G.SKILL unveils camouflage-inspired Sniper X DDR4 RAM

When it comes to computer building, yes, looks do matter. It sort of annoys me when people say a PC's appearance is meaningless. The same could be said about cars, clothes and houses -- why bother having different colors? They should all be gray! True, they would essentially function the same, but it would be rather boring too, right? So no, there is nothing wrong with taking pride and having fun with your computer's appearance -- both inside and out. To drive that point home, G.SKILL launches new DDR4 RAM sticks under the "Sniper X" branding. This memory stands out… [Continue Reading]

Opera 50 unveils a host of new and improved features, including anti-bitcoin mining protection

Opera Software has released Opera 50.0, the latest version of its Chromium-based browser for Windows, Mac and Linux. As befitting such a landmark release, Opera 50 is packed full of new features. Chief among these is the addition of an anti-Bitcoin mining tool, but there’s also support for both Chromecast and Oculus Rift VR headsets, better protection for browsing sessions after crashes, and a major upgrade to its VPN service. Bitcoin mining involves leaving hidden scripts on web pages that utilizes user PCs to mine for Bitcoins on behalf of others. Symptoms can include sudden spikes in CPU and temperature,… [Continue Reading]

McAfee grabs Skyhigh to boost cloud security

With more and more businesses storing data in the cloud, protecting and controlling it as it travels back and forth has become a major concern. To address this McAfee is acquiring Skyhigh Networks, one of the pioneers of the cloud access security broker (CASB) model of protection. "Today's announcement marks a new milestone for the future of our company," says Chris Young, chief executive office of, McAfee. "With two industry leaders coming together under one company, we will make cybersecurity an enabler to the transformative power of our digital age. We are focused on securing customers from their devices to the… [Continue Reading]

Google knew about Spectre and Meltdown processor bugs last year, so its products are (mostly) protected

When news broke of the security flaw affecting Intel chips, the tech world was more than a little surprised. And things just got more surprising as more details of Meltdown and Spectre emerged. Perhaps most surprising is the fact that Google -- via Project Zero -- was aware of the problem in June of 2017. The company even went as far as informing Intel, AMD and ARM about the issue. But for Google customers, the good news is that the early detection of the security flaw means that Google Cloud, G Suite and Chrome users are fairly safe. See also:… [Continue Reading]

Microsoft issues an emergency fix for Windows 10 to address processor bug

News of an enormous security bug affecting millions of processors can't have escaped your attention over the last 24 hours or so. While Intel goes into a panicked meltdown, desperately pointing out that there's another bug affecting other processors too, software fixes are starting to emerge. macOS has already been patched, and fixes have started to roll out to numerous Linux distros as well. Now Microsoft has pushed out a rare, off-schedule emergency fix for Windows 10 users which should be automatically installed. Users of Windows 7 and Windows 8 will have to wait until next week for a patch.… [Continue Reading]

Ditch the external: How I upgraded my Xbox One X HDD to a 2TB SSHD

Ever since game consoles first started seeing internal hard drives, I've been fascinated with hardware previously reserved for PCs rearing their head inside living room systems. The PlayStation 2 toyed with the idea of an expansion bay that could take an HDD, even though it was near useless for 99+ percent of games. But it was the original Xbox which finally shipped with an HDD built in, making this concept a mainstay from then onward. This holiday I took the chance to treat myself with an Xbox One X to replace my original edition Xbox One. I've loved the Xbox… [Continue Reading]

Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities bring the computing apocalypse, and yes, you are screwed

Earlier today, we reported on some shocking news -- there is a serious vulnerability that affects Intel processors. To make matters worse, patching that vulnerability -- now known as "Meltdown" -- would cause an up-to 30 percent performance degradation. Yikes! If you have an AMD processor, you are safe, right? Yes, but not really. You see, yet another vulnerability has been revealed that impacts pretty much all modern processors, such as those from Intel, AMD, and yeah, even ARM chips. This vulnerability is called "Spectre," and it has the potential to put the entire technology industry into a tailspin. Seriously,… [Continue Reading]