AMD Sets Countdown for December Public Hands-On of Zen Processor

The desktop CPU market is about to be embroiled in a contest between master crafters, Intel and AMD. After almost a decade of ruling the market with dependable reputation, Intel is about to face a challenge from AMD in the form of their latest “Summit Ridge” series that will utilize high performance Zen architecture.

Aimed to tease the public with the potential of its performance, AMD has initiated a countdown that would ultimately reveal some live demos with the Zen architecture by engaging in intensive gaming sessions. This big reveal is supposed to be a web show called “New Horizon”; it will be hosted by George Keeley, a big name in video game journalism and the eminent pro gamer Peter Dager, better known as PPD, of Evil Geniuses fame.

Estimated to be aired on 13th December at 1pm PST or 4pm ET, this reveal is going to be a treat as AMD have themselves confirmed that there will be multiple guests on the show taking their turn to test the Zen extensively and give their take on the newbie. AMD is luring the nerds stating, “If you’re serious about gaming, this is an event you do not want to miss.”

Intel is slated to showcase their latest Kaby Lake desktop processors sometime in January; AMD therefore is preparing their ground to pit their super economical Zen processors against the comparatively higher range of Intel whose last Core i7 6950x processor costs a whopping $1723. “Summit Ridge” is expected to have a highest price of $500 for an ultra fast octa-core processor.

Aside from being economical, it manipulates the use of Simultaneous Multi Threading in the high end octa-cores which is a leap of modification from its previous Bulldozer series which had single threading and low processing capacities. Also there is expected to be a high cache hierarchy. Both these couplings are aimed to correct the drawbacks of older AMD models.

The New Horizon will inaugurate with a modest level quad core to test the gaming potential, which is expected to keep the curiosity burning till the next big reveal on “Summit Ridge” later on in the beginning quarter of 2017, with other technologies hidden up their sleeve.

A lot of curiosity and interest is abuzz about this AMD Zen as this project has been entirely under wraps; the idea had been planted in a small Developer Forum convention event in August. It has been worked on meticulously by AMD to improve the design of Excavator architecture and improve its processing speed by adding more clocks; each clock is supposed to be fed with 40% more instruction than Excavator.

Assuring promises of giveaways, AMD is encouraging viewers to book a spot for the prime show and catch all the action live. An adrenaline fuelled performance on the 13th will probably be a premonition of how the processor industry of the future will turn out, commanding the best from both Intel and AMD.

Mozilla and Tor Release Urgent Update for Firefox 0-Day Under Active Attack

Mozilla and Tor have introduced browser updates to sum up a Firefox consistence being hampered to identify men who sue the services related to privacy. It is a flaw in terms of security for the immediate release, which is being exploited on Windows. The official of Tor has assured their users that there isn’t any risk currently figured out in their knowledge. They are unable to discover any exploits for Operating System X or Linux as they have implanted several security measures. But still they have insisted the users to go for the update of their Tor Browser as soon as possible.

The Tor browser is said to forged on the Firebox browser which is an open source introduced by the Mozilla foundation. No sooner did the Officials of Mozilla named Daniel Veditz came to know of this problem, he posted on his blog assuring that the issues has been fixed in some currently issued versions of Mozilla Firefox for all the popular users. He further disclosed that the attack code has been discovered who did the exploitation and measures are being taken against it.

The mishap revealed codes when the targets fed malicious JavaScript related to vector graphics. The culprit sent the IP and MAC address of the target to the server, which controlled attacks. The code resembled the technique which investigated network used by law-enforcing agencies, specially that which identified Tor-protected users who seemed to propagate child pornography.

Further similar step was taken in this regard and it was discovered this vulnerability reducing measure was created by FBI or some law-implementing agency. This shows that how restricted government hacking can become a serious threat to the larger web as anyone can use it to attack Firefox users. A different Mozilla security has proved that it can also affect Mozilla’s Thunderbolt e-mail applications and also the extended support version of Firefox used by Tor browsers. It was suggested that this flaw existed in the browser since five years.

The ridiculous load given by the exploit of code-execution is very much similar to that of FBI which it used in 2013 to discover the ones who used trade child pornography via Tor-anonymized website. The source code to the Tor group was absolutely complete, the exploit could be made easily available to lots of people which they manage to use by making slight changes to it.

Other than an update for Firefox an update to NoScript, which is an extension of Firefox in relation to the Top Browser was also released. NoScript is useful, as it does not allow the users to opt for the sites that can and cannot use JavaScript in the browser. Later for privacy reasons the Tor browser installed NoScript in such a manner that permitted all sites to affiliate JavaScript in the browser. Though this point in terms of privacy is still not clear.

It is advisable that the Firefox and Tor users should fix their problems at once. The users are considered to be protected from the attack by keeping the Firefox security to highest level, that may restrict few sights but it is proven safe.

Facebook Messenger Launches Instant Games

Instant Games Launched by Facebook

Recently Instant Games a series of titles which can be played in the Messenger iOS and Android app, or through the website of the company, had been launched by Facebook. As per TechCrunch, the game is quick to load as they tend to be delivered through HTML5 instead of full downloads. Real time multiplayer presently is not available though players can participate through high score rankings.The preliminary slate of game comprises of titles such as Galago, Pac-Man, Space Invaders together with Words With Friends Frenzy with free of ads as well as in-game purchases at present.

Screenshots of their high scores can be sketched by the players and share games to their Facebook News Feed that would enable t other players to join in promptly. In the case of developers, Instant Games access is in closed beta wherein they need to apply for the same.

As for the public, though the games seem to be accessible in 30 regions, including Canada, Russia, the U.S., Germany, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Mainland China has been excluded where Facebook has been banned. Facebook has been anticipating that some friendly competition would get the user to spend some more time in Messenger and compete asynchronously through high scores rather than directly simultaneously. Hence it is appropriate to try your luck at times.

Available on iOS/Android

Instant Games, in the long run could earn Facebook ad dollars from the developers who tend to promote their games or a cut in payments but there are no in-games purchases permitted yet. Instant Games has been launched in 30 countries with 17 games from classic developers such as Bandai Namco, Konami and Taito together with latest studios comprising of Zynga and King.

It is made available on latest iOS and Android devices and can be located by hitting the game controller icon in Facebook Messenger thread towards the photos and stickers buttons. Moreover, one could also play through platforms from Facebook on desktop due to an overlaid phone screen.

Social gaming had been dominated by Facebook around 2008 when its desktop app platform had been well-known for playing around for utilities. It had earned a peak of quarter-billion dollars for each quarter on its 30% tax on in-games purchases. Their addictive as well as viral nature enabled Facebook to develop its user count as well as commitments.

Attempts to Build HTML5 Game Platform – Project Spartan

Presently 15% of time on Facebook.con tend to be spent on playing games but the payment profitsseems to have reduced to $196 million in the most recent quarter. Since users seemed to shift to mobile, Facebook noticed that it had been shut out of gaming and only iOS and Android could run native app stores.

 It was they who had benefitted from taxes on in-game payments. In 2011, Facebook had been frantically making attempts in building an HTML5 game platform known as Project Spartan but had failed since the mobile web standard had not been adequately strong to build games which could rival with flashy download with native apps. Over a period of time the developers have identified how to have improved graphics together with responsive gameplay out of HTML5.

Why Light Bulbs May Be the Next Hacker Target

Smart Light Bulbs – Wireless Fault - Hackers Take Control

Supporters debate that the Internet of Things provides several benefits like energy efficiency, technology convenience that can anticipate what one needs and also reduce congestion on the roads. However, placing a cluster of wirelessly connected devices in one spot could be tempting to hackers and would enable them to spread malicious code via air, just like a flu virus on a plane. Researchers had reported in a recent paper release that they had discovered an error in a wireless technology which is generally included in smart home devices like lights, locks, switches, thermostats and several of the components of the smart home of the future.

According to researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science near Tel Aviv and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, they focused on the Philips Hue smart light bulb and discovered that the wireless fault can permit hackers in taking control of the light bulbs. It may not sound like a great deal. But considering thousands or even hundreds of thousands of internet-connected devices in close proximity and the malware that is created by hackers could spread among the devices on compromising with just one of them.

Popular Websites Experience Outages/Interruption

Moreover they would not need to have direct access to the devices to pollute them. The researchers were capable of spreading infection in a network within a building by driving a car 70 metres away. The hackers had briefly denied access to complete chunks of the internet recently, by developing a flood of traffic which had overwhelmed the servers of a US company known as Dynthat assists in handling key components of the internet.

 Pinterest, Twitter, Reddit together with PayPal were down for most part of a day since their domain name provider, Dyn had been compelled to be offline. It had also resulted in popular Australian websites like ANZ, Coles, The Daily telegraph; Ebay, NAB, 9News and many others, to experience outages and interruption. Security experts are of the belief that the hackers discovered the horsepower essential for their attack by gaining control of a range of internet-linked devices.

Password Partially Blamed for Attack

However the hackers did not utilise the system provided in the report that had been released recently. A Chinese wireless camera company had stated that weak passwords on some of its products could be partially blamed for the attack. Although it had not been the first attempt hackers had utilised the Internet of Things to control an attack, the measure of effort against Dyn had been an eye opener to users who had not realized that the impact of internet-linked things joined in daily life would foresee new risks.

A widely respected cryptographer, Adi Shamir who assists pioneer modern encryption methods and is also one of the authors of the report, had commented that `even the best internet defense technologies would not stop such an attack.The new risk is said to come from a little-known radio protocol named ZigBee which had been developed in 1990s.

 ZigBee is a wireless standard which is used extensively in home consumer devices. Though it has been presumed to be secure, it has not been held up for scrutiny of the other safety methods utilised across the internet. The researchers had discovered that the ZigBee standard could be utilised in creating a computer worm to spread the malevolent software in devices which were internet-linked.

Comma.ai Goes Open Source with Self Driving Car Kit

Self driving car segment is popularly associated with Google and Apple automated car programs. But most of the people doesn’t known that BMW, Tesla and a number of other firms are working on the segment and each are going through a rapid phase of development to come up with their own version of safe and robust self-driving car within the mid next decade. Comma.ai is a lesser known player in the self-driving companies list but it has done a tremendous research and built a very reliable within a few years of its inception.

Comma.ai has announced that it will be coming up with its own software platform and it has future plans of bringing an associated hardware module which will be made available for free download on Github site. The best thing about this startup is that it will release its software platform and hardware module as an open source entity under the MIT license. This will help in development and engineering of self driving more easier and error free than before both for the enthusiasts and manufacturers alike.

Comma.ai is already works on a selected number of cars

Comma.ai’s developed self-driving platform is currently helps in powering the automation utility to just two cars namely the Acura ILX and Honda Civic. In order to bring the automated driving functionality to these cars this particular self-driving platform has to be supported with the LaneWatch package which is placed in the cars. Comma.ai brings a number of self driving capabilities to the vehicle which includes adaptive cruise control and self steering.

Adaptive cruise control backed with Comma.ai self driving platform allows the car to slow down from any given speed to a slower speed as per the traffic movement ahead while the self-steering allows users to leave the car completely on the auto-pilot kind of mode.

The advantage & disadvantage of self driving platform at a glance

As stated earlier a number of car manufactures, equipment supplier and even well established technology companies are trying their hand at developing their own home-grown self driving cars. The potential of the self driving technology is vast as it will not just bring a drastic fall in the car crashes and ultimate deaths but it will also help in reducing the traffic congestion which has become a chronic disease in mega cities. It does have it won a disadvantage which includes a major and detrimental impact on the jobs along with the economy.

Comma.ai is moving swiftly towards bring self-driving all cars alike

At the inception Cooma.ai offered to develop a self-driving car within $1000 but what it actually meant was that it will help in retrofitting the existing cars with self-driving capability through hardware and software support. On the same lines it is making its self-driving platform in open-source which will help hackers, engineers, communities and manufactures to add new capabilities and extend the application of this platform to a more diverse range of cars regardless of the region and location.

Six Benefits of Using Offshore Software Testing Services

Today, many companies are looking for ways to save money while maintaining an efficient, profitable organization. They want to expand their services to reach consumers on other parts of the globe. Some of these companies are taking advantage of offshore software testing services to help them achieve their business goals. Consider some of the benefits that these companies enjoy by having their software tested by a service located offshore.

A Staff of Experienced IT Professionals

When companies opt for offshore software testing services they are benefiting from the expertise and knowledge of a team of IT professionals. These individuals are familiar with many types of software and know how to identify bugs that can put a company at risk. Also, their practical experience enables them to anticipate possible problems with the software and make the appropriate adjustments to prevent these issues from occurring. This can be an especially valuable service for a growing company. In addition, IT professionals working for a software testing company located offshore are trained in different testing methods such as dynamic and static. A company can rely on the skills and training of IT professionals who work for a reputable software testing service located offshore.

Saving on the Payroll for In-House Employees

Another benefit of having software tested offshore is a company doesn’t have to hire a team of IT experts to work in-house. This reduces the overall payroll and the amount of health benefits a company must provide to workers. Plus, IT professionals working off-shore don’t have to be trained by the company. They already have the training necessary to evaluate and test software. In short, they are ready to do the work! Going offshore for software testing means a company doesn’t have to overburden its own IT staff members who are busy working on other types of projects. QAwerk is one example of a good option when it comes to offshore software testing services.

Access to the Latest Technology

When companies go offshore for their software testing services they benefit from use of the latest technology. These IT professionals are familiar with all sorts of cutting-edge technology that can only contribute to the security and operation of a company’s software. Most companies want to stay ahead of the curve in regard to software used to train employees, manage the payroll, organize departmental projects and much more! They want to be using the newest programs before their competitors in the industry are even aware of their existence. Companies can enjoy this level of technology when they garner offshore software testing services.

Paying Less for More

Going offshore for software testing allows companies the opportunity to pay a reasonable price for this valuable service. Many offshore businesses that do this type of work ask a fair price for their services. In many cases, a company would have to pay in-house IT workers more than they would pay software testers located offshore.

Focused Work

An offshore organization that tests software has a company’s unique goals in mind. They can focus their complete attention on fulfilling the needs of a company. This is a much better situation than asking an overworked, in-house IT staff to try to fit software testing into their busy schedule. The testing work is sent out to a staff that has the skills and talent to complete it.

An Effective Use of Time

An offshore organization that tests software is able to get the testing work done in a prompt, thorough way. A company may need software testing done in a specific amount of time so it can introduce a new project or training program to the staff. This can be accomplished by IT professionals working offshore. Or, maybe a company has a few short-term projects it needs done instead of a long-term one. An offshore software testing service can handle this type of work as well. Companies that want flexibility in their software testing services have that option available to them.

Finally, these are just six of the many benefits that a company can enjoy by using software testing services located offshore. As a note, it’s important for a company to do some research to find out about the reputation and reliability of any software testing service located offshore. Looking at reviews provided by previous clients as well as ratings given to the service by experts in the industry are both helpful. A company that uses offshore software testing can save money while still providing excellent service to its customers.

Gadget:OnePlus 3T Review

The Oneplus 3T is the new name of the Smartphone released by the Company Oneplus. This new product has currently been launched and currently been put for sales in US, UK and Europe. This Chinese smartphone manufacturer has been famous to give an killer specs in an flagship mobiles especially in an affordable price. This company’s previous product was the Oneplus 3 which made the people go crazy for its specs.

DESIGN 

The new Oneplus 3T features the same design of its previous sibling the Oneplus 3T. The Oneplus 3T is fully made up of full metal but yet it weighs light in hand. This has an slightly curved back and nice curved round edges and very thin which makes is nice to hold in hands easy to carry.

The new flagship phone now features a new color variant that is the new Gun metal color replacing the old silver color and the phone also comes in Gold variant as well. The Gun metal color comes in 64gb and 128gb storage options whereas the gold comes in 64gb storage.

The design of the phone may be the same but we can guess that there might be an improvement in the hardware and software processing and acceleration.

DISPLAY

The Oneplus 3T features the same 5.5 inch AMOLED display with a 1080p resolution as on the previous Oneplus 3. This device features a dual polarizing layer which makes us to view and use the phone in the brightest Daylight.

When you buy an good and a premium Smartphone there must be certain safety measures take to protect your device. One of them is the screen protector in this case the Oneplus 3T ships with an pre installed gorilla glass 4 screen protector which is an very welcomed addition.

PERFORMANCE

The new Oneplus 3T has an updated snapdragon 821 processor clocked up to 2.35GHZ which boosts the phone for a faster proceeding speeds and greater efficiency compared to old Oneplus 3 and compared to the Oneplus 3 the new 3Ts battery consumption is so efficient.

The new phone consists of an 6GB LPDDR4 ram which helps the device to perform faster.

BATTERY

The Oneplus 3T has been updated with an 3400 mAh battery compared to the Oneplus 3 which features an 3000 mAh battery. The battery has been increased by 13% without an increase in weight in the device.

The phone is shipped with Dash Charger which helps to get the phones battery back to full charge in less time. The Dash charger contains the extra heat from charging your device and this prevents its way to the device. This makes it easy to use the Device when its still connected to the charger.

Concerns Over Cross Device Marketing

With the advances in technology have come advances in the way companies market their products and services. One innovation that is current getting a lot of attention is cross-device marketing. This type of marketing has come under fire due to security concerns, but it has also opened many doors and can be quite useful.

How It’s Used

Cross-device marketing involves monitoring and tracking a consumer’s activities on all the devices he or she uses to access the internet. For companies, this allows them to learn more about your activities. For example, if you see an advertisement while on your smartphone and switch to your computer to buy the item, the company will be able to see that their ad was effective. Without this type of marketing, the company would not have a way to completely track the effectiveness of the ad. Cross-device marketing enables companies to compile a marketing profile for you across all your devices.

Tracking is often done by signing into an account. This allows companies to track your activity and merge your activity on all your devices. So, if you were to put something in a shopping cart while on a site on your computer and you opened that same site on your phone, then your item would be in your shopping cart on both devices. In this way, it is actually beneficial to you, too.

UAB online notes a few things to keep in mind when engaging in cross-device marketing to make the best use of it. This includes creating good landing pages, using keywords smartly and understanding reach and frequency.

Concerns

As with any type of activity tracking, privacy is a concern with cross-device marketing. Knowing a company is always watching can be a little scary. Mainly the concern lies with tracking not related to signing in, called probabilistic tracking, where data collection helps to track consumers. Not making consumers aware they are being tracked is something the FTC has begun looking into. The main consensus is that privacy has to be kept in mind and users need to be aware when companies are using this type of marketing.

The Good News

Because cross-device marketing and tracking can be beneficial to consumer and companies, it is not likely to be abandoned despite concerns. The good news is that this open doors to new jobs in the IT field for those working in cyber security. MVU online notes some things to consider when entering this field. This area of technology is one that you’ll want to explore if you are currently getting an IT degree or you are thinking about it. Cybersecurity is likely to continue to grow, and the need for trained professionals will grow with it.

Cross-device marketing is not really all that new, but it is garnering more attention as privacy concerns are foremost in the mind of internet users. In addition, the increase in multi-device browsing is increasing the use of this type of marketing. New techniques, like probabilistic tracking, are prompting government involvement to ensure consumers are kept safe. Likely, the move will be toward a more transparent use of tracking, so consumers are aware of when their online activities are being monitored.

Japan Plans Supercomputer to Leap into Technology Future

Japan has made plans for building a supercomputer with a speed of 130 peta flops. The price estimation made by the ministry of economy, trade and industry is 19.5 billion yen ($173 million). This has been made as the Government policy to bring back the country’s lost market back. Japan has lost its technology market to South Korea and china due to heavy competition among them. This supercomputer yet to be made by the country will help its country’s manufactures to develop and to improve their research works. This computer technology might improve Robotics, medical diagnostics and driverless vehicles.

This computer which is being made by the country can calculate 130 quadrillion calculations per secondor 130 peta flops. This computer is made ahead of China’s Sunway Taihulight that is capable of 93 peta flops per second. Japans aim is to create a fast calculating computer to create advancement in computer technology in Artificial Intelligence (AI). This can mimic the human minds neural Pathways to analyze Data and work out calculation. This has been made possible by Google with Google’s DeepMind AI program which has beat South Korean professional Lee Seedol in the ancient board game of Go in the month of March.

This applications in technology includes the developments of various technology by companies and create an fully automatic machinery range. This might create an revolution in the medial industry to track a person’s medical record and analyze their medical health and be used to help them in some critical situations.

This computers made by Japan will be made available first to all Japanese Corporation with fee. This might free many Japanese corporations from depending on other countries super computer. Many leading computer companies have been keen to be involved in the Development of this Super Computer. The Fastest super computer ever built in Japan is the Oakforest –PACS with a speed of 13.6 peta flops and had been developed by Fujistsu. This creates a high expectation for this project among many companies and countries.

The Super computer has been named AI Bridging Cloud Infrastructure and has been called ABCI in short form and is expected to be finished in the end of 2017. The bidding for this super computer project has been made and has started and would be closed on December 8. Still it has not been confirmed that who will be making the super computer for government. Japan has the fourth largest number of supercomputers in the world after the United States, Germany and China.

iPhone Video Bug Crashes Any Apple Phone

Ever wondered that playing just a simple .mp4 video file may crash your iPhone? Well, reports say that a malicious video file is being circulated online via Safari in the form of a link. Once the file is opened, a video starts playing but after about 30 seconds, the phones become sluggish until it stops working altogether. First reported by EverythingApplePro, the video is of a person standing beside a bed and the word ‘Honey’ pops up on the screen. Initially the phone works fine but slows down till it crashes. The video file may be corrupted or infected with a virus and produces the same result even if the complete video is not played. Till now, it is unclear about what exactly is causing the iPhones to malfunction.

The Victims

All versions of iOS seem to have been affected. Even older iPhones running on i0S 5 are showing same results when the video is played. On the beta version of the iOS 10.2 it even pops up the spinning wheel which is indicates that the device is being turned off. Apple now has to deal with this issue and hope it gets fixed in the next update. On the other hand, Android and Windows phones are unaffected by this bug.

Protect Your Phone

Do not open any suspicious link until and unless you trust the sender. Clicking on such links may download malware and other unwanted applications on your device. Consider the following tips to secure your iPhone from hackers.

• Use the fingerprint sensor or a PIN every time you access your device. 
• Turn off ‘Simple Passcode’ in your phone settings which will allow you to set a strong password comprising of numbers, upper and lowercase letters and symbols. 
• Self-destruct feature on the iPhone wipes all the data if someone tries to hack your phone and has entered a wrong PIN 10 times. 
• Turn off unnecessary app permissions to enhance your privacy. 
• A glance of all the notifications on the home screen comes in handy. However they may sometime contain sensitive information and it’s better to turn them off. 
• Do not use AutoFill on Safari. It is tempting to save your personal information on your web browser so that you don’t have to enter it over and over again. But if your phone is in the wrong hands, you may end up in trouble.

Are you a victim? Here’s how you can fix your phone

You can fix your iPhone with a Hard Reset if it has stopped working. All data will be lost but it brings your device back to life. You can hard reset your iPhone using the following steps:

• Press and hold the home button and the power button at the same time for about 10 seconds 
• Wait for the Apple logo to appear 
• Release the buttons

Use the decrease volume button and the power button in case of an iPhone 7 and your phone will boot up normally.

Malware is Making ATMs 'Spit Cash'

We all know our ATM passwords and have vowed to carry this little secret to our grave because that is sufficient to keep our money safe. What if multiple people withdraw money from your account from several ATM machines even after not knowing your password? No, I’m not talking about a video game. You may now curse the genius hackers, but all of these things are now possible in real life.

Recently, a cyber security firm from Russia has warned about a series of coordinated hacks on the ATM machines. The centralized system of the bank was hacked thereby leading to disgorge of money from several ATMs without the instant knowledge of the bank officials and the account holders.

THE HACKER HITS THE JACKPOT

The activity is conducted by using a program dubbed by Cobalt, an infamous hacker group, to gain access to the bank accounts and in turn, the ATMs. The process has been named “touchless jackpotting”. The machines are not physically tampered with. This is done by penetrating a testing tool into the bank computers and then infecting them with malicious emails for accessing ATM controller servers. All that some accomplice has to wait in the appropriate ATM booth at the right time to collect the money oozing out of the ATM machine.

THE SMART BANK ROBBERS

In earlier days, the hardware based method of robbing where the card information was stolen, was more common. The new method that includes hacking is however much more dangerous because it is actually a smart way to rob a bank, where groups of ATMs are infected simultaneously. So, this method brings twice the money than the old way could, into the sinner’s pockets, that too in a shorter time and with lesser chances of going behind the bars.

TRACE THE MONEY

The key to solving any financial hacking is following the money. However, this is very difficult in this method because the money is collected in person from different ATM booths. The information of the hack is known only after the money has been withdrawn from the ATMs. Even if the cybercrime police hold links to gain information about Cobalt, they can hardly ever get fortunate enough to turn up at the specific location on the specific time. Moreover, the money mules often do not know the hackers as the hackers may not have met them in person .So even if they get caught; it is very difficult to catch the masterminds behind the entire play.

CAN THE MONEY BE SAFE AGAIN? 

The Cobalt group might have joined hands with other big groups of hackers like Buhtrap to raid the ATMs of 14 countries so far, that includes Poland, Spain, Britain, Russia, Romania and Netherlands.

The banks can place their ATM machines under the full view of a security camera and with security personnel at the doorstep so that the money mules can be caught easily. The bank employees must be trained to look for any suspicious threats.

Till then, all you can do is protect your ATM password!

Now Buy Bus Tickets ‘on-the-go’ with RedBus on Windows Devices

Bus is an important mode of transportation and is also a largely preferred transport opted by people when travelling. Travelling by bus is efficient and convenient if not comfortable. Just as all services are being served to us through the wonders of internet, booking seats on bus online, has become smooth and painless. Online bus booking topped with ‘cashbacks’, ‘discount offers’ and ‘refer and earn bonuses’ is just the perfect icing on cake.

There are numerous websites offering online bus bookings. These websites are either travel agency oriented such as ‘yatra.com’ or ‘makemytrip.com’ or these websites are solely dedicated to bus bookings online such as ‘abhibus.com’ or ‘redbus.in’. The most economical amongst these websites is Redbus.in.

Online bus ticket bookings are made easy at Redbus.in. Here, you choose your pickup and destination location and the day of your scheduled trip and voila, you get a wide range of buses available on your entered route all at low prices! You can read the experiences, reviews and ratings of the people to make the final choice. Redbus also gives you the option of booking hotels and hiring a bus/vehicle. The features that makes Redbus fascinating are the Redbus Offers, coupons and discounts!

Some of the popular Redbus Offers, discounts, cashbacks and coupons for Redbus.in are listed below. To use these deals you can firstly click on ‘Show more’ to read further about the deal. If you choose to use that offer then you will click on ‘View Deal’ or ‘Get Code’. That Redbus offer will direct you to the Redbus website where you can do the online ticket booking. The deal gets activated on the ‘payment page’ of your booking.

5. At number 5 we have a Redbus offer that is for HDFC Bank debit card users. When you do your bus booking using the HDFC debit card, you would get a Cashback of Rs. 250/- INR. But your minimum booking account should be of Rs. 1000/- INR. So go ahead and use this deal to make your bus travel pocket friendly.

4.This next Redbus Offer is for people with a Freecharge Wallet. With this offer you can get a Cashback of Rs. 100/- in your Freecharge wallet. Just make your bus ticket booking through Redbus.in and enjoy the Cashback. You don’t need any minimum booking amount to grab this deal. So, don’t wait for too long to click on this deal! You can put this deal on both the mobile application and desktop. But this deal is limited to one time use only by a single user.

3. Now online bus ticket bookings become fun with a Cashback of Rs. 200/- INR. With this Redbus offer code you can plan your trip through Redbus.in and on a minimum value of Rs. 400/- can get upto Rs. 200/- INR Cashback. There will also be some extra cash waiting for you in your Freecharge wallet! So, book your bus tickets online now!

2. Another attractive deal comes to you through Redbus offers. With this coupon of 10% off and 10% Cashback on bus tickets through Redbus you get 10 % off on bus ticket booking and will receive 10% Cashback in your Freecharge wallet. To avail this discount, you have to click on ‘View Code’.

1. This right here is the top most deal on Hotel Bookings through Redbus.in. With this deal you get upto Rs. 4000/- INR off on the hotels you book online. When you go on the ‘checkout page’ after booking your hotel, the code will automatically be entered and you’ll be on your way to a happy holiday, indeed. This Redbus offer cannot be joined with other codes. This deal will without a doubt add to your fun in your next trip. This offer is here for a short period of time. So, do not miss this golden opportunity.

To conclude, Redbus gives you plenty and reasonable options for bus ticket bookings and hotel bookings. With these top 5 Redbus offers, codes and deals make your trip, more importantly, your travel and stay comfortable and affordable! Happy Travelling!

8 Tips on Staying Cyber Safe While Shopping

It is better not to take any shortcuts when it comes to online shopping. Transactions of millions of dollars take place every day over the internet. However, the internet is widespread with hackers and scammers who tend to steal your information and money. Safety measures must be taken during an online transaction and beware of frauds because phishing is very common nowadays through which hackers get access to your accounts.

Say NO to open WIFI networks

While standing in a queue in a shopping center or at cafes, you may find open wifi networks available. It’s not wise to connect to these because open networks are usually not well encrypted and the streams of data flowing through them may be tracked. According to professionals, this is termed as a ‘honeypot’ where the wifi is network is set up by hackers to steal your data. In case you really need to access the internet in the airport, malls or at hospitals look for the ‘wifi-name’ or ask the authority to help you with the process.

Use different passwords for different accounts

There are searchable lists available to hackers containing the email IDs and passwords which they have broken into. Whenever a new account is hacked, they add the stolen information to the list which is even available to others for some pennies. They run the same passwords against a thousand accounts which may result in cracking up more than one account. If you have difficulties remembering more than one password, consider using a password management program.

Watch out for typos

Always make sure that you have spelled the names of the websites correctly. Hackers have registered a thousand websites which have their names close to the original website that you intend to browse. They know exactly where we may go wrong during typing and you end up being a victim. So double check your web address before opening up a website.

Change default passwords

Portable devices like Bluetooth speakers, smart lighting systems etc. come with default passwords for easy connectivity. Take a few more minutes to set up your device and change the passwords for it is very easy for anyone to guess these passwords and gain access.

Never save credit card details on a website

It’s tempting to save your credit card details on a particular website from which you buy frequently so that you don’t have to enter it over and over again. But if the website’s security system gets compromised, you may end up in trouble. So it may be a bit time consuming, but make it a habit of entering your card details every time while making an online purchase.

Phishing emails

Clicking on certain links might end up downloading malicious software on your computer. Always open emails from trusted sources and do not click on anything suspicious. You may get mails like ‘check delivery date’ for something which you have recently ordered. These are usually sent by hackers and are not from the actual websites. Open the main website and check the status of your delivery. Happy shopping!

Banned Uber Drivers Can Now Appeal in New York

Ride-sharing administration Uber will interestingly offer drivers in New York who have been commenced the administration the opportunity to advance - however there are strings appended. Uber deactivates its drivers for a large number of reasons, most broadly to have a traveller rating which drops beneath 4.6 out of five. Drivers can likewise be banned for genuine unfortunate behaviour, for example,sexual assault. Be that as it may, the greyer territory for drivers is the different ways you can be deactivated, for example, "too much" scratching off rides or not accepting enough rides.

At times, drivers have reported being deactivated in the wake of posting slandering comments about Uber via web-based networking media. In any case, now an interest’s procedure - for New York City drivers just - will see drivers up against a board made up of five other Uber drivers. Here they will have the capacity to claim deactivations, however just those in that hazy area. "Awful" drivers appraised inadequately by travellers won't be qualified. The choice is being touted as a "colossal win" by the Independent Drivers Guild (IDG), the main laborers' rights bunch perceived by Uber.

It isn't, be that as it may, a union - as drivers can't utilize the gathering to can hope for better pay or advantages. Jim Conigliaro, organizer of the IDG, told his individuals in an email that the gathering was "praising another triumph". "Following quite a while of arrangements," he kept in touch with, "we at last won you the privilege to a reasonable deactivation bid with Uber administration."

'Peer board' 

Uber did not react to the BBC's ask for input other than to point toward its recently set up gateway for offers. The administration has additionally not yet said whether a similar framework will be applicable in other countries or cities. "After months of negotiations,” he wrote, “we finally won you the right to a fair deactivation appeal with Uber management.""Accordingly, certain deactivation choices, particularly those identified with zero resistance infringement, are not qualified for offer. “For instance, we won't acknowledge advances identified with criminal movement while on the application, similar to burglary or heedless driving.

In like manner, we won't acknowledge claims identified with physical or sexual quarrels." Drivers with a low traveller rating will likewise not be considered utilizing this procedure, Uber said. Drivers commenced for poor "quality" can experience an instructional class which may see their record reactivated. The purported "peer board" of drivers will be mutually picked by IDG and Uber and will be encouraged by the American Arbitration Association.

Uber has tussled with its drivers over specialists' rights in urban communities everywhere throughout the world. In October a business tribunal in London verified that drivers ought to persuade the privilege to be considered workers - significance occasion pay, wiped out leave, paid breaks and different advantages. A comparable column is occurring in different areas in the United States. Uber, which propelled in 2009, is said to be worth more than $60bn in view of ventures made in the organization. It is broadly thought to be one of the significant tech firms considering opening up to the world one year from now.

How to Get Google Assistant on Any Android Marshmallow Smartphone in 9 Steps

Latest/Advanced Google Assistant – Messaging App Allo

The latest and advanced Google Assistant is said to be an essential element of the messaging app Allo, of the company together with the flagship Pixel and Pixel XL smartphone which runs on Android 7.1 Nougat. Being limited to Pixel launcher on the new smartphones of Google, one is unable to officially replace Google Now with Google Assistant on Android smartphone.

However due to a mighty Android developer known as Max Rumpf, one small hack can allow you to obtain Google Assistant running on any Android 6.0 Marshmallow based smartphone currently. It tends to utilise Xposed framework together with an app known as AndroidN-ify in order to work the hack. The process is said to function on rooted devices running on Android open-source project ROMS. To get Google Assistant on your Android Marshmallow smartphone the following steps can be taken:

The Nine Steps

1.  You can download the Xposed framework flashable file and APK. Drop these files in the root directory or in a new folder on microSD card or internal storage. Then turn off the smartphone, reboot for recovery and flash the zip installer.  
2. With the smartphone on, utilise file manager in locating the Xposed APK file and install the same. The user may need to check `Unknown Sources in Settings’ followed by Security in order to install the APK file. 
3.  The AndroidN-ifty APK file is to be downloaded and installed and then begins the real game. The user needs to be careful and follow the instructions. 
4.  On opening the Xposed app, tap on the modules and check the AndroidN-ify box. 
5.  Open Root Explorer and find out if the system has been mounted as R/W (read or write) and tap on System then press and hold `build prop’. Then utilise the three dots menu button towards the right area in order to open in text editor. 
6.  Thereafter search for a line known as ro.product.model and this model number would be the name of your device such as the Galaxy S7, OnePlus 3, and LG G5 etc. You may need to create a file if there is no such file like ro.product.model=Pixel XL. Here OS has been faked presuming that the device is Pixel XL. 
7.  When this is done, go to the last line, creating a new one which reads - `ro.opa.eligible_device_true’ and then save it. Here OS is allowed to know that the device is qualified for Google Assistant.
8.  On rebooting the device, confirm if the new model number has been accepted and to get to know this you could go to Settings > About Phone. 
9.  Ensure that you have the updated Google App beta installed. The go to Settings > Apps > Google App > Storage > clear All Data.

Google Assistant – New Pixel Phone

When all this is accomplished, open Google App and setup Google Assistant and when it is setup, you could invoke it on holding the `Home’ button for a couple of seconds or by saying `OK Google’. The new intelligent conversational virtual assistant – Google Assistant is only available officially for new Pixel phone. But with some tweaking one could get it together with all Assistant’s great search and chat features on any Android Marshmallow or higher.

Why Choose NIFT For a Career in Design?

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) has been a pioneer in the field of fashion and design since its inception in 1986. It is one of India’s most prestigious and oldest design schools. With campuses spread across the country, NIFT provides education in design to students from varied regions! It also offers a diverse set of courses along with a competitive environment for students to study in.

Courses offered at NIFT 

Candidates who have predilections for fashion and design and who want to set their foot in this industry can choose NIFT as their college. NIFT offers courses under both UG as well as PG program. Courses offered under UG are Bachelor of Design (B.Des) and Bachelor of Fashion Technology. Bachelor of design has its own ramifications which include, fashion design, leather design, accessory design, textile design, knitwear design and fashion communication. Courses offered under PG program are Master of Design(M.Des), Master of Fashion Management(M.F.M) and Master of Fashion Technology(M.FTech). To give wings to the dream of making a mark in the field of fashion and design candidates have to take the NIFT entrance exam.

Placements

NIFT industry and Alumni Affairs units facilitates on campus placement for graduating students of NIFT to enable them to start their career in challenging positions. Leading national and international companies participate in placement to recruit NIFT professionals.

For the last year’s placement, the major recruitment was done by retail companies followed by brands. A total of 35% of the total graduates recruited were placed in retail companies. This was followed by fashion brands (20%), designer houses (18%), export houses and agencies (15%).The average annual salary offered to the students of Master’s program was Rs. 4.7 lakhs and bachelor’s program was 3.85 lakhs.

Some unconventional sectors like Bollywood production houses, media and entertainment and television production houses also visit campus for recruitment.

NIFT Alumni

NIFT has produced several talents in various fields like design, bollywood, quality control etc. since its inception in 1986. Following are the names of some of the NIFT alumni who have etched their names in different industries

• Sabyasachi Mukherjee 
• Ritu Beri 
• Shivaji Dutta 
• SujitMeher 
• Manish Arora 
• Nikita Anand 
• GulshanDevaiah 
• Shantanu Goenka 
• Prabal Gurung 
• Tanya Gyani

Unique features of courses offered

Courses offered under both UG and PG programs focus on holistic development of the students. Syllabuses for the courses are so designed that it helps to educate students in such a way so that students learn to face professional/job challenges in an effective manner. NIFT focuses on practical knowledge and helps bolster students in a way which train them to play leadership roles in their fields. Teachers and students share a friendly bond which makes learning more interesting. Contemporary syllabus and teaching techniques are used at NIFT to keep students in keeping with the trend.

Global connect

NIFT has strategic agreements and partnerships with about 34 leading international fashion institutes and organizations that share the same academic direction, integrating NIFT students with global mainstream of fashion. International collaborations allow students to experience ‘study abroad’ options through exchange programs.

Infrastructure

NIFT has a physical environment that reflects the institute’s academic ideals. The institute provides state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipment to impart both theoretical and practical training to its students. The facilities and services offered to the students allow them the freedom to explore, experiment and create. NIFT has a library with lots of books, well equipped laboratories, spacious classrooms, modern cafeteria, sports ground etc.

Scholarships

The financial strategy of the institute places student development as a key priority. A considerable sum from NIFT fund is effectively put to use in this core area every year. To maximize the potential of students the institute’s Means-cum-Merit financial assistance scheme allows students from humble backgrounds to avail subsidized tuition fee at every centre.

Dual degree opportunity

NIFT had entered into strategic alliance with Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), New York, USA. This partnership allows select meritorious students from NIFT, to obtain dual degree from both NIFT and FIT. Twenty two students have completed the dual degree program in the last 3 years. Due to this partnership students get to explore new opportunities and learn about new trends that is going on in the world.

Apart from the variety of courses offered by the institute, NIFT also provides opportunities for good placements, internships and great infrastructure! Therefore, pursuing a career in design from NIFT is deemed as a phenomenal option for aspiring candidates.

Microsoft Adds 3D Paint to Latest Windows 10 Creators Update Test Build

We are living in the era of the digital world and there are hardly any products, trades, industries and services, where some sorts of computer aid cannot be seen. The huge development in the science and technology has paved the way for the computer and the internet, which have then changed the entire scenario. With the intense and steady growth of the computer; the massive growth can be seen in the manufacturing and development of the hardware and software, which supports the immense demand, throughout the world.

In this segment, the Microsoft is considered as the front runner, due to their pioneering character and timely software developments, which is necessary to cope with the demands, created in the market by the potential users. The Microsoft 3D Paint is one such application that is considered as the most advanced mode of drawing application, which is a delight for the designers and developers. Some of the most interesting features and information of the Microsoft 3D Paint are as follows:

• Since the mid – 80s of the last century, the paint application has been there in th
  e Microsoft family of applications, but there were not many changes being made to get it more attractive to the users. But now, Microsoft has changed their approach and now in coming days, the Microsoft insiders can get this application, due to newly developed Build 14971, which allows the users to avail the most appealing 3D Paint facility on a very advanced structure.

• It is worth mentioning that the Paint 3D is the biggest refresher in the history of applications and this is the reason, the Microsoft has already considered it as the major keystone in their upcoming Windows 10 Creators Update. This decision has been taken to make the 3D content development as an indispensable component of the respective operating system.

• In the Build 14971; the Command Prompt is being replaced by the de facto command shell in the most important File menu of the File Explorer and also in the Win+ X menu. It can be noted that even after the introduction of the new look 3 D paint; Microsoft will allow potential users, who prefer or want to use Command Prompt to change their settings that can be helpful to keep this on their respective machines, as default.

• There are some of the most interesting features, very minor in nature, along with, some relevant and quite a number of fixes in Build 14971, such as; translation, edge, notification, inking etc. available in the new version. Generally, there are some known features and issues in this new Build, which are effectively affecting quite a number of applications including; Photos, Stores, People and most interestingly, the Studio games of Microsoft.

• The notable thing is; this unique change in the application will be helpful for easy discovery and launching of apps and also will be of great support in all the recently created or edited documents in one place. Although there are familiar help links, but the redesigning of the experience made it easier to find the intended document, without any hindrance.

Future of Mobility- BMW Motorrad Vision Next 100

BMW Motorrad Vision Next 100 – New Motorcycle Concept

Recently BMW Group in Santa Monica, California had debuted a motorcycle concept artificially intelligent which eliminates the need of the rider to wear protective gear inclusive of a helmet. The latest manifestation of Vision Next series of BMW is `The BMW Motorrad Vision Next 100 motorcycle which tends to celebrate 100 years of the German brand with progressive concept vehicles from Rolls-Royce, Mini together with BMW.

 This year the group had been hosting several events across the globe to introduce every new concept in several cities. The event at California which had taken place in an old airplane hangar had displayed the BMW Motorrad Vision Next 100 motorcycle together with each of the other earlier shown concepts of the group. This is said to be the fourth and final concepts to be portrayed. One would question what the future of the motorcycle would hold.

As per BMW, BMW Motorrad Vision Next 100 seems to be a bike which tends to have self-balancing system in order to keep it upright while standing – which is a benefit for novice riders on par with training wheels for bicycles and while in motion it, is advantageous for experienced rider who prefer cultured handling at great speed.

Digital Companion – Riding Advice/Adjustment Ideas

One system which BMW has named `Digital Companion provides riding advice as well as adjustment ideas to optimize the experience and the so called `The Visor’ which is a pair of glasses,spans the total field of vision and controlled by eye movements, correlates to return lively feedback regarding road conditions to the rider while adjusting the ride of the bike constantly, based on driving style of the rider. It is meant to be equivalent to the driverless systems automakers believed in producing cars by 2040 and thereafter.

According to Holger Hampf, head of user experience of BMW, he states that the bike tends to have full range of connected data from its surroundings together with a set of intelligent systems that seems to work in the background and hence it is precisely alert of what lies ahead. It also senses to use a novel matte black `flexframe’ which tends to nimble adequately to permit the bike to turn without the joints that are found in current motorcycles.

No Buttons – Red Rocker Switch

The purpose is that when a rider seems to turn the handlebar, it adapts the complete frame to alter the direction of the bike. At low speeds only a light input is needed though at high speeds it seems to require strong input to change the course. This should upsurge the safety concept of riding a bike and a small twitch at 100 mph would not shoot the rider in a sudden new direction. However not everything regarding the concept bike is progressive. The black triangle shape of the frame together with the white trim line as well as the classic boxer engine form are intended to induce the 1923 R32, which was the first motorcycle ever made by BMW. The seat, the upper frame cover and wings comprise of carbon and the bike would run on a futuristic `non-gasoline power source. Another modern touch is the area towards the front thathas almost no buttons but a red rocker switch at the end of the right handlebar.

Google Announced Winners of Material Design Awards 2016

Google Announced Winners = Material Designs 2016

A design system tends to come to make waves when it is utilised in creating meaningful experiences.Google had introduced the Material Design showcasing applications which had embraced and embodied the design principles of Android much better than the others.

At Google I/O 2016, the app Robinhood had won the Google Play Award for the Best Use of Material Design. The winners of the Awards for Material Designs 2016 have been announced by Google last year, which had been dedicated at recognising the `best-in-class’ achievements for utilising material design for apps.Classifications of the award tend to focus specific aspects of Material Design which have been utilised in the creation of the apps that are inclined to satisfy users and express the brand suitably.

The five winners had been honoured on October 27 at the SPAN LA conference which represented the finest application of aspects of Material Design. The awards had been cut down into categories which focus on how developers could create apps that are not only great for use but also tends to express their brand on utilising the application design guidelines offered by Google. Asana had won the Brand Infusion award- Team Tasks & Projects.

Goal Completion Animations

According to Google, Asana makes the teamwork productive as well as collaborative by providing short together with often repeatedly interactions to `make efficiency feel rewarding’. Fabulous – Motivate Me, had won the Charming Engagement award wherein the app tends to feature charming illustration style in creating an impression on the users.

Google has noticed that the state transition with pleasing goal completion animations tends to keep up the motivation. C Channel received the Creative Navigation award and the app is said to organise content in a series of tabs which has the tendency of navigating through swiping. Google informs that the state that the app `neatly balances a blend of studio-created and user-submitted videos related to fashion, food and much more.

But it is only available in Japanese and Thai.The Expressive Layouts award was won by Kitchen Stories app and the app had been distinguished for its capability of creative effective together with scanning of layouts with ease for recipes on various kinds of screens and sizes.

Winning Apps – Taken Up Design Language to Great Heights

Moreover, it also tends to minimise the number of times user tend to have to touch the screen and is beneficial if the user seems to have untidy fingers while cooking. Airbnb was awarded for Focused Efficiency wherein Google informed that the app is `able to sidestep the appearance of complexity, thereby making the overall experience comfortable.

But it also observed that efficiency does not come at the cost of the visual appeal of the app. The award winning apps have taken up the design language to great heights and also deserves the honours and awards they have been provided. The Material Design Contest follows Google-hosted app contest – the Indie Games Festival which had wrapped up in September. This envisaged three game developers awarded tickets to I/O 2017 developer conference of Google, a Tango Development kit together with a Razer Forge TV bundle.

100 Guesses Is Enough To Crack Your Password

In the past few years the constant ever growing threat of cyber attacks and rampant attack has brought a new sensibility among the avid internet users towards strengthening their password. So how people make their password stronger is not an enigma. Most of the people include a number of two along with punctuation in order to make it difficult for the bad guys to figure it out. Sometimes people even add the name of a site or their pet or some other tricks to spice the things up. But a recent study has shown that if you do things like these then it is simply not enough.

A team of four researchers from the Peking University along with Jeff Yan from Lancaster University has published a study wherein they were able to crack a number of passwords from lesser than 100 guesses. They had aptly titled their study as ‘targeted Online Password Guessing: An Underestimated Threat.

TarGuess designed to break password effortlessly

Typing in the guessed password for hundred times or less than hundred times will be considered as a time consuming affair. Therefore researchers have created an algorithm named TarGuess which has been able to notch 73% of success in selected test scenarios. This means that the algorithm has been successful in decoding the password of users in 100 guesses at the most. TarGuess works so well on the cracking the password because at first it indulge in getting to know the targets.

TarGuess is designed to make use of the personally identifiable information (PII) in order to guess the passwords. Once the target is identified TarGuess makes use of the available information present on the site such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Then it also makes use of the dozens of the massive breaches which has happened in the past revealing the personal details or account info of the users.

Reuse Password practice should be avoided

Most of the people tend to reuse password for different website and accounts which is a very bad idea when it comes to security. TarGuess can easily spot your email address when you use passwords like biglove123yahoo for yahoo account and a similar password for PayPal account. TarGuess will quickly decide to start guessing with biglove123paypal for the PayPal as the safe bet.

Do not substitute numbers for letters

A number of TV show hackers has popularized the usage of numbers as a substitute for letters. But this practice isn’t a great weapon for creating stronger passwords. Researchers have embedded TarGuess with more than a dozen of transformation rules which can easily help in decoding the numbers for their respective letters. Apart from that it can even do difficult transformation like swapping the word as for @s.

There is a similar kind of tool named Telepathwords created by Microsoft which has the ability to predict the next character within a password as user happens to type it. Therefore substituting habit should be avoided at all cost as it makes your passwords much easier to crack than you can even think of.

How to Turn Off Microsoft's Newest Office 365 Pop Up Ads

Microsoft is known for using pop-up ads in order to increase the adoption of its Windows and Office suite among the users. However in the past few weeks Microsoft has been actively targeting the Windows users to opt for the Office 2016 which is the latest version of Office suite. Office 2016 brings complete package of Office applications with one-time payment for just one computer.

Office 2016 doesn’t have any upgrade option and users would have to wait to next major release in order to get new features. Currently one time purchase option is available both for PC and Macs through variety of versions. In order to give a push to Office 2016 Microsoft has started bringing pop-up ads on the Office 365 version users to make the shift.

How this pop-up ad works?

A number of users are being targeted by the Microsoft with its notorious pop-up ads which adds to the frustration when working with Office 365. During the work a message pop-up right on the screen and states that ‘Your upgrade to Office 2016 is ready. Free with your Office 365 subscription.’ Thereafter users only have three options in front of their screen which asks them either to ‘See what’s new’, Upgrade and Later’. This pop-up ad might seem easy and not so much nuisance but this appear right in the middle of a important work can simply test anyone patience after a couple of times. Not everyone is tech-savvy enough to deal with the pop-up ads. Many users find it difficult to dismiss the pop-up ads.

Pop-up ads are misleading to its core

These pop-up ads are only being brought to the screen of the Office 365 subscriber on the Windows 7 desktop PC. Users with Office 365 Business Essentials plan doesn’t get the capability to use the locally installable Office 2016 apps rather they have to rely on the web applications. In such a case the upgrade to the Office 2016 will certainly not be free as proclaimed earlier rather users will have to make the one-time payment for Office 2016.

Microsoft explanation towards using the pop-up ads

Microsoft has explained that the pop-up ads are not misleading at all as it offers existing Office 365 users to upgrade to the Office 2016. Currently the pop-up ads are being tested by the Microsoft engineers to recalibrate and enhance the frequency of the pop-up ads.

In the meantime if any users is feeling frustrated or having difficulty in dealing with the pop-up ads then it can be removed completely by following the below mentioned ways.

• Step 1: Download the Quick Fix from Microsoft site. 
• Step 2: Give a click on Open or Run and install the Quick Fix. 
• Step 3: Now simply follow the steps provided in the Fix wizard.

A number of users are left wondering how they will be able to make use of their existing version of Office Suite before they have to eventually upgrade to latest version. Then they should feel at ease because Microsoft is offering support for its existing older versions of Office till 2023 and it differs as per the specific version.

How to Make a Mirror That Tells You the Weather

Credit:Imgur

Cool Smart Mirror – Informs About Weather

Much progress has been taken place in the internet of things and with great headway in the field of technology; we tend to live in the future where everything has a tendency to be Wi-Fi compatible. A boring normal mirror can be boosted into a cool smart mirror which could inform you about the weather while one seems to be watching your reflection.

One of the most well-known stop in the making of everything in our lives `smart’, is the mirror.It could be expensive to get a smart mirror and hence creating one could be quite economical. All that one would need is some glass and some support for the mirror, together with a monitor for the display accompanied by a Raspberry Pi for the smarts.

Max Braun, Google engineer for instance had built a smart mirror earlier in the year and presently web developer, designer as well as tinkerer Zach had developed an identical gadget which tends to add voice commands together with verbal responses which seem to sound like a very simple J.A.R.V.I.S.

The manufacturers had developed their own mirror from a sheet of glass together with support. The option lies with the user intending to develop one by following the instruction or by purchasing a custom mirror which has been developed for this purpose.

One Way Mirror/Monitor/Computer

Thereafter one could build a frame for the mirror keeping in mind that the frame too needs to hold a monitor. This could be huge; hence one would require a thick frame to hide it. Moreover you would also require building a section in the frame to grip the mirror.

Eventually you need to install everything and plug it in and then you could have your own smart mirror. A magic mirror is essentially a frame, a one-way mirror, a monitor together with a computer – Raspberry Pi. All that is needed is a-

•  Computer screen which can be taken apart 
•  An observation mirror or a glass together with a mirror film 
•  A Raspberry Pi having a casing and micro USB power cord 
•  A SD card – 8GB 
•  Network adaptor, for Wi-Fi 
•  Wood frame – boards, screw, glue, paint, drill 
•  HDMI-to-VGA adaptor based on if the screen tends to have HDMI or not 
•  A mouse together with a keyboard with USB 
•  An alternate computer to fix OS and stuff

Enhancement of Self-Confidence

One ought to know not to take the measurements for the mirror till you have opened the screen which would tend to be smaller when the plastic is removed. Moreover when you have the screen, ensure that the contacts tend to be on one area on the sides and not straight back. Should they be straight back, one could envisage an issue if the need to hang it later on the wall arises.

The smart mirror has the tendency of providing plenty of useful data for those getting ready to leave their home in the morning, comprising of the date and time, together with the weather, future events on their calendar as well compliments. What one would need most in the morning more than a reminder of caffeine is an enhancement of self-confidence.

Amplify Your Mood with the New Google Home

Say hello to the new smart speaker from the tech-giant, the “Google Home” which is listed under the “Made by Google” product line up. Priced at around $129, the Google Home is a direct competition to the Amazon Echo which has been in the market for a while. So does it have what it takes to be the new favorite? Here’s a quick review of the latest Google Home!

Hardware Specifications: 

Standing at 5.62 inches or 143 mm tall and 3.79 inches or 96 mm in diameter and weighing at around 480 grams, it has a cylindrical shape with 4 LEDs on the top of the device programmed to indicate battery life. The upper surface is also equipped with a capacitive touch panel which allows play/pause music, adjusting volume or opening up the Google assistant. Powered by the same ARM processor and WIFI module present on the Chromecast, it is a pretty compact device that turns your residence into a Smart Home. The base comes with an interchangeable cover with various colors like carbon, copper, snow, marine, mango and violet.

Know Your Companion: 

Google Home seamlessly controls home devices and products like Nest Thermostat, Philips, IFTTT and SmartThings. It also behaves like a Chromecast and using voice commands it can stream audio and video to compatible devices. So if you feel lazy, you can just ask the device to adjust the room temperature or play your favorite TV show for you from your bed! It is rumored that Netflix is working on adding voice commands to their apps and soon Google Home will support it.

The Google assistant supports YouTube, Pandora, Google Play Music, IHeart Radio and Tunein. It comes with a feature viz. “My Day” which lets the assistant access information about the daily schedule of the user. Before heading out of the door you may ask “Ok Google, How’s the weather?” and it will say it loud for you. Consider a situation that you may have more than one speaker in your home; Google clarified that the devices comes with a dual microphone set up and the one which hears the voice best will wake up.

It is context aware which makes it far easier to talk to. Conversations with the device seem a lot easier compared to Amazon’s Echo. However it can access information from only one Google account. This may considered as a minute drawback as nowadays everyone has more than one personal account. Hope it gets fixed soon.

The Final Verdict 

So should you buy it? If you are out in the market for a portable speaker then the Google Home is definitely a wise choice. It has great quality sound output and a compact design. It excels in what it is meant to do i.e. provide a seamless interconnection between devices and play quality music. Yes, it doesn’t come cheap but it delivers for the price point. There are alternatives in the market but a product from a tech-giant like Google is always preferable.

A New Twist on Airplane Wing Design

In one of his greatest work “Codex on the Flight of Birds”, Leonardo da Vinci provided some unique study with almost 500 sketches of flying machine, which is the basis of modern Airplane technology in the contemporary society. The Wright brothers have accomplished the maiden powered flight over hundred years ago, which was controlled by using pulleys and wires to twist and bending of the wings, made of wood and canvas.

Although this system is a quite different one, that is propelled by hinged flaps and the ailerons, which are being used in most of the aircraft since its inception. The aircraft technology has developed in many ways in the last few decades and witnessed some of the most advanced elements in the design and technical know-how.

Now the engineers from MIT and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have developed some hi-tech enchantment, with a new version of bendable and “morphing” wing. This new technology is having some unique features and simplified process of manufacturing that reduces the consumption of fuel by improving the aerodynamics of wings. Some of the features of this basic concept are as follows:

• The fundamental principle at the back of this new concept is the simple use of an arrangement of tiny and lightweight structural components, which are referred as “digital materials” and can be assembled into almost infinite assortment of shapes. This is such a simple structure manufacturing that can be compared even with the formation of configuration with the help of Lego blocks. The separate pieces are quite strong and rigid in nature, but it can be noted; the precise choice of sizes and the materials and most importantly the geometry of the assembling of pieces, which allow for the exact tuning of suppleness of the shape.

• According to researchers; the building up of such large and intricate structure, from an arrangement of tiny and indistinguishable building blocks, which have the exceptional grouping of strength, flexibility and light weight, simplifies the manufacturing process to a great extent. This modular structure is also providing the greatest ever simplicity in both the assembly and the disassembly of the construction that means; when the structure is not been needed, it can be dismantled and the entire structure can be taken apart by segregating its separate component parts, which can be reassembled and used for creating some other kinds of structures.

• Being the composition of different tiny parts; repairing process is also very easy and can be done in a very simple manner e.g. just by replacement of the damaged subunits in a very comfortable manner. The “skin” or the outer coat of the wings is also enhancing the performance of the structure. This “Skin:” is made with the technology of overlapping strips, made of flexible materials and layered as bird’s feather or somewhat like fish scales, which allows the pieces in moving across, while the wings flexes but still provide the most smoothened outer surface. It is ascertained that the primary use of this technology can be for making of tiny and robotic aircraft at the initial stage.