LIFE

My time in the echo chamber

Sven Krumrey

True tunnel vision

Wouldn't it be great to always be right? Errors feel unpleasant and embarrassing at times, you might even be forced to reconsider your actions. Way too much stress! That burden has been lifted thanks to social networks and a wide selection of other media outlets. Even for those who believe that the earth is flat.

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TECH

The horror of bad passwords

Sven Krumrey

The fastest solution is not always the best

Every time a year ends, we're treated to the "top 10" from various categories. What were the most often used baby names, which car models sold best, who had the most followers on Twitter? A snore fest. One piece of news, however, woke me up from my winter slumber. A collection of 1 billion stolen data sets was analyzed to find the most popular passwords. Would it just be a case of same old, same old or had there been a learning process? What I found seemed like an invitation to unwanted visitors

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LIFE

The Ashampoo blog team wishes you a Merry Christmas and a successful year 2017!

Sven Krumrey

The best time of the year

It happened (again), a colleague was late and yet had no trouble finding a parking space. My appointment calendar is getting lighter and the first emails with Christmas greetings and goodbyes from colleagues leaving for vacation are coming in. There's change in the air, barely noticeable at first but then unavoidable. Things are quieting down, colleagues are lining up in the corridors having chit chats over their Christmas plans. You no longer mindlessly pass by all the Christmas decoration but start to notice the various adornments. There's small fir branches with golden Christmas bulbs on the window sills, they must have been lying there for weeks but I just started noticing them. Suddenly, Christmas is no longer a distant date.

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TECH

When there's a Flash update and nobody cares

Sven Krumrey

The end of Flash? Highly likely.

In 2010, Apple guru Steve Jobs was not amused. In an open letter, he vigorously panned the Flash software and announced that from now on, Apple would no longer tolerate Flash on their devices. This created quite a stir and Flash was believed to disappear rather quickly. What Flash is? Animations, movies or sophisticated ads - Flash is often behind it. Do you like browser games? They're also frequently Flash-based and so are many security issues, many of them even make it into the news. Getting rid of Flash would change the face of the Internet. What Jobs didn't achieve - banning Flash from the computer world - is now seemingly becoming a reality. Another giant has stepped onto the scene and vowed to do away with Flash and this time it might actually happen.

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LIFE

A Christmas purchase that turned out to be fun - the SCISHION V88 TV Box

Sven Krumrey

Small, inconspicuous but capable

Christmas time - time for presents, so I went looking downtown (and on the Internet) to find gifts for my loved ones. And if you're into tech, you'll also have to deal with order requests from friends and acquaintances that usually start off like "You know these things" and end with a comprehensive requirements list. In this case, I couldn't stop myself and had to try out my most recent purchase for you - and I was pleasantly surprised.

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