Wednesday 2 September 2015

Has Your Email Been HACKED?

Has Your Email Been HACKED

Recent high-profile attacks have again exposed how much hackers love reading your emails, Daniel Booth explains how to find out if you've been a victim

You know a hacking story is big when the BBC leads with it on its news bulletins. That’s what happened on Saturday 8 August when Carphone Warehouse said hackers had accessed the details of 2.4 million customers. Ouch. We know a huge hack when we see it - and so did Huw Edwards.

Iiyama ProLite XU2390HS-B1

Iiyama ProLite XU2390HS-B1

A very affordable 23in monitor

The standard monitor size these days is 24 inches, that being the diagonal measurement from the pixel at the bottom left to the one at the top right. If we quoted the dimensions the same way as any other object, we’d call it 531x299mm. You can get bigger, of course, but when you think that in 1984 the Apple Macintosh started the personal computer revolution with a screen that was only nine inches across, two feet should be enough for anyone.

Huawei Honor 4X

Huawei Honor 4X

A big smartphone at a small price

Huawei and Hyundai are not alike. One is a car maker from South Korea, the other a Chinese telecoms giant. What they have in common is that no matter how much they try to help us, English speakers can’t seem to say their names right.

50 most useful Command Prompt commands. Part 4

50 most useful Command Prompt commands. Part 4

This issue, Jane Hoskyn reveals 10 ways to check, repair and format hard drives using your PC's oldest tool

31 Command as administrator


We’ll kick off this section with an important tip: most hard drive-related commands will only work if you run the Command Prompt as administrator.

If you’re not running as administrator, and you attempt a command such as ‘chkdsk’ (see below), Windows will chuck an inscrutable chunk of jargon at you: “Access Denied as you do not have sufficient privileges. You have to invoke this utility running in elevated mode”.

Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac

Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac

A major upgrade for OS X users

Apple keeps selling more and more MacBooks, while other PC makers struggle. Everyone loves the sleek, minimalist hardware. But what about the software? Although every Mac comes with beautifully designed free apps, not every Windows program is available for Apple’s OS X operating system. Microsoft Office is, but the Mac version hasn’t been updated for five years. Until now.

Spot Gen3

Spot Gen3

Alert friends and family if you need help outside

Any smartphone can send your location to friends and family, but what if you’ve had an accident and can’t fiddle about with an app - or you’re out hiking beyond any mobile signal? This gadget side-steps both of these problems, with simple controls and an outgoing satellite connection.

Cloudbooks

Acer Cloudbook

Yes, it's yet another type of laptop - just what you've been waiting for...

What are they?


Acer’s new range of cheap, fast and light laptops. They come with Windows 10 Home, but are designed to be used in the ‘cloud’.

Acer Iconia One 8

Acer Iconia One 8

A low-cost Android tablet with a super-sensitive screen

Touchscreens have been around for decades, but they got popular when they actually started responding to touch, as opposed to prodding. It’s one of the ways technology has overtaken science fiction. In films, people in plastic clothes make exaggerated swiping gestures to drag holograms around the room. In real life, you barely have to move your fingertip.

HP Pavilion x2

HP Pavilion x2

A Windows 10-ready laptop and tablet in one

On the face of it, £250 is a reasonable price for a Windows 10 laptop that converts into a tablet. Even better, the newly redesigned Pavilion x2 looks like it cost a lot more. The sharply curved metallic edges. Bang & Olufsen speakers and bright screen all smack of a premium product.