Google+ introduces Communities despite persistent 'ghost town' reputation
On Thursday, Google senior vice president Vic Gundotra announced the launch of Google+ Communities, a new feature which allows users to join and create interest groups on Google's social network.
Google+ Communities rolls out today and in typical social networking fashion, it will allow both private and public membership options. Users will be able to plan events, start hangouts and share Web content with fellow community members. Categories have been implemented to improve navigability and searchability.
Plex launches dedicated version of Plex Media Center for Windows 8 devices
Media server developer Plex Inc. has announced the immediate availability of Plex for Windows 8 1.0, a dedicated media center app giving users of Windows 8 PCs and Windows RT tablets access to their Plex Media Server collections via a full-screen, touch-friendly app.
Plex for Windows 8, like other Plex mobile applications, isn’t free. It launches with a special $2.99 price, likely to rise to $4.99 in line with its other mobile apps. The release is joined by Plex Media Server 0.9.7.7, a minor maintenance update that primarily resolves issues introduced with the new PlexSync service, which is currently restricted to PlexPass subscription holders only.
Detect wi-fi intruders with Wireless Network Watcher
If you'd like to keep your wireless network secure, turning on the best possible encryption is usually a very good place to start. There may still be room for problems, though (as I discovered, when my brother accidentally turned off his encryption entirely while trying to set up a TV), so it could be worth using NirSoft’s Wireless Network Watcher to keep a lookout for Wi-Fi intruders.
As usual with NirSoft programs, Wireless Network Watcher is compact in the extreme, a tiny download (even when unpacked it requires less than 700KB drive space) which requires no installation: just unzip it and go.
Google Now powers up with new features: dictate G+ posts, song ID, boarding passes, more
Google first introduced its Siri-like voice search Google Now in Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). Functionality was rather limited at first, but the search giant eventually added new "cards" (data feeds on user-selected topics) and even Gmail integration. With the latest iteration released today, users can do a lot more with Google Now, including dictate Google+ posts and show United Airlines boarding passes.
Users can power up Google Now, tap on the microphone icon, say "Post to Google Plus" and then simply add their message. Automatic posting is not enabled, so users can edit and select the circles which will see the message. Another new feature is the ability to scan barcodes, which is triggered by the fairly intuitive command "Scan a barcode". Using the camera, Google Now allows users to take a picture of the item in order to display relevant product information.
YouTube takes to the skies, brings its channels to Virgin America flights
Google has spent millions of dollars funding channels offering high quality content in a bid to compete with television, and more importantly, offer brand-safe shows for major companies to attach their adverts to. Some of the channels have been wildly successful, while others -- it’s fair to say -- haven’t reached anywhere near their full potential.
Still, YouTube remains committed to funding high-quality programming and in the next fortnight or so will start showing content from five of its flagship channels on Virgin America flights across the U.S. and Mexico.
Microtransactions are not the American way, says new data
A new report from app monetization company W3i says users 47 percent of the revenue earned from in-app purchases falls in the range of $9.99 to $19.99, somewhat disrupting the theory that a constant stream of tiny "microtransactions" is a viable profit model for mobile video games.
The "freemium" profit model has been immensely popular among mobile video game companies. It has been shown that mobile games earn more money when they are given away for free, but contain add-ons available only through in-game purchases.
Why don’t computer users take passwords seriously?
Passwords exist to keep our personal data secure. They prevent snoopers accessing our computers, and stop hackers from getting into our Facebook or email accounts. Passwords can be a pain at times -- thinking up something secure, and remembering it whenever prompted isn't always easy -- but they’re a necessary evil.
And yet, time and again we hear stories of people being hacked because they used simple-to-guess passwords, and/or the same passwords everywhere. Signing up to multiple websites with the same login you use for your email account is just asking for trouble, but people do it. The reason I bring this up is cybersecurity company ESET has just released new data from a Harris Interactive study that once again shows how lackadaisical we are when it comes to password protection.
Lost in Europe? Google wants to help
Despite recent competition from Nokia Here, Google remains largely unchallenged when it comes to maps, understanding that there’s more to them than just driving directions.
A new European update adds walking paths, ferry lines, building outlines, park boundaries, university campuses and a few other goodies to 10 countries -- Andorra, Bulgaria, Estonia, Gibraltar, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
Microsoft's Android bashing campaign goes down in flames as #WindowsRage trends
What was Microsoft thinking? The software giant initiated a campaign on Twitter, dubbed #DroidRage, inviting Android users to share their "malware horror stories", only to have it backfire spectacularly shortly afterwards. A huge number of anti-Microsoft posts with the #WindowsRage hashtag appeared on Twitter and Google+, almost immediately.
The problem with the campaign, apart from the less-than-brilliant concept, is the timing. Criticism of Microsoft’s more recent products, such as Windows 8, Surface and Windows Phone 8, should have caused the company to lay low for a while. Instead, the firm unwittingly gave frustrated users of its new products a unified hashtag to rally behind.
Advanced BAT to EXE Converter makes batch files work for you
Windows PowerShell may be Microsoft’s scripting choice for the future, but that doesn’t mean it’s all over for the humble batch file -- far from it.
Install the free Advanced BAT to EXE Converter and not only will the program help you develop new batch files, but it also allows you to extend them with new commands, before compiling the results into EXE files which will run on anything from Windows 98 upwards (no .NET or other annoying DLL dependencies).
IBM has a big problem
I heard from dozens of readers yesterday morning about a message IBM sent to its current employees concerning their 401K plan -- changing it from a contribution in every paycheck to a single contribution at the end of the year. Of course if you are laid off that means no annual contribution, less retirement savings, but a real bonus to the company. This, in itself, isn’t worth a column. It’s just Scrooge IBM being more Scrooge-like in search of that 2015 earnings target. What is worth a column is putting this news in the context of IBM having failed its recent internal security audit, which should concern IBM customers.
What, they didn’t tell you?
Wireless Network Watcher detects WiFi intruders
If you’d like to keep your wireless network secure then turning on the best possible encryption is usually a very good place to start. There may still be room for problems, though (as I discovered, when my brother accidentally turned off his encryption entirely while trying to set up a TV), so it could be worth using NirSoft’s Wireless Network Watcher to keep a lookout for WiFi intruders.
As usual with NirSoft programs, Wireless Network Watcher is compact in the extreme, a tiny download (even when unpacked it requires less than 700KB drive space) which requires no installation: just unzip it and go.
Podio puts a refreshing twist into the 'online workspace' arena [review]
At face value, Podio is a very tough product to describe. Parent company, Citrix, describes it as an "online work platform", which tends to be fairly accurate, but is a definite understatement. Podio has the social likeness of Google+ or Facebook, but don't think Yammer here (Podio politely offers sociability -- it doesn't force it down your throat.) Podio leverages a powerful cloud-based CRM platform that is highly customizable, a la Salesforce. Yet it also happens to integrate useful tabular functionality and spreadsheet importing/exporting to and from Excel. So what the heck exactly is Podio?
After one month of living personally and professionally on Podio, one thing I can say is I know what it isn't. It's not a platform for those looking for a simple cookie cutter solution to a single problem. The product is targeted towards companies small and large willing to invest a little time to get a lot in return. That return, more specifically, is functionality and flexibility. Podio tosses out the "800 pound gorilla" approach to software and instead offers a different perspective: you build it, and they will come.
Get more from PowerShell with Microsoft Script Explorer
If you’re at all interested in PC scripting then you’ll probably already know that Windows PowerShell is a very powerful technology that presents all kinds of interesting management and automation possibilities.
Figuring out how best to use PowerShell isn’t always straightforward, though. To put it politely. But the next time you’re struggling to understand how to do something, it’s worth remembering that help is at hand in the shape of Microsoft’s Script Explorer.
Surface RT sales are probably quite good, you just don't know it
The "Microsoft tablet is a failure meme" was old from the start. Every day there's some new blog based on rumor or innuendo assuring everyone who pays attention that Surface is doomed and sales are this side of worse than terrible. There is so much nonsense punditry, I don't know where to start. DigiTimes has unnamed channel sources saying Microsoft cut orders for the tablet by half. The report got widespread attention, despite the publication's record for getting this kind of story wrong. Along come the analysts. DFG slashed shipment estimates to between 500,000 and 600,000 from between 1 million to 2 million. Number was way too high to start. Now Tim Worstall, a Fellow at Adam Smith Institute, whines that Surface RT is way overpriced. It's not.
If Microsoft's tablet has a sales problem -- and let's strut that I-F again -- distribution is the reason. The product isn't overpriced or flawed. Microsoft only sells Surface through the company store; that's online and (by my count) 66 retail shops. Sixty stores are in the continental United States, five in Canada and another in Puerto Rico. There are only a limited number of places anyone can buy the tablet, which limits how many the company can sell. What matters more is how many Microsoft sells per store. Pundits crying "fail" are nincompoops of the nth degree. If any of them bothered to look at Apple Store, they would understand.
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