Set your wallpaper to a single shade with LoneColor

Family photos, landscapes, animals, celebs, even live video: there’s no shortage of wallpaper options, or programs to help you change from one image to another.

While this seems like a good idea at first, there are potential problems. Really detailed images can be a distraction -- especially when they’re changing all the time -- and can make it harder to read icon captions.

LoneColor is a tiny free Windows and Android tool with one simple, minimalist answer. Just run the program and it sets your wallpaper to a solid color.

By default this color changes every time. Drop LoneColor.exe in your Windows Startup folder and you’ll get a different background every time. Or you could use Task Scheduler to run it daily, weekly, monthly, or when some specific event occurs.

That could be just as distracting as using images, of course, but LoneColor also allows you to specify the shade you’d like to use. On Android this is as easy as visiting a site like HTML Color Codes, copying a color code and tapping the app icon.

On Windows, you need to rename the LoneColor executable with the shade you’d like to use, like "LoneColor Red.exe", "LoneColor Cyan.exe" or "LoneColor #7700AD".

None of this is exactly complex or sophisticated, as (on Windows) it’s mostly just manipulating a single Registry setting (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors\Background). Still, LoneColor is a quick and easy way to make this happen, and if you’d prefer a minimalist desktop then it’s worth a look.

Best Windows apps this week

One-hundred and twenty eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.

Microsoft kicked off this year's BUILD conference with a bang as it revealed new information about its upcoming operating system Windows 10, the application ecosystem and other core company products. Check out our coverage on Microsoft Edge, the Continuum feature, Windows Store changes and information about the new build that just landed.

Several high quality applications and games were released this week including Cut the Rope 2, the successor to one of the most popular Windows games to date, and Hitman Go, another excellent game.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The following applications and games are discounted by at least 50 percent this week.

• Sesame Street Touch & Learn TV, features interactive Sesame Street content for $3.49
• DropZone, an arcade game for $0.99
• Fantastic Farm, become a farmer for $0.99
• Stickman 2D: Evolution, draw stickman on the screen to send them into battle for $1.49
• Online Cameras, provides access to public cameras for $2.99
• Ape of Steel, a shooting game for $0.99

Best app of the week

Cut The Rope 2

One of the most popular Windows Store games returns with new levels and challenges.

The core game mechanics have not changed in Cut The Rope 2. You are still tasked with getting the candy into the mouth of Om Nom,

How you achieve that depends largely on you but there is lots of rope cutting involved to make sure the candy reaches its goal.

Challenges, like collecting all stars on the way or a certain amount of fruit, test your skills.

The game features new locations, and characters that help you in your journey, introducing new elements that make sure that the game is not just a level pack.

Other apps

Fighter X

Fighter X is a Plants vs. Zombies clone in which you place heroes on the board instead of plants to defend against onrushing zombie hordes.

The game works exactly as you would expect. You start with a certain amount of coins that you invest in placing characters on the board.

Heroes have different abilities from humans, ranging from shooting with pistols to boars that fight in melee combat instead and can take a punch before they go down.

Zombies come in different shapes and sizes, from powerful melee shamblers to fast zombies that cross the battlefield quickly.

RAWConverter ($2.99, free trial available)

The image converter supports more than 550 different digital camera RAW input files which you can process using the tools it makes available.

Apart from loading and converting these file formats, it offers basic image editing functionality that allows you to resize, rotate or correct photos before you export them in one of the supported formats.

Easy Gems

Easy Gems is a fun match-3 type puzzle game that plays slightly different from other games of its kind.

While you still match three or more gems of the same type together, you are not limited by moves in the game but only by time.

This is not as stressful as it sounds as you have plenty of time to complete each level.

The game has nice visuals and music, and features more than 80 levels to play through.

Eurovision Song Contest

The official Eurovision Song Contest application features a countdown timer, updates, background information and media.

It is one of those events that you either like or dislike, there seems to be no middle-ground.

If you are a fan, it may be worth checking out especially since you seem to be able to use it to cast your vote provided that you are living in Europe.

Hitman GO ($4.99, no free trial)

Hitman Go takes core elements of all Hitman games, that is stealth, infiltration and assassinations, to a whole new level.

It is a turn-based puzzle game at its core in which you move Agent 47 around to complete objectives and avoid enemies as well as you can.

Disguises and hiding spots help you move unnoticed and when that is no longer possible, you still have access to an arsenal of weapons that you can rely on including sniper rifles.

IMSA

The official application of the International Motor Sport Association requires that you create a profile before it can be used.

Once that is out of the way, you can tune in to watch live TV or listen to radio commentary, check live timing and scoring information, and get information about drivers, teams and schedules.

Geo-restrictions seem to apply to some contents.

Mozilla strong-arming websites to drop HTTP

Mozilla plans to phase out HTTP support in Firefox, in a push to make browsing more secure. The organization wants websites to go all-in with HTTPS, revealing that it will leverage access to some of its browser's features and make proposals to The World Wide Web Consortium to get the ball rolling.

Mozilla's move may be seen as a way to strong-arm lots of website administrators into supporting HTTPS, as, after all, Firefox is the third most-popular browser today, with a desktop usage share of 11.7 percent. The protocol requires the purchase of a certificate, increasing website running costs, which can become a problem for smaller businesses.

Mozilla has not determined when it will set its plan in motion, saying that it is up to the "community" to agree upon a date and which "new" features should be unsupported when navigating HTTP websites. Basically, at this stage, Mozilla's plan is more of a concept.

Mozilla is aware that, if it goes along with this, Firefox users may not have the best experience when visiting certain sites, saying that dropping "features from the non-secure web will likely cause some sites to break". I wonder how many users will understand the point of it, and not switch to a browser that simply works.

"It should be noted that this plan still allows for usage of the 'http' URI scheme in legacy content. With HSTS and the upgrade-insecure-requests CSP attribute, the 'http' scheme can be automatically translated to 'https' by the browser, and thus run securely", notes Mozilla.

To some degree, phasing out HTTP makes sense, as HTTPS is more secure and, therefore, a fundamentally better option for websites and visitors alike. However, in this day and age, users expect their browser to allow them to visit all the websites they want to visit, unless it leads them to malware.

Warning them that the website they are visiting might be insecure sounds like a much better plan. Users will be more careful about which websites they frequent, and administrators will not want their sites to be seen as possibly endangering users. This way, users will at least not be frustrated by Firefox.

Photo Credit: HomeArt/Shutterstock

Windows 10 will launch this summer -- but for PCs only

When Microsoft announced it was planning a summer release for Windows 10, there were some raised eyebrows. When AMD suggested the new OS would launch in July, there were a lot more raised eyebrows. Windows 10 is coming on nicely, but there’s still a lot of work to do to get everything done and dusted in time.

It turns out Microsoft agrees. While Windows 10 will be released in the summer (not "July", just "summer"), it will only be available for desktop PCs, at first.

Speaking to the media, Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of operating systems at Microsoft, said that bringing Windows 10 to PCs is the company’s number one priority, and that Windows 10 on other devices -- phones and Xbox One, for example -- would come later, likely in the fall.

Not only won’t the new OS be available for all platforms in the summer, but when it does arrive some of the new features announced at Build, such as support for Win32 desktop apps, won’t be included, and will arrive at a later date.

Photo Credit: ostill /Shutterstock

Antivirus tool stripped of awards after cheating

Antivirus software produced by Qihoo 360 has been stripped of awards by three leading security testers after it was found to have cheated. AV‐Comparatives, AV‐TEST and Virus Bulletin discovered that Chinese company Qihoo 360 submitted one version of its software for testing, but then released a different one.

The publicly released version of the software had a key virus detection engine disabled, resulting in a lower level of protection for users. As a result of the findings, the security testing bodies are not only revoking any awards given to the software this year, but also calling for greater transparency so consumers know what they are getting.

Qihoo 360's software included virus detection of its own and from BitDefender, but only its own was enabled by default. Testers conceded that in-program settings made it possible to enable all available engines, but in real-world scenarios it found that the majority of users stuck with the default settings. Qihoo 360 responded to the allegation by counter-claiming that Baidu and Tencent engaged in similar practices.

In a statement AV‐Comparatives said:

Analysis of products submitted for testing by these companies turned up some unexpected flags within their products, marked with the names of several test labs and implying some difference in product behavior depending on the environment they were run in -- similar flags were also found in Qihoo products. However, no evidence could be found that this gave any significant advantage to either product, and in some cases it even seemed to put them at a disadvantage. Both firms were able to provide good reasons for including these flags in their products.

Qihoo 360 confirmed that a different version of its software was submitted for testing "including enabling detection of types of files such as keygens and cracked software, and directing cloud lookups to servers located closer to the test labs".

Maik Morgenstern, CEO of AV‐TEST, said:

Comparative testing and certification plays an important role in the anti‐malware industry, both for the users and the vendors. Users rely on independent results to make an educated decision regarding their protection software. If vendors start to manipulate the testing process, they are hurting everyone involved.

Photo credit: pockygallery / Shutterstock

After disrupting electric cars, Tesla announces Powerwall and Powerpack batteries for home and businesses

Today electric carmaker Tesla Motors debuts into a new product category -- the second after cars -- called Tesla Energy. The company shows off new batteries designed to power homes, businesses, and even public utilities. The batteries called Powerwall will store solar energy and serve as a backup system during power outage. The batteries will be available for sale in US this Summer. It will eventually launch at other places as well.

At an event in Los Angeles, Tesla Motors Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk says that Tesla Energy holds the power to change the entire energy infrastructure in the world. "This is within the power of humanity to do," he says. "We have done things like this before. It is not impossible... In a lot of ways it's taking derivative technology from the car".

The Powerwall is expected to be bought by homeowners as well as businesses. In the event of power cut it would provide them with energy gleaned from a solar panel. "With Tesla Energy, Tesla is amplifying its efforts to accelerate the move away from fossil fuels to a sustainable energy future with Tesla batteries, enabling homes, business, and utilities to store sustainable and renewable energy to manage power demand, provide backup power and increase grid resilience", the company notes in a blog post.

Inside the Powerwall sits a rechargeable lithium-ion battery which, as the company says, is the same battery it uses to power its cars. It comes in two different power capacities -- the Powerwall with 7kWh unit would cost a user $3,000, while the 10kWh unit will retail for $3,500. But that’s not all. The company also announces Powerpack which brings an "infinitely scalable system" for businesses. It comes in 100 kWh battery blocks that add up to provide from 500 kWh to 10 MWh and more power.

The Powerwall, much like other Tesla’s products sports some real style in its design. It’s fairly compact too. At 1300 mm x 860mm x 180mm, Musk compared it to sculptures that people hang on the wall.

What do you think about Powerwall and Powerpack? Do they appear interesting to you?

Shhh! Anonymous messaging app Secret shuts down

The new trend on mobile is anonymous messaging apps capable of hiding all personal information, while allowing thousands of people to converse on one platform.

It looks like not all of the apps are making a killing. Co-founder of Secret, David Byttow announced he would be closing the application and deleting all the content in the coming weeks, following the steady rise of apps like Whisper and Yik Yak, which appeal to the same demographic as Secret.

Whisper was also banned in Brazil due to bans against anonymous free speech, and has been sectioned away from schools due to the location based service allowing students to bully others without any punishment.

Byttow said in a blog post "Unfortunately, Secret does not represent the vision I had when starting the company, so I believe it’s the right decision for myself, our investors and our team… I’m extremely proud of our team, which has built a product that was used by over 15 million people and pushed the boundaries of traditional social media".

Secret will reimburse investors who previously invested in the startup. The company still has most of the $35 million (£22 million) invested in the latest funding round, having no reason to overspend.

These anonymous apps do have advantages to things like Facebook or even Reddit, with location based chatting, no personal information shown and a unique way to chat, but the downsides are there are no repercussions for outing someone’s dirty laundry or harassing another user.

Yik Yak, one of Secret’s main competitors, recently raised $62 million (£40 million) in Series B funding. Earlier in the year Whisper received $36 million (£23 million) in Series C funding, and is still continuing to grow.

It is not the first time an anonymous app has decided to drop out of the race, StreetChat was removed from the iOS App Store after multiple reports of abuse on school grounds.

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