WIPE JUNK FROM YOUR BROWSER Remove all the rubbish Issue 355 that slows you down

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Enjoy the golden age of television

ack in the late 20th century, the only look at the best new ways to download TV thing more annoying than trying to set shows to , tablet or television. B the timer on your VHS recorder was From the smartest free apps to the sharpest listening to others discuss the intricacies of screens, we’ve got a full schedule of said process. Happily, it’s now much easier televisual delights to keep you entertained. to save TV shows for later and the only ones Also in this issue, on page 58 we explain suffering are those poor comedians trying to how to get the most from a 64-bit PC. squeeze stand-up material out of the BBC Because, unlike the surfeit of crummy cable iPlayer’s Download button. Yes, we’ve never channels, more bits really does make for a had it so good when it comes to watching better experience. when and where we want, and although quantity may overrule quality, the days of Robert Irvine tricky VHS timers are behind us. [email protected] In this issue’s cover feature (page 38), we #webuser

ISSUE 355 8 OCTOBER 2014 ON THE COVER Things you’ll 5 learn this issue

How to find and remove p54 1 duplicate images and other files from your PC page 28

How to enhance Chrome’s p38 2 New Tab page using stunning Pinterest photos page 30

How to add useful new tools 3 to VLC Media Player and other programs page 46

How to get paid-for apps for 4 less by setting up price-drop alerts page 56

How to stop 5 adverts tracking you online page 68

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Share your knowledge at forum.webuser.co.uk 8 October 2014 3 FREE IR -REPA PC T! TOOLKI Contents SU BSSCCRIRIPPTTIIOONSNS Turnto page62for specialsubsoffers ISSUE 355 8 OCTOBER 2014

COVER FEATURE DOWNLOADTV TOWATCHANYWHERE WaW tch your favourite shos ws when you want p38

Make your personal fi les vanish from view p48

WD’s wireless hard drive for mobile devices p20

IN DEPTH Articles on the latest tech topics REVIEWS Apps, sites and products on test

36 Instant Expert 14 Best New Websites Apple Watch and iPhone 6 We review the best new and relaunched sites 38 COVER FEATURE 20 Product Test Download TV to watch anywhere • WD My Passport Wireless • Spaced360 View your favourite shows whenever you want • WiSPP Wi-Fi Smart Point Plug 44 Edit and enhance your videos 26 Best Free Software We test six free video-editing programs This fortnight’s most useful free downloads 46 Add extra features to popular programs 30 Best New Browser Tools The best add-ons for your favourite software Get more from Chrome, Firefox and Opera 48 Make personal fi les invisible 32 Best Free Apps Tools for hiding your most sensitive data Our favourite new phone and tablet apps

4 8 October 2014 Contents

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FAVOURITES Must-read regulars EDITORIAL Group Editor Daniel Booth DeputyEditor Robert Irvine Technical & Reviews Editor Andy Shaw 6 What’s New Online Today’s ‘smart’ gadgets Staff Writer Edward Munn 10 brilliant things to do on the web Senior Designer Laurence Hallam are dead stupid p74 Production Editor Miki Berenyi Editorial Tel: 020 7907 6000 Visit www.webuser.co.uk/forums 8 Need to Know for technical and buying advice This fortnight’s top tech news stories ADVERTISING Tel: 020 7907 6799 Advertising Director Andrea Mason 12 Stay Safe Online Group Advertising Manager Charlotte Milligan Security advice for PC and mobile Deputy Advertising Manager Alexa Dracos Account Manager Ricardo Sidoli ADVERTISING PRODUCTION 18 Build a Better Site Group Production Manager Expert tips, tools and practical help Stephen Catherall, 020 7907 6054 Production Controller Ebony Besagni, 020 7907 6060 MARKETING 24 Best Buys Marketing and Editorial Executive Paul Goodhead Our pick of the best new products Subscriptions Manager Sarah Aldridge Marketing Production Manager Gemma Hills MANAGEMENT 50 Broadband Deals 72 Inbox Tel: 020 7907 6000 Find the best-value package for you Tell us your views and opinions Group Managing Director Ian Westwood Managing Director John Garewal Deputy Managing Director Tim Danton 51 Take a Screen Break 74 Page 404 MD of Advertising Julian Lloyd-Evans Commercial and Retail Director David Barker How well do you know ? Why can’t technology just work? COO Brett Reynolds Group Finance Director Ian Leggett Chief Executive James Tye Company Founder Felix Dennis pages17 SYNDICATION Syndication Senior Manager Anj Dosaj-Halai Tel: +44 (0)20 7907 6132 Practical Email: [email protected] INTERNATIONAL LICENSING Workshops, tips, projects and problem solving Web User is available for licensing overseas. Licensing & Syndication Assistant Nicole Adams Tel: +44 (0)20 7907 6134 Email: [email protected] 52 Workshop 1 LICENSING, REPRINTS, EPRINTS Find bargain-price apps Wright’s Media: 0800 051 8327 (Toll Free) Enhance your photos with Pixlr through AppZapp p56 SUBSCRIPTIONS Tel: 0844 322 1289 Email: [email protected] 54 Workshop 2 You can manage your existing subscription through Remove hidden junk from browsers www.subsinfo.co.uk. This should be your fi rst port of call if you have any queries about your subscription. Fax: 01795 414555. A subscription to Web User for one 56 Workshop 3 year costs £52 for UK subscribers, £90 for Europe and £146 for the rest of the world. Call 0844 322 1289 to get Get the app you want when its price the next issue, delivered free to your door. drops PRINTING Printed by Polestar Bicester, Oxon 57 Workshop 4 Distributors Seymour 020 7396 4000 PERMISSIONS Make easier to use Material may not be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the publisher. Please address such requests to: John Garewal, Dennis Publishing, 58 Weekend Project 30 Cleveland Street, W1T 4JD Make the most of 64-bit systems Rewind your PC with Restore LIABILITY While every care was taken preparing this magazine, Point Creator p57 the publishers cannot be held responsible for the 64 Web User’s Top Tips accuracy of the information or any consequence How to use a proxy or VPN arising from it. All judgments are based on equipment available to Web User at the time of review. ‘Value for money’ comments are based on UK prices at time of review. Web User takes no responsibility for the 66 Ask the Expert content of external websites whose addresses are All your technical questions answered published in the magazine. © Copyright Dennis Publishing Limited. Web User is a 68 Readers’ Tips trademark of Felix Dennis. The best tips from our readers A DENNIS PUBLICATION Web User is published fortnightly by Dennis Publishing Ltd, 30 Cleveland Street, London W1T 4JD. Company registered in England. Material may not 70 Readers’ Helpdesk be reproduced in whole or part without the consent of Answers from our reader forums the publishers. ISSN 1473-7094

Get more tips in our newsletter at www.webuser.co.uk/newsletter 8 October 2014 5 What’s New Online

Read unlimited ebooks on your Kindle

mazon’s Kindle Unlimited A service has arrived in the UK, two months after launching in the US. It lets you read as many ebooks as you like for a monthly fee of £7.99. The service does for books what Spotify did for music and Netflix for films, providing an ‘all you can read’ Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, select it and click “Read for £0.00”. subscription service. , PCs and Macs (links for Be aware that Amazon will You can choose from more than these can be found at bit.ly/ automatically take £7.99 from your 650,000 books and also listen to up kindleapps355). credit or debit card at the end of the to 2,000 audiobooks through To give it a go, start the free 30-day trial if you don’t cancel, so make a Amazon’s Audible service. As well as trial, which offers the full service. Any note in your if you don’t being available on Kindles, you can book that is eligible has the Kindle want to commit to the monthly fee. use Amazon’s Kindle apps for iOS, Unlimited logo displayed on it. Just bit.ly/kindle355

Detect and avoid Search for Google’s suspicious Wi-Fi networks ‘structured snippets’ maps.skycure.com Google normally comes up with catchier names than Free Wi-Fi is ‘structured snippets’ when it comes to seach engine everywhere these optimisation, but don’t be put off by the uninspiring jargon. days, but As the company explains on its Research blog (bit.ly/ connecting to a search355), these snippets are useful facts, such as dates public hotspot runs and locations, that appear in the text of a search result. If the the risk of exposing information you were looking for can be seen straight away your laptop or in these ‘Structured Snippets’, then you won’t need to click mobile device to through to another site. malware infection Search for Titanic, for example, and you’ll see the date it and data theft. set off from Southampton and the route it took across the A new map from Atlantic. These snippets could be most useful when mobile-security company Skycure helps you avoid searching for devices, because you’ll be able to instantly see potentially dangerous networks by highlighting recent some of the product’s specifications. To illustrate this, threats on a map. Just enter a postcode to view where Google suggests searching for ‘nikon d7100’. You should see suspicious traffic has been detected, then click a marker for some specifications, written in bold, under the search result, more information about that threat and the network on including weight and display size. which it was identified. When we tried, Skycure found eight instances of threats in our area, on networks including The Cloud and BT Openzone. If you’re concerned about mobile security, you can download Skycure’s free app for iOS (bit.ly/skycureios355) or Android (bit.ly/skycureandroid355) to protect your device.

6 8 October 2014 What’s New Online

We highlight 10 of the most amazing and amusing things you can do on the web this fortnight

Watch BBC Click’s YouTube channel 5 TO FOLLOW ON .com/clickbbc Having recently celebrated its 750th @winechapuk episode, the BBC’s excellent technology Witty wine chat and reviews from a show Click has now launched its first “debonair but dissolute” oenophile YouTube channel. You can watch reports from Spencer Kelly and the team, including @pixlr the Webscape slot presented by former Updates from the image-editing Web User columnist Kate Russell. tool, and photos from its users

@marcusbrig On-tour observations and random Explore more Download and thoughts from comedian Marcus of the UK in play Elite 1984 Brigstocke @motorwaytraffic Minecraft ianbellelite.com Updates on driving conditions To mark the 30th anniversary of the across the UK’s motorway network groundbreaking Acornsoft game Elite, one of the original designers has made @AboutTheBBC a remake available to download from News on how the BBC works and his website for free. Elite: The New photos from behind the scenes Kind is based on the original space combat and trading game, but adds elements from later versions. You can play a version of the game in Chrome Use for iOS 8 in the online BBC Micro emulator. bit.ly/skype355 Skype has been updated for iOS 8 on iPhones to let you manage calls bit.ly/mine355 and from your lock The Ordnance screen and Notification Center by Survey has just swiping. You’ll need to switch on updated its Minecraft Notifications for Skype within map, launched last September, to . Find out more at Skype’s include every house in the UK. The Support page: bit.ly/skypeinfo355. map uses 83 billion blocks, each one representing 25 metres of soil, grass or road. Click the link above for Check how fast you read download instructions on the bit.ly/read355 Ordnance Survey website, where you’ll This test, created by Tesco’s soon be able to use an interactive map Blinkbox, estimates how long it to find your own house. would take you to read classic books such as War and Peace. Just read an excerpt, answer a few questions, then compare your time Upload existing with the average. videos to Vine Search school records on bit.ly/vine355 Findmypast Vine has updated its Android app so that users bit.ly/school355 can upload videos stored on your phone or You can now search 2.5 million tablet directly to the video-sharing service. school registers and log books from Previously, you were only able to share between 1870 and 1914 on you’d recorded through the Vine app. Other Findmypast. The records cover improvements in the updated app include a schools in 13 counties of England flashlight for recording in low light and the ability and Wales, with more due in 2015. to duplicate and trim clips.

Discuss web news at forum.webuser.co.uk 8 October 2014 7 Need to Know Shellshock Bash bug triggers web security fears

What happened? Remember the big Heartbleed scare a few months ago? Now there’s another simple and potentially devastating bug that’s affecting the web and devices that connect to it. Bash (an acronym of Bourne-Again Shell) is a Unix-like command shell that’s been around for decades and is installed on many Linux systems and even in Mac OS X, the software that runs Apple’s computers. Researchers have found a bug in Bash called Shellshock – a vulnerability that allows hackers to add their own code to your system. When Bash is run, that code is executed on your PC or other device, triggering whatever commands and programs the sparked a series of hacks to test the challenge – and many routers have hacker wants to run. bug, and it’s likely hackers are already complicated tools that make this As well as compromising PC security, looking for ways to capitalise on difficult even for tech-savvy users – Shellshock affects software from Shellshock. Worryingly, one researcher, update your router by simply buying a Apache, which controls web servers and Dan Guido of Trail of Bits, revealed that new one every now and then, or asking is used by over 50 per cent of all the “you can just cut and paste a line of for a fresh model from your ISP. websites in existence. Apache servers code and get good results”. run Bash in the background, which What do we think? means hackers can set up sites using How will it affect you? This is yet another reminder of how Bash to infect users when they visit. Some researchers, including Robert weak many of the systems we rely on Bash is also used in hardware that Graham of Errata Security (www actually are. This bug is about 20 years connects to the internet, such as routers .erratasec.com), have said Shellshock old, so it’s been sitting on Apache and higher-level networking equipment. may be worse than Heartbleed, the servers for as long as the web’s been In fact, Bash is used in so many ways OpenSSL flaw that hit the web earlier around. that the possible hacking routes are this year and forced many of us to reset That said, the world hasn’t collapsed endless, making the flaw widespread our passwords. yet. Shellshock is a serious bug and one and difficult to patch. This Bash bug is different in that there that we should pay attention to, but it When the bug was revealed, isn’t much your average user can do, appears to be a problem for security researchers said there was little other than installing security updates experts to get to grips with rather than evidence to suggest hackers had ever when they’re released – which you for average users to address. The actually used it. However, the news should be doing anyway. At the time of standard advice is still worth repeating: writing, many Linux variations had make sure you run security updates already issued a patch. Apple followed regularly, practise good password shortly afterwards, although it initially management and have reliable anti- said “the vast majority of OS X users are virus software installed. not at risk”. Shellshock highlights the inherent Heartbleed and Shellshock both weaknesses in the web and the big affect a wide variety of networking problems faced by working in IT devices, which are difficult to update. security: old, out-of-date and buggy Routers, for example, often run old code along with constant pressure from software that isn’t frequently patched, hackers. While threats such as if ever. To protect yourself against these Shellshock and Heartbleed are scary, bugs, it’s worth getting to grips with let’s take a moment to appreciate the your router and learning how to keep it people who are doing so much to keep updated. If that’s too much of a us safe online.

8 8 October 2014 Need to Know

What we think of this fortnight’s top tech stories and rumours

Apple hit by ‘bendy phones’ and iOS flaws

What happened? How will it affect you? Apple customers were As a rule, it’s always unwise bent out of shape following to rush into updating your the launch of the latest phone, and it’s best to wait iPhones, after bugs were for other users to test a found in the new iOS new version of mobile mobile OS and some users software before you install experienced problems with it on your own device. the larger iPhone 6 Plus Delaying the update for a model bending when kept few days could save you a in a pocket. lot of frustration. Sales of the new If your iPhone 6 Plus is handsets topped 10 million showing signs of warping, over the first weekend, but take it into an Apple store. the bugs in iOS 8 meant With all the attention the that not all customers were problem has attracted, it’s happy. Apple issued an likely that Apple will simply update to fix the problems, replace the phone; and but that too had flaws, with they are legally obliged to users reporting that if it’s within your warranty battery life was failing and period. That said, perhaps that they couldn’t connect keeping an expensive Law change makes to a network. A new handset in your back update has since pocket isn’t the wisest idea addressed the issues. in the first place! web parodies legal The iPhone 6 Plus is Apple’s largest phone yet, What do we think? What happened? but you probably shouldn’t Apple is famous for its On 1 October, new keep it in a tight pocket. good design and carefully legislation came into effect Some users found that the made products, but this that permits the use of phone bends under round of iPhones suggests copyrighted material in pressure, particularly its standards may be online parodies such as around the volume controls slipping. However, these video mash-ups. Until now, – you can watch a ‘bend flaws are relatively small, anyone who created or test’ video at bit.ly/ and a test by Consumer distributed parodies that you won’t get in trouble for bend355. Apple admitted Reports suggests other used clips of films, TV sharing and that won’t be that it has received phones are as easily bent shows and songs without pulled from YouTube if complaints about devices as the 6 Plus. Such failings consent could be sued for someone complains. getting bent, but only from are of course amplified by breach of copyright. The nine customers out of the the media attention Apple new European Copyright What do we think? millions who bought the both demands and Directive (bit.ly/parody355) We’re tickled by the caveat handset. receives, but it’s still a pain lets you use material – but that parodies are only for users – it must be fair and funny. allowed if they’re funny. Apple must do Creators such as better next time How will it affect you? Cassetteboy have proved or risk a real If you’ve ever fancied doing that there’s an art to good backlash. your own parody, but were quality mash-up videos See our deterred by copyright (www.youtube.com/user/ Instant Expert fears, now’s your chance. cassetteboy) so we’re on page 36 for Hopefully, the change in pleased that they’ll no more about the the law will flood the web longer face the threat of new iPhones. with amusing parodies that legal action for their work.

Discuss web news at forum.webuser.co.uk 8 October 2014 9 Need to Know Mobile phones to be allowed on flights

What happened? How will it affect you? You’ll soon be able to use While you’ll be allowed to your mobile phone, tablet leave your connectivity and e-reader on switched on during your aeroplanes for the full flight, you probably won’t duration of the flight, be able to make phone because the European calls or send texts, Aviation Safety Agency because you’ll be too high (EASA) has decided that above mobile transmitters, portable electronic devices except during landing and aren’t a safety risk. takeoff. But don’t assume At the moment, mobile that you’ll be able to enjoy phones are normally a quiet flight, free from required to be in ‘flight ringing handsets and “I’m safe’ or ‘airplane’ mode, on a plane!” conversations with all connectivity because airlines will be disabled. Some airlines able to install in-flight allow passengers to use Wi-Fi equipment that their devices once the passengers can connect to plane is in the air, but if they choose. never during takeoff and landing. Now, you’ll be able to start your devices) throughout the flight, What do we think? phone conversation in the airport, regardless of whether the device is Air travel is one of the last bastions of continue it through takeoff, talk through transmitting or not.” disconnection. There are now very few the flight and keep chatting as the plane The change will come in after the places where our text messages, phone lands – assuming you have that much to individual airlines have completed calls and emails can’t reach us, and say, of course, and don’t mind annoying safety assessments, so it will take some that’s being slowly whittled away. We’re your fellow passengers. time before all flights comply, and some not sure why anyone wants or needs to EASA (easa.europa.eu) said it wants airlines may choose not to. In the make a phone call from a plane, unless airlines “to allow the use of these meantime, you’ll just have to listen to it’s about to crash. Don’t most of us go devices with freedom comparable to what the flight attendants say at the on holiday for a temporary escape from that in other modes of transport, for beginning of your trip to know which our everyday ? We hope that example in trains. EASA has made it technology you’re allowed to access airlines are sensible enough to limit possible for airlines to allow passengers during the journey and when you’re connectivity to data, so passengers can to use their PEDs (portable electronic allowed to use it. only send and receive quiet messages.

FIRST LOOK

BlackBerry Passport which is up there with the Passport should last uk.blackberry.com best Android smartphones, significantly longer while the casing uses the between charges than Once nicknamed ‘crackberry’, company’s signature black other smartphones. because of the popularity of its and silver, with a stainless The most interesting handsets, BlackBerry now claims only steel frame and soft-touch new feature is the a minuscule share of the mobile plastic finish on the back. Siri-like BlackBerry market (down from 50 per cent in It’s significantly wider than Assistant, which lets you 2009), but it’s hoped that the any other smartphone on use voice commands to Passport will get it back on track. the market and not make calls, send texts Named because it’s similar in size to particularly easy to use and BBM messages, an actual passport, the device’s with one hand. dictate emails, create unusual 4.5in square screen sits above Inside, the Passport is calendar appointments a physical QWERTY keyboard that surprisingly powerful, with and perform other tasks. doubles as a touch-sensitive trackpad. a 2.2GHz quad-core The wider screen and Considering that physical keys are processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal physical keys may find some fans, but what BlackBerry handsets are best storage and a microSD slot for adding we’re not convinced that square known for, this could be a sensible up to 64GB of extra space. On the back, smartphones are the way forward. It’ll decision to attract users who have a 13-megapixel camera with LED flash take more to tempt the masses away never taken to touchscreens. and optical image stabilisation is able to from iOS and Android handsets, The 1,440 x 1,440 resolution LCD take crisp, clear images, even in low especially when you consider the display has a pixel density of 453ppi, light, while the large battery means the Passport’s hefty £529 price tag.

10 8 October 2014 Need to Know

WHAT’S THE RUMOUR WEBOMETER Will home broadband WE LIKE... speeds reach 1Gbps? Jail sentence for Twitter troll BT has announced a “big A man who breakthrough” with ultra-fast bombarded broadband that saw it achieve Labour MP Stella record speeds at its research Creasy with centre in Ipswich. abuse on Twitter The field trials carried out by the has been jailed company hit download speeds of for 18 weeks. 800Mbps (megabits per second) Peter Nunn used and upload speeds of up to several accounts on the social 200Mbps upstream, network to send “indecent and meaning that BT could menacing” messages. boast of a combined speed of 1Gbps and cost involved in the Wales (gigabit per second). rollout of ultra-fast gets its Until now, it was broadband, while also own domain thought that only a dedicated business offering “the flexibility to tailor the names line or fibre-optic cable could deliver allocation of the total 1Gbps speed Following the such speeds, but BT’s test were according to a users’ needs”. BT launch of the conducted over a combined copper- described G.fast as “very promising”, ‘.scot’ domain and-fibre connection, which means that but hasn’t yet suggested when we for Scotland, Welsh companies home users could theoretically get the might see it in our homes. and individuals can now stake ultra-fast broadband in the near future. their claim to the internet by Dubbed G.fast, the technology works giving their sites ‘.wales’ and by rolling out fibre to telephone poles LIKELIHOOD RATING ‘.cymru’ names. or junction boxes close to business and ✓✓✓✓✓ residential premises, but maintaining the Considering that some people in DON’T LIKE... copper cables that run from there to the rural areas struggle to achieve WE properties – a technique that’s known speeds of more than 2Mbps, it’s New as Fibre-to-the-Distribution-Point. This hard to believe that BT will be Facebook enables the broadband network to serving up speeds that are 500 adverts track deliver very high speeds because the times faster. We reckon big web users fibre connection is closer to people’s businesses will get the speed Facebook’s new homes and businesses than it is with boost within the next 10 years, “people-based traditional set-ups, making the copper- but it seems slightly excessive for marketing” wire connection shorter. home use and would doubtless system, Atlas, will BT claimed the new technology could have a price to match. ditch cookies in help eliminate some of the disruption favour of letting advertisers track you across the web on all your devices, so they can target What’s new on Kickstarter you with personalised ads. Our favourite new project on the crowd-funding site Snapchat weight-loss spam Buzzb Snapchat users bit.ly/buzzb355 | From £5 were deluged by spam advertising Buzzb turns your into a £30 games console, a weight-loss which is certainly much cheaper than forking out for a website. The PlayStation or . It’s a quiz-game app that you can spam was sent from hijacked ‘cast’ to your telly to play on the big screen against friends and family. Buzzb’s Snapchat accounts, although the creators want to make the game as interactive as possible by including YouTube messaging service denied that it videos, Soundcloud audio and web images. Some of the quiz categories require had been hacked. Users in in-app purchases but, if you back the project, you’ll get them free forever. So far, several countries received the Buzzb has raised £356 of its £1,000 goal, with funding closing on 26 October. message.

Discuss web news at forum.webuser.co.uk 8 October 2014 11 Stay Safe Online News about the latest threats and advice from security experts

SECURITY ALERT! | What’s been bothering us this fortnight

More nude celebrity photos Ello knocked offline infected downloads. Bitdefender said: leaked by hackers “As always, when a big release is A third batch of personal pictures Social network Ello (ello.co), expected, scammers are just around stolen from hacked celebrity which is described as an the corner, waiting for users to fall into accounts has been posted online. ad-free version of Facebook, experienced their traps”. FIFA 15 shot straight to the The images again included nude its first major outage when it was top of the games charts when it was photos of actress Jennifer brought down by a “potential denial-of- released on 25 September. Lawrence, as well as service attack”. The problem was bit.ly/fifa355 supermodel Cara resolved by blocking the IP addresses of Delevingne and American attackers, after the site had been offline Mozilla fixes ‘phishing- Olympic gold medallist Misty May- for around 45 minutes. Ello has been friendly’ bug Treanor, and are believed to have rapidly growing in popularity since A critical cryptographic been taken from compromised Facebook began forcing people to use bug in Firefox and iCloud accounts. Apple has denied their real names. Thunderbird has been that the first leak of images in August bit.ly/ello355 patched by Mozilla, the company has was due to a security breach of its confirmed. The bug relates to the online storage service, but believes Warning over FIFA 15 scam validation of digital signatures over that the hackers guessed the login Bitdefender is warning gamers to watch secure internet connections and could details for individual accounts. The out for fake licence keys for the new potentially have allowed hackers to company has responded by Electronic Arts football game FIFA 15. redirect you to phishing sites so they introducing two-step verification for Several websites and blogs could harvest your details. Mozilla iCloud and has also launched a have been set up that recommends that users of its software privacysite (www.apple.com/privacy) promise keys and cracks ensure they update to the latest to explain its security practices. for the game, but instead version. bit.ly/icloud355 contain malicious code and bit.ly/mozilla355

Security Helpdesk | Your questions answered by security specialists

THIS ISSUE’S EXPERT: own using the camera. How worried embedded devices, which David Emm, Principal The motive for doing so Q should we be may not be as easy to Security Researcher at could be for sexual about the patch as traditional Kaspersky Lab (www gratification, to extort money ShellShock Bash bug computers. .kaspersky.co.uk) from someone after (see page 8)? The full scale of the capturing explicit film or Michael Kelly, Facebook problem is not yet clear, pictures of them, or to but cybercriminals have capture personal details such It’s potentially very already taken advantage of as credit cards and sensitive A dangerous, but not it (bit.ly/shellshock355). Can hackers take documents. We should also every system is Hackers and security Q over the camera bear in mind that hijacking a vulnerable. The vulnerability researchers will be testing on your phone? webcam also poses a threat allows an attacker to perform web services and Linux Terry Burrows, Twitter to those we need to protect remote-code execution software right now, and will the most – our children. attacks on any using publish the results of these Yes. They can use Our recent research at the Bash shell. Bash provides tests. The good news is A the same sort of Kaspersky Lab indicates that a shell on Unix, Linux and OS that vendors of some of malware that two thirds of smartphone X systems. Unfortunately, use the most popular products allows them to access users don’t realise that of this shell is widespread affected by the confidential data on a cybercriminals can control a because it is used in many vulnerability have already device. Once the device is device’s camera and that the server products, including prepared patches that compromised, the hacker camera can’t be disabled on those powering websites, as could at least partially can take images of their most smartphones. well as some routers and eliminate the problem.

12 8 October 2014 Email us your security questions at [email protected]

Best New Websites

Site of the Fortnight DESKTOP Browse SOFTWARE RELAUNCH software for Windows, Softpedia Mac and Linux www.softpedia.com

We’re big fans of Softpedia, so we’re delighted that the download site has ditched its dog’s dinner of a design in favour of a more modern and aesthetically pleasing look. The homepage is a huge improvement, with plenty of space for new features such as a ‘Trending Downloads’ graph, a ‘Software of the Day’ pick and a much larger search box. Navigating Softpedia is now easier and the information on program pages is more clearly presented, with detailed reviews and good-sized screengrabs. Sadly, the site is still plagued by ads MOBILE disguised as download links, but at least Read reviews of new the genuine button is now more obvious. phones, tablets and apps Our rating ★★★★★

RELAUNCH TECHNOLOGY The Gadget Show gadgetshow.channel5.com The Channel 5 technology show has revamped it website to coincide with its RELAUNCH new series and, although the design TECHNOLOGY doesn’t look hugely different, there are a Motorola few notable improvements. The new Episodes section makes it easier to catch www.motorola.co.uk up with old editions of the show (until To coincide with the release of updated versions of the Moto G and , Motorola’s 2017!) and you can watch product website has become an online store where UK customers can now buy Motorola launches by clicking Events. We also like phones, accessories and the new Moto 360 smartwatch directly from the company. that The Gadget Shows’ Facebook and The site uses massive photos to illustrate the key benefits of the products and offers Twitter feeds are now more prominent, an innovative online tool for creating a customised version of the Moto X, in the to increase interaction between viewers colour and style of your choice, with an engraved message on the back. Delivery and and the team, and that the streamlined, VAT are included in the prices, and you can also buy Motorola baby monitors and mobile-friendly homepage gives the corded and cordless phones. It’s an impressive effort from a company that’s on a roll. latest stories more room to breathe.

Our rating ★★★★★ Our rating ★★★★★

14 8 October 2014 Reviews by Robert Irvine Best New Websites

We review this fortnight’s best new and relaunched websites and rate them for content, design and features

NEWS Softpedia’s news section goes beyond tech stories

WEB Compare and download the latest browsers

RELAUNCH NEW RELAUNCH CULTURE FUN FOOD Design Museum Face My Age Eat designmuseum.org facemyage.com eat.co.uk The online home of the Design Museum Do you look your age? And how long will The fresh-food chain has relaunched its is a minimalist delight, providing a you live? Find out by uploading a photo site to match its new-look high-street welcome antidote to the overcrowded of yourself to Face My Age, which shops, which can be found in most major websites of many cultural attractions. analyses your mug shot and asks a few UK cities. The smarter layout works much Initially, it seems like nothing more than a lifestyle questions to determine your better on phones and tablets, and series of giant images but as you scroll ‘face age’ and expected lifespan, augments the simple categories, such as down the page, details of exhibitions including how many days you have left. Food, Where and Delivers, with a bold come gliding in from the side and the Obviously, a lot depends on the quality mission statement – “we love to see menu bar appears across the top. Click and the angle of the photo, and the site friendships being made and days being this for information about planning your certainly isn’t as scientific as it claims. brightened”! It’s now easier to browse visit to the South East London museum, We were rudely told that we looked 11 the Eat menu and see nutritional and a selection of the designs and years older than our actual age, while our information for each item, and you can designers you’ll see there, including a 26-year-old Staff Writer looked either 16 quickly check the week’s soups, pies and history of chairs since the 1800s. or 60, depending on the photo! But as a hot pots, including tasty new addition Sometimes less really is more. bit of fun, Face My Age is worth a go. Sweet Potato & Bell Pepper Goulash.

Our rating ★★★★★ Our rating ★★★★★ Our rating ★★★★★

Tell us about your website via [email protected] 8 October 2014 15 Best New Websites

RELAUNCH NEW NEW DISABILITY NEWS FOOD DisabledGo Bellingcat Making Sense of www.disabledgo.com bellingcat.com Sugar This excellent source of accessibility So much news is recycled, speculative makingsenseofsugar.com information for venues across the UK and and fact-free that this site “by and for With health chiefs warning that sugar is Ireland has relaunched to make the site citizen journalists” is a real eye-opener. as harmful as tobacco and alcohol, this more accessible itself. DisabledGo now Bellingcat uses open-source material site from sugar company AB Sugar uses sophisticated ReciteMe software to such as online photos, maps and mounts a defence of the sweet stuff. This let visitors customise its content to suit social-media posts to piece together includes a video about “the role it can their needs. This includes increasing the information that other news sources play in a balanced diet”, a quiz to test font size, changing the colour contrast miss. Recently, the site’s founder claimed your sugar knowledge (“fact or fiction: and – best of all – using the text-to- to have pinpointed the location where US brown sugar is better for me than white”) speech tool to have pages read aloud. journalist James Foley was beheaded by and info about nutrition and diet. Making These useful features perfectly ISIS, and posted photos of the Russian Sense of Sugar is surprisingly well put complement DisabledGo’s missile system used to down Flight MH17. together, with a spoonful of useful health comprehensive access guides, which tell Bellingcat is always careful to support its advice and even some links to fitness you all you need to know about the stories with plenty of evidence, and even apps. However, its one-sided view of the standard of disabled facilities in hotels, explains its verification techniques. It subject implies that if you get fat and restaurants, pubs, museums and more. makes for genuinely fascinating reading. your teeth rot, then it’s your own fault.

Our rating ★★★★★ Our rating ★★★★★ Our rating ★★★★★

NEW SPORT National Sports Museum Online NEW www.nationalsportsmuseumonline .org.uk

From the National Football Museum in FAMILY Manchester to the Marylebone Cricket Guinness World Records Kids Club Museum, this excellent site gathers info about UK sports-heritage collections. www.guinnessworldrecords.com/kids Find out the collections’ contents (photos Want to hear the world’s loudest bicycle horn? Or see the world’s tallest and shortest are provided, where available), location dogs? Then head to this Guinness World Records site “just for kids”, which skips and who to contact; then click through boring adult achievements about, say, growing vegetables to show you the most to the websites. The site’s listings are still watermelons smashed with a person’s head. All the records are presented as photos growing, with only one entry for golf, but and videos, rather than written descriptions and statistics, which will suit children with you can add collections to the directory short attention spans but may disappoint parents and teachers hoping for educational and map. With details of sports-heritage content. The simple, vibrant design makes browsing fun and kids can visit the parent events too, it’s a marvellous bookmark site to learn more, for example, about the man with the world’s widest tongue. for anyone interested in sport history.

Our rating ★★★★★ Our rating ★★★★★

16 8 October 2014 Best New Websites

NEW PRIVACY Hasmyidentitybeen stolen.com www.hasmyidentitybeenstolen.com Co-founded by a former Fraud Squad NEW detective, this site claims to tell you if TECHNOLOGY your personal identity details have been Microsoft Mobile Devices stolen and are being traded on the ‘dark www.microsoft.com/mobile web’. Enter your email address to find out if and when it’s been compromised, As we reported last issue, Microsoft is currently rethinking Windows Phone, but in the or search for a postcode to check if ID meantime it’s launched this site to remind us how amazing the handsets are. You can records for that address have been browse the full range of Lumia and Asha devices, try them in different colours and traded. Data collected before 15 August view full specifications and available accessories. The friendly layout highlights 2014 is free, but if you want up-to-date Windows Phone’s unique features and attractive looks, although the photos and monitoring, you’ll need to pay from £9.99 videos suggest it’s mainly targeted at trendy youngsters. The site doesn’t sell phones a year for an ID Protect Product. We directly, but it helpfully tells you where to find the best deals for contract, pay-as-you- appreciate the site’s vigilance over our go and SIM-free. And if you already own a Windows Phone, there’s an extensive data, but its lack of detail and advice Support section with troubleshooting advice, software updates and other useful info. comes across as scare-mongering.

Our rating ★★★★★ Our rating ★★★★★

+ALSO NEW WEBSITE GOLD SCIENCE SECRETS Royal Mint Bullion Sciencebite royalmintbullion.com www.sciencebite.com Create and share custom ★★★★★ ★★★★★ themes Buy gold and silver coins direct from If you want research to be properly You can cheer up your Gmail inbox the Royal Mint at this shiny new site. conducted, get a scientist to do it. by creating a personalised theme Prices are based on live market rates That’s the concept behind Sciencebite, from one of and coins can either be sent to you via which connects research and your an insured postal service or stored in development teams with scientists favourite the Royal Mint’s own vault, from which who are experts in a specific field. Post photos, you can also sell them back. Only the a question and get the answer either then share gold ones, though – if you bought privately or publicly. And if you happen it with silver, you’re stuck with it! to be a boffin, you can sign up to family and advertise your own skills. friends. RECYCLING Click the Recycling for Schools HOUSING cog icon, choose Themes, recyclingforschools.co.uk Homes for Britain then click either Custom Light or ★★★★★ www.homesforbritain.org.uk Custom Dark in the Custom We love this lively, colourful site for the ★★★★★ Themes section. Click ‘Select a Recycling for Schools scheme, which At this site, you can find out more background image’, then choose makes recycling old ink cartridges, about Homes for Britain’s campaign to ‘My photos’ to browse pictures in mobile phones and other gadgets “end the housing crisis within a your or Google+ account, or seem like tremendous fun. Children generation”. It explains how the ‘Upload photos’ to use an image can request recycling bins, print campaign hopes to achieve its aims in from your hard drive. You can then posters and leaflets to promote the the run-up to Election Day, using a click ‘Share this theme’ to send scheme, and use the price list to check comic strip to illustrate the “six major someone a link to the theme by how much money their school will get milestones”, although there isn’t much email, post it on Google+ or copy for specific items. information about how to get involved. and paste it elsewhere.

Tell us about your website via [email protected] 8 October 2014 17 Build a Better Site Specialist tips, top tools and practical help

Top Tips of the Fortnight Web-building Helpdesk THIS ISSUE’S EXPERT: Search your site from Google Lola Mealha-Hall, Designer, You might notice that some sites Front-end Developer and are starting to show their own Project Manager at Wholegrain search boxes under their results in Digital (www.wholegraindigital.com) Google searches, which lets people carry out a secondary Do you know of any free search of a target site before Q WooCommerce (bit.ly/woo355) they’ve left Google. The search WordPress themes? The ones box appears if people search for I’ve found are really bland. a site by name and uses Google’s before or import images from a Joel Cieslar, Facebook standard ‘site:’ search command. range of sources. ‘From your If you have already set up your phone’ has some handy new AyoShop (bit.ly/ayoshop355) is a own site search tool, you can options that are worth exploring, A fully functional WooCommerce encourage Google to use this especially if you automatically theme built on the Genesis instead, by inserting special mark- back-up your pictures. Hover over framework. It has custom widgets, great up codes. Find out more from one and you can now rotate its documentation and simple, powerful options. Google at bit.ly/sitesearch355. orientation and remove any Virtue (bit.ly/virt355) is a very versatile photos you don’t like. theme using the Bootstrap framework, so New pictures it’s optimised for mobile devices, which is an Blogger (www.blogger.com) has absolute must nowadays. Packed full of changed the way you upload Deal of the Fortnight premium style features, it’s WooCommerce photos to your blog. When GoDaddy’s website builder (bit.ly/ and translation-ready, letting you reach a creating a post, click the ‘Insert godaddy355) is on sale, with prices starting worldwide audience. Other good themes image’ button. The options are from £1.20 per month, including a free include Unite (bit.ly/unite355), Mio (bit.ly/ now arranged across the top. You domain name. mio355) and Travelify (bit.ly/trav355). can either upload a picture as

MINI WORKSHOP | Cut out the FTP middle-man Notepad++: notepad-plus-plus.org | 10 mins | Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8+

If you update your own website, you probably use FTP software to send HTML files to your site’s web server. The text editor Notepad++ has FTP built-in, so you can access, edit and save your files without separate software.

5 2 1 1 1 3 2 4 2

3 3

Open Notepad++ and open the Click the Connect icon and select Make any changes you want to 1 Plugins menu. Select NppFTP, then 2 your site. 1 If you have any problems 3 make to the document. When you Show NppFTP Window. 1 Click the cog connecting, click the ‘Show messages click the Save icon, 1 the file will and select ‘Profile settings’. 2 Click window’ button 2 which opens the automatically be uploaded back to the ‘Add new’ 3 and fill in the FTP details information panel. 3 Your site’s folder server. You can use the tabs 2 to have of your site’s web hosting. If you don’t structure should appear on the right. 4 a number of files open at once. Click know what these are, try your hosts’ Use the tree to find the file you want to the Connect button 3 again to Help section or contact the support edit and double-click it. It will download disconnect when you’re done. team. and appear in the main window. 5

18 8 October 2014 Email us your website building questions at [email protected] DOMAINS | | HOSTING | eCOMMERCE | SERVERS

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martphones and tablets gigabytes, or even a terabyte have brought many or two, you’ll need an S things to our pockets, external drive. This wireless but ample storage space isn’t rechargeable hard drive from one of them. Some Android WD comes in 500GB, 1TB devices have memory-card and 2TB models, so you can slots, and you can pay to get keep space-hogging movies, your devices pre-loaded with music and photos off your extra memory, but this is still device, and leave more room only measured in the tens of for apps. gigabytes. To take your The first time you switch on storage up to hundreds of the drive, it creates an unprotected network. Set your PRODUCT INFO device to join this network, then use the app or internal WD My Passport browser-based configuration on a separate camera. Just your content with you all the Wireless tool to give the network a take the SD card out of the time, there are cheaper www.wd.com password, or connect it to camera, slot it into the WD My standard drives you could use Price: 500GB: £109; another network. It uses WD’s Passport and use the app to to store your stuff. But we 1TB: £137.99; existing My Cloud app, so if transfer the files to the drive. think the versatility is worth 2TB: £179.99 you have a WD NAS (network This is an expensive paying for, and the supplied Buy from: attached storage), you may addition for a tablet or USB 3 cable lets you use it as store.westerndigital already be using it. smartphone, so if you don’t a regular external PC hard .com Similar devices we’ve tested mind manually juggling the drive, as well as a handy SPECIFICATIONS in the past have struggled to content on your devices and portable drive to give your maintain a web connection can live without having all wireless gadgets more space. ■ 802.11n Wi-Fi while giving access to the ■ SD card slot drive, but the My Passport ■ USB 3.0 Wireless gets around this OUR VERDICT ★★★★★ ■ 127 x 86 x 22mm problem by connecting itself FOR to an existing network, when Tablets and smartphones FEATURES ★★★★★ there’s one available. This never provide enough PERFORMANCE ★★★★★ ✓Lots of external storage for all means you maintain your storage, and this handy EASE OF USE ★★★★★ your devices device’s web connection and wireless hard drive lets you VALUE FOR MONEY ★★★★★ ✓ Can join an existing Wi-Fi can connect to the My share your videos, photos network so you can connect without Passport Wireless from any and music across all your losing the internet device connected to that devices. It also connects to cable for super-fast file ✓ Very versatile network. your network, acting like a transfer. It’s not cheap, but The drive has an SD card miniature NAS drive, and it you get a good range of AGAINST slot, which is particularly can connect directly to a options and a lot of storage ✗ Expensive way to buy storage handy for backing up content PC with its supplied USB 3 space. such as digital photos taken

20 8 October 2014 WD My Passport Wireless and Spaced 360 Product Test

Spaced 360 Looking for a Bluetooth speaker with power and volume? Andy Shaw tests the new Spaced360

luetooth speakers rarely the Bluetooth button on the bass. You can crank the money, you could create a have the power to fill a top for three seconds and the volume up to a significant multi-room set-up using B room with sound, but device will go into pairing level without distorting the devices from Sonos (www the Spaced360’s unusual mode. This makes it appear sound, but with no padding .sonos.com) or Pure (www shape is designed to project on your mobile or tablet’s underneath to soften its .pure.com). But if you know sound in all directions, filling Bluetooth menu, where you impact on hard surfaces, we you want just one speaker to a space from the centre, can select it and immediately experienced some added move around with you, the rather than blasting from the start playing music through it. vibration when it was resting Spaced360 sounds great and walls in the manner of a Its Bluetooth connection on certain items of furniture. fits the bill. traditional stereo set-up. supports the aptX standard, You’ll have to experiment with It’s available in black or The speaker is very easy to which uses improved audio different surfaces until you silver, but if you fancy use. Simply press and hold compression (a full list of find one that doesn’t buzz. something brighter, there’s a phones that support aptX can At £250, this is a very range of colourful rubber be found at bit.ly/aptx355). expensive speaker. For less cases for £30 each. PRODUCT INFO And if your phone or tablet Spaced360 has NFC (near-field communication), you can www.spaced360.com simply rest it on top of the Price: £250 speaker and connect that SPECIFICATIONS way, although we can’t verify if this is as easy as it sounds ■ 3 x 2in full-range drivers because we didn’t have an ■ 3 x curved, mass-loaded bass radiators NFC-compatible device to test it with. ■ 3 x Class D amplifiers, 20W per The speaker has a channel rechargeable battery with a ■ 75Hz to 18KHz frequency response claimed life of four to 14 ■ Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR, SBC, A2DP, hours, depending on how aptX low latency hard you’re pushing it. When ■ Bluetooth range 10m it starts to run down, the ■ 1.1kg green LED lights on the top of ■ 220 x 190 x 88mm the device turn red, so you OUR VERDICT ★★★★★ FOR know it’s time to return it to the charging dock. The Spaced360 may be FEATURES ★★★★★ ✓Room-filling sound from a We tested the Spaced 360 expensive, but it projects PERFORMANCE ★★★★★ Bluetooth speaker with a range of music, and it top-quality sound in all EASE OF USE ★★★★★ ✓ Easy to connect to and use all sounded superb. Put it in directions and is capable of VALUE FOR MONEY ★★★★★ AGAINST the centre of a room and it volume without distortion. throws the sound out in three It also looks good, can ✗ More features available in cheaper directions to fill every corner, connect using Bluetooth or audio-in connection for speakers keeping high notes clear and NFC and includes a back-up wiring up other devices. audible without sacrificing

Discuss this review at forum.webuser.co.uk 8 October 2014 21 Product Test WiSPP Wi-Fi Smart Point Plug WiSPP Wi-Fi Smart Point Plug Andy Shaw looks at a new device to help secure your home using your smartphone or tablet

imer switches use a override the app settings so simple clock and a you can also turn it on or off T pass-through socket to without your phone. override the mains switch Using the app to set up the and turn on lamps while a device is fairly easy. We property is empty, making it encountered a problem look like there are people at because iOS devices have home. As useful as they are, to be held very close to they have their limits: they’re the WiSPP, which wasn’t fiddly to adjust, have a mentioned in the instructions, restricted range of settings but the technical support was and can’t be controlled very helpful and quickly remotely. responded to our query. An The WiSPP (Wi-Fi Smart app update to fix this was Point Plug) aims to overcome waiting for Apple’s approval, these shortfalls. Instead of but by the time you read this, changing settings on the it should be available on the device, you download an app app store. (available for Android and iOS Most standard plug timers devices), which controls the can set up a series of points plug, even when you’re away over a 24-hour period to from home. The plug itself has switch the plug on and off. just one button to turn it on Because the WiSPP’s and off, which can be used to configuration is controlled via an app, it’s abilities are much more sophisticated. You can PRODUCT INFO use the app to turn the device WISPP on or off; set it to turn off www.wispp.co.uk after a certain length of time Setting the various timers is as easy as Price: £32 (handy if you need to charge putting appointments into a calendar a device for a couple of hours SPECIFICATIONS and don’t want to leave it ■ On/off switch on device plugged in overnight); and set ■ Connects to Wi-Fi network a range of timed on/off ■ Android and iOS apps available switches to operate at OUR VERDICT ★★★★★ ■ Control any device that plugs into different times on different the wall days of the week. Being able to control your FEATURES ★★★★★ The app makes all this plug sockets while you’re PERFORMANCE ★★★★★ FOR straightforward. One big away from home is a luxury EASE OF USE ★★★★★ button switches it on and off, that most people probably VALUE FOR MONEY ★★★★★ ✓Lots more options than and setting the various timers don’t realise they need. a standard timer switch is as easy as putting However, if you want to ✓ Control lights and other devices, appointments into a calendar. turn on a light in your switch, the WiSPP works even while you’re away from home The plugs cost around £32 house the next time you’re a treat. each, which is expensive for a out late at night, or you However, you could buy AGAINST timer switch, but you’re would benefit from a more half a dozen basic timer ✗ Much more expensive than a getting a lot more options sophisticated set of options plugs for the price of this standard timer switch with this than you would for organising your timer model. with a standard model.

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HARDWARE NAS DRIVE WQHD MONITOR

Asustor AS-202TE AOC q2770Pqu

£199.66 from www.scan.co.uk £367.96 from www.dabs.com Date tested: September 2014 Date tested: August 2014

The Asustor AS-202TE put in an excellent performance in The AOC q2770Pqu has an exceptional, our tests, transferring files over our network faster than any high-quality screen and is very reasonably priced. Its settings of the other devices we tested. It has an impressive range of are preconfigured, so you don’t need to tweak them to tools, including HDMI output for streaming to TV. improve the display, and it has all the ports you’ll ever need.

KEY SPECS KEY SPECS EXT4 ■ SATA3 hard drive ■ 2 x 3.5in bays 27in widescreen ■ 2,560 x 1,440 pixels resolution ■ Portrait ■ 1 x 10/100/1,000 Ethernet ■ 2 x USB 2 ports, 2 x USB 3 mode ■ Adjustable stand ■ 2 x 2W speakers ■ DisplayPort, ports ■ 1 x HDMI (1.4a) ■ 1 x 3.5mm mini-jack ■ 230 x 164 x DVI, HDMI, VGA, 2 x USB 3.0 and 2 x USB 2.0 ports ■ 642 x 108mm ■ 1.87kg ■ Two-year return-to-base warranty 245 x 428mm ■ 8kg ■ 3-years return-to-base warranty

HD MONITOR BenQ EW2740L Acer C720P Chromebook

£194 from www.ebuyer.com £244.81 from www.ilgs.net Date tested: July 2014 Date tested: June 2014

The BenQ EW2740L is an excellent- This fantastic Chromebook provides excellent value 27in monitor with good image quality. overall performance, decent battery life and a good It supports MHL, so you can connect a compatible mobile collection of ports. It’s got a smart touchscreen, comfy device to it, and has two HDMI ports and one VGA port. keyboard and touchpad, and starts up in no time at all.

KEY SPECS KEY SPECS 27in widescreen ■ 1,920 x 1,080 pixels resolution ■ 2W 1.4GHz Intel Celeron 2955U processor ■ 16GB storage ■ 2GB stereo speakers ■ MHL support ■ 2 x HDMI and 1 x VGA memory ■ 11.6in screen ■ 1,366 x 768 pixels resolution ■ 7.5 ports ■ 320 x 115 x 95mm ■ One-year return-to-base hours battery life ■ USB 3, USB 2 and HDMI ports ■ 288 x warranty 204 x 20mm ■ 1.35kg

LAPTOP SMARTPHONE

Asus X552CL Motorola Moto G

£429.99 from www.saveonlaptops.co.uk £99.99 (PAYG) from www.argos.co.uk Date tested: May 2014 Date tested: April 2014

ew This laptop’s Windows and gaming The excellent Moto G has set a new standard in vi performance far exceed what you’d expect for the price. affordable smartphones. Although it doesn’t support 4G or re

of However, it’s slightly let down by its battery life. NFC, and there’s no microSD card slot to expand its storage, it has a beautiful screen and performs well. me ti KEY SPECS at t 1.8GHz Intel Core i5-3337U dual-core processor ■ 6GB KEY SPECS ec memory ■ 15.6in (non-touch) LCD ■ 1,366 x 768 pixels 1.2GHz quad-core processor ■ 8GB storage ■ 1,280 x 720 rr

co resolution ■ 750GB hard drive ■ 10/100/1,000 Ethernet, pixels resolution ■ 4.5in screen ■ 1GB memory ■ Android 4.4 es 802.11n Wi-Fi ■ 348 x 241 x 31mm ■ 2.4kg ■ One-year (KitKat) ■ 5-megapixels and 1.3-megapixels cameras ■ 3G/ ic ■ ■ pr return-to-base warranty GPS/Bluetooth/802.11n Wi-Fi 130 x 66 x 12mm 143g l Al

24 8 October 2014 Web User’s Best Buys

SOFTWARE & SERVICES ONLINE STORAGE

Google Drive I spy with my little eye domains ending in...

From free from drive.google.com Date tested: August 2014 .actor .buzz .club .ninja .host

Google Drive is easy to use and .guru .ink .pub .reviews .press has lots of free storage. The Windows software neatly .social .trade .website .wiki integrates with Explorer, which makes saving and syncing files as simple as keeping them in any other PC folder. Think KEY FEATURES 15GB of free storage ■ Web-based office software Different ■ Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8+ ■ Chrome browser add-on ■ Android and iOS apps ■ 100GB extra storage for £1.19 per month; 1TB for £5.97 per month; 10TB Think for £59.51 per month Context PHOTO EDITING

Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 Think

£54.71 from www.amazon.co.uk Available Date tested: March 2014

With its tidy, uncluttered www.blacknight.host [email protected] @blacknight interface and pop-out trays, Elements provides ONLINE SITE BUILDER everything an amateur Weebly photographer could need and helps you quickly find From free from the right editing tools. www.weebly.com Date tested: May 2014 KEY FEATURES Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8+, including 64-bit Weebly’s drag-and-drop interface is easy to use and the versions ■ Bundled photo organiser ■ Content-aware edits results look great. It also has free Android and iOS apps. ■ Guided edits ■ People-beautifier tools ■ RAW support KEY FEATURES 115 templates ■ Unlimited storage ■ SEO tools ■ Meta tags ■ VIDEO EDITING Password protection ■ E-commerce tools ■ Ad-free Starter edition ■ Android and iOS apps ■ RSS ■ Site stats Elements 12

£62.34 from WEB FILTER www.ballicom.co.uk Date tested: October 2013 Norton Family

Premiere Elements 12’s Free from www.symantec.com superb interface makes its Date tested: October 2013 many features neat but accessible. It’s great for both beginners and experts, with This family-friendly software has all the most important two editing modes and lots of guidance. You won’t find filtering features and does an excellent job of blocking better video-editing software for the price. potentially harmful sites. It’s also free to download and use.

KEY FEATURES KEY FEATURES Automatic editing ■ Export to multiple video formats 10-PC licence ■ Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, Mac ■ Image stabiliser ■ Upload to Facebook, YouTube and OS X 10.7+ ■ Customisable profiles ■ Category filters ■ Vimeo ■ Surround-sound support ■ DVD and Blu-ray Whitelist/blacklist ■ Remote management ■ IM and social- disc-burning ■ Unlimited timelines ■ Stop- capture network monitoring ■ Email support

Get more tips in our newsletter at www.webuser.co.uk/newsletter 8 October 2014 25 Best Free Software

ANTI-VIRUS AVG Antivirus Free 2015 www.free.avg.com Min requirements: Windows XP/Vista/7/8+ File size: 49.4MB

AVG, like most other security-software companies, updates its main product every year. Sometimes there are big changes, and other times they are fairly minor. The 2015 incarnation of its popular, free anti-virus program falls largely into the latter category, but it remains a powerful and reliable means of blocking, detecting and removing malware from your PC. For the past two years, AVG Antivirus has sported a Windows 8-style interface but for this release, AVG has swapped the tiled look for a streamlined design, more in keeping with what’s being offered by other rival security programs. malfunctions, you can fix things by Updates for the free version now come The grey-and-green colour scheme clicking a single button in the top right. more frequently, too, which again will remains, but now there are five buttons Aside from the interface, the other safeguard you from newer dangers. across the centre of the window: major change is the addition of the AVG Antivirus Free offers a choice of Computer, Web, Identity, Emails and cloud-based Outbreak Detection scan options that let you examine your Firewall (this last feature is only feature. This is designed to block whole computer, just certain areas or available in paid-for editions). Beneath zero-day attacks (malware that has yet check for rootkits, and you can choose them are Scan Now and Update to be identified) which helps to keep what action the program should take buttons. If any part of the program you safe from the very latest threats. when it encounters a threat.

MINI WORKSHOP | Scan for malware using AVG Antivirus Free 2015

1 2 1 2 1

2

4 3 3

4 3

The main buttons in AVG’s updated The cog to the right of the scan Once a scan is underway, you can 1 interface alert you to problems with 2 button opens the Scan Options 3 pause or stop it. 1 You can watch any of the program’s modules. 1 Click screen. You can ‘Manage scheduled its progress 2 and see how many the ‘fix it’ button 2 to solve the scans’, 1 ‘Scan the Whole Computer’, 2 objects have been scanned and any issue(s). Make sure the software has ‘Scan Specific Files or Folders’ 3 or run threats that were found. Additional the very latest virus definitions by an Anti-Rootkit scan. 4 Click the cog Scan Settings 3 lets you tell the clicking ‘Protection is up-to-date’ 3 next to an item to choose what the program to shut down Windows when (it may not be). You can check for program should scan and how it should the scan has completed. You can also threats by clicking ‘Scan now’. 4 deal with any threats that are found. adjust the Scan process priority here.

26 8 October 2014 Best Free Software

This fortnight’s top new software downloads to help you make the most of your PC, and they’re all FREE

New Windows 8 Apps

The New York Times Crossword bit.ly/nytcrossword355 Min requirements: Windows 8+ File size: 1.63MB Solve the same crossword puzzles as are printed daily in TheNew York Times. The app is free, but only for the first seven days’ of crosswords. After that, you’ll need to subscribe.

SYSTEM MANAGER Process Lasso Free 7 www.bitsum.com Min requirements: Windows XP/Vista/7/8+ File size: 2.4MB

You can shut down any unwanted or misbehaving system processes using , but Process Lasso is a far better tool for the job. It automatically stops Letter Drop programs hogging system resources and slowing things down. It can also adjust the bit.ly/letterdrop355 priority of programs and help your system run as efficiently as possible. Min requirements: Windows 8+ The latest release has lots of enhancements, bug fixes and performance tweaks File size: 16.5MB to make it even more efficient at controlling what runs on your PC. The idea of this fun word game is to drag and drop falling letters into a grid to make words. The longer the word, the more points you score.

Twixel IOS RECOVERY TOOL PC-TRANSFER SOFTWARE bit.ly/twixel355 ReiBoot EaseUS Todo Min requirements: Windows 8+ bit.ly/reiboot355 PCTrans Free 8 File size: 2.75MB Min requirements: bit.ly/pctrans355 Twixel is an unofficial app for Windows XP/Vista/7/8+, iOS device Min requirements: Windows XP/ Twitch, the hugely popular video File size: 6.2MB Vista/7/8+ File size: 4.6MB platform and community for gamers. You can watch games If your device gets stuck in Recovery Todo PCTrans lets you move files from being played and join in Mode when you update or restore an old PC (or operating system) to a new conversations. Apple’s mobile OS (a problem that can one. Just connect two computers and also occur when jailbreaking), this tool, follow the wizard. The latest update lets which used to cost $20 (£12.27), lets you you transfer data and applications via enter or exit Recovery Mode without an image file. It can also transfer files problem. Just connect your device and from an old OS to a new one when your click the button for the task you require. OS is updated from within Windows. Make sure you decline the extras The free version can transfer your data bundled with the CNET installer. and up to two applications.

Recommend free downloads at www.facebook.com/webusermagazine 8 October 2014 27 Best Free Software

DUPLICATE FINDER Auslogics Duplicate File Finder 4 bit.ly/duplicate355 Min requirements: Windows XP/Vista/7/8+ File size: 6.6MB

Deleting duplicate files is time consuming, but this program helps by identifying identical copies by content, not just by name or file date. You can choose the locations to search and the file types to look for. The program can be set to ignore files smaller or larger than the sizes you specify. The latest version adds a preview feature, so you can be sure an identified file really is a duplicate. There’s also an advanced search feature, and an ‘ignore’ list that lets you choose which folders and files to exclude. Opt for the Custom install, so you can reject the bundled extras and unwanted changes.

DISK UTILITY DataNumen Disk Image bit.ly/datanumen355 Min requirements: Windows XP/Vista/7/8+ File size: 1.7MB

This program can create a disk image from any Windows drive, making an exact clone that you can use to restore your system in the event of catastrophic problems, such as a malware attack or hard-drive failure. If files containing vital data have been damaged, you can move them to a second computer and attempt to restore the data there without worrying about causing any further damage to the files or making the problem worse. The useful Batch Clone feature lets you create images from several disks or drives. DataNumen Disk Image is a fairly basic tool, but it could well prove to be a life saver if something goes wrong with your PC.

PDF READER Foxit Reader 7 www.foxitsoftware.com Min requirements: Windows XP/Vista/7/8+ File size: 36MB

The latest version of Foxit Reader is more than just a PDF viewer – you can use it to edit and create new ones from scratch in several different ways, including converting Office files, scanning documents and printing straight to PDF. You can sign files and add stamps and watermarks to stop them being distributed without your permission. You can also share PDFs via email and upload them to Facebook, Twitter and Evernote. This release offers extra customisation options that let you make changes to the ribbon interface, such as creating new tabs or tweaking existing ones. You can also generate 2D barcodes from form data.

28 8 October 2014 Best Free Software

Don’t install...... Install this instead

Chameleon Startup Autoruns Manager Lite bit.ly/autoruns355 chameleon-managers.com Min requirements: Windows XP/Vista/7/8+ Min requirements: File size: 500KB Windows XP/Vista/7/8+ File size: 3.6MB Autoruns gives you total control over which programs start when you boot your system. It’s The paid-for version of simple to use, with tabs on the top for the Chameleon Startup different start-up sections, such as Logon, Manager is packed with Explorer, Services and Drivers. An Everything tab useful tools, but the Lite lets you browse a comprehensive list of entries. edition isn’t much better Selecting a start-up item provides details than the ‘’ tool about it, including what the application is, who GAME that’s built into Windows. publishes it and where it’s installed, and lets you Superdimensional There is a handy option to disable or delete it with a single click. Just be bit.ly/super355 create different start-up careful to only remove something if you’re sure it Min requirements: Windows XP/ profiles, but for full control isn’t needed. Vista/7/8+ File size: 8.5MB over programs and processes, you need to Written in less than 48 hours, the aim of upgrade to the Pro version. this game is to ensure that a rolling object continues its progress uninterrupted. You have no control over the object’s movement, but can use your mouse to overlay connected worlds that allow it to bypass obstacles and reach new areas. It’s not particularly sophisticated, but it’s visually striking and very addictive.

UPDATED | New tweaks and fixes for your favourite programs

DVD WRITER MEDIA CONVERTER MEDIA ORGANISER SYSTEM CLEANER DVDStyler 2.8 TEncoder 4.4.0 Apple iTunes 11.4 BleachBit 1.4 www.dvdstyler.org tencoder.sourceforge.net www.apple.com/uk/itunes bleachbit.sourceforge.net Min requirements: Min requirements: Windows Min requirements: Windows Min requirements: Windows XP/Vista/7/8+ XP/Vista/7/8+ XP/Vista/7/8+ Windows XP/Vista/7/8+ File size: 21.6MB File size: 31.8MB File size: 108MB File size: 6.1MB

This excellent free disc- TEncoder is a powerful tool Apple’s popular media player BleachBit removes junk authoring tool lets you turn for converting audio and and organiser has been files from your PC to free virtually any video file into video files from one format updated (yet again) to make up space, and can also a professional-looking to another. The latest version it fully compatible with the protect your privacy by DVD, complete with gains a DVD ripper and new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, as securely shredding interactive menus. various performance well as any other Apple personal files. Version 1.4 The update lets you rotate enhancements. Also, you can devices running iOS 8, which offers much better support menu objects and buttons, now minimise the software to is the latest version of the for cleaning up after and also irons out a the System Tray when company’s mobile operating Firefox and Chrome, and number of bugs. encoding files. system. fixes various bugs.

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Recommend free downloads at www.facebook.com/webusermagazine 8 October 2014 29 Best New Browser Tools

CHC ROME Keep watching web videos while you work

It can be difficult to tear yourself away from YouTube or Netflix when you need to get on with less interesting tasks. The Chrome extension PIP Video (bit.ly/pip355) solves this problem by letting you carry on watching from your Desktop, even when you minimise your browser window. When you’re watching a video, click the PIP Video icon in the top-left corner of the page to detach it in a ‘panel’, then drag it to a suitable position on the screen to ‘dock’ it there. You can then work and watch at the same time The video panel will remain above the current window, and you can dock further videos to view later. PIP Video is compatible with YouTube, Netflix, TED, NASA TV and many other video sites. To use the add-on, you’ll first need to enable the Panels feature in Chrome. Type chrome://flags into the address bar and press Enter, then scroll down to Enable Panels, click Enable and click Relaunch Now.

Display Pinterest pins on are immediately accessible. Apps your New Tab page Launcher also lets you show or hide Pinterest Tab (bit.ly/pinterest355) lets the name of each app, and make you add stunning, high-resolution their icons larger or smaller. photos from Pinterest (www.pinterest .com) to Chrome’s New Tab page to See lyrics for music bring a touch of class to the browser. videos on YouTube Just select a few categories, such as If you like to sing along to songs on Art, Travel and Wildlife, to view images YouTube, MusiXmatch (bit.ly/ from sources including 500px and mute them. Mute Inactive Tabs (bit.ly/ musix355) can make sure you don’t National Geographic. The photos mute355) lets you silence all tabs apart embarrass yourself by getting the change every time you open a new tab from the current, active one in a single words wrong. Once installed, the or click Refresh, and you can view more click. This is particularly useful for add-on automatically displays the information about the shot by clicking videos, especially adverts, that play lyrics for music videos as you watch the pin in the bottom-right corner. Best automatically in the background and them, so you can croon away in time of all, you don’t need to have a Pinterest can make you jump out of your skin if with the track. MusiXmatch claims to account to enjoy the pictures. you have the volume on your PC turned provide the words to more than up loud. To turn the sound back on, just seven million songs in 32 languages, click the toolbar button again. so if it doesn’t appear to be working, it’s worth trying another version of Launch your Chrome apps the video on YouTube. Previously, from the toolbar the extension was criticised for Apps Launcher (bit.ly/apps355) makes displaying adverts alongside lyrics it easy to access all the Chrome apps but, thankfully, this updated version you have installed, simply by clicking its has dropped the ads. button on the toolbar. You can rearrange the apps in the launcher by dragging and dropping Mute noisy tabs when you them into don’t want to hear them place, so Chrome helpfully displays a speaker your most icon to indicate which tabs are frequently producing sound, but it doesn’t let you used apps

30 8 October 2014 Best New Browser Tools

This fortnight’s most useful tips and add-ons to help you get the most from Chrome, Firefox, and more

FIF REFOX OTHER BROWSERS Browse the web Remove unwanted options from anonymously The brilliant VPN service Firefox menus CyberGhost has updated its Opera proxy plug-in (bit.ly/ You probably never use most of the cyber355) and it’s now free for options in Firefox menus, such as everyone to use. Just click the Page Info in the Tools menu and toolbar button to enable Inspect Element in the right-click protection, which changes your menu. To keep things tidy, you can IP address, use the excellent add-on Menu disguises your Wizard (bit.ly/menu355) to remove location and unnecessary items from your menus encrypts your and rename other options to make data to keep it them easier to understand. Click the secure. As well ‘Configure this menu’ icon that Menu as protecting Wizard adds to your menus (or press your privacy, Alt+Shift+M) to decide which entries CyberGhost to delete or rename. You can also delete the separators, which are used to group can also be used to access web options together, and disable keyboard shortcuts that you don’t use, so you don’t content that’s blocked in the UK, trigger them by accident. Menu Wizard is very straightforward to use and you such as US video sites, by letting can instantly restore options if you change your mind. you pretend you’re in a different country. Improve playback of Flash Check the videos weather in any Although HTML5 is gradually replacing country Flash as the preferred method of Opera seems to have more rendering online videos, games and weather add-ons than any other animations, there are still plenty of sites squared355) to restore some order to browser, but Weather Forecast that use Adobe’s technology. GPU your browser. The add-on also Worldwide (bit.ly/weather355) is Accelerated Flash Player (bit.ly/ restores the ‘favicon’ to the New Tab the best we’ve seen yet. It’s flash355) solves buffering and tab, although – like us – you may not “powered by” BBC Weather, so stuttering problems, and ensures Flash have noticed it was gone! it has the same friendly interface videos and and clear forecasts, providing other Block ads that slide in detailed, hour-by-hour content play from the side information for the next seven smoothly. It Most browsers now block pop-up ads days. These include high and low works automatically, but some devious temperatures, humidity and quietly in advertisers are getting around this by wind speed, as well as familiar the using ‘slide-in’ adverts that move symbols that indicate the background across your screen and obstruct your general outlook. The add-on and uses the view of the page. They often appear offers global coverage so, as power of on newspaper and magazine sites, well as getting the forecast for your prompting you to subscribe. You can your current location, you can graphics processor to accelerate and stop these ads pestering you by find out what the weather will be improve Flash playback, even when you installing Kill It (bit.ly/killit355), which like all over the world, directly switch to full-screen. automatically hides or deletes from your browser. slide-ins, but lets you unblock them if Make your curved tabs you want to see their content. square again When Mozilla introduced the Australis interface with Firefox 29, it decided to make the browser’s tabs curved rather than square to give them a more ‘modern’ feel. If you preferred your old tabs to the new style, you can use Squared Australis Tabs (bit.ly/

Tell us your favourite add-ons at www.facebook.com/webusermagazine 8 October 2014 31 Best Free Apps

App of the Fortnight

KEYBOARD NEW swiping your finger SwiftKey between keys instead of bit.ly/swiftkey355 tapping them. Although Min requirements: iOS 8 this may seem gimmicky Size: 28.2MB at first, it can drastically increase the speed at SwiftKey has been a favourite of Android users for several which you input text, years and since the release of iOS 8, you can now use it on especially when you’re Apple devices, too. Like Apple’s doing it one-handed. new QuickType keyboard, it SwiftKey won our Gold predicts what you’re going to type Award when we tested by learning your most frequently Android keyboards in used words and phrases. issue 348 (bit.ly/ You can give SwiftKey further webuser348) and, insights into your use of language although some users by syncing it with your Facebook, might have reservations Twitter or Gmail accounts. Its about the privacy auto-correction feature is also implications of giving an incredibly accurate, reliably app access to interpreting words even when only everything they type, we a few of the right keys have been think it’s still the best entered. tool available for entering text quickly on a What’s more, SwiftKey lets you mobile device. Once you’ve used SwiftKey for type in a way never previously a few weeks, you’ll wonder how you ever possible on iOS devices – by managed without it.

Our rating ★★★★★

TOOL NEW TRAVEL NEW Adobe EchoSign Seasonal Cities bit.ly/echo355 bit.ly/seasonal355 Min requirements: Android 4.0.3, iOS 7 Min requirements: iOS 7 Size: 12MB Size: 32.7MB

Signing a PDF is often a tedious task that involves Updated every three months, printing the document and then scanning it once Seasonal Cities offers unique you’ve finished. Thankfully, Adobe’s EchoSign makes travel guides to 11 of the this process much more straightforward, letting you world’s top cities including sign documents directly from your Android device Barcelona, Paris, London and using your finger or stylus. If you’d rather not add New York. Each guide is your signature, you can reject the signing request at the touch of a button written by a top travel journalist living in the or delegate responsibility to someone else. area, and provides recommendations on EchoSign is equally handy if you need to get signatures from others and everything from sights, shops and events to lets you import documents directly from Google Drive, Box and Evernote restaurants, bars and hotels. The app also has a before tracking their progress with real-time status weather function that suggests a range of updates. You can easily review your agreements from activities based on the forecast for the next EchoSign at any time and each party also receives a threedays, so you can make the most of your certified copy of any signed documents by email. The holiday, even when it rains. We liked the app’s app, which has been available on iOS for some time, is simple, pleasing design, but found its ‘top five’ optimised for seven- and ten-inch tablets, format limited the selection of but will work on smartphones too. attractions. Autumn 2014 guides to Signatures are legally binding, because all cities are included for free, while the app is compliant with the EU’s guides from Winter 2014 onwards Electronic Commerce Directive. cost 69p each.

Our rating ★★★★★ Our rating ★★★★★

32 8 October 2014 Best Free Apps

This fortnight’s top free and paid-for apps for Android, iOS and Windows phones and tablets, and smart TVs

VIDEO NEW TOOL UPDATED Horizon TunnelBear VPN bit.ly/horizon355 www.tunnelbear.com Min requirements: Varies with Min requirements: Android 4, iOS 7 device Size: 6.2MB Size: 15MB

If you’ve recorded video in If you want to access blocked websites on your portrait mode on a smartphone or tablet, or you’d like to browse the smartphone, you’ll have to internet privately, look no further than TunnelBear. rotate it before you can watch This updated VPN app lets you hide your IP address the footage back on your PC. by connecting to a proxy server in one of eight Horizon only lets you capture different geographical locations. After setting up an horizontal videos, by cropping your portrait account, we chose to ‘tunnel’ to France and view with a letterbox-shaped viewfinder. It TunnelBear quickly displayed a notification letting us know that we could serves as a good reminder to rotate your use all our other apps as if we were in that country – it smartphone, although it’s not perfect because really is that quick and easy! The app’s big drawback is the angle of close-up shots is narrowed and the that it has a data limit of 500MB a month, which video’s resolution is significantly reduced. We certainly won’t be suitable for streaming films from liked that the app (which has been available on Netflix. However, you can increase that to 1.5GB by iOS for a while) corrects wonky horizons in your tweeting about TunnelBear, or you can buy an videos using your device’s unlimited allowance for $4.99 (£3.08) a gyroscope, but there’s no option to month. It’s a great app with practical shoot still images and the free functions ranging from hiding your activity version of the app also limits the from snoops on public Wi-Fi networks to length of your recordings. accessing the BBC iPlayer while abroad.

Our rating ★★★★★ Our rating ★★★★★

ALARM CLOCK NEW FOOTBALL NEW Wakie GET THE DEFINITIVE wakie.com Away Days GUIDE TO ANDROID Min requirements: bit.ly/premier355 Android 4, Min requirements: Our new Android Windows Phone 8 Android 2.3.3, MagBook is packed Size: 26MB iOS 7 with 148 pages of Size: 26MB workshops, tips and The unusual idea advice to help you behind this new This new app for unlock the full Android app is that iOS and Android potential of your tablet instead of being provides all the and smartphone. woken by the jarring noise of an alarm, information you need when planning a you’ll receive a phone call from another trip to watch your football team play an Discover how to: Wakie member at whatever time you’ve away game. After selecting your club, • Choose the best Android device specified. The app’s developers claim the app presents a list of all your past for you that your brain wakes up faster when and future away fixtures. Select one, • Install great apps for everything someone “asks you questions, sings and it gives you helpful ticket you need you a song or tells you a story”, but information as well as instructions on • Keep all your personal data there also seems to be an element of getting to your opponent’s stadium private and safe matchmaking going on, with the app and tips on where to eat, drink, park or • Stream music, movies and TV for letting you rate your call so that it can stay on matchday. You can also save free find better matches in the future. If money by claiming special offers on • Fix frustrating problems quickly you’re not worried by the prospect of travel, food and accommodation. and easily awkward phone calls with Last but not least, the • Use secret hacks to improve your strangers when you wake app’s stadium guide has device up, Wakie is certainly a useful information about novel way of getting out each club’s facilities, away Order The Definitive Guide to of bed in the morning! gate and seating plan. Android now from Amazon at bit.ly/guidetoandroid Our rating ★★★★★ Our rating ★★★★★

Recommend free phone apps at www.facebook.com/webusermagazine 8 October 2014 33 Best Free Apps

SOCIAL NEW FILTERS NEW Ask Me Anything HomeTube bit.ly/askme355 bit.ly/hometube355 Min requirements: Android 4.0.3, iOS 7 Min requirements: Android 4.0.3 Size: 16.2MB Size: 1.6MB

Ask Me Anything (AMA) is a popular Although most adult content on discussion board on the social network YouTube is flagged as inappropriate Reddit that has hosted question-and- for viewing by youngsters and requires answer sessions with a variety of you to login to watch it, a lot of videos well-known personalities including slip through the net. This new Android Danny Boyle and Barack Obama. As its appfilters YouTube content based on name suggests, users can ask the individual whatever they pre-determined ‘safe’ categories. You want and their questions are voted up or down by the Reddit can create a new user profile and set HomeTube as the community. Discussions can then continue for anything from default launcher so that it’s the only app your children can an hour up to a couple of days. Available on Android and iOS, access. Unfortunately, if you want to customise the videos this new app from Reddit optimises the board that your children can see, you’ll need to make a for mobile devices, letting you browse the latest one-off purchase costing 99 cents (61p). and best interviews and ask a question when HomeTube also warns that tech-savvy children someone is marked as active. You can also could dodge the app’s restrictions altogether discover new personalities by browsing. through the device’s system settings.

Our rating ★★★★★ Our rating ★★★★★

5 NEW APPS WORTH PAYING FOR

BOOKS The aim of this fun but silly game is to cause as much Roald Dahl Audiobooks destruction as possible – as a goat. Based on the popular bit.ly/dahl355 PC game, there are various quests to complete and things Min requirements: iOS 6.1 to wreck as your goat rampages around a city, running up Size: 17.7MB Price: Varies walls and attacking people. Download 19 Roald Dahl audiobooks to listen to on your iPhone or iPad, including HEALTH Charlie And The Chocolate Factory read by Stress and Anxiety Companion Douglas Hodge and Matilda read by Kate bit.ly/stress355 Winslet. The first chapters are free, with Min requirements: iOS 6 the full books priced from £2.99. Size: 57.8MB Price: £1.49 Soothe your body and mind using this FITNESS app, which offers anxiety-busting Carrot Fit exercises to help you control your bit.ly/carrot355 breathing, relax your muscles and banish Min requirements: iOS 7 negative thoughts. You can also visualise Size: 19.1MB Price: £1.99 your thoughts as photo cards and share them with friends. This quirky fitness app provides a seven- minute workout consisting of 12 punishing GAME exercises, with 10 seconds of rest in Sheep Stack between “in case you need to hydrate, bit.ly/sheep355 catch your breath, or vomit into a bucket”. Min requirements: Android 2.2, iOS 4.3 It promises that you will get fit – or else. Size: 22MB Price: £1.99 Ever wondered what it would be like to GAME fling a sheep out of a huge pair of Goat Simulator underpants? Find out in this new Shaun bit.ly/goat355 the Sheep game from Aardman Min requirements: Android Animations. There are 60 levels to (varies with device), iOS 6 complete (with no in-app purchases) Size: 99.8MB Price: £2.99 and lots of sheep to fling and stack.

Roald Dahl Audiobooks Carrot Fit Goat Simulator Stress and Anxiety Companion Sheep Stack

34 8 October 2014 Best Free Apps

Best New TV Apps

TV & FILM SPORT TV & FILM Now TV Wuaki TV bit.ly/nowandroid355 bit.ly/eurosport355 uk.wuaki.tv bit.ly/nowios355 Min requirements: Android (varies with Min requirements: LG or Samsung Min requirements: Android 4, iOS 6 device) Smart TV

Sky has updated the Android and iOS Video-streaming service Wuaki TV apps for its Now TV streaming service has released a new app for selected to add support for Chromecast. This LG and Samsung Smart TVs that lets means you can now cast TV shows, you watch films in 4K ultra high films and sport from your mobile device definition. This means you can enjoy to your TV without needing to buy a sharper, more defined images, with Now TV set-top box. However, you’ll still more colour depth and a much need a Now TV subscription, which higher resolution. Wuaki has also costs from £5 per month for the updated its app for non-4K TVs with Entertainment Pass. It’s also worth a new interface that lets you browse bearing in mind that casting content the services’ streaming, rental and from the Now TV app means your Eurosport has updated its app for purchase options more easily. It Chromecast will count as one of the four Android phones and tablets to make it adds a useful new feature that devices you can register to your Now faster and easier to use. The app gives recommends films and TV shows TV account. you instant access to the channels’ based on your user profile, so you See our cover feature on page 38 for real-time coverage of sporting events, can discover new titles that match more about the latest tools from as well as fixtures and results for your tastes. Wuaki TV is also video-on-demand services. football, rugby, tennis, Formula 1 and available for PC, Mac, Android, iOS many more sports. Eurosport provides and Xbox. live text commentaries for big matches and races, and more than 150 news articles and videos each day. You can also join exclusive web chats with Eurosport journalists, pundits and players. Two versions of the Android app are available: one for the UK and an international version. Meanwhile, Eurosport is planning to update its app for iPhone and iPad “in the near future”.

Don’t install...... Install this instead

Remover Malware Malwarebytes Anti-Malware bit.ly/remover355 bit.ly/malware355 Min requirements: Android 2.3 From its long list of unnecessary permissions Size: 7.2MB to the nonsensical English on its page, this alleged malware-removal app does The Malwarebytes Anti-Malware app is every nothing to inspire confidence. Once it’s bit the equivalent of its Desktop version, installed, Remover with similar tools and comparable reliability. Malware looks even It scans your mobile device and memory more useless as it card for known Android malware, and finds appears to consist and removes malicious code from your solely of an advert installed apps. You can run scans manually and download button or set up a schedule. for itself. We were But what makes the app such a winner too apprehensive to are the mobile-specific features such as tap this in case it Security Audit, which lets you know if you’ve got any key downloaded security features switched off, and Privacy Manager, which something nasty, offers a detailed insight into your phone’s permissions and but it’s safe to say lets you change them from within Malwarebytes. The app this is an app you also works with Android to help you find can live without. your phone if it’s lost or stolen.

Recommend free phone apps at www.facebook.com/webusermagazine 8 October 2014 35 Instant Expert Apple Watch and iPhone 6

What’s so ssppecial about Apple’s latest iPhones and its first smartwatch? David Crookeess exploores their innovations and limitations

models from the iPhone 5 upwardss. Naturally, it will wwoorkrk with the new iPhoniPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, but you will need to charge it every day. Haven’n’t we seen this befbefore? Sort of: SamSamsung’s You can choose how your watch shows the Galaxy GeGear time, from a selection of 11 different styles smartwatch was launched in SepSeptember analogue, some digital and one is a fun 2013. But smsmartwatches Mickey Mouse design. There are six have yet to take off (the colours to choose from: stainless steel, APPLE WATCH Gear sold poorly, and was quicquickly silver aluminium, 18-carat yellow gold, followed by the Gear 2 in April this year, space black stainless steel, space grey So the iWatch has finally been but even that hasn’t really made its aluminium and 18-carat rose gold; and a unveiled? mark). Apple intends to target the range of bands, from link to sport. It has, although its official name is the market from a different perspective. Apple Watch. It’s not out until early next Why is there a crown on the year, so we’ll have to see whether Apple’s Isn’t that just marketing drivel? Watch? first smartwatch heralds a new dawn for Well yes, but Apple is emphasising the It’s a digital crown that lets you scroll, wearable technology, but when it was Watch as a fashion accessory. It has been zoom and navigate the watch. Because announced on 9 September there were snapping up talent from the fashion the screen is so small, using your finger yelps of delight from the audience. industry for some time, hiring the likes of obstructs the display. The crown acts as former Burberry boss Angela Ahrendts the Home button, too, and provides an What does the Watch do? to oversee the Watch’s production. There easy way to access Siri, Apple’s voice- Apart from telling the time, it lets you will be three “collections”: Watch, Watch activated digital assistant. However, the send and receive messages, and answer Sport and the luxury Watch Edition. display also recognises touch and Apple phone calls. Its built-in Workout app says it is capable of distinguishing checks your heartbeat and fitness levels, What does the Watch look like? between a tap and a press. and delivers relevant, useful information The main body will come in via a -style feature called two sizes – 38mm and Glances. Lots of apps will be available 42mm – and yoouu ranging from Maps, Calendar and Music can choose fromm 11 to Apple TV, iTunes and Photos, and the different watch-fh-face Watch will also work with Apple’s new displays: some are payment system, Apple Pay. Apple has Is it a standalone device? involved Fashionn designers in Sadly, no. The Watch must be used in creating the thrreeee tandem with your iPhone and supports styles of Apple Watch

36 8 October 2014 Apple Watch and iPhone 6

Does the Watch have a camera? detect your heart rate. These features will No, but it doubles as a remote for the be used in conjunction with health apps THE GADGETS THAT iSight camera on an iPhone, so you can that are built into the phone. PAY THEIR WAY see a live preview of what your iPhone sees, set a timer and take photos. The How much will the Watch cost? Watch doesn’t have a keyboard either, so In the US, the Watch will cost from $349, As well as launching the iPhone 6, messages have to be dictated. which is equivalent to £214, but it will 6 Plus and Watch, Apple also undoubtedly be priced a lot higher for introduced Apple Pay (though this What are the lights on the back the UK market. Some experts believe the will initially only be available in the for? gold Watch Edition could cost as much US). Apple Pay’s Near Field The back of the Watch has infrared and as $4,999 (£3,065), so it’s not an item Communication (NFC) technology visible-light LEDs as well as an you’ll want to leave lying around in a lets you make payments in high- accelerometer and photodiodes that locker at the swimming baths. street shops, simply by holding your phone or watch against a card reader and tapping the TouchID iiPHONE 6 AND 6 PLUSo button. Apple says this will be a more secure system than handing Apple has launched over a credit or debit card because a new iPhone? the name, card number and security It sure has and, just like last year when code are concealed from the vendor. the iPhone 5S and 5C were launched, And if you lose your iPhone, the Find there are two models: the iPhone 6 and My iPhone service will automatically iPhone 6 Plus. Whereas the 5S was a suspend all payments. more advanced phone than the 5C, this time both handsets have similar features, the main difference being screen size. mountain. Android devices have had this feature for a while. How big are the displays? The iPhone 6 has a 4.7in screen and the Has the iPhone’s camera As with the previous launch, there are two iPhone 6 Plus a 5.5in display, a significant new iPhone models improved? improvement on the 4in screens of Both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have a new previous models. The iPhone 6 Retina Do the phones have a faster sensor that allows for speedier display has a resolution of 1,334 x 750 processor? autofocusing. The high-def frame rate for pixels at 326ppi (pixels per inch) and the Both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have a new video has also improved, offering up to 6 Plus has 1,920 x 1,080 at 401ppi – three A8 chip (the 5S had an A7). Apple says 60fps for 1080p video and 240fps for times as many as the 5S. this 64-bit chip is more energy efficient, slow-mo. The front-facing FaceTime HD which should boost the iPhone’s battery camera captures more light and it also But that’s like some Android life. The A8 works alongside a M8 has a f/2.2 aperture. The larger 6 Plus phones, isn’t it? coprocessor, which gathers the motion also includes optical image stabilisation Yes. Critics say the increased size merely data from the gyroscope, compass and technology, which compensates for puts the phones in line with the popular accelerometer, as well as the new shaky camera work. larger-screen Android handsets that barometer which Apple has included in have been on sale for some years now. the new handsets. How much do the phones cost? Rivals such as Samsung and HTC weren’t The iPhone 6 starts at £539 for a 16GB slow to point this out. “Bigger screen. Why do the new iPhones include version; the iPhone 6 Plus at £619. Both Better performance. Elegant design. a barometer? are out now. There are 64GB and 128GB Welcome to the party #iPhone6”, Apple is going big on health, and one of versions that cost a bit more but, as tweeted HTC. the new software features of the iPhone always, mobile contract plans help 6 and 6 Plus is HealthKit, which brings spread the cost over two years. What do the iPhones look like? together The glass back of the 5S has gone, various fitness replaced by an anodised aluminium apps. The enclosure. It seamlessly blends into the included cover glass and is still very thin: 6.9mm barometer can for the iPhone 6 and 7.1mm for the 6 Plus. sense air pressure so the What about iOS 8? phones will be The new operating system, iOS 8, has able to work been designed to make it easy for the out your iPhone 6 to be operated using one hand. relative There is third-party keyboard support – elevation. Apps opening the way for one-thumb swipe- will be able to type entry – and double-touching the tell if you’re Home button makes the screen move walking up a closer to your thumb. The Sleep button flight of stairs has been moved from the top to the side or making your One-handedOne-handed typing,typing, healthhealth apps and improved energy efficiency are to make it easier to reach. way up a all part of the new iPhone 6 package

Discuss new mobile devices at forum.webuser.co.uk 8 October 2014 37 DOWNLOADTV TOWATCHANYWHERE

You don’t need to be sat at your PC or even on your sofa to enjoy web TV. Wayne Williams explains the best ways to download TV to watch when and where you want

atching your favourite TV shows while you’re catch-up window from seven to 30 days, and an increasing away from home used to mean lugging around a number of streaming services now offering downloads, W laptop or a portable DVD player with a pile of too, telly addicts have never had it so good. discs, or trying to get a signal on a portable television. In this feature, we reveal the best apps for downloading Happily, it’s now incredibly easy to grab programmes to TV shows to your phone or tablet, and free software you view wherever and whenever you want, whether you can use to save programmes to your computer. We also download them to your phone or tablet, or stream them to look at hardware you can use to watch web TV both online your TV. And with the BBC planning to extend the iPlayer and off, and recommend some great shows to view.

38 8 October 2014 VER CO E Download TV to watch anywhere FEATUR

ESSENTIAL APPS FOR DOWNLOADING TV

Many video apps now let you download content as well as stream it. Here’s a selection of our favourite tools for saving TV shows to watch on the go

BBC iPlayer you’ll be able to manage and watch you additional features and lets you If you only have one TV app installed on them on your mobile device or stream download selected on-demand content your phone or tablet, then make it BBC them to your telly using Chromecast. to up to four devices. Content is deleted iPlayer. Both the iOS (bit.ly/ You can download programmes to 48 hours after you start viewing it, or no iplayerios355) and Android (bit.ly/ watch anywhere on both iOS (bit.ly/ later than seven days after download for iplayerandroid355) versions now let you gplayios355) and Android (bit.ly/ TV shows and 30 days for films. download your favourite BBC TV shows gplayandroid355), and create a wish-list There’s a special version of Sky Go for for free, to play on your mobile device of shows to save and play later. Android tablets with screens larger than or stream to your television. The app is Google Play occasionally offers a few 7in, which you can download from also available for Windows Phone 8 (bit episodes of TV series for free, as well as bit.ly/skygotablet355. .ly/iplayerwindows355) and BlackBerry ‘featurettes’ that include clips, behind- (bit.ly/iplayerblack355), although these the-scenes footage and interviews with iTunes Store versions limit you to streaming shows the cast and crew. Apple’s iTunes Store (www.apple.com/ online. itunes/uk) lets you buy and download You can keep the shows you TV programmes to watch on your download for up to 30 days, but once iPhone or iPad. The price of shows and you’ve pressed Play on a programme, complete seasons varies, but expect to you currently only have seven days to pay from £1.89 per episode, under a watch it before the download is deleted tenner for a UK TV series and from from your device. £17.99 for a box set of a US show. There are free episodes to be found on the site, which you can access by selecting Free TV Episodes from the TV Amazon Prime Instant Video Programmes menu, but often these are If you subscribe to Amazon Prime for just trailers and previews. £79 per year, you get access to all sorts You can watch shows on your iOS of benefits, including free one-day device in the Downloads section. delivery, the Kindle lending library and, as of September this year, unlimited 4oD instant streaming of movies and TV with Like BBC iPlayer, ’s 4oD the Prime Instant catch-up service lets you download Video app for programmes for watching offline or on Android (bit.ly/ the move, for up to 30 days after they’re primevideo355). transmitted. It’s available for iOS (bit If you have a .ly/4oDios355) and Android (bit Kindle Fire .ly/4oDandroid355), as well as Xbox Live tablet, you can and Windows 8+, although you need to also download sign up for a free Channel 4 account to selected video download programmes. You also have to titles to watch LiveNow!TV sit through adverts before most shows. wherever you This Android-only app (bit.ly/ Interestingly, next year Channel 4 is want. You livenowtv355) gives you access to over set to replace 4oD and its current typically have 500 live TV channels from around the website with an online hub called All 4. between 15 and globe and 45,000+ on-demand movies This will offer both streaming and 30 days to watch a downloaded and shows. Sign up for a free account on-demand content, so we expect to programme. and you can record TV for watching see new mobile apps for the service. later. LiveNow!TV offers an electronic See bit.ly/all4355 for more information Sky Go Extra programme guide, which lets you about All 4. The free Sky Go app for iOS (bit.ly/ schedule your recordings ahead of time skygoios355) and and can even be used to access UK Android (bit.ly/ channels from abroad without the need skygoandroid355) for a VPN tool. lets Sky TV customers watch live television and catch up with TV programmes and films they’ve Google Play Movies & TV Shows missed. Sky Go Buy or rent individual TV episodes or Extra costs £5 a full ‘seasons’ from Google Play, and month but gives

8 October 2014 39 BEST SOFTWARE FOR DOWNLOADING TV

If you don’t have time to watch a TV show when it’s broadcast, there are plenty of free programs that let you record them to your PC. Here are 10 of the best

BBC iPlayer Downloads Any Video Recorder .filmon.com/subscriptions for pricing bit.ly/iplayer355 bit.ly/avrecorder355 information. The easiest way to watch BBC iPlayer Any Video Recorder is a screen recorder programmes on your computer is to that lets you capture any video stream them through the website (www including DVD films; purchased or .bbc.co.uk/iplayer), but if you want to rented shows; and streaming video from download shows for viewing offline, services such as YouTube, iPlayer, ITV you’ll need to install the BBC iPlayer Player Downloads software. This lets you and watch your chosen shows anywhere, so Netflix. you don’t have to worry that your Videos viewing will be disrupted by buffering. are You can keep most downloaded saved URL Snooper programmes for up to 30 days, but once in the bit.ly/URLsnooper355 you start viewing a show, you only have popular The direct link to a video that’s being seven days to finish watching it. MP4 streamed online is usually hidden behind format. Because the program records JavaScript or ActiveX scripts to stop you exactly what’s playing on your screen, downloading a copy. The free tool URL you can’t use your PC while a recording Snooper provides a way to uncover the is in progress. link that’s serving the streaming video, so you can download it. There are both FilmOn HDi Player for Desktop simple and advanced modes, depending Get iPlayer www.filmon.com/download/hdi on how comfortable you feel snooping bit.ly/getiplayer355 FilmOn lets you watch streaming TV around web pages. URL Snooper won’t If the 30 days provided by the iPlayer broadcasts for free, but if you download work on every site, but it’s worth a try. Downloads program isn’t enough, the and install the Desktop tool, you can unofficial free tool Get iPlayer can record the streams as well. FilmOn record individual programmes or entire offers a wide selection of UK and series with no expiry date. You can keep international channels covering news, them for as long as you like, to watch sport, films, lifestyle, kids and more. using any media player. Just select a channel to start it playing, then click the Record button to save content to your hard drive. FilmOn is free to download for Windows and Mac OS X, and offers apps for Android and iOS. You can stream programmes in standard Open Broadcaster Software definition for free, but to watch in HD obsproject.com and to record channels, you’ll need to Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) lets subscribe to the service. See www you record your Desktop and broadcast

BEST NEW STREAMING TOOLS

If you prefer streaming to downloading, check out these new features from three leading services

ITV Player Now TV Netflix www..com/itvplayer www.nowtv.com www.netflix.com ITV’s catch-up and on-demand service The Now TV box offers catch-up TV The popular streaming service has may lag some way behind BBC iPlayer from various broadcasters, and you improved its website’s search to but it’s slowly getting better. The new can now get the service on many other display results including cover art as Android app (bit.ly/itvandroid355) devices, including the PS4, Xbox One you type. A sidebar also shows a list of offers a better and Xbox 360, actors, directors design, improved as well as tablets and creators playback quality and phones. from the and, like the iOS Google’s displayed films, version, now Chromecast making it easier provides live is the latest than ever to find streaming of all device to be what you’re ITV channels. supported. looking for.

40 8 October 2014 VER CO E Download TV to watch anywhere FEATUR

MINI WORKSHOP Record TV shows from Hulu it directly on services such as grab. It works with a variety of sites using ZoogTV YouTube, Twitch TV and and services, but it can’t download DailyMotion, so it can also record protected videos such as those any streaming video you’re found on iPlayer and 4oD. It 1 watching. To use the program, sometimes appears to find multiple right-click anywhere in the Sources videos, but these will usually be box, select Add and choose the unprotected adverts around the type of capture, such as Window or video you want. 3 Monitor. Click the Start Recording button when you’re ready to begin Torch Browser capturing what’s on your screen, www.torchbrowser.com and OBS will save the recorded Torch Browser is a Chrome-based 2 video in FLV (Flash) format. browser with a handy, integrated Media Grabber that can download streaming video files from the web. It’s very easy to use – when you go You can’t watch Hulu if you’re outside the to a 1US, 1 and the service notices if you’re website trying bypass this restriction. ZoogTV that (zoogtv.com) currently fools Hulu, and contains although it’s a paid-for service, you get three a media free days of use. Sign up and install the client, file, the then right-click the System Tray icon 2 and toolbar select Connect under Americas Zone. 3 button changes to show the type of file available, and you click this to instantly save the video. Torch Browser also comes with a built-in Freemake Video Downloader BitTorrent client. www.freemake.com Make sure you decline the 1 YouTube is home to lots of classic bundled extras during installation. 2 TV episodes (many of them 3 breaching copyright, it should be Spotflux said!). There are loads of free tools www.spotflux.com you can use to download videos Spotflux can’t record or download from Google’s site, but the most video, but it’s worth a mention versatile and reliable is probably because it can help you view TV on Sign into ZoogTV when prompted and Freemake Video Downloader. This blocked US sites. The Virtual Private 2you should now be able to watch shows lets you set your conversion Network (VPN) software disguises on Hulu. Start playing the video you want to preferences and download videos your IP address so you appear to be record and pause it when the ads have from YouTube with a single click. browsing from within the USA, finished. Open Any Video Recorder and set It also works on several other bypassing geographic restrictions. the temporary directory, 1 the output streaming-video services, including Armed with Spotflux and a copy of directory (where recorded videos will be Facebook, Vimeo and . Any Video Recorder, you can record saved to) 2 and enter a file name. 3 Make sure you deselect any extra your favourite US TV shows for options when installing Freemake watching offline. However, it won’t 1 Video Downloader. work on Hulu (www.hulu.com), the US equivalent of iPlayer, because Video Downloader that site now detects this kind of Professional tool. A few other programs, such as bit.ly/viddownpro355 the paid-for ZoogTV (zoogtv.com) 2 This Chrome extension lets you still work – for the moment. download any playing videos from a See our Mini Workshop on the website. Just click the toolbar icon right to find out how to use ZoogTV 3 and select the videos you want to to record from Hulu.

Hit The Record Now button and a window 3with a red frame appears. 1 Resize this so it covers the video. Click the Rec button 2 and the frame will turn blue. To end recording, press stop. You can set the recording to finish after a set time. 3 When it’s done, the folder containing your video will open, so you can start watching the show.

8 October 2014 41 BEST DEVICES FOR TV DOWNLOADS

If your phone or tablet screen is too small for watching TV shows, why not switch to a device that offers bigger, better viewing? Here are some of the best contenders

Amazon Fire TV Chromecast bit.ly/firetv355 www.google.com/chromecast Priced at £79, Amazon’s new set-top Google’s amazing dongle lets box works in a similar way to Apple TV you stream but provides access to streaming (or rather content from Amazon Prime. You can “cast”) mirror the screen from a Kindle Fire content tablet on your TV and ‘fling’ videos to from your the box. You can even continue to use Android your tablet for other tasks while the tablet or video streams in the background. iPad directly Amazon Fire TV will be available to to your TV. You can enjoy streaming buy in the UK from 23 October. video from services including YouTube, BBC iPlayer, Netflix, BT Sport, Blinkbox, and Google Play, and cast tabs from 5 TV SHOWS YOU MUST DOWNLOAD your Chrome browser. The Chromecast’s new mirroring Doctor Who feature lets you cast videos stored on www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer selected Android devices directly to the The latest series of the 51-year-old show, starring big screen. If you don’t own a supported Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, is currently available to device, you can use the free Plex Media watch and download on iPlayer. If you want to watch Server (plex.tv) to stream content past episodes of the show with other Doctors, they’re instead. available to buy from several places, including iTunes, Chromecast is very affordable, costing Google Play and Amazon. Go to www.doctorwho.tv/ just £30, and TV apps for it are being watch/download. launched all the time. Hancock’s Half Hour bit.ly/hancock355 Apple TV Tony Hancock was a comedy genius, and although ‘The Blood Donor’ is www.apple. probably the sketch he is best known for, there are lots of other great com/uk/ moments in his BBC television show. It features a stellar supporting cast appletv including Sid James, Kenneth Williams and June Whitfield. Apple TV is a £79 box that Flash Gordon connects to bit.ly/flashgordon355 your The Internet Archive has numerous episodes from the television so Flash Gordon serial of the 1950s, available to stream or download in AVI, Video and MPEG-4 formats. Flash Gordon reappeared in a cheesy action movie in FIND FREE TV SHOWS the 1980s, and you can find that in the Internet Archive too at bit.ly/gordonsalive355 (and yes, it is as Looking for something good to bad as you remember). watch without paying for the privilege? Findable TV (www Fireball XL5 .findable.tv) bit.ly/xl5-355 lets you Fireball XL5, a children’s sci-fi television show produced by Gerry browse a “Thunderbirds” Anderson, was first broadcast in the UK in the early 1960s. As list of you’d expect, it uses the Supermarionation puppetry for which Anderson popular TV became so famous. The Internet Archive has four free episodes. series, or search for a Rake show by bit.ly/rake355 name, and Rake is an American comedy-drama about a criminal will display the places where that defence lawyer (played by Greg Kinnear) who juggles programme is available to buy or numerous personal problems including owing money rent. Better yet, it will tell you where to everyone around him. It premiered earlier this year. there are free episodes available (on Google Play has the series to buy, with each episode iPlayer, for example), so you can costing £1.89, or £11.99 for the full season. Episode 4, watch or download them without subtitled Cannibal, is available to download for free. spending any money.

42 8 October 2014 VER CO E Download TV to watch anywhere FEATUR

What you say...

you can watch videos We asked Web User readers which from your iPhone or TV shows they download rather iPad, including shows than stream. Here’s what you said you’ve bought from the iTunes Store. You can I download CBeebies (www.bbc also stream content .co.uk/iplayer/cbeebies) for long from partner services, car journeys and flights. such as Netflix, Chris Armstrong YouTube, Vimeo and Sky News. I download programmes for travelling. Usually Doctor Who and Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 colour range and higher contrast levels, The Great British Bake Off. bit.ly/firehdx355 so videos look even more lifelike. The Emmy UpTo-NoGood Amazon’s biggest tablet is one of the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 automatically adjusts easiest to use, and is perfect for the display so it can even be watched in I’m downloading Mad Men to my Amazon Prime subscribers, because you direct sunlight. The tablet costs from Smart TV via Sky Box Sets. can watch lots of streaming video £399 and comes with a free three- Lynn Sharpe content for free and download month Sky Movies Pass from Now TV. programmes for watching anywhere. Its I usually stream programmes, 8.9in screen is a good size, and it’s less YouView unless I’m going on holiday and am expensive than an iPad, with prices www..com unsure of the coverage. starting at £329 for the 16GB model. The YouView box offers over 70 live Yve Clark channels, seven-day catch-up and a large library of on-demand content, The Walking Dead and Game of with Android and iOS apps that let you Thrones. record on the go. You can buy it as a Don Rhule standalone player for £140 or get it through BT or TalkTalk if they supply I think that if you download BBC your broadband, which will also get you programmes, you should have to additional TV channels and extra pay the licence fee. Why should on-demand content. You can get access everyone else fund your life of to Sky Movies and rent titles through the leisure? What was the question Sky Store, if you’re willing to pay a fee. again? Alan Fink

That David Attenborough Samsung Galaxy Tab S programme about the animals. 10.5 Colin Markham bit.ly/galaxytabs355 Samsung’s latest tablet I don’t download anything, I watch offers an amazing, high- shows on Netflix. quality 10.5in screen using Joanne Evans diamond pixels for a wider NEXT ISSUE ON SALE WEDNESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2014 PLUS... TRY WINDOWS 9 NOW Get the best tools from Unlock banned Microsoft’s future OS FREE TECH MANUALS online content Download free guides for all your hardware CREATE CUSTOM MAPS Access the pages that the Design and share maps using Google My Maps web doesn’t want you to see SUBSCRIBE TO WEB USER AT SUBSCRIBE.WEBUSER.CO.UK

8 October 2014 43 Edit and enhance your videos Shooting video is as easy as pressing a button on your smartphone, but editing that footage into something worth watching requires the right tools. Edward Munn reviews six free programs for editing your clips

Windows Movie Maker | bit.ly/moviemaker355 | ★★★★★ FEATURES ★★★★★ PERFORMANCE ★★★★★ EASE OF USE ★★★★★

What we liked is free to all Windows users as part of Windows Essentials 2012 and it wins our Gold Award because it provides the most user-friendly interface, along with all the features you’ll ever need to put together a home movie. Once you’ve imported your video clips into the program, they immediately appear on a simple and clear timeline where you can reorder, trim or split them. You can then choose from a wide range of visual effects and filters to make your clips more dynamic or add transitions between them. Adding your finished your project, the program has you want to add to the timeline. And own soundtrack is equally easy, helpful presets for saving your video to although Movie Maker has great sharing although the audio tools are less view on a range of screen sizes. You can options, we’d like to see formats other advanced than those in our Silver- and also export directly to Facebook, Vimeo, than MP4 and WMV supported when Bronze-award winners. YouTube and Flickr. exporting. If you want to put your movie Unlike some other editors, Movie together quickly, Movie Maker’s Maker is not well suited for creating AutoMovie Themes can add a title complex edits from hundreds of clips, OUR VERDICT screen, credits and transitions to your but for casual users it’s the perfect Very ambitious users might find video with the click of a single button. introduction to the world of video Windows Movie Maker’s tools Also, its pan-and-zoom effects are editing. limiting, but its straightforward, perfect if you want to bring more life to user-friendly interface and wide your picture slideshows. How can it be improved? range of transitions and effects You can import clips to Movie Maker We prefer the way that our Silver- and make it our number-one free from a variety of devices and in many Bronze-award winners let you import all video-editing program. different formats, and when you’ve your clips before choosing which ones

44 8 October 2014 Free Video-Editing Software

Lightworks Free | www.lwks.com | ★★★★★ BEST OF THE REST FEATURES ★★★★★ PERFORMANCE ★★★★★ EASE OF USE ★★★★★ VSDC Free Video Editor What we liked bit.ly/vsdc355 is professional- Another program for the more level software that offers ambitious user, VSDC is difficult to a very different get to grips with and it lacks the experience to the other helpful user guides of Lightworks programs we tested. The and MoviePlus. However, its freee version limits you to impressive range of features and exporting videos to YouTube at effects, and support of nearly all 720p, but it’s otherwise as powerful as with a video-editing keyboard. If you video formats, mean that it will the Pro version, which is used by persevere with it, Lightworks is reward those who persevere with it. Oscar-winning editors. undoubtedly the most powerful and Make sure you opt out of all It takes a while to get to grips with, rewarding free video-editing software. extras when installing it. but the excellent free video tutorials available from the developer’s website How can it be improved? make this easier. To begin with, you have Because Lightworks Free limits you to to master organising your clips in bins exporting your videos to YouTube, we’d and racks, labelling them so they’re also like the option to save files directly easier to find. None of these features are to a computer. We found the program necessary if you’re just putting together more resource-heavy than any other a handful of clips from a family holiday software we tested, too. but if you’re ready for a more ambitious project, then this is the software for you. Unlike Windows Movie Maker, there’s OUR VERDICT no single-click option for title screens Because Lightworks is professional Kate’s Video Toolkit and credits, but you can move and trim software, it may not appeal to casual bit.ly/kates355 clips, and add multiple audio tracks with users. If, however, you have the It fails to offer many of the more incredible precision. Most functions can patience to learn to use it, there’s no advanced features of our award be carried out with keyboard shortcuts better free video-editing software. winners, and you can even use it in conjunction but Kate’s Video Toolkit Serif MoviePlus Starter Edition | bit.ly/movieplus355 provides a ★★★★★ quick and FEATURES ★★★★★ PERFORMANCE ★★★★★ EASE OF USE ★★★★★ easy way of converting, What we liked cutting and Importing clips to joining your MoviePlus Starter Edition video files, and adding them to your and you can preview the results timeline is quick and easy, before proceeding. thanks to its user-friendly interface and handy How DVDVideoSoft Free Video Editor To sidebar, which takes you bit.ly/freevideo355 through every stage of the movie- Unlike many of the other programs making process. AVI, WMV and MOV. However, to enable we tested, DVDVideoSoft’s Free Unlike the other software we tested, these options permanently, you have to Video Editor won’t let you combine MoviePlus automatically creates a buy the Codec Pack for £4.99. separate video clips to create your crossfade transition when you overlap own movie. Instead, it is designed to two clips. You can choose from various How can it be improved? help you trim or cut unwanted parts transition types but, annoyingly, it adds It’s a good video editor, but we didn’t from a video quickly and easily a watermark to most of them unless you like being nagged about the features it without having to re-encode it, upgrade to MoviePlus X6 (which costs lacked compared to its premium meaning you lose none of its around £50). counterpart. Making us buy a Codec original quality. It has a good range of video effects Pack after 14 days is pretty stingy, too. and editing tools, and customisable title and credits screens. The software also OUR VERDICT gives you more control over audio MoviePlus Starter Edition offers a tracks than Windows Movie Maker, similar editing experience to our letting you make fine adjustments to the Gold Award winner; it even includes volume at any point in a clip. some more advanced editing tools. For 14 days after you download it, you But the omission of many Pro can export your video to YouTube or features makes it less capable. save it in a variety of formats including

Discuss the best free video editors at forum.webuser.co.uk 8 October 2014 45 Add extra tools to your favourite programs

Add-ons usually apply to browsers, but many other populaaarr programs have extra tools to make them more useful. Rob Beattie picks some of the best

VLC Media Player add-ons work fine, and if you run into the program and www..org/vlc trouble, check the discussion on each your new add-ons wwill Our favourite media add-on’s page, because the problem be available in the thhee player has lots of free may have been experienced and Effects menu. Makee sure you add-ons that can be used resolved by other users. get your add-ons frroomm the to make it even more versatile and Our favourites are VLSub 0.9.13 (bit Plug-ins section of oofficial tailored to all your audio video and .ly/vlsub355), which lets you search and Paint.net forums (bit.t ly/ needs. To view the full range of VLC download subtitles from Opensubtitles. paintplugins355) raatthherer than add-ons, head to VLC-Add-ons.org org; TuneIn Radio (bit.ly/tunein355), searching for them using Google. (addons.videolan.org) where you’ll find which lets you save and listen to your Web User forum membmbeerr (and a searchable directory of extra tools favourite radio stations; and YouTube long-time Paint.net user) Seanoc that you can sort by name, highest- Playlist (bit.ly/youtube355), which turns recommends the search tool at rated and most downloaded. VLC into the perfect Desktop player for www.getpaint.net/search.html as the – you guessed it – YouTube playlists. best way to find plug-ins. Our favourite tools are Planetoid (bit.ly/planetoid355), which gives you ‘control’ over the oceans, land, forests, mountains and clouds so you can create realistic 3D planets; FurBlur (bit.ly/ furblur355), a clever blur-and-trail effect that can be used to create natural textures and, for a bit of fun, generate Options include skins to customise hipster beards on your subjects; and VLC’s appearance; add-ons that Dryad (bit.ly/dryad355), which creates remember where you paused a video, Paint.net beautiful fractal-style trees and flowers so you can resume watching straight www.getpaint.net way beyond anything we could draw. away; tools that stop VLC playing after a Winner of a Gold Award specific length of time (which is useful if in our round-up of free you’re drifting off to sleep); and others image-editing software that display song lyrics while you’re in Issue 353 (bit.ly/ listening to music in the player. webuser353), Paint.net is packed with Installing VLC add-ons can be a bit useful features and has a thriving fiddly, so make sure you read the community of plug-in developers instructions and exclusions for any you creating extra tools to make the want to use, because they don’t all work program even more powerful. These with every version of VLC on every mostly comprise an impressive variety platform. Typically, installation involves of effects and filters that can transform extracting a file from the download, then even the most mundane pictures into copying it to a specific folder (which something special. you may have to create yourself). But Installing add-ons for Paint.net is apart from a couple of head-scratching easy. Just download the ZIP file, extract Google Drive moments, you should find most of the the DLL file and copy it to the Effects drive.google.com folder in your Paint.net folder. Restart With its 15GB of free storage and online office suite, Google Drive is one of the best cloud services available, and it offers an extensive set of free add-ons to make its Docs word processor and Sheets spreadsheet tool even better. To find out what’s available, open a document or spreadsheet, click the

46 8 October 2014 Enhance programs with extra tools

many good ones, but we’d like to process is very slick. mention Maps for Docs, which lets you We’d recommend the Apple iTunes highlg ight an address in your document Trailers add-on (bit.ly/itunes355), for to insert a Google map of the location; watching exclusive film trailers; the OpenClipart, which offers 50,000 free Flickr tool (bit.ly/flickr355) for viewing pieces of clipart; and Tag Cloud photo sets and searching tags quickly Generator, which picks out words from and easily; and the fantastic Geek & youur documents and generates a tag Sundry (bit.ly/geek355), which lets you clooud in the sidebar. watch videos from the popular YouTube channel of the same name. XBMC Entertainment Spotify Center www.spotify.com/uk xbmc.org Spotify doesn’t look like By the time you read it needs much this, XBMC may have enhancement, but it commpleted its name-change to Kodi, but actually offers a it’ll still be the same excellent, free selection of useful add-ons. From the all-in-one media player and library that’s menu panel on the left, choose App avaailable on a wide range of devices, Finder and, after a moment, the main including the famous 10-foot version for screen will fill with extras to help you widescreen smart TVs. You’ll find a find gigs, follow tours, display lyrics, generous selection of add-ons for read reviews, share playlists with others XBMC at addons.xbmc.org, including and much more. Just select the add-on some funky skins, screen savers, plenty you want and, when it loads, click the of TV and radio stations, and the ability Add button in the top-right. to access external services such as We particularly like the E4 add-on, Flickr and your Facebook photo library. which gives you instant access to music from the channel’s TV shows, including Misfits and Made in Chelsea; Sounddrop, which lets you share and contribute to Add-ons menu and choose ‘Get playlists with other people from around add-ons’. In Docs, you’ll find Mailchimp the world; and MusiXmatch, which mail merge, a thesaurus, a calculator, a overlays lyrics on a playing track so you table-of-contents generator, can sing along. See Best New Browser highlighters, chart creators and lots Tools on page 30 to learn about the more. For Sheets, there are plenty of MusiXmatch add-on for Chrome. templates, mapping tools, schedule generators, new table styles, basic bookkeeping and other tools you XBMC plug-ins are all installed the normally have to pay for. same way. From the program, go to Settings, choose Add-ons, Get Add-ons, then XBMC.org Add-ons. You can then use the built-in browser to navigate to the add-on you’re after and follow the instructions to install it. The entire

ADD EXTRA FEATURES TO CCLEANER

Although CCleaner (www.piriform are marked with an .com/ccleaner) doesn’t have any asterisk, so you can From the Add-ons browser, hover official add-ons, you can use the see which entries are your mouse over an item you want and third-party tool CCEnhancer (bit.ly/ new. Notable additions include Pale click the ‘+’ button. Click Accept to ccenhancer355) to make everyone’s Moon, AdwCleaner, iTunes, Panda agree to Google’s terms and the add-on favourite free cleaning tool even Cloud Antivirus and many more. will install more thorough. The latest version of itself. You can this tiny (278KB) tool adds support then access it for more than 1,000 extra programs from the and features to CCleaner, using rules Add-ons from the Piriform forum. menu. When you install CCEnhancer, It’s not download the latest definitions and easy to pick the additional options will be added our top Drive to CCleaner automatically. They tools because appear on the Applications tab and there are so

Discuss your favourite add-ons at forum.webuser.co.uk 8 October 2014 47 Make personal files invisible…

Locking private files with a password often draws more attention to them, so why not hide your most sensitive data altogether? Robert Irvine reveals the best tools for the job

Conceal files in photos and three passwords and One of the cleverest methods of making private data invisible split across a chain of is steganography, the art and science of hiding messages, files in formats including images and files inside other messages, images and files. You JPEG, MP3, MP4, PDF can become a steganographer by using the free tool Quick and PNG. OpenPuff Stego (bit.ly/quick355) to conceal a confidential text file in a seems slightly photo. Click Open Image to select a suitable JPEG, BMP or intimidating at first, but GIF file, then click Open Text to choose the text file (this it performs its needs to be in TXT steganography and format). Click Hide Text cryptography magic in and save the image in just four steps. To retrieve the hidden data, the recipient needs BMP format. When to have the software installed and to know the passwords. someone opens the picture in Quick Stego, Completely hide folders on your PC they’ll be able to view The easiest way to hide folders in Windows is to right-click the text, but otherwise them, choose Properties and then tick the Hidden box in the they won’t know it’s Attributes section. However, folders concealed in this manner there. will be visible to anyone Alternatively, there’s SteganPEG (bit.ly/stegan355), which who turns on the ‘Show lets you embed several files in a single JPEG image and hidden files, folders and encrypt it using a password. Save the ‘Stegged image’ and drives’ option in the no-one will be able to access the data unless they install , so it’s SteganPEG and enter your password. hardly a fail-safe privacy For even more secure solution. steganography, install Another method is to the ‘professional’ (but make a folder’s icon still free) program invisible, instead of OpenPuff (bit.ly/ hiding its contents. You can do this by creating a new folder open355), which lets on the Desktop, choosing Properties and clicking the you hide data in image, Customise tab. Click Change Icon, select a blank space and audio and video files. click OK to give the folder an invisible icon. To make the Your secret content can words disappear, too, click the name of your invisible folder, be protected by up to or right-click it and choose Rename, hold down the Alt key

48 8 October 2014 Make files invisible

and type 0160 on the numeric keypad on your keyboard. Press Enter to give the folder a blank name. For a more secure means of hiding private folders, install the excellent free tool Wise Folder Hider (bit.ly/wise355). Create a password, then either drag a folder to the program window, choose the Hide Folder option on the toolbar or right-click a folder and choose ‘Hide folder with Wise Folder Hider’. Items hidden by Wise Folder Hider can only be viewed by logging into the software using the password you created. Once logged in, you can open and unhide selected files and folders, and password-protect them so they’ll remain secure even when not hidden. Make everything on your Desktop disappear You can hide everything on your Desktop, including your , by right-clicking it and deselecting ‘Show desktop icons’ from the View menu. An even quicker method is to use the tiny free tool Iconoid (www.sillysot.com), which makes icons vanish when you press a certain hot key or when you move your cursor off the Desktop for a few seconds. Iconoid has not been updated for a while, so you may get a digital- signature warning, but it’s safe to use and works with all versions of Windows, including Windows 8+. Hide files on your Android phone We now store so many valuable files on our phones, from personal photos to confidential documents, that the thought of someone snooping through our devices is a scary one. To ensure that no-one can access your private files, secure them using the new Android app Andrognito (bit.ly/ andrognito355). This ‘modern sentinel’ offers several layers of protection by hiding your photos, videos, documents and other apps within an encrypted vault, which is locked with a PIN and can only be accessed from within Andrognito. If a nosy parker suspects you’re hiding files, you can turn on the app’s Stealth Mode to prevent Andrognito from appearing in your app launcher (instead, you open it through your phone’s dial pad). You can even create a decoy vault containing fake files to throw snoopers off the trail! Andrognito is straightforward to use, and provides clear instructions and warnings so that you don’t lose access to your own files.

Discuss data security at forum.webuser.co.uk 8 October 2014 49 Broadband Deals

Call FREE on 0800 083 2357 to switch your broadband

Contract Broadband First-year Provider Package name Monthly price Allowance length speed cost* £10.00 18 16Mbps ∞ Sky: Broadband 1 (FREE for months max speed unlimited & Calls 12 months) £0.00

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Virgin: Broadband £28.00 18 152Mbps ∞ 10 & Calls (£22.50 for months max speed unlimited £270.00 12 months) ** Call 0800 083 2357 or visit www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/webuser

Terms & Conditions apply - see ISP sites for details *First-year cost does not include line rental. Cost is calculated at monthly price x12 with all introductory offers subtracted. Additional charges incurred outside of free inclusive calls not included in first-year cost. Broadband Genie’s helpline ** Fair-usage or restriction policy applies. is powered by Simplify Digital, the Ofcom-accredited Data supplied by www.broadbandgenie.co.uk. Correct as of 24 September 2014. switching service

50 8 October 2014 Find broadband help at forum.webuser.co.uk Take a Screen Break

Give your eyes a rest from your PC, phone or tablet, and try our tricky fortnightly quiz. This issue we’re asking: how well do you know Google?

Roughly how many individual web Google is famous for its well-stocked In what year did the Oxford 1pages does Google index? 7 staff canteens, but what was the first 11English Dictionary add the word snack to be offered to all its employees? ‘Google’ as a verb? What did and Sergei Brin 2originally call Google, when they What are Google Panda, Penguin Can you guess how many results developed it at Stanford University? 8and Hummingbird? 12Google will find if you type in the search term frog? In what year did Google launch to What was the first hardware 3the public? 9product to be launched by Google, What percentage of Google’s in January 2010? 13revenue comes from advertising What was the subject of the first alone? 4Google Doodle, on 30 August 1998? True or false: a new Google 10employee is known as a Noogler What was the name of Google’s Which of these was not a failed and is given a 14social network, which was 5Google project: Buzz, Lively, Tinkle multi-coloured officially shut down on 30 September? or Wave? propeller hat

(like the one Which of these would you be 55

In which Californian city is pictured) to 15unlikely to see at the z3 6‘Googleplex’, Google’s official wear on their headquarters: a cat, a dog, a goat or a ui headquarters, based? first Friday? dinosaur? /q .uk co r. CAN YOU GUESS WHICH EVENTS INSPIRED THESE GOOGLE DOODLES? se ebu .w A B C www at e in onl s

D E F er sw an e th t Ge COMPETITIONS WO WO RTH RTH £69.99 £89.99 WIN 1 OF 4 EACH WIN 1 OF 4 EA iPhone prize bundle MAGIX Music Maker 2015 Premium CH To celebrate the arrival The Premium version of MAGIX Music Maker of the iPhone 6, STK 2015 contains more than 6,000 sounds and Accessories has given us loops – twice as many as the next version four iPhone prize down. It also has extra instruments, including bundles to give away. world flutes, Celtic harp, jazz drums and Each prize pack contains synthesizers. You can create an unlimited an Apple-approved number of tracks across a vast range of in-car charger, a faux-leather stand case and a Bluetooth genres, including reggae, chillout, techno speaker. To enter, email your address to webusercomp@ and metal. To enter, email your address to webusercomp@ dennis.co.uk. For more information visit stk-acc.com or dennis.co.uk. For more info, visit www.magix.com/gb/ follow STK Accessories on Twitter (@STKaccessories). music-maker or follow MAGIX on Twitter (@MAGIX_UK).

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/webusermagazine 8 October 2014 51 Practical 17 pages of workshops, tips, projects and problem solving

Improve and enhance your photos with Pixlr Desktop STYLIZE Stylize lets you transform pixlr.com/desktop photos into works of art. Available styles include Popular online photo editor Pixlr is now available Watercolour, Sketch and as a downloadable program and offers even Pencil more features. Here’s how to use it

ixlr (pixlr.com) has a broad portfolio to the family and brings the same of photo editors. Previously, they’ve high-quality photo editing to PCs and P all been web-based or mobile: the Macs, but with more advanced tools, powerful Pixlr Editor; the speedy but less including a double-exposure option and comprehensive Pixlr Express; and the fun loads of effects, overlays and borders. Pixlr-O-Matic, which lets you add filters If you need more tools than the free to photos (these last two are available version offers, you can get the Pro version for iOS and Android, as well as on the for $1.99 (around £1.20) a month or web). Pixlr Desktop is the latest addition $14.99 (around £9.30) a year.

3 3 1 ZOOM 2 1 By default, Pixlr will display the image by the best fit, but you can 2 zoom in or out as required

Launch the program and load a There are more tools available than 1 photo. The image will appear in the 2 you might think. Click ‘effect’, 1 for centre 1 with a strip of tool tiles on the example, to open a list of seven options. left. 2 Click any tool tile to open a Each one displays a cloud symbol. 2 sub-menu containing more tools. 3 You Click a cloud to download the available can use your mouse wheel to scroll effects. Click again and they’ll appear in a through the list. new strip. 3 You can now click an effect to apply it.

2 4 1 2

3 3 3 4 1 1

2

You can adjust the opacity using the You’ll find lots of useful quick fixes in Also in Fast,the Focal tool adjusts 3 slider 1 and apply or cancel the 4 the Fast tools, 1 including crop, 5 the focus of your photo, and a nifty effect. 2 If you like a particular effect, straighten and resize. There’s an autofix Splash tool turns a photo black and white you can make it a favourite by clicking tool, to improve the overall look of your with areas of spot colour. Use the magic the heart symbol. 3 To try some different picture, as well as a red-eye removal tool wand 1 or the add and subtract tools 2 ones, click the Shuffle button. 4 This will and a Heal brush, to remove blemishes to control the colour areas. Tolerance 3 apply effects randomly while maintaining and fix shiny and shady areas. 2 Adjust adjusts how much colour the wand your chosen opacity. the brush size for finer work. 3 selects. You can also adjust the hue. 4

52 8 October 2014 Workshop 1

TYPE The Type tool lets you add captions or annotations. You can adjust the size, typeface, style and opacity

METADATA Click the button to display information about your photo including its dimensions, file size, exposure and focal length

1 4 1 1 5

2 3 2

The Refine tools let you adjust a Overlay 1 adds fancy effects to your Get morefeatures by signing up for a 6 photo’s colour and contrast, and also 7 photos, such as fireworks, smoke and 8 free account. Click the Sign In button blur, sharpen and smooth an image. The a range of colour filters. Stickers 2 and sign up using Facebook or your email double-exposure tool lets you open a provides comic elements, symbols and address. This will upgrade you from Pixlr second image to overlay on top of the cartoon effects, such as lightning or fairy Starter to Essentials and unlock more first. In this example, we’re mixing two dust. To finish a picture, you could add a options. New features are marked with a versions of the same photo. You can stylish border. 3 The frame’s opacity 4 pink ribbon, 1 which stays visible until adjust the opacity 1 and the angle. 2 and position 5 can be adjusted. you run the program another three times.

Get more tips in our newsletter at www.webuser.co.uk/newsletter 8 October 2014 53 Workshop 2 Remove hidden junk from all your browsers

Auslogics Browser Care 2: bit.ly/browsercare355 | 10 mins | XP, Vista, 7, 8+

t’s very easy for your browsers to become bogged down with junk. Some free software downloads come armed with browser take- I over tools and if you don’t take care to opt out of installing them, you can end up with extra toolbars, useless search engines and a homepage you don’t want. Your browser also picks up its own baggage as it travels the web, saving cookies and history from websites; storing items in its cache to make pages load quicker; and making a note of your usernames, passwords and contact details when you fill in forms. If you use more than one browser, this detritus will quickly multiply. Auslogics Browser Care 2 is the latest version of a free program that can clean all this junk from the three main browsers (Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer). Instead of having to hunt for different tools and menu options, Browser Care makes the steps identical in all three and lets you control everything from a single, simple interface. You can access the settings for each browser by clicking its tab.

1 1 2

3

2

Check your browsers are set to display the correct page Junk software often changes your default search engine. when they launch by clicking the down arrow 1 in the Click the arrow in the Search Engine box 1 and pick a 1 2 Home Page section. You can choose from the browser’s 2 new one from the list. Firefox has more to choose from default, a blank page or type in your own URL. 3 If you already than Internet Explorer, but Chrome picks up hundreds. Click have a custom URL, click it to change it. ‘Show more’ 2 to see them all.

1 2 3 1 2 3

Your browser collects its own junk as you use it to access Cookies 1 is all the data stored by websites to help them the web. Under Browsing Data Removal, click ‘Show remember personal elements such as your preferences or 3 options’. 1 2 2 Cache 4 the contents of a shopping cart; ‘Login data’ is the store of pages and images that is all your speeds up loading on the pages you visit regularly; History 3 is usernames and passwords; and ‘Form auto-fill’ 3 automatically a record of all the pages you’ve visited. enters information such as your address into online forms.

54 8 October 2014 Workshop 2

EXPERT TIP ANDY SHAW SAYS Browser Care shares its Rescue Center with other Auslogics software, including BoostSpeed 7, which we featured last issue (bit.ly/webuser354). Each program will have its own back-ups, but there’s shared access to the Restore Points tab, which links to Windows’ own System Restore tools. You can configure Browser Care’s back-up settings from BoostSpeed’s options menu.

2

1 1 2 3 4

Tick the boxes of any of the browsing-data options that Any items listed in Chrome’s ‘Toolbars & Add-ons’ 1 that you want to delete, then click the ‘Clear data’ button. A you don’t recognise from the extensions in your Settings 5 1 6 progress circle lets you know how the clear-up is going. menu may be the hidden plug-ins you find if you type Once there’s no data to clear, the ‘Clear data’ button fades from chrome://plugins into your browser. 2 Click the green tick green to white. 2 3 to switch them off or the bin icon 4 to delete them.

1

1 2 3

2 4

5

Your default browser is the one that launches when you The new Rescue Center lets you roll back any changes click links in other programs, and it will be labelled as such you’ve made by mistake. Click Settings, 1 then the 1 8 2 Make sure Browser Care is selected 7 on its tab. If you want to make one of the other Rescue Center tab. browsers the default, click its tab, then click the ‘set as default 3 and choose how long to keep back-ups and the percentage browser’ link. 2 of drive space to devote to them. 4 Click OK. 5

2

2 3 4

1 1

Click the Restore button. 1 Select a change you’ve made For the ultimate reset, you can take your browser that you want to undo and click Restore. 2 Changes are back to how it was the day you downloaded it. Click 3 4 10‘Restore default browser settings’. 1 9 listed by pressing Details. You can also Delete You’ll be asked if back-ups that you know you don’t need. you’re sure, 2 then all your add-ons will be turned off and the homepage and search engine returned to their defaults.

Get more practical advice at forum.webuser.co.uk 8 October 2014 55 Workshop 3 Get the app you want for a bargain price ave you ever wanted to buy an app but been put off by The iOS and Android versions of the its high price? AppZapp’s price-drop tool ensures that app are very different from each other, H you’ll be the first to know when any app goes on sale, by so we’ve shown you how to set up sending you a notification as soon as its price comes down. alerts on both. AppZapp: bit.ly/appzapp355 | 10 mins | iOS 4.3+ Android 2.2+

To set up a price- After registering, drop notification on you’ll receive a 2 message asking you 1 the iOS version of 1 AppZapp, download and to confirm your email open the app, tap the address. Click the 1 Apps tab, then Create 1 activation link, log in and App Alert. 2 Search for tap the top-left button the name of the app you twice to return to the 2 want alerts about and, App Alert screen. Tap once you’ve found it, tap Add 1 again on the app Add. AppZapp asks you you’ve chosen. to set up an account.

Turn the Price Drops 2 1 The Android version of switch on 1 and AppZapp is much 4 clunkier than the iOS 3 select the price at which you would like version, but you can still set AppZapp to send you a up price-drop notifications. 1 notification. 2 Tap Push Tap the menu button, 1 enter Settings 3 and Advanced the name of an app you want Settings if you want to information about in the turn on email alerts, too, search bar 2 and press the or tap Seller Alerts to search button. 3 Select the receive notifications when appropriate app from the the developer releases a results. 2 new app.

3 3

Under the Lists & Alerts If you want to receive heading, tap Price and notifications about new 5 you’ll be invited to 6 apps from the seller, register with Facebook 1 , tap Developer and select Google+ 2 or your email New. 1 You can also receive address. 3 After setting up alerts about price drops on an account, log in and tap all the developer’s other apps Price again. A green light by tapping Price. 2 1 shows to indicate that Price alerts are turned on. 2

3 2 1

56 8 October 2014 Workshop 4 Make System Restore easier to use hen Windows stops working, System Restore is the process to restoring one, finding the first port of call. It can bring back the operating different tools and options can be a pain. W system to a fully working state without losing Restore Point Creator simplifies the anything. But because creating a restore point is a separate process by bringing everything together. Restore Point Creator: bit.ly/restore355 | 10 mins | Vista, 7, 8+

2

2

3

1 1

Load the software. To quickly create a restore point, click If you use or 8, pin the software to the the Create System Checkpoint button. 1 To give the taskbar 1 (right-click it from the Start screen or menu). 1 2 2 restore point a particular name, type it into the box Then, when you right-click it, you can open the and click Create Custom Named Restore Point. 3 When the software as normal or use one of the shortcuts to Create point has been created, the software will close automatically. System Checkpoint or Create Custom Named, 2 as in step 1.

1

2 2 3 1

If Windows stops working and you need to restore your One of the best features of the software is its ability to previous settings, click the restore point you want to go schedule the creation and deletion of restore points. 1 4 From the System Restore Point Utilities menu, click 3 back to and click ‘Restore to Selected System Restore Point’. 2 You can also remove old restore points by ‘Schedule a System Restore Point’. 1 Choose a daily or selecting one and clicking Delete Selected Restore Point. 3 weekly schedule from the options available. 2

1 1 2

4 2 3 4 3 5

You can set the program to delete old restore points as To manage the hard-drive space reserved for System it creates new ones. Tick the box 1 and click Save Task. Restore, click the System Restore Point Utilities menu 5 2 3 6 1 2 Or tick the options to set up a schedule for and select View Disk Space Usage. The used and deleting old restore points. In either case, set how many days available space is represented by the bars. 3 Click the you want restore points kept before removing them. 4 Manage link 4 to tweak the amount of storage available. 5

Get more practical advice at forum.webuser.co.uk 8 October 2014 57 Weekend Project M T W T F S S Get to grips with some serious PC DIY to boost your computer’s performance

to... Make the most of your How 64-bit computer

Don’t make the mistake of using 32-bit software on your 64-bit PC. Wayne Williams shows how to get more power from your programs

rocessors have come a long way since Intel P launched its 4004 processor back in 1971. And we’re not just talking about speed. The design, complexity and construction has also evolved and today, processors come in two flavours: 32-bit (x86), which is usually found in older PCs; and 64-bit (x64), which is faster, more powerful and most often seen in newer computers. A 64-bit processor can handle more data and memory than its 32-bit counterpart, and can also run 32-bit software, whereas the reverse isn’t true. Because of this, many people run 32-bit programs on their 64-bit computers, not realising they’re missing out on a lot of the speed benefits offered by the advanced chip. To avoid making the same mistake, we’ll help you check whether you’re running a 32-bit operating system and software on a 64-bit PC, and show you where to find 64-bit software.

What is a 64-bit processor? XP Professional x64 Edition. While 32-bit versions of Windows can 64-bit computing has been available in A 64-bit processor has registers only recognise a maximum of 4GB of supercomputers since the Sixties, but it’s (special high-speed on-board memory memory (and use a total of around a relatively recent component of the areas) that can store data and memory 3.5GB), the 64-bit Home Premium edition humble home PC. To get the most out of addresses in 64-bits. This means, in of Windows 7 can use up to 16GB, and a 64-bit computer, you need to be theory, it can process twice as much the Professional and Ultimate editions running a 64-bit operating system, information as a 32-bit chip could in the can access up to 192GB. The 64-bit software and drivers. Microsoft has same time. 64-bit architecture also lets version of Windows 8.1 supports up to offered a 64-bit version of Windows PCs have considerably more memory 128GB while the 64-bit Windows 8.1 since 2005, when it released Windows installed. Professional supports up to 512GB. While

58 8 October 2014 Weekend Project

you may not have enough spare memory junk, but it also provides some basic slots on your motherboard (or enough information about your PC. Launch the money) to hit the maximum memory program (there’s a 64-bit version allowance, the more memory you can available, which is what you should be pack into your 64-bit system, the better. using if you’re running 64-bit Windows) You’ll really notice the difference when it and look at the header underneath the comes to performance. title. It will tell you the version of We showed you how to upgrade your Windows you’re running, how much memory in the Weekend Project in Issue memory you have installed and the make 349 (bit.ly/webuser349). and type of your processor. If you’re running a 32-bit version of How to tell whether you have Windows, it’s worth checking whether a 64-bit processor you could upgrade to 64-bit. See our Mini You can download 64-bit plug-ins for If you’re running a 64-bit operating Workshop below to find out how. Waterfox from the browser’s website system (Windows or Linux), then your PC must have a 64-bit processor, because WoW64 it’s perhaps surprising that 64-bit the OS won’t run on incompatible 64-bit versions of Windows have a versions haven’t been embraced more hardware. If you’re not sure which OS compatibility layer called WoW64 (it quickly by browser developers. Google you’re running, there is a simple way to stands for Windows 32-bit On Windows has only just released a stable 64-bit find out your processor type. 64-bit), which is essentially an x86 version of Chrome (bit.ly/chrome64-355), In Windows 7, click Start and right-click emulator that lets the OS run 32-bit and while Mozilla has a 64-bit version of Computer. In Windows 8, right-click ‘This software. It does this by cleverly Firefox, it’s only available as a Nightly PC’. Select Properties. You’ll see your switching the processor back and forth build. This is fast but not entirely stable, processor listed, and the type of between 32-bit and 64-bit modes as and because it’s only available for testing operating system (32- or 64-bit) you’re when it’s required. WoW64 runs purposes. You’ll find the latest version of running. automatically and you don’t have to it at bit.ly/ffnightly355. CCleaner (www.piriform.com) is best configure anything for it to work. If you use Firefox but don’t want to risk known for its ability to clear away system Because the emulation takes place using the Nightly build just to get a directly on the 64-bit chip, it’s fast, so 64-bit version, you could try Waterfox you should find your 32-bit programs run instead (www.waterfoxproject.org). This at around the same speed they would on dedicated 64-bit build of Mozilla’s a native 32-bit PC. However, 64-bit browser makes good use of any programs running on 64-bit PCs should additional memory you have installed, run much, much faster, especially if and because the software has been you’ve installed more than 4GB of optimised for speed, it should run memory. significantly faster than Firefox on older PCs. See our Mini Workshop on page 61 64-bit browsers for help with switching. Alternatively, you Check to see whether you’re running the People tend to use their browser more could consider Pale Moon, which is also 32- or 64-bit version of Windows than any other program on their PC, so based on Firefox and built with speed in

MINI WORKSHOP | Upgrade to Windows 64-bit when you next upgrade Windows

1

1

2 1 2

The best time to upgrade from This brings up the ‘More details Double-check that your PC is able 1 32- to 64-bit Windows is when you 2 about my computer’ page. Under 3 to run the latest version of update your OS, such as from Windows System, there’s a ‘64-bit capable’ entry. Windows. Go to bit.ly/upgrade355 and 7 to Windows 8.1. On a PC running 1 If it says ‘Yes’ 2 next to it, you can click ‘Upgrade now’ 1 to download Windows 7 or below, open the Control upgrade the PC to a 64-bit version of Microsoft’s Upgrade Assistant. Run the Panel. Search for ‘performance Windows. Unfortunately you can’t just program and go through the steps to information and tools’ and click it. update it – you have to buy and install a ensure your PC is compatible 2 but Select ‘View and print details’ or brand new version. cancel it before purchasing. You’ll need ‘View and print detailed performance to buy a 64-bit Windows 8 installation and system information’. 1 disc to install it over a 32-bit version.

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Weekend Project

default, even on 64-bit systems. Microsoft says you should only really consider using the 64-bit Office 2013 if you work with very complex Excel worksheets, use Project 2013 or require enhanced security. You can find out which version of Office 2013 you’re running by opening an Office 2013 program, such as Word, and going to File, Account. Click About Word Explore a program’s website to see if it offers a 64-bit version of the software and look at the top of the window. It’s not possible to switch between mind. There’s a 64-bit version at bit.ly/ correct version from a list, which isn’t 32- and 64-bit versions of Office, so to palemoon355. always obvious. Here is a selection of change from one to the other, you need Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7 is some excellent 64-bit programs to to uninstall the 32-bit version, then also available in a 64-bit version. You can download. re-install the 64-bit version. To install select and download it at bit.ly/ie11-355. 64-bit Office, you have to run Setup.exe While it might seem obvious to run a • CCleaner (system cleaner) from the x64 folder. 64-bit browser on a 64-bit system, there www.piriform.com/ccleaner is one big problem: some third party • VLC Media Player (media player) plug-ins are only available for 32-bit bit.ly/vlc64-355 browsers and won’t work in the 64-bit • iTunes (media organiser) version. You probably won’t know for bit.ly/itunes64-355 certain which plug-ins don’t work until • Hardwipe (data eraser) you try to install them. However, most of www.hardwipe.com the common ones, such as Adobe Flash • AVG for Windows (anti-virus) Player, Java and Silverlight will be fine, so bit.ly/avg64-355 this won’t be a problem for most users. • PeaZip (compression tool) bit.ly/peazip64-355 Other 64-bit programs Before you download any new program, 64-bit Microsoft Office check to see if there’s a 64-bit version Microsoft recommends the 32-bit version available. Some sites will detect the type of Office for most users, because it is of processor you have and automatically more compatible with other applications, serve up the software version you need, especially third-party add-ons. As a Microsoft recommends the 32-bit version of but others require you to choose the result, the 32-bit version gets installed by Office, but the 64-bit version is faster

MINI WORKSHOP | Switch to the Waterfox browser

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1 2 2

You can either install Waterfox or To change your search engine to To see how much faster Waterfox is 1 download a portable version. You 2 Google (or another choice), click the 3 on your PC, benchmark it against will need to close Firefox before you down arrow in the search box and select Firefox using Mozilla’s Kraken can use it because Waterfox shares its the search engine you want. 1 You can JavaScript tool (krakenbenchmark profile with Mozilla’s browser, so all check which plug-ins you have installed .mozilla.org). Start the test in Firefox by your add-ons, bookmarks and open by clicking the menu, selecting Add-ons clicking the Begin link. Copy the results sites will be carried over. Everything and clicking Plug-ins. 2 You’ll find 64-bit URL, then run the test in Waterfox. looks the same, except it uses ixquick’s versions of Flash Player, Java and Paste the first results into the URL box Start Page as the default search Silverlight on the Waterfox site. 1 and compare them. 2 Our results engine. 1 show Waterfox is quicker.

On sale y NEXT ISSUE How To... Turn a spare router into a Wi-Fi booster Wednesda 22 Oct

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Web User’s TopTips Our experts show how to add uncrackable security to your internet connection

TOP TIPS FOR USING A PROXY OR VPN

Protect your privacy by using a proxy server

proxy is a service that lets you browse the web anonymously and privately. If you A want to hide your location, personal information and IP address, use your browser togo to the proxy tools offered by Hide My Ass (bit.ly/hmaproxy355) or Cyberghost (bit.ly/ cgproxy355) and enter the address of a site you want to access. The browser connects using encrypted ‘https’, as used by banks and online shops, so no-one can spy on your movements. The proxy then fetches the web page and sends it back via the encrypted connection to your PC. An easier way to use a proxy for private web browsing is to install the free Hide My Ass extension for Chrome (bit.ly/hmaweb355) or Firefox (bit.ly/hmaff355). Click the button to the right side of Chrome’s address box and enter the website you want to visit. To boost security and privacy even more, right-click the Hide My Ass button and select Options, then tick the SSL- Proxies are quick and easy to use for bursts of browsing privacy, but encryption box. they don’t work as well as VPNs

When to use a VPN VPNs can also be used to hide your You can get all the information you A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is even location so you appear to be accessing need to try a VPN for free at freevpn more secure than a proxy. Some sites the internet from another country. This .me/accounts. There are two servers don’t work with proxies, but VPNs work can help you get local deals when in the PPTP column. Try the first, but if with anything on your PC that connects booking holiday activities; access local it doesn’t work, use the second. After to the internet, not just your browser. news abroad more easily; and get the entering the details in Windows 7, They encrypt all communications same access to online video as a click the network icon at the right side between your computer and the resident of that country. You could also of the taskbar and click the VPN internet, and are very secure against pretend to be at home when you’re on connection you just created. In snoopers. Any network eavesdroppers holiday, so you can access catch-up TV Windows 8, will only see your scrambled data. and other UK-only services. you’ll find A VPN can be used on your home PC, the network but it’s particularly useful in a less- VPN without software icon in the secure environment such when you are Windows lets you connect to a VPN Charms bar using your laptop, tablet or mobile using its own built-in software. In by clicking phone at a public Wi-Fi hotspot. Windows 8, bring up the Charms bar (or Settings. press Windows+C), click Settings, When you’re ‘Change PC settings’, Network, ‘Add a connected, VPN connection’. In Windows 7, go to search If you see words that look like Control Panel, ‘Network and Sharing Google for they’ve been typed in a Center’, ‘Set up a new connection or ‘where am I’ typewriter, follow the instructions network’, ‘Connect to a workplace’, then or ‘what is and type them exactly as they ‘Use my Internet connection (VPN)’. In my IP’. appear, paying close attention to both cases, you are asked for the Neither will One or more VPNs can be spaces and punctuation. address of the server, a username and a be correct, added to Windows without password. showing that installing software

64 8 October 2014 Web User’s Top Tips

the internet no longer knows who you are or where you live. TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL Note that free VPNs can become More advanced tips for if you’re feeling brave overloaded with users, which slows them down, and they may go offline when they reach their user or bandwidth Install VPN software use VPNs. This is particularly handy if limits. Paid-for VPN services, such as Some VPNs can be used without you regularly use your device to Hide My Ass (www.hidemyass.com), installing software, but others need it access the internet using public Wi-Fi CyberGhost (www.cyberghostvpn.com), to work, and to provide extra features hotspots. To use VPN on a Samsung Hotspot Shield (www.hotspotshield. such as increased security and Galaxy S4/S5, for example, Go to com) and others are faster, more reliable malware protection. CyberGhost Settings, Connections, More and more secure. offers a free version of its VPN Networks, VPN. Tap the plus button software and although it has some to add a new VPN, enter a name for it Choose a country restrictions, such as a time limit, fewer along with the server address. Tap the When you’re connected to a VPN, your servers and fewer countries, it is still VPN afterwards and enter the location appears to be wherever the very useful for private browsing. username and password. VPN server is located. So if you want to CyberGhost has a graphical Setting up VPNs and switching from pretend you live in the US, you connect interface that shows your location on one server to another can be to a US server; and if you’re abroad but a map of the world. Click the large complicated but there are apps that want to look like you’re in the UK, you Connect button in the middle and, make it a lot easier. CyberGhost is free connect to a UK server. At after a few seconds, it will show your in the Google Play Store and Apple freevpnaccess.com, you’ll find a short location in a new spot. Click the App Store, and there are many other list of VPN servers in different countries, Simulated Country button to display a VPN apps for Android and iOS such as the US, UK and Canada. Search list of countries, servers and users. devices, too. for ‘free VPN’ and you’ll find many more. Select any country with a server in the However, free VPNs often doesn’t Free column, such as USA, Germany offer many countries to choose from. or France. If you’re not bothered Paying for a VPN provides access to which country is selected, pick the more servers in more countries. Hide My server with the fewest users to get the Ass, for example, has 678 servers in 189 best performance. locations in 91 countries.

The free CyberGhost VPN software lets you choose your location Choose a free VPN by country if you want to access location-specific content Watch your bandwidth Save multiple VPNs Mobile phones often have data-usage You can create several VPN connections limits and some free VPNs limit your in Windows; by clicking the network PC’s internet access in the same way, icon in the taskbar or Charms bar, you providing just 1GB bandwidth or less. can select one to connect to. This If you watch a lot of online video, this There are VPN apps for mobile phones means you can have different allowance will quickly get used up. and tablets to increase privacy in public connections set up for different Even some subscription VPN services countries, for example, then choose the have limits, so keep an eye your data Don’t be complacent one that’s best suited to the job at hand. usage. Unless bandwidth is unlimited, A VPN encrypts your internet there will be a control panel online or connection so no-one can see what in the software that shows how much you access on the internet, but the you are consuming. When the limit is one exception to this is the company reached, you will still be able to providing the VPN. Don’t use a VPN access the internet in the usual way, for online banking, shopping and you just won’t be doing so via a VPN. similar activities unless you are sure A VPN is like a privacy on/off switch that the VPN is trustworthy. Avoid and it does not limit internet access. free VPNs and go for large, well- known companies such as Hide My Use a VPN on your phone Ass, CyberGhost, HotspotShield and and tablet similar VPNs that have millions of You can set up one or more VPN accounts, Mobile phones and tablets can also users. then choose the most appropriate one

Visit our Hints & Tips forum at forum.webuser.co.uk 8 October 2014 65 Ask the Expert Roland Waddilove computer programmer and PC journalist since 1981, answers all your technical questions. Email us for help at [email protected]

if you search for ‘Mini DisplayPort to BROWSERS HDMI’ you will find lots of other suppliers and cheaper prices. Remove pop-up ads Some cables are only a couple of from eBay inches long and these simply plug in to the Mini DisplayPort on the computer to I am constantly under attack from provide an HDMI socket. You then use a Q pop-up ads on eBay, sometimes on standard HDMI cable to connect the TV. one side of my screen, sometimes on Other cables have a Mini DisplayPort both. Sometimes they even block what plug at one end and an HDMI plug at the I’m viewing! I’ve seen one with a little X Add-ons, search providers and toolbars other, and so only one cable is required. can cause unwanted browser adverts to close the ad, but I can’t see how to You won’t want it to sit too close to the shut down the others. The one with the InPrivate Browsing). This disables TV, so make sure the cable you buy is cockroach is especially annoying! add-ons and extensions, so if there long enough. Not only are they distracting, but the are now no adverts, you know it’s an peripheral activity actually makes me add-on that’s causing the problem. GENERAL PC nauseous and I have to close my To remove unwanted toolbars and Save my formatted files browser tab to escape. I’ve searched extensions, go to ‘Programs and My Fujitsu Siemens Scaleo P is about for the problem and it seems to have Features’ in the Control Panel and Q six years old and runs Windows happened to a lot of other people. carefullyexamine each entry. The Vista. It’s recently become very slow and Brian Mapp, via email offending program is sometimes virtually inoperative. I’ve had to fiddle obvious, but if not, just uninstall around in safe mode to get it to boot up Although eBay shows adverts, it anything that you don’t need. and, on one occasion, it just displayed a A does not show pop-up ones and Now clear the unwanted elements black screen saying: “Restart With they don’t obscure the page. These from your browsers. In Chrome, for Windows Installation Disc”. I did this, not ads are being displayed by something example, go to the menu and select knowing that it would format my hard else, such as software you’ve installed Settings. Find and click ‘Manage drive and install a fresh copy of Windows from elsewhere. It’s easy to install search engines’, then mouse over Vista on the PC. When I realised what browser extensions, add-ons and anything in the list you don’t want and was happening, I cancelled it, switched toolbars without realising, and these delete it by clicking the button on the off the computer and disconnected all can affect your web browsing. right. Mouse over google.co.uk, and cables including the router. Since then A quick way to test whether this has click ‘Make default’. Return to Settings I haven’t used the PC at all. happened is to open a private and, in the ‘On startup’ section, select I had Opera installed on the PC with browsing session (in Chrome, click ‘Open a specific page or set of pages’. bookmarks and notes. I also had some ‘New incognito window’; in Firefox, Click ‘Set pages’, delete any that are important files, such as CVs, bills, New Private Window; and in IE, click set and enter www.google.co.uk/ as pictures and movies. Is it possible to the Safety option followed by the defalt homepage. retrieve the lost data? Wojciech Opalka, via email

HARDWARE Apple computers and a few PCs have There is no guarantee that you can Connect DisplayPort to a TV them too, including the Microsoft A recover any of the lost data but you I have a Lenovo Helix tablet. It has a Surface tablet. Microsoft has a Mini won’t know until you try. The best way Q socket that looks like a small HDMI DisplayPort to HDMI cable (bit.ly/ to proceed would be to remove the hard port that I would like to connect to my display355) for the Surface which drive from your PC and attach it to TV. However, I cannot find the correct should also work with your Lenovo, but another PC. You can then use the cable to do this. Neither a mini nor micro second PC to examine the drive and HDMI cable fits the port. I’ve bought two attempt to retrieve your files. An IDE/ Belkin’s Mini that are useless. I looked on the Lenovo DisplayPort SATA to USB cable can be used to website at accessories, but just cannot to HDMI connect an internal drive into an make out which cable it is I need. adapter (bit external USB port for temporary access. R J Boddington, via email .ly/belkin355) Search Google to find a supplier. costs £28 If this isn’t possible, get hold of a and lets you The port on the Lenovo Helix is a plug in an Linux disc. PCs can be started from A Mini DisplayPort. It is common on HDMI cable Linux discs without installing the

66 8 October 2014 Ask the Expert

operating system, and you’ll be able to When I launched Internet Explorer to access the hard drive using the file look for a solution, a blank page opened, manager or other tools to see what you rather than my normal start page. I can salvage from it. emailed details to the software company The least safe option, but one that to see if Pup-FOG was part of their may work if you are lucky, is to simply program and restarted the PC. Two new continue with the fresh install of icons appeared on my Desktop, both Windows, because the situation may not identified as ‘desktop.ini’. be as bad as it appears. When Windows The McAfee message has reappeared is installed, it doesn’t usually format a and, because it won’t go away, I’ve Desktop.ini files are usually hidden. Hide drive that’s already formatted. What’s selected the option to Allow the them again by going to the Control Panel more, if there is already a copy of program. ‘Desktop.ini’ icons have now Windows on the drive, it usually keeps appeared in the My PC folder. I have run browser toolbars and extensions. the old version and your old files, and a full virus scan which found nothing. The Open ‘Programs and Features’ in the installs a fresh copy of Windows in a software company says that the program Control Panel and if any item looks like a new folder. Unless you specifically is not theirs so it may be a virus. Should I browser toolbar, extension or search selected options to erase the disk, you research the filename again and manually tool, uninstall it. Open the Desktop may find that all your files are still there. delete it? What are these desktop.ini version of Internet Explorer, click the If the worst happens and your files are icons that have appeared and how do I gear icon in the top right corner and gone, you could try a disc-recovery tool get rid of them? select ‘Manage add-ons’. Select such as Puran File Recovery (bit.ly/ Jeff Castle, via email ‘Toolbars and Extensions’ on the left filerec355) or Recuva (bit.ly/recuva355), and ‘All add-ons’ below. Look through which can recover files even when a The desktop.ini files and icons are the list for unwanted items, select them drive has been formatted. Use the Deep A completely harmless and are simply and either disable or remove them. Scan option rather than a standard Windows system files that are normally We can’t be specific because there scan. It takes a long time, but is the only hidden. They contain settings that are many items that could appear here. method that works with formatted disks. Windows uses when displaying files and Afterwards, select Search Providers on folders in Explorer and on the Desktop. the left and select all entries except for Open the Control Panel, open Folder Bing, Google or whatever you prefer, Options, select the View tab and tick and remove the rest. Close the Manage ‘Hide protected operating system files’. Add-ons window, go to whatever site Also select ‘Don’t show hidden files, you want to use as your homepage, folders or drives’. right-click the Home button and select A PUP (Potentially Unwanted ‘Add or change home page’. Program) is often used to describe Shutdown problems are caused by software that displays adverts, changes software that won’t close. Right-click Puran File Recovery is a useful tool for your browser’s homepage and search the taskbar and select Task Manager. finding and recovering deleted files engine, and performs other unwanted Select the Start-up tab and disable activities. PUPs are not viruses, so anti- anything you don’t need. That’s vague GENERAL PC virus software will often ignore them. advice, but hundreds of programs can Remove mysterious icons The smdmfldr.dll file that McAfee potentially appear in the start-up list so Recently, I often can’t shut down or flagged has been associated with we can’t be any more specific. Q restart my computer, and I have to switch it off instead. When I start it again, everything is OK. This week, my video- SOFTWARE editing software (Movavi Video Suite, Looking for a bit.ly/movavi355) received an update. After installing it, the program did not search tool perform as previously. Movavi’s customer support instructed me to uninstall the Some time ago, one of your program and reinstall. Q readers recommended a small The next day, a McAfee warning file-search program that locates files Find files quickly with Agent Ransack appeared, saying: “McAfee prevented a on your hard drive. I installed it and it potentially unwanted program from worked very well indeed, until I had to We aren’t sure which search tool running. Protect your PC by only reinstall Windows and lost all my A you had, but there are a lot of allowing programs you trust. C:\Program programs. I’ve looked back through my good ones available. Copernic Files(x86)\Settings Manager\smdmf\ stack of Web User issues (about four Desktop Search (www.copernic.com) x64\smdmfldr.dll”. The program was years-worth) but cannot find it. I think is excellent. Once it has indexed the identified as Pup-FOG. The warning gave it was called something like master files on the hard drive, it can find me four options: More; Remove; Allow; search. I’d really like to get it again them almost instantly. You could also Close. More didn’t reveal any extra and, if I do, I will note the name down try Agent Ransack (bit.ly/agent355), information and Remove didn’t do this time! Everything (voidtools.com) and anything. Close cleared the message but George Allsop, via email LookDisk (bit.ly/look355). then it reappeared.

This fortnight Roland configured a RAM drive to make his favourite software load more quickly

Find more solutions to PC and web problems at forum.webuser.co.uk 8 October 2014 67 Your Top Tips Our pick of the best advice from our readers. To or offer it to others, visit forum.webuser.co.uk

TOP TIP £25 winner PRIVACY Opt out of Microsoft’s tracking ads work address. If you don’t want the Like Google, Microsoft tracks your web notifications, you can turn them off by activities and shows you targeted ads selecting the menu button next to the as you read emails in Outlook.com. magic wand, choosing Settings and Unlike Google, you can opt out of Notifications and unticking the box for Microsoft’s version. ‘Show updates from Google Now’. The next time you check your email, Kate, via email click the Ad Choices link in the ad panel on the right. This takes you to a EMAIL web page where you can choose Mute Gmail conversations whether Microsoft shows targeted If you select an email in Gmail and go to adverts based on interests gleaned What sort of adverts do you want to see the More menu, you’ll find a Mute option. from tracking your web activities. Click on the web? Microsoft lets you decide You use this when you are in a big email the Choose tile and click the Off conversation with a lot of people button next to ‘Personalised ads in this Your web activity will no longer be involved and you want to stop receiving browser’ and ‘Personalised ads used to customise ads. updates every time someone sends a wherever I use my ’. John Quinn, via email response. If you need to go back and unmute it, click the More link on the left below the GENERAL PC ANDROID labels and select All Mail. You can also Get the Windows 8 Start Change your home address in type is:muted into the search box to screen Google Now show all muted emails. Then open an If you’re running Windows 7, Vista or XP When I first bought my , I email and click the cross on the Muted you can get the Windows 8 look by entered my address and, ever since, I label at the top to unmute it and put it adding its Start screen. IObit WinMetro have received notifications telling me back in the inbox. (free, bit.ly/winmetro355) applies a how long it should take to get home Ryan Thomas, via email Windows 8-style interface that brings based on my current location. I can’t say those older versions right up to date. It I ever used the feature, but it became has similar tiles to Windows 8, including maddening when I moved house last live ones that show news headlines and month and Google continued to base its stock information, and creates tiles that travel information on my old address. you can use to launch your existing The culprit for sending this information programs. It doesn’t change Windows in is Google Now, so if you want to change any other way and when you quit your details, open Google from your app Gmail conversations you no longer want WinMetro, you go back to the normal drawer, scroll to the bottom of the page to see can be muted in the More menu Desktop. Unless people look closely, they and select the magic wand icon, then will assume you have a new PC! Places, where you can alter your home or BROWSERS Andy Balding, via email Make Chrome run like new This week I read that Google has released a Software Removal Tool (bit.ly/ softwareremoval355) for Chrome that deletes programs which interfere with the browser. It’s only compatible with Windows and is still in Beta mode, but it can help you to get the browser running like new again by identifying disruptive programs and restoring original settings. Get older versions of Windows to look like Set your Home and Work addresses in The program doesn’t scan for malware, Windows 8 by using WinMetro Google Now’s Places settings so don’t expect it to replace any anti-

68 8 October 2014 Readers’ Tips

make your account insecure. With want the speed of the originals, try security breaches taking place on such a online versions. For example, I found a regular basis, it’s worth using this option very faithful recreation of Minesweeper once in a while to make sure you’re doing on the web at minesweeperonline.com. everything you can. Lynn Hirst, via email From the Security page, you can also click the Account History tab to manage your Search History and Location History, or click Data Tools to manage your Google Drive storage plan. Bedstor, Web User Forums Software Removal Tool finds and deletes programs that cause problems in Chrome GENERAL PC virus software you’re already running, Eject discs when your PC is but it should fix any unwanted toolbars turned off or pop-ups that are plaguing your If you’ve ever left a disc in your computer browsing experience. after shutting it down, did you know that The new version of Minesweeper looks Andrew Russell, via email there’s is an easier way of ejecting it than better but it takes a long time to load having to turn your PC back on again? GENERAL PC Unbend a paper-clip and use it to poke WINDOWS 8 Rate your hardware in the small hole near the eject button and Boot to Safe Mode with the Windows 8.1 the disc tray should open. Remember, F8 key in Windows 8 Having upgraded to Windows 8.1, I was though, that you should only do this I’ve always been frustrated that there disappointed to discover that the when the computer is turned off. isn’t an option to access the Advanced Windows Experience Index (WEI), which Jack Gold, Web User Forums Boot Options screen by pressing F8 rates your hardware on a scale of 1.0 to when I boot my Windows 8 PC. 7.9, is no longer available. It was present Apparently, this feature was removed in both Windows 7 and Windows 8 and I from the operating system in order to found it handy for checking how capable improve start-up times, so you have to my processor, memory, graphics card boot into Windows 8, then ask it to and hard drive were. In fact, it’s not restart in Safe Mode if you want to use its deleted, just hidden, and you can still diagnostic tools. access it using the WEI tool from However, you can fix this by making Winaero (bit.ly/winaero355), which some changes in an Elevated Command provides a graphical interface for it. Prompt, which can be opened by Ratings now run from 1.0 to 9.9, but pressing Windows+X and clicking otherwise the program looks just like the Most disk trays have an eject pinhole Command Prompt (Admin). To enable real thing. the F8 option on start-up, type bcdedit Daniel, via email WINDOWS 8 /set {default} bootmenupolicy Play old Windows games legacy and press Enter. If successful, When I upgraded to Window 8, I was sad Windows should notify you that “The to see that some of my favourite games operation completed successfully” and had disappeared. Although Minesweeper, you’ll then need to restart your PC for Hearts and Spider might seem old the change fashioned to some, I enjoyed filling idle to take moments playing them, and I thought it place. If you was a shame that they’d disappeared. dual-boot In fact, although they’re not installed by your PC, this default, you can get all three games and will make it Use the Winaero WEI Tool to check the more from the Windows Store. much easier capabilities of your PC hardware Go to the Start screen. If you don’t to choose have the Store icon, type ‘store’ and click the SECURITY it. The Collection is operating Secure your where you’ll find Spider, and it also system you Google recently made it easier to keep includes FreeCell (a similar Solitaire want when your accounts secure by making all its that’s even older), Klondike, TriPeaks and you turn it security settings available from one page Pyramid. Microsoft Minesweeper has on. If, (bit.ly/goog355). Although most of these much better graphics now but it’s the however, settings already existed, the new user- same game underneath. You could also you don’t Open an Elevated Command friendly interface makes everything try Microsoft Treasure Hunt, which adds like having Prompt in Windows 8 to easier to do, from updating your an adventure-game twist to to wait a bit change how Windows loads recovery phone number and email Minesweeper. I couldn’t find an official longer for address to browsing your recent account Microsoft version of Hearts but Hearts Windows to start, type bcdedit /set activity. There’s also a new option called Deluxe has a lot of good reviews and {default} bootmenupolicy Secure Your Account, where all this works much like the original. standard into an Elevated Command information is presented to you step-by- I have found that the updated graphics Prompt and press Enter. step, highlighting anything that might can make these games quite slow. If you Josh Carson, via email

Send your tips to [email protected] - win £25 for the best tip! 8 October 2014 69 Readers’ Helpdesk Our pick of the best solutions posted on our reader forums. Visit forum.webuser.co.uk – it’s friendly and free!

NETWORKING How do I add more Ethernet ports to WINDOWS PHONE How do I delete cookies on my router? my mobile phone? I’m upgrading to super-fast fibre I’m sure I’ve deleted cookies on my Q broadband and it would be great Q Windows Phone before, but I can’t to have more Ethernet ports on my remember how I did it. Can anybody router for the many devices that I’d like remind me, please? to connect to the internet. What’s the You can buy an 8-port Gigabit Ethernet NE5, Web User Forums best way of achieving this? I’ve read switch for less than £20 about switches but is setting them up It depends which model you have. really as easy as just plugging the Gigabit Ethernet switches, such as the A On mine, I tap More, then Settings in device into your router? Netgear models available from bit.ly/ Internet DaveLat, Web User Forums gigabit355. These are much faster than Explorer to Fast Ethernet (10/100Mbps) ones, if a make a variety Yes, it is that easy, and you can get little more expensive. of changes, A switches with more than four I recommend connecting the devices including ports, such as the one in an article I you use the most to the same switch, clearing the found on the subject at bit.ly/ so data transferred between them can browser’s switch355. I have two 8-port and two be handled by the switch and doesn’t cookies. 5-port switches connected to my fibre even need to travel via the router. For more info, router. If your PCs have Gigabit Cantrel, izzit, alanrwood, have a look on Ethernet network cards, you should get Web User Forums the Windows Phone website (bit.ly/ £35 at bit.ly/nasadapter355). USB drive. Some good alternatives such Tap ‘delete history’ to cookie355). If that doesn’t work, the last issue of as AxCrypt (which was the subject of a wipe temporary files, You can also Web User (bit.ly/webuser354) had a workshop in Web User Issue 348 – bit.ly/ history, cookies and saved access the Group Test of some of the best NAS webuser348) are also listed at bit.ly/ passwords from IE browser’s devices available from £45. alternatives355. settings via izzit and Sneakybeaky, Have you considered using a webmail Settings on the applications list. Web User Forums service such as Gmail, so you don’t need Dave_1, Web User Forums to carry emails with you and risk losing SOFTWARE everything? Webmail can be synced HARDWARE Can I password protect emails across all your devices – just enter your Can I turn my hard drive into on my USB drive? login details and you can access many, if a NAS? Last week, I thought I’d lost my USB not all the tools you get in email I’d like to use my USB hard drive as a Q stick, which contains some portable software. What’s more, you could still use Q NAS (Network Attached Storage), so apps and all my emails. Although a your Gmail account in Thunderbird, I can share files over the network and password is needed to download new giving you the best of both worlds. back up data without any cables. Can emails, existing ones can be read by Calimanco, Dave_1, izzit, anyone tell me about any reliable, anyone opening portable Thunderbird. Is Web User Forums inexpensive options? there a way of protecting my USB drive Space_Cowby, Web User Forums with a password? I have SanDisk Secure Access (bit.ly/secureaccess355) on the My BT router has a USB socket, drive, but that only protects certain files, A which takes any USB storage and and I don’t think it’s compatible with makes it available on the network. It’s portable apps. worth checking to see if yours has Rob1955, Web User Forums something similar. If it doesn’t, you could buy an RJ45-to-USB adaptor, which will I use Rohos Mini Drive (www.rohos turn one of your Ethernet ports into a A .com), which creates a password- Rohos lets you password-protect and USB port (I found one on Amazon for protected, encrypted partition on the encrypt a partition on your USB drive

70 8 October 2014 Readers’ Helpdesk

SECURITY an individual basis by clicking the Paste Why is still Options icon below your pasted content running? and choosing to Match Destination My friend runs Kaspersky Internet Formatting or Keep Source Formatting. Q Security on her PC. I Normally, Word defaults to the latter thought Kaspersky includes its own option, meaning the font will be the same firewall and that when the program is as in the installed, it should automatically turn off document Windows Firewall. But the Control Panel or webpage shows that it is still turned on. Can you’ve someone explain why this is the case? copied it Pchelp, Web User Forums from. Lotus Organiser was a popular calendar but However, it hasn’t been updated since 2003 I’m running Kaspersky Internet you can A Security 2014 on my Windows 8.1 PC Since you’ve got the Pro version of change this with all updates installed. As you point A Windows 7, you should be able to use in the ‘Cut, out, Kaspersky normally overrides Windows XP Mode to install the program copy and Windows Firewall, but when I check directly from the CD. Alternatively, as paste’ Click Default to set a font as Windows Firewall on my PC, there is a you’ve had problems getting a virtual options by your default choice message saying ‘These applications are machine to recognise the disc, you could clicking the being managed by vendor application copy the CD files over from Windows 7 to Office Button and selecting Word Kaspersky Internet Security’. There the virtual version of XP and install it that Options and Advanced. These options seems to be some confusion about what way. I have Lotus SmartSuite Millennium may vary slightly according to the version this means, even on the Kaspersky forum, Edition 9.0 running on Windows 7 of Word you’ve got. although there is one definite piece of Ultimate 64-bit without any problems. Dave_1, Helmut, Web User Forums advice – do not turn Windows Firewall off izzit, The Badger, Web User Forums unless instructed to by a technician. SOFTWARE Kaspersky should turn off Windows SOFTWARE How do I uninstall PC Firewall on installation, but in some cases How do I change my default Optimizer Pro? it doesn’t. This could be because it font in Microsoft Word? I’ve got PC Optimizer Pro installed on configures the Windows Firewall to work When I paste recipes to Microsoft Q my PC and I want to get rid of it, but for it in a certain way. You could try Q Word, they always appear in the every time I try to uninstall it, I get a reinstalling Kaspersky if you think Calibri font. I don’t want this, and always message saying ‘C:Program files(x86)\ something’s wrong or contact Kaspersky have to change it. Is there a way to set optimizer pro\unins.message is missing support at support.kaspersky.co.uk or on another font as the default? please correct problem or obtain a new 0871 789 1635 if you’re really concerned. Noll, Web User Forums copy of the program’. Can somebody Doublell, Cantrel, izzit, please help? Web User Forums To change the default Font in Word Boblox, Web User Forums A 2007, click the expansion button on the Font section of the Home ribbon (or I’d install the program over itself, press Ctrl+D), choose your preferred font, A then try running the uninstaller then click Default and Yes. This changes again. If that doesn’t work, try using Revo the default font in your Normal template. Uninstaller (bit.ly/revo355) to remove the Since your problem is with pasting program and its Registry entries. content, you may also need to change Calimanco, Stewart40, your pasting options. You can do this on Web User Forum Kaspersky Internet Security should disable Windows Firewall automatically GENERAL PC SOFTWARE Can I use Lotus Organiser Why is Windows with Windows 7? saying it’s not a I happily used Lotus Organizer 3 as a Q desk diary for many years with my genuine copy? Windows XP computer and have a lot of archives and personal data in it. Since I had a bit of a surprise yesterday provides details about being dragged unwillingly into Windows Q when I switched on my computer problems that have occurred on your PC 7 Pro (64-bit), I’ve been unable to install and a black screen opened with the this splendid little program or to access message ‘This copy of Windows is not It’s hard to know why these things my archives, despite trying various genuine’. After a few seconds, A sometimes happen, but you could methods suggested online. All the Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit started try opening Event Viewer to see if it suggestions involving emulation modes normally. Does anyone have any idea gives you any indication of what went fail because the new computer refuses to why this happened? Since then I have wrong. From Control Panel, select recognise the installation disc. I cannot restarted the computer several times ‘System and Security’, Administrative even upgrade as the program is no without any problems. Tools, then choose Event Viewer. longer available. Can anyone help? The Badger, Web User Forums Calimanco, Web User Forums Cynic, Web User Forums

Share your knowledge at forum.webuser.co.uk 8 October 2014 71 Inbox

Star Email £25 Losing connection isn’t the end of the world winner

found your article ‘Stay online when so addicted to the internet that we you lose connection’, in Issue 353 of can’t bear to be without it for even an I Web User (bit.ly/webuser353), most hour or so, when in fact we should be interesting, with some useful practical enjoying the freedom and advice among the more obvious tips. opportunities that going temporarily In the past, when I have lost my Wi-Fi offline bestows on us. connection, and rebooting everything For example, why not read a book several times failed to bring it back, I or do some housework, or make a have found that changing the Wi-Fi (handwritten) list of places you’d like channel – as you suggested in your to visit before you die? It’s certainly feature – often did the trick. This is better than smashing your mouse or especially true if you live, as I do, in a throwing your tablet across the room block of fl ats where lots of people in frustration because you can’t check have their wireless network on the your Facebook page or see what’s same channel. I would also recommend remember that losing your internet trending on Twitter. phoning your ISP before you start connection shouldn’t feel like the end of Of course, losing the web altogether fi ddling with your equipment, in case the world. There are plenty of other would be a nightmare, but short the problem is at their end and you activities you can do to fi ll the time when periods of offline time never did end up messing up your settings. you can’t get online. It’s a sad fact of anyone any harm. However, I think it’s also important to modern-day life that many of us are now Paul Trimball, via email

The best security software is the least intrusive Why Orange customer No, Tony (Inbox, Issue 353), you are not service isn’t worth the wait alone in your bad luck with Norton In response to your news story in Issue Security software. When I started my 353, (‘EE angers customers with queue- PC-support business nine years ago, I did jumping charge’), customers of Orange a fi eld test of a few internet security (now part of EE) will already know that products for effectiveness and usability. stick with AVG and I heartily recommend the company is committed to excellent I found then, and have found again and it to all your readers. customer service (I’m being sarcastic). I again over the ensuing nine years, that John Clifton, Smile IT Ltd would like to tell you about my Norton protects you very well, but it has experience. a severe tendency to ‘take over’ to such The frustrations of entering During a visit to Europe, I got daily an extent that, on several occasions, it online competitions texts from Orange telling me that I could has blocked all internet connectivity on a I enter a lot of competitions on the web use the mobile internet for 18p per MB. PC (but still reported ‘All OK’!). and the thing I fi nd most annoying is Not cheap, but I could live with it. I made There are many products out there when I get to the bottom of an entry a three-week trip to France and had £65 that are better, including Kaspersky, form and the website then tells me I credit on my pay-as-you-go phone. I F-Secure, ESET, Bitdefender, Trend Micro need to be logged in to enter the barely used the roaming option, but and BullGuard, all of which do a good job competition. Forms with drop-down when I got back, my credit had dropped of protection with varying levels of menus are the worst: often the UK is at to £4. intrusiveness. the bottom of the countries list and if I called Orange to ask why £61 had I fi nally settled on installing AVG for your birthday is on the 27th of the been deducted from my account. They my customers, using the free version month, like me, you have to scroll all the informed me my internet usage had been where applicable (for users not carrying way to the bottom. It would be much charged at 65 pence per MB and fl atly out fi nancial transactions or indulging in better if websites let you enter your date denied sending the texts offering online social media), because it was the of birth by simply typing the digits rather 18p-per-MB. They also least intrusive product that did a good than selecting them. denied that the same job of keeping out the nasties. I also fi nd it frustrating when websites tariff was on the Avast is an excellent alternative and disable the right-click menu, becasue it Orange website. I includes one or two smart features you means you can’t copy and paste your asked for the dates on won’t fi nd on AVG, but until something email address. which I had been earth-shatteringly better comes along, I’ll Adrian Bonnington, via email charged 65 pence per

72 8 October 2014 Inbox

You can let us know your views and opinions via: [email protected], www.facebook.com/webusermagazine, www.twitter.com/webusermagazine and forum.webuser.co.uk

MB. Any reasonable person would have thought the answer would include I don’t wear a watch, so it’s not for numbers and months. Believe it or not, I me. But it does look good. could not get an answer that included What you Adam Law any actual date. Orange have several tactics they use to say... get rid of you if you are calling to hould the BBC urge ISPs to complain. Firstly, they promise to put you Scut broadband from people through to a supervisor, then leave you downloading illegally? listening to music, then cut you off. ave you stopped using eBay Secondly, they promise to ring you back, Hfollowing recent outages No. It’s down to the copyright owner which they don’t. And fi nally, they say and security flaws? to sue the perpetrator. No ISP would they will credit your account with a £75 cut off an internet connection if I refund – but in my case they didn’t. Yes, there’s something about eBay I request it when my videos or images I fi nd it bizarre to be talking to don’t trust. are used without permission. Why customer service staff and bluntly saying Si Mellor should any corporation have more “I don’t believe you” over and over again. clout than an individual? I’m afraid I’ve found Orange customer I’ve stopped using eBay completely. John Wells service to be dreadful. Chinese sellers pretending to be in the Bernard Feay, via email UK selling rubbish goods is a worse No. If people pay for their internet problem. connection, it’s up to them what they Web User on holiday in Spain Steve Ellis want to download. Web User has made it to the Costa Ian Maddock Brava. It’s a lovely day in Malgrat De Mar, I now use Amazon Marketplace around 17 degrees Celsius. because it’s as good value and is Not necessarily. Some people ‘try and Simon Mellor generally faster. buy’, and download something via Nat Again torrent, then pay for it if they like it. Matt McCallion I don’t often use eBay, but they’ve let buyers and sellers down too many No. The law courts and police should times, so it’s well down my list for pursue it. The BBC should only apply purchasing. pressure for change, by lobbying MPs. Caroline Martin Walker

I use it occasionally, but don’t spend much money on there. It’s not the ill you stop using cheapest, either. I can usually fi nd WInstagram now it shows cheaper if I search online. sponsored photos from Mysterious phishing emails Roger Whitcomb Ð companies? from Amazon After being away from my PC for a few is now off my phone. days, I booted it and found messages ill you buy the Apple watch Facebook is close to suffering the claiming to be from Amazon, requesting W(www.apple.com/watch)? same fate. Greed and over- that I click a link to confirm my Amazon commercialism kills the golden goose. account or it would be closed. No, it’s too limiting. I would rather buy Ian Phipps I deleted the messages, of which there the Pebble (getpebble.com) or an were two, complete with bad spelling. HTC smartwatch. Not really. I’ll just scroll past them The similar incident happened last year, Jack Gold Stuart A Hordern except then it was Yahoo. I notified Amazon, and was asked to I haven’t had a watch for 12 years, but I was already put off Instagram by the forward the mail to stop-spoofing@ I need to do more exercise and this Starbucks selfies, and this is not amazon.com, which I was unable to do, will encourage me. I may be fat, but I encouraging me to join. because when I went into the Deleted won’t be last on the leaderboard! Iain James Lewis folder, they were no longer there! Have Bruce Lauderdale other readers had similar experiences? I can’t see it putting me off. Not unless J Diamond, Winchester I don’t have an iPhone and never will the adverts are constant and frequent. have one, so there’s no point buying I’d probably still use Instagram, the Apple Watch. though. Maybe. Greg Talt Emmy UpTo-NoGood

Air your views, write to us at [email protected] 8 October 2014 73 Page 404

Why can’t technology just work? Barry Collins lets loose on the errors that drive him barmy Today’s “smart” gadgets are dead stupid

live in fear. A constant, nagging fear out commands for people who are too iPhone 6 will last three days, just like that every time I step out of the house chuffing lazy to even move their thumbs, your old Nokia did in 1997”, there would I for any longer than it takes the board and then includes a heart-rate monitor, have been an online stampede and to revolve on Bullseye, one of my devices presumably so these docile morons can Apple would have sold out before he’d will run out of battery power. check they’re still alive. Meanwhile, the even finished the sentence. I’m terrified of using my smartphone one feature everybody craves – better Instead, they’re squandering their when I go out for the day because its battery life – is left off the list. money on a new range of e-waste – battery has the life expectancy of a Companies like Apple, Microsoft and smartwatches. Now, call me a stickler sausage roll in Eric Pickles’ fridge; Samsung have research and for accuracy, but if you’re going to label “all-day” battery life on a laptop only development (R&D) something a applies if you live in Norway during the budgets that are big “smartwatch”, it winter months; even the battery in my enough to The “all-day” battery ought to be a bit new iPad Air doesn’t last as long as the wallpaper Wembley life on a laptop only applies more intelligent than one in my old iPad 2 did. Apparently Stadium in £50 those rubber-band Apple believe that what this glorified notes and still leave if you live in Norway during bracelets that kids paperweight lacks in staying power, enough change to the winter months cut off their it makes up for by being a Mars Bar buy Belgium. circulation with. But lighter than its predecessor. Seriously, those hideously expensive The manufacturers are apparently three companies alone spent almost trinkets is all they will be by the time oblivious to this enormous flaw in their $25bn on R&D last year. So why are they Coronation Street starts of an evening, products. Every new smartphone brings not throwing their billions at better because their battery life is so feeble. a gazillion new features that nobody battery technologies, instead of this The lovely looking Moto 360 lasts for wants. Samsung’s Galaxy S5, for rotten landfill? If Tim Cook had come on an absolute maximum of 12 hours before example, includes an eye tracker that stage a couple of weeks ago and said it needs to be recharged, according to scrolls the screen automatically to carry absolutely nothing other than “this the reviews I’ve read. Apple has reportedly sent its watch back to the design team because it is worried it won’t get through the day. Even then, the device will have a sensor that only switches the watch face on when the user raises their wrist, presumably because the battery would be shot before you got to work if Apple left the screen s en

running permanently. In rr other words, they’ve To

invented a £300 ew smartwatch that for Andr

99 per cent of the time n:

will be less useful at a io at

glance than a watch. I tr lus

think I need a lie-down. Il

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