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Monday, December 4, 2017

Ensure your kids' safety both online and off with the Kidgy parental control app

Let’s face it: we live in a world where you can’t always monitor what types of content your child is consuming.

With so many options – social media, DIY video streaming services, games and apps featuring in-app purchases and more – to choose from, it’s becoming increasingly unlikely that you can watch your child’s every move to ensure they’re not accessing materials inappropriate for their age.

Luckily, even for the busy parents out there, you can take solace in the fact that there’s an option that gives you as much or as little control over your child’s phone as you personally deem necessary. It’s called Kidgy, and it’s free to download on both the Apple App Store and Android’s Google Play.

Whether you’re a parent yourself or an educational instructor, you’ll be surprised at how many ways you can benefit from introducing Kidgy to your child’s smartphone.

“Basically Kidgy is your low-cost cyber nanny. Not only it will prevent most common cyber dangers but help you understand your kids’ online activity in general. For now it is the burning issue when it comes down to giving the first phone to your child. Taking into account that modern children spend up to 6 hours online every day, you might want to see what’s going on there.” -- Vera Petryk, CMO at Kidgy.com

Keep tabs on your child’s location

It’s on every parent’s mind, and while some might call it intrusive, you would rather be safe than sorry. Yes, we’re talking about GPS tracking. Kidgy makes it possible to ensure your child’s safety by giving you precise updates about their location at any given moment.

What’s more, if you’re concerned about your kid ditching school or leaving home when they’re not supposed to, you can set barriers and receive notifications when those restrictions are breached.

So too, the route history of your child’s device can be traced using Kidgy as well, making it a fully comprehensive way to make sure your children are being safe and making decisions that won’t get them into trouble.

Put an end to dangerous trends

It’s no headliner that cyberbullying is the number one cause of suicidal thoughts and attempts among teens. The most fearful issue is that only 1 out 10 kids will ever tell their parents about being cyberbullied. But that’s not the only threat lurking around the corners of the internet. There are also unsafe and manipulative mental games like the Blue Whale Challenge that you have to fear, not to mention predatory users in forums and on social media.

Admittedly, as a parent, it’s hard enough to keep up with your own life, much less your child’s. Kidgy makes it easier to safeguard your child from the vile happenings of this world. It does so by letting you view incoming/outgoing text messages – even the ones that have already been deleted – in addition to vetting calls and blocking numbers on their devices.

Thanks to Kidgy, you no longer have to worry about the content your children are exposed to in apps either. Especially considering the predatory monetization antics of mobile games these days, it’s crucial that you know your kids aren’t being exposed to gambling hooks or the sex and violence you might find in M-rated console games of the same nature.

After all, our kids are impressionable and the best way to keep them out of harm’s way is to prevent the opportunity from ever arising.

Block offensive and inappropriate content

Adding an extra layer of control to the mix, you can block any websites or apps that you find unsuitable for your child using Kidgy.

These include sites and apps prominently featuring 18+ adult content and those that actively encourage violence and hate speech. For when you want your kid to enjoy an innocuous childhood that averts the nefarious tactics of the adult world, it should go without saying that Kidgy is on your side.

An imperative part of that challenge, however, is making sure that your child is asleep when they say they are. It’s for that reason that Kidgy allows you to set specific hours when your child can access the internet. On top of that, you can assign tasks, such as chores, to your child and manage those checklists remotely.

When you’re ready to make the switch to a safer childhood for that flourishing individual who means the world to you, download Kidgy for iPhone or for Android today. It’s free to start with an upgrade paid version ($9.99).

How to make a wireless network more secure

When setting up a wireless network for your small business, it can be all too tempting to leave any security functions switched off. It may seem at the time that getting work done is much more important than worrying about a threat that probably won't ever materialise.

But small businesses, like all others, need to make sure their networks are secure. After all, your customers are counting on you to keep their confidential data safe.

The thing to realise is that your wireless network doesn't only extend within your premises. Wireless technologies provide long-range connectivity that cannot be restricted to the office, which means that anyone within range of an unsecured network can gain access.

Check out our best Business Router roundup

This threatens more than just allowing others to use the internet for free. It could make you vulnerable to a breach of privacy, as hackers could monitor and intercept the open packets of data whizzing between devices and the router. Passwords, financial records, customer information and private data are all fair game to the criminal.

In addition, others may use your open wireless to access the internet for illegal activity. Should this happen you could find yourself involved in legal action, so it's well worth taking the necessary steps to ensure your network is reasonably secure. So here's what you can do.

Use encryption

Possibly the most important measure you can take to protect your network is to use encryption. Virtually all routers and wireless devices offer some form of encryption, which scrambles the data transmitted to and from your router, making your network's information unreadable to outsiders.

Encrypting a network involves creating a password or passphrase that is difficult to guess. But note here that, while there are different forms of encryption available to wireless networks, not all of them are secure.

WEP
The most basic and oldest form of wireless encryption to be commonly used is WEP (Wired Equivalency Privacy), which utilises passwords using 10 to 58 digits using 0 to 9 and A to Z.

It is no longer considered secure and can be cracked in minutes by hackers using off-the-shelf hardware and software, but some older systems still only support WEP. If you have such a device, you may need to consider ditching it in favour of something else or lowering the level of security on the network.

While WEP should not be used to secure a network, it's still worth remembering that any encryption will provide more protection than none at all.

WPA and WPA2
Developed to overcome the weaknesses in WEP, WPA and WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access) are the encryption modes now most widely used in wireless networks.

They use both passwords and passphrases to secure networks. A password is one group of letters, numbers and characters without spaces; a passphrase is a string of grouped characters that includes spaces, such as "Th1S 1S a p@ssphr4s£". A passphrase is much harder to guess and break than a simple password.

Use a firewall

Hardware firewalls provide the first line of defence against attacks coming from outside of the network, and most routers have firewalls built into them, which check data coming into and going out and block any suspicious activity. The devices are usually set with reasonable defaults that ensure they do a decent job.

Most firewalls use packet filtering, which looks at the header of a packet to figure out its source and destination addresses. This information is compared to a set of predefined and/or user-created rules that govern whether the packet is legitimate or not, and thus whether it's to be allowed in or discarded.

Software firewalls usually run on the endpoint desktop or laptop, with the advantage of providing a better idea what network traffic is passing through the device. More than just which ports are being used and where data is going, it will know which applications are being used and can allow or block that program's ability to send and receive data.

If the software firewall isn't sure about a particular program it can ask the user what it should do before it blocks or allows traffic.

Router settings

Change the router's access name and password
It is all too easy to set up any equipment with its default settings, especially as the default admin name and password are often printed on the router itself to allow quick access and setup. This means that hackers will try these to access your network. Changing both access name and password will make it more difficult for a criminal to gain access.

Change the default network ID
Virtually all routers come with a default network ID supplied by the manufacturer. This can provide hackers with a little clue to the identity of the router and so helps them find weak spots more easily. Changing this usually means going to the router's security settings and amending the name there. Always keep a note of what the network ID is, and put that somewhere safe.

Stop your router broadcasting its network ID
When switched on, the wireless router will broadcast its network ID (or SSID). While this is useful in enabling connections between devices, once they are connected you can turn off the broadcast so the router operates in more of a stealth mode.

Enable MAC authentication for your users
You can limit who accesses your wireless network even further by only allowing certain devices to connect to it and barring the rest. Each wireless device will have a unique serial number known as a MAC address, and MAC authentication only allows access to the network from a set of addresses defined by the administrator. This prevents unauthorised devices from accessing network resources.

Create a separate wireless network for your customers.
The wireless network used by your employees should be used by them alone. If you have customers or contractors that need wireless access as well, you should consider creating a guest network. Most business-class routers allow you to do this, and it prevents outsiders from accessing your internal network assets while still allowing them connect to the internet. This virtual local area network enables employees and guests to have access while protecting your network from snoopers.

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The best free music apps for Windows 2017

Windows comes with its own music software in the form of Media Player, and it works well enough, but third-party music apps can do so much more.

Whether it's organizing and tagging your music collection, downloading and streaming from online radio services, or optimizing playback for different devices, there's an app here that will make it effortless.

The best free music apps for Windows will give you full control over your music library and help you enjoy it like never before. Here's our pick of the best options around. Which music player do you rely on for everyday listening? Let us know in the comments below.

1. foobar2000

A customizable media player that can tackle virtually any music or video file

Some music players are all style and no substance, with flashy interfaces and a distinct lack of decent features. foobar2000 is the opposite. It doesn’t look like much – this free music app is designed to be simple and memory-efficient – but you can make it look any way you like and add whatever features you want.

That’s because what’s already a very useful audio player, ripper and converter offers stacks of 'components', which extend its powers even more. Components include CD burning, decoding of PlayStation sound files, visualizations, playlist organisers and all kinds of useful things. You can even customize the keyboard shortcuts to suit your way of doing things. foobar2000 is the best free music app for Windows.

2. Spotify

Spotify's desktop client is great for managing music on all your devices

Spotify isn’t the only free music app for streaming, but it’s the one everybody knows and the client software is extremely well designed.

Spotify isn’t just a music player; it’s a music platform that works not just on Windows but on mobile devices, games consoles and all kinds of other devices too.

As you’d expect from a service that’s primarily about subscriptions the free version is limited in what it can do – tracks shuffle and you’ll get the odd advert - but if you don’t mind somebody else controlling the playlist it’s a great way to soundtrack whatever you’re doing.

Download Spotify

3. MusicBee

An incredible free music app for Windows that puts a wealth of information at your fingertips and makes managing your tracks easy

MusicBee describes itself as the ultimate music manager and player, and it’s available for Windows versions from Vista onwards. If you’re still using the Windows default, it’s like moving from black and white to Technicolor.

There’s a multi-band equaliser with digital signal processing effects, support for high-end audio cards, upmixing from stereo to surround sound and even support for some WinAmp plugins to expand the app further.

It comes with a choice of skins, syncs with mobile devices including Android and Windows phones, integrates with Last.fm and includes a vizualizer to make your music look as good as it sounds.

4. Dopamine

Step-by-step guides to help you get more from your favorite tracks

Dopamine is your brain’s happy juice, and its music playing namesake should give you the warm and fuzzies too. This free music app is designed to make organizing and listening to music as simple as possible, and it looks absolutely brilliant on Windows 10.

It supports wav, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, WMA and M4A/AAC, and there are a range of views from full-window to sitting in the taskbar. It’s a lovely-looking thing and it really is easy to use, and we like the way you can make it as shouty or quiet as possible by changing the notifications settings. It’s well worth the download.

5. MediaMonkey

If your music library is disorganized, MediaMonkey will help get it in order

One of the big pains about digital music is that if your collection is bigger than a few albums, it’s easy for it to get messy. For example, you might have REM and R.E.M., or U2 and good music (kidding).

MediaMonkey can’t stop unwanted U2 albums turning up, but this free music app can automatically tag your music as well as other useful things including DLNA streaming, syncing with devices including Android and iPods, run in DJ mode, automatically set volumes so tracks don’t vary, record CDs and download audio from the internet.

Add-ons offer even more including sound effects and additional format support.

6. Winamp

A classic free music app supported by a huge collection of downloadable skins and plugins

Winamp has been languishing in development hell for a while now, but a new version is coming and the classic version remains a very good little music app that we love to bits, largely because it was our introduction to the joys of MP3 music.

It’s ancient in software terms but there’s a charm to it that more modern players lack – partly because it looks horrible, and partly because you can make it look even more horrible.

But the real fun is in its visualizations and plugins, which have the benefit of two decades of developers’ efforts. If you fancy kicking it old-school, it’s a lot of fun.

7. VLC Media Player

A brilliant free music app, VLC can play just about any file or music stream

You probably know about VLC, the kick-ass free video player, but you might not know about VLC, the kick-ass free music app. And here’s the twist: they’re the same program.

VLC Media Player might not be as pretty as some other media apps, but that’s never been a key part of its appeal: it’s the fact that VLC can import and export in file formats so numerous that we’re secretly convinced some of them are completely made up. It plays any kind of disc you can throw at it, supports all the main online streaming protocols, and of course it has brilliant video features too. It’s an absolute gem.

8. AIMP

A free music app towards the pro end of the spectrum, with advanced options

AIMP has been kicking around for 10 years now, but it's still very much alive; its most recent release was just a few weeks ago. This is a free music app for power users, with a built-in 18-band equalizer and a whole host of sound effects and even a vocal remover, smart playlists based on criteria you select, a fantastic audio file converter and CD grabber, and group tag editing to keep your library in top shape.

You can even get AIMP to wake you up in the morning or automatically shut down the system at night once your favorite tunes have lulled you into a deep sleep.

9. Resonic Player

Give your mouse a rest with Resonic's single-click interface and quick shortcuts

Resonic Player might not have the high profile that other music apps enjoy, but it’s a high quality app with an interesting approach: it’s built around frequency analysis and waveform viewing so you can actually see what you’re listening to – not as a visualization, but as a real-time view of the audio file and the frequencies it’s using. There’s something wonderfully hypnotic about that.

The rest of this free music app is good too with an attractive interface, wide format support, automatic fades and a sleep timer. Resonic integrates with the Taskbar in Windows from Windows 7 onwards too. And there’s an integrated MIDI synth that’s optimized for quick auditioning of MIDI tracks.

10. Audacity

More than just an audio editor – Audacity is also a superb media player

An oldie but a goodie, Audacity can be used as a music player, but we like it more for editing music. It’s particularly good for jobs such as digitizing old cassettes or vinyl records, removing background noise and chopping albums into discrete tracks, and you can use it for multi-track recording and for audio mastering.

If your hardware supports it, you can even record at sample rates of up to 192,000Hz – the same as pro recording studios use - or up to 384,000Hz if you have a high-res sound card. The loopback feature is particularly handy – it captures whatever the system is playing, making it great for recording Skype calls and other audio.

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Facebook has created a Messenger app just for kids

Facebook has announced that it’s launching a messaging app just for kids, confirming that the days of walkie talkies and tin cans with strings are far behind us.

Called Messenger Kids, the app is designed to allow users from the ages of 6 to 12 to communicate with friends and family on mobile devices without the need for any kind of phone number or Facebook account. For example, kids who have a tablet or iPod without any kind of SIM card will be able to use Messenger Kids with a WiFi connection.

As it's illegal for children under the age of 13 in the US to have a Facebook account, the Messenger Kids app won’t require children to set up any kind of Facebook account. Instead, it’ll be tied to an adult’s Facebook account and it’ll have parental controls included.

User pipeline

Upon downloading the Messenger Kids app (yes, it is yet another standalone Messaging app for your device’s storage to content with) parents will be asked to authenticate it with their own Facebook account.

After this they’ll be able to set up a user within the Messenger Kids app that uses their child’s full name. None of the details entered into the app will be publicly searchable and Facebook has confirmed that it’s entirely ad-free, making us only slightly envious.

The parental gatekeeping doesn’t stop here, though - it’ll be up to the responsible adult to decide who their child is able to connect with on Messenger Kids as contacts are added through Facebook itself.

If, for example, a child wants to message a friend from school it’ll be up to the parents to befriend one another on Facebook and link their children’s Messenger accounts. Connections have to be mutually agreed before the kids can start talking to one another.

If you or any of your family members you’re connected with on Facebook want to message your child, it’s possible to do so through the ordinary Messenger app.

Kids will have some controls over their Messenger account - they’ll be able to report and block other users (though parents will get a notification when they do so) and Facebook has said it has a dedicated Messenger Kids team who’ll look into these reports.

The Messenger Kids app is fairly similar to the adult Messenger app in terms of overall interface, although it's much brighter. It seems likely that Facebook is using the fact that children are accessing technology at much younger ages to familiarise them with Facebook applications and create something of a user pipeline.

It will, after all, be natural for a child that's been using the Messenger Kids app from the ages of 6 to 12 to create a Facebook account of their own at the age of 13 and continue to communicate with the messaging app they're familiar with.

Rather than encouraging text chat, Messenger Kids places heavy emphasis on real-time video calls which allow them to use emoji, selfie frames and stickers. Rather than taking these stickers from the main Messenger app, Facebook has created art that’s age-appropriate and in some cases intended to educate.

The app is still in the early stages of its release and is currently in a preview-only state in the US for iOS users. Later this month it’ll be rolled out to Android users though there's no word on any plans to extend the app to any more countries at the moment.

Not keen on an app? These are the best smart toys for kids of all ages

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Windows 7 is being ditched at a faster rate than previously thought

Windows 7’s market share has been dropping faster than previously thought, according to one analyst firm, and for the first time since it's launch, the operating system is now being run by less than half of all Windows users.

According to NetMarketShare, in November the overall desktop market share of Windows 7 dropped by a hefty 3.5% down to 43.12%. Microsoft will doubtless be pleased to see that Windows 10 now isn’t that far behind on 31.95%.

And as mentioned, looking at the statistics which track only versions of Windows (i.e. without Mac or Linux installations), Windows 7 is now on a 48.8% market share, which represents a drop of 2.6% since the previous month.

There’s more to this story than initially meets the eye, though. NetMarketShare tracks the installed user base of desktop operating systems via web analytics – in other words, tracking the OS used by site visitors across a large sample slice of the web.

And some of those web users aren’t real people, but bots. These are fake users: automated pieces of software pretending to be human web traffic, and artificially inflating figures.

Rise of the bots

NetMarketShare observed that the rise of bot traffic on the web has accelerated dramatically in recent times, to the extent that it has felt the need to rejig its statistics to better ignore this false traffic.

The analyst firm noted: “Bots can cause significant skewing of data. In particular, we have seen situations where traffic from certain large countries is almost completely bot traffic. In other countries, ad fraudsters generate traffic that spoofs certain technologies in order to generate high-value clicks.”

Hence the overhaul of the method of collecting statistics, and the new results, complete with a major drop for Windows 7, because this OS is the most-used platform in terms of bot traffic (because it’s the most prevalent operating system out there, and it makes sense to hide the false traffic among the masses, where it will be less conspicuous).

Of course, folks may well be tempted to put Windows 7’s drop purely down to this new methodology of putting together the stats, but NetMarketShare has actually rejigged all its previous results for past months, showing that Windows 7’s share has been overestimated all along.

In October, for example, Windows 7 actually held a 43% share going by the refreshed data, which was 3.6% less than the analyst company estimated at the time using the bot-skewed data.

The long and short of it is: Windows 7’s figures have been overblown for some time, and Windows 10 has been catching the older OS faster than we thought. And Microsoft will certainly be happy to hear that.

As mentioned, Windows 10 is now only just over 10% behind Windows 7 according to NetMarketShare, and it might not be too long before that gap is fully closed.

Another recent major statistical shift (on the Steam platform) showed that, on the face of things, gamers are abandoning Windows 10 – but there was a good explanation for that, as we discuss here.

Via: Computerworld

Windows 10 powers some of our best laptops

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