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The way iOS handles notifications has always been less than ideal, but iOS 12 goes some way to improving matters. Part of that is the new ability to change how notifications are handled, right from within the Notification Center.

With the arrival of iOS 12, Apple made it possible for people to receive a notification, decide that they don’t want ever to have to see it again, and then make that happen all without going spelunking into the often confusing world of the Settings app. That’s a great improvement for usability and one that hopefully means developers will think twice before spamming their users with notifications.

Managing notifications from the Notification Center is a great way of making sure you never see that irritating game’s request for your time again. That’s almost worth the upgrade to iOS 12 alone. Once you’ve done that and received one-too-many irritating notifications, instead of dismissing it, swipe left on it.

You’ll see three options, and the one to tap is “Manage.”

Next, you’ll see four options.

• Delivery Quietly: This option will allow the notifications to arrive, but they will not play any sounds, display banners or badge icons, or appear on the Lock screen.
• Turn Off: This option does exactly what it sounds like, turning off all notifications for the app in question.
• Settings: This will take you to the more granular notification options within the Settings app. Here, you can change how notifications are displayed and which sound they make when they arrive.
• Cancel: This button cancels the dialog and returns you to the Notification Center.

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“Retro,” “Mini,” and “Classic” consoles are the bee’s knees this holiday season, with notable offerings from Nintendo, Sony, and (sort of) others. But which one is the best?

There’s a pretty clear standout among the current crop of officially-licensed mini-consoles, and it’s no spoiler to say that it’s the Super NES Classic. But there are a few other options you should consider, especially if you (or your gift recipient) are unimpressed with the limited and non-expandable selection of games in these devices. A premium remade “clone” that plays original cartridges, or a device that runs emulators and nigh-unlimited game ROM files, might make a better choice for some gamers.

Before we dive in, be aware of a recent development: Nintendo recently announced they will be discontinuing the NES and SNES Classic after this holiday season. If you want to pick one up (and you don’t want to pay outrageous scalper-level prices for one a few months from now), now is the time to do so.

The Best Retro Console: Nintendo Super NES Classic Edition ($80)

The NES Classic may have started off this craze, but going all the way back to the 80s might cause a bit of gaming jet lag. The older 8-bit games, with their extremely simple graphics, sounds, and two-button control schemes, haven’t aged as well in reality as they might have in your memory.

The SNES Classic is the way to go. Not only are the Super Nintendo games featured in its collection much more palatable than the older NES games, it’s an overall better group. Timeless Nintendo classics like Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Zelda: A Link to the Past, Mario Kart, and Donkey Kong Country are joined by third-party all stars like Mega Man X, Street Fighter II, and Super Castlevania IV. The SNES’s rich RPG legacy is also honored, with Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, Final Fantasy III, and Secret of Mana, but Chrono Trigger is an unfortunate no-show. Star Fox 2, an SNES sequel that was developed but never released, gets a world premiere on this new hardware. Naturally, the SNES Classic plays all of these games over HDMI, and there are some excellent accessories offered for the hardware, too.

Nintendo’s classic offering is getting the nod over the PlayStation Classic. Sony’s entry has some serious technical issues since some games run slowly due to PAL ROMs. While there are some standout titles in the PS Classic like Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid, it doesn’t have the wall-to-wall greats that Nintendo’s hardware does.

But the most unfortunate fact is that the early 32-bit 3D era has simply aged poorly: the low-resolution, low-framerate, and low-polygon visuals aren’t as clear or as appealing as the 16-bit sprites on the SNES games. It wasn’t until the PS2 era that 3D graphics on consoles really started to shine, while the Super Nintendo was the pinnacle of 2D console gaming. Plus, many of the PS Classic titles are available to play on the PS3 and PS4, which isn’t true with the SNES Classic and Nintendo Switch.

This is the one you probably shouldn’t get.

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As you get better at photography, you need to start making deliberate choices about the composition of your images. The rule of thirds just won’t cut it anymore. One of the simplest and most powerful composition techniques is leading lines. Let’s look at what they are and how to use them.

RELATED: Is the Rule of Thirds Really a Photography Rule?

Why Composition?

Photography is an art form. Sure, there’s not a tremendous amount of art to snapshots of your dog you took with your iPhone, but there still is the potential there for an image to be more than just a disposable depiction of something that happened.

Good images say something. It’s not always some big, deep point or cultural criticism; often it’s “the world is pretty awesome” or “humans can do cool stuff.” Composition is just one of the tools that serve to deliver the message.

Let’s look at a photo of mine.

In this shot, I wanted to say a few things:

• Humans are small, and nature is big.
• Humans still do pretty epic things in nature.
• SPEEEEEEEED!

It’s not exactly a Pulitzer-Prize-winning photo, but I think I managed to get my point across with my composition. Whenever you’re taking a photo, think about what you want people looking at it to feel. Calm? Angry? Excited? Inspired? Happy? Whatever it is, the composition will either make or break the message.

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Whether it’s a program you found on the Internet or something that came in your email, running executable files has always been risky. Testing software in clean systems requires virtual machine (VM) software and a separate Windows license to run inside the VM. Microsoft is about to solve that problem with Windows Sandbox.

VMs: Great for Safe Testing, But Hard to Use

We’ve all received an email that appears to be from a friend or a family member and has an attachment. Maybe we were even expecting it, but somehow it looks not quite right. Or perhaps you’ve found a great looking app on the Internet, but it’s from a developer you’ve never heard of.

What do you do? Download and run it and just take the risk? With things like ransomware running rampant, it’s almost impossible to be too cautious.

In software development, sometimes the thing a developer needs the most is a clean system—a quick and easy to pull up OS that has no other installed programs, files, scripts, or other baggage. Anything extra could skew testing results.

The best solution to both situations is to spin up a Virtual Machine. This gives you a clean, isolated OS. If that attachment turns out to be malware, then the only thing it affects is the virtual machine. Restore it to an earlier snapshot, and you’re good to go. If you’re a developer, you can do your testing as if you’d just set up a brand new machine.

RELATED: Beginner Geek: How to Create and Use Virtual Machines

There are some problems with VM software, though.

First, it can be expensive. Even if you use a free alternative like VirtualBox, you still need a valid Windows license to run on the virtualized OS. And sure, you can get away with not activating Windows 10, but that limits what you can test.

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The Probability of Death Is Measured In What Units?

1. Termini
2. Micromorts
3. Deathrolls
4. Mortalities

Think you know the answer?

A fascinating new phishing attempt it making the rounds disguising itself as a receipt from the App Store, tricking unsuspecting users into coughing up all of their personal details. Here’s what you need to know and how to stay safe.

First of all, look how skeezy this looks

As reported by Bleeping Computer, the attempt shows up as an email with an attached PDF receipt for somewhere in the range of $30. With that, there’s a highly convenient “Issues with this transaction?” link at the bottom of the page.

More convincing, but still has obvious errors, like “Thanks to Purchasing!”

Uninformed users click the link, of course, expecting to dispute the fraudulent charge. They’re then presented with a convincing-looking page with a less-convincing URL asking them to log in with their Apple ID. It’s also worth noting that this is a secure website, leading to an even bigger reason to assume it’s legit. But just because a site is secure, doesn’t mean it’s safe.

Looks pretty legit.

After attempting to log in, a warning is displayed stating that the ID has been locked for security reasons. A handy Unlock Account button is just below, which is where things get really bad. Clicking this button takes users to a new page asking for every damn detail you can imagine.  Name, address, phone number, social security number, date of birth, payment info, and security questions/answers are all found on the form—this is an identity theft convenience kit.

Oof. Just look at those questions. And that’s not even the half of it.

But this is also where things get really interesting—after submitting the form, it states that the account is automatically logged out then redirects to a legitimate Apple page. Users log in, assuming that all is right with the world again when that couldn’t be further from the truth—the attacker just got everything they wanted. All your information put together in a nice little form. Yuck.

And a few seconds later, users are taken to a legitimate Apple page.

As pointed out by Bleeping Computer, the URL is the main thing that gives the whole thing away is the funky URLs (which were redacted from the original post for obvious reasons), but the point remains: if something looks awry, it probably is.

As stated previously, the weakness of this campaign is their use of very suspicious URLs.  An observant person will easily see that the URLs are not legitimate, look strange, and should be avoided. For this reason, it is very important that users do not open links from strange emails and instead go directly to a company’s web site. If they do open links from emails, it is always important to analyze the URL of the landing page to make sure you are at a legitimate site.

The real Apple page.

As always, the key to staying safe is knowing what you’re up against. So pay attention to the details and stay vigilant.

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The holidays are the perfect time of year to gather around as a family and play some games. We’ve highlighted some of the best tabletop games for all the family to enjoy.

There are thousands of games to choose from so we’ve focused on the most accessible board and card games out there. We’ve looked at games that family members of all age and ability can get to grips with, so that you don’t have to spend hours explaining rules and regulations. None of these games are too huge either, so you won’t need to devote hours to a session. Instead, you can play these games for a little while before moving onto something else.

Here are some of our favorite games for young and old this Christmas.

Kingdomino ($17)

The aim behind Kingdomino is simple — build the best Kingdom by fitting tiles together well, kind of like dominos. It’s a concept that works brilliantly for 2 to 4 players, and only takes about 15 minutes to complete a game.

Strategy comes from planning how you design your Kingdom so it’s simple enough that kids from 8 and up can figure it out, as well as older relatives who have never played this kind of game before. It’s not complex by any means, but there’s a decent amount of depth here as you figure out how to arrange things, and when to take tiles at the key moment during a game. Simply put, it’s ideal if you have a household of mixed abilities.

Buy on Amazon Photosynthesis ($35)

The environment is a big issue for many, and understandably so. Combine that key issue with tabletop gaming and you get Photosynthesis—a board game with an important message behind it.

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A desk job isn’t always the most exciting of roles but it’s what many of us will find ourselves doing each day. How about buying your loved ones a fun toy or trinket to liven up their office desk?

See, you can just stare into space when you want a few minutes peace at work but it’s also fun to mess around with some kind of office toy too. Even better, some of the toys here will help focus your mind or simply encourage you to relax a little and take a breather. We’ve got a bunch of great desk toys and trinkets that will make fantastic stocking stuffers this Christmas.

Infinity Cube Fidget Toy ($11)

Fidget toys are awesome, whatever your age. The Infinity Cube Fidget Toy is a cube based brainteaser that’s playable with one hand. Composed of eight tough ABS plastic blocks lined together with strong stainless steel metal rivets, it’s a reasonably weighty object for you to manipulate with one hand while you concentrate on whatever’s bothering you, or simply let your thoughts drift away.

Like any neat fidget toy, you can use it to build up flexibility in your hands, while you take some time to solve the puzzle and rearrange everything to however you want it to look. It’s a complete time waster but it’s kind of therapeutic and a great way of discouraging you from unhealthy habits like biting your nails or cracking your knuckles.

Buy on Amazon Kingou Wooden Puzzle Magic Ball ($10)

A true brainteaser, the Kingou Wooden Puzzle Magic Ball isn’t a puzzle that most people will solve fast. You have to piece the shapes together to form a wooden ball. Simple, right? Not in reality. It’s actually hard to assemble, as well as take apart. You really have to spend some time figuring it out, which is why it’s perfect to pass the time during a break at work, or even when taking a conference call.

It comes with paper instructions and a video link QR code but that’s hardly the point. This mind puzzle is there to test you, as well as make you feel like you’ve accomplished something. Even when it’s been a rough day.

Buy on Amazon Deluxe Sand Garden ($20)

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If you’ve ever spent time creating an iMovie project on your iPhone or iPad that you wanted to continue working with on your Mac, moving it over is a simple process. Here’s how to do it.

Note: One thing to keep in mind about this process is that you won’t be able to send your projects back to your iPhone or iPad after migrating them to Mac. You’ll have to continue editing on your Mac, so be careful not to send unless you’re committing to editing on Mac.

With that out of the way, here’s how to move iMovie project to your Mac

First, open iMovie on your iPhone or iPad and select the Projects tab at the top. Next, tap on the project icon you’d like to share. You should see a new screen pop up. Tap the “Share” button on the same screen.

 

The easiest way to move your project to your Mac is via AirDrop. When you click Share, you should see the option to AirDrop your file to your Mac, as long as it’s enabled. Tap the AirDrop icon to send the project to your computer. When it arrives, it should automatically pop up on your screen in the Finder window. If you hit any snags, here’s a detailed tutorial on using AirDrop to share items.

 

You will have several other options via your Share menu, such as saving the file to your device, sending it via Messages, and more. Depending on how large your project is, it may take some time to send via AirDrop, but this eliminates much of the muss and fuss that comes along with moving projects from one device to another. Alternatively, you can send your project to your iCloud Drive via the same menu, or send your file to your computer by simply syncing it to your iTunes account.

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Did you receive a PowerPoint presentation, but you don’t have PowerPoint? Giving up on Microsoft Office and making the change to Google Slides? No problem; Google Slides lets you easily import PowerPoint presentations. And while it might not support some of the same features and effects of a PowerPoint presentation, it works pretty well.

How to Import a PowerPoint Presentation into Google Slides

To view a PowerPoint presentation on Google Slides, you must first upload the file to your Google Drive. Open Google Drive, click “New,” and then click “File Upload” to get started.

RELATED: How to Insert Symbols into Google Docs and Slides

Navigate to your file(s) and then click “Open.”

Alternatively, you can drag and drop a file from your computer directly into the web browser for an easy upload.

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Microsoft’s Windows 10 October Update has had its fair share of issues, but now it’s widely available for all users. The thing is, you still may have to pull it manually. Here’s what you need to know.

The October 2018 Update, which is Version 1809, has been plagued with issues since its initial rollout—the worst of it was probably when it was accidentally deleting users’ files (oops). But it also broke network drives, borked Windows Media Player’s seek function, and did some janky stuff with Intel drivers.

Anyway, fast forward to today, and Microsoft has apparently fixed these issues. The update has been slowly rolling out to users in blocks to make sure that it has been stable along the way. Finally, you can have it today if you’re so inclined.

Note: Before pulling this update, we highly recommend checking what version of Windows 10 you’re already running. If it’s 1809, you’re already up to date and we discourage checking for updates as it can pull an unstable version of Windows.

RELATED: How to Find Out Which Build and Version of Windows 10 You Have

To grab the update, you’ll need to jump into Windows 10’s Settings menu. Click the Start Menu and then the little cog icon.

From there, select Update & Security.

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If you have received a long email—or you’re writing one—Outlook lets you split the mail vertically into two panes, so you don’t have to scroll quite so much to reference different parts of the mail.

If you’ve ever had to deal with a long email full of replies from different people, you’ll realize how handy this little feature is right away. You could use the top pane to keep an older part of the conversation in view so that you can refer to it while using the bottom pane to type your reply. And of course, that’s only one use. You’ll surely find many others.

To split the mail, click in the Reading Pane, or double-click the mail to open it, and then click Ctrl+Alt+S. This will put a horizontal splitter bar in the middle of the mail, with a separate scroll bar in each pane.

Now you can reference or compare different parts of the mail in the same window. To remove the split, double-click the splitter bar.

It’s a small but surprisingly useful little feature!

The Center for Democracy and Technology has a good summary of the current state of the DMCA's chilling effects on security research. To underline the nature of chilling effects on hacking and security research, CDT has worked to describe how tinkerers, hackers, and security researchers of all types both contribute to a baseline level of security in our digital environment... Bruce Schneier

In Tokama, Japan, you can watch the firefly squid catch and eat them in various ways: "It's great to eat hotaruika around when the seasons change, which is when people tend to get sick," said Ryoji Tanaka, an executive at the Toyama prefectural federation of fishing cooperatives. "In addition to popular cooking methods, such as boiling them in salted water,... Bruce Schneier

Interesting research: "'Won't Somebody Think of the Children?' Examining COPPA Compliance at Scale": Abstract: We present a scalable dynamic analysis framework that allows for the automatic evaluation of the privacy behaviors of Android apps. We use our system to analyze mobile apps' compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), one of the few stringent privacy laws in the... Bruce Schneier

Good article about how difficult it is to insure an organization against Internet attacks, and how expensive the insurance is. Companies like retailers, banks, and healthcare providers began seeking out cyberinsurance in the early 2000s, when states first passed data breach notification laws. But even with 20 years' worth of experience and claims data in cyberinsurance, underwriters still struggle with... Bruce Schneier

Last year I wrote about the Digital Security Exchange. The project is live: The DSX works to strengthen the digital resilience of U.S. civil society groups by improving their understanding and mitigation of online threats. We do this by pairing civil society and social sector organizations with credible and trustworthy digital security experts and trainers who can help them keep... Bruce Schneier

DARPA is launching a program aimed at vulnerability discovery via human-assisted AI. The new DARPA program is called CHESS (Computers and Humans Exploring Software Security), and they're holding a proposers day in a week and a half. This is the kind of thing that can dramatically change the offense/defense balance.... Bruce Schneier

This vulnerability is a result of an interaction between two different ways of handling e-mail addresses. Gmail ignores dots in addresses, so bruce.schneier@gmail.com is the same as bruceschneier@gmail.com is the same as b.r.u.c.e.schneier@gmail.com. (Note: I do not own any of those email addresses -- if they're even valid.) Netflix doesn't ignore dots, so those are all unique e-mail addresses and... Bruce Schneier

This is interesting. As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven't covered. Read my blog posting guidelines here.... Bruce Schneier