Intel, ARM and AMD Chip Scare: What You Need to Know

In recent news Google’s team Zero team has come out with a report that shows that hackers could potentially get through to your personal data through a fundamental fault in chips.

Coming at a not so great time for the industry with the consumer electronics trade show only a few days away, this scare about a security flaw has put the world on pins. With 1.5 billion users having laptops and desktop computers, the security flaw is far reaching and could be potentially very damaging.

What is the security Flaw about? 

Researchers have discovered that flaws in CPUs or to be more precise the chips that do most of the processing, seem to have gaps that allow or could allow hackers to gain access to a user’s most private data such as credit card passwords. These chips that are most susceptible to hacking are the Intel, ARM and AMD chips.

The security flaws are mainly of two categories. Meltdown is one of the security flaws that affect desktops, laptops and internet servers running on an Intel chip. The more far reaching of the security flaws is spectre that could affect smartphones, tablets as well as PCs running on any of the three chips that is Intel, ARM and AMD.

Also coming under the purview of the security flaw is any computer or device connected to the cloud, too can be susceptible to an attack.

How serious is this Security Flaw to be taken? 

The security flaw is no doubt far reaching, however, there have not been any reported cases of people taking advantage of this security flaw at present.

This is not to say that with the news being divulged of such a security flaw, there won’t be people out there who are going to look out for loopholes to get to user’s personal data.

The most important thing for users to do at present is to ensure that their systems are up to date with the latest update and any third party security packs should also be updated at the earliest.

Safeguarding against the Security Flaw: 

The news about the security flaw was already known to tech experts at least 6 months prior to when the issue has come out. This has given them ample time to develop patches and fixes for the security flaw.

All users no matter what the device should install the latest update as soon as possible to protect their data from any potential threats.

Effects of downloading the patches: 

Downloading the patches, as researchers have discovered, will likely slow down performance by at least 30%. Intel has rubbished the claims saying that they are exaggerated and any performance slowdown will be mainly work related.

With the CES coming up shortly, researchers are worried about how news of the security flaw is likely to affect sales of products on display.

News of the security flaw has revealed a fundamental flaw in the way that chips are made which will now require a complete rethinking of how chips are to be developed.

What is HDMI 2.1? Everything You Need to Know about It

HDMI 2.1 brings us closer to 8K and brings better HDR video

Today we have news about the HDMI 2.1, which we have spoken on other occasions because of the new possibilities that it offers, and that will be available from today for all manufacturers. HDMI 2.1 is the standard that the industry needed to start heating up in the face of the emergence of the 8K. The good news is that it will also improve the HDR and the smoothness of the games thanks to the variable refresh rate.

The most striking feature of HDMI 2.1, and why it has been most known so far, is its ability to support resolutions of up to 10K. A real barbarity if we take into account that the market is still standardizing the 4K, and that in fact the content available for this resolution, although it is increasingly abundant, is not yet so broad.

However HDMI 2.1 will feature other features perhaps less striking but that can provide significant improvements. In addition to the fact that both the ports and the new cable required will be retrocompatible with the previous HDMI standards. The 4K resolution is practically standardized in the market thanks to the fact that for a few years, TVs with that resolution have coped from the mid-range to the top.

In addition, releases of consoles with 4K or video recording of smartphones encourage their purchase, so the era that leaves behind Full HD is approaching. However, in preparation for what is coming in the next few years, the HDMI Forum has introduced HDMI 2.1, which brings support to 8K video, dynamic HDR and variable refresh rate. The ability to support 4K resolutions at 120 Hz is one of them, or features such as support for dynamic HDR, lower latency or frame-tearing, which make it ideal for use in video games.

What is most surprising is the resolution, since the general public is far away not only from wanting to visualize content in 8K, but also from being able to produce it or having means to reproduce it. HDMI 2.1 is not something that arrives early and badly, but quite the opposite. Thanks to a bandwidth of 48 Gbps, it can support 8K at 60 Hz, unlike when the arrival of the 4K, in which the standard available (HDMI 1.4) was limited to 30 Hz.

In addition, it supports 4K to 120 Hz. Its bandwidth will be 48 GB / s of transfer, and to take advantage of it we will need a new HDMI 48G cable. There is still time ahead for us to start seeing it work on the first devices, which will not arrive until next year. But it is good to know that manufacturers already have it and can begin to make the first tests to take advantage of this new technology.

The Evolution of the Internet

Friendly Research Network – Criminal Activity

The internet has progressed over a period of time from humble starting in 1972 when Ray Tomlinson, Cambridge computer scientist had introduced emoji during the launch of the first iPhone in 2007 bringing the internet in the pocket.

 And so the internet has been transformed in a way where the user tends to stay linked whenever the need arises enabling them to connect with several of our home appliances like light thermostat controls and TV. The number of computers linked to the internet has increased tremendously and the number of users too has augmented from a handful of computer scientists to 1.5 billion consumers.

The extent of the network has crossed beyond the United States to each and every area of the world. However, its popularity also tends to have a disadvantage since it has progressed from a friendly research network to an area of criminal activity comprising of fraud and identity theft.

 The usage of internet has risen since 1995 wherein the researchers had initially begun tracking this figure and though the assessments tends to differ from 1 billion to 1.5 billion users, all may agree that the net seems to have room from expansion since the overall population of the world has reached 6 billion.

Domain Name System of Internet - Developed

This would mean that more than 4 billion people across the globe tend to be without internet access presently. The internet has improved from a U.S. controlled communication medium to the one which has increased rapidly in growth in Asia and Europe.

 The Domain Name System of the Internet had been developed in 1984 to counterpart complex IP addresses with names which were easy to recall ending in extensions like .com, .org, .edu, .gov, .mil together with country codes comprising of .de for Germany.

The U.S. Department of Commerce had privatized domain name registrations and operation in 1998, through the development of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and thereafter, domain names sales have escalated almost 10 times though .com tends to be the most well-known domain.

The Berners-Lee, in 1990, had designed the World Wide Web as a means of publishing information in a hypertext form on the Internet. The Web started to make headway in 1993, after Marc Andreessen, a computer science student had developed the first well-known Web browser namely Mosaic. Thereafter the number of Web sites together with Web pages has been on the rise.

Measured – Terabytes/Petabytes, Heading Towards Exabytes

Experts have been objecting regarding how much traffic is on the internet and the speed of its growth. Could it be increasing at 50% to 60% a year or 100%? When the daily traffic has crossed 3 million packets, there is no question that the figure has increased since 1974.

Initially, measured in terms of terabytes and petabytes, the scientist have now come to the conclusion that the future would be heading towards monthly traffic volumes in the exabytes that is 10 to 18th power bytes. In the mid-1990s, e-commerce rushed on the scent and has been developing since then in terms of total sales as well as a percentage of all retail sales.

 It is difficult to know the worldwide e-commerce statistic though the U.S. Commerce Department have been following U.S. e-commerce sales from the fourth quarter of 1999. The Morris Worm was said to be the first major attack on the Internet way back in 1988 which disabled almost 10% of the Internets’ 60,000 host computers. Presently hundreds of more threatening attacks are being targeted at Internet users daily.

Spam Driven Phishing Scams

The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team – US-CERT have stopped the counting of security occurrence reports it had received in 2004 since the Internet connected attacks had become an usual occurrence and it felt that it would be too difficult to track the same.

Way back in 2003, it had been observed that 15 billion spam messages were sent daily over the Internet which meant that 45% of all the e-mail messages had been uncalled-for, for things such as drugs and penny stock. These figures seemed to be quite old-fashioned currently in comparison to the 164 billion spam messages that were sent each day which represent 97% of the overall e-mail. Spam has changed during the last five years from being disturbing to being malicious with the progress of spam driven phishing scams.

Experts are of the opinion that the Internet would be continuing along its phenomenal growth path in spite of the prevailing global economic crisis. The difference is that the Internet would become mobile and social and now users have been getting access to the Internet through their cell phones than the PCs.

The favourite activities of the users nowadays are to download music, video together with ringtones instead of searching the Web or utilising it for sending e-mails. Users now tend to have the internet in their pocket and utilise it while on the go.

Portable Device Connected to Cellular Network

Improvements in technology, gave rise to internet which is being used by all individuals at large. Earlier the access was limited to computers and laptop or a tablet which has now improved with the access through mobile devices as well. Internet can now be accessed while on the go and users can get connected to the web through Wi-Fi connection.

MiFi is one type of a portable device which can be connected to a cellular network while providing internet access for devices. It allows multiple users together with mobile devices in sharing a 3G or 4G mobile broadband internet connection creating an ad-hoc network. Staying connected especially when one is travelling or on a holiday is now made easy and economical with the aid of MiFi that enables to have access to the internet by wireless technology.

MiFi a brand name is used to describe a wireless router which can act as a mobile Wi-Fiand provides internet access to any Wi-Fi enabled peripheral device up to a distance of 30 ft.Being a portable Wi-Fi, it enables the user to connect up to five devices at the same time. People travelling to Spain for work or leisure, can use the facility of MiFi through www.alldayinternetspain.com and stay connected to the internet easily without any interruption, which is not very costly. 

Spanish 3G/4G – Economical Roaming Cost

Internet can be surfed through the Spanish 3G/4G network without the need of paying high roaming cost while travelling. User can reserve the portable device and keep the service provider updated on their arrival date as well as the return date and have the benefit of getting it delivered at their desired destination of either their hotel or the rental flat and get connected with the internet in Spain.

The portal device is delivered in a package which also contains a self-addressed stamped envelope to put in the device after they have finished the use of it. The user is instructed to put the same in a mailbox or could use the option of seeking the help of the hotel associate in delivering the package to the mail carrier. The said package could also be sent to the airport since every Spanish airport has a mailbox.

Device Light/Easy to Use

The device is easy to use wherein it can be connected to the Wi-Fi in the iPhone, Android, Windows8, laptop, tablet, PSP etc. Once connected one can engage in surfing the internet in Spain. The device is very light and covers almost 98 percent of Spain. They can stay connected with their family and friends through WhatsApp or Skype, or even update the trip details on social network like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and avoid unwanted expense by disconnecting the roaming option.

On disconnecting the roaming option, users can saved from being overcharged by internet cost while they travel from one location to another. This portable device proves to be of immense help while travelling, enabling them to stay connected or even coping up with the task which needs to be done through the internet besides keeping their family and friends updated through WhatsApp and other means of communicating.

A Pensioner's Guide to Using the Internet to Research Products

Pensioners are no fools when it comes to new technology, after all the first programmable computer was invented in 1936 and during the Second World War many young men and women were operating code breaking machines with such deftness that would impress any computer programmer. Online technology may be new, but the basics behind it are not.

The Internet has, since its birth in the 1980s, made the world a much smaller place and has opened up knowledge to anyone at anytime, anywhere in the world.



By using the Internet, you can discover information in seconds which also means that you can now research any products that you buy, read reviews about them and find the cheapest prices. With our pensioner's guide to using the Internet to research products, we'll show you how.

Research your Products Online



There are billions and billions of website and whilst many of these many be useful, informative and correct, others may be scams or fake sites, so how can you research something properly and filter out the results you need?

STEP 1: Log onto the Internet and go to a search engine. The most popular search engines are Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask Jeeves.

STEP 2: Think about what it is you are looking for. Do you need a particular brand? What is your budget? Knowing exactly what you are looking for will help narrow down the search and make you less vulnerable to impulse buying.

STEP 3: Type in your search phrase and try to be as specific as possible. Searching for "stairlifts" may bring up thousands of results, many of which will not be relevant, but searching for "curved stairlifts for sale in south London" will narrow down your search, providing you with more relevant results.

STEP 4: Choose the result which closely matches what you are looking for. If you realise that the website is not what you are looking for, you can quickly go back to your search results by using the back arrow to the left of the address bar at the top of your screen.

Finding Trusted Websites



Whilst the majority of websites out there are trustworthy, unfortunately some opportunists have exploited the Internet to advertise their own, unscrupulous websites. These can look convincing and can even have portfolios and testimonials from satisfied customers but anyone can write a testimonial.

Here's how to tell if a site is genuine:

- It should have a full postal address, email and landline contact telephone number.

- Some sites have an "s" after the http in the site address which indicates that it is safe.

- If you are unsure then call the telephone number given on the website.

- You can also search the name of the company online to discover a little more about it.

- You should also look for delivery charges as these charges can add considerably to the cost.

Check out their returns policy too, just in case there's a problem. You need to know how easy it would be to return a product, if you have to pay for return postage and if you would be entitled to a full or partial refund.

Comparing Prices

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The Internet offers a great way to compare prices, for instance if you were looking for stairlift prices then you can search the type of stairlift you require and compare the prices and services of lots of different stairlift companies. Always be aware though that if something sounds too good to be true, then it usually is.

You can also use price comparison sites such as Moneysupermarket and Pricechecker which will compare prices from hundreds of websites for you.

Finding Reviews

If you are to make an online purchase then obviously you can't view it beforehand or try it out, so it's handy to get some customer reviews and feedback. Any reputable site should provide customer feedback and ratings on their products but you can also look at review sites such as Trusted Reviews and Which?. Happy Shopping!
This helpful blog was provided by Acorn Stairlifts, the name you can trust in stairlift installation, design and manufacture. Why not read more of our informative blogs on stairlift advice and online articles for the elderly.

Internet access, a human right?

The internet is there a human right? It was the complex question asked during the www2012 conference which was held this week in Lyon. Proposed answer ... Internet played a significant role in the popular protests of the Arab Spring. Would they have happened without the network? Impossible to say, but it is clear that mobile connectivity and social networks have greatly facilitated their organization, to the point they have sometimes been dubbed "Facebook revolutions" or "Twitter revolution".

SOPA, an American-style super Hadopi

A bill currently pays American chronicle. Appointed Stop Online Piracy Act, it is intended as a kind of super Hadopi and take over the concept of firewall Chinese considered any website promoting copyright infringement will be blocked by Internet service providers based the United States. Widely lobbying by content publishers (Motion Picture Association of America, Recording Industry Association of America, but also the Chamber of Commerce US), this project raises naturally the controversy on the web.

Indeed, it is difficult to imagine that Google may delete the H.264 on YouTube

Now in only 32.89% of Internet users could continue to visit in the state, an unthinkable sacrifice. Even when Flash will integrate WebM will require that users update their version to be able to take advantage of: the current version of Flash does not pose this problem (Flash supports H.264 since version 9 was released in December 2007). Moreover, it is hard to imagine that Google has not contractually committed with partners like Apple to maintain compatibility with their devices.

The commitment of Google behind WebM at least has the merit of clarifying the situation regarding the giving of the codec on the field of patents: MPEG-LA has repeatedly stated that the free format violated certain of its patents, and that license was under development. The industry association cannot shake indefinitely without its threats would be implemented, and assuming that they are based, Google would be a prime target, except for example, at least for damages that it might represent. Adding however that nothing prevents the MPEG-LA to choose sparingly opponents court, especially since Google has made it clear she would not come to the aid of its partners.

In short, Google's decision is a stir of HTML5, which only give relevance to Flash, where Apple had done the opposite. And so exactly was the effect of strip searched? By restoring the importance of Flash, Google could very well work to the advantage of Android, which supports this format, unlike the IOS ... while going for the white knight of free formats.

But Google did not she simply followed the logic of ecosystem? Indeed, ownership of a video codec, it was destined to become a standard, not a major strategic issue, since interoperability is a crucial element specifically for industry standards. Exclusivity is the less put on a free. Google can certainly preside freely on the future of the codec and decide its future developments, but the side effects seem even more decisive than this one advantage, at least in the medium term.

These explanations do they justify the significant costs of investing behind Google WebM? He has still cost $ 100 million into the acquisition and conversion of over 120 million videos on YouTube will certainly be expensive that few others can afford. These figures are still to put into perspective: according to various estimates, the deficit would amount to YouTube about 500 million dollars just for 2009. A straw in comparison with 6.5 billion profits made last year by Google.