Revamped Asus PadFone Infinity hybrid packs a more potent one-device punch
Jared Newman @onejarednewman
It's only been seven months since Asus announced the Padfone Infinity, but a new version of the phone-tablet mash-up is already on the way.
Just like the previous model, the new Padfone Infinity is two devices in one. The 5-inch Android smartphone slides into a 10-inch tablet through a dock on the tablet's back side, with the phone providing all the power for the larger screen.
The new Padfone Infinity packs a 2.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, versus the 1.7 GHz Snapdragon 600 chip on the original Infinity. Qualcomm has said that the Snapdragon 800 is more power efficient than the Snapdragon 600 while providing faster performance, though Asus hasn't given specifics on battery life for the new Padfone Infinity.
Asus is also cutting down the built-in storage options on the Padfone Infinity, from 32 GB and 64 GB to just 16 GB and 32 GB. To make up for this, Asus has added a microSD card slot to the phone, so users can add a lot more storage on the cheap.
Other specs remain unchanged, Engadget reports. The phone has a 5-inch, 1080p display, 2 GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front camera, NFC, Bluetoooth 4.0, and a 2,400 mAh battery. Asus is shipping the Padfone Infinity with Android 4.2.2, along with some of its own software tweaks such as simpler menus and icons, but the original Infinity should get these software updates as well.
Unfortunately for modular computing fans, Asus has no plans for include a keyboard and trackpad dock, like the one that was available with the original Padfone in 2012. “This was removed due to feedback we had from the original PadFone,” Asus wrote on its Facebook page. “While the concept was good it was too bulky for everyday use hence the removal of the keyboard.”
Engadget reports that the new Padfone Infinity will cost about $640 for the phone alone, plus about $240 for the tablet dock. Keep in mind, however, that not a single U.S. wireless carrier has sold any previous version of the Padfone, ever. It's hard to see how a beefier processor and microSD card slot will change that.
Asus has previously said that it plans to launch a PadFone product in the United States, but not until 2014. For now, the PadFone Infinity remains an interesting tech concept that you can't get stateside.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
How to build the perfect high-end, high-tech home gym
How to build the perfect high-end, high-tech home gym
Rich Mogull @rmogull
On the list of things you truly need (clean air, water, food, shelter), a gym membership falls pretty far down the line. “Oh, sure,” you may reply, “That’s easy for you to say. It’s just sooo easy to work out at home instead.” And to that my reply is going to be: a) You can put that can of sarcasm right back on the shelf where you found it; and b) It actually is easy to work out at home. Or, at least, it can be.
This is not your living room gym.
Nearly every modern commercial gym is built around the core elements of a cardio area, a weights zone, and a group fitness room. Paying more for your membership adds some amenities such as a pool or three, a yoga room, and live TV on every treadmill, but when you get down to it, there are a million ways to raise your heart rate and lift heavy things—and not all of them require you to shell out $75 or more a month.
Thanks to advances in technology, there has never been a better time to replicate, and improve on, the gym experience at home. We’ll show you how to build the perfect high-tech home gym that’s affordable, space conscious, and—most importantly—easy to use.
Pick a room, any room
Okay, I lied—not any room. Your first step is to pick a room, closet, back patio, or garage space for your gym. Think about what type of activity you’re likely to be doing and what kind of space you have to work with. If you practice yoga, for example, you may prefer a room with hardwood floors. Regardless, you don’t need a ton of space, but make sure you have enough room for any equipment you might need—and enough room to do Tae Bo without smashing a curio cabinet or ceiling light.
Also worth considering: Where are the electrical outlets in the room? Will other furniture or equipment get in the way on a regular basis? Don’t feel you need to cram everything into a single room, either. We keep our treadmill in the bedroom, while nearly everything else goes into a multipurpose room or spare closet.
An Apple TV and/or a Chromecast will help build that home gym
Next? Well, fill that room with a high-def TV connected to either an Apple TV (which can stream from tons of iOS apps), a Chromecast (the cheap option), or a Roku 3 (which has tons of channels and a cool headphone-enabled Wi-Fi remote). An HDTV will keep you motivated, stave off boredom, and help your posture during your workout—since you won’t be staring down, neck cranked, at a small screen.
Treadmills
Fitness centers typically feature rows of relatively standard (and fairly pricey) cardio equipment—treadmills, stationary bikes, elliptical trainers, stair climbers, and rowing machines, all lined up and gleaming. That’s overkill for most people, so we suggest starting with a treadmill and/or a bike trainer, which offer the most technology-integration options and have minimal space requirements.
You can find plenty of durable, high-end treadmills full of extensive technology, but you’ll pay a premium. With a little creativity, you can keep yourself in the $1000 to $1500 range and still meet your workout needs.
The Sole Fitness F80 is a workhorse.
• A workhorse treadmill like the Sole Fitness F63 or F80 is best for serious runners. They include great running decks, powerful motors, and incline options, but have minimal integrated technology—and that’s just fine, because you can add all the technology you need with our suggestions below.
• A technology treadmill like those from NordicTrack and ProForm add iFit connectivity, and even color touchscreens. iFit is an online service that links your treadmill to the Web for tracking and downloading workouts, and synchronizing with your tablet, phone, or computer. You can even run along a Google Maps path, and your treadmill will adjust the incline to map your route.
With treadmills, you get what you pay for. Technology treadmills are best for walkers or low-volume runners since they sacrifice the running deck and horsepower to add gadgets. Alternatively, if you’re flush you could shell out for something like a LifeFitness commercial-grade treadmill and get the best of both worlds.
The Wahoo Fitness Key attached to an iPhone.
Once you’ve got the treadmill taken care of, turn to your tablet or smartphone to beat any display you will ever see in a gym. Use the iFit Running app (iOS, $2) or the Wahoo Fitness Key (which may require a port adapter) along with an ANT+ enabled heart-rate strap and/or a foot pod to measure your metrics. (ANT+ technology is used by a variety of fit-tech hardware and is supported by a ton of apps. See our series on the best fitness technology to see more info on sensors and running apps.)
iFit connects directly to your treadmill to get your real speed and incline, while the Wahoo Fitness Key connects to an ANT+ foot pod to get speed and cadence measurements. They replace the GPS tracking we’ve all come to know and love in our outdoor workouts, allowing us to know exactly how far and fast we are going during our indoor workouts. iFit and Wahoo can send data to external devices, so you aren’t constrained to the little readouts on your treadmill, and you can upload the sessions online and combine that data with the info from your outdoor training sessions.
Amp things up with a video-training app such as Kinomap Fitness or Virtual Active. They use Digifit technology to track your pace using the camera on your iOS device and then coordinate that data with streaming video of real runs. DigiFit estimates your speed by tracking you with your device’s front-facing camera. While it isn’t very accurate in terms of your actual pace, it does a good job of understanding when you speed up and slow down, and it can use this info to alter the pace of the scenery passing you by in videos for a more realistic experience.
Meanwhile, Kinomap offers ANT+ sensor support, hundreds of professional and user-created videos all synchronized to real GPS data, and extensive data displays (with a $10 a month subscription). Virtual Active videos are exceptionally high quality, but lack any data display.
Stationary bike
Bike trainers essentially turn your cycle into a stationary bike so that you can pedal it indoors. They take up minimal space and offer a ton of technology options—plus, nearly any bike can work with a trainer (even your beach cruiser), so a secondhand cycle should be good enough.
A Wahoo Kickr road trainer.
Road cyclists should look at the Wahoo Kickr which links to your phone, tablet, or computer via Bluetooth for precise resistance control. The Kickr does, however, require a road bike due to the gearing. Myself, I use a Kurt Kinetic trainer with the inRide power sensor, which connects over Bluetooth but can’t control the resistance—instead, you control the power by changing gears.
InRide uses a magnet and sensor to measure the rotation of your trainer’s resistance wheel and send it to your phone or computer over Bluetooth Low Energy. Since the Kurt Kinetic has a predictable resistance, this speed correlates directly into power to measure the direct force coming out of your legs. Power is a far better tool for measuring workouts than heart rate or wheel speed since it is a true measurement of how hard you are working, regardless of variables like tire pressure, wind resistance, or incline.
Either the Kurt Kinetic or the inRide trainer will work with Kinomap Trainer, the cycling-focused bigger sibling of Kinomap Fitness, and will prompt you (or adjust the resistance) to match the power to your road video, which you can stream to your TV. For $10 a month, TrainerRoad on your Mac or PC ditches the GPS video but offers hundreds of detailed workouts, some synchronized with popular training videos (for real pain, check out the Sufferfest series).
The Kinomap Trainer takes you for a ride.
Training videos can help stave off boredom and, in some case, replicate your real running and racing routes to help you train and prepare. Some even provide real-time feedback or instructional advice so you can improve your form, perform drills, or learn general tips. Some training systems even allow you to compete in real time against friends or strangers on the Internet, just as with multiplayer videogames.
If this sounds like a perfect way to kick up your workouts, just open a browser window to Netflix and then launch TrainerRoad and position it on the bottom of the screen. Now you can manage all your workout data while catching up on the latest episodes of Doctor Who. If you have a Mac, you can use AirPlay to mirror your display to an Apple TV—the bigger screen on your HDTV makes it easier to read TrainerRoad’s data while moving, and a TV may be easier to position for better running or riding posture.
Strength training
No, we aren’t going to suggest you go buy Wi-Fi-enabled free weights...mostly because they don’t exist yet. Incorporating weights into your high-tech gym is a boon because they provide a great workout in a limited space. Resistance bands, adjustable dumbbells, a pull-up bar, and some suspension straps offer endless resistance-training options and all fit on a closet shelf.
iMuscle 2 provides plenty of details on workouts and physiology.
When it comes to tracking your progress or enhancing your weight training, tablet- or phone-based fitness apps are the best way to go (desktop apps are harder to use during a workout). Not only do they provide endless suggestions, but many also have embedded timers and can track your sets and reps. Full Fitness, iMuscle 2, and Fitness Buddy offer a great variety (with different platform options). You can also use any lifting tracking app to record your progress while you play a fitness video on your TV.
Group Fitness
The reason gyms work for so many people is that it’s a lot easier to push yourself harder when you’re situated next to that ripped dude in spin class. A great way to re-create the group fitness experience at home is to add a fitness component to your game console—for example, Wii users can grab a Wii Fit board, and Xbox fans can load up on Kinect fitness games. These options lead you through organized workouts, and the Kinect tracks your movement to keep you in proper form.
Nike+ Kinect Training in action.
For Kinect, Nike+ Kinect Training is the general workout game to beat, closely followed by miCoach by Adidas and Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012. Or try something more specific like Zumba Fitness Rush, or the more game-like Kinect Sports.
If yoga is your sport, unroll that mat and launch a yoga app such as Yoga Studio, All-in Yoga, or Pocket Yoga for endless options, mood music included. If you want to get really fancy, add some Philips Hue color-changing lights to emulate the yoga studio vibe.
For a post-workout massage, try a TriggerPoint Performance roller and hit the company’s website for creative ways of inducing pain but speeding recovery. TriggerPoint provides myofascial release, which is a semi-geeky form of self-massage. It’s not exactly high-tech, but the technique is being shown to really help with post-workout and injury recovery.
What a Wello training session looks like.
If you’re not much of a gamer, then consider Wello, a personal training service that allows you to work out with a group—or one-on-one with a personal trainer—over your laptop for a small fee. Now you can get a group exercise experience anywhere and anytime.
Rich Mogull @rmogull
On the list of things you truly need (clean air, water, food, shelter), a gym membership falls pretty far down the line. “Oh, sure,” you may reply, “That’s easy for you to say. It’s just sooo easy to work out at home instead.” And to that my reply is going to be: a) You can put that can of sarcasm right back on the shelf where you found it; and b) It actually is easy to work out at home. Or, at least, it can be.
This is not your living room gym.
Nearly every modern commercial gym is built around the core elements of a cardio area, a weights zone, and a group fitness room. Paying more for your membership adds some amenities such as a pool or three, a yoga room, and live TV on every treadmill, but when you get down to it, there are a million ways to raise your heart rate and lift heavy things—and not all of them require you to shell out $75 or more a month.
Thanks to advances in technology, there has never been a better time to replicate, and improve on, the gym experience at home. We’ll show you how to build the perfect high-tech home gym that’s affordable, space conscious, and—most importantly—easy to use.
Pick a room, any room
Okay, I lied—not any room. Your first step is to pick a room, closet, back patio, or garage space for your gym. Think about what type of activity you’re likely to be doing and what kind of space you have to work with. If you practice yoga, for example, you may prefer a room with hardwood floors. Regardless, you don’t need a ton of space, but make sure you have enough room for any equipment you might need—and enough room to do Tae Bo without smashing a curio cabinet or ceiling light.
Also worth considering: Where are the electrical outlets in the room? Will other furniture or equipment get in the way on a regular basis? Don’t feel you need to cram everything into a single room, either. We keep our treadmill in the bedroom, while nearly everything else goes into a multipurpose room or spare closet.
An Apple TV and/or a Chromecast will help build that home gym
Next? Well, fill that room with a high-def TV connected to either an Apple TV (which can stream from tons of iOS apps), a Chromecast (the cheap option), or a Roku 3 (which has tons of channels and a cool headphone-enabled Wi-Fi remote). An HDTV will keep you motivated, stave off boredom, and help your posture during your workout—since you won’t be staring down, neck cranked, at a small screen.
Treadmills
Fitness centers typically feature rows of relatively standard (and fairly pricey) cardio equipment—treadmills, stationary bikes, elliptical trainers, stair climbers, and rowing machines, all lined up and gleaming. That’s overkill for most people, so we suggest starting with a treadmill and/or a bike trainer, which offer the most technology-integration options and have minimal space requirements.
You can find plenty of durable, high-end treadmills full of extensive technology, but you’ll pay a premium. With a little creativity, you can keep yourself in the $1000 to $1500 range and still meet your workout needs.
The Sole Fitness F80 is a workhorse.
• A workhorse treadmill like the Sole Fitness F63 or F80 is best for serious runners. They include great running decks, powerful motors, and incline options, but have minimal integrated technology—and that’s just fine, because you can add all the technology you need with our suggestions below.
• A technology treadmill like those from NordicTrack and ProForm add iFit connectivity, and even color touchscreens. iFit is an online service that links your treadmill to the Web for tracking and downloading workouts, and synchronizing with your tablet, phone, or computer. You can even run along a Google Maps path, and your treadmill will adjust the incline to map your route.
With treadmills, you get what you pay for. Technology treadmills are best for walkers or low-volume runners since they sacrifice the running deck and horsepower to add gadgets. Alternatively, if you’re flush you could shell out for something like a LifeFitness commercial-grade treadmill and get the best of both worlds.
The Wahoo Fitness Key attached to an iPhone.
Once you’ve got the treadmill taken care of, turn to your tablet or smartphone to beat any display you will ever see in a gym. Use the iFit Running app (iOS, $2) or the Wahoo Fitness Key (which may require a port adapter) along with an ANT+ enabled heart-rate strap and/or a foot pod to measure your metrics. (ANT+ technology is used by a variety of fit-tech hardware and is supported by a ton of apps. See our series on the best fitness technology to see more info on sensors and running apps.)
iFit connects directly to your treadmill to get your real speed and incline, while the Wahoo Fitness Key connects to an ANT+ foot pod to get speed and cadence measurements. They replace the GPS tracking we’ve all come to know and love in our outdoor workouts, allowing us to know exactly how far and fast we are going during our indoor workouts. iFit and Wahoo can send data to external devices, so you aren’t constrained to the little readouts on your treadmill, and you can upload the sessions online and combine that data with the info from your outdoor training sessions.
Amp things up with a video-training app such as Kinomap Fitness or Virtual Active. They use Digifit technology to track your pace using the camera on your iOS device and then coordinate that data with streaming video of real runs. DigiFit estimates your speed by tracking you with your device’s front-facing camera. While it isn’t very accurate in terms of your actual pace, it does a good job of understanding when you speed up and slow down, and it can use this info to alter the pace of the scenery passing you by in videos for a more realistic experience.
Meanwhile, Kinomap offers ANT+ sensor support, hundreds of professional and user-created videos all synchronized to real GPS data, and extensive data displays (with a $10 a month subscription). Virtual Active videos are exceptionally high quality, but lack any data display.
Stationary bike
Bike trainers essentially turn your cycle into a stationary bike so that you can pedal it indoors. They take up minimal space and offer a ton of technology options—plus, nearly any bike can work with a trainer (even your beach cruiser), so a secondhand cycle should be good enough.
A Wahoo Kickr road trainer.
Road cyclists should look at the Wahoo Kickr which links to your phone, tablet, or computer via Bluetooth for precise resistance control. The Kickr does, however, require a road bike due to the gearing. Myself, I use a Kurt Kinetic trainer with the inRide power sensor, which connects over Bluetooth but can’t control the resistance—instead, you control the power by changing gears.
InRide uses a magnet and sensor to measure the rotation of your trainer’s resistance wheel and send it to your phone or computer over Bluetooth Low Energy. Since the Kurt Kinetic has a predictable resistance, this speed correlates directly into power to measure the direct force coming out of your legs. Power is a far better tool for measuring workouts than heart rate or wheel speed since it is a true measurement of how hard you are working, regardless of variables like tire pressure, wind resistance, or incline.
Either the Kurt Kinetic or the inRide trainer will work with Kinomap Trainer, the cycling-focused bigger sibling of Kinomap Fitness, and will prompt you (or adjust the resistance) to match the power to your road video, which you can stream to your TV. For $10 a month, TrainerRoad on your Mac or PC ditches the GPS video but offers hundreds of detailed workouts, some synchronized with popular training videos (for real pain, check out the Sufferfest series).
The Kinomap Trainer takes you for a ride.
Training videos can help stave off boredom and, in some case, replicate your real running and racing routes to help you train and prepare. Some even provide real-time feedback or instructional advice so you can improve your form, perform drills, or learn general tips. Some training systems even allow you to compete in real time against friends or strangers on the Internet, just as with multiplayer videogames.
If this sounds like a perfect way to kick up your workouts, just open a browser window to Netflix and then launch TrainerRoad and position it on the bottom of the screen. Now you can manage all your workout data while catching up on the latest episodes of Doctor Who. If you have a Mac, you can use AirPlay to mirror your display to an Apple TV—the bigger screen on your HDTV makes it easier to read TrainerRoad’s data while moving, and a TV may be easier to position for better running or riding posture.
Strength training
No, we aren’t going to suggest you go buy Wi-Fi-enabled free weights...mostly because they don’t exist yet. Incorporating weights into your high-tech gym is a boon because they provide a great workout in a limited space. Resistance bands, adjustable dumbbells, a pull-up bar, and some suspension straps offer endless resistance-training options and all fit on a closet shelf.
iMuscle 2 provides plenty of details on workouts and physiology.
When it comes to tracking your progress or enhancing your weight training, tablet- or phone-based fitness apps are the best way to go (desktop apps are harder to use during a workout). Not only do they provide endless suggestions, but many also have embedded timers and can track your sets and reps. Full Fitness, iMuscle 2, and Fitness Buddy offer a great variety (with different platform options). You can also use any lifting tracking app to record your progress while you play a fitness video on your TV.
Group Fitness
The reason gyms work for so many people is that it’s a lot easier to push yourself harder when you’re situated next to that ripped dude in spin class. A great way to re-create the group fitness experience at home is to add a fitness component to your game console—for example, Wii users can grab a Wii Fit board, and Xbox fans can load up on Kinect fitness games. These options lead you through organized workouts, and the Kinect tracks your movement to keep you in proper form.
Nike+ Kinect Training in action.
For Kinect, Nike+ Kinect Training is the general workout game to beat, closely followed by miCoach by Adidas and Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012. Or try something more specific like Zumba Fitness Rush, or the more game-like Kinect Sports.
If yoga is your sport, unroll that mat and launch a yoga app such as Yoga Studio, All-in Yoga, or Pocket Yoga for endless options, mood music included. If you want to get really fancy, add some Philips Hue color-changing lights to emulate the yoga studio vibe.
For a post-workout massage, try a TriggerPoint Performance roller and hit the company’s website for creative ways of inducing pain but speeding recovery. TriggerPoint provides myofascial release, which is a semi-geeky form of self-massage. It’s not exactly high-tech, but the technique is being shown to really help with post-workout and injury recovery.
What a Wello training session looks like.
If you’re not much of a gamer, then consider Wello, a personal training service that allows you to work out with a group—or one-on-one with a personal trainer—over your laptop for a small fee. Now you can get a group exercise experience anywhere and anytime.
Speech recognition, the new PC power tool
Speech recognition, the new PC power tool
Sarah Jacobsson Purewal @geeklil
The Siri effect is spreading. Starting this fall, Nuance, a company that makes advanced speech recognition and transcription software, will bundle its Dragon Assistant, a Siri-like, vocal sidekick, with select Intel-powered Ultrabooks and All-in-One desktops.
Dragon Assistant could change how people use speech recognition in everyday computing. Even if you’re a good typist, speech recognition can enhance your productivity by letting you handle everything from basic commands to emails without touching the keyboard.
My husband was an early and unexpected convert. In 2010, he had surgery on his left shoulder and was unable to use his left hand for a couple of months. His company bought him a copy of Dragon Dictate. He liked it so much that he still uses it today, long after his shoulder healed. He says it makes him faster and more productive (and he already types, on average, 130 words per minute), and it’s also easier for him to work in non-traditional environments, such as in the car or outside by the pool.
Everyone worries about the training time—and there is some of that—but it varies from product to product. Choosing the right program will ensure that the benefits are worth the investment. These tips will help you get the most out of Nuance’s speech recognition programs, whether you’re using the traditional desktop program, the mobile app, or the new, Ultrabook-bundled Dragon Assistant.
Dealing with Dragon
PC users have four Dragon products available. Dragon Home ($75) is for basic users—people who are looking to write emails, school papers, and grocery lists, and use basic voice commands to control their computer. The $150 Dragon Premium adds support for working in spreadsheets and presentations, while the $600 Dragon Professional adds advanced custom commands and transcription tools. The $800 Dragon Legal includes everything in Dragon Professional, along with preloaded legal terms and the ability to automatically format legal citations.
Haswell tabletPCWORLD (US)
Intel’s reference design for the sort of Haswell-based Ultrabooks now shipping with Dragon Assistant built in, as shown at CES 2013.
Nuance’s newest offering, Dragon Assistant, works more like Nuance’s mobile apps, like Dragon Mobile Assistant for Android and Dragon Dictation for iOS—it’s a verbal gofer, rather than a dictation app. According to Sarah Gaeta, vice president and general manager of the Dragon Desktop department at Nuance, anything beyond very quick email replies is better done with Nuance’s more advanced products.
How to train your Dragon
According to Gaeta, there’s no substitute for spending some quality time training your Dragon program of choice. Unlike Siri, Dragon software is designed to “learn” your voice as you use it, so it can better respond to your commands and dictation. The more you use Dragon, the more accurately it recognizes your accent, how you pronounce different vowels, the cadence of your speech, and any vocal quirks. Dragon stores that information in your personal profile, and it can store profiles on multiple people so they can all use Dragon on one computer.
Set up your own profile in Dragon and use it for a few hours so the software can learn your unique speech patterns and vocal mannerisms.
Take a few hours to use it as much as possible: dictating short emails, practicing voice commands, or even just speaking to the program like you would to another human being. According to Gaeta, Dragon Assistant requires about 30 minutes, while initially training Dragon Dictate or Dragon NaturallySpeaking might take two to three hours.
It’s best to do this initial training in a quiet room, so Dragon can learn your voice and, more importantly, learn what isn’t your voice. Once you train your Dragon, you’ll be able to dictate to your PC in a noisy coffee shop, and it will pick up only the words you say, ignoring the loud, oversharing couple behind.
Speak slowly and clearly
If you want Dragon to understand you, speak slowly and enunciate clearly. “This sounds like common sense, but it’s not,” Gaeta says. “It’s crazy; we put someone in a room with a microphone and they feel like they’re performing. They get nervous and speak way too quickly.”
Dragon software will walk you through a few simple tutorials that will train you to speak slower and more clearly, which will improve your productivity when using Dragon products (as well as your real-life conversation skills.)
Learning to speak slowly and enunciate is more challenging than it sounds. There’s a reason that people take public speaking lessons, and while I wouldn’t recommend doing that just for the sake of improving your productivity, a few great, free speech tutorials on YouTube will help you spiff up your speech patterns. Speaking clearly also makes a difference with Dragon Assistant.
Speak in full sentences
Working with speech recognition software is ultimately faster than typing, but it won’t feel that way at first. When you’re typing, you’re probably not thinking through entire sentences before you type them. There’s no reason for you to have a properly formulated sentence in your head when you start writing—you have plenty of time to perfect it while you type.
If Dragon fails to accurately determine which word you meant to write, you can use the built-in voice commands to correct the error and Dragon will learn from the mistake.
You can’t just say one word at a time as you speak a sentence, though—whether to a real person or to Dragon software. Dragon uses context to determine which words you’re saying, so it needs full sentences to be able to distinguish whether you mean you’re or your, or they’re, their, or there.
Luckily, you have some help: In the desktop clients (Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Dragon Dictate for Mac), you can use the keyboard alongside the voice dictation. You do have to be aware of when you’re using the keyboard, though, because basic commands (such as “scratch that” to erase the words you just said) won’t work for typed text.
Use Dragon for the right tasks
The traditional Dragon programs are most useful for email, or email-like tasks, because spoken English is so different from written English—many things that can be said cannot be written, and vice versa. For example, it’s acceptable to say, “I got this from the restaurant we ate at last night,” but you’d have to write “I got this from the restaurant at which we ate last night.” Likewise, writing “My brother, an athletic director, lives in Tokyo,” looks better than if you said conversationally, “My brother’s an athletic director who lives in Tokyo.”
SOFTPEDIA
Dragon Professional includes a streamlined transcription module that’s built for writing long-form articles and essays.
Because spoken and written English are so different, native speakers will find that Dragon is better suited to writing that mimics spoken language. So you’ll be able to fly through tasks such as note-taking and emails, but you’ll find it much more difficult to dictate formal or creative writing. Both Dragon Professional and Dragon Legal include a transcription agent module that makes recording and revising such writing much easier.
Dragon Assistant is useful for more basic tasks, such as Web searches, social network status updates, and writing short, quick emails. Like Siri, Dragon Assistant accepts natural-language prompts. For example, you can say “What’s the weather like today?” instead of “Weather in San Jose on September 10.” Nuance’s other Dragon programs don’t yet accept natural-language prompts—you’ll have to learn their built-in commands—but Gaeta says it’s coming soon.
Hack your typing
Even the speediest typist can benefit from Dragon software by learning to use it in situations when accessing a full QWERTY keyboard is impractical. I type about 125 words per minute when I’m at my desk, but when my hands are otherwise occupied—eating, getting ready for work—or when I’m in a bumpy car ride or similar situation that makes typing difficult, it’s nice to know that I can still get some work done.
Just remember that Dragon is a tool, not a crutch; Nuance may be trying to build software that loves you, but it’s not going to do your homework for you (yet). Proofread and double-check all Dragon-dictated documents before sending them out.
Sarah Jacobsson Purewal @geeklil
The Siri effect is spreading. Starting this fall, Nuance, a company that makes advanced speech recognition and transcription software, will bundle its Dragon Assistant, a Siri-like, vocal sidekick, with select Intel-powered Ultrabooks and All-in-One desktops.
Dragon Assistant could change how people use speech recognition in everyday computing. Even if you’re a good typist, speech recognition can enhance your productivity by letting you handle everything from basic commands to emails without touching the keyboard.
My husband was an early and unexpected convert. In 2010, he had surgery on his left shoulder and was unable to use his left hand for a couple of months. His company bought him a copy of Dragon Dictate. He liked it so much that he still uses it today, long after his shoulder healed. He says it makes him faster and more productive (and he already types, on average, 130 words per minute), and it’s also easier for him to work in non-traditional environments, such as in the car or outside by the pool.
Everyone worries about the training time—and there is some of that—but it varies from product to product. Choosing the right program will ensure that the benefits are worth the investment. These tips will help you get the most out of Nuance’s speech recognition programs, whether you’re using the traditional desktop program, the mobile app, or the new, Ultrabook-bundled Dragon Assistant.
Dealing with Dragon
PC users have four Dragon products available. Dragon Home ($75) is for basic users—people who are looking to write emails, school papers, and grocery lists, and use basic voice commands to control their computer. The $150 Dragon Premium adds support for working in spreadsheets and presentations, while the $600 Dragon Professional adds advanced custom commands and transcription tools. The $800 Dragon Legal includes everything in Dragon Professional, along with preloaded legal terms and the ability to automatically format legal citations.
Haswell tabletPCWORLD (US)
Intel’s reference design for the sort of Haswell-based Ultrabooks now shipping with Dragon Assistant built in, as shown at CES 2013.
Nuance’s newest offering, Dragon Assistant, works more like Nuance’s mobile apps, like Dragon Mobile Assistant for Android and Dragon Dictation for iOS—it’s a verbal gofer, rather than a dictation app. According to Sarah Gaeta, vice president and general manager of the Dragon Desktop department at Nuance, anything beyond very quick email replies is better done with Nuance’s more advanced products.
How to train your Dragon
According to Gaeta, there’s no substitute for spending some quality time training your Dragon program of choice. Unlike Siri, Dragon software is designed to “learn” your voice as you use it, so it can better respond to your commands and dictation. The more you use Dragon, the more accurately it recognizes your accent, how you pronounce different vowels, the cadence of your speech, and any vocal quirks. Dragon stores that information in your personal profile, and it can store profiles on multiple people so they can all use Dragon on one computer.
Set up your own profile in Dragon and use it for a few hours so the software can learn your unique speech patterns and vocal mannerisms.
Take a few hours to use it as much as possible: dictating short emails, practicing voice commands, or even just speaking to the program like you would to another human being. According to Gaeta, Dragon Assistant requires about 30 minutes, while initially training Dragon Dictate or Dragon NaturallySpeaking might take two to three hours.
It’s best to do this initial training in a quiet room, so Dragon can learn your voice and, more importantly, learn what isn’t your voice. Once you train your Dragon, you’ll be able to dictate to your PC in a noisy coffee shop, and it will pick up only the words you say, ignoring the loud, oversharing couple behind.
Speak slowly and clearly
If you want Dragon to understand you, speak slowly and enunciate clearly. “This sounds like common sense, but it’s not,” Gaeta says. “It’s crazy; we put someone in a room with a microphone and they feel like they’re performing. They get nervous and speak way too quickly.”
Dragon software will walk you through a few simple tutorials that will train you to speak slower and more clearly, which will improve your productivity when using Dragon products (as well as your real-life conversation skills.)
Learning to speak slowly and enunciate is more challenging than it sounds. There’s a reason that people take public speaking lessons, and while I wouldn’t recommend doing that just for the sake of improving your productivity, a few great, free speech tutorials on YouTube will help you spiff up your speech patterns. Speaking clearly also makes a difference with Dragon Assistant.
Speak in full sentences
Working with speech recognition software is ultimately faster than typing, but it won’t feel that way at first. When you’re typing, you’re probably not thinking through entire sentences before you type them. There’s no reason for you to have a properly formulated sentence in your head when you start writing—you have plenty of time to perfect it while you type.
If Dragon fails to accurately determine which word you meant to write, you can use the built-in voice commands to correct the error and Dragon will learn from the mistake.
You can’t just say one word at a time as you speak a sentence, though—whether to a real person or to Dragon software. Dragon uses context to determine which words you’re saying, so it needs full sentences to be able to distinguish whether you mean you’re or your, or they’re, their, or there.
Luckily, you have some help: In the desktop clients (Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Dragon Dictate for Mac), you can use the keyboard alongside the voice dictation. You do have to be aware of when you’re using the keyboard, though, because basic commands (such as “scratch that” to erase the words you just said) won’t work for typed text.
Use Dragon for the right tasks
The traditional Dragon programs are most useful for email, or email-like tasks, because spoken English is so different from written English—many things that can be said cannot be written, and vice versa. For example, it’s acceptable to say, “I got this from the restaurant we ate at last night,” but you’d have to write “I got this from the restaurant at which we ate last night.” Likewise, writing “My brother, an athletic director, lives in Tokyo,” looks better than if you said conversationally, “My brother’s an athletic director who lives in Tokyo.”
SOFTPEDIA
Dragon Professional includes a streamlined transcription module that’s built for writing long-form articles and essays.
Because spoken and written English are so different, native speakers will find that Dragon is better suited to writing that mimics spoken language. So you’ll be able to fly through tasks such as note-taking and emails, but you’ll find it much more difficult to dictate formal or creative writing. Both Dragon Professional and Dragon Legal include a transcription agent module that makes recording and revising such writing much easier.
Dragon Assistant is useful for more basic tasks, such as Web searches, social network status updates, and writing short, quick emails. Like Siri, Dragon Assistant accepts natural-language prompts. For example, you can say “What’s the weather like today?” instead of “Weather in San Jose on September 10.” Nuance’s other Dragon programs don’t yet accept natural-language prompts—you’ll have to learn their built-in commands—but Gaeta says it’s coming soon.
Hack your typing
Even the speediest typist can benefit from Dragon software by learning to use it in situations when accessing a full QWERTY keyboard is impractical. I type about 125 words per minute when I’m at my desk, but when my hands are otherwise occupied—eating, getting ready for work—or when I’m in a bumpy car ride or similar situation that makes typing difficult, it’s nice to know that I can still get some work done.
Just remember that Dragon is a tool, not a crutch; Nuance may be trying to build software that loves you, but it’s not going to do your homework for you (yet). Proofread and double-check all Dragon-dictated documents before sending them out.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Monday, September 16, 2013
Linux gets a boost from mobile
Linux gets a boost from mobile
Joab Jackson @Joab_Jackson
Although not originally designed for telephones or tablets, the Linux kernel is now getting more contributions than ever from mobile and portable device vendors, whose input is driving a heretofore unseen rate of development for the open source project.
“You see this tremendous acceleration of code happening due to an incredibly broad device enablement,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation, referring to how makers of tablets, smartphones, wearable computers and sensor devices are all using the kernel.
“Nobody is making anything these days without Linux, unless your name is Microsoft, Apple, or BlackBerry,” Zemlin said.
Collectively, the mobile-focused Linaro, Samsung and Texas Instruments increased their collective contributions to the kernel in the past year, to 11 percent of all contributions, up from 4.4 percent the year before according to Linux Foundation’s latest yearly report on who contributes to the Linux kernel.
Google, historically a strong contributor, also provided significantly more changes to Linux this year as well, thanks in part to the Google’s Android operating system, which uses the kernel.
The report “Who Writes Linux” details who works on the Linux kernel, which the Linux Foundation calls the largest collaborative project in the history of computing.
The report covers development focused on the work done between Linux 3.3, released in March 2012, and 3.10, finished in June. More than 1,100 developers from 225 companies contributed to the kernel in this time period.
Linux is developed on a community model, in which developers and companies voluntarily contribute changes to the kernel, still overseen by its creator Linux Torvalds. Linux itself is not an operating system, though can be used as a the core of one.
The rate of contributions is increasing, according to the foundation. On average, 7.14 changes are now made to the kernel each hour, or about 171 changes every day.
Zemlin attributes this acceleration of growth to the growing diversity of hardware devices that are being developed, from tablets to smart sensors. Manufacturers are using Linux as the basis of their own software, rather than developing a operating system kernel from scratch. In turn, many will contribute their own enhancements and corrections to the kernel, in order not to have to maintain their own version of Linux.
Red Hat, Intel, Texas Instruments, Linaro, Suse, IBM, Samsung and Google were the top contributors to the kernel is this time period, determined by the number of their contributions. Microsoft, which previously appeared on the list of top contributors thanks to its work on preparing Linux for Microsoft’s Hyper-V virtualization environment, has dropped from the list entirely this year.
The Foundation released the paper on Monday, in conjunction with the annual LinuxCon conference, being held this week in New Orleans.
Joab Jackson @Joab_Jackson
Although not originally designed for telephones or tablets, the Linux kernel is now getting more contributions than ever from mobile and portable device vendors, whose input is driving a heretofore unseen rate of development for the open source project.
“You see this tremendous acceleration of code happening due to an incredibly broad device enablement,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation, referring to how makers of tablets, smartphones, wearable computers and sensor devices are all using the kernel.
“Nobody is making anything these days without Linux, unless your name is Microsoft, Apple, or BlackBerry,” Zemlin said.
Collectively, the mobile-focused Linaro, Samsung and Texas Instruments increased their collective contributions to the kernel in the past year, to 11 percent of all contributions, up from 4.4 percent the year before according to Linux Foundation’s latest yearly report on who contributes to the Linux kernel.
Google, historically a strong contributor, also provided significantly more changes to Linux this year as well, thanks in part to the Google’s Android operating system, which uses the kernel.
The report “Who Writes Linux” details who works on the Linux kernel, which the Linux Foundation calls the largest collaborative project in the history of computing.
The report covers development focused on the work done between Linux 3.3, released in March 2012, and 3.10, finished in June. More than 1,100 developers from 225 companies contributed to the kernel in this time period.
Linux is developed on a community model, in which developers and companies voluntarily contribute changes to the kernel, still overseen by its creator Linux Torvalds. Linux itself is not an operating system, though can be used as a the core of one.
The rate of contributions is increasing, according to the foundation. On average, 7.14 changes are now made to the kernel each hour, or about 171 changes every day.
Zemlin attributes this acceleration of growth to the growing diversity of hardware devices that are being developed, from tablets to smart sensors. Manufacturers are using Linux as the basis of their own software, rather than developing a operating system kernel from scratch. In turn, many will contribute their own enhancements and corrections to the kernel, in order not to have to maintain their own version of Linux.
Red Hat, Intel, Texas Instruments, Linaro, Suse, IBM, Samsung and Google were the top contributors to the kernel is this time period, determined by the number of their contributions. Microsoft, which previously appeared on the list of top contributors thanks to its work on preparing Linux for Microsoft’s Hyper-V virtualization environment, has dropped from the list entirely this year.
The Foundation released the paper on Monday, in conjunction with the annual LinuxCon conference, being held this week in New Orleans.
Google buys Bump for smoother file sharing
Google buys Bump for smoother file sharing
Jared Newman @onejarednewman
Android, Chrome, and maybe even the iPhone could get a jolt in the file sharing department with Google's acquisition of Bump, which was announced Monday.
Bump's mobile apps and website allow users to wirelessly transfer files, photos, and contact information between any two devices. With the app open, users can simply bump two phones or tablets together, or press one device against the space bar on a PC keyboard after navigating to the Bump website.
Instead of relying on Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or NFC, Bump simply sends files to a server in the cloud, and uses an algorithm to pair with the second device, which downloads the files. It seems that Google was interested in this simplified approach to sharing information.
“We strive to create experiences that feel like magic, enabled behind the scene with innovations in math, data processing, and algorithms,” Bump CEO and co-founder David Lieb wrote in a blog post. “So we couldn’t be more thrilled to join Google, a company that shares our belief that the application of computing to difficult problems can fundamentally change the way that we interact with one another and the world.”
Is the end nigh for NFC?
Google has tried to build easier file transfers into Android using NFC with a feature called Android Beam, but this approach has several drawbacks. To begin with, it requires both devices to have NFC, which rules out most laptops, desktops, and Apple's iPhone. Even when both devices are equipped with NFC, users must have it turned on—not a given—and must precisely align their two phones to initiate the transfer. It's a hassle.
Meanwhile, Apple is promising seamless file transfers with AirDrop, the company's own method of sending files over Wi-Fi. AirDrop came to Mac in 2011 and will soon be available in iOS 7. The time is right for Google to acknowledge NFC's failings and come up with a smarter way to wirelessly transfer files. It's not hard to imagine Bump providing the backbone for cross-platform file sharing not just for Android and Chrome, but also for iOS devices.
Bump also offers another app called Flock that lets people combine photos from multiple devices into shared photo albums, using location and other metadata to automatically sort each photo. This feature could be a good fit for Google+, which already offers event-based photo sharing.
For now, Bump and Flock are sticking around as standalone apps. How long this will last is unclear, as Lieb wrote to “stay tuned for future updates.”
Jared Newman @onejarednewman
Android, Chrome, and maybe even the iPhone could get a jolt in the file sharing department with Google's acquisition of Bump, which was announced Monday.
Bump's mobile apps and website allow users to wirelessly transfer files, photos, and contact information between any two devices. With the app open, users can simply bump two phones or tablets together, or press one device against the space bar on a PC keyboard after navigating to the Bump website.
Instead of relying on Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or NFC, Bump simply sends files to a server in the cloud, and uses an algorithm to pair with the second device, which downloads the files. It seems that Google was interested in this simplified approach to sharing information.
“We strive to create experiences that feel like magic, enabled behind the scene with innovations in math, data processing, and algorithms,” Bump CEO and co-founder David Lieb wrote in a blog post. “So we couldn’t be more thrilled to join Google, a company that shares our belief that the application of computing to difficult problems can fundamentally change the way that we interact with one another and the world.”
Is the end nigh for NFC?
Google has tried to build easier file transfers into Android using NFC with a feature called Android Beam, but this approach has several drawbacks. To begin with, it requires both devices to have NFC, which rules out most laptops, desktops, and Apple's iPhone. Even when both devices are equipped with NFC, users must have it turned on—not a given—and must precisely align their two phones to initiate the transfer. It's a hassle.
Meanwhile, Apple is promising seamless file transfers with AirDrop, the company's own method of sending files over Wi-Fi. AirDrop came to Mac in 2011 and will soon be available in iOS 7. The time is right for Google to acknowledge NFC's failings and come up with a smarter way to wirelessly transfer files. It's not hard to imagine Bump providing the backbone for cross-platform file sharing not just for Android and Chrome, but also for iOS devices.
Bump also offers another app called Flock that lets people combine photos from multiple devices into shared photo albums, using location and other metadata to automatically sort each photo. This feature could be a good fit for Google+, which already offers event-based photo sharing.
For now, Bump and Flock are sticking around as standalone apps. How long this will last is unclear, as Lieb wrote to “stay tuned for future updates.”
How to protect your PC against devious security traps
How to protect your PC against devious security traps
Brad Chacos @BradChacos
Securing your PC against the malicious wilds of the Web isn’t as simple as just keeping your antivirus software of choice up-to-date. In fact, the pervasiveness of security software has forced the bad guys to turn to increasingly clever tricks in their quest to “pwn” your PC.
But fear not! Those sneaky tricks are most effective if victims are unaware of the danger. And today, dear reader, I’m going to show you how to avoid the most devious PC security traps, because in this case knowing is more than half the battle.
Phishing
Let’s start with the devious attack you’re most likely to encounter during your day-to-day computing.
Phishing websites mimic the look of another site in an attempt to lure you into entering your personal and account information. Although phishing websites take all forms, attackers especially like to spoof banks and social networks. Phishing attacks typically threaten from two angles: mistyped website URLs and email messages that pretend to be from legitimate sources.
One simple tell gives away a phishing site: The URL doesn’t match the URL of the website you think it is. If Facebokk.com, Faceb00k.com, or Facenook.com asks for your Facebook login, run away screaming. (Or at least do the digital equivalent.) I can’t stress this enough: Give the URL of any website that asks you to log in a close examination before you pass out your password.
Beyond that, most social media and banking websites use HTTPS encryption by default. If the site that you’re on doesn’t have the lock icon next to its URL in your browser, that’s a good sign that something is afoot.
The big three browsers—Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox—all include safe-browsing warning systems that clue you in to suspected phishing and malware sites, while browser plug-ins such as Web of Trust and McAfee’s Site Advisor can provide an extra layer of protection.
Scammers and hackers love email. All too often, tales of hacked Twitter accounts and Web servers can be traced back to the same origin: “A member of the team opened a malicious email message.”
Okay, that’s not quite true. In most cases, merely opening a piece of email won’t send your world crashing down. You have to click a malicious link or open a tainted email attachment. The solution? Be wary of clicking emailed links, and don’t open attachments without ensuring their cleanliness first.
That goes doubly so for email purporting to be from banking sites, PayPal, social media, or any other site to which you need to log in; often such messages are phishing attempts. (Yes, the bad guys can fake email addresses.) Instead, open your browser and navigate to the site in question directly. Email providers and programs often flag suspicious email, but their detection systems aren’t bulletproof.
Many premium antivirus tools automatically scan email attachments for malware, but you still want to download attachments and scan them manually before opening them, just to be safe.
Though not all malicious email messages originate from foreign lands and contain spelling and grammar mistakes, many do. If you receive an error-ridden missive claiming to come from an official source, be on guard.
Fake update or error warnings
By now you’re likely aware of adware, the annoying form of malware that inundates you with a flood of ads or scary messages that promise to disappear for a fee. You can eradicate such nuisances with antivirus tools, but that isn’t the case for a similar strain of invaders that try to coax you into installing malware while you surf the Net.
These shifty sites and ads pop up boxes disguised as permission requests to update your browser, or claim that you need to download the latest version of the software to run a feature on the page. Clicking any button—often, even the Decline button—gives the attacker authority to run code on your machine, or brings you to a fake download page to install malware disguised as Flash or QuickTime or whatever. Pwned.
Side-stepping these landmines is fairly simple: If a website prompts you to update your software, manually surf to that software’s website and look for updates there, rather than clicking the update pop-up. Don’t click any buttons on the pop-ups, either; close the tab or window completely, or reload the page after you’ve installed the update via official channels.
Other drive-by downloads
Such fake updates and malicious “warnings” are part of a larger trend toward “drive-by downloads,” or attacks designed to infect your computer stealthily by exploiting vulnerabilities in software.
Again, the basics for avoiding such attacks are fairly simple. Keep security and antivirus software active on your machine—but just as important, make sure that your PC and its other applications are current. Stay on top of Windows Update (Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Update), or just set it to install new updates automatically. Use Secunia PSI to automate updates for the rest of your programs: This superb software works in the background to look for new patches, applying updates automatically if possible, or prompting you to install them manually otherwise.
If you want to reduce the chances of running into fake update/error requests, you could use a plug-in such as NoScript to block JavaScript in your browser. Doing so breaks many feature-rich aspects of the Web, but you can whitelist sites you trust. Disabling the oft-targeted Java reduces your risk, too. I uninstalled Java and other popular, frequently attacked programs recently, and discovered it wasn’t a headache whatsoever.
Also consider activating Internet Explorer’s ActiveX Filtering, which blocks all ActiveX content by default. ActiveX is a frequent attack vector for hackers. To turn on the filtering in IE 9 and IE 10, open the Tools menu, hover over the Safety submenu, and click ActiveX Filtering when the Safety options appear.
The aforementioned Web of Trust and Site Advisor plug-ins can raise a flag when you’re on a known attack site, but drive-by downloads have appeared in malicious ads on legitimate websites in the past. Stay patched and stay protected.
Zero-day attacks
Zero-day attacks exploit newly discovered, unpatched vulnerabilities to compromise your system. You can’t do much about these other than following the tips above. The truly paranoid could lock down all the various security options in their browsers—setting Internet Explorer’s security level to High, for example—but to be honest, that’s probably overkill.
If you’re worried about cutting-edge malware, consider running Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free periodically, or whenever something raises suspicion. It’s designed specifically to identify zero-day attacks, but it doesn’t try to block more common exploits, so you’ll want to use Malwarebytes to supplement your regular antimalware protection.
OMG hax
Direct attacks by port-sniffing hackers aren’t really common, but you can nevertheless protect against such tactics by enabling some sort of firewall. The Windows Firewall tool included in Windows (Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Firewall) works just fine—but it scans only for malicious intrusions.
If you want to keep an eye out for suspicious data flowing forth from your machine—a sign of possible malware infection—then you’ll want a firewall that also sniffs for outbound threats, though such firewalls require a bit more effort to set up properly. ZoneAlarm Free Firewall and Comodo Firewall (32-bit or 64-bit) are two stellar free options; most premium security suites also feature robust firewalls.
More ways to protect your PC
While these tips and tricks greatly decrease the chances of your PC catching a bug, strong security doesn’t end with behavior changes. Check out PCWorld’s security how-to section for scads of in-depth protection tutorials. Want to lock down your laptop for the road, learn how to protect your PC against Prism surveillance, or find some tools for the paranoid? Those items are just the tip of the knowledge iceberg.
Brad Chacos @BradChacos
Securing your PC against the malicious wilds of the Web isn’t as simple as just keeping your antivirus software of choice up-to-date. In fact, the pervasiveness of security software has forced the bad guys to turn to increasingly clever tricks in their quest to “pwn” your PC.
But fear not! Those sneaky tricks are most effective if victims are unaware of the danger. And today, dear reader, I’m going to show you how to avoid the most devious PC security traps, because in this case knowing is more than half the battle.
Phishing
Let’s start with the devious attack you’re most likely to encounter during your day-to-day computing.
Phishing websites mimic the look of another site in an attempt to lure you into entering your personal and account information. Although phishing websites take all forms, attackers especially like to spoof banks and social networks. Phishing attacks typically threaten from two angles: mistyped website URLs and email messages that pretend to be from legitimate sources.
One simple tell gives away a phishing site: The URL doesn’t match the URL of the website you think it is. If Facebokk.com, Faceb00k.com, or Facenook.com asks for your Facebook login, run away screaming. (Or at least do the digital equivalent.) I can’t stress this enough: Give the URL of any website that asks you to log in a close examination before you pass out your password.
Beyond that, most social media and banking websites use HTTPS encryption by default. If the site that you’re on doesn’t have the lock icon next to its URL in your browser, that’s a good sign that something is afoot.
The big three browsers—Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox—all include safe-browsing warning systems that clue you in to suspected phishing and malware sites, while browser plug-ins such as Web of Trust and McAfee’s Site Advisor can provide an extra layer of protection.
Scammers and hackers love email. All too often, tales of hacked Twitter accounts and Web servers can be traced back to the same origin: “A member of the team opened a malicious email message.”
Okay, that’s not quite true. In most cases, merely opening a piece of email won’t send your world crashing down. You have to click a malicious link or open a tainted email attachment. The solution? Be wary of clicking emailed links, and don’t open attachments without ensuring their cleanliness first.
That goes doubly so for email purporting to be from banking sites, PayPal, social media, or any other site to which you need to log in; often such messages are phishing attempts. (Yes, the bad guys can fake email addresses.) Instead, open your browser and navigate to the site in question directly. Email providers and programs often flag suspicious email, but their detection systems aren’t bulletproof.
Many premium antivirus tools automatically scan email attachments for malware, but you still want to download attachments and scan them manually before opening them, just to be safe.
Though not all malicious email messages originate from foreign lands and contain spelling and grammar mistakes, many do. If you receive an error-ridden missive claiming to come from an official source, be on guard.
Fake update or error warnings
By now you’re likely aware of adware, the annoying form of malware that inundates you with a flood of ads or scary messages that promise to disappear for a fee. You can eradicate such nuisances with antivirus tools, but that isn’t the case for a similar strain of invaders that try to coax you into installing malware while you surf the Net.
These shifty sites and ads pop up boxes disguised as permission requests to update your browser, or claim that you need to download the latest version of the software to run a feature on the page. Clicking any button—often, even the Decline button—gives the attacker authority to run code on your machine, or brings you to a fake download page to install malware disguised as Flash or QuickTime or whatever. Pwned.
Side-stepping these landmines is fairly simple: If a website prompts you to update your software, manually surf to that software’s website and look for updates there, rather than clicking the update pop-up. Don’t click any buttons on the pop-ups, either; close the tab or window completely, or reload the page after you’ve installed the update via official channels.
Other drive-by downloads
Such fake updates and malicious “warnings” are part of a larger trend toward “drive-by downloads,” or attacks designed to infect your computer stealthily by exploiting vulnerabilities in software.
Again, the basics for avoiding such attacks are fairly simple. Keep security and antivirus software active on your machine—but just as important, make sure that your PC and its other applications are current. Stay on top of Windows Update (Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Update), or just set it to install new updates automatically. Use Secunia PSI to automate updates for the rest of your programs: This superb software works in the background to look for new patches, applying updates automatically if possible, or prompting you to install them manually otherwise.
If you want to reduce the chances of running into fake update/error requests, you could use a plug-in such as NoScript to block JavaScript in your browser. Doing so breaks many feature-rich aspects of the Web, but you can whitelist sites you trust. Disabling the oft-targeted Java reduces your risk, too. I uninstalled Java and other popular, frequently attacked programs recently, and discovered it wasn’t a headache whatsoever.
Also consider activating Internet Explorer’s ActiveX Filtering, which blocks all ActiveX content by default. ActiveX is a frequent attack vector for hackers. To turn on the filtering in IE 9 and IE 10, open the Tools menu, hover over the Safety submenu, and click ActiveX Filtering when the Safety options appear.
The aforementioned Web of Trust and Site Advisor plug-ins can raise a flag when you’re on a known attack site, but drive-by downloads have appeared in malicious ads on legitimate websites in the past. Stay patched and stay protected.
Zero-day attacks
Zero-day attacks exploit newly discovered, unpatched vulnerabilities to compromise your system. You can’t do much about these other than following the tips above. The truly paranoid could lock down all the various security options in their browsers—setting Internet Explorer’s security level to High, for example—but to be honest, that’s probably overkill.
If you’re worried about cutting-edge malware, consider running Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free periodically, or whenever something raises suspicion. It’s designed specifically to identify zero-day attacks, but it doesn’t try to block more common exploits, so you’ll want to use Malwarebytes to supplement your regular antimalware protection.
OMG hax
Direct attacks by port-sniffing hackers aren’t really common, but you can nevertheless protect against such tactics by enabling some sort of firewall. The Windows Firewall tool included in Windows (Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Firewall) works just fine—but it scans only for malicious intrusions.
If you want to keep an eye out for suspicious data flowing forth from your machine—a sign of possible malware infection—then you’ll want a firewall that also sniffs for outbound threats, though such firewalls require a bit more effort to set up properly. ZoneAlarm Free Firewall and Comodo Firewall (32-bit or 64-bit) are two stellar free options; most premium security suites also feature robust firewalls.
More ways to protect your PC
While these tips and tricks greatly decrease the chances of your PC catching a bug, strong security doesn’t end with behavior changes. Check out PCWorld’s security how-to section for scads of in-depth protection tutorials. Want to lock down your laptop for the road, learn how to protect your PC against Prism surveillance, or find some tools for the paranoid? Those items are just the tip of the knowledge iceberg.
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