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Intel has announced that the fix is out for its latest chips affected by Spectre, the memory-leakage flaw affecting practically all computing hardware. The patch is for the Skylake generation (late 2015) and newer, though most users will still have to wait for the code to be implemented by whoever manufactured their computer (specifically, their motherboard).

The various problems presented in January by security researchers have to be addressed by a mix of fixes at the application, OS, kernel and microarchitecture level. This patch is the latter, and it replaces an earlier one that was found to be unstable.

These aren’t superficial tweaks and they’re being made under pressure, so some hiccups are to be expected — but Intel is also a huge company that has had months of warning to get this right, so people may be frustrated by the less-than-optimal way the flaws have been addressed.

As before, there isn’t much you as a user can do except make sure that you are checking frequently to make sure your PC and applications are up to date — in addition, of course, to not running any strange code.

If you’re on an older chipset, like Sandy Bridge, you’ll have to wait a bit longer — your fix is still in beta. You don’t want to be their test machine.

source:TechCrunch

It's an oldie but goodie: Creating a system image of your Windows 10 PC in case your hard drive goes belly up and you need to recover your files, settings and apps.

It's been around since Windows 7 ($22.95 at Amazon.com), and Microsoft hasn't touched it since. You won't find it in the Settings app where you likely first turn when you need to perform a bit of system maintenance on your PC. Instead, it's hiding out in the the old Windows Control Panel. What it is is the ability to create a full system backup, which you can use to restore your PC should it fail, become corrupted or otherwise stop operating smoothly.

Because the tool to create a system image is somewhat buried in Windows 10($149.00 at Amazon.com), let's shine a light on where it's located and how to use it.

Steps to create a backup system image

1. Open the Control Panel (easiest way is to search for it or ask Cortana).

2. Click System and Security

3. Click Backup and Restore (Windows 7)

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

4. Click Create a system image in the left panel

5. You have options for where you want to save the backup image: external hard drive or DVDs. I suggest the former, even if your computer has a DVD-RW drive, so connect your external drive to your PC, select On a hard disk and click Next.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

6. Click the Start backup button.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

After the system image is created, you'll be asked if you want to create a system repair disc. This puts your image on a CD or DVD, which you can use to access the system image you created if your PC won't boot. Don't worry if your laptop doesn't have a CD or DVD drive; you can skip this step and boot the system from the system image on your external hard drive.

How to recover your PC using your system image

To use your system image to restore your PC, open the Settings app and go to Update & Security > Recovery. In the Advanced startup section, click the Restart now button. When your PC restarts, go to Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > System Image Recovery and follow the instructions to restore your PC using your the system image you created.

source:CNET

French startup Blade, the company behind Shadow, is launching its cloud gaming service in the U.K. Just like in the U.S., the company is starting with a pre-sale before accepting all customers.

For a flat monthly fee, you can rent a gaming PC in a data center near you. You can then access this beefy computer using desktop and mobile apps as well as the company’s own little box. It’s a full-fledged Windows 10 instance — you can install Steam, Battle.net or whatever you want.

And British customers will get the exact same specs. Each user gets a high-end dedicated Nvidia GPU — the company is currently using a mix of GeForce GTX 1080 and Quadro P5000. You also get 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and eight threads on an Intel Xeon 2620 processor. The company says it’s a high-end gaming machine worth around $2,100/£1,500.

Now let’s talk about pricing. You can get a Shadow instance for £26.95 per month with a one-year commitment, £32.95 per month for a three-month commitment and £39.95/month without any commitment. Even if you choose to commit, you don’t have to pay everything upfront — you’ll get charged every month. Plans cost nearly the same price in France and the U.S.

Finally, you can also get Shadow’s own little box that you can plug directly to your TV or a monitor. You can rent it for an additional £7.95 per month or pay £109.95 once. The first 500 British subscribers will get it for free.

Finally, make sure you have a fast and stable connection before subscribing to Shadow.

Source:TechCrunch