Agregátor RSS

Microsoft slips Task Manager and processor count fixes into Patch Tuesday

The Register - Anti-Virus - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 18:35
Sore about cores no more

Microsoft has resolved two issues vexing Windows 11 24H2 and Windows Server 2025 users among the many security updates that emerged on Patch Tuesday.…

Kategorie: Viry a Červi

VMware makes Workstation and Fusion free for everyone

Computerworld.com [Hacking News] - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 18:16

VMware this week announced that the virtualization company’s hypervisor products, VMware Workstation and Fusion, will be completely free for both personal and commercial users, as well as for educational purposes. The move follows a decision last May, when VMware made both Workstation and Fusion free for personal use; those who wanted to use the software for commercial purposes still had to sign up for a paid subscription.

The free versions will have the same functionality as the paid products, but VMware owner Broadcom will not offer troubleshooting support. The old paid versions Workstation Pro and Fusion Pro are no longer available.

“If you currently have a commercial contract, you can rest assured knowing that your contract will continue to apply until the end of your contract term,” Himanshu Singh, Broadcom product marketing director, said in a blog post. “You will continue to receive full service and enterprise-grade support as per your agreement.”

Broadcom bought VMware in 2023 and then decided to make major changes to the product portfolio. Among other things, by removing all perpetual licenses, which received a lot of criticism from several quarters.

Kategorie: Hacking & Security

Apple’s ‘iPad-like’ smart home plan hits a tired market

Computerworld.com [Hacking News] - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 18:05

Apple is allegedly preparing to introduce an iPad-like Control Center for smart homes. Equipped with a display and some form of homeOS, it is expected to be some kind of wall-mounted device that lets you access some Apple services, control smart home devices, handle security camera feeds, and the like. 

This sounds like a good idea. After all, we know there’s a market for sophisticated alarm systems, and Apple’s HomeKit Secure video system will no doubt play a part in what’s introduced.  As long as Siri really does improve, the company might have a hope of introducing something that works for a while. But will it?

Smart homes? It’s complicated…

I recently spent another fruitless hour trying to make my printer connect to my new Wi-Fi network, which it still won’t do. While doing that, I was also attempting to return an old HomePod to factory fresh (and make it stop making weird belching sounds) when it really hit me how utterly frustrating most “smart home” experiences still are.

Things that promise huge leaps in convenience can become hugely frustrating exercises, with a user experience that becomes characterized in folk memory by myopic attempts at stabbing tiny, awkwardly-placed holes with bent paperclips, or endlessly pressing software reset buttons that don’t seem to make anything happen.

That’s just the hardware user experience. The software adds another dimension. 

Who hasn’t found it quite creepy when ads for products they’ve just been talking to their family about appear online shortly after installing a new smart TV? Who else dislikes it when Alexa or Siri or any other smart assistant raises its little voice to remind you it’s there? Don’t even get me started on the privacy policy statements manufacturers provide, and how so many seem to think these give them carte blanche to gather data about you and sell that information (“anonymized” they say) to people you know nothing about. 

All in all, smart home tech seems to end up meaning you put quite costly devices in your home that stop working pretty soon, don’t work particularly well together, and turn you into a profit center for people you’ve got no relationship with. That’s smart for the manufacturers, I suppose, but not for the rest of us. But so many years into the evolution of the space, it really seems like the faults in some attempts at home automation are a feature, not a bug.

Is it smarter to be cynical?

That’s not to say every manufacturer in the space can be accused of the same thing.

 I’m sure many have introduced smart home products that are easy to switch to new networks and ship with clear and actionable instructions for returning the gadget to factory fresh, rather than sending them via your local electronics recycling center to be cannibalized for conflict minerals with the carcass sent to landfill.

With so many problems, no wonder consumers don’t seem to be racing to invest in smart home devices. 

Sure, billions of dollars are being spent on these things, but over half of that spend goes on devices for video playback, and market growth seems anaemic overall — and growth predictions seem to defy historical reality. Look at this Statista graph for some sense of this. That big column at the right looks really promising until you realize it’s an estimated figure for 2027, which requires the market to enter a period of accelerated growth that exceeds any historical growth trends.

It is also fair to point to other surveys that suggest once they do get their smart homes together, consumers believe the devices improve their quality of life.

Though there is the issue of trust. 

A matter of trust

While governments eager for growth seem to think tech will save us, consumers trust the sector less and less. There’s lots of data that reflects this decline. Arguably this could well represent a reaction against everything from huge security problems such as the recent Crowdstrike disaster to election interference, mass deception, concerns about fake news, privacy erosion, security, and even frustration at the never-ending nature of digital transformation. It’s not just tech leaders who feel like they are under constant pressure to adopt new digitized working practices. Those on the front line are also struggling to keep up with endless digital change. 

Perhaps, once people do make it home, (dodging self-driving vehicles, smartphone zombies, and electronic scooters on their domestic commute), they just want their home kit to work without needing to read a manual. Assuming there even is a manual.

Can Apple change this? Maybe. Perhaps it can introduce an iPad-like smart home device with a privacy-first OS and decent integration with peripheral devices from a range of manufacturers thanks to Matter and Thread. Perhaps it can make Siri simply clever and deploy artificial intelligence to make your smart home actually smart.  Perhaps Apple can breathe life into the whole category. But maybe consumers are tired of promises and want to see an ecosystem that delivers on those promises before they slap too many dollars down. With that in mind, I’m going to kick my frustrating printer and go for a bracing stroll.

You can follow me on social media! You’ll find me on BlueSky,  LinkedInMastodon, and MeWe

Kategorie: Hacking & Security

České internetové domény příští rok zdraží. Registrace .CZ budou za 160 Kč

Živě.cz - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 17:45
Správce českého internetu oznámil , že od 1. března 2025 zvýší velkoobchodní ceny domény .CZ ze stávajících 145 na 160 Kč bez DPH. Historicky jde o druhé zdražení, to předchozí nastalo začátkem roku 2019, kdy cena stoupla ze 125 Kč. Do té doby domény pouze zlevňovala. Když CZ.NIC v roce 1999 ...
Kategorie: IT News

Recenze soundbaru Sonos Arc Ultra: zcela nové vnitřnosti s hutnými basy v povědomém těle

Živě.cz - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 17:15
** Nový basový reproduktor Sound Motion posouvá zvuk na novou úroveň ** Předělená konstrukce reproduktorů zlepšuje podání středového kanálu ** Bluetooth a automatický Trueplay zlepšuje život majitelům Androidů
Kategorie: IT News

Hamas-Affiliated WIRTE Employs SameCoin Wiper in Disruptive Attacks Against Israel

The Hacker News - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 17:09
A threat actor affiliated with Hamas has expanded its malicious cyber operations beyond espionage to carry out disruptive attacks that exclusively target Israeli entities. The activity, linked to a group called WIRTE, has also targeted the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, Check Point said in an analysis. "The [Israel-Hamas] conflict has not disrupted the WIRTE's
Kategorie: Hacking & Security

Hamas-Affiliated WIRTE Employs SameCoin Wiper in Disruptive Attacks Against Israel

The Hacker News - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 17:09
A threat actor affiliated with Hamas has expanded its malicious cyber operations beyond espionage to carry out disruptive attacks that exclusively target Israeli entities. The activity, linked to a group called WIRTE, has also targeted the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, Check Point said in an analysis. "The [Israel-Hamas] conflict has not disrupted the WIRTE's Ravie Lakshmananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/[email protected]
Kategorie: Hacking & Security

Mercedes vypne online služby pro pět až šest let stará auta. Důvodem je zastaralý modem, vyměnit se nedá

Živě.cz - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 16:45
Mercedes-Benz v průběhu posledních týdnů individuálně oznamuje svým zákazníkům, že u vozů s 2G/3G konektivitou ukončí podporu služeb ovládaných přes internet. Jde o dálkové zamykání, sledování polohy vozidla v mapě, sledování stavu (typicky nabíjení u elektromobilů), sepnutí klimatizace a další ...
Kategorie: IT News

Na římském pohřebišti našli vědci podivné puzzle pravěkých koster

Živě.cz - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 15:45
** Nález kostry z doby římské nevzbudil před půlstoletím žádný rozruch ** Stáří jednotlivých kostí a analýzy DNA ale odhalily, že jde o skládačku ** V hrobu jsou kosti nejméně osmi lidí, které od sebe dělila skoro tři tisíciletí
Kategorie: IT News

New ShrinkLocker ransomware decryptor recovers BitLocker password

Bleeping Computer - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 15:00
Bitdefender has released a decryptor for the 'ShrinkLocker' ransomware strain, which uses Windows' built-in BitLocker drive encryption tool to lock victim's files. [...]
Kategorie: Hacking & Security

Bílá limitovaná edice zařízení Steam Deck OLED

AbcLinuxu [zprávičky] - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 14:57
Přesně o půlnoci z 18. na 19. listopadu 2024 bude spuštěn prodej bílé limitované edice zařízení Steam Deck OLED. Uvnitř Steam Decku běží SteamOS 3 založený na distribuci Arch Linux.
Kategorie: GNU/Linux & BSD

Trump přidělí Elonu Muskovi nové ministerstvo. Jmenuje se DOGE jako oblíbená kryptoměna

Živě.cz - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 14:45
Krátce poté, co Američané zvolili Donalda Trumpa prezidentem, již budoucí hlava státu rozděluje ministerstva a jiné klíčové pozice. Jednu by měl získat i jeho velký podporovatel Elon Musk. On a podnikatel Vivek Ramaswamy by měli společně vést nové „ministerstvo pro vládní efektivitu“. Úřad ...
Kategorie: IT News

Free Decryptor Released for BitLocker-Based ShrinkLocker Ransomware Victims

The Hacker News - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 14:38
Romanian cybersecurity company Bitdefender has released a free decryptor to help victims recover data encrypted using the ShrinkLocker ransomware. The decryptor is the result of a comprehensive analysis of ShrinkLocker's inner workings, allowing the researchers to discover a "specific window of opportunity for data recovery immediately after the removal of protectors from BitLocker-encrypted
Kategorie: Hacking & Security

Free Decryptor Released for BitLocker-Based ShrinkLocker Ransomware Victims

The Hacker News - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 14:38
Romanian cybersecurity company Bitdefender has released a free decryptor to help victims recover data encrypted using the ShrinkLocker ransomware. The decryptor is the result of a comprehensive analysis of ShrinkLocker's inner workings, allowing the researchers to discover a "specific window of opportunity for data recovery immediately after the removal of protectors from BitLocker-encrypted Ravie Lakshmananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/[email protected]
Kategorie: Hacking & Security

Pomocí Faradayovy klece obešel geoblokaci AirPodů Pro 2

AbcLinuxu [zprávičky] - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 14:22
AirPody Pro 2 podporují funkci sluchadla na úrovni klinických pomůcek pro osoby s vnímaným mírným až středním poškozením sluchu. Funkce je ale geoblokována (i v Česku). Rithwik Jayasimh z Indie se rozepsal o tom, jak pomocí Faradayovy klece geoblokaci obešel (𝕏).
Kategorie: GNU/Linux & BSD

Recenze hry Lego Horizon Adventures. Nejhezčí kostkovaný svět v komornějším stylu

Živě.cz - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 13:15
Horizon v kostkovaném provedení je komornější, nenuceně vtipný a otevírá oblíbený svět nové sortě hráčů. V rámci Lego her na pohled vypadá parádně, ale náplní se těm nejlepším rovnat nemůže.
Kategorie: IT News

CZ.NIC změní příští rok velkoobchodní cenu domény .CZ

AbcLinuxu [zprávičky] - 13 Listopad, 2024 - 13:04
Od 1. března příštího roku změní sdružení CZ.NIC velkoobchodní cenu domény .CZ, a to na 160 korun (bez DPH) za jeden kalendářní rok. Dosud byla velkoobchodní cena české národní domény 145 korun (bez DPH), jedná se tedy o zvýšení o 15 korun. K této změně přistoupí sdružení CZ.NIC po více než šesti letech.
Kategorie: GNU/Linux & BSD
Syndikovat obsah