How to keep your Mac safe for your kids
How to keep your kids safe while on the Mac with Parental Controls in OS X Yosemite
Keeping your kids safe while using the computer is paramount in many parents’ minds. Fortunately Apple gives you the resources you need to keep your Mac safe for little ones. So today I’m going to give you some tips on the parental control features that are available to you in OS X Yosemite.
Overview
Parental Controls are designed to work in conjunction with individual user accounts on the host Mac. If you haven’t already created a user account for your child, you can do so here.
Just remember that the Parental Controls feature requires administrator access, so make sure you’ve logged in from an account with administrator access before attempting any changes. If your child has their own computer, you can manage parental controls remotely by checking a box at the main Parental Controls screen.
Once you’ve highlighted a user account you’d like to restrict, Parental Controls will reveal five tabs: Apps, Web, People, Time Limits and Other. Each one is pretty self-explanatory, but we’ll dig in to each to see what they do.
Apps
The Apps tab enables you to limit access only to specific applications, widgets and utilities installed on the Mac. If you want your son or daughter to only access email and the web, for example, you can specify Mail and Safari, for example, excluding them from everything else. You can also use a Simple Finder interface if they’re a new user and you don’t want them to get confused.
Web
The Web tab enables you to put limits on where on the web your kids can go. The default setting tries to limit access to adult web sites automatically, but if you find sites that you don’t like, you can add them using the Customize… button. Apple has a list of pre-approved kid-friendly sites which you can add to, if you’d like — just click the + button at the bottom.
People
Worried about stranger danger? You can restrict your child’s access to specific contacts in both Mail and Messages in the People tab. You can act as the gatekeeper for communications with new people by automatically pinging your email address if the child attempts to exchange email with someone who isn’t approved, too. Apple gives you limits on Game Center connections too.
Time Limits
Time Limits lets you set specific limits on the amount of time your child is able to use the computer during weekdays and weekends. What’s more, you can specify bedtimes on school nights and weekends so your kids won’t stay up late playing games or chatting with friends.
Parental controls
The Other tab gives you access to a few other features you can use to customize your kids’ Mac access. Worried that they might use the built-in camera to take selfies? Disable it. Hide profanity in the Dictionary app if you’re worried about them seeing dirty words. Don’t want your kids to change printers or burn CDs or DVDs? It’s all right here.
Logs
Finally, near the bottom of the window is the Logs… button. Use this to track the activity of your child — the Mac keeps track of websites visited and blocked, applications used and messages sent. You can specify the duration of the report, and clear the logs at will.
More help
That’s an overview of Yosemite’s Parental Controls feature. If you still have questions, feel free to drop them in the comments or ask them in our ask a question forum, no registration required. You can also check out some of the links below for even more tips, tricks, help, and info on OS X Yosemite.
The brains behind Samsung’s “Next Big Thing” campaign leaves company
A large part of Samsung’s success can be accredited to its vastly popular marketing campaign. One of the brains behind the company’s popular “Next Big Thing” campaign, Todd Pendleton has now decided to leave the company. Pendleton currently serves as the head of marketing for Samsung Mobile USA.
A month ago, we saw the Galaxy S6 marketing campaign chief leave the company, so it certainly hasn’t been a fruitful 30 days for the Korean manufacturer’s marketing division. It is being said that Pendleton is leaving the company on his own accord, perhaps to pursue other ventures. Neither company has issued a statement on the matter.
We’re not sure how this will affect Samsung at the moment, but it’s certainly a blow for the company. Luckily, the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge have received widespread acclaim so far, which should make the lives of the marketing team a whole lot easier.
Via: CNET
Come comment on this article: The brains behind Samsung’s “Next Big Thing” campaign leaves company
These are the can’t miss apps and games from the last two weeks (March 6)
Welcome back to the regular series aimed at helping Android users get more from their devices. If you’re looking for some new Android apps or games check it out: we have a handful of popular titles to get you started.
What you’ll find below are some of the hottest trending apps of the last couple of weeks. We’re certain you will find something fun to play with this weekend. Let’s get to it!
Voice changer with effects
We say
I downloaded this on my phone to give it a shot. It certainly can provide some entertainment! As long as you aren’t looking for any sort of professional voice changing technology, you should have some fun with this. Otherwise, not much to say, other than you might be the life of the party next time with Voice changer with effects. Especially if others are intoxicated. Oh, wait, there’s a drunk option!
YouTube Kids
We Say
Given that YouTube can be quite the rabbit hole, we’re happy to see that we can be in control of how deep the kids go. We like being able to toggle off search and the ability to restrict the length of time spent. Throw in a great, growing library of YouTube-specific content and we sleep good at night. If you’ve got a toddler or early school age student in the house you may want to consider this one as a curated video service that stands on its own.
Jolly Jam
We Say
What starts out almost too easy gets increasingly difficult over dozens and dozens of levels. It’s a slightly different take than we expected; no match-three or sliding tiles here.
We’ve played long enough to know we’re hooked and can’t walk away just yet. It doesn’t help when you’ve got all sorts of cute animations, social media competitive rankings, and that three-stars scoring.
We might have flown through the first twenty or so levels but now we’re forced to be creative in completing levels. Just watch out for those in-app purchases as they can be a slippery slope!
iA Writer
We say
iA Writer may look overly simple, but that’s the idea. Distraction-free writing. The interface is clean, and simple features help improve your writing speed and focus to help you get more done. Do not overlook this app for its simplicity, but rather embrace it. If nothing else, the small and simple interface gives you more room to work considering smartphone screens are much smaller than laptop screens.
The post These are the can’t miss apps and games from the last two weeks (March 6) appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Samsung Galaxy S6 apps available to install on TouchWiz Android 5.0 devices
Much of the world knows a bit about the latest announcement from Samsung when they showed off the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. The new devices bring a premium design to the Galaxy S line with a mix of metal and glass, ditching their plastic backs and parts. They made a number of changes that […]
The post Samsung Galaxy S6 apps available to install on TouchWiz Android 5.0 devices appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Apple Watch Battery to Support Five Hours of Heavy Usage, Will Last All Day With Mixed Use
With just over two days to go until Apple’s big March 9 “Spring Forward” event that’s said to be heavily focused on the Apple Watch, information on the device is leaking out at a rapid pace. Apple’s been relatively quiet about battery life, stating only that the Apple Watch will need to be charged on a daily basis, but 9to5Mac has a few more details on how long we can expect the Apple Watch to last between charges.
According to the site’s sources, final software tweaks and optimizations to the device have led to a battery life of approximately five hours of heavy application usage. The device reportedly will not run out of battery life “during a typical day of mixed and passive use,” but it will need to be charged on a nightly basis as Apple has previously said. There’s also been little said about how the Apple Watch will affect the battery of the iPhone, but 9to5Mac‘s sources say that there is no “meaningful” observed battery drain while using the device.
A Power Reserve Mode can be activated within the watch when the battery in the device becomes critically low, ensuring that it’s primary function — telling the time — is always available. Power Reserve Mode can be activated at any time via a Battery Life Glance screen.
Power Reserve Mode can even be accessed when the Watch has a full 100% charge, and it is not solely activated when the Watch’s battery life is low. The mode noticeably dims the display, slows down communication with the iPhone to an on-demand level, and puts the display to sleep after roughly two seconds of inactivity. One unit tested allowed access to all Apple Watch functions while in Power Reserve mode, while another unit was limited to the Clock face.
The Apple Watch is also said to have an interesting method of displaying remaining battery life. At 20 percent, the Battery Life Glance (which is just one of many default glances on the watch) will turn an orange/amber color to let users know that battery life is running low, and at 10 percent, it will turn from amber to red.
Along with battery life, there are also some new details on onboard storage. We’ve known for awhile that the device will have dedicated storage for features like music storage, but the exact amount of storage has not yet been shared. It appears that prototype devices have 8GB of storage, suggesting at least some devices will ship with that amount of storage space. Like with the iPhone, there may be several storage options that are available at an additional cost.
In just a few short days, we’ll have a wealth of information on the Apple Watch. Apple is expected to share more details on battery life, storage space, pricing tiers, and accessory options at its upcoming March 9 event. Apple is planning to live stream the event, and MacRumors will also provide live coverage, both on MacRumors.com and through the MacRumorsLive Twitter account.
YotaPhone 2 will get new accessories, apps and a white variant in the coming months
The YotaPhone 2 is certainly one of the most unique Android handsets on the market right now, and it’s about to get even more interesting. Yota Devices has just announced that in the coming months, the YotaPhone 2 will be updated to Android 5.0 Lollipop and will also gain some new accessories, including special bumper cases and a wireless power bank. Additionally, a white variant of the phone is in the works, and is set to launch by the end of March.
Yota has also partnered with a few companies in order to bring more apps and services that will integrate with the e-paper display. Here is the full list of services we can expect to see on the handset in the coming months:
- Spritz: The ongoing integration of their focused reading technology will help readers get their email, books and notifications faster, with less effort on the ‘always on’ EPD display.
- Psy(x) Audio: Using a proprietary neural process, the customized “always on” Earprint application is the world’s only universal adaptive audio technology that improves your hearing and reduces listening fatigue from compressed audio up to 192kHz.
- StayTuned: This app concierge will add context awareness to YotaPhone by automatically organizing the user’s apps and displaying the most relevant apps and services, depending on where they are, time and personal habits. The solution learns from the user behavior in different contexts and is able to predict the user needs, providing a real-time personalized mobile experience.
- Graphite Software: Secure Spaces increases choice and security for businesses and users to dedicate each screen for multiple possible environments – work, personal, kids, gaming.
- Everypost: The easiest way to create, customize, schedule and post content to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and many other social network.
- Emberify: A start-up working on contextual technologies, developing Instant, the most comprehensive Quantified Self platform for tracking app/device usage, fitness & travel.
The phone has been available in select markets for a few months now, and Yota plans to bring the device to both AT&T and T-Mobile via an Indiegogo campaign this Spring. We’d imaging that the accessories listed above will likely be available as extra incentives on the crowdfunding campaign, but that’s just us speculating for now. There’s no official date as to when these accessories and services will come to the device, so we’ll have to wait for an official announcement from the company sometime soon.
US accuses three people of stealing over a billion email addresses
The US Department of Justice just announced three indictments for what one attorney called “the largest data breach of names and email addresses in the history of the Internet.” Vietnamese citizens Viet Quoc Nguyen and Giang Hoang Vu stand accused of a scheme to hack email service providers to steal the names and email addresses of their customers, while Canadian David-Manuel Santos Da Silva allegedly conspired with them to launder the proceeds. According to the indictments, between 2009 and 2012 Nguyen and Vu hacked at least eight email service providers — the companies that collect your data under slightly more legitimate circumstances — accessing marketing data containing over a billion email addresses. After that, they worked with Da Silva to profit from the addresses by sending spam with affiliate links for a company he controlled, Marketbay.com.
At least according to the DoJ, all of that work netted around $2 million in affiliate marketing fees. While Nguyen is still a fugitive, Vu was arrested in the Netherlands in 2012 and pleaded guilty on February 5th. Da Silva was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, FL on February 12th and is scheduled to be arraigned today
[Image credit: Shutterstock]
Filed under: Internet
Source: US Department of Justice, Reuters
Base model of the Huawei Watch will not cost $1,000
Earlier this week, a rumor began to spread that stated Huawei would charge $1,000 for its upcoming smartwatch. Having such a high price disappointed and shocked many people as other Android Wear devices stay around $300 and below. The Huawei Watch does feature a premium look and feel; however, $1,000 seemed far too high.
Fortunately, it will not cost that much for consumers to bring home the Huawei Watch as the company commented on pricing concerns.
There will be a base model of the Huawei Watch that will be more accessible to consumers. Through a Huawei representative speaking to 9to5Google, we learned that “$1,000 is definitely out of range of what the base model will cost.” The three variants of the Huawei Watch — black, stainless steel, and gold — will likely have noticeable differences in price. The gold variant has three ounces of 24-karat gold; therefore, black and stainless steel variants will be the more affordable options.
Via: 9to5Google
Come comment on this article: Base model of the Huawei Watch will not cost $1,000
5 intriguing apps for Windows 8.1: March 6, 2015
With the ever-growing number of apps and games in the Windows Store, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with what’s out there.
For that reason, every Friday we showcase some apps that have piqued our interest for one reason or another. They are the 5 Intriguing Apps of the Week.
Zynga will bring fantasy strategy game Dawn of Titans to Android
Zynga will release Dawn of Titans, a fantasy-themed strategy game with some impressive looking graphics, for Android devices later this year.
AIVAnet 