What's New

This article offers detailed information about all security and non-security patches that Microsoft released in December 2014.

The company changed the way the information are provided last month. While it releases information about each bulletin just like before, it stopped the release of videos that go over each month's security bulletins.

In addition, it stopped creating sheets detailing the deployment priority of bulletins. The sheets have been replaced with a simple priority listing.

Things have gotten better in recent years when it comes to sending files to others. While it is still possible to store files on ftp servers or web servers, options such as cloud storage have become available as well.

Services like Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive offer storage space on the Internet that users can fill with data. Most services come with options to share files with other users as well.

Mozilla Thunderbird is my desktop email client of choice. It has been my primary go-to program for all things email for years and even though it is not very high up on Mozilla's priority list anymore, it is an excellent program for that.

When Mozilla developed Firefox and Thunderbird in sync, some features of Firefox found its way in to Thunderbird as well. This includes tabbed browsing among others.

Symantec VIP, the VIP stands for Validation & IP Protection, is one of the technologies that the company got when it acquired VeriSign.

I started using a VeriSign Identity Protection Device back in 2008 to add another layer of security to the PayPal login process.

Whenever you download a file using the Google Chrome web browser it is added to the Downloads history automatically which you can access by loading chrome://downloads/ in the address bar. It is also saved to the local storage location you have selected provided that it has not been flagged as malicious prior to that.

All downloads on the page are sorted in chronological order and each download is listed with its file name, location it was downloaded from and icon.

If you work with ISO disk images regularly you have multiple options at your disposal. Windows users can burn ISO images to disk natively for example and nearly all unpackers supports the extraction of ISO file contents to the local system.

And if you cannot use Windows' native burning tool for whatever reason, you can use popular third-party choices such as ImgBurn to do so.

Unlike in the US, where public transport is not really that great in most regions, public transport in Europe is often a great option to get from point a to b, especially in major cities and regions.

You often have the choice between several options, from trams and buses to trains and public bikes.

The Khan Academy is a great learning resource especially when it comes to math but also for several other subjects such as history or finance.

All courses, including videos and related information such as student comments, are available online free of charge. While you can create an account on the site it is by no means a requirement to access the learning materials.

I'm using several Internet services with more than one account. Without going into too many details, I have multiple accounts at one email provider, multiple social media accounts on the same site, and more than one account on a selection of sites as well.

There are also situations where I like to use a site without being logged in while being logged in.

I require some for business purposes while I use others to improve privacy while using the service.

Now it’s time to talk about FREE antivirus software.

The 21st century is the age of speed: fast travel, fast communication, technology getting more and more mobile and of-course, faster.

There may be situations where you may want to distribute a customized version of Firefox to others. Maybe you are admin of a network, webmaster who wants to make available a special Firefox version or want to create a special version of Firefox for friends and family that comes pre-equipped with some of the coolest extensions and customizations.

Apple users have Siri, Android users Google Now and Microsoft customers get Cortana with the release of Windows 10.

These voice-activated digital assistants work all in the same way. You activate them either with an activation phrase or by performing some form of action. Once activated, they accept voice input, interpret it and produce an output for you.

Siri, where is the next Mc Donalds, Ok Google, give me a weather report for today, Cortana, who won the Superbowl in 2013.

Device Administration on Android is a powerful API that was first introduced in Android 2.2. It offers features at the system level which makes available features such as remotely wiping the storage on a device or enforcing password policies.

Apps that require Device Administrator privileges prompt users to do so and when users confirm the rights have access to the API.

If you are using a computer with a Solid State Drive you may have wondered how long it will last. Solid State Drives, unlike regular platter-based hard drives, have limited write capabilities.

While most modern drives are good for 600 TB of writes or more, it still does not provide you with information about how much that is in terms of time. One year, ten years, more?