Leading real hands on tech review site in Ireland with technology, business news and more. Jim O Brien Tech.
Author: Jim O Brien/CEO
CEO and expert in transport and Mobile tech. A fan 20 years, mobile consultant, Nokia Mobile expert, Former Nokia/Microsoft VIP,Multiple forum tech supporter with worldwide top ranking,Working in the background on mobile technology, Weekly radio show, Featured on the RTE consumer show, Cavan TV and on TRT WORLD. Award winning Technology reviewer and blogger. Security and logisitcs Professional.
Yogscast Games and the Yogscast network today announced the first ever Tiny Teams Indie Festival, shining a spotlight on games from indie micro-studios. The Tiny Teams Festival will be broadcast live on Steam and Twitch.tv/yogscast from 9-15 August 2020.
The Tiny Teams festival will be hosted by Yogscast Games’ Head of Publishing Ben Edgar and feature developer interviews, gameplay streams and trailers of dozens of games from one to three-person indie development teams. The Tiny Teams Festival will also celebrate a selection of classic indies with Steam Store discounts of up to 50% off through the week and culminate in an awards show at 5pm BST on 15th August highlighting the most fun, weird and exciting games profiled during the week.
“At Yogscast Games we’re all about indie games that are as fun to watch as they are to play,” said Yogscast Games’ Head of Publishing Ben Edgar. “With the first-ever Tiny Teams Festival we want to shine a spotlight on some fantastic games and teams that could otherwise slip under the radar in a hugely busy year of gaming. We’re looking forward to sharing some of the coolest, weirdest and most fun upcoming indies starting 9 August.”
The full event program will be announced in early August. Developers who would like to be featured in the Tiny Teams Festival can submit their game for consideration at the Yogscast.games site. The deadline for submissions is 27th July.
The rapid outbreak of COVID-19 has affected the world in numerous ways, ranging from an economic halt to social distancing. As governments imposed lockdowns, many had to adapt to the new reality of all-things-online. The surge of users, shifting their focus to the digital world, influenced major changes in online behavior, network governance, and digital adoption, leaving to wonder how this will reshape the current Internet landscape.
New user habits
Global isolation drastically increased the demand for online collaboration services, for instance, video conferencing app Zoom went from 56 thousand to2.13 million downloads a day as soon as officials announced lockdown. With the majority of the workers having moved online, the newly found convenience of remote work is shaping up to be along-term reality, which will be highly relevant even in the post-pandemic era.
As the welcoming attitude towards flexible work environments seems to be here to stay, Vincentas Grinius, CEO at Heficed, suggests that companies should place more emphasis on developing a solid in-house network infrastructure, prepared to handle the rise in the digital workforce. “With a significant part of workers taking care of their day-to-day from their home office, companies will need to reevaluate the architecture of their internal network: are there enough IPs? What additional safeguards would mitigate risks associated with pc malware? These are some of the questions that should move up the list of priorities once the situation dials down,” said V. Grinius.
Sharing network resources
The online ecosystem has also revealed itself vulnerable to the mass-usage. For instance, with the sudden increase in traffic, major streaming platforms – Netflix and YouTube – had tolower their video quality to reduce some of the strain on Europe’s infrastructure.
“As soon as the lockdown was announced, the Net felt its consequences with full force: few had backup hardware to maintain a stable network, or enough IPs to suffice increased connectivity,” Grinius explained. “With the population nearing 8 billion, and widespread IPv6 implementation still light-years away, the need to adopt a sustainability-driven mindset that would facilitate further expansion became even more apparent.”
The latest developments showed that the Internet is not advancing as fast as it needs to, in order to keep up with the growing market. According to V. Grinius, the solution to this could be a collaboration-based approach towards network resources.
“IP address leasing could help accommodate the exponentially growing demand without aggravating the current strain on the market,” continued V. Grinius. “Reallocating unused IPv4s enables companies to continue scaling alongside increasing device connections and could be the facilitator the market needs until it is a hundred percent IPv6-ready.”
Lower digital division
The Internet helped solve numerous problems that have risen along with the coronavirus wave. That said, the circumstances also exposed a significant digital divide in emerging, as well as developed countries, as many were unable to get online: it is predicted approximately3.7 millionhave no Internet access. V. Grinius notes that the current crisis will act as a catalyst for lessening the gap in connection, which seems like a highly likely scenario, as it is alreadypushing some markets towards more rapid digitization.
“Interconnectivity is what the market is heading towards. For those that have been delaying the implementation of digitized solutions, or not giving them the required attention, this was an eye-opener,” said V. Grinius. “The pandemic emphasized the significance of having network access and will be an essential factor in driving progress, as there are plenty of opportunities for anyone willing to execute change.”
Even though the full scope of how this recent shift is going to evolve in the future is unclear – these major changes already on the way to shape a new reality where everything is connected.
Pearl Abyss announced today that adventurers who play Black Desert on console can look forward to playing a brand new class coming later this month. Hashashin is the 19th character to be added to the popular MMORPG and will be playable on console very soon as a timed exclusive.
Hashashin is Aal’s warrior, who can manipulate sandstorms with the power of the native Valencian god. For example, he has a skill that allows him to imbue the memory of a specific place in a sandstorm which allows him to instantly move to that place, given that he is not too far away. He can also create sandstorms to chase enemies or ambush them from above. As a desert dweller, he can travel slightly faster in the desert and has mildly higher resistance to desert diseases compared to other classes. He engages in melee combat with the Shamshir sword as his main weapon.
Starting today, adventurers can pre-create their Hashashin in Black Desert’s famed character creator. Those who do can look forward to some nice rewards like Inventory +4 Expansion Coupon, Secret Book of Old Moon, Blessed Message Scroll, and Black Cloaked Cat.
Sony has announced an exciting new addition to its full-frame lens line-up with the introduction of the FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM (model SEL1224GM) Large-aperture Ultra-wide Zoom lens. This compact and versatile lens is ideal for shooting landscapes, starry skies and architecture while providing extra mobility for active sports shooters who want to use ultra-wide angles. As part of Sony’s flagship G Master series lenses, users can be completely confident that it delivers outstanding image quality up to an ultra-wide 12mm angle of view with F2.8 constant aperture, combined with beautiful bokeh effects.
The introduction of the FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM means that the F2.8 range of Sony’s G Master series lenses now extends all the way through from 12mm to 200mm and at 12mm, offers the world’s widest zoom at F2.8. At this focal length, it is possible to emphasise distance and create dynamic perspectives that are beyond the scope of the human eye, opening the door to new avenues of creative expression.
“We are tremendously excited about the introduction of the FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM as we believe that photographers and videographers using the Sony’s Alpha system will fall in love with this lens”, said Yann Salmon-Legagneur, Director of Product Marketing, Digital Imaging, Sony Europe. “It is important for us to continue to push boundaries in the industry and by extending our range of G Master constant F2.8 lenses out to 12mm with such a technology-packed and high performing lens, we are excited to see the results of the new creative opportunities it offers.”
The FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM benefits from a rich and innovative construction that delivers outstanding corner-to-corner image quality throughout the entire zoom range. It features three extremely precise XA (extreme aspherical) elements including the largest XA element ever made for an α™(Alpha™) lens. These XA elements, with the addition of a further aspherical element, effectively suppress astigmatism, coma and field curvature right out to the image edges. Furthermore, three ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass elements plus two Super ED glass elements, powerfully quell chromatic aberration and combine to deliver corner-to-corner clarity whilst minimising colour fringing.
A floating focus mechanism divides the lens’s focus group into two independently controllable groups. It is extremely effective at ensuring both outstanding close-up performance and maximum sharpness at any distance as it divides the lens’s focus group into two independently controllable groups. It also helps realise a constant 0.28-metre minimum focusing distance throughout the zoom and because it is an internal focus lens, its length remains constant and its centre of gravity varies very little, so it is always optimally balanced in the hand.
The signature bokeh effects of Sony’s G Master series lens have been achieved through the fine tuning of the lens’s spherical aberration characteristics during both the design and manufacturing process. At the same time, the extremely high surface precision of the lens’s XA elements effectively suppresses onion-ring effects and, in combination with a 9-blade circular aperture, further enhances its exquisite bokeh.
The FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM employs four original high-speed, high-thrust XD (extreme dynamic) Linear Motors to ensure that it is compatible with the speed performance of both current and future camera bodies. With two for each of the lens’s focus groups, autofocus is fast and precise and new control algorithms maximise the response of the XD Linear Motor system while achieving flawless synchronisation between the two focus groups. A further benefit is that operation is extremely quiet with minimal vibration.
A brand-new Nano AR Coating II that can be evenly applied to large lens elements or highly curved element surfaces has been used for the first time on the FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM. It suppresses internal reflections, minimises flare and ghosting for clear, crisp imagery and despite the lens’s wide angle of view, Nano AR Coating II maintains high clarity and contrast throughout the entire image, even in difficult light.
Moviemaking
The constant F2.8 maximum aperture at all focal lengths ensures that exposure is stable when zooming. In turn, this means that shutter speed and ISO sensitivity can remain consistent whilst shooting movies. The creative opportunities afforded by shooting movies at a 12mm angle of view with F2.8 constant aperture in full-frame are boundless, however, when used on an APS-C camera or with a Super 35 angle of view, the wide end of the zoom range becomes equivalent to 18mm, providing a very useful zoom range for moviemaking.
Professional Control
Weighing only 847 grams, the FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM offers numerous features for full professional control of shots. These include a customisable focus-hold button, focus-mode switch, zooming ring and focusing ring that are positioned for easy operation whilst shooting. The Linear Response MF ensures that the focus ring responds directly to the most subtle adjustments when focusing manually so control feels immediate and precise. It is dust and moisture resistant and the front lens element features a fluorine coating that repels water, oil, and other contaminants, while making it easier to wipe off any fingerprints from the lens surface. The rear filter holder accommodates standard sheet-type ND, colour correction and other filters for expanded expressive capability. A cutting template for sheet filters is supplied.
Pricing and Availability
The FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM is available in Europe from August 2020, priced at approximately £2,900 / €3,300.
At a time when identity theft and data exposure is on the rise, global cyber security provider F-Secure has found that many online users aren’t adequately protecting themselves against data breaches.
Now more than ever there is a huge reliance on online services for the likes of home-schooling, shopping, communication and medical appointments, all requiring accounts with log-ins and passwords. With this comes the increased risk of data breaches and the potential for users’ details to end up on the dark web ready to be exploited by criminals.
Recent F-Secure research has found that 41% of respondents use the same password on multiple accounts with 56% using the same password on multiple accounts with slight variations. With the average person having 18 password protected accounts one leaked credential could quickly lead to multiple risks for each user.
The survey found that the risks are well known however with nearly 2 in 3 (65%) internet users worried or very worried about having their identity stolen for online purchase or loan fraud. 37% of those asked say that they were aware of at least one data breach involving an online service they use.
Tom Gaffney, principal security consultant at F-Secure said, “It’s interesting that despite many online users being aware of the dangers of ID theft that many still aren’t putting enough measures in place to protect themselves. For many ID theft is distressing, time consuming and costly so it’s crucial people protect themselves more so than they are. There could be a number of reasons why people are risking themselves including lack of awareness or inconvenience but now more than ever they need to be clued up on it.”
CIFAS research has found that cases of identity fraud are up nearly a third over the past five years and are projected to increase as criminals look for ways to exploit the sharp rise of online reliance during the pandemic.
In response to the findings F-Secure has launched ID PROTECTION, a new seamless solution that provides a comprehensive approach to securing personal information and accounts.
Tom Gaffney continued: “We realise that coming up with a strong, unique password and remembering it for one account is tough let alone 20. And still even if you do everything right, your online services can still be breached. This pervasive risk demands a new approach to securing personal data online, where users must harden their identity and accounts, and know when their personal data is found in the ‘wild.”
ID PROTECTION continuously monitors and detects exposed personal information online and is able to respond quickly to threats to users’ identity, whilst doubling as a password manager to prevent account takeovers.
ID PROTECTION’s features include:
Identity management that provides instant alerts and guidance how to respond when personal information has been found as part of a breach or data leak
Comprehensive breach database consisting of billions of recovered assets and plain text passwords
Combination of human intelligence and Dark Web monitoring to recover breach data up to 6 months faster
Protection for the entire family with a single subscription
Password management that makes it easy to create unique, strong passwords that are automatically synchronized and auto-filled on all devices
F-Secure ID PROTECTION is available both with monthly and yearly subscriptions and is now included as part of F-Secure TOTAL premium cyber security package. Find out more about the solution and how to protect your identity on F-Secure’s website.
Retro Tech is cool and for most people in a certain age bracket today will appreciate it and I fit into this demographic. When the walkman was a thing I had the best there was and spent sill money on them before the cd walkman came out and repeat the same.
This is made of plastic and is cheap and an ideal gift to buy or just have for yourself and it does everything as they did back in the day and just check out all the buttons on it which again fucntion as normal. You have play/pause/stop/FF/REW and yes you can record.
We also get an AM/FM radio thrown in an works just as remembered turning that dial til you hear a station tune in,no presets here lads. You also have a belt clip if you wear a belt that is and you can slap it on the side and look like what millions of us around the world did years ago.. You can also power it by either battery or micro USB which is a bonus.
How does it sound Well given we have moved on and can get all this on our smartphones now it is pretty decent for the price and the heaphones with it too, not the best in the world but good enough to listen too and the music is good too with a good tape,due to copyright issues I could not use much but listen in the review and tell us what you think.. Overall it is a cool retro tech piece and even for modern day tech geeks it will be interesting for them to check out what the 80s/90s where like and at worst just to have it stuck on a shelf for viewing,its pretty cool…
BUILT-IN SPEAKER AND MIC – This personal cassette player also acts as a recorder so you can record yourself singing if you wish to, record and listen back to your performance
EARPHONES INCLUDED – Earphones are included with this personal cassette player so as soon as you open it up you can kick back, relax and start listening to your tapes/AM/FM radio straight away
AM/FM RADIO – This cassette player also features AM/FM radio stations that you can tune into – Perfect for listening to in the morning or on your daily commute
RETRO BUTTONS – Retro classic buttons add a nostalgic vibe guaranteed to take you back to the 90’s – Simple and easy to use, perfect for kids
STYLISH AND SLEEK DESIGN – The compact and sleek design with it’s black and silver shading is guaranteed to bring back memories listening to all your old cassette tapes while also easy to store and carry
Macs are fast, efficient, and very sleek-designed computers. For some, they increase work efficiency and productivity; for others – it is a great tool to create, and for some – it is a part of a fashion statement.
As great as Macs could be, they are not automatically protected from malware. There is a belief that Macs are safe computers that can defend themselves, and that is not quite true. Macs are unable to defend themselves against so many types of malware that are created every day.
Today, there are so many new viruses constantly appearing, that your Mac could catch a chrome virus or any other malware easily. The more new viruses there are, the harder it is to defend against them. So if you want to learn some great tips about how to keep your Mac safe from viruses, keep on reading.
What Signs Show That Your Mac Might Have a Virus?
There are quite a few signs that indicate your Mac might have caught a virus. If you notice a few of these, then it is highly possible that it’s true.
The first thing to keep an eye on is random windows, notifications, and advertisements opening on your screen. This is a pretty clear sign you have a virus because no other technical issue could cause this. Also, if you notice that after you open your browser, it automatically starts opening random websites, it is also a very clear sign of a virus.
Try to notice websites that you used to visit constantly starting to show huge banners with advertisements that didn’t happen before. More to it, if the content that you see in these and all other ads all over the internet are completely unrelated to your interests and search results, this might be a sign of a virus too.
What Not to Do When You Get a Virus
The first thing not to do is rush and install any antivirus app that you find. First of all, if you really have a virus on your computer and it is already affecting the ads that you see on your browser, it is highly possible that it can also have an effect on your search results.
For example, if you search for a Mac antivirus on your browser, there’s a big chance you will get fake results. To avoid that, try searching for an antivirus with your phone and only then install it on your Mac. But have in mind that your phone can have a virus too, so if you see clear signs of it, just use any other device.
Another thing you should avoid is notifications about the virus that tells you to perform a certain action. If a notification or a window like this asks you to call a certain number or email personal information to solve the issue, never perform this action because it is a clear fraud. If you follow with their instructions, you might end up with even more damage, like permanent data loss, personal data leakage, and even losing money.
Do Not Forget to Back up Your Mac Occasionally
To prevent the negative impact that a virus could cause, it is best that you develop a habit to regularly back up your data on your Mac. This way, even if you get attacked by a virus, you will be calm about your data not disappearing.
The easiest and fastest way to backup your data is by using a Time Machine that lets you boot your Mac into data recovery.
Always Update Your Browser
It is always important to keep everything up to date. Starting with apps, macOS, and ending with the main browser that you use every day. This is important because these updates do not only include all sorts of bug fixes and performance enhancements, but it also updates the information and protection from potential threats, like malware.
If you use the default Safari browser that originally comes with a Mac, then you do not need to worry about updating it separately. This is because Safari is a macOS app that updates alongside with your other apps. But if you use a Chrome browser or any other, then you will need to remember to update it separately.
Pay Attention to the Gatekeeper
The newest versions of macOS come with great additional tools like Gatekeeper that helps you keep your Mac safe and protected. When you download an app or any software from the internet, you will always see a pop-up, asking if you really want to open the application because it might look suspicious.
Gatekeeper will never open an app like this without your permission. Therefore, if you are sure that you want to proceed, you need to click Open to approve this action. This is a great opportunity for you to check if this is really the app that you wanted to download in the first place or maybe you just downloaded a fake install file. After installing an app like this, you might need a sudden help from Mac antivirus to deal with the malware.
Thanks to the nice people in Tp-link I got one of their Passthrough Powerline Starter Kit (TL-PA8010P Kit) to test out, with plenty of people working from home now ensuring that your getting the most of your internet connection makes sense. Liam Burke tells us more.
Powerline adapters are very useful if you want to make use of an ethernet connection but dont have ethernet cabling in your home wall.
They use the existing electrical cabling (range of up to 300 metres/1000 feet) in the walls of your home and turn it into a virtual ethernet cable.
This version is ethernet only so the device that you will be connecting it into will need to have an ethernet port like a TV, PS4, or a Laptop etc.
Using an ethernet connection has advantages over wifi as it offers low-latency compared with WiFi, but the speeds will be affected by the wiring in your home.
In the box you get
2 Ethernet cables (approx 1.9m in Length)
A Quick Installation Guide
Two Powerline adapters TP-PA8010P.
Dimensions of adapter (when plugged in 48mm deep, 130mm long ,70cm wide) approx
Side of the Powerline adapter with the pair button on the leds for Power, Powerline, Ethernet
Top of the powerline adapter with the gigabit ethernet port.
The setup was very very easy. I plugged one adapter into the wall and connected one of the supplied ethernet cables from my router into the adapter.
As TP-Link recommended setting up a secured network (128-bit AES Encryption), I plugged the other adapter into the wall socket next to the main adapter, pressed the pair button on the main adapter then pressed the pair button on the second adapter to setup the secure network.
If you dont want to setup a secure network then you dont need to press the pair button, just plug both adapters into wall sockets and your set.
TP-Link also recommends not plug the adapter into an extension lead, instead plug the adapter into the wall socket, then plug the extension lead into the powerline adapter. The Powerline adapters have 2x2MIMO which gives better coverage throughout the house.
Then I moved the adapter to a wall socket that I wanted to use and using the other supplied ethernet cable from my device (TV in this case) connected it to the adapter and that was it, I had my powerline network setup. Now my TV which didnt have Wifi was able to connect to Netlfix with no bother. I found when I moved the adapter it only took 2 or 3 seconds before they would get connected to the network.
Now the results, the two main things I noticed was the Download speed was lower than when using Wifi but the latency was reduced with the powerline (which is good). The reduced Download speed was probably due to age of the wiring in my house, but if your into gaming which requires low latency then the powerline adapters are definitely more advantageous than using wifi.
To make your network bigger you can just add more powerline adapters and thats it no need for extra cabling. A Powerline adapter cant match an ethernet cable as the ethernet cable is dedicated to data transfer and the powerline has to share electricity and also the data transfer. But if you want low-latency and have issues with Wi-Fi the Tp-Link Powerline adapter will help.
Another benefit is that the Powerline adapter has a pass through socket so you wont lose an existing electrical socket when you use it. It also uses power-saving technology to conserve up to 85% energy when not in use.
Overall I found it very easy to setup and for working at home having a dedicated ethernet connection for my work laptop was great.
TCL is a brand others need to watch out for and have the hallmarks of One Plus when they launched but now have their phones highly priced, A brand known for their TVs has recently launched some smartphones with quite alot on offer considering the price of them and others need to watch out, We recently spent time with the 10L and for me it really is worth the money for what you are getting..
