Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Personal Data Microsoft Office Collects and Shares About You

Metadata is the name often used for the hidden personal information captured in your documents—even though you may have never told programs like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and others to collect or share it.
This collected information can be elusive because it does not print or show up on your screen when you view the main document interface. Some metadata may appear to not be included unless you actually type it in, such as: Author, Subject, or Document Title, but these are more of a formality, because that information may be found or alluded to in other types of metadata. 
Here are 12 examples of document statistics and user information that may be readily available to be reviewed by more than yourself, as well as links to what you can do about it!



166419812.jpg - (c) Danil Melekhin / E+ / Getty Images

1.  Your Author Details

Microsoft Office programs may reflect information about you, and the computer that is an extension of you, including your name or initials, your computer or device's name, company name, and network information as mentioned in steps 10 and 11 of this list.

2.  Other or Previous Author Details

The names of previous authors of that document may also be available by default. Collaborators are likely referenced as well, as mentioned in step 8 of this list.

3.  File Properties

The file itself is also described in metadata, including file type. Document properties and statistics such as how long you have worked on the document, when it was last saved, when it was originated, and other usage information may also be available.

4.  Document Versions

When you save Office documents, you typically want past versions to stay in the past! But some version information may be viewable by others.

5.  Templates Used

I actually like this one because it gives credit to those who authored the template, but depending on your project you may not want this displayed.

6.  Personalized Views and Invisible Objects

Office documents allow you to make some content hidden, such as Hidden text, Hidden Rows or Columns in Excel, Off-slide Content in PowerPoint, Presentation Notes, and more.
You may not realize that items in the workspace can be inadvertently referenced in the metadata.

7.  Watermarks

Company watermarks can indicate document status such as "Denied" or "Draft". You may not want others to see even hidden watermarks in metadata

8.  Comments

Not just comments, but also names of revisers, tracked changes, version information, and inked comments or annotations.
Also, Send-for-review information may show as well.

9.  Headers and Footers

Typically, you include headers and footers because you want them to be visible, but sometimes this information is intended for internal eyes only. Email headers may also be accessible.

10.  Document Servers or Libraries

Documents saved to a remote server or library such as SharePoint may also reference that location information in the metadata.

11.  Printer and File Paths

Paths tell Microsoft Office where to send or save your files on your computer or network. This could include hard disks or portable storage devices.
This can also involve your file path for publishing web pages from Microsoft Office.

12.  Other Custom XML Data and Information

Documents can contain other custom Extensible Markup Language such as tags.

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Completely open source, high-end laptop gets closer to reality


Purism Librem 15
If you've wanted a laptop where all the software is free and open source (FOSS), you've usually had to settle for mediocre hardware. Even FOSS champion Richard Stallman is making do with a ThinkPad that's several years old. At last, though, it looks like you won't have to compromise your ideology for the sake of keeping up with the Joneses. Purism has successfully crowdfunded the Librem 15, a portable PC that combines modern parts (such as a 3.4GHz Core i7 and an optional 4K display) with software that's accessible from head to toe. The operating system (a variant of Trisquel GNU/Linux), hardware drivers and included apps are all free and open -- Purism is even trying to loosen up the BIOS and firmware.
There's still some time (as I write this) to make a pledge and set aside a Librem 15 for yourself ahead of the planned April 2015 launch, although it's here that you'll find out that software freedom can be very expensive. Get in on the "earlier bird" special tier and you'll pay $1,649 for a system with just 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, a read-only DVD drive and a 1080p screen -- it's easy to get a closed source Mac or Windows PC with better memory and storage at a similar price. And while a release is theoretically close at hand, it's often an uphill battle to get completely open computers to market. Even the Novena project, which got its hardware funding last spring, is trickling out just a few of its finished PCs. If you absolutely refuse to run proprietary software, though, you'll at least want to give the Librem a look.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

How To Solve A Rubik's Cube Step By Step

Step 1: White CrossYou should be able to complete this step just by playing around with the cube. Make sure that the edges of the cross match the center squares on the adjacent sides.
Step 2: Finish First Layer

Step 3: Middle LayerYou may need to move some middle-layer edge pieces from the top layer. Follow the patterns below to get these pieces in the right places.
Rubik's - Middle LayerBusiness Insider
Step 4: Top CornersTo get the corners in the right place, you can use this pattern to swap corners until all four corners are in the right location. At this stage, they do not need to be facing the right way.
Rubik's Swap CornersBusiness Insider
To orient corners use a combination of the patterns below. The first will turn the faces of three corners clockwise. The next will turn the faces of three faces counter-clockwise.
Rubik's ClockwiseBusiness Insider
Step 5: Top Layer Edges In The Right PlaceMake sure all the edges are in the right location. Do not worry if they are facing the wrong way. Use a combination of the patterns below to move these edge pieces.
Rubik's Permute EdgesBusiness Insider

Step 6: Top Layer Edges Facing The Right WayUse either of the patterns below or a combination to orient these edge pieces correctly.
Rubik's Final Layer Edges

Android Lollipop is slowly (very slowly) hitting more devices


Android Lollipop is slowly (very slowly) hitting more devices
Lollipop didn't exactly take the Android world by storm when it first launched. Early adoption was slow enough that it made no real impat in usage share stats for the first couple of months. People are starting to take to Google's latest dessert-flavored OS, however -- it's finally on the official radar. Google's data now shows that about 1.6 percent of active Android users were using Lollipop as of the start of February. That's certainly not a lot, but it's clear that all those Nexuses and early Lollipop upgrades (most notably from HTC, LG and Motorola) count for something.
Not that Lollipop is doing much to hurt its predecessor, KitKat. If anything, the older software is gathering steam. KitKat climbed to 39.7 percent, no doubt helped by a market where a good chunk of phones still ship with with the 2013-era OS. As you might guess, the declines are largely limited to Jelly Bean and earlier versions that you'd expect to be on their way out. The real question is whether or not Lollipop will gather momentum quickly. That should happen when new flagship phones are just around the corner, but it could be a while before you really know how well it's doing.