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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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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LIFE

4 great Google alternatives

Sven Krumrey

Under the sign of the duck

Everyone on the Internet uses search engines. There's hundreds of them yet 97 percent of all users focus on just three search providers two of which barely scrape the 3% mark. They are Yahoo Search, owned by communications giant Verizon, and Bing, Microsoft's protegé. With 91% market share, Google effectively has a monopoly and holds incredible influence due to the huge amount of data traffic. Yet, we're all aware that Google makes dubious use of our data. Why not switch to providers that better protect our privacy? Here's a list of 4 search engine alternatives!

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LIFE

The end of Facebook as you know it

Sven Krumrey

Facebook's no yet that abandoned

Many of the nearly 2 billion Facebook users may have recently wondered about the new posts they were shown. What before was a colorful blend of friends, general information and hobbies is now (almost exclusively) featuring friends and family. It all sounds nice and social and it cleverly hides how Facebook is slowly increasing the pressure on other site owners. The goal: to make more money! Read on to learn why others have to pay so that you won't get bored.

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LIFE

Welcome to the year 2008! - Windows 10 and data security

Sven Krumrey

They're always watching us

Just when you think you've seen everything - along comes Microsoft and amazes us. By now, it's common knowledge that Windows 10 likes to "phone home", but it's still worth taking a closer look at just how much (or how little) Redmond values data security. Think of it this way, if data security was a limbo pole, Microsoft has just made sure you'll bump your head. We've just gotten new details on how much data is sent by Windows 10 along with the conclusion that we've gone back in time to the year 2008.

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