What's New

Whenever you install an application on an Android device a list of permissions that it requests is displayed to you first. It is necessary to agree to those permissions to install the app.

While that is true for apps that users install directly, information about system apps and pre-installed applications by device manufacturers are not as they are already on the device when it ships.

Google grouped permissions together recently which makes it difficult to determine which of the grouped permissions an Android app requires and which it does not use.

Inbox is a new email service by Google that is currently being available on an invite-only basis. It is available as an application for Android and iOS, and also as a web service.

You can sign in using your Google account after you have received the invite. While it is not tied to Gmail, it shares data with Gmail which means that reading messages in the app or on the web will mark them as read on Gmail as well and vice versa.

I started writing a book a while ago in a great tool called Editorially. Regretfully Editorially closed shop this May and in the search for a new app, I found something even better: DBook.

DBook is different from many other tools out there because it forces you to think in terms of structure. While many other apps give you a blank canvas to start writing, DBook makes you create sections. In essence, you have to create your table of contents as you go along and edit each section separately.

Malware that slips by a system's defenses can wreak havoc in many different ways. From spying on users over deleting or encrypting files to modifying system settings to make it difficult for antivirus solutions to clean the PC.

The latter can be extremely frustrating, especially for inexperienced users. Malware can block certain antivirus solutions from running on the system or block file types from being executed at all which can be even more frustrating.

Content that you post on Facebook is only visible to users that you specify. You can allow your family to view this year's vacation videos, your college class to view last night's party pictures, write something that is visible to everyone, or limit visibility to yourself only.

Facebook highlights the visibility of a post. A privacy symbol is attached to each header that visualizes who sees the post when they open your Facebook page or their timeline.

Microsoft has not really revealed a lot about Windows 10 up to this day. While it has released a preview build of the operating system and a first update for it recently, one could still come to the conclusion that Windows 10 is like Windows 8 but with a start menu and the option to run apps in windows on the desktop.

Bitdefender's Adware Removal Tool has been available for Macintosh systems for some time now. The company has released a beta version of the program for Windows today.

While it is not listed yet on the official website, at least not under free downloads, it is available on third-party sites such as Download Crew already. Update: You can download it from Bitdefender's Lab website.

Disk images are used for a variety of purposes. They can be used to backup entire drives, distribute contents, for forensic analysis or to access contents of optical discs on devices that have no optical drive.

Check out out disk image format mounting guide for Windows for detailed instructions and program links.

Arsenal Image Mounter is a free program for Windows that looks like many of the other disk mounting programs on first glance.

Microsoft rolled out the first update for the Windows 10 Preview Build yesterday. The 2.x Gigabyte update did not introduce many new features to the operating system but introduced more than 7000 background changes to the system according to Microsoft.

A first basic version of the Action Center is without doubt the major new feature in the release. It is a port of the Windows Phone feature and displays actionable items according to Microsoft.

The company notes that the feature is not final, especially when it comes to the design and user interface.

One of the best ways to improve the security of a Google account is to enable 2-step verification for it. The idea behind the feature is to combine the usual account username and password with local information tied to a mobile phone.

So, instead of having to enter your Google email and password to sign in to your account, you also need to enter a code that is generated on the fly when you sign in on untrusted devices.