Tuesday, 25 June 2013

Google not obliged to delete data, rules EU lawyer

  It follows a Spanish case which challenged Google to remove outdated financial details about an individual.
  The opinion of advocate general Niilo Jaaskinen could influence a wider EU debate over whether people have "the right to be forgotten".
  Privacy campaigners believe individuals should have greater control over data.
  No controller
  The specific case Mr Jaaskinen was considering goes back to November 2009 when a Spanish man complained about links on Google to an e-newspaper report detailing how debts had led to his house being repossessed.
  He argued that, as the report was 10 years old, the links were no longer relevant and should be removed. He failed to get the original article removed because it was deemed to be in the public interest.
  He lodged a complaint with the Spanish Data Protection Agency who upheld it.
  The case later moved the European Court of Justice.
  In his written opinion on the case, Mr Jaaskinen took the view that Google was "not generally to be considered as a controller of the personal data appearing on web pages it processes".
  "Therefore, a national data protection authority cannot require an internet search engine provider to withdraw information from its index," he wrote.
  He added that this meant users would not be able to invoke "a general right to be forgotten... against search engine service providers".
  The court is not bound by Mr Jaaskinen's opinion although generally such recommendations are followed.
  A final judgement on the case is expected before the end of the year.
  Erasing profiles
  The case will be seen as a test of "the right to be forgotten" strand of the Data Protection Regulation, which is currently being debated by the European Parliament.
  The EU is planning updates for the Data Protection directive, which was originally adopted in 1995 when the internet was in its infancy.
  The right to be forgotten clause, which has the support of EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, was developed in response to complaints about the way search engines and social media firms handle information.
  Increasingly users are concerned about a range of issues - from difficulties erasing social media accounts, to lack of control of photographs published by others.
  Google welcomed the views of Mr Jaaskinen.
  Bill Echikson, head of free expression at Google, said: "This is a good opinion for free expression. We're glad to see it supports our long-held view that requiring search engines to suppress 'legitimate and legal information' would amount to censorship."
  But Big Brother Watch said that that making a connection between this particular case and the rights of citizens to delete data was "absurd".
  "The right to be forgotten was never intended to be a way for people to rewrite history," said director Nick Pickles.
  "The whole point was to allow people to tackle information at source and Google was not the source of this information - a Spanish newspaper was.
  "A better example of why it is needed would be when someone wants to close a Facebook account. Facebook shouldn't be able to hold on to our information just in case you want to re-join," he added.
  "It's important that citizens have better rights when it comes to stopping companies collecting data without proper consent or holding on to information for an unjustifiable length of time, even when people have ceased to use a service."

It really is vital that Microsoft sets points right

  Microsoft will use its yearly developers meeting to release a preview of Windows 8.1, a cost-free update that claims to deal with several of the gripes persons have with the newest variation with the company's flagship functioning method.
  Numerous from the new capabilities are already shown off already. The Establish convention, which commences Wednesday in San Francisco, will give Microsoft's associates and other technological innovation developers an opportunity to understand more about the brand new system and check out it out. What's more, it will provide the company a chance to explain some of the reasoning powering the update and provide builders on Microsoft's ambitions to regain relevance dropped to Apple's iPad and different equipment operating Google's Android software program.
  You will find also speculation that Microsoft could show off a brand new, scaled-down model of its Floor tablet computer systems. Among the list of new functions in Home windows 8.1 is the ability to function very well on smaller-screen gadgets.
  Windows 8.1 will be accessible as a preview starting off Wednesday for anyone to down load. It's going to be produced to your normal public afterwards within the yr, nevertheless a certain day hasn't been declared.
  Windows eight, which was released in October, was meant to generally be Microsoft's respond to to altering purchaser behaviors and also the rise of pill computer systems. The working method emphasizes contact controls above the mouse as well as keyboard, which had been the most crucial way folks have interacted with their particular personal computers because the nineteen eighties.
  Though Microsoft has said it's got offered in excess of 100 million Home windows 8 licenses thus far, some analysts have blamed the lackluster response to the functioning program to get a steep fall in Personal computer profits from the first a few months from the yr, the worst drop because monitoring by outdoors research corporations started in 1994.
  Amid the issues: the lack of the Start off button within the decreased still left corner of the monitor. In past versions of Windows, that button gave people speedy entry to programs, configurations and also other jobs. Microsoft changed that with a tablet-style, full-screen begin website page, but that covered up what ever packages individuals had been performing on, and it experienced only favored packages. More techniques have been necessary to access less-used applications. Configurations, a lookup box and also other capabilities were being concealed away in the menu that needed to be pulled out in the right. How you can try this transformed based on no matter if a mouse or touch was made use of.
  And while Microsoft has inspired people today to employ the new tablet-style structure, many applications ?a which includes Microsoft's latest Business office computer software offer ?a are created for the older, desktop manner. People have been compelled into the tablet structure once they start out up the machine and had to manually change the desktop mode each individual time.
  Home windows eight.1 allows men and women to start out inside the desktop mode instantly. In that mode, it is actually restoring a button that resembles the old Start button. Although the Get started button will now just take individuals back into the new tablet-style get started display screen, alternatively when compared to the previous Start menu, the re-introduction of the familiar button may perhaps ensure it is easier for longtime Windows consumers to obtain accustomed for the alterations.
  Other new options of Windows 8.one contain extra selections to use many apps. Men and women will get a lot more alternatives to find out simply how much of the screen each app normally takes while showing approximately 4 distinctive systems, somewhat than just two. The update will also offer a lot more integrated research outcomes, showing users previews of websites, applications and documents which can be about the device, all of sudden.

  Despite the fact that Microsoft is addressing a lot with the criticisms with Windows, it's positioning the update as in excess of merely a fix-up position. From its standpoint, the tuneup underscores Microsoft's evolution into a much more nimble firm able of transferring rapidly to respond to customer opinions even though also rolling out additional innovations for any myriad of Home windows equipment ?a smartphones, tablets or PCs.
  It really is vital that Microsoft sets points right with Windows 8.1 since the outlook to the Computer sector keeps receiving gloomier. IDC now expects Personal computer shipments to tumble by almost 8 % this yr, even worse than its past forecast of the one % dip. IDC also anticipates tablets will outsell laptop computers with the to start with time this year.
  Within an sign that Microsoft Corp. is clearing out stock of a Surface tablet jogging the lightweight Home windows RT functioning procedure, the corporate is effectively reducing the cost of that by such as a keyboard include free of charge. The cover sells for $120 or $130 by itself.
  Microsoft also stated this thirty day period that it could give purchasers on the RT variation of Surface area the Outlook e-mail and calendar application at no additional cost ?a signing up for other Place of work freebies Excel, Term and Energy Issue ?a and sweetening the offer for your system that may be priced starting off at $499. That can come as aspect with the Windows eight.1 update.

Friday, 7 June 2013

Make your employees happier: Limit multitasking

  Did you ever have one of those days where you were so busy from 9 to 5 that the day just blew by? But at quitting time, you looked back and realized nothing really got done?
  That's the dilemma that multitasking has long presented to the individual. But now it seems that employers are driving their employees crazy as well—causing them to hate coming to work—thanks to the hefty demands of multitasking, according to Maura Thomas, a productivity guru who runs the website RegainYourTime.com.
  In a blog post for Texas Enterprise, Thomas talks about what makes employees happy at work. She says one of the primary factors for job happiness is control, as in having control over how you do your work. Control is eroded in a number of ways, often by micromanaging and domineering bosses who dictate every facet of how a job is to be done.
  But an over-reliance on technology can also erode control. Distractions caused by over-multitasking and by bombarding staff with emails cause them to lose focus on their work. This erodes that sense of control that evolves into decreased job satisfaction.
  As a byproduct, heavy multitasking also decreases job performance. Tasks take longer to complete and overall quality is lower. This creates an endless cycle where employers are dissatisfied with the workers' output, increasing micromanagement, and further eroding morale.
  Email, text messages, and IM chats aren't going away, so Thomas says to be careful about overly encouraging multitasking. First, make it clear that emails don't always (or ever) require an immediate response. Many workers naturally leap into action when they see a pop-up alerting them to an email from the boss, so you might need to be explicit about your expectations in order to counter what has become a reflex.
  All this because of too many emails? Perhaps not exactly, but this complex set of problems is being exacerbated by the increasing reliance on digital technologies for even rudimentary communications—even when employees are all physically located in the same office.
  As an employer, you can support this notion with your own behavior. If you have a staff member working on a specific project, table your conversations on non-related topics until the end of the day (you can use the "delay delivery" feature in your email client to make this easier—and so you don't forget the question you were going to ask). Keep IM chatter to a minimum, too. If employees find they're distracted by messages outside your control, encourage them to simply shut down their email client during times when they need to concentrate. Lead by example and shut down your own email system from time to time to prove that the world won't completely pass you by if you're disconnected for a couple of hours.
  ere are some other tips on staying focused on the job:
  Most people do their best work earlier in the day.
  Leave "mindless" work such as responding to email and filling out paperwork for the end of the day, when you're starting to slow down.
  Make a schedule and stick to it to the extent you can.
  Split large tasks into smaller ones to make them more manageable.
  Plan your workday around the times when you're most focused. If you're a night owl, take some downtime in the afternoon, so you're ready for a burst of creativity in the wee hours.
  Don't skip meals.

That‘s all there exists to it, and when you utilized Vista

  It has been over a yr given that I to start with set up a make of Home windows eight with a exam equipment. Because then, I've operate it over a big selection of components, which include slate-format tablets, hybrid touch/pen/keyboard tablet PCs, standard laptops and multi-monitor desktop PCs ¨C hardware that mixes the outdated (with Vista and XP-era gadgets) and also the new (a not too long ago upgraded Main i5 desktop procedure). It's been on Intel processors, on AMD, on actual physical, on digital: on very a lot each equipment I could come across while in the business.
  Tests and benchmarking is all pretty well, however, you only really reach know an OS by living with it, applying it every working day to perform daily jobs on your each day Computer system. For me, which means the great old-fashioned desktop Pc.
  The majority of my time is expended before a multi-monitor desktop equipment, just the configuration that many individuals have worried about in feedback to numerous Windows eight posts. When desktop users may possibly quickly be during the minority, you can find nevertheless a good amount of us all-around. I depend on applications like Business office and Adobe Lightroom plus they rely over the desktop ¨C and that?ˉs unlikely to change right up until the tools adjust. So for my desktop Computer, there?ˉs hardly any modify among 7 and eight inside the way I do the job.
  One thing I?ˉve discovered within the months because Home windows eight reached RTM, its evolution hasn?ˉt ended ¨C and it?ˉs still getting better. When i upgraded my desktop from Home windows seven to eight just soon after RTM it was to all extents and purposes only a a little a lot quicker Windows 7 equipment by using a new UI. But together with the the latest 160MB post-RTM update, and with the arrival of some new system motorists plus a couple of latest items of components, it?ˉs turning into some thing alternatively diverse.

  The just one massive alter, obviously, will be the Start out Display screen. As variations go, it?ˉs a massive a person, but it?ˉs not the showstopper that some have designed it out for being. I?ˉve ended up dealing with it to be a comprehensive monitor version of your outdated Begin menu, and utilize it in substantially precisely the same way. Much like the get started menu, the start Display screen winds up full of applications I?ˉve put in, and that i once in a while tidy it up. There was a little do the job in getting it the way in which I required to begin with, but again, commencing by using a clean put in of Home windows XP or 7 I?ˉd be performing significantly the same factor ¨C grouping purposes and eliminating references to features or equipment I don?ˉt plan to use.
  Launching apps is straightforward sufficient. Tap the Windows vital and start typing, when the phrase wheel filter exhibits your application, just pick and click ¨C or strike return. You’re instantly back within the desktop and in the application you should use. That‘s all there exists to it, and when you utilized Vista or lookup box as your major system of navigation you?ˉll discover the Get started Display screen slightly far more successful while you don?ˉt have to click while in the research box to start out finding applications or data files.
  The arrival of a new Microsoft Sculpt Comfort keyboard produced some operations even much easier. While Windows 8?ˉs Charms are only a mouse gesture absent, acquiring them around the keyboard is far easier. 4 independent Attraction keys imply you may get to search, Share, Units and Configurations while not having to shift your fingers absent from the keyboard. If you?ˉre employing a Home windows 8 Store-style application, the keyboard also comes with 4 keys that replicate the primary Windows 8 contact gestures. Just one handles a still left swipe application change, though one more toggles the Snap perspective for your running software. The opposite two launch the beginning Display endeavor switcher and open up the app bar.

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