My first blog !

Is Candy Crush Saga Killing Video gaming?

The PC gaming industry, and the way we pay for games, is changing dramatically, and Candy Crush is leading the charge…<br />
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It seems strange to propose that a game so young is having ramifications so broad for videogaming, for the PC, and for the charging models employed by software publishers. Yet the arrival and success of a once-small title by the name of Candy Crush Saga has led to the software industry into something of a shake-up – and not necessarily for the better.<br />
Ten Years Ago<br />
Back in 2004, the PC videogames industry was, not for the first time, in flux. Sales of games consoles were rampaging, piracy was high, and more and more publishers were leaving PC gaming behind for more lucrative waters. The number of interesting releases was seemingly in terminal decline.<br />
At the same time, gaming in general was more mainstream than ever – though not always for the right reasons. 2004 saw, for instance, the hugely controversial Manhunt hit the front page of The Daily Mail – though on a more positive note, there was also lots of hype around Nintendo readying the soon-to-be- hugely-successful DS console for launch, and Halo 2 and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas became big sellers.<br />
As recently as March this year, World Of Warcraft still had seven million subscribers ff<br />
Despite the seeming dominance of consoles, 2004 also had a trio of major PC games that resonate to this day, in different ways. Far Cry’s a gaming series that’s still going, albeit by reimagining itself with each new release. Not only was its first incarnation excellent. Far Cry pushed heavily against the boundaries of what even a high-spec PC could do. However, with one of the main criticisms of PC gaming being the investment needed to stay on top of it. Far Cry’s innovation also counted against it, and became a key piece of evidence in the argument; you were being railroaded into buying new hardware in exchange for one of the very best titles of the year.<br />
Still, Far Cry did things that consoles struggled to match for a long time, and showed what PCs can do better than any other platform: to push against technical barriers, and take advantage of a continually evolving platform. Indeed, even the eventual Xbox 360 Far Cry spin-off lagged a long way behind.<br />
The PC isn’t evolving at quite the same rate at the moment, though (some would preface that with ‘thankfully’) – and Moore’s Law, in any practical sense, feels long gone. Nowadays, a good spec PC bought in 2012 is likely to be perfectly fine in 2014; back then, two years really was beyond a lifetime in computing terms.<br />
A 2004 release that was arguably even more important was Half-Life 2. a game so good and so genre-defining that we’re still eagerly awaiting the a sequel a decade later. It remains a flat-out classic, though one that’s since been successfully ported to other formats. As a game, however, it offered a real sense of storytelling progress, of a world you felt a part of as you worked your way through. What Half-Life 2, crucially, was the Steam gaming platform created by its developer. Valve.<br />
Steam is now the main platform through which digital PC games are bought, and – in spite of some controversies – its continued success has helped maintain and secure PC gaming’s foothold. The flipside of this success is that it’s regularly cited as undermining the<br />
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commercial viability of the PC as a gaming platform. That’s not an irrelevant point to what we’re talking about here.<br />
The last of the three? That’d be World Of Warcraft, arguably the most influential of the lot. Whilst the number of subscribers paying a monthly fee to enjoy World Of Warcraft is long way down on its peak, it was a game that established and matured a new the revenue model for publishers everywhere. When World Of Warcraft hit big, the wheels of change were very much set in motion. Buying a game once, and never paying a penny towards it again became an anachronistic business model almost overnight.<br />
All of a sudden, there was a proverbial gaming Holy Grail to aim for: customers who wouldn’t just buy a game once, they’d pay to play it each and every month. As recently as March this year, the game still had seven million monthly subscribers, and it’s estimated that WoW has brought Activision/Blizzard over $10bn in revenue so far. It is the top grossing videogame of all time, by a country mile, and is still bringing in tens of millions of dollars every single month.<br />
These three games, each released in 2004, address different strands of an argument explaining why PC gaming is far from dead. At least one of them, though, hints at the situation the market finds itself in right now: adapting to the realisation that getting small payments on a regular basis is more lucrative than up-front purchases.<br />
The Changing Model<br />
Since World Of Warcraft hit big, most publishers have moved away from wanting consumers to go into a shop, buy a game, and happily play it in isolation. As such, various tactics have been implemented to encourage them to keep spending on the games they are committing to.<br />
The one that’s garnered no shortage of controversy is the online pass approach that’s becoming more and more popular on games consoles. This is an additional fee that’s required to continue playing a game online. Publishers have been looking for a return for the ongoing server costs that rack up when providing multiplayer support for a game, and at first, this applied to second hand titles. Why, reasoned games publishers.<br />
Applications<br />
If free to play is, in effect, a sort of extension of the shareware model, can we expect it to lend itself to other software too? After all, companies such as Adobe have moved away from charging hundreds – if not thousands – of pounds up front for extensive software suites. Instead, they charge a more manageable monthly subscription fee, that achieves three things. Firstly, it basically pushes everyone onto the same version, courtesy of continual online updates. Secondly, it keeps a revenue stream coming in, whereas previously the firm may have just taken a single up front payment. Thirdly, it makes products such as InDesign and Photoshop affordable to far more people.<br />
Will this stretch further? Will firms look at releasing tools that allow you to use certain functions for free, but make you pay for others? If they do, then it really does come full circle. That’s exactly what shareware was doing 20 years ago…<br />
Why, reasoned games publishers, should someone buying second hand get the same online functionality? ff<br />
should someone buying a game second hand be entitled to the same online functionality as someone who bought the game new? As such, a one-time use registration code was included in the game box, and second hand purchasers of the title concerned were invited to fork out if they wanted online features. In some cases, it worked out more cost effective to buy the game from scratch in the end.<br />
More recently, the ‘season pass’ has become the latest wheeze. This also controls access to some online features, although is effectively a pre-order mechanism for all of a game’s subsequent downloadable content (DLC) – a feature that we’ll be coming to that little later.<br />
Another underlying shift over recent years is that tablet and mobile market that’s been the driving force in gaming innovation – certainly when it comes to payment models. With the rise of App Stores, getting an upfront payment of a consumer has become more and more difficult. Instead, we’re entering a time where games known as ‘free to play’ become more prevalent, with titles such as Candy Crush Saga leading the charge. It’s by no means the sole example of what we’re going to talk about, but it is the most staggeringly successful. To the point where it’s built a commercial model that hundreds of others are desperately trying to copy, whether it comfortably fits their products or not.<br />
The Start Of The Crush<br />
The roots of Candy Crush Saga are entwined in a company called King that, at one stage, was staring down the face of going out of business. However, it eventually made a success of Facebook games, and has built itself into one of the biggest game publishers on the planet in terms of revenue. It’s not done this through cutting edge games. It’s done it through cutting edge revenue models.<br />
Candy Crush Saga made its debut just over two years ago, on April 12th 2012. As with many King titles, it began life as a Facebook game. Even to this day, it’s hugely popular on Facebook,<br />
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a The ones without a price tag by them are free. So most of them, then<br />
and King built in a social mechanic whereby you request to another user that you get a fresh collection of lives when you run out. A simple idea like that is responsible for thousands upon thousands of social media posts each and every day.<br />
Later that year. Candy Crush Saga was released for Android devices and iOS. It did not take long to become a huge hit. In 2013, it became the most downloaded app for Apple devices. Now, in 2014, it’s estimated that over 90 million people play Candy Crush Saga worldwide, and that the game brings in revenues of at least $800,000 a day for its publisher; hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue a year for a puzzle game. Just as this issue of Micro Mart was going to press, news reached us too that spin-off candy merchandise is now available to buy. Candy Crush Saga has become something of a phenomenon.<br />
It’s Free! Sort Of!<br />
What’s interesting about that the game though is that there’s no charge to play Candy Crush Saga. You can download it for free on whatever platform (you can even play it now, away from Facebook, in a web window on your PC), and you can get to the very end of<br />
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a Here’s the post from King’s website listing Candy Crush Saga add-ons. Note that no prices are listed<br />
DLC<br />
Console gaming popularised the idea of downloadable content for a game, whereby you could buy more levels/ maps/add-ons for a small fee once you’d enjoyed the game proper. Even that though hasn’t been without controversy.<br />
Take the excellent Need For Speed: Most Wanted. The PlayStation 3 version of the game offered extra tracks for £6 apiece. If you paid, you might then logically sit back and wait for them to download; but no – the levels were on the disc already! This highlights a problem with ‘DLC’ – there’s a niggling feeling that, in some cases, what you’re getting is a bit of the main game that’s been sliced off so as to extract a few more pounds further down the line.<br />
That’s less the case now than it was, but it seems major game releases now have to come with a bevvy of added features that you no longer get with your initial purchase. That doesn’t really sound like progress to us.<br />
the game without spending a penny. This is, as you’ve probably gleamed, known as the ‘free to play’ model, and the majority of people who download and try free to play games never surrender any cash at all. King, for one, is very keen to make this point. However, that fact is not for the want of trying on the part of the firm. On Facebook, generating revenue from free to play is relatively straightforward as advertising can be targeted around the game.<br />
As an app, Candy Crush Saga tries a few different methods to part you from your hard-earned. The big one is its attempts to sell upgrades, cheats and help to get you through the game. In days of old, if you were stuck on a computer game, you either had to type in a POKE from your favourite 8-bit magazine, follow a walkthrough, cheat some other way or just bash your way through it somehow. King, however, builds cheating mechanisms directly into its game. Stuck on a game and just need a few more moves to finish a level?<br />
No problem… for a couple of quid. King can help you out.<br />
For King has harnessed the microtransaction, a feature that gets Apple bad press over from time to time. This coverage is usually generated by parents bemoaning their offspring running up a big bill without them noticing; this time, though, we suspect it’s the parents spending the money.<br />
King certainly offers lots of ways to help you spend. Further helpful options on the menu include add-ons to delay bomb explosions, smash any candy you like on the board, give you more time or get rid of any candy in your way. Basically, for every obstacle the game’s designers have built for you. King sells the deus ex machina to get past it. Most of these minor miracles are priced at a couple of pounds but, at the other extreme, you can spend nearly £30.<br />
Turning The Screw<br />
In principal, it’s hard to grumble too much about this. After all, you’re not being charged for the game up front. Yet there’s something a little discomforting about the way Candy Crush Saga turns the screw.<br />
The game, as you might expect, starts off quite softly. It’s bright, colourful, attractive and simple – match three ‘candies’ and they disappear, while combos and longer links are rewarded. This is all genially explained for you, and the first few levels of the game are a breeze. Then it ups the ante gradually, and with skill. It’s as you get a bit deeper into it that alarm bells start to ring. For, as the game starts to get harder, the gameplay gets infinitely more frustrating – some may even characterise it as being unfairly difficult.<br />
What we mean by that it’s fairly common knowledge now that there’s a degree of luck involved in Candy Crush Saga and not every level is beatable every time. You get a random selection of colours and candies at the start of each level, and the potential to complete a stage relies on having the right mix at the beginning of a challenge. From that starting point onwards you need the skill and fortune to do whatever you need to do, but it’s worth reiterating: sometimes levels are simply not passable, no matter how well you play.<br />
That, then, makes it less a game of skill and a little more a game of chance. In fact. King has faced accusations, which it denies, that Candy Crush Saga is actually a gambling title. That, in the same way as a fruit machine works, you’re encouraged to spend more to beat it. It gives you enough victories along the way to keep you interested, but even a hardened player of the game may find themselves stuck on a given level for weeks if they’re not willing to fork out a bit of cash.<br />
The further issue here is that Candy Crush Saga isn’t upfront about this. It lets you into the foyer of its posh building for free, but doesn’t give you the prices of optional extras until you’re likely to need them. Then, it rides in, a proverbial knight in shining in-app armour, and offers you things that can get you past a damningly difficult stage. Even if you’re resistant to this approach, there are times when you’ve been stuck on a level for a long, long time that temptation is likely to rear its head.<br />
You can beat the game if you don’t spend any money, and it’s important to restate that, but it’s a lot harder and will take a lot longer – especially once you go above level 200 – if you don’t put your hand in your pocket. Some levels feel impossible, and sometimes you don’t want to wait a few hours for the game<br />
<img alt="clip_image010" border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8MyI4aCmDLjo8MgOvbuxn5CGCdmIqx3zfOkxwZE-L42hiO33iGJ_boXGjy3wpsfqPmd1yM9vRTBU2JdNCNfHgzm0RdHb_45XJnrhpFq0hwBPAvsR7kgSEjMD4Lm3Giv4YzYDJ_Abbq1Yo//" title="clip_image010" width="182" /><br />
<img alt="clip_image012" border="0" height="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5PvMiAkqfkGVONUcS2MeHXzl42WEwVocPsAqvUrjGeFGXCkstsda2ZX-H_qCBV-LZsRrpAdwJHr6JBf31XmgNV0As99nbt48N6OQq4IsU9rTGnLC0qHa_eNMXbZawehkS284qsi8D_rS//" title="clip_image012" width="640" /><br />
replenish the lives it gives you to play with (you can, of course, pay to have them topped up quicker).<br />
On top of all this is the fact that there’s no option to buy the game outright. At no stage can you, for argument’s sake, just hand over a straight £20 (for example) and get everything in one package. The game wants to keep backing you into corners, convincing you that you’re on the edge of beating it, and then teasing you into more in-app purchase.<br />
Payment<br />
It’s the in-app purchase that’s the killer feature here, and no game has made anywhere near the success of it as Candy Crush Saga has. Unsurprisingly though, it’s this payment model that’s of increasing interest to PC game developers keen to find a new way to make cash from their wares.<br />
You can already see the influence of Candy Crush Saga in the huge collection of Apple and Android titles that work on the same model. One, in particular, attracted ire recently – Electronic Arts’ mobile version of the 1997 PC game Dungeon Keeper. It’s free to play billing quickly attracted controversy, because EA offered playes a straight-up choice between waiting extraordinarily long periods of time to do something in the game, or paying to get it quicker. Trivial tasks like digging land were set to take a day (in real time) to complete. A whole day, for a real time strategy title thatls hardly drop-in, drop-out.<br />
Fast-tracking through the game’s many slowdowns requires the in-title currency (gems) and topping up the small amount you’re given to start with, you need to get your wallet out. Helpfully, you’re told that the best value transaction is for 14,000 gems, for the princely sum of… wait for it… £70!<br />
That’s twice the asking price of Dungeon Keeper when it first arrived on the PC. Double! What’s more, that original asking price got you the full game, without you ever needing to trouble your piggy bank again. For this mobile version, EA offers various packages of gems, with no guarantee at all that you’ll not need to go back for more. Staggering – and a policy that virtually<br />
What would have been standard full price releases are now being put together with a free to play model in mind ff<br />
forces us to point out that the full original game can be bought online (at the wonderful GoG.com) for well under a tenner. Unsurprisingly, we – alongside many others – opted to go for that deal instead.<br />
While Dungeon Keeper serves as a headline example, in truth there’s no shortage of alternatives. Farmville used to be the poster child for this sly business practice. The Simpsons: Tapped Out and The Sims: Freeplay also work hard to make you poorer. Indeed, if you go down the list of the top grossing apps at the Google Play Store, the majority of them are free. In fact, free to play dominates the chart.<br />
CANDY CRUSH<br />
> Dungeon Keeper’s recommended in app purchase: £69.99. Really<br />
That seems like a contradiction, but you only have to dig into the in-app purchases to find the real story of why free to play is the most lucrative model in videogaming right now, and why more and more publishers are looking to bring it to the PC.<br />
Games that once upon a time would have been standard full price releases are now being put together with a free to play model in mind instead. The effect is so marked that John Romero, one of the people behind games such as Doom and Quake has argued that “free-top-lay has killed a hundred AAA studios” – and presumably, many of the innovations and games they could have bought to the table.<br />
Ironically. Romero is a defender and exponent of the free to play approach, having released Doom and Quake as shareware on the understanding that people would pay for more if they liked what they saw. It’s not hard to see the advantages, especially as AAA videogames are falling into a similar trap to movies: if they don’t make lots of money in a week or two, then they’re swiftly dumped pending the arrival of the next big title. Given that some are costing hundreds of millions of dollars to develop, studios and publishers are looking for a longer term return on their investment. Free to play offers such a chance.<br />
The Game Benefit<br />
Free to play, for all its problems, does offer a clear benefit to the gamer. The lack of an up front charge allows you to try the game – after which you’re only likely to hand over any cash if you like what you see. Yet, we inevitably come back to the effect of Candy Crush Saga: King has not only taken a relatively basic game and made it successful, and made the model – whether we think it’s exploitative or not – stick. This means that, while World Of Warcraft’s was one the setup publishers, if not developers, were striving for. Now, their sites are being set lower.<br />
There may yet be further ramifications: Candy Crush Saga has questioned the need to invest millions into developing games that are a flat out gamble. Free to play appears to be a market that rewards simplicity and familiarity – and, at the end of the day, you can add parts of your game as you go along. If it’s successful, then you can bolt on extra quests and levels, without the expense of having them finished from day one. Put simply, the incentive to put together a deep, engrossing videogame lessens with every $800,000 that goes through King’s coffers.<br />
That’s King’s fault (although its aggressive attempts to trademark common words have won it few friends). If it hadn’t established the model, another company would have eventually made it pay – but it feels like it’s the champion of a model that promotes piecemeal over substance, where games can be served up in little pieces, and beaten faster if you’re willing to pay up.<br />
While consumers who are actively buying full priced games and spending a lot of money of software and hardware are seemingly less likely to purchase something this way, it doesn’t matter because they’re in the minority. By asking for a pound here and there, and by breaking up what it has to offer, King has made a raging success of a revenue model that the videogames industry can’t follow quickly enough – even if it means angering these diehards. While it’s hard to make a case that Candy Crush Saga is killing videogaming, there’s a sense that its success is dumbing it down, and diluting some of the things that made computer.

Is Candy Crush Saga Killing Video gaming?

The PC gaming industry, and the way we pay for games, is changing dramatically, and Candy Crush is leading the charge… It seems strange to...

External hard drives

Speed up slow drives, see hidden folders and take back control of your files.<br />
Windows can’t see your external hard drive<br />
<img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjomECiqncmaQEy9GO5sU8Bf_X86hhp8zJ0tJqX9brAYl9LWGuFN7L9djDfPM4mxK7ju-TLPQcA3KHAKTtISZOCkm0CwhF8Hp0yiS18k6Sc6Z_aXfMDZvGZGzVwQst-lYQwQkjMOVf0XoXI//" /><br />
Click Partition Recovery Wizard to recover lost data on your hard drive.<br />
If you’ve plugged in your external hard drive but it fails to show up in Windows Explorer, check that the drive’s activity indicator light is on at the front. If it’s off, the hard drive may not be working and you may need to replace it. Check the manufacturer’s website for guidance. There’s also a useful discussion about recovering files from malfunctioning drives on Piriform’s online forum (www. snipca.com/12806). Piriform are the software developers who make CCleaner, Recuva and Defraggler.<br />
If the drive’s light is on but you still can’t see it in Windows Explorer, it may be because there’s no letter assigned to it. Click Start, type disk management and press Enter to see a list of all the drives that Windows can detect. Find a hard drive with an empty Volume column -this will be your undetected hard drive. Right-click it, click ‘Change Drive letter and Paths’, click Add, select ‘Assign the following drive letter’, choose a letter from the dropdown and click OK.<br />
Files and folders on my external drive are hidden<br />
If you can’t see certain files that are on your hard drive, they may be hidden. To view hidden files, open Windows Explorer and click Organize, ‘Folder and Search options’, View, ‘Show hidden files, folders, and drives’, then click OK.<br />
If this fails to make your files appear, try using the Command Prompt to remove attributes that might be hiding files on your external hard drive, such as ‘readonly’, ‘hidden’ and ‘system file’. Type cmd in the Start menu, right-click ‘cmd’ in the results and click ‘Run as administrator’. Type attrib h r -s Is /d g:\V, replacing ‘g’ with the letter of the hard drive you want to access. You can check its letter in Disk Management (see previous tip). After you’ve typed the command, press Enter.<br />
<img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCTJsGud_Xkj7n1wYTaU3ByQjd_xd_yVj2KbQYWYToX3Dqa-uVCQjg86QRjHAScLidugDcW2CUGwIqQHAV5tqD8dr81MMs1iazNVsB3Hj_9GOxoUawAHTflHFnnBaShmkmjDiwF9cC93cF//" /><br />
Use Windows’ ‘Better performance’ tool to speed up your external hard drive<br />
Windows tells you to format your drive<br />
If your external hard drive stops working<br />
and Windows tells you to ‘format the disk’, don’t do it. This will delete all your data. Instead, download and install the free program Partition Wizard (www. snipca.com/12795). Open the program and click MiniTool Partition Wizard. If your external hard drive is marked as Unallocated in the program’s File System column, Windows won’t be able to access its data. Click Partition Recovery Wizard in the left hand pane, then keep clicking Next until you reach the Choose Searched Partitions option. Vour missing partition should appear here in the Status column (marked Lost/Deleted). Double-click it and you’ll see all your lost files. Click Close, then Finish. You now need to assign a letter to your external hard drive so that Windows can find it. Right click it, click ‘Change letter’, give it a letter and click Apply.<br />
External drive is too slow<br />
Your external hard drive will slow down over time. To speed it up, first optimise it using Windows’ then tools. In Windows Explorer, right-click the drive, click Properties, Hardware, select your external drive in the list, then click Properties again. In the new window, click ‘Change settings’, Policies, select ‘Better performance’ and click OK. You can also use the free program Clary Utilities (www.glarysoft.com) to defragment your drive and check it for errors. In Glary Utilities, click Advanced Tools, choose an option under ‘Hard disks’ and select your drive from the list.<br />
<img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBU-HyekQvN9D_4SsZSpHxzQlmL0_f1bZ1SDYYWPxq5kHWMOykV770lLXIsjQOZkxS34EhBIwIAHZA8DEUMBPzed5DsF0YCyMExXChT9cFimH3kJfusksJkMHka5CAbj6R5px6HVZLnlsg//" /><br />
Enable ‘Full control’ via Properties to regain editing rights over your own files<br />
External hard drive won’t let you edit files<br />
If you’ve connected your external hard drive to a new PC and try to make changes to the files on the drive, you may see the message ‘\bu’ll need to provide administrator permission to (delete this folder/copy to this folder/delete this file)’. Tliis means your PC has strict default permissions. To change the permissions and get control over your files, right click the external hard drive in Windows Explorer and click Properties, Security; Edit. Click your Windows username under ‘Group or user names’, tick Allow next to ‘Full control’, then click OK.

External hard drives

Speed up slow drives, see hidden folders and take back control of your files. Windows can’t see your external hard drive Click Partition ...

Bitdefender Total Security 2015

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Bitdefender wants to keep you safe, and does..,</div>
<br />DETAILS<br />•    Price: £60 (one-year, three PCs)<br />•    Manufacturer Bitdefender<br />•    Website: goo.gl/TW8gQI<br />•    Required Spec: XP+, 1.6GHz CPU. 1GB RAM, internet connection for MyBrtdef ender and remote access<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3weYgkRYga9IDv_2XHifjRQDD35thE8arwJ7ZIyy7Cr_Va6_MoRDlr-dq1lKgBYvBk242hDNHG2W55wTC7p2bJMqe6Cg-KL_3hoAsLVjGgl0BhQJeM5tg7zy_R5q7VWce6qJEdG0WIbl9/s1600/2014-08-09_201856.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Bitdefender Total Security 2015" border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3weYgkRYga9IDv_2XHifjRQDD35thE8arwJ7ZIyy7Cr_Va6_MoRDlr-dq1lKgBYvBk242hDNHG2W55wTC7p2bJMqe6Cg-KL_3hoAsLVjGgl0BhQJeM5tg7zy_R5q7VWce6qJEdG0WIbl9/s1600/2014-08-09_201856.png" title="Bitdefender Total Security 2015" width="320" /></a><br />Bitdefender has a long history of keeping our computers and the information stored within them safe from the nefarious attempts of others who would rather see havoc reign supreme.<br /><br />Its anti-virus engine is superb, and its anti-malware, anti-phishing and anti-everything else, to my mind, without a doubt the best in the world. So how can the company improve on this?<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Az4N0jjS3_TpVhSsG_GtMi9eXFKnVYeiu0S_S4s0cQj0Qeo0iuhTSQZ-LMt-uTLlERZ7gRa4Awx4E8dGh78yWNOWSC83nh_4dlrnTbY8tQq7p2jY6AjeHHNXsK_QczPLMWJ2LinWf3NZ/s1600/2014-08-09_201903.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Bitdefender Total Security 2015" border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Az4N0jjS3_TpVhSsG_GtMi9eXFKnVYeiu0S_S4s0cQj0Qeo0iuhTSQZ-LMt-uTLlERZ7gRa4Awx4E8dGh78yWNOWSC83nh_4dlrnTbY8tQq7p2jY6AjeHHNXsK_QczPLMWJ2LinWf3NZ/s1600/2014-08-09_201903.png" title="Bitdefender Total Security 2015" width="320" /></a><br />Bitdefender Total Security 2015 is the answer to that question and, where TS2014 left off, this version takes the baton and sprints ahead of the competition by several lengths. It still offers the highest levels of protection via Bitdefender*s Anti-virus Control, its proactive, dynamic detection technology, a two-way firewall and cloud technology based anti-spam, and offers safer online banking via the Safepay function and MyBitdefender cloud access areas. What's more there are also enhanced levels of privacy, with better parental control, including Facebook restrictions, device anti-theft, personal data filter, file encryption and file shredding, and of course anti-phishing measures.<br /><br />However, where other AV technologies offer the same suite of security Bitdefender does so with an impressive list of added incentives. For example, there's a much improved level of social media protection that filters messages and posts to scan for fraud and e-threats. There's also a higher level of PC optimisation dubbed Bitdefender Photon that greatly improves the speed of the security engine so there's less visible signs of resource consumption or system slowdowns. The One Click Optimiser will tune your system with a disk, registry and privacy clean up, and the new Startup Optimiser can noticeably enhance system boot time by managing startup.<br /><br />Other new features of note include Bitdefender Profiles, where an Autopilot mode will recognise the task you're performing on the PC and change the profile to prevent other programs or apps from interrupting you or causing the system to slow down. There's also the Quick Vulnerability Scanner, which automatically warns of any outdated software, missing Windows security patches and unsafe system settings.<br /><br />TS2015 provides you with a simple animated circular desktop widget, with a green band and tick for a system that check out fine, and red with a warning should the engine detect something untoward. A smaller section at the bottom of the widget informs you of any system messages, and clicking on the widget will launch the newly designed dashboard, which again is simple but allows access to all of TS2015's features with a single click.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipojgsJgqnENJjxHITFM6PSUElynL5H_zrAQ6C3-vpgkydYHKxydEGTbUab7GTbBKCpK3sAg_EYdIu-SaGSqNPUgqQzxFJoZbs4LWAM1XJjVUA5FTRPhllMKHnoREqtriJ1617FkQU6_eK/s1600/2014-08-09_201909.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Bitdefender Total Security 2015" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipojgsJgqnENJjxHITFM6PSUElynL5H_zrAQ6C3-vpgkydYHKxydEGTbUab7GTbBKCpK3sAg_EYdIu-SaGSqNPUgqQzxFJoZbs4LWAM1XJjVUA5FTRPhllMKHnoREqtriJ1617FkQU6_eK/s1600/2014-08-09_201909.png" title="Bitdefender Total Security 2015" width="301" /></a><br />It's all blindingly fast, and thanks to the new optimising technologies you can safely leave it to keep an ever-watchful eye on your system without fear of it getting in the way. You no longer have to worry about forgetting to set it Game mode prior to launching steam, or the annoying pop up regarding some recently updated software mid-way through a movie, or presentation.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9dym2rKnjGo8UYYy8UD4kvObwaFTDM9pSCHPUOj9b5qAPrtYnGPMvxRp_g1LyyWz6RfFdj519v_TqvEqkT4qkq0-EnijKpABiAOMqd7WQPsP6zpqZNw4XylrtzF7RrRRWSeGLnAnG4Vv9/s1600/2014-08-09_201916.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Bitdefender Total Security 2015" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9dym2rKnjGo8UYYy8UD4kvObwaFTDM9pSCHPUOj9b5qAPrtYnGPMvxRp_g1LyyWz6RfFdj519v_TqvEqkT4qkq0-EnijKpABiAOMqd7WQPsP6zpqZNw4XylrtzF7RrRRWSeGLnAnG4Vv9/s1600/2014-08-09_201916.png" title="Bitdefender Total Security 2015" /></a><br />Clearly there are many benefits to having Bitdefender Total Security 2015, but the most obvious and the one that really deserves attention is the near perfect anti-virus protection. With TS2015 there's a peace of mind that you simply won't get from any free security product.

Bitdefender Total Security 2015

Bitdefender wants to keep you safe, and does.., DETAILS • Price: £60 (one-year, three PCs) • Manufacturer Bitdefender • Website: ...

Debian And Android, In Perfect Harmony

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Get the best of both worlds.</blockquote>
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There have been a few instances over the years where a developer has tried to combine all the benefits of both Android and Linux into a single instance. Most of the time the projects barely get off the ground, while others fail or never really live up the expectations placed on them. However, this recent project appears to have mastered both operating systems and created a desktop where both exist side by side.<br />
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ValksPC is a distro that aims to give users an ARM-Debian setup where they can boot into an LXDE Debian build and use all the Linux desktop goodness that comes with that but with the option to hit the F7 key and swap to a fully functioning ARM, Android Jelly Bean desktop, thus allowing them to work within the most used mobile OS.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DWpUIF-aQApnUTq3Y_BbxorJ7MWaY9ugsDT_LUBiJ8JZAbUXC053viyJuVVPzpmRdn3lrj7XWELympG3Jk82YDAiEDzz5YWI4MhuSlbQpRrgSnlFHDMMLYld4jOutcO9MczS2tAuh45q/s1600/2014-08-06_204301.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Debian And Android, In Perfect Harmony" border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DWpUIF-aQApnUTq3Y_BbxorJ7MWaY9ugsDT_LUBiJ8JZAbUXC053viyJuVVPzpmRdn3lrj7XWELympG3Jk82YDAiEDzz5YWI4MhuSlbQpRrgSnlFHDMMLYld4jOutcO9MczS2tAuh45q/s1600/2014-08-06_204301.png" title="Debian And Android, In Perfect Harmony" width="320" /></a><br />
As the developer states in its blog, "We created a unified distribution that allows both Android and Debian LXDE/XFCE applications to run simultaneously at native speeds. On ARM, our distribution is based on a modified ARMHF Debian Wheezy rootfs."<br />
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There are a number of advantages here, running the two side by side, the obvious one being the development process, where you can swap between two different operating systems to test code, but also the benefits to web designers, who need to see how their sites look using different Oss.<br />
<h3>
Clever Demo</h3>
There's a demo of the system in operation that can be viewed on the VolksPC site at goo.gl/M5724f. The demo was run on a RK3066 dualcore mini PC, and Vasant Kanchan of the VolksPC project spoke to Phoronix recently regarding the setup. "1. Both Android and Debian apps run at native speeds. Debian apps don’t depend on Android unlike other implementation of Debian on Android which are based on VNC running on Android.<br />
2.    We did not change Android to implement this (other than start-up scripts). This means we have full compatibility with all Android applications.<br />
3.    MicroXwin provides the X-Wndows framework, and it is much faster, as seen running on ARM based Raspberry Pi".<br />
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This is certainly a project worth keeping an eye on. Should this work as well in real-world terms as in the demo, then I for one would be more than happy for a mobile device that runs a stable Android version, then can be docked with a screen, keyboard and mouse and with the press of the F7 key have Linux spring up to work on. Okay, there are examples of that already, but they don't feel quite as good as I envisage. The true PC in the pocket is now one step closer.<br />
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There are a number of advantages here, running the two side by side.

Debian And Android, In Perfect Harmony

Get the best of both worlds. There have been a few instances over the years where a developer has tried to combine all the benefits of bo...

Speed up your PC in five minutes

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“ReadyBoost is a free way to speed up your system  using a USB stick, and it’s great for extending the life  of your PC. Here’s how to make the most of it!” </blockquote>
There’s little more frustrating  than realising your once  speedy computer, which  served you well just a few months  ago, is starting to feel slow and  unresponsive. Don’t worry though –  you don’t need to fork out for an  upgrade yet. You can turn to page  72 for our top 10 tips and tricks for  recovering lost performance, but  Windows also offers a quick and  easy solution. ReadyBoost is an  extremely useful built-in tool that  uses removable flash memory, such  as USB sticks and SD cards, as extra  RAM to speed up your system.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuI2cpBF2NAbb-LUexF7XHYMRHxgxM_Dw-R8VLXEKVbsPUApYRc-NBMvorl2C9B0CqMuPoHbwUG38FPs-hBflILrB4FYRW5F4aDXUeHuIJ7s5WqDxtrxerMnvOneZqW_H6oRbKEvZmwfA/s1600/2014-08-06_083423.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Speed up your PC in five minutes" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuI2cpBF2NAbb-LUexF7XHYMRHxgxM_Dw-R8VLXEKVbsPUApYRc-NBMvorl2C9B0CqMuPoHbwUG38FPs-hBflILrB4FYRW5F4aDXUeHuIJ7s5WqDxtrxerMnvOneZqW_H6oRbKEvZmwfA/s1600/2014-08-06_083423.png" title="Speed up your PC in five minutes" width="208" /></a></div>
In Windows 7 or 8, the amount of  memory that can be used for  ReadyBoost has been given a huge  increase, and you can now use more  than one form of removable memory,  giving you extra scope to speed up  your machine. It’s particularly useful  for systems running with less than  2GB of RAM, such as netbooks.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhPZMMgl9d5rb-J5kxkp1jj1Lf8E1rZ57UXoBGzgFlxVUqiTZ_HepOCyhTFganqxoJDpRvbPT7TuE0vb1gmdEWZVujtlk-bLGfPo0ysy0nfPBgtaAEDSjWPdTihHFNVt_Pv8idJSOSpJNS/s1600/2014-08-06_083457.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Speed up your PC in five minutes" border="0" height="612" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhPZMMgl9d5rb-J5kxkp1jj1Lf8E1rZ57UXoBGzgFlxVUqiTZ_HepOCyhTFganqxoJDpRvbPT7TuE0vb1gmdEWZVujtlk-bLGfPo0ysy0nfPBgtaAEDSjWPdTihHFNVt_Pv8idJSOSpJNS/s1600/2014-08-06_083457.png" title="Speed up your PC in five minutes" width="640" /></a>Step-by-step Give your PC an instant speed boost<br />
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<h3>
Insert your USB stick </h3>
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First, make sure that you have your choice of removable  flash memory to hand. To start the ReadyBoost process, you  need to insert your USB stick into your computer and wait for  the AutoPlay menu to appear. If you’re opting to use an SD card  instead, just place it into the slot on your laptop or desktop PC,  or use an external card reader.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5mhOcuXHH22p3T8coCwJ1aZVv83KkL2uo34xKDKo6wZ8glBNmQjizRWBlVT0aVs5Gt__N8yBxH3A7z-WSmg653nLxCxL4v2bS2Q9rcrTefS9TSgQnyE_S3Lh5mlGG06Cty5FaekJuwA4/s1600/2014-08-06_083504.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP5mhOcuXHH22p3T8coCwJ1aZVv83KkL2uo34xKDKo6wZ8glBNmQjizRWBlVT0aVs5Gt__N8yBxH3A7z-WSmg653nLxCxL4v2bS2Q9rcrTefS9TSgQnyE_S3Lh5mlGG06Cty5FaekJuwA4/s1600/2014-08-06_083504.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3>
Choose ReadyBoost </h3>
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Once the AutoPlay window pops up, you can start using  ReadyBoost. The relevant option appears at the bottom of the list,  where you’d normally choose to either browse the device or load  images from an SD card straight into Windows Live Photo Gallery.</div>
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 When you click on the ‘Readyboost’ option, you’ll be taken  straight to a configuration screen. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwQDhnA3YJIv33LBLjZ1wd8wjf6LCQed2tm98Eiwriib2r4dy6Qzx4o24EJLaPeJO_f8kVtkUZtIfwxtD4jbg3XoV6Nep6OVkgdca3JV36xRfcXYjz0Q67PzhuI3-Fg8JHUyZLQ111jkL/s1600/2014-08-06_083508.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwQDhnA3YJIv33LBLjZ1wd8wjf6LCQed2tm98Eiwriib2r4dy6Qzx4o24EJLaPeJO_f8kVtkUZtIfwxtD4jbg3XoV6Nep6OVkgdca3JV36xRfcXYjz0Q67PzhuI3-Fg8JHUyZLQ111jkL/s1600/2014-08-06_083508.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3>
Create a dedicated device </h3>
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If you’re planning on using this USB flash drive just for  ReadyBoost and don’t intend to store any data on it as well, you  should turn it into a dedicated device. To do this, simply check  the second option in the list, ‘Dedicate this device to ReadyBoost’.</div>
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 This option makes all of the USB drive’s storage space available to  be used by Windows. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrXWI_JYXvcBL9pl20TU9JeLS8rSG_t1XUlTu7BPoZLVDBQobPRn-HB19B6U7Vp-PP009WAZCCG_wnS_9jWZip-4ZksfzzTDlAHSdnLk06iGeVwx6RQ1UAF9nqgsidjYCOJB2ZYpEoQGmV/s1600/2014-08-06_083554.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrXWI_JYXvcBL9pl20TU9JeLS8rSG_t1XUlTu7BPoZLVDBQobPRn-HB19B6U7Vp-PP009WAZCCG_wnS_9jWZip-4ZksfzzTDlAHSdnLk06iGeVwx6RQ1UAF9nqgsidjYCOJB2ZYpEoQGmV/s1600/2014-08-06_083554.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3>
Prepare it for use </h3>
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Now that your USB stick is a dedicated device, it’s ready  to give your computer the performance boost it so badly needs.</div>
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 Click ‘OK’ and your device is prepared for use by the system. From  now on, whenever you insert that drive into your PC, Windows  recognises it and adds its capacity to the system, so your  computer has more memory to use </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPTGfaXmPUWuPwPQX4GVLydgSosawmSKu_cXKClBXUurDFWJXzF0HOqG7jNKTnQmKi5XmMsyJxKT_0UugCfVgriIfNpHd5A9NKVGg7jZsVsG2_8I1rKF8904lB_atha0O8rnigx5dKyYfA/s1600/2014-08-06_083559.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPTGfaXmPUWuPwPQX4GVLydgSosawmSKu_cXKClBXUurDFWJXzF0HOqG7jNKTnQmKi5XmMsyJxKT_0UugCfVgriIfNpHd5A9NKVGg7jZsVsG2_8I1rKF8904lB_atha0O8rnigx5dKyYfA/s1600/2014-08-06_083559.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3>
Partition a USB device </h3>
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If you still want to be able to use your USB stick’s memory  for storing your documents, photographs and other files, but  you also need to speed up your computer, a different option is  required. This will have a less dramatic effect than making it a  dedicated device, but can still be helpful. Insert your USB stick or  SD card and click the ‘Speed up your system’ option as before </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6m6GdE7iyjkUAUakuayTC7isM_s2y4Pd8iNP4erOdrjutZczhLmGyunMLzOpk_cVmEZoDpzgd9sp1zeHZ6sRy1mHyffkxFKx-zIj5G2TW8PU2qaHMWrXqwN8ajTas2Eqp-xvcMtcDg1d/s1600/2014-08-06_083619.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6m6GdE7iyjkUAUakuayTC7isM_s2y4Pd8iNP4erOdrjutZczhLmGyunMLzOpk_cVmEZoDpzgd9sp1zeHZ6sRy1mHyffkxFKx-zIj5G2TW8PU2qaHMWrXqwN8ajTas2Eqp-xvcMtcDg1d/s1600/2014-08-06_083619.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3>
Slide to increase </h3>
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You can use the slider to allocate a portion of the disk’s  space to ReadyBoost, while still leaving a certain amount of room  for your files. Move the slider left or right until you’re happy with  the amount of space. We wouldn’t recommend dedicating less  than 256MB to ReadyBoost, otherwise you won’t see much  difference in the speed of your system. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ZxKRcMuJTPNpZdH2WaZFtD_8z1dgcELoBmiHpeyrFF5nYIu9VjaAzdUu1_1CQOY9VOr2DiP4wqxG_OL-VMTQVmkx5mLW22BOXAnrJWPt6k9OD9MC19mHTNdVaHuf0pt5qPPt76FU0OQK/s1600/2014-08-06_083624.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ZxKRcMuJTPNpZdH2WaZFtD_8z1dgcELoBmiHpeyrFF5nYIu9VjaAzdUu1_1CQOY9VOr2DiP4wqxG_OL-VMTQVmkx5mLW22BOXAnrJWPt6k9OD9MC19mHTNdVaHuf0pt5qPPt76FU0OQK/s1600/2014-08-06_083624.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3>
Double up </h3>
<div>
In Windows Vista, ReadyBoost only supported one device  with a capacity up to 4GB, but with Windows 7 or 8 you can use  multiple fast devices, with nearly unlimited memory. If your  laptop or desktop computer has an SD card that’s unused for  the majority of the time, why not consider making this a semipermanent ReadyBoost slot? </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5WIAfXqsvcaePK1aR-2R_TisdBrHRQ_A6_qgmE4M9T0XA28Wu00ze415naoI6BhOr0l4K3nIsMLP9xvYP-WTKhP4smIRRa_NwOilwgE0NOfVzWpaElbYNLKBXDxNkGdtTL0N0FvnTKadk/s1600/2014-08-06_083645.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5WIAfXqsvcaePK1aR-2R_TisdBrHRQ_A6_qgmE4M9T0XA28Wu00ze415naoI6BhOr0l4K3nIsMLP9xvYP-WTKhP4smIRRa_NwOilwgE0NOfVzWpaElbYNLKBXDxNkGdtTL0N0FvnTKadk/s1600/2014-08-06_083645.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<h3>
Enjoy! </h3>
<div>
You should now have a noticeably more responsive  computer, and be able to perform daily tasks faster than before.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Xghbk_T0uGs5hsgl5No8rWVT3ESQWaAKwbXEE7rsJKdHpjwjs5EwRPzOCyPoag5ocZ8Mfkzghqmq3pHmDnwiu3jLCYCiNwYp8g8_JCghFQTa0BQxZQVhWx9x-VNGq6ZT02hfeFNaQv3W/s1600/2014-08-06_083650.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Xghbk_T0uGs5hsgl5No8rWVT3ESQWaAKwbXEE7rsJKdHpjwjs5EwRPzOCyPoag5ocZ8Mfkzghqmq3pHmDnwiu3jLCYCiNwYp8g8_JCghFQTa0BQxZQVhWx9x-VNGq6ZT02hfeFNaQv3W/s1600/2014-08-06_083650.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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 Although Readyboost won’t help you transform a basic machine  into a gaming behemoth, you should feel a real change in your  system’s performance, and it might even stave off the need for a  new computer for a little while to come. </div>
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Speed up your PC in five minutes

“ReadyBoost is a free way to speed up your system using a USB stick, and it’s great for extending the life of your PC. Here’s how to make...