What started out as a hobby to feed his passion for technology has turned into a business for Skyler Ficklin, operator of the QuitZoom website and iSkyler YouTube video channel. Ficklin, stuck at home while his Ohio high school is closed due to COVID-19, spends his days and nights completing online learning assignments to end his sophomore year. Then he diverts attention to hands-on activities. [More...]

Does flaky Internet connectivity have you scrounging for solutions? The COVID-19 pandemic increased our demand for Internet service due to working from home, online learning for kids, and video conferencing with colleagues and family members. For many people stuck at home, Internet connectivity issues became more troublesome in recent months. Use these tips to improve your WiFi performance. [More...]

Apple may launch a line of AR smart glasses in the spring of 2021. The new peepers will be called "Apple Glass" and sell for $499, with prescription lenses costing more, based on the latest leaks. Both lenses are displays that support gesture interaction. The glasses will work in conjunction with an iPhone. Early prototypes supported the LiDAR sensor for 3D scanning and wireless charging. [More...]

Apple has reopened nearly 100 of its retail outlets around the world and plans to open another 25 in the U.S. and 12 in Canada. All of its retail stores previously were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Our commitment is to only move forward with a reopening once we're confident we can safely return to serving customers from our stores," noted Apple SVP of Retail Deirdre O'Brien. [More...]

The Linux Foundation has achieved a major milestone: formal status on the international standards front. Its Joint Development Foundation received approval as an ISO/IEC JTC 1 Publicly Available Specification Submitter. The submitter status designation benefits the global business and technical ecosystem by enabling accelerated adoption of open standards and specifications. [More...]

Nvidia just held its GTC event, and of the virtual keynotes I've seen so far, CEO Jensen Huang's was the best. That's because the company made the decision to cut it into segments, mostly under 16 minutes, so viewers didn't have to watch things they weren't interested in. Also, Jensen mixed up the content between the speaker, videos and static images, so it was interesting to watch. [More...]

Category 2 adversaries are nothing to sneeze at, but their resources are finite. If you armor up enough, they will give up, and move onto an easier comparable target. In confronting the threat of category 3, everything you have learned ratchets up to a whole new level of paranoia. Category 3 adversaries have functionally unlimited resources for pursuing top targets. [More...]

If you are looking for a really cool Linux computing platform with lots of extras and a twist on traditional desktop design, check out Modicia OS Ultimate. If you distro hop or browse through traditional outlets for Linux operating systems, you probably will not stumble on this gem, but it definitely is a discovery worth finding. Modicia OS Ultimate is a general purpose optimized computing platform. [More...]

In theory, all you need is a shiny new router for hassle-free wireless connections in your home or small office. Yet in practice, your wireless reception often will be plagued with interference issues. Interference can cause slow delivery, higher latency than hardwired connections, frequent disconnects and reconnects, and sometimes a complete inability to access a WiFi signal. [More...]

Microsoft and Intel researchers have found a way to combine artificial intelligence and image analysis to create a highly effective means to combat malicious software infections. The researchers call their approach "STAMINA" -- static malware-as-image network analysis -- and say it's proven to be highly effective in detecting malware with a low rate of false positives. [More...]

Outdated or abandoned open source components are persistent in practically all commercial software, putting enterprise and consumer applications at risk from security issues, license compliance violations, and operational threats, concludes the Synopsys 2020 Open Source Security and Risk Analysis Report. The report highlights trends and patterns in open source usage within commercial applications. [More...]

A Dutch researcher has revealed a novel way to crack into a PC through a Thunderbolt port. The method, dubbed "Thunderspy" by researcher Björn Ruytenberg, sidesteps the login screen of a sleeping computer, as well as its hard disk encryption, to access all its data. "Thunderspy is stealth, meaning that you cannot find any traces of the attack. It does not require your involvement," he explained. [More...]

IBM's outgoing CEO Ginni Rometty gave a compelling talk at IBM Think last week on how the company is fighting strategically for diversity. I know of only one other company, Cisco, that is taking a genuinely holistic, strategic view of the problem, resulting in a broad positive impact. The reason I can name only two companies is that most are taking a tactical approach. [More...]

Warren Buffet once said, "Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked." You can cover over a host of sins when times are good, but bad or unsafe practices will be exposed when times are rough. Time and experience have borne out the accuracy of this witticism in the financial arena -- and we're now seeing its applicability to the intersection of infosec and COVID-19. [More...]