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Wed
24
Jan
John Lister's picture

Google Introduces "Circle" Searches

Google has come up with a new twist when it comes to searching on mobile devices. Users of some Android handsets can draw a circle round text or images on their screen to search. The "Circle to Search" feature will also let users ask specific ... questions relating to what they have selected. Unlike many search tools, this will work directly in any app, not just the Chrome browser or other Google applications. Google gives the example of searching for information relating to a video or social media posts. (Source: blog.google ) The search results will then appear in a pop-up window. Users can tap ... (view more)

Tue
12
Dec
John Lister's picture

Google Unveils Major Spam Filter Overhaul

Google says it has significantly upgraded Gmail's spam filter to overcome a common scam tactic. It's now using AI to detect images that aren't technically text characters but are still readable by humans. It also says the new system will reduce the ... number of false positives: legitimate emails mistakenly flagged as spam. That's certainly felt like an increasing problem over the past year or so. The scammer tactic tackled with the update is called adversarial text manipulation. That takes account of the fact that a key part of spam filtering involves analyzing the text in an email and looking ... (view more)

Tue
05
Sep
John Lister's picture

WordPad to Disappear from Windows

Microsoft is to finally ditch WordPad after nearly three decades. It will add a few new features to Notepad for lighter word processing tasks. WordPad first appeared as a free tool in Windows 95. Microsoft says it will no longer update WordPad and ... will remove it in a "future release of Windows." It's not clear if that means a potential Windows 12 or simply one of the major updates to Windows 11. Announcing the move, Microsoft perhaps unwittingly pointed out one of the major flaws of WordPad. It says: "We recommend Microsoft Word for rich text documents like .doc and .rtf and Windows Notepad ... (view more)

Fri
05
Aug
John Lister's picture

Insulin App Restricted By Google SMS Rules

The makers of an app that can alert parents when a diabetic child is at risk say Google's rules are making it harder to use the app. Play Store rules designed to stop malware mean the app can't send text messages directly. The app is called CamAps ... FX and works with medical devices to operate an "artificial pancreas" for type-1 diabetes, which is a hereditary condition. It connects to a glucose monitor and an insulin pump, constantly monitoring glucose levels and then delivering insulin as necessary. (Source: camdiab.com ) The BBC reports that while it's suitable for adults, the app is ... (view more)

Fri
11
Mar
John Lister's picture

New Phone Tech Transcribes Voice Calls

Google's Pixel phone now lets users take part in a voice call without speaking. It's primarily an accessibility feature though could have some practical uses in other situations. The feature, is an extension of the existing Live Caption feature ... available on many Android handsets. Until now it's mainly worked on online videos that don't have their own captioning. It uses smart speech recognition to produce captions in close to real-time and is aimed both at people with hearing impairments and those who prefer to watch videos without sound. For example, a user might want to avoid disturbing ... (view more)

Thu
13
Jan
John Lister's picture

Google Cries Foul Over iMessage Color Scheme

Google has solved all the world's tech problems, tackled world peace, reversed climate change, and is now dangerously bored. At least that's the only rational explanation why it is now arguing with Apple on Twitter about the color that appears ... behind text in messages. The ridiculous row is about the iMessage feature on iPhones that lets users send messages free of charge over the Internet rather than through SMS text messaging. Originally only iPhone users could send messages on the service but in 2016, Apple extended it to Android devices through a Google Play Store app. Apple originally ... (view more)

Fri
02
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: Thunderbird Paragraph Mode (Press Enter Twice)

Infopackets Reader Fran G. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thanks so much for your recent articles on Mozilla Thunderbird. I have a question regarding Thunderbird as well. Whenever I respond to an email from someone, during the composition I usually press ... Enter twice on the keyboard to start a new paragraph. This happens most of the time. However, if I start a new email and then begin a new paragraph, I only need to press Enter once on the keyboard. This is very inconsistent and confusing! Can you explain why this is and/or explain how to fix it so paragraphs are the same all the time? " My response: ... (view more)

Tue
06
Oct
John Lister's picture

How to Fix: Windows 10 Blurry Text

Some users of Windows 10 with high-resolution monitors have experienced blurry fonts. For the moment the best solution appears to be a third-party fix, with the obvious caveats about using 'unofficial' software. The problem involves DPI (dots per ... inch) scaling, which is the way in which Windows adjusts text, icons, and even the mouse cursor for higher-resolution screens. Because text and items are often set by their application to be made up of a certain number of pixels, anything appearing on the screen with a high resolution monitor would be impossible to read, unless scaling was ... (view more)

Thu
21
Jun
Dennis Faas's picture

'CTI Text Encryption 3.0', and 'Pixia 4.79d'

CTI Text Encryption 3.0 This is a text encryption and decryption software tool that you can use to encrypt highly sensitive computerized data using more than one 'key.' It's a small, highly portable, very efficient, and easy to use system that ... increases your ability to conveniently and securely keep critical information away from the eyes of others. http://ctiencrypt.codeplex.com Pixia 4.79d Pixia, originally engineered by famed Japanese designer Isao Maruoka, is a popular software tool that's great for creating full-color graphics on your computer. Custom digital art tools allow the user to ... (view more)

Wed
25
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

Ashampoo Burning Studio 11 Review

Note from Dennis: The newest version of the most popular CD, DVD and Blu-ray disc burning or writing software is now available! At the end of the review, we're offering an amazing 40-80% discount for Infopackets readers (offer expires Aug 20 @ ... 11:59PM EST). If you already own an older version of Burning Studio and want to purchase version 11 at a discount, you can click here to go straight to the offer . Otherwise, continue reading below. -- Are you confused by the complexities of creating a CD, DVD or Blu-ray on your computer or laptop? Do you wish you just could tell the computer what you ... (view more)

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