Ubuntu 14.04 Beta

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/03/ubuntu-14-04-beta-released

Microsoft Office for iPad is here.

Microsoft Office for iPad



Microsoft Word for iPad - Free

Microsoft Excel for iPad - Free

Microsoft PowerPoint for iPad - Free

Microsoft OneNote for iPad - Free

Humble bundle - Open Source

Tier 1 - $1
Magical diary
Neo Scavenger
Offspring Fling
Planet stronghold

Tier 2 $6
Anodyne
Defenders Quest:Valley of the forgotten
Evoland < Worth it for this
Incredipede

Amazon to invest in the UK's least popular delivery service

Looking for a cheaper supply chain I guess. 

http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/25/amazon-investment-yodel-uk/

Not what you expect to hear at the start of a new consoles lifespan, usually midway or at the end when PC graphics are performing a fair bit better with some stand out titles. Then again Microsoft have always struggled with PC gaming and pushing the limits of game developers in fear of cut out large chunks of their market who wouldn't be able to run the games at full spec (and thus feel disadvantaged).

Also they don't have any massive PC only games like others such as Blizzard, Value, etc 

http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-says-it-has-renewed-focus-on-pc-gaming-details-coming-this-summer

Apple users: Try these five tips for better Mac security

Some good points made in the article. Surprised by the slow Enterprise uptake of Mavericks!

http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2014/03/21/apple-users-try-these-five-tips-for-better-mac-security/

Google makes Gmail more secure in light of NSA snooping

HTTPS as standard and mail internally encrypted.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/20/gmail-https-nsa-snooping/

Ovivo has shut up shop. Alternatives?

Looks like http://www.ovivomobile.com/ overstretched themselves with one off payment free services and the promise of continuing them. It was never going to be sustainable without good marketing revenue coming in and they probably outgrew that as they were popular on places like HotUKDeals.

Make sure to go get you PAC if you want to keep your number!

Alternatives. 

If your looking for a new phone with contract then check out TopCashback and Quidco as they tend to have good cash-back offers (not guarantied but i've usually not had any issues, just long waits). I got my S4 on release with £150 cash back and a 12 month contract (£50pm) from Quidco last year and i'm ready for the S5 if I decide to go that way this year. It cost about the same as buying the phone outright at the time so essentially a free contract!

If you don't need a phone and want good sim only contracts then I recommend Tesco mobile (earn double club card points on your bills if thats still the same) as they have good 1 month contract prices and the best customer care i've dealt with. (Runs on the O2 network.

Virgin Mobile are also cheap but their customer service is pants. Runs on the TMobile / EE network.

If I want a 4G sim only tariff then I think i'm likely to go with Tesco mobile at the end of April. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Unreal Engine Bs CryEngine

So Crytek have announced they are going to license their engine cheaper than Epic's and here's the real winner, royalty free compared to Unreals 5% commission on commercial projects. Whether that holds up or not is to be seen as I can't really see where the income will come from and details are lacking at present.

http://www.neowin.net/news/crytek-to-combat-epic-games-unreal-engine-4-by-offering-cryengine-for-990-a-month

OneNote for Mac

Microsoft Office blog:  http://blogs.office.com/2014/03/17/introducing-onenote-for-mac/

OneNote in the Mac App store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microsoft-onenote/id784801555?mt=12

Graphene, is there anything it can't do?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/13/tiny_heatsucker_helps_keep_moores_law_going/

Trinity Mirror reports £161m annual loss

Probably should have kept that little IC24 dialup ISP way back and developed that business. Print media looks like its becoming increasingly harder to profit from. Besides that was a great freephone connection with a disruptive market plan! Madasafish gobbled them up and did nothing with them from the looks of their site these days.

#reminiscing..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26557265

What is dogecoin ?

Bitcoin is getting knocked left right and centre these days...

Want somewhere else to use your cryto currency?

 

Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency that is based on the doge meme.

So tip me, use the address DJ6qDGKMDeGK1AwttrDSA9LS2nP22n5TNc

I'm only playing around with it at present. 

Android Kit-kat being pushed out to Vodafone UK S4 customers.

Woke up this morning to see the update pending. Its around 350Mb so its not a small update by any means.

Google picks up bones of Android-friendly Green Throttle Games- The Inquirer

Google picks up bones of Android-friendly Green Throttle Games- The Inquirer

One Note for Mac and standalone for PC.

http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-rumored-to-have-plans-for-free-onenote-for-mac-and-desktop-windows

Ring: Shortcut everything Kickstarter

Really like the project but it's like $160...  £50 and I'd be somewhat tempted. Seems a lot more organised that the Embrace+ project that i'm still waiting for a year on!





https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1761670738/ring-shortcut-everything

Vodafone Germany starts rolling out SIM card based encryption

The interesting bits:

A report from The Hacker News has detailed Vodafone's plans for securing customers' data communication using a SIM card based solution which previously was possible using separate smart cards or tokens. The company has developed this solution in collaboration with its security partner Giesecke & Devrient (G&D).

The solution which will utilize a PIN and a digital signature will be used to encrypt the data at sender's end and decrypt at the receiver's ends using the SIM. Data such as emails, documents, VPN connections and other forms of data communication will be secured using it. Currently, the Secure SIM solution uses S/MIME encryption but the company expects to use PGP in the future as the system becomes mature.

Vodafone expects to launch similar encryption solution for voice calls using a Secure Call app, which the company hopes to launch on all major smartphone platforms such as Android, iOS and Windows Phone.

http://www.neowin.net/news/vodafone-germany-starts-rolling-out-sim-card-based-encryption

OS, Internet Exploder and Flash all need your attention... Microsoft patch Tuesday

From The reg -  It's 2014 and Microsoft Windows PCs can still be owned by a JPEG

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/11/microsoft_adobe_patch_tuesday/

Devolo DLAN av200 powerline adapters

So I inherited some Powerline adapters from some tenants that moved out. Probably because the small one made a worrying humming sound when plugged in. That got thrown and and Ethernet cable was run to where I wanted to use the main adapter. I wanted wireless coverage for the garden given that summer is getting closer and it works perfectly. 

A quick firmware upgrade and config and it was dead simple. There is a shorter character limit on the SSID as I couldn't put the main homes wifi SSID in but apart from that I was impressed. 

It replaced our Netgear N2200 that I was trying to get working as a wireless hotspot on the end on an ethernet cable but it was causing either DCHP or routing issues when setup correctly (i.e. DHCP disabled and a static route to the gateway).

http://www.devolo.com/en/Downloads/dLAN-200-AVplus

UK Court Orders Big ISPs to Block Megashare, Viooz, Watch32 and Zmovie

The ruling means that big ISPs like Sky Broadband, BT,Virgin Media and TalkTalk, which did not contest the case, can now expect to receive a court order requiring them to block access to the sites under Section 97A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. The blocking action itself is expected to begin as soon as this week.
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2014/03/uk-court-orders-big-isps-block-megashare-viooz-watch32-zmovie.html

BT calls for Sky and TalkTalk subsidies to end

http://www.btplc.com/News/Articles/ShowArticle.cfm?ArticleID=AF013B68-9A18-4095-9447-EB8D9D760D06

Firmware Update Onkyo TX-NR616 (03-12-2013)

Good to see they still Role out updates 2 years on. No idea why they switched to manual USB stick updates instead of via the internet self updating like the first few.

http://www.uk.onkyo.com/en/articles/firmware-update-tx-nr616-03-12-2013-81061.html


My favourite part on why banana plugs are banned from being plugged into Amps in the EU:

...there are indeed two prong sockets in Brit bathrooms for shavers, maybe because electric shavers did hail from the continent e.g. Philishave. Of course one would have to be perverse indeed to consider plugging one's speakers into the shaver socket upstairs in the bathroom :-). 

http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=general&m=502012

Plus it probably is better with bare wire in terms of conductivity and possibly sound. It just took bloody ages when moving recently!

Apple Mac OS X 10.9.3 to feature 'Retina' mode for 4K displays- The Inquirer

Apple Mac OS X 10.9.3 to feature 'Retina' mode for 4K displays- The Inquirer

Sony and Panasonic announce the Archival Disc, a new optical disc standard for long-term storage

http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/10/sony-panasonic-archival-disc/

It's probably hoping too much for it to be in the MiniDisc form factor....

Nokia Purity Pro headphones.

I went and got some for a steal on eBay. Felt it was risky but got such a good discount on 'as new' ones it was worth the risk! 

They are amazing! My first proper ANC pair and although people say they are not the best in that area they are pretty decent in an office environment.

I'm just going to copy and paste handy bits out of the manual here for my quick reference.


Connect to two devices at the same time
Would you like to listen to music on your computer, but still be ready for calls? When
you've paired your headset and connected it to your phone, you can switch the
multipoint feature on and connect your headset also to another compatible device,
such as a computer.
1 Make sure Bluetooth is switched on in both devices.
2 Make sure the headset is switched on, and press and hold for 2 seconds.
3 Press and hold the volume up key and to switch the multipoint feature on.
4 Pair the headset with the second device.
5 Switch the headset off.
6 Switch the headset back on, and the headset connects to both devices.
To disconnect, repeat steps 1-3.

Manual found here

iOS 7.1 update coming in a few days with SXSW app for iTunes Festival

Apple is on track to release iOS 7.1 very soon along with a SXSW companion app as the company prepares for the very first US iTunes Festival. (Streamed via iTunes)

According to John Gruber of the Daring Fireball blog, Apple is building the SXSW app exclusively for iOS 7.1 which gives the company just under 6 days to launch the update and the app, as SXSW starts on March 11th in Austin, Texas.

http://www.neowin.net/news/ios-71-update-coming-in-a-few-days-with-sxsw-app-for-itunes-festival

Roku Streaming stick

http://www.roku.com/uk/choose-your-roku

Interestingly it makes the Roku 1 seem pretty defunct (apart from if you don’t have a HDTV from the looks of the comparison)…. Wonder if the NowTV box will switch to the streaming stick….

Facebook hardware labs Register visit.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/05/facebook_lab_tour/?page=1

Buy competition, Bye competition! Softimage 2015 - The last version.

You've got a few years to cling in there regarding support but it looks like Autodesk are sending you 3DS Max / Maya's way. Unless of course you fancy giving Blender  (free) a twirl or the countless other products out there.

http://www.autodesk.com/products/autodesk-softimage/overview

Windows 8.1 Spring update reportedly signed off to RTM

http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-81-spring-update-reportedly-signed-off-to-rtm

BT 21CN not fit for purpose?

An AAISP employee on the rampage (and probably rightly so).
http://revk.www.me.uk/2014/02/bt-21cn-not-fit-for-purpose.html

Introducing Strict SSL: Protecting Against a Man-in-the-Middle Attack on Origin Traffic

An interesting read on the Cloudflare blog: http://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-strict-ssl-protecting-against-a-man-in-the-middle-attack-on-origin-traffic