Category: Tech News

Guest Post – The Best VPNs to Use in Ireland #VPNs #Internet

If you haven’t heard of a VPN yet, it stands for Virtual Private Network. These extremely handy tools have been rising in popularity during recent years due to their many benefits. Once resigned to the world of internal corporation networks, these easy-to-use apps are now used by the general public all over the world. You may of heard players in the market like Surfshark but here is some others to check out.

Many are being turned on to the concept in Ireland, with the Irish Times putting out a whole article around VPN’s in 2015. Here are some of the benefits of using one:

The Benefits of Using a VPN
A VPN is extremely helpful to those concerned about security. It encrypts your data and allows you to use any WiFi network without worrying about hackers being able to intercept your details. Due to this, they also help you avoid malware and spam being sent your way in the future.

Perhaps the most common usage for a VPN is to bypass geo-blocking restrictions. Since all devices are subject to blocks via their IP address, these virtual networks allow you to hide your location in order to access restricted content. This is extremely useful for regional sites such as Netflix whose listings are dependent on country. It’s also great for sports fans, as you can access and watch games that aren’t usually accessible in Ireland.

So, now you’ve got a basic rundown of the software, here are some recommendations:

 

1. Buffered VPN

Buffered VPN is quickly becoming the best service on the market. It was just rated Secure Thoughts’ Best VPN of 2016. Offering a watertight service which provides a constant connection and never drops out, you can browse freely and securely without having to worry about running into glitches.

 

 


Another fantastic benefit of using this provider is that they offer a 30-day guarantee and a comprehensive customer support system. They will work hard to resolve any problems you have and will give you a refund without hesitation if it fails to meet your standards.

What makes this VPN better than any of the others on offer at the moment? It’s compatible with almost every device and operating system you can think of. It also has a great feature that kills all your apps and web pages if the connection does drop out. This ensures none of you details are put at risk.
Click here to get it now.

 

  1. ExpressVPN

 

Another option is ExpressVPN. You get a high quality service at a competitive price (when you take value into account). This option also boasts unlimited bandwidth and two connections on one account. This means you can easily stream, download and browse without running into problems. It also provides great customer service and an easy-to-use interface, making it a great choice for beginners.

 


The only real drawback is that Express VPN doesn’t come with the additional security features that Buffered offers. That’s the main difference between the two. This means that if you’re solely using your VPN to bypass geo-blocking, this one is probably the best option for you.

Click here to get it now.

 

  1. CyberGhost

 

If you don’t want to pay for a Virtual Private Network, there are plenty of free options available. That being said, these services have a significant amount of drawbacks. They often provide a questionable service and offer no customer support if things go wrong.

 


If you’re not planning on regular use, however, using a free one is still a great way to cut costs. Cyberghost is by far the best free VPN on the market. It ensures the same bandwidth as its paid competitors, although the speed might be somewhat affected. It also has a user-friendly interface. This product also has the added benefit of not logging your activity, which gives you an extra layer of privacy for users wanting to browse anonymously.  

 

Consider This

 

If none of these VPNs seem right for you and you’re planning to do you own research, there are a few key elements to consider. First of all, the way a VPN works is to replace your IP address with that of the VPN server. Because of this, it’s important to ensure the service you choose will provide you with the IP address that you want. Check to see what countries a company has servers in.

 

Similarly, you need to establish your main reasons for use. If security is your priority, opting for a server with good reliability is essential. If you’re mainly going to be using it to stream Netflix, however, then bandwidth should be the main feature you look at. If you’re concerned about snooping, then I highly recommend ringing up some customer service departments and establishing how they handle user data.

A VPN is an undeniably handy piece of software. There are countless options available. If you’ve had experiences with any of products mentioned or have your own suggestions to add, please leave a comment below to tell us what you think.
About the Author: Isa is an entertainment and technology blogger for Culture Coverage. She loves that technology has transformed the way we enjoy media. She also looks forward to the latest gadget and product releases.

 

 

#TechWorld – Read Everything About Technology in One app. by @SidTechWorld

There is plenty of news aggregators out there today and have been around quite a while and some also have vanished  into the wilderness never to be seen again and you will probably say Oh No here is another news app,They are welcome though as some offer more than others and some of course offer less,Also the content provided is another important matter for some trying to keep their feed lean.. And also people like choice too which is important…

Siddhant Jain..

The founder of TechWorldSid whom is a technology lover and also writes about tech and sports a You-Tube channel..

Sid Tells us..

I HOPE THROUGH MY APP, CHANNEL AND WEBSITE, TECH LOVERS GET THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND PEOPLE WHO HAVE PROBLEMS IN USING THESE TECHNOLOGIES, FIND SOLUTIONS TO THEIR PROBLEM.

 

 

Sid also goes on to say..

Through Sid Tech he wants to share with you his opinions and solutions for Technology and for this he has created 4 mediums.  His latest attempt to provide quality tech support to you is through developing an app by the name Tech World, where you will find latest news about technology from the best available sources. You can find all of his work in this website – techworldsid.com

Sid is continually adding content to the app as its a work in progress and it is shaping up nicely indeed,With a nice clean UI you can just scroll down the page or select from the list of content providers in the list which is present right now which is been updated as we speak.. Currently present now on the app is tech sites like The Verge,Igyaan,CNET
Windows Central,Android Central and of course Sid Tech.

 

 

Within the app you can also check out some settings which enables you to sync,change display and presentation,message store,notification settings which includes the option to turn them on or off,select tone,vibrate and so on.. You can also leave feedback which is good to see..

 

Check it out below by clicking the store icon,you will like it…

 

 

 

 

Vouchers everywhere.. Watch out for the latest scam with #Boots Vouchers #Scam

In recent times we have seen plenty of scams in the form of vouchers,It wont be the last nor will it cease anytime soon but the latest voucher giveaway is from Boots. Again the same trick email saying you have won a €100 voucher and then you click a few links and get a giftcard, Sadly its not true so just delete the email and do not click on any link within the said email…

Again this time round they have a period of claim time to try coax you into the so called voucher,If you receive such a mail check the senders details where you will quickly find that is not from Boots at all… The header in the mail will of course say boots but view the details of the sender and you will spot it.. See below for the details..

At the end of the mail the following is also present which is well known now at this stage…

 

Aerial Productions

P.O. Box 12006, Ortigas Center Post Office
Emerald Ave., 1605 Pasig City
Philippines

 

 

Vodafone price increases for simply broadband customers 1st August 2016 #Vodafone #Broadband

In a email sent by a reader today as we are not a Vodafone customer you are getting a price hike.. the good news is you can exit contract with no penalty.. Should you want to….but people will complain.

 

“Dear Customer,
We are writing to inform you of some changes to your Vodafone Home broadband service that will come into effect on 1 August.

Due to increased operational costs your monthly payment for your broadband plan will increase by €35 to €40. In addition, we have updated some of the terms and conditions associated with your broadband plan and these terms will apply from 1 August 2016. These updated terms can be found here.

These changes will come into effect on 1 August 2016 and will be reflected in any bills issued thereafter.

As a result of these changes, you may change or cancel your contract without penalty within 30 days from the date of this letter by dialling 1907.”

 

Vodafone also have given the following reasons on Twitter  you can follow the conversation there.

 

Over on boards.ie the conversation has cropped up too with Vodafone stating

This is correct. We will be communicating directly to affected customers between now and the 2nd of July, to inform them of this change.

This will only affect customers on our legacy Simply Broadband tariffs, who are currently paying below €40 per month.
Whilst mentioning operational costs this is due to OpenEir increasing their price for wholesale broadband.. So in effect it is being passed on to the customer.
The new pricing is as follows….
  • €15 to €40 for Simply Broadband Max
  • €18 to €40 for Simply Broadband Max
  • €30 to €40 for Simply Broadband
  • €30 to €40 for Vodafone Unlimited Broadband
  • €30.89 to €40 for Vodafone Broadband
  • €34.99 to €40 for Simply Broadband
  • €35 to €40 for Simply Broadband
  • €35 to €40 for Vodafone Broadband
  • €36.99 to €40 for Max Value Broadband

 

Notice of Changes to Pay as you go Top Up Offers and Add ons

As of the 27th July 2016 Data Extra and Extra top up offers that applied for 30 days will apply for 28 days subject to a minimum top up.Also as of the 27th July 2016 talk, text and data add on’s that applied for 30 days will apply for 28 days subject to a minimum top up and include the following:

Talk Unlimited calls €20
Text Unlimited texts €15
Data 3GB of 4G Data €15
Data 500MB Data €5
Calls 30 minutes to Irish mobiles or landlines €5
Text 100 texts to any network €5
International 30 international minutes €5

Notice of change to the below Vodafone home plans

From 26 June 2016, the below plans will no longer be available. After this customers on the below legacy plans will be placed onto the corresponding New Plan. Details of the New Plan price plan can be found here. You will already have received a contract change notification confirming your right to withdraw from your contract until 26 June 2016.

See the full price changes over HERE

External sources boards and Twitter
 

 

 

Them scams just wont go away. eir hit by phishing scam #eir #phishing

There has been plenty of scams of late mostly via your mobile or landline by way of sms or a phone call. The call would be a missed call and you would be inclined to ring it back,This is what they want you to do which ends up costing you money. As per norm anything that looks suspicious just ignore and delete and do not click any links.

The latest scam reminds me of what happened Meteor before with the link dropping you to an almost identical page which would fool some. See HERE for what that particular incident looked like.  Also see over here on our recent post about the latest scams

eir simply follow suit in what precautions and action to take..

It has come to our attention that a fraudulent eir billing email is in circulation at moment. This mail specifically advises of refund. You can view information about phishing attacks here and here.

Please note that the correct secure URL address for My eir will always being with HTTPS and the link below can be used if you are unsure. Also, please do not click on any links in an email you are unsure of and please report the email as spam to your mail provider by clicking on “mark as spam” within the email.

 

Remember…
• Never disclose any information particularly personal or financial information.
• Delete the SMS/MMS or email message immediately
• Never click on web links contained within such messages or download content associated with the message
• Do not respond to calls or messages from an unknown source.
• If you have provided personal bank account or credit card details please contact your bank immediately to advise that details have been compromised. The financial institution will be in a position to advise regarding cancelling bank or credit cards.

Source

Pick up the Original Moto 360 for €104/£79 from John Lewis. #Tech #Moto360 #Smartwatch

John Lewis are clearing out their Moto 360 range,both the leather and steel strapped models  starting from €104 with the leather strapped version or you can pay €131 for the steel strapped model,these are good prices to pay if you are hunting for a smartwatch,Some will complain about the flat tyre still which is fine but overall its a really good buy giving much of what the newer more expensive options offer for little money. Something to keep in mind this model will not get the Android Wear 2.0 update but its still a very good price and it has not aged much at all to be honest and you can customise the face with plenty of options to pick from,there is some really cool looking watch faces out there…

You will have to use parcel motel or similar to get it at this price shipped to Ireland…

 

Moto Leather
Moto Steel

 

Pick up the leather version HERE

Pick up the steel version HERE 

 

Some specs

Durable design
Scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass will help keep the Moto 360’s screen safe from scrapes, while IP67 water and dust resistance means that it’s durable enough to wear on rainy days, on sandy beaches or by the pool without worrying.

Ready for everyday
Thanks to an all-day battery life, the Moto 360 will keep up with you throughout your day. When it’s time to recharge, the wireless charging dock makes life simple: just put the Moto 360 on the dock and it’ll begin to charge. It’ll even show the time while it does, making it ideal for use on a bedside table.

What you need, at a glance
Moto 360 uses Android Wear to tell you the time, weather, traffic, flight alerts and more depending on where you are and what you’re doing. Android Wear organises your information, predicts what you need, when you need to see it and show you a notification before you even ask. Incoming or missed call, text message and email alerts all pop up on the screen too, so you can always keep track of your personal notifications.

User blocking is now available on Disqus. #Blocking #Disqus

User blocking has finally arrived on Disqus. Like social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram this has been a much requested feature for many and its good to see it finally implemented.Hopefully it works 100% because for social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter the word BLOCK in fact does not block you due to them being public by default. Disqus would be something most people use for commenting on forums across the world an popular with blog sites we like to use it for comments and support reasons and we are HERE 

 

Disqus today said…

Up until this point, you’ve had to rely solely on moderators to take action in maintaining quality discussions by dealing with harassment or trolling. Now rather than simply flagging a comment or reporting someone to a moderator, you have the ability to take action on your own.

How to block a user in Disqus…

Method one is by comment dropdown….

 

 

 

Method number two is via the User Profile….

 

 

To unblock someone, You can remove someone from your blocked users list from the Blocking section in your user settings..

Source  

 

Become a virtual pilot with London’s Air Ambulance app HELIMED. #Pilot #Helimed

Medics fans can now become a virtual pilot with the all new London’s Air Ambulance app called HELIMED. The app allows you to take on roles such as an Air Ambulance Pilot, Paramedic and Doctor and Complete life-saving missions, based on real-life scenarios, in a race against time. The app is available on both Android and iOS platforms and completely free..  The app is simple to use with some details on what the app entails on opening,then you will be brought to your first mission.The app is targeted to school children aged 11 to 14 but anyone can try it out..

 

 

It is a truly exciting time for London’s Air Ambulance. We have launched an innovative educational resource as part of our charity’s schools’ outreach programme. The resource is an interactive App HELIMED, designed to inspire a new generation of enthusiastic, technologically skilled young people to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects and later careers. They could be the Advanced Trauma teams of the future!

 

 

 

HELIMED is completely free to download and provides an insightful look at the work of the charity. Players carry out London’s Air Ambulance missions, taking on the roles of a London’s Air Ambulance Doctor, Paramedic and Pilot to complete four life-saving missions, all in a race against time.  

Source

 

 

Irishmoji a brand new app from Fanmoji featuring 150+ Irishmojis #Fanmoji #Irishmoji

Irishmoji is the brand new app from Fanmoji; featuring 150+ Irishmojis as is we had enough options already on the emoji front we love them,companies continue to give us options and they remain popular still today. We cant get enough it seems. So what has this new app got to offer us Tim Webber explains..

Irishmoji is the brand new app from Fanmoji; featuring 150+ Irishmojis and our new Irish Yourself feature. Irish Yourself will allow you to get match ready and show your mates you’re truly up for Ireland’s games at the Euros this summer.

Hearts in Irish colours, a hurly, Irish rugby and football jerseys, castles, islands, the Garda and St Patrick – Irishmoji is an app featuring well over 100 Irish emoji stickers, each one lovingly crafted by our illustrator Diarmuid Ó Catháin from Dublin.Irishmoji will allow you to bring your love of Ireland to your iMessage, WhatsApp and Google Hangouts chats in a big, bold way. You can also post Irishmojis to Twitter and Facebook.

You can Irish-up your messages with Irishmoji’s incredibly detailed stickers featuring everything you love about Ireland. Whether it’s sport or landmarks such as Kilkenny Castle or the Cliffs of Moher, Irish fry or a crisp sandwich, or classic phrases like “Scarlet” or “Deadly Buzz”, we’ve got you covered. You can even show your emotion through famous Irish faces like James Joyce and Molly Malone!

Irish Yourself – Create your very own Irishmoji!

Also added a great feature specifically for Euro2016 to celebrate the release of Irishmoji. Irish Fans will be able to get right behind the national team with our Irish Yourself feature which will enable them to create their own Irishmoji using their phone’s camera, and then send it to their mates in messages straight from the Irishmoji keyboard!

Tim Webber, Fanmoji founder, said:

“Ireland has such a deep cultural history in its buildings, landmarks and people, and along with the number of great symbols and phrases that lend themselves to emoji stickers and illustrations we thought it’d be a brilliant way to bring out the character of the country. Irishmoji was the natural name.”

“We ran a poll last month letting the people of Ireland vote on the final few things that should be in the first release of the app, and the response was amazing. Hopefully we’ve done a good job of representing the country; we certainly realise it’s an idea people are interested in.”

“We asked some of those people more questions about the app, and thanks to their feedback and the great support we’ve received so far, we’ve decided to drop the launch price from £1.49 to £0.79 (99 cent) in the hope that more people can get the Irishmoji app this way.

You’ll get 100+ Irishmojis immediately when you download the app. And, because we see this as something for the country as a whole, which we hope people will share with their friends and family, we’ve included a whole bunch of bonus Irishmojis too. As soon as you share the app, you’ll get another 20 Irishmojis, and when we hit 10,000 downloads you’ll all unlock the rest of the bonus stickers together.”

 

“We’ve been blown away by the support we’ve had, and hope we’ve done a good first job. We will continue to work hard on updates and improvements if people show they want them. ”

“Above all, we want people to have fun using the Irishmojis and creating their own through our new Irish Yourself feature. Hopefully it’s a great way to get behind the team this summer and show that support in messaging and on social.”

Illustrator Diarmuid Ó Catháin said

“I hope that people will enjoy using these new Irishmojis and adding a bit of local fun into their messaging. There has always been a distinct lack of country-specific stickers to choose from and hopefully Irishmoji will help fill that gap!”

 

“I have enjoyed the challenge of working on this project and I think that Fanmoji’s ethos of collaborating with local illustrators is great and that it helps ensure that an authentic side of the country is shown in Irishmoji.”

“I’m looking forward to getting these out there now and seeing the reaction. There’s a little something in there for everyone hopefully!”

How to get the app on your phone (it only takes a few taps):

iPhone:

  1. Search Irishmoji in the App Store and download. Or click: apple.co/25GZU10

  2. Open the app and the tutorial will take you through it.

  3. If you want to jump ahead, you go to Settings>General>Keyboard

  4. Tap Keyboards

  5. Tap Add New Keyboard

  6. Tap Irishmoji>Tap Irishmoji again and “allow full access”

  7. Open iMessage or WhatsApp and hold down the globe button in the corner to switch between your keyboards.

  8. Then Enjoy!

Android:

  1. Search Irishmoji in Google Play and download.  Or click: http://bit.ly/1VHmZ0I

  2. Open the app and the tutorial will take you through it, and help you add the Irishmoji keyboard to your phone. A few taps and it’s done.

  3. To access Irishmoji once it’s installed, switch between your standard keyboard and Irishmoji. (This process differs on various versions of Android phones.