Plus, it has almost every feature you can think of, like file transfers, drag-and-drop simplicity, event logs, and more.

Negatives

For admins, the only thing lacking in the free version is ticketing and a screen recorder. Those features are available with the paid version of LiteManager, but then again, there are better apps if you’re willing to pay.

Remote Utilities is a popular tool for remote access and screen sharing 7 Easy Screen-Sharing and Remote-Access Tools 7 Easy Screen-Sharing and Remote-Access Tools We show you 7 free tools that let you share a screen over the internet or gain remote access to a computer to troubleshoot technical issues. Read More . It’s quite powerful, bypassing firewalls and NAT devices. And it connects to many computers simultaneously. But it supports only Windows computers, while mobile apps only let you act as viewer.

Features Within Remote Utilities

Install the Remote Utilities “Host” program on the computers you want to access. Install the “Viewer” program on your PC. Connect the two via the IP address and you’re done. It couldn’t be simpler.

You can multi-task and control up to 10 PCs with the free version, and more if you’re willing to pay. In fact, that’s the only difference between free and paid versions of Remote Utilities—how many PCs you can control at a time. So if 10 is enough for you, you get all the features of a premium program for free.

Quick note, you’ll need to register and get a free license to run the program.

Positives

There are some excellent features in the free version of Remote Utilities that other programs offer in their paid versions only. For example, you get Address Book syncing, which is invaluable in a small office.

And it features unattended access, which means you can remotely manage a PC even when the owner isn’t at the workstation.

Negatives

How I wish Remote Utilities was available across more platforms, but it’s Windows only. That is really the only negative of this program.

vimeo

Mikogo is another application which does both remote access and screen sharing. It supports Windows, Mac and Linux and is an excellent program for working in teams.

Features

Not only does it do the basics such as chat and file transfer, but it also allows you to decide which applications are seen by the viewers when you’re presenting. There’s a whiteboard to create drawings and text, the interface is very intuitive and there’s an option to record.

Another thing I liked are the speech bubbles (which can be easily disabled) to help remind you of what all the features can do – they’re just nice to fall back on while still learning the program. I also like that while you are using the program, you can see in a small screen in the window what is being displayed on the other person’s screen.

Positives

Lots of great helpful features and multi-person connection makes it great for teams. No time restriction.

Negatives

Code in program cannot be copied and pasted, nor can the window be resized. Also note that each time the icon for the program is clicked a new window is created. I had to manually close out each one in the system tray.

Bottom Line

Like previously stated, Mikogo is great for groups of people, but it also can be used as a one-on-one tool. Although, it may be a little overkill to use to just help someone with their computer.

ShowMyPC is focused on screen sharing. With a fairly simple user interface and Windows, Mac and Linux compatibility, it makes a solid choice if all you’re looking for is to share your screen.

Features

In the free version the features include the ability to take and share screenshots, Android phone support, limited chat room whiteboard, limited application sharing, file transfer (no folder transfer), schedule meetings, one-hour password length, one-hour session duration and limited participants per meeting, which varies based on network traffic.

Positives

No installation – simply launch the application and run it.

Negatives

Be prepared for a popup window promoting premium services once the session is ended.

Bottom Line

ShowMyPC is certainly not my favorite. Its website isn’t the easiest to navigate around and it took me a while to find the “free” link – you can tell it’s not heavily promoted. That said, the interface of the program isn’t all that bad and makes it fairly easy to use and understand. Out of 5 stars I would give ShowMyPC a 3.5 star rating.

MingleView is a Windows based screen sharing program which is completely free and has no premium package upgrade. This means you won’t be bothered by popups when ending the session. It also has no installation process and can simply be downloaded and ran by clicking “Share” and then allowing it to download to your computer.

Feature-wise MingleView stands out quite nicely. As you can see in the list above, it allows unlimited participants and meeting hosting. Plus, you don’t need to register or sign up like many of the services here.

It claims to have the highest screen quality offered. The user interface is simple – a little too simple actually – and it is easy to figure out what to do, with only a few buttons. The peer to peer connection is secure and built over SSL. In addition, there’s no port forwarding or special firewall configuration that is required.

Positives

MingleView is fast, easy to use and any platform can view another desktop through the web-based platform.

Negatives

The downloadable file is Windows only.

Bottom Line

MingleView isn’t a bad alternative to some of the others, but I wouldn’t say it’s the best. I know some may say it’s not about interface, it’s about the features. But in my mind, the interface is a feature and MingleView just doesn’t seem to offer a very intuitive or clean-looking interface.

That said, the fact that it has the features that it has and is free is impressive and is certainly the one to go with if you are planning to host a large viewing party, just make sure you have Windows. Out of 5 stars I would give MingleView a 3 star rating.

ScreenLeap is completely web-based too and also only does screen sharing. However, I would have to say that out of all the web-based interfaces, ScreenLeap looks and works the nicest. It’s also easy to use – simply click the big large button that says “Share your screen now” and you’re good to go.

Features

Although, there aren’t many real features with ScreenLeap, its simplicity and excellent functionality should not be disregarded. But the main feature that it has is its ability to share the session several ways. There’s a link to copy and paste into any form of communication from IM to email to Facebook message. Or there is a code which you can copy or read off to the people you’re connecting with. You can also type in the email address or phone number that you wish to send the code to.

Positive

Very simple and straightforward. There are many ways to share the session invite depending on the person’s comfort level with different forms of technology. You also have the option to share different windows or the entire screen.

Also, no account or registration is needed, at all.

Negative

There really isn’t much negative with ScreenLeap when you consider that it isn’t a mainstream application, but a simple website. Although it’s, low featured, you can’t compare it to the Mikogo’s of the group.

Bottom Line

You might be thinking right now, that ScreenLeap blows MingleView out of the water, and you’re right. It does. It’s simple, it’s quick and it’s useful at what it does. I highly recommend it for simply sharing your screen and would give it a 4.5 out of 5 star rating.

SkyFex is an online remote access service. That means it too doesn’t require a download since it’s entirely browser-based. This also means that it’s accessible on all platforms, making it a nice choice for those who are looking for a easy tool to use to help clients or even just friends.

That said, SkyFex has a great commercial presence as it allows companies to customize the interface with their logo, color style and custom links, as well as being able to display a link to remote sessions right on the company’s website. This builds customer loyalty and just looks more professional – of course this isn’t free though.

Features

Aside for the non-free customization features, the web application itself is quite nice. First though, let’s start with the appearance of the account from the “Expert’s” point of view. The page is clean and simple. There is the option to add additional computers to be associated with the account. There are also several ways to connect with the client, either by ID, sending the link directly to the client or by email invitation.

While the session is running you have access to several tools such as system information, remote control, sending files, remote reboot, sharing your desktop, chat, and full screen mode. It’s also neat that when your right click, a message bubble will show where you are pointing to.

Positives

SkyFex has some great features within its free model. From remote control to seeing system info, you are surely to be satisfied with it.

Negatives

I didn’t think I would have said this at first, but there are some negatives with SkyFex. For one, you are only given a 30 minute window of time per session. To my knowledge though, you can start a new session with that same user after that and there shouldn’t be any issues.

Also, I found it puzzling that it required a browser plugin to be installed on the client’s end when the link was clicked. This might throw some users off if they aren’t aware of what a plugin is and even though it states that it’s adware/spyware free, they might still be a little suspicious. I know the person whom I tested this with was caught off guard by it, as many websites may claim to be malware free, but that doesn’t mean they are. Hopefully they trust your better judgment.

Bottom Line

Overall, SkyFex seems like an excellent tool. It has all the features you need, and hopefully it doesn’t take you more than 30 minutes to solve the issue, but it’s not a problem if it does (because we all know that rarely happens). One great advantage that SkyFex has over a local program is that you can access this anywhere simply by signing in. There’s no need to spend time downloading and installing a program if you are at a public computer trying to help someone. I give SkyFex a 4.5 out of 5 star rating.

Yugma SE For Skype is a screen sharing and conferencing application. It is especially great for teams and business professionals who want to have a meeting, but don’t have the time or luxury to do it in person. And because Skype is so common for most people to have, why not integrate with it and make everyone’s job easier?

Features

The Skype integration allows you as the presenter to import the contacts, allowing you to easily invite people right from the list.

There is a vast amount of features from being able to switch presenters, have a telephone conference via Skype, schedule meetings and use annotation and whiteboard tools. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg so check out the list below for the rest of the features.

It is important to note that Yugma SE For Skype only works for Windows and Mac, although Linux users can still participate in the meeting, they just can’t host it with the downloaded program.

Lastly, an amazing feature is that you can have up to 20 participants in one meeting at a time.

Positives

Well so far, I’ve listed all the positives of Yugma, so there really isn’t much more to share. The annotation is an excellent feature, and one of the highlights. It is a solid program with an easy to use interface that is not only intuitive, but productive as well and that is very important in a professional setting. The entire website as a whole is easy to navigate.

Negatives

Unfortunately, there are some. And not being fully compatible with Linux is the biggest one. The other negative is that the meeting has a time limit of 30 minutes and that is when the program is started. So hopefully everyone joins fairly quickly to get things taken care of.

Bottom Line

Yugma SE For Skype is a great addition to Skype and since most people already have the program, it makes coordinating with them a breeze. However, they do not need to have Skype open to participate in the meeting, but simply need to add their Skype email to the Email ID field. I give Yugma SE For Skype a 4 out of 5 star rating.

Three Other ToolsWorth Mentioning

There is a lot on MakeUseOf about Virtual Network Computing (VNC) and I’m going to contribute even more to it. TightVNC Is TightVNC Really More Tight Than Other VNC Clients? Is TightVNC Really More Tight Than Other VNC Clients? When it comes to remotely connecting to a desktop PC or a server, most people quickly opt for installing a VNC server. It’s fast, easy to configure, and best of all it’s absolutely free. Once… Read More and UltraVNC, both of which have been mentioned on MakeUseOf are excellent free options for remote access via VNC. Both of these programs allow you to log into a computer, including yours at home while you’re away, and completely control the desktop.

The Google Chrome browser now comes with its own free extension for remote desktop access. It works on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and there are mobile apps for iOS and Android. It’s easy to set up and use from anywhere, and works nicely even on mobile data. Check out our full guide to control your PC with Chrome Remote Desktop Control Your PC From Anywhere Using Chrome Remote Desktop Control Your PC From Anywhere Using Chrome Remote Desktop Need to remotely control your PC from another device? Struggling with RDP, or services like LogMeIn? Well, we have the solution: Google Chrome! Let’s find out how to remote control a PC with Chrome. Read More .

What About Linux?

It seems like several programs don’t completely work with Linux (although UltraVNC does), so I’ve provided a few links from past MakeUseOf articles on this topic:

Which One Would You Pick?

There are certainly pros and cons of each service, but I feel that overall ScreenLeap, SkyFlex, Mikogo and CrossLoop are the best and shouldn’t be ignored.

What are your favorites in the list? Do you use them for remote support or face to face meetings?

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jpkee-blog · 7 years

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How Do Search Engines Work?

Article updated by Joel Lee on 10/10/2017

For many, Google is the internet. It’s the starting point for finding new sites, and is arguably the most important invention since the internet itself. Without search engines, new web content would be inaccessible to the masses.

But do you know how search engines work? Every search engine has three main functions: crawling (to discover content), indexing (to track and store content), and retrieval (to fetch relevant content when users query the search engine).

Crawling

Crawling is where it all begins: the acquisition of data about a website.

This involves scanning sites and collecting details about each page: titles, images, keywords, other linked pages, etc. Different crawlers may also look for different details, like page layouts, where advertisements are placed, whether links are crammed in, etc.

But how is a website crawled? An automated bot (called a “spider”) visits page after page as quickly as possible, using page links to find where to go next. Even in the earliest days, Google’s spiders could read several hundred pages per second. Nowadays, it’s in the thousands.

When a web crawler visits a page, it collects every link on the page and adds them to its list of next pages to visit. It goes to the next page in its list, collects the links on that page, and repeats. Web crawlers also revisit past pages once in a while to see if any changes happened.

This means any site that’s linked from an indexed site will eventually be crawled. Some sites are crawled more frequently, and some are crawled to greater depths, but sometimes a crawler may give up if a site’s page hierarchy is too complex.

One way to understand how a web crawler works is to build one yourself. We’ve written a tutorial on creating a basic web crawler in PHP, so check that out if you have any programming experience.

Note that pages can be marked as “noindex,” which is like asking search engines to skip its indexing. Non-indexed parts of the internet are known as the “deep web” What Is the Deep Web? It’s More Important Than You Think What Is the Deep Web? It’s More Important Than You Think The deep web and the dark web both sound scary and nefarious, but the dangers have been overblown. Here’s what they actually and how you can even access them yourself! Read More , and some sites, like those hosted on the TOR network, can’t be indexed by search engines. (What is TOR and onion routing? What Is Onion Routing, Exactly? [MakeUseOf Explains] What Is Onion Routing, Exactly? [MakeUseOf Explains] Internet privacy. Anonymity was one of the greatest features of the Internet in its youth (or one of its worst features, depending on who you ask). Leaving aside the sorts of problems that spring forth… Read More )

Indexing

Indexing is when the data from a crawl is processed and placed in a database.

Imagine making a list of all the books you own, their publishers, their authors, their genres, their page counts, etc. Crawling is when you comb through each book while indexing is when you log them to your list.

Now imagine it’s not just a room full of books, but every library in the world. That’s a small-scale version of what Google does, who stores all of this data in vast data centers with thousands of petabytes worth of drives Memory Sizes Explained – Gigabytes, Terabytes & Petabytes in Layman’s Terms Memory Sizes Explained – Gigabytes, Terabytes & Petabytes in Layman’s Terms It is easy to see that 500GB is more than 100GB. But how do different sizes compare? What is a gigabyte to a terabyte? Where does a petabyte fit in? Let’s clear it up! Read More .

Here’s a peek inside one of Google’s search data centers:

Image Credit: Google

Retrieval and Ranking

Retrieval is when the search engine processes your search query and returns the most relevant pages that match your query.

Most search engines differentiate themselves through their retrieval methods: they use different criteria to pick and choose which pages fit best with what you want to find. That’s why search results vary between Google and Bing, and why Wolfram Alpha is so uniquely useful 10 Cool Uses Of Wolfram Alpha If You Read And Write In The English Language 10 Cool Uses Of Wolfram Alpha If You Read And Write In The English Language It took me some time to wrap my head around Wolfram Alpha and the queries it uses to spout out those results. You have to dive deep into Wolfram Alpha to really exploit it to… Read More .

Ranking algorithms check your search query against billions of pages to determine each one’s relevance. Companies guard their ranking algorithms as patented industry secrets due to their complexity. A better algorithm translates to a better search experience.

They also don’t want web creators to game the system and unfairly climb to the tops of search results. If the internal methodology of a search engine ever got out, all kinds of people would surely exploit that knowledge to the detriment of searchers like you and me.

Image Credit: photovibes via Shutterstock

Search engine exploitation is possible, of course, but isn’t so easy anymore.

Originally, search engines ranked sites by how often keywords appeared on a page, which led to “keyword stuffing” — filling pages with keyword-heavy nonsense.

Then came the concept of link importance: search engines valued sites with lots of incoming links because they interpreted site popularity as relevance. But this led to link spamming all over the web. Nowadays, search engines weight links depending on the “authority” of the linking site. Search engines put more value on links from a government agency than links from a link directory.

Today, ranking algorithms are shrouded in more mystery than ever before, and “search engine optimization” Demystify SEO: 5 Search Engine Optimization Guides That Help You Begin Demystify SEO: 5 Search Engine Optimization Guides That Help You Begin Search engine mastery takes knowledge, experience, and lots of trial and error. You can begin learning the fundamentals and avoid common SEO mistakes easily with the help of many SEO guides available on the Web. Read More isn’t so important. Good search engine rankings now come from high-quality content and great user experiences.

What’s Next for Search Engines?

Ah, now there’s an interesting question. The answer is “semantics”: the meaning of the page’s content. You can read more about in our overview of semantic markup and its future impact What Semantic Markup Is & How It Will Change The Internet Forever [Technology Explained] What Semantic Markup Is & How It Will Change The Internet Forever [Technology Explained] Read More .

But here’s the gist of it.

Right now, you can search for “gluten-free cookies” but the results may return recipes for gluten-free cookies. Instead, you might find regular cookie recipes that say “This recipe is not gluten-free.” It has the right keywords, but the wrong meaning.

With semantics, you can search for cookie recipes and then remove certain ingredients: flour, nuts, etc. You can also narrow down results to only recipes with prep times less than 30 minutes and review scores of 4/5 or greater. That would be cool, right? That’s where we’re heading!

Still confused about how search engines work? See how Google explains the process:

If you found this interesting, you might also like to learn about how image search engines work.

Image Credit: wwwebmeister/Depositphotos

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jpkee-blog · 7 years

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How to Change the System Language in Windows 8

Changing the system language in Windows 8 can be a complicated process, especially if you don’t understand the current language. If you’ve sat down at a Windows computer How to Safely Upgrade to Windows 10 and Downgrade Back to Windows 7 or 8.1 Again How to Safely Upgrade to Windows 10 and Downgrade Back to Windows 7 or 8.1 Again Still using Windows 7 or 8.1? We’ll show you how to upgrade to Windows 10 for free. We’ll also explain how you can roll back to your old Windows version. Read More and found it’s in an unfamiliar language, trying to puzzle out where the language options are located can take a while. This process is now easy and available to everyone on Windows 8 — on Windows 7, you needed the Ultimate edition to do this.

We’ll walk you through the process of changing the Windows system language on Windows, complete with screenshots for every step of the process. If your system is in a different language, just click the options in the same place. How to change system language may be different in different languages, but they’ll be in the same place no matter what your language is. This process also applies to Windows RT Windows RT – What You Can & Can’t Do Windows RT – What You Can & Can’t Do Windows RT edition was discreetly launched about a month and a half ago with the flagship Microsoft Surface RT tablet device. Though visually indistinguishable from Windows 8, there are some key differences as to what… Read More .

Open the Language Pane

First, open the Charms bar 6 Retired Windows Features We’d Rather Forget 6 Retired Windows Features We’d Rather Forget Windows has gone through a lot of features over the years. Here are a few nobody really misses. Do you remember them? Read More from the desktop, as seen on the right edge in the screenshot below.

To bring up the Charms bar, either press Windows key + C to open it, swipe in from the right on a touchscreen 5 Ways to Add Touch to a Windows 8 Computer 5 Ways to Add Touch to a Windows 8 Computer Windows 8’s Start screen and “Modern” apps can feel awkward to use on a non-touch PC, but they really start to make sense when paired with a touch PC. If you’re not ready to go… Read More , or move your mouse to the top right or bottom right corner of your screen and move it upwards.

Click or tap the Settings option in the charms bar, and then click the Control Panel option. It’s the first option you can click at the top of the screen.

Of course, there are other ways you could open the Control Panel — you could also right-click in the bottom-left corner of the screen to open the system tools menu Every Windows 8 Shortcut – Gestures, Desktop, Command Line Every Windows 8 Shortcut – Gestures, Desktop, Command Line Windows 8 is all about shortcuts. People with touch-enabled PCs use touch gestures, users without touch devices must learn the mouse shortcuts, power users use keyboard shortcuts on the desktop and novel command-line shortcuts, and… Read More and select Control Panel, for example.

Click the Add a Language option under Clock, Language, and Region. If the interface is in another language, just look for the icon containing a globe with a clock in front of it and click the first option in the list under the heading.

Add a New Display Language

If you don’t see the language you want to use in the list, click the Add a language option — it’s located at the top-left corner of the language list. If the language you want to add is already in the list, you can skip the next few steps.

Select any language you want to install from the list and click the Open button. You can also use the search box at the top-right corner of the window to search for languages in the list.

The language you’ve added then appears in the list. You can now use it as an input language, but note that it says Windows display language: Available for download next to the new language. This means that you can’t yet use it as your Windows language — you don’t have the necessary support on your computer. To download display language support, you’ll need to click the Options link to the right of the language.

Click the Download and install language pack link to download the language pack from Microsoft and install it on your computer. It’s the link with a shield icon next to it because installing a new language requires administrator privileges.

A progress bar will appear while Windows downloads and installs the language pack. After the process completes, you may be prompted to restart your computer. After your computer restarts, log in and re-open the Language pane after doing so.

Set Your Display Language

Select the language you want to use and click the Move up button — third from the left — to move it to the top of the list. This makes it your highest-priority language. As long as the appropriate display language support is installed, it will now be used as your display language.

However, your system language won’t change immediately. You’ll need to log out of Windows and log back in for your change to take effect.

To log off, open the Start screen (press the Windows key), click or tap your username at the top-right corner of the screen, and select the Sign out option. It’s the third option down in the list.

Log back in and Windows will be using your new display language. To change your language again, go back into the Language pane, drag a different language to the top of the list, then log out and log back in. You can follow the screenshots above to walk back through the interface and change the language back to English even if you don’t understand the current language — just click the options located in the same places.

Wrapping Up Your Windows Language

The system language you set only applies to your specific user account, not for everyone who uses the computer. Every user can select their own language of choice in the Language pane and Windows will switch between languages when users log in.

Note that installing multiple languages can decrease Windows system performance How Windows Performance Is Affected by Hardware & Software How Windows Performance Is Affected by Hardware & Software In theory, 32-bit software could outperform its 64-bit counterpart, depending on the hardware setup. Sounds complicated? We’re here to make sense and help you get the best performance out of your system. Read More . Only install languages you actually want to use. If you want to uninstall a language, you can do it from the Language pane — just select it and click the Remove button.

Do you have any other questions or comments about Windows 8’s support for multiple languages? Leave a comment!

Updated by Tina Sieber.

How to Access the BIOS on a Windows 8 Computer9 Nifty Snipping Tool Shortcuts for Screenshots in Windows

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How to Access the BIOS on a Windows 8 Computer

Among the many changes coming with Windows 8 What’s Missing From Windows 8? What’s Missing From Windows 8? Windows 8 has seen the removal of many features that have been key to Windows over the years, including the Start button, Start menu, and Windows Aero. We tend to focus on the new features… Read More and new computers designed for it is a change in the way we access our computers’ BIOS. No longer do we press a certain key during the boot process to reveal the BIOS – instead, an option to access the BIOS is located in Windows 8’s boot options menu.

Traditionally, computers displayed a message like “Press F2 to enter setup” at the beginning of the boot process. Pressing this key entered the computer’s BIOS. However, Windows 8 hardware uses the UEFI replacement for the traditional BIOS, like Macs do. Some solid-state drive How Do Solid-State Drives Work? [MakeUseOf Explains] How Do Solid-State Drives Work? [MakeUseOf Explains] Over the past few decades, there has been a considerable amount of work in the field of computer hardware. While computer technology is constantly improving and evolving, rarely do we experience moments where we simply… Read More -equipped Windows 8 PCs boot so fast that you’d only have a 200 millisecond (that’s 0.2 seconds) window of opportunity to press the key combination.

Windows 8 Hardware vs. Old Computers With Windows 8

Note that this new method only applies if you purchased a new computer with Windows 8 preinstalled – these will use UEFI What Is UEFI And How Does It Keep You More Secure? What Is UEFI And How Does It Keep You More Secure? Read More . However, if you’ve installed Windows 8 on an existing computer that uses the legacy BIOS system, you’ll access the BIOS in the same way as always by pressing the key that appears during your boot process.

This key is often F2 or Delete, but it can also be other keys. The exact key depends on your computer – if you don’t see the appropriate key displayed on your screen during the boot-up process, consult your computer’s manual.

Accessing Boot Options

There are several ways to access Windows 8’s boot options menu. The easiest one to find is in the PC Settings application. Press Windows key + C A Handy Keyboard Shortcuts List for the Upcoming Microsoft Windows 8 A Handy Keyboard Shortcuts List for the Upcoming Microsoft Windows 8 Not having to reach for your mouse to do the most routine task is one huge benefit I enjoy every day. That’s because I’ve memorized my list of Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts, and I use… Read More to reveal the Charms bar, click Settings, and select Change PC settings to access it.

In the PC Settings application, select the General category and click the Restart now button under Advanced startup. Your computer will restart and you’ll enter the Windows 8’s boot options menu, where you can access the UEFI BIOS and change other settings.

You can also hold Shift while clicking Restart in the Shut Down menu How To Shut Down Windows 8 How To Shut Down Windows 8 Windows 8 brings the biggest changes to the familiar Windows interface since Windows 95. The Shut Down option isn’t where you’d expect to find it – in fact, the entire classic Start menu and Start… Read More to restart your computer into the boot options menu.

This is a quick way to restart into the boot options menu, as you can access the Shut Down button from the Charms anywhere on your system.

Command-line geeks Essential Windows CMD Commands You Should Know Essential Windows CMD Commands You Should Know The bleak interface of the command prompt is your gateway to advanced Windows tools. We show you essential CMD commands that will let you access them. Read More will be happy to know they can run a special shutdown.exe command 3 Ways To Speed Up The Windows 7 Shutdown Process 3 Ways To Speed Up The Windows 7 Shutdown Process One of the key improvements of Windows 7 is its lightning fast start-up. However, one thing which is not so fast is the shutdown process. If you also happen to be looking for ways to… Read More in a Command Prompt window to restart their computer directly into the boot options menu.

Here’s the command you need to use:

Shutdown.exe /r /o

Accessing UEFI BIOS

The boot options menu has been designed to integrate some commonly used options that people went into the BIOS for. For example, if you want to boot your computer off of a USB drive How to Create a Bootable USB Drive from Your Windows CD How to Create a Bootable USB Drive from Your Windows CD Do you have a Windows CD or DVD, but can’t use your optical drive to install the OS? You can use a bootable USB drive to install Windows instead. We show you how. Read More , DVD or CD, or another device, you can click the Use a device tile in the boot options menu and select the device you want to boot from.

If you’re just here to access your computer’s UEFI BIOS, click the Troubleshoot tile.

This will reveal an Advanced Options screen with a variety of tools – the UEFI Firmware Settings tile will take you to your computer’s BIOS. (On UEFI, which stands for “Unified Extensible Firmware Interface”, the firmware settings menu is equivalent to a traditional PC’s BIOS.)

If you don’t see the UEFI Firmware Settings tile here, your computer doesn’t use UEFI. You’ll need to access the BIOS in the traditional way Discover Your BIOS & Learn How to Make the Most of It Discover Your BIOS & Learn How to Make the Most of It What the heck is the BIOS, anyway? Is it really that important to know? We think so and fortunately it’s pretty easy. Let us introduce you. Read More , by pressing a specific key during the boot-up process. See the first section above for more information.

If there’s an error booting Windows, you won’t be locked out of the BIOS — the boot options screen will appear when you start your computer. From here, you can repair Windows or enter your BIOS.

Why the Change?

While this may be slightly inconvenient, as there’s no way to access the BIOS in normal use without booting into Windows first, it’s surely necessary.

Microsoft’s blog post about this on the Building Windows 8 blog describes how this new system came to be. With the increased boot speed, some systems had a less than 200-millisecond window of opportunity to press a key How To Enter The BIOS On Your Computer How To Enter The BIOS On Your Computer Inside the BIOS you can change basic computer settings, like the boot order. The exact key you need to strike depends on your hardware. We have compiled a list of strategies & keys to enter… Read More . Even the best key-tappers at Microsoft could only press a key once every 250ms — to access the BIOS, frantic tapping, luck, and several computer reboots were all necessary.

This also brings some much-needed consistency to Windows 8 computers — they’ll all have a consistent way of accessing the BIOS. Currently, different computers use different keys at start-up.

While Windows 8 may have some questionable design decisions 6 Ways Microsoft Is Killing The Traditional Desktop In Windows 8 [Opinion] 6 Ways Microsoft Is Killing The Traditional Desktop In Windows 8 [Opinion] The traditional desktop is still around in Windows 8, and it’s probably the best Windows desktop yet (aside from not having a Start menu.) But Microsoft is setting it up for the kill. The writing… Read More that some people will dislike, this shouldn’t be one of them. The new method of accessing the BIOS is necessary and well-implemented.

Do you still remember the key combination for entering the BIOS or do you use the advanced Windows menu?

Updated by Tina Sieber.

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3 Quick & Easy Ways to Hide a Folder in Windows 7

Privacy is hard to come by these days. Whether you are sharing a computer or are generally suspicious of peers who occasionally have access to your computer, you may have the desire to store sensitive information or private files in a safe place. This article provides a summary of three quick and easy ways to hide folders in Windows How to Hide Anything in Windows How to Hide Anything in Windows Windows allows you to tweak and customize almost anything. We show you how to make use of these superpowers to let things disappear. Read More 7.

Note that none of these solutions will effectively hide your data from knowledgeable users. For truly sensitive and confidential data, I recommend more advanced solutions, which not only hide or luck, but also encrypt your data. For pointers, please see the additional resources section below.

1. Hide Folders

Windows offers an easy way to quickly hide folders from unsuspecting eyes. This method requires that Windows does not show hidden files and folders. So changing this setting is the first step in this approach…

Open File Explorer (any folder) and go to Tools > Folder options…

Within Folder Options switch to the View tab.

Under Files and Folders find the option Hidden files and folders and select Don’t show hidden files, folders, or drives.

Click OK and, with the next few steps, proceed to hiding a folder.

Right-click the folder you want to hide and select Properties.

In the General tab check the option called Hidden.

Go to Advanced… to change Archive and Index attributes; you might want to block indexing of the folder contents.

Click OK to save your changes.

Once you wish to access your folder, go through folder options to temporarily make hidden folders visible. Obviously, this is a little inconvenient. To take a shortcut and hide or unhide several folders at once, you can use the tool Free Hide Folder. It can hide and unhide selected folders, given the folder options are set to not show hidden files and folders.

Although access to this tool is protected by a password, it does reveal that there are hidden folders somewhere and advanced users will find them with ease.

2. Make Folders Invisible

This method will make your folder invisible, rather than hidden. This means you won’t have to go through folder options to unhide your folder. On the downside, someone may discover your invisible folder by accident. To make an invisible folder, you have to do two things: first remove the folder name and second make the folder icon transparent.

First, hide the folder name:

Select the questionable folder and click F2.

Then hold the ALT key while typing the numbers 0160 using the number pad.

Hit Enter and the folder name should be gone.

Next, you need to make the folder icon invisible:

Right-click your folder and select Properties.

Switch to the Customize tab and click the Change Icon… button.

Several blank icons can be found in the default Windows 7 icon collection. Find one, select it and click OK.

If the invisible folder sits on your desktop, make sure it’s along the edge of the screen and towards the right side. This will decrease the chance of it being found by chance. Note that anyone can still access the folder, given they find it. For example, clicking CTRL+A will select and highlight all files and folders, including invisible ones.

Aibek also described this method in his article 2 Ways to Hide “Important” Files and Folders in Windows 2 Ways to Hide “Important” Files and Folders in Windows 2 Ways to Hide “Important” Files and Folders in Windows Read More .

3. Hide Folders With My Lockbox

My Lockbox is a utility to lock and hide folders. When you first launch the tool, you need to create a password. Next, you can assign a Lockbox folder.

In the free version, the number of folders is limited to one, although you can change the folder anytime. When you launch My Lockbox, you can lock (hide) and unlock (unhide) your Lockbox folder. Unlike Free Folder Hide, My Lockbox will also hide your folder when the folder options are set to show hidden files, folders, and drives.

In the advanced view, you can access additional options, for example, to set trusted applications allowed to access your folder or to create hotkeys.

We have previously reviewed My Lockbox here: How To Lock Windows Folders With MyLockbox How to Lock Windows Folders With MyLockbox How to Lock Windows Folders With MyLockbox Read More .

How to Safely Lock Away Your Data

The safest way to secure and hide your data is to encrypt it 5 Effective Tools to Encrypt Your Secret Files 5 Effective Tools to Encrypt Your Secret Files We need to pay closer attention than ever before towards encryption tools and anything designed to protect our privacy. With the right tools, keeping our data safe is easy. Read More . Professional versions of Windows come with BitLocker, but you can also use a free third-party utility like VeraCrypt.

Another freeware tool we have previously recommended is Easy File Locker. This tool lets you lock and hide both files and folder. The tool itself is password-protected, so no one can launch or uninstall it without first entering the password.

How do you store sensitive data from prying eyes? Would you recommend to store files in a secret online location?

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