John Lister

Toshiba has announced that some of its forthcoming laptops will have a dedicated Cortana key. It's designed as an easier way to control the "digital assistant" feature in Windows 10. Cortana, which is already implemented in Windows Phone devices, is ... a similar idea to Apple's dedicated virtual assistant, Siri. While Cortana features spoken information and voice control, it also combines online searches with information on user devices or computers to increase relevancy. Some examples Microsoft gives include taking notes of ideas, delivering personalized news updates, or ... (view more)

Kaspersky Lab, one of the biggest security software firms, says its own internal network was attacked by hackers. The company heavily implied that a national government was behind the hack. Owner Eugene Kaspersky says the hackers were able to access ... confidential internal data relating to research and development into new and improved security techniques. The attack didn't delete or change any data, or affect any performance. The company is also quick to stress that no customers were affected by the move and that it's products continue to work as designed. Attack Method Impressive, ... (view more)

All US government websites accessible by the public must use secure connections by then end of next year. The new rules should protect the public, particularly "whistleblowers." New rules laid down this week mandate the change for all public sites ... that are wholly or partly maintained by the federal government. This applies even if the site is operated by a contractor. The rules apply whether or not the site requires a user to log-in. (Source: cio.gov ) Under the rules, sites must use the most secure protection that is widely available. The initial implementation of the rule ... (view more)

A new security firm says it has come up with a way to stop malicious software before it reaches a user's computer. The "Isolation Platform" will initially be offered to business users, but remains to be seen how practical the solution is. According ... to makers Menlo, the main problem with most security tools are that they are based around the idea of examining programming code on a user's computer, and trying to determine if the code is malicious. Only if everything appears to be OK is a program allowed to run on the computer. Menlo says that's flawed because malware ... (view more)

AT&T says its prepared to drop its opposition to government rules for net neutrality. In return it wants to be allowed to take over DirecTV without regulatory interference. The offer could be a dramatic development in the ongoing dispute over ... net neutrality. That's the principle that Internet carriers should not discriminate between different types of content (other than illegal material). Examples include: blocking, slowing down, or charging special carriage fees for some forms of data, but not others. The US government, in particular the Federal Communications Commission, has ... (view more)

President Obama has signed a law that will limit the government's power to collect data from the public's online and telephone activities. The USA Freedom Act should make it harder for officials to simply collect data in bulk. The Act replaces the ... measures in the 2001 Patriot Act , which extended the government's surveillance powers as a response to the September 11 attacks . That led to the National Security Agency launching a program by which it effectively collected as much data as possible and held on to it so that it could then look back for details on particular individuals ... (view more)

Microsoft has confirmed Windows 10 will be available July 29, 2015. It's also advising those who wish to take the plunge to Windows 10 do some prep work before installing the new operating system. The date is a minor surprise as, more often than ... not, previous Windows editions came out in the fall. Fall release dates are usually meant to target people buying new PCs for the new academic year, or for the Christmas shopping season. That may be less relevant, however, as Windows 10 is a free upgrade. Windows 10 Upgrade Paths The upgrade process should be relatively simple, starting with the ... (view more)

Microsoft is to crack down on what it considers low-quality apps. It's likely an attempt to get its house in order before Windows 10 is officially released to consumers. The decision affects applications that can be downloaded and installed directly ... from the Windows Store. It doesn't affect applications which users get elsewhere and install manually, in the same way with all software in Windows 7 and earlier. Instead, Windows Store apps are displayed prominently in the Windows 8 and 10 user interface, and on Windows mobile devices. According to Microsoft, the crackdown isn't so ... (view more)

The majority of people in the world could be using the Internet within a couple of years according to new projections. The growth has largely been driven by cheaper and more widely accessible mobile Internet service. The figures come from the ... International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency. It says that in the year 2000, just 400 million people were online, around 6.5 percent of the world's population. (Source: bbc.co.uk ) Based on collating international figures, the ITU expects that figure to be 3.2 billion at the end of 2015. That equates to 43.4 percent of people, ... (view more)

A French grocery chain is turning its overhead lighting into a way to send special offers directly to shopper's phones. It's seen as a way to experiment with technology, while still serving a more basic function. The lights are created by Philips ... and are being tried at a Lille branch of Carrefour, one of France's major chains of food and home goods stores. The entire store has been refitted with LED bulbs. Unlike ordinary bulbs, these transmit a signal by emitting light at a specific frequency for each bulb. The light can't be seen by the human eye; however, the front-facing ... (view more)