Home Computing Security Risks

What are the real, everyday security risks for the average user, and what can you do about them?

There’s often refereed a lot of hyperbole surrounding the coverage of PC security, hacking and cybercrime, not helped by over-the-top movies that paint a totally different picture to real life and real world news that tends towards sensationalising the topic. Such coverage ultimately leads to unwarranted fears and a general misunderstanding of the real threats. People can easily become too worried to even use the Internet, or at least venture away from their daily, already known websites.

However, as much as it may be misunderstood, PC security really isn’t the big bad beast it’s often built up to be. Yes, there are risks, and yes, you need to be careful, but the truth is, you’re much safer than some members of the media would have you believe, you just need to know how to conduct yourself online, and how to protect your PC. This is what we’re going to look at here, beginning with the basics.

What Is Markdown, And Should You Use It?

This markup language is slowly and steadily gaining acceptance. Roland Waddilove shows how to use it to write and format text for a variety of uses

Have you heard of Markdown? It’s becoming a popular way to format text, especially for use on the web, and it’s supported by an increasing number of Windows applications, websites and mobile apps. Markdown is a markup language, which sounds confusing, but it’s basically a way to specify the formatting of text using various symbols and conventions. It enables you to mark text so it’s displayed as a headline, in bold, as a numbered list, in italic, as a link to a website and so on.

Give Yourself A Clean Start

To keep your PC running smoothly, you’ll need to keep it clean and tidy.

Is that PC you spent hundreds of pounds on not a few months ago now running more like an old, crusty Pentium II? Have your programs started to take a veritable ice age to open files? Has Windows turned into an aged old app that has to be told what to do twice or more before it reacts? If so, then you’re probably suffering from the usual system slowdown we all go through from time to time. It’s guaranteed that any PC will slow down after prolonged use, and your daily actions will take their toll.

Synology Router Manager: Revolution or Evolution?

Will SRM change the way we use routers?

It’s not often something interesting happens in router technology, so when Synology – the much admired NAS maker – announced it was releasing its own router I sat up and took note.

The fact the RT1900ac is an 802.11ac-compatible router with a USB port wasn’t remarkable, as there’s a lot of them about. What is remarkable is that the router runs Synology Router Manager (SRM), a desktop-style operating system that’s similar to the Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM) OS that runs on Synology’s NAS enclosures.

Audio streaming services - which is best?

We check out the best places to get your music…

As any sound-system buff will tell you, it’s no good having featurepacked audio equipment at your disposal if you haven’t got the music to make it worthwhile. In the past, that might have meant a wall full of CDs or even a killer MP3 collection. These days, though? It tends to mean an internet connection and a streaming music service with thousands of tracks available on demand.

Subscription-based streaming services have fast replaced audio downloads as the medium of choice for songsters everywhere. But with loads of different services to choose from, where do you even start? We’ve rounded up and compared some of the most popular so you don’t have to.

Getting into soundbars

They’re smaller than full speaker setups, but they still pack a punch…

You don’t have to be a diehard audiophile to know that the sound quality on integrated speakers, whether they’re in your monitor, TV, tablet or laptop, is pretty bad. The drive for slimmer devices means that more and more manufacturers are compromising on audio quality to squeeze out those extra millimetres.

In fairness, perhaps there’s a good reason for that. If you’re buying a high-end screen, maybe you want the chance to choose your own high-end sound system to go with it. Why rely on weak, tinny internal speakers that face in the wrong direction when you can choose your own, finely tuned drivers instead?

Bluetooth Speakers Guide

Cut the cord with these fantastic wireless speakers…

Portable devices are great for carrying your music out and about with you at all times, but even in the most expensive hardware, their built-in speakers tend not to be. If you want to listen to music while outside your house, whether it’s in your garden, at the park or even somewhere like a caravan or hotel room, you need to get hold of a good portable speaker. And that’s why we’ve put together a list for you.

Wireless Speakers Guide

Whether it’s wi-fi or Bluetooth, there are plenty of speakers that can help to free your house of wires…

Mobile devices might be improving all the time, but there’s at least one area where they never quite match up to their desk-bound equivalents: audio quality. Finding a laptop, tablet or smartphone with speakers that are truly worth using is virtually impossible, no matter what technology manufacturers claim they’re using. You don’t have to be the world’s most picky audiophile to be annoyed by the tinny, raspy sound most mobile hardware chucks out, and for the most part it’s not getting any better. The constraints aren’t cost so much as space, weight and power.

Of course, mobile devices do tend to have wireless compatibility – and that means you can always improve your situation with a pair of Bluetooth or even wi-fi networked speakers. Whether you want floor-shaking bass, fantastic portability or features not found in most wired speakers, there’s a speaker out there for you somewhere – and hopefully we’ve found it!

The best PC speakers under £100

How much audio quality can you get for your money?

Finding the best PC speakers can sometimes be a difficult task. Everyone has different needs for their audio, and that means the speaker system that’s best for one person might not be the best for another.

But getting the right sound out of your PC is essential for enjoying the experience of watching movies, playing games and listening to music – not to mention those helpful audio adverts that occasionally run themselves over a website when you open a tab.

So whether you wondering if your current speakers are up to the job, running a system that lacks decent speakers entirely or just in the market for a refresh, we’ve put together this guide to some of the best speaker models around no matter what you’re looking for.