With bootable USB media becoming more and more common and fewer machines even shipping with a CD drive, ISO image files and other forms of portable software is becoming the new standard for software distributions. To supplement this shift, Rufus aims to convert any ISO image into a boot drive in a matter of minutes.
Rufus is an easy to use portable software for Windows devices to create bootable USB drives using ISO images. This includes options to properly identify images such as installation disks or operating systems and then it will compare the image to the available disk size. The process itself does not take a particularly long time but it does depend on the size of the ISo and speed of the USB drive.
Rasberry Pi’s Pixel is a lightweight operating system released by the foundation behind the affordable $35 Rasberry Pi computer and it is now available for PC or Mac users who want to renew their old hardware! The Linux-based OS comes as a downloadable image you can either burn to a DVD or load onto a USB drive to boot directly into the Pixel environment.
What does this mean for your old laptop that has been lying around? It means you can once again use it for basic tasks and web browsing via Chromium, which comes pre-installed. This is, however, a prototype build. Some bugs and hardware compatibility issues are expected, one of which is a recognition error with modern Mac systems but altogether, nothing that would be harmful to your system. The creative prioritization was for the purpose of distributing this Mac and PC version because it was believed to be most useful in schools with outdated hardware. With Pixel, these machines will once again be able to access information in modern fashion.
For anyone looking for a PC mic, a USB connection is a must. Mic jack connections with the standard 3.5mm cable don’t have the connections or data flow to properly translate sound into usable data for a computer. To go beyond this, however, would be to use tools like Behringer’s new MIC500USB to achieve that famous tube “warmth” without having to record in a studio with rackmounted tube preamps.
In light of misinformation and explosively popular falsehoods we’ve seen in the last few years, Facebook has taken steps to create consequences for spreading objectionable content. This month the US Trademark and Patent Office published Facebook’s application for a detection tool on their platform. As stated in the application, its primary purpose is to improve detection of pornography, hate speech, and bullying. Last month, however, Zuckerberg emphasized the need for “better technical systems to detect what people will flag as false before they do it themselves.”
The system described is largely consistent with Facebook’s current protocols for objectionable content but it also adds layers of machine learning to improve efficiency. The move comes at a time when Facebook is under increasing public pressure to reduce the spread of propaganda through its network. Although they have expressed commitment to making improvements, they are proceeding with caution to the idea that machine learning can separate fact from fiction but due to the audiences receptive to some of the more questionable content, clear standards may be the first necessary step for implementation.
Phishing emails and information theft as a whole can be frightening as well as annoying. They flood our inboxes hoping our guard is down and we make a mistake to give up our private details and it seems like a never ending battle against hackers and scammers. To combat this, here are a few easy steps that can keep your information secure.
For those wanting both security and style, Western Digital has released a re-imagined design for their trusted portable storage devices. The My Passport portable drive can store a massive amount of photos, videos, and music for any media that interests the user.
Available in a vibrant array of colors, the sleek style fits comfortably in the palm of your hand and can handle all of your storage needs. With automatic backups, documents from your system can be loaded to the My Passport drive on a custom schedule so the drive is always up to date. Password protection and a built in 256 bit AES hardware encryption with WD Security helps keep your content private and safe. Finally, Western Digital builds drives to demanding requirements for durability, shock tolerance, and long term reliability. To prove this, they offer thheir 2 year warranty with purhcases of the Passport.
Ever wonder how data from a server in Beijing can reach a computer in San Diego? As deceptively simple as it sounds, that data goes through a cable. Cables spanning various distances, numerous speeds, and controlled by an incredible variety of owners, run through the ocean to connect these different sides of the world. Google, in a partnership with Facebook and China Soft Power Technology, is looking to take the next leap in the quality and speed of these vital methods of data transfer. That leap comes in the form of a few 8,000 mile cables, and it’s called the Pacific Light Cable Network.
The Pacific Light Cable Network, or the PLCN, will transmit 120 terabits of data per second between Los Angeles and Hong Kong and is expected to be functional by 2018. According to Google’s submarine networking infrastructure director, this will decrease latency in certain cases and will provide a much faster and more reliable experience when communicating between the two regions.
SanDisk is well known for its memory and and with the price of flash memory steadily dropping, the SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable 240GB SSD is as affordable as it is fast.
Less than half the size of your smarthpone, it can deliver up to 4x the speed of a portable hard drive with write speeds up to 200MB/s and read speeds up to double that. In seconds, you can transfer big videos and photo libraries and its durable design is a great way to ensure the safety of your data. Solid state technology offers reliable, responsive, high-performance storage for any user who cares about big media files.
Additional features include access to SanDisk’s SecureAccess software for 128-bit encryption to keep private files from prying eyes. A bonus in the nature of an SSD as opposed to hard drive memory, this drive has no moving parts therefore generates significantly less heat than the standard drive even on the busiest of days. If you’re looking for a place to store your operating system or just to hold on to memorable videos, this device will make sure it’s all accessible, safe, and fast.
For those wanting an upgrade to their tablet, laptop, or desktop without having to purchase a completely new machine, the USB 3.0 Docking Station from Accell is the boost to functionality and speed that all users can appreciate. Significant increases to ports, data transfer speeds, and even charging, this dock will maximize the value of your existing device.
Everyone with a phone or mobile device will need charging and most people with a mobile device will of course be mobile! Since you’re charging your phone while you drive, why not also use it as a locator so you know where your car is after you get out? The combination of these ideas has led to the smart charger Zus.
The Zus works as any normal USB charger but the real difference is in its built-in Bluetooth transmitter and simple mobile app. Working with one another, the product turns into a honing device for finding your car. Without having to worry about your phone running out of juice or scouring a parking structure looking for your car, the Zus enables a new level of freedom while maintaining the benefits of a mobile device.
It’s understandable for most users to need a bit of extra space on their machines and it’s always a great idea to grab some solid-state memory for frequently used items such as your operating system. Samsung however, has taken that combination to an entirely new level with the PM1633a SSD clocking in at a massive 15.36 terabytes. Expanded out a bit, that’s 15,360,000,000,000 bytes which is also known as “more storage than a single user will ever need in life”.
Not only is this 15.36 TB behemoth the largest SSD ever made, but the largest single hard drive, going above and beyond the 10 TB cap most spinning disk drives are limited to. Such power comes at a price though, with preorders for the drive hovering at over $10,000.
Another day, another awesome implementation of AI from Google. To combat the notorious energy consumption of data centers worldwide, Google has been using an AI system built by DeepMind to control certain parts of its data centers for increased environmental friendliness. For those who haven’t seen our article about AlphaGo, another DeepMind project by Google, here is a quick link to check it out. Although DeepMind is famous for developing AI technology and was able to beat the world’s best Go player, it hasn’t turned a profit for Google. Yet.
The DeepMind AI system has been used to reduce the energy consumption of cooling units in Google data centers. These coolers are vital as they prevent overheating and so far DeepMind has reduced their energy costs by up to 40 percent. How? By training DeepMind’s self-learning algorithms to predict hourly heat patterns. The coolers were then able to run at the most efficient intensities to keep the servers sufficiently cool. It’s as simple of a concept as a weatherman telling you whether you’ll need a jacket or a T-shirt to prevent temperature discomfort but for a machine to regulate this in perfect sync with thousands of other machines is an absolute marvel. Using a system of neural networks that analyze different operating scenarios, DeepMind makes a more efficient framework to understand data center dynamics.
