APC - October 2017
APC - October 2017
Oct 2017
Issue 446
THE PRO'S GUIDE
TO WINDOWS 10
ADVANCED KNOW-HOW MADE
EASY: MASTER WINDOWS 10
WITH THE APC TEAM'S BEST
YOUR EXPERT GUIDE TO TODAY’S TECH
HAVE
PRO TIPS & TRICKS
SECURITY
SPECIAL
YOU BEEN
HACKED?
GET THE EXPERT GUIDE TO SECURING YOUR DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM:
WINDOWS, MAC, ANDROID, ONLINE & MUCH MORE
PLUS, PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY: LOCK DOWN FACEBOOK • GHOST GOOGLE • STOP WINDOWS 10 SPYING
100x
VPN
Application Example:
(A Vigor2952P supports 4 departments with router and PoE functions)
WAN2
Internet
WAN1
USB1
3G/4G LTE USB Mobile
Data
POE POE POE
Smart Switch
Admin Dept. Sales Dept. Support Dept. Warehouse IP Cam 1 AP ( Guest Wi-Fi ) IP Cam 2
Front Door
‧1 x Gigabit Ethernet/SFP combo WAN port ‧Object-oriented Firewall with Content Security
‧1 x Gigabit Ethernet WAN port Management (CSM)
‧Multi-WAN Load Balancing & Failover ‧IPv6 & IPv4
‧4 x Gigabit PoE Ethernet LAN ports with 60,000 ‧Comprehensive QoS features
NAT sessions ‧Multi subnet WAN/LAN through 802.1Q
‧Complies with 802.3at Power over Ethernet Plus ‧1 x USB port (USB2.0) support file sharing,
‧Supports PoE power up to 30 watts for each port external storage, network printer or thermometer
‧Total PoE power budget up to 60 watts ‧Central AP Management (up to 30 Access Points)
‧1 x USB port (USB3.0) support 3G/4G LTE mobile ‧Central Switch Management (up to 10 Switches)
broadband access ‧Smart Monitor Traffic Analyzer (up to 100 nodes)
‧100 x VPN and 50 x SSL-VPN tunnels with ‧Works with VigorACS SI management system
Central VPN Management, VPN Load Balance and ‧High Availability Mode
Redundancy
114 www.apcmag.com
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EDITORIAL
Editor-in-Chief Dan Gardiner
Chief Sub-Editor / Journalist Carmel Sealey
Senior Journalist Paul Taylor
Senior Journalist Shaun Prescott
Journalist Joel Burgess
Journalist Stephen Lambrechts
Journalist Sharmishta Sarkar
Journalist Harry Domanski
ART/PRODUCTION
Creative Director Troy Coleman
Senior Designer Nykke Coleman
Designer Sharnee Swinnerton
CONTRIBUTORS
JR Bookwalter, Josh Collins, Alex Cox, Jack Davenport,
Alan Dexter, Cat Ellis, Lindsay Handmer, Kenny Hemphill,
Phil Iwaniuk, Luke Kemp, Jeremy Laird, Rob Mead-Green, Even tech-
Bo Moore, Howard Oakley, Nick Peers, Phil Savage, magazine editors
Chris Schilling, Mayank Sharma, Shashank Sharma,
Dave Stevenson, Zak Storey, Nathan Taylor, aren’t immune to
Alexander Tolstoy, Roland Waddilove, Jarred Walton, having their online
Mark Wycislik-Wilson, Darren Yates accounts hacked.
SENIOR MANAGEMENT
Managing Director APAC Neville Daniels
COMMERCIAL
Sales Director Paul Marttila
[email protected]
How to avoid getting hacked
ABOUT THE MAGAZINE APC’s editor reveals his top tips for
APC is published by Future Publishing Australia.
P
Printed by Bluestar rotecting yourself in a password or an email address to
All contents copyright Future Publishing (Overseas) Ltd,
trading as Future Publishing Australia copyright 2013. All today’s digital world is see if either of them can be found on
rights reserved. While all care is taken to ensure information as much about knowing publicly-available lists of exposed
is correct, please check prices and specifications before
purchase. what not to do as it is about user databases. We’d suggest just
having your devices and apps entering your email address, rather
PRIVACY STATEMENT than any passwords. You might be
This issue of APC published by Future Publishing Australia
updated and patched. But changing
may contain offers, competitions or surveys which require behaviour is more difficult than surprised by the results — two of my
you to provide information about yourself if you choose to just installing a security suite accounts are on there, and (not to
enter them or take part in them (Reader Offer). If you provide
information about yourself to Future Publishing Australia, on your PC. And sadly, cybercrime blow my own whistle), you know,
Future Publishing Australia will use this information to isn’t going anywhere — we’ve seen if the editor of APC can get
provide you with products or services you have requested,
and may supply your information to contractors to enable steady increases in criminal inadvertently hacked, anyone can.
Future Publishing Australia to do this. Future Publishing activity in the digital world every Online services and sites being
Australia will also use your information to inform you of other year since the early ‘90s. hacked is the key reason as to why
Future Publishing Australia publications, products, services
and events. Future Publishing Australia may also give your So what should you do? Well, that’s you shouldn’t ever re-use the same
information to organisations that are providing special prizes what this month’s cover story is for password. If just one of those
or offers and are clearly associated with the Reader Offer.
Unless you tell us not to, Future Publishing Australia may — and it’ll teach you how to lock companies’ user databases is hacked
give your information to other organisations that may use down almost all your devices and and you’ve been using the same
it to inform you of other products, services or events to give
to other organisations that may use it for this purpose. If you services to ensure both your security password elsewhere, then you could
would like to gain access to the information Future Publishing and privacy... well, as much as is find that cybercriminals have
Australia holds about you please contact Future Publishing possible in today’s age when even taken over not just that account,
Australia’s Privacy Officer.
government security agencies are but a whole bunch of others, too.
the subject of major hacks. But even My last bit of advice, then, is to use
though there’s no such thing as being a password manager — I’m a fan of
bulletproof in the age of the cloud, LastPass, which went free back in
you can be nearly so. 2015, so there’s really no reason not
Beyond securing your own gear, to use it. And you can find a quick
though, there are threats you can’t guide to getting started with it on
easily protect against — all the pages 52–53 of this issue.
online services we’re constantly
ABOUT FUTURE
Future Publishing Australia is part of Future plc. Future signing up for can also be at risk.
produces carefully targeted special-interest magazines, There’s not much you can do to
websites, and events for people who share a passion.
We aim to satisfy that passion by creating titles offering actively shield yourself against
value for money, reliable information, smart buying
advice, and which are a pleasure to read or visit. Today third-parties getting hacked,
we publish more than 180 magazines, websites and
events, with over 100 international editions of our but you can check to see if any of the
magazines published under license in 30 countries
around the world. Future plc is a public company
services you’ve signed up to have DAN GARDINER
quoted on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: FUTR) been compromised. Head to the EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Chairman of the Board Peter Allen excellent haveibeenpwned.com dan.gardiner@
Chief Executive Officer Zillah Byng-Thorne
and you can choose to enter either futurenet.com
www.apcmag.com 3
Contents
Issue 446 October 2017
46
HAVE
YOU BEEN
HACKED?
GET THE EXPERT GUIDE TO SECURING YOUR DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM:
WINDOWS, MAC, ANDROID, ONLINE & MUCH MORE
PLUS, PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY: LOCK DOWN FACEBOOK • GHOST GOOGLE • STOP WINDOWS 10 SPYING
» features » technotess
18 HEAD TO HEAD: 08 NEWS
MINI-ITX vs ATX The latest developments
What are the benefits of Mini-ITX and ATX in the tech world
form factors and which should you use
for your next build? 10 NUMBER CRUNCH
The numbers behind the big tech news
40 AMD TEARS UP THE
HIGH-END CPU RULEBOOK 11 TECH BRIEF
18 After years of Intel dominance, AMD is
Taking your hands off the wheel
back with a true top-end multi-threaded
12 GADGETS
> HEAD TO HEAD < beast in the form of Ryzen Threadripper. Hot tech gear we want to own
MINI-ITX
We dive deep into the nuances of
AMD’s latest Zen-based CPUs. 14 HOW IT’S DONE
vs ATX
46 HAVE YOU BEEN HACKED? Microsoft Surface Laptop
Get the expert guide to securing your
digital ecosystem. 16 EPINIONS
See what APC’s readers are
ALAN DEXTER PITS TWO COMPETING talking about
TECHS IN A HEAD-TO-HEAD 72 OPTIMISE THE WAY
YOU USE WINDOWS
BATTLE TO DECIDE WHICH 17 END USER
Rethink how you use Windows 10 Tech not as green as it seem
ONE IS SUPERIOR. so you can speed things up.
4 www.apcmag.com
“Do you need one? Probably not, but people don’t
strictly need fidget spinners, yet here we are.”
ASUS RoG Strix Magnus, page 31
» the lab
20 LATEST REVIEWS
20 AMD Radeon RX
Vega 56 & 64
23 AMD Ryzen 3 1300X
24 Lenovo Miix 510
25 HP Omen 17-an053tx
26 MSI GE73VR Raider
28 Origin EON17-SLX
29 ViewSonic XG2530
30 Samsung T5 Portable SSD
30 Seagate IronWolf Pro
31 Belkin USB-C dock
31 ASUS RoG Strix Magnus 32 LOGITECH POWERPLAY 34 ASUS CERBERUS MECH RGB KEYBOARD
32 Logitech Powerplay
32 Logitech G903
33 Logitech G703
34 ASUS Cerberus Mechanical
» how to
RGB Keyboard 92 MASTERCLASSES
34 Roccat Khan Pro 92 Build a liquid-cooled Ryzen
gaming rig
35 SOFTWARE REVIEWS 96 Turn your Raspberry Pi into a
35 Windows stop-motion video studio
36 Apple macOS 100 Quad-core Android computers
37 iPhone & iPad for under $35
38 Android 104 Building the voice-controlled
39 Linux wireless LED light
106 Code Android Bluetooth and
www.apcmag.com 5
exclusivesoftware
» HOW TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE FULL-VERSION PROGRAMS
ISSUE 446,OCTOBER 2017
Please note that these exclusive APC & TechLife magazine downloads
will only be available for a limited time, from 14/09/2017 to 01/11/2017.
EXCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVE
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FULL FULL
VERSION VERSION
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$30 $15
DISCLAIMER Future Publishing is not the licensor of the exclusive software or any documentation included with it. Rather, Future is merely a distributor of the software, and your use of the software is subject to any accompanying third-party licence terms. You must
carefully read and comply with any such third-party licence terms, together with all instructions and README files that come with the software. Accordingly, to the maximum extent permitted by law, all software is provided by Future ‘as is’ and without warranty
either express or implied, and Future will not be liable for any damage that you may incur as a result of using any software downloads. You should back up any important system and data files before using any downloaded software. We recommend that you do not
use the exclusive software on a production machine. Nothing in this disclaimer excludes any warranty that may be implied by statute, which may include the Trade Practices Act. While we have taken all reasonable steps to check the software downloads for viruses,
we cannot guarantee that it is free from viruses or other harmful code and you should check each download using a virus scanner complete with the latest antivirus updates before use.
6 www.apcmag.com
technotes
» INSIDE APC
Inside APC
Find out all about APC’s editorial policies, test practices,
how to read the benchmark results and more.
APC is Australia’s oldest consumer INDEPENDENT REVIEWS LABS TESTING
technology magazine — having been Championing technology doesn’t mean Despite being a small magazine with
consistently in print for over 35 years, we’re unrelenting yes-men, however, limited resources, APC still still strives
since our first issue way back in May and APC aims to be as objective as to conduct the most rigorous, objective
1980 — and we take that heritage and possible in all our coverage. That means scientific tests and benchmarks we can
responsibility very seriously. While our identifying the best products from so as to make our reviews as unbiased
focus is obviously on the personal multiple perspectives — the best as possible. We use a variety of tools
computer — it’s in our name, after all performance, best value and best and programs for this, including many
— the very definition of the PC has features and, ideally, the products that freely available benchmark suites
changed and shifted markedly since offer the best mix of these three. for assessing media encoding, general
the early 1980s. As such, we touch on As a matter of policy, reviews system performance, gaming and
many other areas of tech too, from published in APC are not shared with battery life.
smartphones and apps to peripherals, product-makers prior to print. We will In most cases, for the benchmark
accessories, online services and beyond. contact vendors under certain results published in APC, you can
We have two main goals: to track down conditions; for example, if we have a assume that higher is better. There are
the best of modern tech and also to help problem testing a product that seems certain tests that deviate from this
our readers make the most of it. to indicate it may be faulty, or to invite rule and where the opposite is true; in
We’re also an open church in terms of a vendor to clarify how a particular those cases, we’ve flagged the results
platforms. We know most people aren’t feature works. If an APC reviewer has with a note explaining as such.
wed to a single brand’s products and any potential conflicts of interest We use both tables and graphs for
use a variety of devices. And like you, involving a brand, the review will displaying results; the latter are our
APC’s journalists want to know what’s always be assigned to another writer. preference due to their ease-of-
good in tech — no matter what platform readability, but tables are more
it resides on. compact, so we use these in cases
where thoroughness is preferred.
www.apcmag.com 7
technotes
» NEED TO KNOW
Inventor of ‘strong
passwords’ regrets the
advice he first gave
UNIVERSAL PASSWORD, THEN?
The guy who first advised us to come
up with strong passwords made up
of a complicated combination of
letters and weird characters now
says he was wrong, 14 years after
the fact. Turns out, it’s best to have
long phrases one would remember
as passwords, as most people make
predictable changes like swapping
numbers for letters or just changing
a single number, which most hackers
would be able to guess. SS
Not achieving
advertised NBN
speeds? You could
get a refund! Tech companies aggressively
OPTUS FOLLOWS TELSTRA
IN REFUNDING NBN
crack down on hate speech
CUSTOMERS OVER
UNATTAINABLE SPEEDS. Dropping white supremacists like flies.
S
In May, Telstra announced that it
had identified customers on the ome might thing the President of the United States was too soft on the
FttN connection who were unable supporters of the ‘Unite the Right’ rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia,
to achieve advertised speeds recently, but American tech companies aren’t sitting quiet. Big corporations
on their NBN connections and have taken a stance and banned white supremacists and hate groups, or
promised them a refund. Optus has even people suspected to be supporters, from their services or platforms.
now followed suit and says it will Web hosting companies like GoDaddy and Squarespace immediately began
reimburse, in part, the cost of the dropping domain registrations for alt-right websites like The Daily Stormer, while
internet package to customers the Facebook removed the event page for the Unite the Right rally, followed by other
telco can’t deliver high speeds to pages owned by various other hate groups. Uber and Airbnb have banned white
because of the type of connection. supremacist users, Spotify’s removed “hate music” from its streaming service and
Optus has not revealed how many WordPress took down white supremacist blogs. Apple Pay and PayPal also banned
customers were affected, but said the sites selling white supremacist merchandise. Even dating site OKCupid had its say
review process was nationwide. SS by banning a known white supremacist from its platform.
This move has been regarded as controversial, with American free speech
Security researcher proponents claiming it’s a violation of the country’s First Amendment, curbing
who stopped everyone’s right to the freedom of speech. Sharmishta Sarkar
WannaCry accused
of writing banking Scammers posing as NBN reps aiming to steal
malware Aussie identites
‘HERO’ ARRESTED IN US,
RELEASED ON US$30,000 BOND. CONSUMERS CONNED OUT OF $28,000 IN EIGHT MONTHS.
Marcus Hutchins is better known Fraudsters pretending to be NBN staff are cold-calling homes to sign unsuspecting
as the man responsible for consumers up for fake broadband accounts for cheap prices, then asking for sensitive
helping stop the world’s biggest personal information, like names, dates of birth and Medicare numbers, which can be
ransomware attack, WannaCry — used to access bank accounts and super funds. The Australian consumer watchdog,
or at least he was until he got ACCC, and government organisation Scamwatch have seen a rise in complaints
arrested on an unrelated charge of from the public — 316 since January this year — with over $28,000 scammed from
conspiring to create malware that unsuspecting people in the last eight months.
steals banking details. The 23-year- The scammers seem to be targeting retirees and over-65s for the most part, with one
old British security researcher has of the most common cons being payment for the fake accounts to be made in iTunes
yet to be released on a US$30,000 gift cards. Another scam involves gaining access to “computers used in a hacking
bond (at the time of writing), after incident”, with fraudsters then installing malicious software, stealing personal
pleading guilty to playing a part information, then demanding payment for the so-called service. ACCC Deputy Chair
in the malware’s development, Delia Rickard is warning Australians, especially the over-65s, that NBN Co is a wholesaler
sale and distribution. HD and would never contact consumers directly. “If you get an unsolicited call like this,
it’s a big red flag that you’re dealing with a scammer,” she said. Sharmishta Sarkar
8 www.apcmag.com
Microsoft Surface
products lose
endorsement from
major US consumer-
rights organisation
STILL RECKONS ITS TABLETS,
2-IN-1S & LAPTOPS ARE FINE.
Although Microsoft’s line of Surface
laptops and tablets had previously
been given the blessings of US
consumer-rights organisation
Consumer Reports, the nonprofit
has retracted its “recommended”
label from certain Surface products
due to apparent reliability issues
after two years of use. Microsoft has
said that it “stands firmly behind
the quality and reliability of the Foxtel adds another 128
torrent and streaming
Surface family”, despite reports of
unexpected freezing, shutdowns,
and unresponsive touch screens. HD
A
US-based social analytics company
NetBase has conducted its third Top fter having successfully lobbied to have all major Australian
100 Global Brand Love List, and this ISPs block access to selected piracy sites back in December 2016
year, lil’ ol’ Facebook has apparently (specifically The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, TorrentHound, IsoHunt
taken home the crown. The survey and SolarMovie), Foxtel and other local movie and TV
used NetBase’s patented algorithms rightsholders have been adding dozens of additional sites to their list
on data obtained by looking at of claimed infringers.
“brand conversations across the But as of August, the pay TV company has taken aim at an even bigger swathe
social web” for a little over a year, of sites, targeting another 128 domains it says are linked to piracy. Some of the
and it that found Zuckerberg’s sites in the crosshairs include Putlocker, Watch TV Series, 1337x, CartoonHD,
social giant was closely followed YesMovies, Watch Episodes and many more, including secondary mirrors
by Amazon, eBay, Apple and Snap and proxies of those key sites.
in the amount of directional love The timing of this most recent court hearing lines up quite neatly with
they received. We’re sure marketing Foxtel’s airing of the latest season of Game of Thrones, a show the presiding
teams everywhere threw wild parties judge Justice Burley confesses to be a fan of.
to celebrate. HD A good portion of the targeted domains are streaming sites, rather than
the more traditional torrent aggregators. Justice Burley has described the
Hackers at DEF CON somewhat futile attempts at blocking these sites along with their affiliated
break into US voting domains as something like “whack-a-mole”. Harry Domanski
system computers
in minutes
HACKERS FIND Elon Musk and army of AI experts again call
UNENCRYPTED PERSONAL
INFORMATION.
for autonomous-weaponry ban
HOPES TO PREVENT ROBOTS FROM PULLING TRIGGERS WITHOUT
As part of the DEF CON cybersecurity HUMAN SUPERVISION.
conference recently held in Las
Vegas, organisers acquired 30 voting Two years ago, Elon Musk — along with over 1,000 AI experts and tech-company
machines (currently used throughout executives — signed an open letter to the UN pleading for the ban of “offensive
the US electoral system) for its autonomous weapons”. Among those names were professor Stephen Hawking, Google
attendees to attempt to hack — DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. In August, Musk
every one of them was, and fast. renewed his appeal, and has roped in more tech bigwigs, including Mustafa Suleyman (of
The exercise was intended to Alphabet, Google’s parent company) along with a multinational team of 116 specialists
demonstrate the need for tighter in order to reinvigorate the fight, with the group penning another open letter that hopes
voting machine security, a point to further the cause. The timing of the letter falls ahead of the UN’s formal discussions on
that was made with real conviction the issue, and comes from a team that represents “companies building the technologies
when one of the machines offered [...] that may be repurposed to develop autonomous weapons”. There are a number of
up the personal information and high-profile figures and specialists in the field on both sides of the AI debate, and several
voting preferences of over 650,000 have called out Musk on his alleged alarmism in the past. Notably, his feud with Mark
Americans. HD Zuckerberg garnered some attention and provoked responses from a few distinguished
experts who claimed that he was distorting the debate. Harry Domanski
www.apcmag.com 9
numbercrunch
» HARRY DOMANSKI LOOKS AT THE NUMBERS DRIVING THE BIG TECH NEWS
$2.3 million
AMOUNT OF MONEY RAKED-IN
IN A SCAM BY AN AUSTRALIAN DOMAIN
REGISTRAR COMPANY
1.3x
HOW MUCH MORE VALUABLE GOOGLE
IS COMPARED TO FACEBOOK
(BUT THE GAP IS CLOSING)
91%
HOW MANY IT-SECURITY PROFESSIONALS
THINK GOVERNMENT-MANDATED
BACKDOORS WOULD BE EXPLOITED
US$6 billion
AMOUNT OF VALUE AMAZON’S SHARES
LOST AFTER A SINGLE TWEET FROM
DONALD TRUMP
10 www.apcmag.com
techbrief
» CARMEL SEALEY WADES INTO A CURRENT NEWS TOPIC TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK
F
out is whether or not being in an
or your humble writer, the concept of autonomous vehicles was — autonomous vehicle means you
for a long time — nothing more than an image of Kryten from Red Dwarf no longer have to know how to
engaging autopilot in the Starbug, only to then hear AI Holly drive it yourself. Imagine being able
complaining about how there’s no such thing and that it’s actually her to hire a truck without needing a
doing all the work. Far from being a thing of the distant future, however, fully truck licence, for example. While
legal driverless cars could be here as soon as 2021, according to Tesla CEO manufacturers still require there to
(and world saviour) Elon Musk. With data suggesting that approximately 94% be a human backup driver present
of road accidents occur due to human error, the prospect of handing the reins (just in case), will a mere basic
over to a more capable — and statistically safer — AI driver is very tempting to understanding of where the brake
many. But before we reach that 2021 milestone, there are a few things that first pedal is be all that is required to
need to be established and/or ironed out, including the reliability of the tech, ‘drive’ in future?
the laws surrounding its use and determining how the AI should react in
accident situations — for instance, deciding between the lives of nearby Driverless cars: opening
pedestrians and the passengers in the car. Whatever the timeline, however, doors to the young and
autonomous vehicles are definitely en route. disabled
Just as non-licence holders could
NSW and Victoria to host Researcher disguises potentially still get behind the
driverless vehicle trials himself as a car seat wheel, the future of autonomous
to test new interaction vehicles also provides immeasurable
Many countries around the world method opportunities for others. Very soon,
have already commenced testing of unsupervised minors, the disabled,
autonomous vehicles, and Australia has That’s not something you read everyday, those who suffer illnesses or
joined the list with the cooperation of but all in the name of science, right? This conditions that prevent them from
Tesla, BMW, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz. US researcher was spotted testing out an being allowed to drive, and even
While South Australia already participated “external communication” method, namely the blind could enjoy the benefits
in trials in 2015, these new tests will be a band of lights on the windscreen, which of getting from A to B in their own
conducted amongst regular traffic users, is being trialled as a potential replacement car without having to rely on others
with a two-year trial set to take place at for the cues pedestrians and other — not to mention allowing you
Sydney Olympic Park, where a small shuttle motorists receive from having a person to get home after a long night out
service capped to a sedate 10km/h will in the driver’s seat (for example, hand down the pub!
follow a pre-programmed track. gestures for ‘After you’ or ‘Thank you’).
www.apcmag.com 11
gadgets» GEAR WE WANT
ALL CONTROLLER
The one controller to rule all your devices.
CA$65 | WWW.ALL-CONTROLLER.COM
If you like to game on more than one type of device,
you’re likely to have discovered that you need a whole
slew of game controllers to support them. The ALL
hopes to change that by offering compatibility for iOS,
Android, Windows, Mac, Linux, Apple TV, Android TV,
PS3 & 4, Xbox 360 & One, retro systems and Nintendo’s
Wii, Wii U and Switch consoles — in other words, this
ambitious Kickstarter project is promising a lot.
Adding even more appeal, the ALL Controller has fully
customisable button mapping and sensitivity controls,
a built-in smartphone cradle for gaming on the go
and even the ability to connect to drones. JB
AVIONICS V1 EBIKE
This low rider can really fly.
$TBC | WWW.AVIONICS.BIKE
Looking like a steampunk pastiche of
modern minimalism and industrial
craftsmanship, this aerodynamic electric
bicycle can push you along at speeds up to
58km/h, no matter how heavily laden with
style it is. The slick V1 electric bike will be
the first crowdfunding campaign from the
Poland-based startup Avionics, so there’s
always the risk that the appeal of this
wood-trimmed electric bike will only be
skin deep. But if the 120km range, ‘brake
energy recuperation’ tech and 203mm rear
disc brakes make it onto the finished
product like Avionics is claiming, then the
V1 could be as cool as the Batpod. JB
12 www.apcmag.com
TAMSGGO 360LIVECAM
Enjoy your most memorable moments.
£332.50 | TAMAGGO.COM
Yes, it looks like a big metallic egg, but you’ll
find no yolks here, only a palm-sized
Bluetooth-connected camera designed to
shoot 360° stills and videos of your life —
from travel adventures and life events,
to parties, gigs and gatherings — ready to
be shared with the world. It’s easy to use,
with an integrated 1.5-inch LCD touchscreen,
so you can start shooting, then reviewing
your footage instantly. Alternatively, you can
control the camera remotely using the iOS
and Android-friendly app. Plus, invest in a
pair of Homido VR goggles from the Tamaggo
online store, slide your smartphone inside
and relive your memories over and over
in complete immersion!
ASUS ZENFONE AR
Interact with virtual objects with this new phone!
£799.99 (AU PRICING & AVAILABILITY TBC) | ASUS.COM
The ZenFone AR is the first smartphone certified for Google
Tango (AR) and Daydream (VR), so if you want to experience
mobile VR/AR, this is your way in — although, you’ll have to pay
a premium. Google Tango and Daydream platforms come fully
supported on the ZenFone AR, but to enjoy the full experience,
you’ll need a Google Daydream View headset. The biggest AR/
VR-focused innovation on this phone is the Super AMOLED
screen designed with an ultra-low-persistence mode to stop
the impression of motion blur. That, and the Tri-Cam System
fitted at the back. Yes, three: there’s a 23MP main rear camera,
flanked by a motion-tracking one and a depth-sensing cam, too.
Away from AR/VR needs, there’s an 8MP camera at the front,
with optical image stabilisation for good low-light photo quality,
plus a range of modes including Super Resolution, which merges
several exposures to create a 92MP image.
www.apcmag.com 13
howit’sdone
Surface
doesn’t let go easily. comes away without a fight.
Laptop
Going under the hood of
Microsoft’s first laptop.
T
eardown is the word of the going gets a lot tougher south of keyboard out, we begin the search
day, and we’re diving into the keyboard. We have to pull out for the trackpad, and find it
Microsoft’s new Surface the knife now, to cut off the rest of trapped under tape and a metal
Laptop right now. Will this the pelt. Layered underneath, we shield, but it’s nothing we haven’t
carpeted Alcantara-clad laptop excel find a metal shield — the meat in handled before.
in our teardown room? The power our Surface sandwich. ≠≠ We look for a battery connector to
is in our hands. ≠≠ With more adhesive and plastic dispatch, but it’s nowhere to be
bits holding the shield from seen. Looks like we’re doing this
MAJOR TECH SPECS: beneath, we fire up the iOpener. live! The Surface Laptop packs a
≠≠ 13.5-inch IPS PixelSense display, Now we have a clear look at the 45.2Wh battery, roughly the same
2,256 x 1,504 resolution (201ppi) plastic, it seems these aren’t capacity as the latest Surface Pro
≠≠ Intel Kaby Lake Core i5 (3M Cache, reusable clips at all, but weak (45Wh), and more than the iPad Pro
up to 3.1GHz) or Core i7 (4M Cache, ultrasonic spot welds that we’ve 10.5-inch (31Wh) and latest
4.0GHz) CPU been busting through. This is MacBook Retina 41Wh).
≠≠ 4GB, 8GB or 16GB RAM definitely not going back together ≠≠ Also visible is a secondary heat
≠≠ 128GB, 256GB or 512GB PCIe ≠ without a roll of duct tape. pipe, helping dissipate heat from
SSD storage ≠≠ With the keyboard plate finally both sides of the motherboard. ≠
≠≠ 720p front-facing camera with wrested free, we’re at least pleased The modular headphone jack is
Windows Hello sign-in to see the long cable connecting it free to go, contacts and all. ≠
≠≠ USB 3.0, Mini DisplayPort and to the body. However, our pleasure No Surface product is complete
SurfaceConnect charging port is short-lived: The connector is without a hinge, but these feel ≠
≠≠ 802.11ac Wi-Fi, IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n trapped under a clip-on shield on a little pedestrian. With that, ≠
compatible, Bluetooth 4.0 the motherboard. With the the display is unhinged.
≠≠ Repairability Score: 0 out of 10 ≠
KEY FINDINGS: (10 is the easiest to repair). ≠
≠≠ We take a peek under the suspicious You can’t get inside without
rubber footpads on the bottom of About iFixit inflicting a lot of damage. The CPU,
the laptop, but find metal feet RAM and onboard storage are
iFixit is a global community of
instead of the screws we were soldered to the motherboard,
tinkerers dedicated to helping
hoping for. Looks like we have to making upgrades a no-go. ≠
people fix things through free online
peel up that (dubiously luxurious) The headphone jack can only be
repair manuals and teardowns.
Alcantara after all. Jimmy in hand, accessed by removing the heat
iFixit believes that everyone has
we start popping clips and peeling sink, fan, display, and mobo. The
the right to maintain and repair their
adhesive. Already, this doesn’t feel battery is difficult and dangerous
own products. To learn more, visit:
like it’ll go back together. We try to to replace, giving the device ≠
www.ifixit.com
remove the fabric cover, but the a limited lifespan.
14 www.apcmag.com
114 www.apcmag.com
epinions
16 www.apcmag.com
enduser
» SHAUN PRESCOTT DIGS INTO THE BIG TECH ISSUES AFFECTING CONSUMERS
O
ne of the most insidious tricks As electronics is such a rapidly easier, and providing better availability
in the corporate PR book is evolving industry, these standards tend of service documentation. It also
the appearance of being to lag behind what would be required to advocates for more modular design,
environmentally friendly, make any meaningful difference to the presumably so that components can be
because although well-meaning sustainability of manufacturing. used across various types of model.
consumer habits can’t possibly help According to the report, where one facet But typically — although
neutralise the climate havoc wreaked of a phone might move in a sustainable manufacturers and corporations like
by politcal foot-dragging, we’d like to direction (such as the energy efficiency to tout their green credentials —
think it can! So, naturally, companies of a battery), it’ll often be cancelled out the industry as a whole isn’t doing
like to tout their green friendliness. by using more difficult-to-recycle much to change the status quo.
But according to a report by the Repair materials. As anyone who’s ever tried to “With manufacturers standing in the
Association — an organisation that keep up with the smartphone industry way, it takes years to pass even weak
roots for the dialing back of planned can no doubt attest, these devices aren’t standards,” the report’s rather dire
obsolescence, among other things — exactly built to last, either. conclusion reads. “There is little room
many tech giants are all talk and “Unfortunately, manufacturers have for negotiation and scant opportunity
no(t enough) action. consistently opposed stronger reuse for progress. It’s time for oversight
And it’s planned obsolescence and and repair criteria. And though groups or regulatory bodies to step in
repairs where most companies seem to manufacturers often claim they design and re-craft the development process.
be lax. It doesn’t help that, as the report for durability, no durability criteria is No single group should be able to control
observes, many manufacturers actually included in US electronics standards. voting and water down the standards.”
hold positions on green electronics As a result, green standards have The Repair Association doesn’t name
standards boards — leading to a lot of systemically failed to incorporate any companies in its report, but neither
fairly self-interested standard-setting. strong policies that would enable repair, does it pull any punches in its closing
According to Repair executive director reuse, and product life extension for gambit: “[standards boards] have
Gay Gordon-Byrne, this has actually electronics.” become a complicated way for
lead to these ‘standards’ working in the The report advocates for better manufacturers to greenwash products
favour of manufacturers via “warping lifespans for electronics, ideally that have a devastating environmental
them into a tool that drives sales at the through removing any resistance to impact and pat themselves on the back
expense of the environment.” repairs, designing goods to disassemble for [doing] business as usual”.
END USER
www.apcmag.com 17
technotes » mini-itx vs atx
Head to head:
Mini-ITX vs ATX
In this regular monthly feature,
Alan Dexter pits two competing
techs in a head-to-head battle
to decide which one is superior.
O
ne of the attractions of PCs is that they come in
all shapes and sizes, and you can build whatever
system you want. Some love a full ATX system,
“When it comes to raw
while others only ever consider a compact
Mini-ITX build. While there have been plenty of form performance, there’s pretty
factors over the years, there are four common ones
these days: ATX, Mini-ITX, microATX and Extended ATX much nothing you can do in a
(something of a niche). Of these, the battle generally comes
down to a choice between ATX and Mini-ITX, but what are larger case that you can’t do in a
their benefits? Which should you use for your next build?
Allow us to help. well-designed compact chassis.”
Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
PERFORMANCE EXPANSION COMPACTNESS
The general perception for a long time What do you really need in your PC? Your choice of motherboard doesn’t
was that, if you wanted serious Once you’ve got your motherboard, necessarily have to dictate your
performance, you needed a full-sized CPU, memory, graphics card, PSU chassis. If you want to slot a microATX
motherboard and a sizeable full-tower and storage in place; what other motherboard into a full ATX case, you
case to put it in. Because, you know, components do you actually need to can. It’s the same story for Mini-ITX
size matters. An obvious win for the make it do what you want? The days of motherboards as well, because the four
bigger formats, then? Not quite. needing soundcards, network interface mounting screws are compatible with
The thing is, the world has changed, cards, SCSI boards and various other all modern cases (older cases may not
and as more and more silicon is goodies are thankfully long behind us, be compatible, though, so that’s worth
squeezed into the CPU packaging itself, and while there may be specific bearing in mind). Obviously, you can’t
you’re losing out less when it comes instances when you need to reach ease an ATX motherboard into a case
to dropping down from an ATX to a for such hardware, your motherboard designed for Mini-ITX, unless it
Mini-ITX or microATX form factor. does it all. happens to be a TARDIS, but generally,
In fact, when it comes to the core The reason we’re talking about you have plenty of options for how you
functionality, about the only thing you expansion is because it’s the main marry up case and motherboard.
can lose is support for SLI, because differentiator between the form The point is: You can still build a
Mini-ITX only boasts a single PCIe slot. factors. ATX can, in theory, squeeze huge system even if you decide to go
That consideration aside, most up to seven expansion slots into its down the Mini-ITX route, but with the
Mini-ITX motherboards boast feature 12 x 9.6-inch space (realistically, E-ATX advantage that you can actually build
sets that are comparable to their ATX is a better option if you need all seven), a much smaller machine, should that
siblings, and when it comes to raw while the 6.7 x 6.7-inch Mini-ITX be a requirement.
performance, there’s pretty much boasts a single slot; microATX offers And space can often be a defining
nothing you can do in a larger case that a maximum of four, with SLI/CrossFire factor for new builds, particularly
you can’t do in a well-designed compact a possibility. if you want the final machine to sit on
chassis. Planning on water-cooling Storage is another consideration: the top of your desk, rather than be
your CPU? Plenty of the cases we look Mini-ITX boards tend to have fewer hidden underneath it. A compact build,
at in these pages support 240mm SATA ports, often as few as four, with a dash of water cooling, can make
radiators, and we always consider them while ATX can easily hit 10. Obviously, for a beautiful thing — an important
in that light, so you’ll be able to smaller cases don’t have room for so factor for more and more of us
overclock your CPUs just as much many drives, either. So, ultimately, nowadays. Which means that, if space
as you can in a larger case. we have to give this one to the bigger is a factor, then it’s hard to go too
form factor, although whether you wrong with Mini-ITX.
actually need so much room is another
matter.
18 www.apcmag.com
ASRock’s X99 E-ITX/AC
Mini-ITX mobo compares
well to the ATX Z97
Extreme6, also from ASRock.
www.apcmag.com 19
thelab
» LATEST REVIEWS
GRAPHICS CARDS
VEGA 56, $600; VEGA 64, $800 | WWW.AMD.COM
AMD Radeon
RX Vega 56 & 64
It’s been a long time coming, so is AMD’s new Vega graphics tech
ahead of its time, or just late to the party? Jarred Walton finds out.
L
et’s be frank: the four stacks of HBM1 in unit has also been improved, tasks (like cryptocurrency
Vega 56 and 64 are last-gen’s Fiji, but with just with native support for mining) can do very well on
what we wanted to two stacks, the silicon packed FP16 operations, AMD architectures. But the
see last year, right interposer doesn’t need to which should prove very power requirements of AMD
around the time AMD was be as large, and HBM2 useful for machine learning GPUs have traditionally
busy launching Polaris for densities have allowed AMD applications. AMD has been higher than the Nvidia
the mainstream market. to double the amount of improved the pixel engine, equivalents, and that
But Vega wasn’t even close memory. But AMD isn’t just too, with a new Draw Stream remains true with Vega.
to being ready. So why did it calling this HBM or VRAM; Binning Rasterizer that
take so long for AMD to get it’s now a High-Bandwidth helps cull pixels that aren’t TAKING ON
a high-end replacement for Cache (HBC) and there’s also visible in the final scene. NVIDIA’S BEST?
Fiji and the R9 Fury X out a new High-Bandwidth We didn’t get the liquid- Many in the gaming world
the door? AMD has talked Cache Controller (HBCC). cooled Vega 64 for testing, were hoping Vega would be
about numerous The difference is important, but it should be up to 8% able to take down the
architectural updates that because the HBCC plays a faster than the air-cooled heavyweight champion,
have been made with Vega, much more prominent role version, based on boost the GTX 1080 Ti. In testing,
and in the professional in memory accesses. AMD clocks. If you look at the raw however, that didn’t happen,
world, some of these could calls this a “completely new numbers, Vega holds as the 1080 Ti remains out
be massively useful, but as memory hierarchy”. That’s promise — with higher of reach, though to be fair,
we’re APC, we’re at least probably a bit of hyperbole, theoretical computational it also remains in a higher
equally interested in how but the idea is to better performance and more priced bracket. Based on
these new cards stack up as enable the GPU to work with memory bandwidth than the cost alone, the direct
a gaming device. So does it? large data sets, which is GeForce GTX 1080 Ti — but competition for the Vega 64
becoming an increasingly AMD’s GCN architecture has is Nvidia’s GTX 1080, while
RX VEGA 64 difficult problem. traditionally trailed behind the Vega 56 is looking to
Let’s quickly talk specs. Vega also has a new Nvidia GPUs with similar take on the GTX 1070.
Vega includes 8GB of HBM2 geometry pipeline, with TFLOPS. DirectX 12 games, Vega 64 runs games fine —
memory in two stacks, over twice the throughput meanwhile, tend to track a more than fine, as it’s now
which deliver the same per clock as AMD’s previous bit closer to the theoretical the third-fastest consumer
512GB/s bandwidth as the architecture. The compute performance, and certain graphics card, and we’d
20 www.apcmag.com
1080P 1440P 2160P
(ULTRA DETAILS, (ULTRA DETAILS, (ULTRA DETAILS,
AVG FPS) AVG FPS) AVG FPS)
“Vega includes 8GB of HBM2 LABS GPU TEST RESULTS — 15 GAME AVERAGE
62.2
38
86.4
average, the GTX 1080 leads while gaming, the Vega 64 AMD RADEON R9
FURY X 54
by just under 10%. continues AMD’s trend,
34.2
The Vega 64 really feels using 478W at the outlet on
like a one-generation the test system compared to
upgrade, despite the fact 370W for the GTX 1080. 64.7
upgrades, which means the 1080 Ti, but is relatively NVIDIA GEFORCE
GTX 1060 (6GB) 45.7
upgrading every 2–3 years close to the 1080. The Vega
27.2
on graphics cards. Each 56 doesn’t aim quite as high
generation will typically or cost as much, so is it a
improve performance by better bet? While the power 57.2
30% or so, and that’s not draw is still a bit high on AMD RADEON RX
570 (4GB) 41.1
usually enough to warrant this slightly lower-end card
24.3
an upgrade for most gamers. (as we measured 400W
If you skip a generation, while playing games,
you potentially end up with compared to 314W for the 56.1
www.apcmag.com 21
thelab » latest reviews
22 www.apcmag.com
LABS BENCHMARK RESULTS
X265 BENCHMARK (FPS)
$175 | WWW.AMD.COM
R
yzen 3 is the latest So what does that $175 case; it’s a similar 2 + 2 War: Attila managing 36fps
and most net you? A quad-core chip configuration that we’re to the Core i5’s 40fps, and
affordable subset with a base clock of 3.5GHz, used to, just with some Far Cry Primal recording
of the AMD turboing up to 3.7GHz. of the cache turned off, 73fps to Intel’s 77fps.
Ryzen family. Coming in AMD’s XFR (eXtend and SMT disabled. Overall, it’s hard to argue
two different guises, Frequency Range) will see As for performance, against the Ryzen 3 1300X.
the Ryzen 3 1300X is the this boost up to 3.9GHz, there’s a lot to like from It’s a decent performer at a
faster offering, packing provided there is sufficient such an affordable little competitive price. Not a halo
support for XFR and a cooling. The Ryzen 3 1300X package, especially when chip, like Threadripper,
slightly faster clock speed has a TDP of 65W, and ships you consider that you’ll be but it should still find its
over the Ryzen 3 1200, and with AMD’s Wraith cooler, able to slot this into a way into plenty of systems,
it’s completely unlocked. which keeps the chip in bargainous B350 and rightly so.
It is also more expensive check quite comfortably motherboard and have a If you’re in the market
than the 1200, although and quietly. For our main decent base for around for a budget machine, this is
rolling in at $175, it’s still testing, we swapped to the $300. We’ll admit that it’s a strong starting point.
very much a budget NZXT X62 Kraken, which odd seeing only four little The only thing it doesn’t
offering. we use for all of our CPU boxes complete the offer the budget buyer is
The big news — when benchmarks. Cinebench test, especially as integrated graphics, so until
compared to Ryzen 5 and 7 There are no real we’ve quickly got used to AMD releases its Ryzen
— is that Ryzen 3 doesn’t surprises with the rest of seeing eight, 16 or even 32 of APUs, there’s life in Intel’s
offer SMT support. Which the specifications, with the them, but the score is still Core i3s and i5s yet.
means you get four cores same 384KB of L1 cache and solid enough. Single- Alan Dexter
to play with, but that’s it. 2MB of L2 cache that you’ll threaded performance is
No extra cleverness to make find on the other chips in the still off the pace of Intel’s,
the chip handle eight Ryzen family. Where it does but compared to a Core i3,
threads at once. Much like deviate is in the amount of this is a strong win for AMD. Verdict
an Intel Core i5, then, albeit L3 cache — matching the Games continue to favour Features
one that is closer in pricing 8MB of the Ryzen 5 1400, Intel’s chips, although the
to a Core i3. For this reason, as opposed to the 16MB difference isn’t as profound
Performance
we’ve compared it to the you’ll find in the other chips. as it was when Ryzen first
Value
Core i5-7600K in our Again, this may lead you to hit our test benches. Intel’s Great value for money, with a decent
benchmarks, although such think that the core slightly higher base clock cooler, four real cores and completely
unlocked.
a chip will set you back configuration is a single helps here as well. Even so,
about $319. Ryzen core complex, but as there are only a few frames
with the 1400, this isn’t the per second in it, with Total
www.apcmag.com 23
thelab » latest reviews
2-IN-1 TABLET
$1,475 | WWW.LENOVO.COM/AU
T
he market is flooded There’s an Intel Core i3 keyboard bounces rather rivals, lasting 4 hours and
with devices with variant of the Miix 510, too, angrily. 40 minutes during our
detachable which has half the amount Elsewhere, the bezels looped video test, 35
keyboards that of memory and storage. around the display seem minutes shorter than the
offer up Windows 10’s This version will be fine for wide, but they don’t make Surface Pro 4.
capabilities as a tablet and most basic tasks, but if the device look chunky. It’s great to see USB-C
desktop OS, including you’re looking at any kind of Quite the opposite, the included, but we’d have
Microsoft’s own Surface photo or video editing, we’d tablet looks sleek and preferred a USB-C charger
range. The Miix 510 is recommend the Core i5. professional. There’s a lot rather than the round-ended
equipped with a latest-gen The Miix 510 is well to like about the display — charger we get here. Lenovo
Kaby Lake version of the designed. That’s not to say viewing angles are hasn’t included a microSD
Intel Core i5 and a strong it’s a stunner, but it does excellent. What is a bit of a port, which is surprising but
central pairing of 8GB of look distinctive and those problem is the resolution, not a deal-breaker.
RAM and a 256GB SSD. hinges give it a certain... which sticks with Full HD, So despite a compelling
The Miix design language something. The detachable but it’s not a problem in use, spec sheet and generally
centres around two keyboard with optional unless you’re determined to likeable appearance, the
watchband-style hinges that backlight also doubles up as have best-in-class specs. Miix 510 remains hard to
give you more control and a protective faux leather There’s plenty of recommend. But if price is
flexibility than the folio case, which works well. ‘everyday power on offer. your main motivator, you’ll
Microsoft Surface when it The side controls are a little Naturally, we’re not talking find the Miix 510 a passable
comes to the angle of the plasticky, but it’s a minor about gaming, but between alternative to the more
kickstand. It’s an effective complaint.The keyboard the fast PCIe SSD and the expensive Surface 2-in-1s.
bit of industrial design from cover sports Lenovo’s processor, there was no
Lenovo. The ability to poise AccuType-style keys, which issue with any everyday
the device at almost any are slightly curved along tasks we tried. Plus, there’s
angle is a boon. Another plus the bottom edge. They’re plenty to like in terms of Verdict
is that the keyboard cover is sufficient in size but don’t entertainment performance Features
included with the device. possess as much travel as and the Miix 510 is great
Like previous models, the the Surface Pro 4 cover, and for watching movies.
Performance
Miix 510 comes with an this doesn’t make for a great In our benchmark tests,
Value
active pen. Lenovo’s stylus experience when you have a the Miix 510 was... mixed. A great-value tablet, as long as you
doesn’t attach to the device lot of words to type. The don’t mind its Full HD screen and rather
It scored a credible 6,570 in limited battery life.
via a magnet, although biggest problem is that the our GeekBench multi-core
there is a loop on the keyboard flexes a bit. If test, but battery life was
included case. you’re a hard typist, the substandard compared to
24 www.apcmag.com
LABS BENCHMARK RESULTS
General performance
PCMARK 8 - HOME (SCORE)
HP OMEN 17-AN053TX NA
HP Omen 17-an053tx
MSI GE72MVR 7RG 01:55
0 1 2 3 4 5
W
eighing in at recently, and outweighs the only a GTX 1060 GPU, you core Intel Core i7-7700HQ
a hefty 3.8kg heaviest GTX 1070-wielding can imagine our pessimism. CPU — did a decent job, too,
and with a body laptop we have on record — Today’s graphics chips are although it only lasted
that’s up to Gigabyte’s P57X v6, APC flexible packages, designed 2 hours and 16 minutes in
3.3cm thick, the physical 434, page 18 — by more than to boost up to higher speeds the battery benchmark.
dimensions of HP’s latest half a kilo. While we were when it’s thermally safe to And while the Samsung
17-inch Omen gaming disappointed by this at first, do so — so variances in 128GB NVMe SSD is on the
laptop are as chunky and a little digging uncovered cooling systems used in small side, it’s excessively
unwieldy as the gaming that the bigger chassis gaming laptops means that fast, with read speeds of up
laptops of years gone by. allows it to use more some can perform better to 2,980MB/s.
While the outer chassis modular components, so it than they should on paper. What’s perhaps the most
is wrapped in patches of can be customised and The Omen is a clear example enticing is just how rich and
carbon fibre that give it a upgraded. The single of this, netting real-world vibrant the colours are on
futuristic aesthetic, removable back panel gives gaming benchmarks that 120Hz IPS display.
we were a little surprised easy access to the SSD, HDD averages of 88, 68 and 57fps The Omen has turned
to find that, under the hood, and RAM slots — and while in the demanding Batman: conventional wisdom on its
our test model 17-an053tx this particular unit’s 128GB Arkham Knight, The Division head, spinning a backwards
only had an Nvidia GeForce PCIe Samsung SSD, 2TB and Far Cry Primal tests. David-and-Goliath story
GTX 1060 GPU. However, Seagate HDD and 16GB of That last score managed where the oversized
the Omen manages to turn DDR4 RAM aren’t going to to outdo three recent MSI underdog wins for a change.
a confusing spec sheet into need upgrading anytime laptops sporting 1070 GPUs, Joel Burgess
an assembled system that’s soon, that’s a handy feature and those impressive scores
surprisingly competent. for future-proofing. were repeated across all our
Somehow, this thick lump If you’ve read our review other benchmark titles.
manages to string together of MSI’s GE73VR 7RF (see Perhaps the Omen’s roomy Verdict
a set of components that page 26), we expressed some chassis facilitates a more Features
appeared to be incongruous doubts about whether that effective cooling array
into one nicely-balanced unit’s Nvidia GTX 1070 was that allows for constant
Performance
monster gaming unit. a powerful enough GPU to boosting, and significantly
Value
That said, it’s hard to make the most of its 120Hz enhances the graphical An oversized 17-inch gaming unit that
ignore the elephant-sized screen. So when we learned performance. pulls its weight in graphical performance
and supports plenty of premium features.
form factor. It’s close to a that the Omen was sporting The Omen’s PCMark 8
third heavier than most a similarly responsive Home and Work scores —
other laptops we’ve tested gaming display, but using largely powered by a quad-
www.apcmag.com 25
thelab » latest reviews LABS BENCHMARK RESULTS
General performance
PCMARK 8 - HOME (SCORE)
MSI GE73VR 7RF 4,318
RAIDER
A
t Computex 2017, The speedy 17-inch 1080p less demanding) shooters performed as expected in
one of the things screen on MSI’s GE73VR like Overwatch, where our PCMark 8’s Home and Work
MSI was most keen 7RF Raider is supported by frame rates consistently sat related benchmarks and the
on highlighting a 2.8–3.8GHz Intel Core at 70–90fps on Ultra 53Wh Li-Ion battery
was the 120Hz screens it’s i7-7700HQ CPU, 16GB of settings — but on the whole, endured a reasonable
using in its latest gaming RAM and an Nvidia GeForce despite that GTX 1070, you’ll 2 hours and 4 minutes.
laptops, and while we agree GTX 1070 (8GB) GPU, likely find that only older At 2.8kg and 2.9cm thick
there’s definitely appeal in so there’s plenty of power games will be able to really at its widest point, the
playing fast-moving games under the hood to run the utilise the fast screen. Raider is refreshingly light
on a 120Hz monitor with a latest games. The problem The Raider continues and skinny for a 17-incher.
3ms response time, the with this configuration is MSI’s tradition of a brushed- While the high-refresh
benefits over a traditional that, while it’ll allow you to aluminium veneer casing on screen and per-key RGB
60Hz display do depend benchmark games like the keyboard deck and top keyboard backlighting will
heavily on the GPU’s ability Batman: Arkham Knight and of the lid, which uses novel only really be draw cards for
to run games at higher The Division at averages of angular accents and shaded those playing multiplayer
frame rates. over 60fps with 1080p and red decals. The new per-key first-person shooters and
In addition to basically Ultra detail settings, you RGB backlit keyboard offers who like to colour code their
committing you to high-end also get dips as low as 37fps pleasant resistance and keys, if that description
(and more expensive) — at which point, the 120Hz travel distance (as far as matches your needs, then
gaming hardware, a 120Hz screen you just forked out laptop membrane keyboards this one should please.
screen will also generally for is really no better than go) and the trackpad has a Joel Burgess
have a narrower colour its 60Hz counterpart. nice powdery feel. However,
gamut than your average From real-world testing the thin mouse buttons and
60Hz IPS display. For anyone with PlayerUnknown’s the dedicated function
playing lightning-fast Battlegrounds, we found we buttons (power, fan and Verdict
multiplayer first person had to drop the graphics keyboard lights) are made of Features
shooters, those limitations details down to Medium a thin painted plastic, which
may be well worth the or Low before we hit frame feels a bit less premium than
Performance
benefits, but if competitive rates consistently around we’d expect at this price.
Value
gaming isn’t the primary the 60fps mark, but we were The Raider has a 256GB A lightweight 17-incher with a 120Hz
purpose of your laptop, still getting dips as low as SATA 6Gbps Toshiba SSD screen and a fast-enough GPU. Good for
those looking for an edge in FPS titles.
then the added expense 36fps in intensive areas. The and an adequate, but not
of a 120Hz display becomes results were significantly overly large, 1TB Hitachi
a slightly harder sell. better on more mature (but HDD. The well-specced CPU
26 www.apcmag.com
114 www.apcmag.com
thelab » latest reviews
LABS BENCHMARK RESULTS
CINEBENCH R15
CRYSTALDISKMARK 4K READ
ASUS G752VT-DH72 44
ORIGIN EON17-SLX 55
0 20 40 60 80 100
CRYSTALDISKMARK 4K WRITE
ASUS G752VT-DH72 37
ORIGIN EON17-SLX 91
0 20 40 60 80 100
GAMING LAPTOP
THE DIVISION (FPS)
FROM $4,277 | WWW.ORIGINPC.COM.AU ASUS G752VT-DH72 33
Origin EON17-SLX
0 50 100 150 200 250
ASUS G752VT-DH72 42
T
he EON17-SLX from several large triple-A games. doubling our APC desktop Raider returned scores of
Origin PC has all If that’s not enough, the 960 test computer. We saw the 94fps in the ‘Mountain Pass’,
the components and Pro is backed up by a 2TB same thing in Rise of the 71fps in ‘Syria’ and 70fps in
performance of a Seagate FireCuda flash- Tomb Raider, where the the ‘Geothermal Valley’,
top-end desktop PC accelerated HDD. That’s a EON17 scored an average of for an average of 79fps.
crammed into a portable ton of snappy storage space 115fps across the game’s Similarly impressive, Far
machine. Sure, it’s heavy that makes the EON17 three-part benchmark Cry Primal and The Division
and bulky for a laptop, an excellent mobile (163fps in the ‘Mountain scored 75fps and 64fps,
weighing 5.4kg (minus the workstation. Pass’, 101fps in ‘Syria’ and respectively.
two 330W power bricks) Now let’s talk games. 80fps in the ‘Geothermal Of course, laptop or not,
and measuring just shy of For pixel-pushing, the Valley’) — much higher than most top-end gaming rigs
5cm thick, but that’s to be EON17-SLX packs two both our laptop and desktop that offer that sort of
expected, considering the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080s test rigs. 3DMark Fire Strike performance come with
components inside. — the kind of hardware that returned a score of 24,498 a price tag to match. The
The model we tested opts makes gaming at 1080p — similarly impressive, even EON17-SLX is no different,
for a desktop-class Intel seem rather pointless. by desktop standards. coming in at an eye-
Core i7-7700K clocked at Nonetheless, we conduct our Like we said, it’s overkill watering starting figure of
4.2GHz. Combined with gaming benchmarks at for 1080p. But what about $4,277. That’s a big pile of
32GB of DDR4-2400 RAM, 1080p, so bear with us as we 4K? Origin’s EON17-SLX is cash — but, hey, you can’t
the EON17 scored some of go through some numbers available in 1080p, 1440p take it with you. The EON17,
the highest benchmarks we would classify as with 120Hz refresh rate, or however, you can — just.
we’ve ever seen for a laptop. ‘overkill’. 4K at 60Hz refresh variants, Bo Moore
In Cinebench R15, it scored Far Cry Primal was the all with G-Sync. The unit we
893, which blows out our EON17’s weakest showing, tested was the 4K variant,
(admittedly out-of-date) with a frames-per-second which seems the most apt
APC Labs test laptop, and score of only 91 in the for a GTX 1080 SLI loadout Verdict
nearly matches the bar game’s built-in benchmark. — especially considering Features
for desktops. That’s still a good 20–30fps that SLI doesn’t always play
Storage is also an area higher than most laptops nice at 1080p.
Performance
where the EON17-SLX we’ve tested, but not The pair of cards
Value
excels, because its primary especially impressive performed handily at 2160p, Portable 4K performance and snappy
storage is handled by a compared to desktop maintaining average frame storage sleek design, but quite bulky,
heavy and expensive.
super-fast 512GB Samsung hardware. The Division was rates above 60fps in every
960 Pro NVMe SSD — more a different story, with the gaming benchmark we
than enough for the OS and EON17’s 137fps nearly performed. Rise of the Tomb
28 www.apcmag.com
GAMING MONITOR
$599 | WWW.VIEWSONIC.COM.AU
ViewSonic XG2530
If you have the need, this ViewSonic has the speed.
I
n the bad old days of context. First, though, let’s panel, and surpassed a benefit versus what you
the 2000s’ CPU wars, consider the XG2530 as a cheap 6-bit IPS screen fairly might call a regular 120Hz
megahertz became monitor in a general sense. comfortably. Saturation panel. But we can feel the
megahurts as the It’s a 25-inch model, with a levels are very high and difference, even if it’s not
pursuit of clock speed for modest 1,920 x 1,080 or static contrast is strong, as significant as going from,
the sake of clock speed 1080p resolution, though combining to deliver a very say, 60Hz to 120Hz. A 240Hz
pushed Intel’s engineers given the refresh rate, and pleasant, punchy overall screen makes for incredibly
down an architectural dead the bandwidth and pixel- appearance. If you really responsive gaming.
end. Is something similar processing implications of want to be critical, there are Up to this point, at least,
happening now with PC the 240Hz refresh, that’s to faults. Most notably, the it’s not just about putting
monitors and the quest for be expected. Beyond that, viewing angles are pretty bigger numbers on the spec
ever higher refresh rates? it’s not hugely remarkable much garbage — but, then, sheet. Combined with zappy
The ViewSonic XG2530 on paper. The chassis and that’s TN for you. pixel response and the
blows straight through the stand are quite high quality, Beyond that, we’re talking punchy panel quality, it’s a
likes of 120Hz and 144Hz, with a full range of details, including some very compelling gaming
and motors right on up to adjustability. There’s obvious banding in standard proposition — a different
240Hz. That is one hell of a support for AMD’s FreeSync gradient images. More proposition compared to
refresh rate. It’s not the first tech, and TN panel tech. problematic is the panel’s a 4K 60Hz panel, of course,
monitor we’ve seen with That’s not a huge surprise, overall accuracy. There’s and the detail that one
such a capability, but it given the 240Hz refresh, some compression in darker can offer, but compelling
remains a startlingly high as TN is the quickest panel tones that can lead to a loss all the same.
refresh rate. Moreover, type. What is a pleasant of detail in games and Jeremy Laird
it’s hard to put a finger on surprise is the quality of movies — not catastrophic,
where to draw the line with this particular display. but something you don’t
this particular technology, We’ve seen nice TN monitors have to put up with when
to grasp what the human before, but until now, using a good IPS panel. Verdict
eye can even perceive. they’ve all been 4K models. That 1,920 x 1,080 res Features
It’s worth remembering To be clear, we’re not talking makes for limited desktop
that, when it comes to here about resolution and space, of course, and paired
Performance
movies, 24fps is standard sharpness. It’s colours with a reasonably expansive
Value
and 48 qualifies as a special and contrast where the 25-inch diagonal, results in A surprisingly good quality TN panel
HFR or ‘high frame rate’. OK, XG2530 shines. a fairly coarse pixel pitch. with super-quick response time.
movies and PC monitors are By those metrics, this TN But then there’s the 240Hz
not directly comparable, panel has closed much of the shizzle. We admit that some
but that does put 240Hz into gap with a middling IPS may not sense the subjective
www.apcmag.com 29
thelab » latest reviews
Samsung Seagate
T5 Portable SSD IronWolf Pro
Samsung feels the need for Does your NAS deserve
speed... again. the upgrade?
S W
amsung’s back with Once installed, the SSD hile the difference as the speed is
another super-fast requires the user to enter a normal bottlenecked by the
portable storage password before they can Seagate network. In PC-based
solution, returning view the contents within. IronWolf NAS sequential testing, the 10TB
to the well that it first dug But the real selling point drives are aimed at home drive hit 173.5MB/s reads
in 2015 with the T1 drive — is the transfer speeds, and or small business use, and 170.9MB/s writes, with
and this USB external we’re pleased to say that the the Pro drives are for random speeds at 0.78MB/s
drive promises even T5 is no slouch in that creative professionals, and 1.64MB/s, respectively.
quicker transfers speeds. regard. Our CrystalDisk and lighter enterprise use. The Pro drives are
With a similar brushed Mark tests revealed The IronWolf range uses available in 2TB, 4TB, 6TB,
aluminium unibody design sequential multi-thread a SATA 6Gbps interface, 8TB and 10TB — all with
as last time (sans the two- read and write speeds of has up to 256MB cache, rotational vibration sensors.
tone styling), the T5 is 437MB/s and 444.3MB/s, and a 7,200rpm spindle The Pro drives also support
almost exactly the same putting it in first place speed. Aimed at those who up to 16-drive RAID sets,
size as its previous-gen amongst rival portable SSDs work their drives harder, rather than eight for the
incarnation, shaving off just (Samsung’s T3 was the the Pro IronWolf is rated standard model. Make sure
under a millimetre from the previous leader). In terms for 300TB of data written a to compare prices — the cost
T3’s width. A USB Type-C of large single-threaded year, versus 180TB for the per TB improves the larger
port lets you switch between transfers, the T5 fell short normal version. The you go, and the price
the included Type-C to of the WD My Passport warranty is also bumped up difference to the non-Pro
Type-A and Type-C to Type-C SSD’s 431.1MB/s and to five years, from three, model drops dramatically.
cables, the latter being 420.3MB/s record. But we and the mean time between For example, the 10TB
especially convenient for preferred the T5’s thinner failures (MTBF) to 1.2 IronWolf is 92% of the cost
use with newer MacBooks profile and rounded edges, million hours, rather than 1 of the Pro, making for no
and other ultraportable so we know which way we’d million. The Pro drive also brainer upgrade.
laptops, or even Android flop. Stephen Lambrechts includes two years Lindsay Handmer
phones. For those who want coverage with a data
to keep their files secure recovery service, for extra
and away from prying eyes, peace of mind.
AES 256-bit hardware Verdict Theoretical performance Verdict
encryption is available, An elegant design backed by strong only sees a mild bump for High-end NAS-focused features
which creates a secure encryption, with incredibly fast the Pro (especially for the with competitive pricing in the
partition on the device that transfer speeds. smaller capacities) and in largest capacities.
you need to unlock via a real-world NAS testing, we
preloaded encryption app. saw no significant
30 www.apcmag.com
USB-C DOCK USB MICROPHONE
$530 | WWW.BELKIN.COM/AU $300 | WWW.ASUS.COM/AU
T S
he aluminium If you intend on using an o ASUS is trying to give it the juice it needs.
finish and tapered external hard drive, we’d sell you Optimus You can use ASUS’s Aura
design are recommend connecting it Prime’s beard software to customise the
undeniably sleek, via the Thunderbolt 3 trimmer. Like lighting, but surprisingly,
and thanks to its moderate connection, as it will get you streamers didn’t already there are no options for the
size, it neither dominates close to the same speeds as have enough to answer for, audio itself. That absence is
the desk nor gets carried plugging directly into your the Magnus is the latest keenly felt when it comes to
away by the weight of the computer (around 420MB/s manifestation of their the ‘ENC’ noise cancelation
connected cabling. using a Samsung external influence, a USB-powered, mode. In testing, we found it
The dock can support two SSD), whereas the USB desktop mic, designed for too aggressive, clipping
external 4K displays via one Type-A port suffered around in-game chat and casting. consonant sounds and
of its Thunderbolt 3 ports 100MB/s drops in both write But there’s a definite gap producing a really low
and the DisplayPort, or and read speeds in testing. in the market for a product overall sound quality. ENC
alternatively, a single This is a very expensive like this. Streamers have is one of three mic pattern
external 5K display. You’ll dock, but the $500 mark is migrated away from the modes available here, with
find the standard affair of pretty standard for a scratchy world of headset unidirectional (cardioid)
ports — two super-speed Thunderbolt 3 dock with microphones in favour of and stereo (bidirectional).
USB-A 3.0s at the rear and this kind of featureset. quasi-studio mics. The The Magnus certainly
one at the front, Gigabit As such, before buying the benefits are obvious: vastly isn’t at the level of studio
Ethernet connection and Express Dock HD, we’d make improved sound and more mics, such as Audio-
two 3.5mm jacks for sure that you actually need control over it. But can this Technica’s AT4050. It’s hard
headphones and mics. everything it has to offer, offer something over the to recommend this one —
The show-stealers come as you can definitely get a cheaper competition? unless you’re a Transformer
in the form of the two more affordable alternative It depends on how much with a bit of unwanted
Thunderbolt 3 Type-C ports, that ditches the higher-end value you place on RGB stubble around the jawline,
one of which will attach to features. Harry Domanski lighting. Admittedly, it’s an that is. Phil Iwaniuk
your MacBook and provide easy setup job: pull the mic
it with up to 85W of power out of its carry-case, attach
along with data transfer, the meaty braided USB cable
and the other of which Verdict to the mic input and an Verdict
can be used for displays, While expensive, this MacBook available USB 3.0 port, Do you need one? Probably not, but
hard drives and other USB-C friend supports a lot of and you’re done. You can use people don’t strictly need fidget
connections, even allowing device options. a USB 2.0 port in a pinch, spinners either, yet here we are.
you to daisy chain up to with limited functionality,
five devices. but it’s preferable to just
www.apcmag.com 31
thelab » latest reviews
L B
ogitech’s G903 side buttons and bumpers to ack in May, Corsair mats. What’s perhaps more
wireless gaming give you total control of the introduced the critical, though, is the
mouse looks rather physical layout, as well. first mousemat wireless connection. The
more like the angry Logitech’s Gaming (the Zeus) that’ll Powerplay signal receiver
fire-spewing alien beetles Software allows you to recharge the mouse that includes Logitech’s
from Starship Troopers customise further, with full sits atop it, doing away with Lightspeed wireless tech,
than a PC mouse. This button configuration, DPI the need to ever plug in the good for one-millisecond
symmetrical, black scarab profile tweaking and RGB latter or swap out batteries. ‘competition-level’
will suite both left- and lighting synchronisation. But while the Zeus is just at responsiveness.
right-handers, but its The mouse also includes an concept stage, Logitech has, The attachable puck-
thinner shape does make it additional 10g weight-insert out of nowhere, been able to shaped wireless charging
best for users who err to give it more inertia — launch a fully-functional module will keep both the
towards a claw or fingertip although, unfortunately, wireless charging mat compatible mice (G903 and
style gripping technique. the Powerplay module that that’s available right now. G703) at 85–95% of max
Although there’s enough allows wireless charging It’s natural to worry that battery capacity — this
rump to support your palm, uses the same slot on the the Powerplay charging range prevents cell damage.
its overall shape seems mouse’s underside. system might have been The downside of this new
primarily aimed at putting At $250, the G903 is pricey rushed to market. Yet tech is the price. At $150 for
users in a position to be (even by wireless mouse despite its rather sudden the pad alone, you’re looking
twitch-responsive and standards), but if you want appearance, based on our at an outlay of at least $300
competitive. With a one- competition-level testing, this is definitely a to get started. If you’re
millisecond response rate, responsiveness, a sleek mature product — and one willing, however, the high-
Lightspeed wireless and and customisable design, that more than lives up to its quality components of this
Logitech’s best PMW3366 and cutting-edge wireless claims. The mat is made up convenient wireless gaming
full-range optical sensor, charging, then this is the of the mouse pad surface, mouse setup won’t let you
you have an exceptionally mouse to beat. Joel Burgess the base charging mat and down. Joel Burgess
responsive wireless mouse a wireless receiver. The mat
that suffers from zero lag. needs to be plugged into
It’s quite customisable, your PC via USB.
too, with a tri-click scroll Verdict With a footprint a little Verdict
wheel that can be toggled A full-featured wireless-charging larger than an A4 sheet of An impressive wireless mouse
for notched or free-spinning remake of the most desirable paper, the Powerplay offers peripheral offering precision and
scrolling. There’s a dual- gaming mouse on the market. enough surface area for convenience, for a price.
direction DPI adjustment most, and comes with both
button and a spare set of hard plastic and soft fabric
32 www.apcmag.com
GAMING MOUSE
$149 | WWW.LOGITECH.COM
Logitech G703
A Powerplay-compatible wireless
gaming mouse for $100 less.
I
f the G903’s $250 price works just like an other
point is too dear, or you wired gaming mouse. With
don’t like its design, 2–3 hours per day of gaming
Logitech thankfully with medium/high-
has another Powerplay sensitivity settings, we
compatible wireless mouse found ourselves recharging
on offer: the ergonomically the mouse every 1.5 weeks
shaped G703 — an upgraded or so — almost bang-on
version of the G403. Logitech’s claimed 32 hours.
The G703 has fewer There’s little between the
features and customisation G703 and G903 — both use
options than the higher-end the same sensor (the Pixar
G903, but the main PMW3366, 200–12,000dpi)
difference is a flatter and and Logitech Gaming
wider design that’s a bit Software for sensitivity,
more comfy for palm- button and lighting
grippers — although at 107g, configuration. The G703 has
it’s still lightweight enough only one DPI button, though,
that more finger-oriented so you need to cycle through
grip styles work fine, too. different sensitivity
The pain point for settings, rather than move
wireless mice is recharging back and forth), but it’s
them, but even if you’re not well-equipped with six
willing to fork out another programmable buttons. So it
$150 to get the Powerplay still packs in all the critical
mat, the G703 manages elements. Dan Gardiner
charging fairly seamlessly.
As with the G903, there’s a
1.83m braided USB cable
included in the box, which Verdict
will securely plug into the A cheaper alternative to the G903
front of the mouse to charge that’s arguably actually better
it — and this doesn’t impede in some ways.
performance, meaning that,
when tethered, the G703
www.apcmag.com 33
thelab » latest reviews
A R
SUS is looking and easily switch between occat’s Khan Pro in the box.
to change the them by hitting Function headset is the first When you start pushing
playing field with plus F1 through F6. The ease ever gaming sounds through the headset,
this entry-level of configuration is one of headset to come it’s difficult not to be
mechanical RGB gaming the Cerberus keyboard’s with certified hi-res audio impressed. It managed to
keyboard promising great greatest strengths, with the status, bringing that find more clarity, bass
specs at a price that most of ASUS Armory software requisite 20Hz–40KHz response and articulate
us can actually afford. making short work of response range in tow. mids than most other sets
Lay your hands on this setting up new profiles. But what does hi-res audio we’ve tested. Its response
baby and you’ll immediately The switches are Kaihua do for a gaming headset? sounds similar to our ears to
notice the rubberised plastic branded and come in Red, A great deal. Like other the venerable HyperX Cloud
that covers every surface — Blue, Brown and Black — the Roccat headsets we’ve and Cloud II from Kingston.
this is a pleasure to touch Red switches we tested felt tested, the construction They sound dreamy when
but a smudge magnet. While almost identical to their materials and visual design listening to lossless audio.
the four included spare Cherry counterparts. here don’t scream ‘premium’. The real question is...
keycaps don’t get this While there are alternative A largely plastic body and How often do you listen to
rubber treatment, their gaming keyboards with creaky earcups prove to be hi-res audio? While it’s
orange-red colour ensures heavier feature-sets, these only minor marks, though growing in popularity in PC
those W, S, A, D keys still always cost more (up to — elsewhere, it’s deceptively games, it’s by no means the
stand out. The keyboard can twice as much, in the case of brilliant. Controls are kept standard.
lie flat or at a slight angle, the Razer Blackwidow 2 to a minimum, with a simple If that exemplary sound
but those who like a wrist Chroma) and for some, the volume scroll wheel at the quality came in a more
rest should look elsewhere. simplicity of the Cerberus back of the left earcup, and luxurious overall package,
The overall aesthetic is will be a key selling point, a mic mute function tied to this would be a genuine
minimalistic and tasteful, rather than a drawback. the swingarm. We would best-in-class contender.
which is quite refreshing. Harry Domanski have liked a chat/game mix Phil Iwaniuk
The only strong assertion scroll, too, at this price point
that this is a gaming ‘board (they should cost under
is the RGB backlighting, $200), we can let that one go.
offering per-key colour Verdict The braided cable connects Verdict
configurations with seven For an entry-level gaming via two 3.5mm audio jacks Hi-res audio, flat response, beefy
effects that you can save to keyboard, it’s a great balance for mic and audio, rather lows... in all, it’s very good for
one of six profiles. You can between function, price and style. than USB, and there’s a the price.
also save any macros you single-input adapter for
record to those profiles, mobile devices included
34 www.apcmag.com
software
» APPS FOR ALL THE PLATFORMS
Windows SOFTWARE
OBS Studio
Everything you need in order to
live-stream and record video
using multiple sources.
FREE | OBSPROJECT.COM
www.apcmag.com 35
Mac » APP
APPS
HoudahSpot 4
Turning up the Spotlight power.
US$29 | HOUDAH.COM
Mac compression utilities aren’t sexy — if they Screens 4 enables you to connect to your Mac from
reduce file sizes and use less bandwidth, it’s a job anywhere there’s an internet connection. Once
well done. Corel brings some of the sizzle back connected, you can control the Mac remotely
in WinZip 6 for Mac, which now manages files, as if you were sitting in right front of it. Version 4
as well as compacting them. adds the ability to transfer files by dragging and dropping
This is done from a new Files pane on the app’s left-hand between your local Mac and the remote one, as well as
side, where you browse mounted volumes, cloud storage a feature that obscures the display of the remote Mac
accounts, and the last five archives accessed. Rather than while you work.
dragging and dropping from Finder or using the Action If you connect to a Mac with multiple displays attached,
menu, everything happens inside WinZip’s window, with the you can choose which of them you want to view, or see all
pane expanding into split-screen view alongside the current of them at once. And if you connect to multiple Macs, you
archive while browsing. can save them and arrange them in groups to help you find
WinZip isn’t quite a full-fledged file manager — you can’t them easily later.
view two volumes side-by-side, for example — but the Setting up Screens is straightforward. On a local network,
improvement will be welcome if you work with Zip, GZip, Macs are automatically detected, though you’ll need
LZMA2, BZip and other archive formats. Contextual menus to switch on Screen Sharing in a remote Mac’s System
provide a convenient peek without opening files, and you Preferences to control it. To connect over the internet,
can delete you need to set up a Screens account and run the Screens
and rename Connect utility on the Mac you want to connect to.
files from We found Screens worked well, and connected quickly
within the over our local network. For the most part, it worked exactly
app. There’s as it should. However, we did run into occasional problems
also enhanced when trying to drag and drop files between our local Mac
support for and the one we were connected to. Likewise, we sometimes
Zipx. It’s more ran into problems copying and pasting between remote
convenient and local Mac. Those problems could have been down to
than ever, our network, however. Other than that, we found Screens
but there’s to be a snap to set up and a pleasure to use.
no upgrade If you need to connect to a remote Mac, for whatever
pricing. reason, Screens 4 is a great way to do it. Kenny Hemphill
JR Bookwalter
36 www.apcmag.com
App Store » iOS APPS
Steno
A live transcription app that sadly
didn’t like our Aussie accent.
FREE WITH IAP | WWW.BLUESHIFTDEVELOPMENT.COM/STENO
One of the great things about having a When it comes to editing PDF files, mobile apps
smartphone is the potential that gives you to have always been more limited than Mac or
carry digital versions of documents with you PC. Leave it to the folks at Readdle to deliver
whenever you go. So what if you already have desktop-class features that go beyond basic
things printed out and want to digitise them, but have no annotation, form-filling and signatures.
scanner? Genius Scan is one of many document scanning PDF Expert 6 adds the ability to also edit text, add or
apps around that endeavours to capture your documents replace images and redact sensitive information inside
and reproduce them into a clear file. Simply lay your file documents. It’s a brilliant update that turns the app into
down flat (tip: try to get out as many creases as possible, as a true productivity powerhouse for all but the most
these turn up as lines on the finished product) and then press advanced PDF capabilities.
the capture button. The app will take a few moments to In addition to the trio of new editing features, you can also
detect the edges of the page (sometimes, it’ll have problems add web links to text or pictures. The tools at your disposal
doing this), then you’ll see a crisp black-and-white file appear are exceptionally intuitive; for example, after selecting an
in your library. You can add tags, rename the image, rotate existing image inside a document, you have the ability to
and perform some basic editing, and put it into a group with rotate, replace, save, crop, copy or delete, as well as resize
other files. It works with pages of all sizes, so you can easily or reposition it with ease.
store all your receipts in the app, ready for any time you need Editing features require an additional in-app purchase,
them. There’s also a few different export options. Upgrading which costs $14.99, and replace the iPad version’s woefully
to Scan+ not only gets rid of the rather non-invasive ads, inadequate Markup tool, a workaround that allowed
but gives you options to upload to the cloud service of your rudimentary text editing for free. PDF Expert 6’s editing
choice, as well as import docs from other apps, encrypt your features are well worth the one-time upgrade, though.
files and much more. However, as good as Genius Scan is, The remaining new features are free for existing users,
the future of these sorts of applications has been put into including an interface overhaul with enhanced search,
question (at least, on iOS) with the arrival of Apple’s Notes outline editing, and the ability to password-protect
scanning feature, which does pretty much the same thing. documents. Cloud support is also more robust —
There’s also a range of other existing apps, such as Evernote, edits are now saved directly to your favorite service.
that provide this feature as well — which you may already iOS’s best PDF editor gets better.
have on your phone. Carmel Sealey JR Bookwalter
www.apcmag.com 37
Google Play » ANDROID
Firefox 54
A browsing success.
FREE | WWW.MOZILLA.ORG
Path Guide
Geomagnetic breadcrumbs.
Meets Email
Asia as an exercise in mobile computing and
intelligent perception, and it essentially does
what it says on the tin — and in a very impressive
manner. This app uses geomagnetic data along with your
You’ve got mail, now get smart. phone’s other sensors to trace the indoor path that the user
walks, then converts this into what’s known as a “reference
FREE | HELLOASTRO.COM trace”. You can either share this reference trace with friends
by uploading it to the cloud, or use the trace to follow the
path back the way you came. Unfortunately, our phone
Astro is a streamlined email client that utilises doesn’t have a barometer
an integrated AI to smarten up the whole ordeal. and so the level changes
The interface is gorgeously simple and, naturally, (ie, up and down floors)
the app comes with the usual inbox management weren’t recorded when we
suspects like snoozing, open tracking and send-scheduling. tested this app, but everything
The big point of difference with the Astro client is its else was surprisingly accurate,
specialised Astrobot AI, which is delivered in the form of a give or take a few steps. The
chatbot. Astrobot will intelligently notify you of what it app is in early stages, so we can
thinks are important emails and significant items within expect some future refinement,
them — such as dates, invoices and anything sent from your and you can accommodate for
specified list of VIPs — and you’ll be able to tell it to remind any other slight discrepancies
you about such items as well. It’ll also provide you with with the ability to annotate
suggested actions to certain emails, such as ‘unsubscribe’ your journey with text and
or ‘follow up’, depending on what Astrobot has picked up photos. Beyond being a neat
from the email’s contents and similar emails in the past. experiment, this app could
The chatbot also plays nice with Slack and Amazon’s Alexa prove very useful for explaining
(which technically hasn’t yet come to Australia), so you can to a visitor where your offices
achieve some neat cross-platform integration and send are... or just finding your car
attachments to your colleagues or friends. Overall, this is an in a parking lot.
excellently sleek smartphone email client, even for those Harry Domanski
not interested in using the AI functionality. Harry Domanski
38 www.apcmag.com
Linux » OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE
Shotcut
A video editor with a
great range of features.
FREE | SHOTCUT.ORG
E
xploring the world of open-
source creative software
quickly reveals that there’s a
visible demand for non-linear
video editing. Regardless of the way
people use such software, the number
of available titles keeps growing,
and already includes such respected
names as Kdenlive, OpenShot and
Flowblade. But there’s another
application that we undeservedly
missed: Shotcut.
In the endless line of ‘shots’ and ‘cuts’
software, this new editor combines to do in a video player, and work with In other regards, we tried the
simplicity with a decent set of features, them directly. experimental GPU processing option
and we’re sure it will attract devoted The app’s developers have their own under the Settings menu. This feature
users that find other editors too vision of the comfortable and intuitive is not stable yet, but it works very
complicated or basic. workplace. Most of Shotcut’s features nicely on many modern video chips.
Shotcut offers a neat and compact are available from the main toolbar, In a real video editing workflow, GPU
Qt5-based interface, and makes use of which can show and hide such panels acceleration can save you many hours
such technologies as FFMpeg, MLT, as Filters, Timeline or file properties. and some money on electricity when
x264 and LADSPA, as well as various By default, Shotcut shows no panels, rendering large projects, so if this is
encoders. The list of supported so after the first launch, you’re forced the case, you should give Shotcut a try.
features has much in common with to enable things that you’re going to The project releases new milestones
Kdenlive, but we want to point out use, such as adding video and audio each month, and is constantly
interesting elements, like native video tracks, and arranging panels to your improving in terms of stability
editing without the need to import liking. It looks easier than it sounds, and translations.
clips beforehand. In Shotcut, you just and Shotcut is often said to offer a Alexander Tolstoy
open one or several clips as you’d want steep learning curve for novice users.
This one is a very helpful tool for Linux photographers and The top left corner of the app’s window shows switchers for
anyone who deals with large numbers of images. Keeping an automatic scanning of removable media, as well as your local
image library well organised may not sound too difficult, but file system. The right-panel displays the free space details on
this changes once you have thousands of files. the currently selected device, and displays a proposed directory
Rapid Photo Downloader (RPD) aims to simplify downloading layout where your images and video files will be stored after
and sorting files from your digital camera or smartphone. they are imported. This is a perfect dry run that lets you change
In short, it automatically scans your remote USB devices and settings and naming convention before you actually download
quickly generates preview thumbnails for graphic and video anything.
files. Then it lets you download files and arrange them in But having shared these benefits, we still think it has
date-based folders. something more to offer. Go to the Preferences menu (under
At first glance, this is nothing really special, as dedicated the hamburger icon) and navigate to the Automate section.
photo managers such as Digikam or Shotwell have exactly the Here, you can tell RPD to download your photos and videos
same features, but RPD can still occupy its niche. The number- after you plug your device in, unmount or eject your media
one advantage is that it endows you with a strikingly fast yet after the download process is complete, and more.
powerful desktop Linux photography solution, since you may The more you work with RPD, the more advantageous
want to get rid of heavyweight photo managers entirely and it will be for you.
explore your collection with your favourite file manager. Alexander Tolstoy
www.apcmag.com 39
labfeature » amd threadrippper
Ryzen Threadripper
CPUs aren’t just big
on core count, they’re
physically huge, too!
T
he Big Boy of the Ryzen product utilising technology and architectural competition, AMD has now entered the
range has finally landed in the fundamentals drawn from the server fray with the Ryzen Threadripper and
APC lab! The Threadripper product space. The HEDT concept X399, utilising CPU architecture
1950X and 1920X have been introduced high core counts, and derived from AMD’s Epyc server range.
put through the rigors of our testing, increased memory channels and The Epyc processors utilise a four-die
along with three AMD X399-based density, platform I/O resources, as well structure, interconnecting dies based
motherboards from ASUS, Gigabyte as performance for workstation-type on the Zen micro-architecture. This
and MSI. Before we get to those, workloads compared to previous structure delivers 8 cores/16 threads,
however, let’s take a closer look at consumer-orientated platforms (P45 two memory channels and 32 PCIe lanes
some details for AMD’s new CPU, and X48, followed by P67/Z68). Paired per die for a subsequent potential total
what it brings to the market and the with the ability to support extensive of 64 cores/128 threads, eight memory
impact felt by the performance and multi-GPU configurations, the HEDT channels and 128 PCIe lanes available
opportunity presented against the platform direction created the origins for Epyc 1P solutions.
Blue Giant competition. for a high-end experience that would be With Threadripper designed as a
The AMD X399 chipset paired with further refined and defined over almost 1P HEDT platform with quad-channel
a Ryzen Threadripper CPU heralds the a decade and numerous platform memory, the Epyc processor design has
introduction of AMD’s first high-end generational updates. been applied to the Threadripper rollout
desktop (HEDT) platform. The market but with two dies disabled. This creates
was first created by Intel utilising TO DIE FOR a maximum potential of 16 cores/32
the X58 chipset and associated CPUs After years of effectively no HEDT threads, quad-channel memory support
40 www.apcmag.com
AMD defines the HEDT market into a AMD’s pulling no punches in how it
number of usage scenarios intends to position its products
and associated types of users. versus the high-end Intel options.
and 64 PCIe lanes. This spec is found Game Mode disables half of the platform. Unlike Intel’s X-series
in the product-range-topping Ryzen available core and thread count, but processors that see desirable HEDT CPU
Threadripper 1950X. The 1920X has a does so in a rather neat and clever way product specs costing an arm or a leg,
lowered core and thread count of 12 and — using a switch in the easily navigated by comparison, AMD’s Threadripper
24, respectively, but retains the overall Ryzen Master software suite, that then range provides the same platform
platform resource availability of quad- requires a system reboot. Contrary to resources from the baby 1900X through
channel memory and 64 PCIe lanes. initial logical conclusion, the cores to the monstrosity that is the 1950X.
Launching slightly later will be the (and thereby threads) are not physically This means the same 64 PCIe lane
8-core, 16-thread 1900X. disabled to achieve this drop in core and allocation from top to bottom, support
thread count; nor is simultaneous multi- for high-density quad-channel memory
CREATOR MODE VS GAME MODE threading (SMT) disabled. The reason and high core counts across the board,
These modes are two software-set for this approach is that physical ranging from 8 (1900X) to 16 (1950X)
functions for the Threadripper range disablement would remove platform with doubled thread counts, creating a
implemented via the AMD Ryzen resources delivered by the die, such as truly functional HEDT system, can be
Master Threadripper Edition software. memory channel, USB and PCIe done without adjusting for resource
The need to differentiate between allocations, and removing SMT would allocation compromises. For example,
two modes was developed during also be a detrimental move on the a system spec can be created that
pre-release R&D as in-house testing overall performance. features a 4-way GPU solution, multiple
revealed there was an install-base of To circumvent the loss of resources M.2 NVMe SSDs in RAID, USB3.0 and
gaming titles that, due to the way the and performance via disabling cores 3.1 support, numerous SATA HDDs, and
game code was developed, may have and SMT for Game Mode, what Ryzen other related resources that utilise PCIe
performance deficits when addressing Master is doing is issuing a BCDEdit lane allocation without adjustments
a broad memory and core architecture command to the operating system due to, for example, M.2 slots removing
along with either working better with a configuration registry and changing SATA, USB or PCIe slot functionality.
lower core count or demonstrating a the numproc value. This eloquent
hard limit that can’t be exceeded (ie, >20 solution lowers the perceived (and RAMMING THE POINT HOME
processing threads). functional) core and thread count, Ryzen 7 had some RAM teething issues
Creator Mode essentially delivers without negatively impacting SMT as the market adjusted away from an
CPU specs as per the originally intended functionality or processor die almost singular focus on Intel. These
design for Threadripper with resources resources, while circumventing the issues were tirelessly worked on by
distributed across the cores, and all problem presented by some gaming AMD’s performance engineers and
cores and threads readily available for titles. Bravo, AMD, for creating a simple, solutions flooded through in the weeks
any workloads to be crossed between clever workaround for the end user and leading up to and following the Ryzen 7
the processor dies utilising the Infinity delivering a functional choice. release. Now, with the Threadripper
Fabric. The Infinity Fabric, in layman’s launch, the CPU review kits were
terms, is an internal communication I/O YOU bundled with G.Skill Trident-Z RGB
architecture interconnecting processor Pitched as “Unlocked. Unrestrained. DDR4-3200 C14 4 x 8GB kits to
resources present on the AMD Ryzen Uncompromised.”, AMD was seemingly seemingly prove a point. And they did.
SoC design and interacts with the AMD going for a big impact, and perhaps even The platform runs effortlessly with
SenseMI technology. Essentially, the Intel’s throat, especially given the 32GB of quad-channel memory
Infinity Fabric and SenseMI are the frosty reception of the specs for Intel’s operating at DDR4-3200 14-14-14-34
brain and nervous system behind the heavily segmented X-series product and at a tight 1T command rate —
computational heart of the processor. stack recently launched on the X299 well done!
www.apcmag.com 41
labfeature » amd threadripper
D Y
elivering a product clock speeds and improved ou may not look The higher core count does
to this market per-core processing upon this $1,150 assist the 1920X in
is the final piece of efficiency. On the flip-side processor as a good matching or exceeding the
the desktop CPU is the significant difference value proposition. 7900X in heavily multi-
puzzle for AMD, following in core count lending the However, within the scope threaded workloads;
the release of Ryzen 7, 5 1950X increased of a HEDT system and in however, the ability to push
and 3 on the AM4 socket. performance in heavily comparison with the Intel high frequencies with the
Now with arrival of the TR4 multi-threaded workloads. Core i7 and i9 X-series 7900X ultimately makes it
socket and the Ryzen Judging by the benchmark range, perhaps even its the faster option overall.
Threadripper 1950X, results, if you do multi- stablemate the 1950X, However, taking that option
featuring 16 cores, 32 threaded work but still see the Ryzen Threadripper is more costly and neither
threads, quad-channel high value in per-core 1920X actually presents Intel options can match the
memory, 64 PCIe lanes and efficiency, the Intel may be good value for money with platform I/O resources
extended frequency range the better choice — though, broad spec capability available on AMD’s X399
(XFR) of 4.2GHz, AMD this appears to depend on and performance that Threadripper platform.
hasn’t just entered the how well the game code marginally shadows the Nestled right in the sweet
arena, it’s thrown down a handles nT processing. faster Core i9-7900X and spot of price, performance,
challenge to the reigning If your computing focus is 1950X, while a step ahead platform resources and I/O,
king, Intel. production orientated, of the i7-7820X. equipped to handle the
There are unique such as audio engineering, Considering the 1920X’s appropriate workloads for a
characteristics both for and video editing, gaming and price, this unit slots into the HEDT platform, AMD’s new
against when assessing the streaming simultaneously, market in a gap between 1920X presents exceptional
comparison of the 1950X 3D modelling and so on, the Core i7-7820X and Core value for money for a
versus its similarly priced the high core count of the i9-7900X. In per-core high-end processor and PC.
competitor, the Intel Core 1950X brings it victory. performance, the Intel Josh Collins
i9-7900X. Intel’s offering Josh Collins solutions are faster, but the
sounds different enough on overall package presented
paper. Starting with 10 by the 1920X at $1,150
cores and 20 threads in the is an attractive offering in
7900X, it is comfortably Verdict comparison with the Intel Verdict
behind the 16 cores and 32 A well-featured and versatile CPU Core units. The Ryzen A CPU costing over $1,000 that
threads counted in the that feasts on multi-threaded Threadripper 1920X brings presents solid, good value.
1950X. But it’s not all about workloads. 12 cores and 24 threads to Whodda thunk it?
core count, as the 7900X the bout, eclipsing both Intel
delivers higher potential options within range.
42 www.apcmag.com
LABS BENCHMARK RESULTS
PCMARK 8 - HOME (ACCELERATED)
ASUS ROG ZENITH 4,139
EXTREME
MSI X399 GAMING PRO 4,358
CARBON AC
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000
T
he word ‘zenith’ solution developed and For extreme performance differ on a case-by-case
describes a point at integrated by ASUS, which buffs, especially those that basis. Examples of this one’s
which something is provides an alternative like to dabble in exotic rarer bundled extras
most powerful or mounting for a second M.2 cooling solutions and high include parts like 2-, 3- and
successful. It seems, then, drive via a custom daughter- overclocks, the Zenith is 4-way SLI bridges (while
that this motherboard, board, and further rounding packed with additional competitors only include
the RoG Zenith Extreme out NVMe SSD support with OC-focused features. These a 2-Way bridge), a fan
is fittingly named. a U.2 port — something both type of board features and controller card for an
Leading a tight race the Gigabyte and MSI capabilities are actually additional three 4-pin fan
through this month’s X399 options lack. Depending on common to ASUS’s RoG ports, and the RoG Areion
benchmark suite, the Zenith your storage needs, this Extreme range, and offer 10G PCIe x4 add-in card,
delivered a consistently approach could be either a attributes like PCIe slot dip that delivers 10Gbps
positive user experience positive or a negative. switches, LN2 mode, PCB- Ethernet connectivity. The
from start to finish. As the The Zenith design takes based voltage measuring Areion 10G alone sells for a
only offering in the trio of a number of different routes points for digital multi- touch over $200 in the ITC
boards tested that fits the to the competition. For meters (DMMs) and channel. Oh, and it rocks
Extended-ATX form factor, example, the RoG engineers connectivity for peripherals 802.11ad Wi-Fi support, too!
or ‘EATX’, the Zenith has didn’t deem it necessary to like the RoG OC Panel. Overall, the Zenith offers
extra precious PCB space include eight SATA 6Gbps However, it’s worth noting a pleasant user experience,
upon which to mount and ports, opting instead for just that this Extreme series with good performance and
engage additional features. six. For some storage- ‘board doesn’t come bundled a welcoming aesthetic.
Perhaps a little unusual is oriented owners, this may with that now-discontinued Josh Collins
the comparatively fewer be a shortcoming, but for OC Panel, so you’ll have to
M.2 slots mounted near the others, it means resources already own one or search
PCH and between PCIe slots, can be allocated elsewhere. the second-hand market.
with a single port hidden Many of the strengths and At almost $250 dearer Verdict
beneath part of the PCH intriguing attributes of the than the next board in the Features
heatsink for passive cooling. Zenith aren’t typically ranks, some may cringe at
With the Gigabyte and MSI caught on the first look — the price. However, if you’re
Performance
X399s both sporting three but rather the second or building a system that can
Value
M.2 slots each, the Zenith third pass — requiring some properly take advantage It’s expensive, but if you’re going to
looks a little sparse for thought and consideration of what the platform offers utilise those features, the price is
justified. Solid user experience, too.
NVMe SSD support by as to whether this board and use the bundled extras,
comparison. That is, until will be appropriate and there is value to be found.
you notice the DIMM.2 suitable for your needs. Though admittedly that’ll
www.apcmag.com 43
labfeature » amd threadrippper LABS BENCHMARK RESULTS
PCMARK 8 - HOME (ACCELERATED)
GIGABYTE AORUS 4,305
X299 GAMING 7
ASUS ROG ZENITH 4,139
EXTREME
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000
T
he Aorus X399 hope to experience millions are maxed out by support up the tail, but with a spread
Gaming 7 is perhaps of colours. for three M.2 drives, with of only three points in
the best point of Like its Aorus cousins, two slots for 22110 spec the podium grand totals
entry to Ryzen the primary network NVMe SSDs and one slot for (from 21 to 24), the range of
Threadripper ownership connection — the sole 2280 spec, and support for difference is slim to say the
out of the three boards we Ethernet port — is driven by RAID 0, 1 and 10 options. least. Yet, it is worth noting
tested for this roundup, a Killer E2500. While we This is backed by eight SATA that the Gaming 7 was
based on the price point prefer the Intel I211-AT 6Gbps ports, rounding out particularly proficient
compared to featureset found on competitor strong storage support. at the HWBot X265 4K
and user experience. offerings, we didn’t Interestingly, Gigabyte benchmark, but traded
Having said that, it’s a very experience any show- continues to be the sole blows with both the ASUS
tight race and we can see stopping issues with the proprietor of motherboards and MSI offerings
end-users being happy Killer E2500. Wireless with RGBW connectivity, throughout the suite.
with any of the three. connectivity is delivered with the Aorus X399 Don’t be put off by the fact
The Gaming 7 presents by a 2T2R Intel Dual Band Gaming 7 supporting two this motherboard ranked
well with a sleek muted Wireless-AC 8265 wireless such connections for RGBW third overall in our test
colour palette, accented by NIC connected via M.2 LED ribbons. results, as there’s only a slim
metallic highlights in both and integrated into the Audio is driven by the difference and, for the price,
the VRM heatsinks and motherboard’s rear I/O Realtek ALC1220 codec, the performance and
the expansion slot panel. This isn’t a new a component we’ve seen an features delivered here are
reinforcements. This 802.11ac solution and has abundance of throughout still exceptional.
contrast of matte surfaces been seen previously on motherboard launches in Josh Collins
and metallic lustre leads models from a range of 2017. However, it’s the extra
to a visually appealing motherboard vendors, but it supporting components,
and pleasant aesthetic. is a proven capable wireless- such as the WIMA FKP2
Furthermore, if lighting AC solution that gets the job and Nichicon Fine Gold Verdict
bling is your thing, the done and with minimal fuss. capacitors, along with Features
Gaming 7 comes packed System I/O is plentiful, additional supporting driver
to the brim with RGB LED featuring a plethora of USB software that assist in
Performance
integration across the connectivity both on the lifting the Realtek ALC1220
Value
DIMM slots, PCIe slots, rear I/O panel and via from being ‘just another Well featured at a strong price point,
PCH heatsink, audio internal headers for front onboard audio codec’. the Aorus is a greater pairing for either
the 1920X or 1950X.
component cover and rear panel options, sporting In the overall rankings
I/O shield — essentially both Type-A and Type-C of the APC Labs test results,
everywhere you could connectors. Storage options the Aorus offering brought
44 www.apcmag.com
LABS BENCHMARK RESULTS
PCMARK 8 - HOME (ACCELERATED)
MSI X399 GAMING PRO 4,358
CARBON AC
GIGABYTE AORUS 4,305
X299 GAMING 7
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000
T
he X399 Gaming Pro aesthetics beyond RGB LED second header providers 4-way multi-GPU setups.
Carbon AC is the illumination. This board similar RGB LED ribbon We would have much rather
final condenter in features three plastic plates support for the smaller 3528 seen a similar integration
this roundup and it screen-printed with a spec LEDs (3.5mm x 2.8mm to that found on the Aorus.
really reinforces the fact carbon visual effect; diode). This is the first time In terms of performance,
that, as PC enthusiasts, however, these units can be we’ve seen support for 3528 the MSI X399 Gaming Pro
we’re living in an era where removed and replaced with spec LED ribbons and Carbon AC edged out the
we’re spoilt for choice. Not bundled metallic gold or question the proliferation Aorus offering to claim
only is AMD competitive silver plates according to of use of these lighting second place, two points
again with Intel across a the tastes of the end user. strips, but modders do enjoy behind the leading RoG
range of areas, particularly There’s also potential here choice, so time will tell how Zenith Extreme.
with high-end desktops, for PC modders to get this split approach is However, the differences
but the motherboards to creative with custom received by the market. across the range in
support the new Ryzen painted plates, repurposing The Carbon AC series has performance experienced
Threadripper CPUs are the units provided for a historically implemented an at standard settings was
consistently of high further personalised flare. 802.11ac wireless solution minimal, making features,
quality. This scenario has On the RGB lighting front, placed on the rear panel I/O, layout, aesthetics and
delivered choice to the end the X399 Gaming Pro hence the AC moniker. unique implementations
user and further increased Carbon AC is adorned with Indeed, the X399 Gaming a more significant set of
the competition in the RGB illumination on the Pro Carbon AC does sport assessment criteria
market — a welcome combo. shield above rear I/O, audio 802.11ac Wi-Fi via the Intel to be addressed.
With RGB LED component shield, PCH Dual-Band Wireless-AC Josh Collins
illumination having heatsink and a light bar 8265 wireless network
penetrated nearly every on the lower half of the interface controller (WNIC),
aspect of PC component right-side PCB edge. This though unlike the back
production, it’s no surprise combination of lighting panel I/O implementation Verdict
that motherboard designs outlets provides sufficient of the same WNIC on the Features
are now typically muted accents to present the end Aorus offering, the MSI
with metallic highlights. user’s build with coloured solution is presented as a
Performance
Though we prefer the luminance. Also on the RGB PCIe x1 daughterboard, with
Value
industrial influence of the LED front are two RGB the Intel 8265 card needing Unique attributes like changeable plates
Aorus ‘board, the MSI X399 headers. One of these to be installed via M.2. and 3528 LED ribbon support may be
enough to win you over.
Gaming Pro Carbon AC supports the use of the This creates a potentially
introduces a novel way to established 5050 spec RGB messy (or impossible) usage
customise the motherboard LED ribbons while the when considered with 3- and
www.apcmag.com 45
superguide » contents
HAVE
YOU BEEN
HACKED? THE EXPERT GUIDE TO SECURING YOUR DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM:
WINDOWS, MAC, ANDROID, ONLINE & MUCH MORE
PLUS, PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY: LOCK DOWN FACEBOOK • GHOST GOOGLE • STOP WINDOWS 10 SPYING
47 54 60
62 64 70
68
SECURITY ON MAC LOCK DOWN STOP WINDOWS
How to stay safe when FACEBOOK GIVE YOURSELF 10 SPYING
using your Mac at home Facebook is great for A GOOGLE PRIVACY The Creators Update has
or on public Wi-Fi sharing, but it’s easy to CHECK changed-up Windows’
hotspots. overshare — it’s time to How to stop Google privacy options again,
control who sees what. from tracking your so we show you how
online activity. to lock them down.
46 www.apcmag.com
Secure your digital ecosystem
Worried about your online and offline security and privacy?
Nick Peers reveals the tips and techniques you need to lock down
your entire digital ecosystem.
T
here’s hardly a day goes by to scratch, you have a firewall that’s fit even when browsing in public spots,
without some new hacking for purpose and that your personal data and discover how to engage in secure
controversy. From online sites is encrypted and as difficult to steal web browsing, email and even chat.
getting compromised to people as possible. Last, but not least, you’ll learn how
facing down ransomware demands, Next, we’ll look at tightening to implement a foolproof — and
the always-connected era is one the security of your home network — watertight — password management
fraught with danger. Prevention is you’ll discover how to log on to your system to ensure you have unique,
always better than cure, so what can router, improve the security of your strong passwords without making
you do to ensure you’re as protected Wi-Fi network and restrict access to things awkward. We’ll even show you
as you can be? only those devices you explicitly how to switch on two-factor
In this feature, we’re going to arm you choose. We’ll also show you how to authentication for even greater
with all the tools, tips and guides you perform a quick security sweep of your protection.
need to close the door on drive-by wireless technology and check it for Follow these tips and you’ll lock out
hackers, malware and other online weak spots. the snoopers and hackers, and keep
threats to your privacy and security. Then it’s on to your internet your personal data as private and
We’ll start by locking down your PC — connection — you’ll learn how to protected as it can be. It’s time to
ensuring your security software is up encrypt your connection using a VPN, fight back.
All cloud providers promise to encrypt to the cloud — if you’re already using (www.encryptedcloud.com/apps/
your data for privacy purposes, but what VeraCrypt, for example, you could simply windows). Once installed, set up your free
kind of encryption is provided, and where create an encrypted volume inside your nCrypted Cloud account, then connect
are the keys required to decrypt your data cloud folder and store all sensitive data in cloud providers (Dropbox, OneDrive,
stored? If you’re at all paranoid, you will there. On the other hand, if you primarily Box and Google Drive are all supported)
want those keys kept in your personal use your cloud provider for syncing data and finally choose the folders that you
possession, a technique which is known between your various devices, you’ll need want to encrypt. If you want access from
as client-side encryption. Sadly, not many to choose a solution that enables you other computers or mobile devices
cloud backup providers offer this — to access your data on whichever (Mac, iOS and Android are also
neither Dropbox nor OneDrive do, platforms you need. supported), then simply install the
for example. There are a number of options out relevant app or program, link it to your
If this is a concern, you can encrypt there, but one that’s unlimited and free nCrypted Cloud account and you’re done.
your data locally before uploading it for personal use is nCrypted Cloud
www.apcmag.com 47
superguide » secure your digital ecosystem
L
et’s begin by tightening the
Avira’s free security
security of the computers in suite is a superior
your home. First, take a look alternative to Windows
at your security software.
If you’re currently using Windows
Defender, we recommend that you
switch to something stronger.
If you’re happy to rely on free
protection, then Avira Free Security
Suite (www.avira.com) is an excellent
choice. It’s light on its feet, easy to
use and gives you protection that
matches many commercial
products. It includes anti-malware,
system tune-up, a cloud-based
password manager, secure
browsing, a volume-limited VPN,
web and search filter, as well as a
software update checker. Plus,
you can manage multiple devices
from a single desktop. (For more
information, check out our full
review on page 58.)
“If you decide to use free protection, you’ll
Paid-for protection from the likes
of Kaspersky, Symantec and Norton
be relying on the Windows Firewall. It has
goes even further, and you can get
discounts by buying multi-computer
all the tools you need to close the door
licences to cover your whole
household. If going down this route,
to hackers, but it doesn’t use them fully.”
keep an eye out for frequent deals —
you can purchase these any time of hassle, look for a paid-for solution PROTECT YOUR DATA
the year, then apply them once your instead. Personal files are priceless, but they’re
subscription has run out. also sensitive. If you’re a laptop user
ADD MORE PROTECTION who takes their PC on the road, you
SECURE YOUR FIREWALL Whatever security software you should ask yourself how you would feel
If you decide to use free protection, have installed, there’s always room if your laptop was stolen. The answer
you’ll be relying on the Windows for extra help. You can start by is to encrypt your files, and that can be
Firewall. It has all the tools you need installing Malwarebytes Anti-Malware done a number of ways depending on
to close the door to hackers, but it Free (www.malwarebytes.org), which can where the data is stored.
doesn’t use them fully. Windows root out and remove infections missed If you’re carrying files on a USB
Firewall monitors incoming traffic by your main security software. thumb drive, the easiest way is to
from your network and the internet The free version should be used to create an encrypted ‘container’ into
for potential threats, but waves scan your system at least once a week, which you place your most sensitive
through all outgoing traffic from or pay for the Premium version files. The container is password-
applications without a second for real-time protection (without protected — supplying the correct
thought. conflicting with any of your other password unlocks the files within as
If you don’t have a third-party security tools). a virtual disk drive, but otherwise,
firewall installed, then TinyWall If your security software doesn’t they remain hidden and scrambled.
(tinywall.pados.hu) gives you a way to offer any protection against If this approach appeals, take a look at
use Windows Firewall as a two-way ransomware, then install BitDefender Rohos Mini Drive (www.rohos.com/
firewall. True, it needs a bit of Anti-Ransomware Tool products/rohos-mini-drive). This lets
configuration to get working, but our (www.bitdefender.com/solutions/ you to create virtual drives up to 8GB
step-by-step guide on the opposite anti-ransomware-tool.html) to block in size for free.
page reveals all. The only caveat is four known ransomware families. If you want to encrypt your entire
that it can take some time before all Ransomware is particularly nasty machine, then Windows 10
your software is working correctly malware that encrypts all the data Professional users should type
— look out for failed updates and on your hard drive, demanding you pay “bitlocker” into the Search box
applications complaining about a hefty ransom in return for the key to find out how to use Windows’ own
not having enough access. If you required to unlock it — which also encryption tool. If you’re running
recognise and trust the app in relies upon the honesty of the criminal Windows 10 Home, then use VeraCrypt
question, simply follow the guide behind it. Another way to protect (veracrypt.codeplex.com). You can use it
to add it to TinyWall’s whitelist. yourself is to regularly back up your either to create encrypted volumes of
Also note the potential issues data both offsite (the cloud) and onsite locally-stored data or encrypt entire
with sharing files and printers with (an external hard drive). drives and partitions — see the ‘System
other people — you can work around Encryption’ section of VeraCrypt’s
most of them, but if it’s too much documentation.
48 www.apcmag.com
Lock down your network
Stop hackers and snoopers from accessing your router.
E
ven if you’ve yet to embrace changed, it’s time to tighten up your device, but it’ll typically be under
the concept of the smarthome, Wi-Fi network. Your router should have Settings somewhere. In the case of your
the chances are you will still already set encryption (WPA2-PSK with wirelessly connected PC, look under
have a number of devices, AES encryption ideally), but it’s a good ‘Settings > Network and Internet > View
as well as your PC, competing for idea to change the default password. your network properties’ in the Physical
bandwidth on your home network. Yes, you’ll have to reconnect all your Address (MAC) section.
Read on to discover how to reduce its wireless devices, but you’ll immediately Once you’ve got all the MAC addresses
vulnerability with a home network kick off any unauthorised devices who you need — including, critically, your
security audit. might have been using it without your wireless PC if applicable — enable MAC
knowledge. If you have separate 2.4GHz address filtering and enter the
LOCK YOUR ROUTER and 5GHz networks set up, repeat for addresses one by one. If prompted,
Let’s start with the gateway between both (and consider setting unique choose the option to only allow devices
your home and the internet. If you’ve passwords for each separate network). with MAC addresses that match.
never carried out admin on your router Each computer or device on your If you frequently allow family and
before, then you will definitely find network is identified using its MAC friends to access your Wi-Fi network,
ways in which to strengthen its address, a six-digit hexadecimal code. enabling MAC address filtering may be
security. You can usually manage your If your router supports MAC filtering, a step too far. That said, explore your
router through your web browser by it means you can lock down your Wi-Fi router’s settings to see if it offers
entering its four-digit IP address into wireless network even further, by only a guest network function — if it does,
the Address Bar. To do that, first open accepting connections from devices you can give visitors internet access
‘Settings > Network and Internet’ and with specific MAC addresses. without opening up the rest of your
click ‘View your network properties’, First, you need to identify the MAC network to them. Make sure that you
then make a note of your router’s IP address for each device you own, which enable the WPA/WPA2 encryption
address under Default Gateway. we recommend you write down and option for the guest network, and set
Type the IP address into your browser, record somewhere secure. You’ll need to a unique wireless password for your
and you will now see a status or login look up instructions for your specific guests to use.
page. Each router handles things
differently, but they all follow a broadly
similar pattern. Consult its
Protect your laptop’s data
documentation, look on the router box from theft by encrypting
or visit its support website for the its entire storage drive.
default login details to gain access.
It’s possible for drive-by hackers
to target routers remotely, relying on
users having left the default password
in place, so if that’s the case on your
router, you should look for the option to
change this — on our TP-Link router it’s
under ‘System Tools > Manage Control’,
but other routers will vary. See page 52
for tools that can help you help create
a strong password.
www.apcmag.com 49
superguide » secure your digital ecosystem
S
ome are standardised — You can then investigate the dubious The growth in smarthome tech
for example, port 80 provides app further using the IP address to means many more wireless devices
connections to the web, while target the device it’s originating from are now communicating over the
port 25 is used by SMTP email before deciding whether or not you internet, so make sure these are
servers — but others are allocated should re-enable it. locked down, too. We’ll show you
on an application-by-application A better approach — if a bit less how to use strong passwords and
basis (if you want to access your convenient — is to manually set up port other measures to lock down any
Plex Media Server over the internet, forwarding yourself. Apps should alert account settings screens over the
for example, you need to connect you when this needs to be done, and you page, but you should look out for
through port 32,400). can follow the step-by-step guide firmware updates that can help close
In the past, you had to manually open at the bottom of this page to see security loopholes.
ports through your router’s setup what information needs to be set up If you have a webcam attached
utility, but thanks to the arrival of for each port. to your PC, make sure it’s not in a
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), apps One final thing: check your router’s place where it could be used to spy
can now communicate effortlessly support website to see if any firmware on you. Keep an eye on the activity
with your router and open the ports updates are available for it. These can light — it should only be on when
they need in the background. add more features, but may also you’re using it. If the camera is a
While convenient, this does open your contain security fixes. Installing an USB model, consider unplugging it
router to potential breaches (malware update usually involves downloading when not in use or at least cover the
can open ports to wreak havoc, for the update file to your PC, then lens, so even if it is compromised,
instance). You should, at the very least, uploading it manually to your router’s it won’t see anything. If you use a
check periodically to see which apps configuration utility where it’s then security camera, protect it with a
have access to your router and if you applied. Be sure to back up or record strong password and limit who has
don’t recognise any, disable it your settings before doing so, in case access. You should also switch on
immediately to close all ports. the update wipes them out. its notifications to make sure you’re
alerted whenever it’s used.
“You should, at the very least, check If you’d like to see what’s currently
connected to your home network —
50 www.apcmag.com
OpenDNS’s servers offer
a safer, more reliable way
to browse the web.
N
ow let’s make your internet traffic to and from your device anti-malware tool before running it.
connection more secure, encrypted. If you just want to browse Exercise similar caution with browser
starting with your DNS the web, install the Opera web browser add-ons — review each one before you
server. This is used to (www.opera.com), which includes its own install it, and periodically check which
translate web addresses into their VPN. Look for the VPN button in your add-ons have been installed, removing
physical IP addresses. Normally, your Address Bar (you can enable it via ‘Menu any you no longer need or recognise.
DNS server is provided by your ISP, > Settings > Privacy & security’). Click it, It’s a similar story with email. Avoid
but it’s not the best choice for flick the switch to ‘On’ to encrypt your clicking any links and instead type
performance and security reasons. web browsing. If you want to widen VPN the URL into your web browser directly
Alternatives such as OpenDNS are support to all your network traffic, to ensure you end up going where you
faster, more reliable and, crucially, the simplest solution is to install think you should. You should also scan
apply more security checks to validate CyberGhost VPN (www.cyberghostvpn. email attachments before opening
web addresses. With OpenDNS, you can com), which can encrypt your entire them, and employ the services of tools
sign up at its website (www.opendns. connection. The free version is such as Mailwasher (www.mailwasher.
com) for things like parental controls unlimited, but slow — pay the US$10.99 net) or PopTray (www.poptray.org) to
and identity theft protection. monthly fee for faster performance. screen messages before they land.
Alternatively, log in to your router, Emailing someone is akin to sending
locate where its DNS settings are MORE SECURE WEB BROWSING a postcard — anyone can read it. If you
stored, and then change them to the Your internet connection may now be use Thunderbird, check out the
following addresses: 208.67.222.222 secure, but you can still do more. Opera step-by-step guide to find out how
and 208.67.220.220. The effect will be comes with its own built-in ad blocker, to encrypt email.
immediate. If you lose your connection,
check that you’ve added them correctly.
If you have any devices you use away
from home, you can change their DNS
settings to OpenDNS, too — in the case
Chat securely
of a Windows 10 PC, you need to type Do you often stay in touch through instant messaging apps such as Skype?
“network” into the Search box and click
‘View network connections’. Double- While they can be great fun, the bad each contact to do the same. You then
click your adapter’s entry and click news is that Skype, in particular, isn’t export certificate files to send to each
Properties, then select ‘Internet that secure. If you want true end-to- contact before importing their file in
Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)’ and click end encryption for voice, video and turn. Tick ‘Authenticate friend (Sign PGP
Properties. Select ‘Use the following text-based chats (as well as secure file Key)’ if you’re confident in their identity,
DNS server addresses’ and enter sharing), then you’ll need to look into then wait while Retroshare’s Connection
208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 using an alternative solution. Assistant sets up the connection.
into the two boxes, then click OK. The most secure we have found is It’s a fiddly process getting that
Retroshare (www.retroshare.net). The initial connection set up (and you have
SECURE WIRELESS CONNECTIONS only catch is that you’ll have to convince to repeat it for each device you install
When you’re on the go, it’s tempting to all your contacts to use it, too — if this Retroshare on and import your identity
connect to any public wireless hotspot, is a deal breaker, take a look at Jitsi into), but once both of you are verified
even ones that don’t ask you for a (jitsi.org), which supports a number of and connected to the other, you can
password. The problem is, these are different messaging platforms. be secure in the knowledge that future
often completely open, allowing You can install Retroshare (choose chats aren’t just encrypted and secure
anyone to eavesdrop on you. That’s the QT5 version when at the download from unwanted eavesdroppers, but
where a VPN comes in. page) to your PC’s main storage drive that you know exactly who you’re
A VPN creates a ‘tunnel’ through a or run it as a portable application, chatting with.
public network, that enables you to then set up your account and get
connect to the internet, with all the
www.apcmag.com 51
superguide » secure your digital ecosystem
D
o you rely on a limited
number of passwords to
secure accounts both online
“A good password management tool
and off? You’re not alone.
The sad truth is, though, that this
will generate strong random passwords,
represents an opportunity for
hackers and identity thieves
make them easy to access and protect
who, once they crack one of your
passwords, can often crack them all. them all behind a single, strong master
The way to solve this problem is to
create unique, complex passwords for password you can remember.”
each account that you use, using a mix
of upper and lowercase characters,
numbers and even symbols. The trick It’s portable too, so you can store any service you access through your
then is remembering them all. everything on a USB thumb drive and web browser, making it a good fit for
The solution lies in employing the take your passwords with you on to your router, plus locally hosted servers
services of a password manager. other computers. such as Plex.
A good password management tool will The biggest drawback with KeePass, LastPass also offers secure notes
generate strong random passwords, however, is that it only works on your and form filling tools, for storing other
make them easy to access and protect PC — if you want access to your sensitive information. You can also ask
them all behind a single, strong master passwords on your mobile, for example, LastPass to prompt you for your master
password you can remember. You log then you’ll need to be within reach of password each time you open a
into the password manager with the your machine to access them. If you’re particularly sensitive note. It also
master password, and the rest of your willing to store your passwords in the includes a security audit, which checks
passwords are then available. cloud (encrypted, of course), a more all your passwords for weak ones,
convenient option is to use a tool such duplicates, passwords you haven’t
PICK A PASSWORD as LastPass (www.lastpass.com). updated in a while and even accounts
If you’re super-concerned or even LastPass offers a similar feature set known to have been compromised.
paranoid about security, you’ll want to to KeePass, minus the key file option. All of this functionality — including
store your passwords offline, in which Instead, what it gives you is more syncing across mobile and desktop —
case you should look at KeePass convenience — you can install apps on is now completely free. Upgrade to the
(keepass.info). Everything’s stored your devices (including mobile ones) LastPass Premium package (US$24
locally, and you can add an extra layer and use browser plugins to make it per year) for more features, such as
of protection to your passwords by easier to log into sites — see the guide LastApp — a tool for using LastPass
locking them using both a master on the opposite page — as well as in conjunction with installed apps
password and a key file, which you generate strong, random passwords or programs on your device.
store on an external disk or drive. for new accounts. LastPass works with
52 www.apcmag.com
Two-factor authentication and
two-factor verification add an
extra layer of security, by checking
your identify using mobile devices.
www.apcmag.com 53
superguide » windows security suites
M
icrosoft is, without a doubt, suite is still your best bet, and to TEST RESULTS
far better than it once was complement this month’s superguide, Each of the suites reviewed here has been
when it comes to security. we’re going to look at our current comprehensively tested by independent
Its antivirus tool is no three favourites. We have an editor’s antiviral analysis company AV-Test
longer a joke, Windows firewall is pick for techie types, another for (www.av-test.org). We’ve published here
more than capable and even its beginners and a third for people just the latest results available at the time
recovery and backup systems have looking for a free suite with premium of writing, from June 2017.
improved over time. But it’s still not features. Note that the results are not, in all
up to the capabilities of a full security The choices are based partly on test cases, from the specific products we’ve
suite. The likes of BitDefender, results, but also on additional features reviewed. For example, we may have
Kaspersky and Symantec have and usability. For pros, we chose the looked at the full suite where AV-Test
remained a step ahead when it comes suite that gives you the most tools to may have only tested the standalone
to security, and still have better work with. For beginners, we looked anti-virus application, or we may have
anti-malware, superior parental for the suite that does the most while a product that has been updated since
controls options and a range of system bothering you the least. And for the the tests were performed in June.
tools that Windows just doesn’t have free suite, we looked for the tool that That doesn’t change the validity of the
built-in. did the most in a single package results, since the same antivirus engine
So if you’re looking to up your without costing a cent. is in use. So let’s break down what the
security game, a third-party security numbers mean:
VENDOR TESTED PRODUCT NAME PROGRAM PROTECTION DETECTION OF PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE
VERSION AGAINST 0-DAY WIDESPREAD IMPACT WHEN IMPACT ON IMPACT ON
MALWARE AND PREVALENT LAUNCHING DOWNLOAD OF LAUNCH OF
ATTACKS MALWARE POPULAR FREQUENTLY- STANDARD
WEBSITES USED SOFTWARE
APPLICATIONS APPLICATIONS
AVG INTERNET SECURITY 17.3 & 17.4 100% 99.9% 15% 7% 33%
THREATTRACK VIPRE INTERNET SECURITY PRO 9.3 97.9% 100% 10% 2% 25%
54 www.apcmag.com
Protection against 0-day malware
“The likes of BitDefender, Kaspersky
≠≠
attacks is a measure of the suite’s
ability to detect new viruses based
on their behaviour. It’s perhaps the
most important number here.
and Symantec have remained a step ahead
≠≠ Detection of widespread and
prevalent malware shows the
when it comes to security, and still have
detection percentage of known
viruses released in the four weeks
better anti-malware, superior parental
before the test.
≠≠ The performance impact ratings
controls options and a range of system tools
give percentages by which the suite
slows down a mid-range PC when
that Windows just doesn’t have built-in.”
performing common tasks.
≠≠ False warnings is the number of
instances where the suite flagged
legitimate software and websites Paid suites vs free tools
as a threat and either blocked it In 2017, it would seem that you can get everything you need
or produced a warning popup. using completely free software.
For convenience, AV-Test also provides There are entire suites now that are free to download, and tons of tools that you
three overall scores, rating each suite’s could combine together to make an effective suite. All this is true, if you have
protection, performance impact and the knowledge and time investment to do so.
usability out of 6, to give a total score
out of 18. (Usability, in this instance, You should remember, however, that when you pay for a commercial suite,
is not a reference to ease-of-use, it’s not only the software that you’re paying for — it’s the support. Most suites
but is based on the number of times come with 24/7 helplines, live chat and remote control support. You — the tech-
the program produced false popups savvy, APC-reading super-nerd — may not need support services, but it’s probable
and blocked legitimate software). that your family members might. That’s why, even in a world where free suites
We should note that AV-Tests aggregate are a thing, we often still recommend that most people get a commercial suite.
scores are based on combined May–Jun Having an expert (not the designated family go-to guy) to call when things go
performance, while we’ve only printed wrong is absolutely worth $100-odd per year.
June results for space reasons.
USABILITY
PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE FALSE WARNINGS FALSE WARNINGS FALSE BLOCK- PROTECTION PERFORMANCE USABILITY SCORE TOTAL SCORE
IMPACT ON IMPACT ON OR BLOCKAGES ON INSTALLING AGES OF CERTAIN SCORE SCORE
INSTALLATION COPYING OF WHEN VISITING NEW SOFTWARE ACTIONS CARRIED
OF FREQUENTLY- FILES, LOCALLY WEBSITES OUT WHILST
USED AND IN INSTALLING AND
APPLICATIONS A NETWORK USING LEGITI-
MATE SOFTWARE
www.apcmag.com 55
superguide » windows security suites
Norton Security
Premium for 3 Devices
The best solution for families.
N
orton is one of the A lot of beginners don’t do and Macs as well. Its mobile
slickest, least proper backups or subscribe parental controls are Runner up: Trend
intrusive and to backup services, but this particularly good on Micro Maximum
most accessible makes it easy to have Android, where all the rules Security
suites on the market now. automated backup to a that you configure can still
Great value for money.
It does a lot while asking secure cloud server, which is be applied. Passwords stored
a key tool for mitigating $80 FOR 6 DEVICES
very little. on desktops will be taken to FOR 1 YEAR
That’s true of a number of ransomware attacks. Its your mobile as well. WWW.TRENDMICRO.COM.AU
suites now, but what puts biggest problem is that the Unfortunately, these aren’t If it weren’t for Norton’s
Norton over the top is its 25GB limit is far too stingy. available on iOS. parental controls, Trend
elegant, simple interface, There are a lot of other We love the elegance of Micro might have taken
its rich feature set that things going on the the solution overall. Setting the prize. We’ve had better
includes online backup, and background as well. It it up requires very little experiences with it when
what is the industry’s best managed a perfect score in expenditure of effort, and it comes to actual malware
parental control solution. AV-Test’s benchmarks and even the online backup cleanup (Norton also often
The subscription for had very little impact on system intelligently figures gives a ‘Get Help’ response
Security Premium includes performance. There’s a ton out what to back up for you rather than cleaning
a full sub to Norton Family of hidden features: banking and requires virtually no the infection), and like
Premium, a cloud-based protection, website filtering, setup. There are useful Norton, it does a lot in the
parental control system identity protection, cloud management tools for background without making
with ] outstanding tools for password management, multiple devices, and great a big deal about it. There’s
managing and monitoring system tuning and cleaning, mobile support as well. password management,
kids’ online activities. and more. It does all this link protection, cloud
It generates reports, shows automatically, too. It also drive scanning, one-click
snippets of videos they’re has a neat cloud-based system optimisation, folder
watching, lets you limit
their access times or sites
management system that
lets you remotely monitor Verdict locking, social media privacy
checkups, a secure browser
they can visit, and much and manage multiple PCs Easy to use, accessible for and a whole lot more.
more. All the rules are attached to the licence. everyone and possessed of the
best parental controls around. It also covers more devices
managed through a portal Like many suites now, the for your $80, and that
site, so there’s no need to set Norton Security licence also includes mobiles.
up anything on their PCs. applies to mobile devices
56 www.apcmag.com
“The parental controls are
also excellent, second
only to those offered by
Symantec, with a cloud-
based management and
policy centre. You can also
use the portal site to
monitor devices attached
to the license and even
remotely trigger scans.”
BEST WINDOWS SECURITY SUITE FOR PROS
$72 FOR 5 DEVICES FOR 1 YEAR | WWW.BITDEFENDER.COM.AU
BitDefender
Total Security 2018
Still the best.
F
or many years, Symantec, with a cloud- heuristic scans. If you don’t
BitDefender has based management and want to do that, you can Runner up:
been our pick for policy centre. You can also always switch BitDefender Kaspersky Total
advanced users, use the site to monitor into autopilot mode, which Security
and even a good pick for devices on the licence and lets it make most of the
A very close second.
beginners as well, thanks remotely trigger scans. decisions for you. We’ve
It achieved perfect scores $120 FOR 3 DEVICES
to its autopilot mode. never had any real problems FOR 1 YEAR
The set of features in AV-Test’s antivirus with autopilot, and it’s smart WWW.KASPERSKY.COM.AU
available is equalled by few benchmarks. We’ve had enough to make firewall and Although BitDefender is
suites. It has a firewall, anti- excellent results with its cleanup decisions without still our top suite pick, it
malware and anti-spam, removal engine as well — your input. was a very near-run thing.
but also secure browsing, it does a good job of cleaning This suite is everything Kaspersky continues to
file locking to prevent infections after detection, a security suite should be: improve, and Total Security
ransomware encryption, and includes a pre-boot full of features but easy to has a feature set that
anti-theft tools, game mode for ripping manage, highly configurable very closely rivals that of
modes, parental advisors, problematic elements out. yet also capable of auto- BitDefender. All the tools you
social network protection, It also has one of the best configurations, and could really want are built
password manager, file recovery drive/disc creators designed to not just detect into the suite — including
shredder, security auditor, going, with a good set of threats but also get them backup, file encryption,
system cleanup and more. tools available for repairing out of your system. It’s still webcam monitoring, cloud-
In this latest version, it’s a system that’s so messed up the best suite around, and based parental controls and
added webcam access you can’t even boot into it. our top pick amongst all a password manager. It even
monitoring (which works All the tools, options suites. includes a volume-limited
much better than Windows’ and reports are highly VPN for secure connections
permissions), as well as an configurable, and you can when you take your laptop
improved anti-ransomware
file locking tool. File access
really drill down into a lot
of features if you’ve a mind. Verdict onto public Wi-Fi hotspots.
Really, the biggest thing
to selected folders can now You can set multiple location Excellence across the board stopping it from overtaking
be permission-based. profiles and adjust and at damn good price.
BitDefender is the price.
The parental controls are sensitivity sliders if you In terms of features and
also excellent, second only want to increase the capabilities, it’s on par.
to those offered by aggressiveness of its
www.apcmag.com 57
superguide » windows security suites
Avira
Free Security Suite
An awful lot of tools for nothing.
I
t used to be the case or application sandbox. The well integrated. It’s chattier
that, if you wanted a tune-up tools are restricted than something like Runner up: Avast
free suite, you had to in the free version, and Symantec or BitDefender in Free Antivirus
DIY it together from there are no backup tools autopilot mode, but
The best free
various free apps. or parental controls. straightforward and
antivirus app.
Not anymore. What is there, though, comprehensible for both
$80 FOR 6 DEVICES
Of the suites available, is pretty good. Avira’s anti- beginners and advanced FOR 1 YEAR
Avira is currently our top malware engine received a users. Avira Connect lets WWW.TRENDMICRO.COM.AU
pick. In a free package, perfect overall score in you manage multiple Although it’s not marketed as
it provides anti-malware, AV-Test’s benchmarks, being devices from a single PC. It’s a ‘suite’, Avast Free Antivirus
system tune-up, cloud-based both effective and light on more than just monitoring is more than just an anti-
password manager, secure system resources. It cleans a alerts: you can see the status malware application.
browsing, volume-limited system well, and the extra of components, as well as It includes a pretty good
VPN (with 1GB/month), tools are useful. The VPN is trigger remote scans. password manager, secure
web and search filter, and a particularly convenient, and While not as good as a browser and a modest set of
software update checker. the Scout secure browser is $100-per-year commercial utilities for monitoring Wi-Fi
You can manage multiple excellent. suite, for free, it offers an security and identity theft.
devices from a single There is some annoying awful lot — including some It’s very easy to use, and has
desktop as well. It’s a pretty upsell, though. You’re things that commercial excellent antivirus detection
comprehensive package. reminded that the VPN is suites don’t. If you’re not rates from AV-Test’s results.
It will not, however, rival limited to only 1GB per going to pay for a suite, It’s not anywhere near
a commercial suite. It’s good, month, while the paid this is definitely the next the kind of full suite that
but it’s not up to par with the version offers unlimited best thing. you’ll get in a commercial
likes of Symantec, access. The software update product, but for an advanced
BitDefender and Kaspersky. checker and system user who is careful and
It has no firewall — it uses
Windows firewall — and a
optimisation tools are also a
little crippled, with the full Verdict doesn’t need a lot of the
hand-holding that a full suite
number of the deeper set of features only A suite that would have cost $100 provides it can be more than
features you might find in available in the paid version. several years ago. Not bad,
for something that’s free. enough.
those suites are missing. The suite isn’t difficult to
There’s no ransomware use, though it is a little
locker, nor webcam monitor scattershot and not terribly
58 www.apcmag.com
114 www.apcmag.com
superguide » security on android
Security on Android
Lindsay Handmer reveals everything
you need to know about securing
your Android phone or tablet.
W
e are increasingly you don’t trust, especially from
storing and accessing unknown sources, such as via SMS.
our entire digital lives Google does have inbuilt safe
through a smartphone, browsing in apps such as Chrome
and security is a growing issue. and Gmail, which can help provide
It’s not just personal information, protection, but are not foolproof.
but breaches can leave your bank
accounts, credit card or services WI-FI WOES
open to attack. Fortunately, security Accessing an unsecured Wi-Fi
on Android is generally excellent, network is an easy way to have your
and there are plenty of third-party data snooped on or harvested.
options available for extra peace Even supposedly safe, secure Wi-Fi
of mind. networks can be compromised or
fake. The best bet is to avoid Wi-Fi
SECURITY UPDATES unless you know the source is safe
Devices in active use, yet which are (such as at home or a friend’s house),
not kept updated, are one of the or use a VPN. For Android, Hola VPN
biggest Android security problems. (hola.org) is free and ideal for
In 2016, half the Android devices out occasional use. Otherwise Windscribe
there did not receive any updates, (windscribe.com) costs ~$5 per month,
leaving them exposed to new but can be used on unlimited devices
vulnerabilities. It’s not just users (including a computer) with no
falling behind on updates — many bandwidth restrictions.
manufacturers don’t support older
models for very long. Keep your ACCOUNT AND PHYSICAL
Android device updated, or if updates SECURITY Most third-party
are not available, consider upgrading While malware is a big concern, the Android app stores
to a newer model. security of your Android device also should not be trusted,
but Amazon is one
depends on restricting outside access. worthy exception.
MALICIOUS APPS Your smartphone should use a PIN
The second largest threat to Android
security are malicious apps, which
can do anything from harvest
personal information, to pop up
annoying ads. The vast majority of
problem apps come from sources
outside of the google Play Store.
In 2016, only 0.05% of Google Play
store apps were compromised, so the
vast majority of issues come from
using third-party app stores. App
stores such as Amazon are generally
safe, but the numerous third-party
stores (even the largest, such as
getjar.com) are best avoided outright.
PHISHING ATTEMPTS
Links in SMS, email, apps or websites
can be used to trick users into visiting
a malicious page, or downloading an
infected app or file. If someone else’s
device is already infected, the
messages can look like they are
coming from a legitimate source.
Getting infected yourself can result
in anything from secret premium Google’s built-in Google Play Protect
calls or text to rack up bills, to Find My Device service is turned on by default
allows you to remotely on Android 7 devices
stealing personal information, or just track, call or erase and automatically scans
popping up ads. The best way to avoid your phone if it’s lost. for malicious apps.
infection is to not visit any links that
60 www.apcmag.com
or fingerprint security, and make
sure notifications are not set to show
up on your lock screen. Make sure
any passwords (or PIN) used is not
easy to guess, or reused across
multiple accounts. Turn on two-factor
authentication for your Google
account, as well as for services such
as internet banking. It’s possible
to see if a password has been
compromised through a third-party
hack on haveibeenpwned.com —
change the password immediately
and discontinue its use if so.
Verdict Verdict
A wide range of easy to use features An affordable price gives excellent
When connecting to an for a price that can’t be beat. protection and premium features.
unknown Wi-Fi network,
using a VPN is the best
way to improve security.
www.apcmag.com 61
superguide » security on mac and ios
Security on Mac
Roland Waddilove has some tips on how to stay safe when using
your Mac at home or on public Wi-Fi hotspots.
S
ecurity is a constant worry, so revealing information. For example, security tips detailed in the following
your choice of a Mac instead of email attachments, phishing pages to ensure that your Mac is well
some other kinds of computer attempts and sharing too much at protected, that it isn’t ‘leaking’ details
is certainly a good decision. public Wi-Fi hotspots are just some (especially if you use public Wi-Fi
However, while the Mac has enjoyed of the problems that can affect hotspots), and that you understand
a reputation for security in the past, your security. and avoid common traps.
that doesn’t mean you can ignore the To make sure your data stays safe,
cunning ways you can be tricked into work through our fundamental
Firewall options
ULTIMATE BLOCK
1 SECURITY 3 ACCESS
Check this box to If you find an app
1 turn up firewall in the list that you
security to the max. don’t recognise
The Mac blocks and which looks
all connection suspicious, click
attempts over the here and set its
network, apart network access
2 3 from essential rights to ‘Block
ones. incoming
connections’.
ALLOWED
2 APPS HIDE YOUR
This is a list of 4 MAC
all the apps that There are easy
are allowed to ways for nefarious
communicate people to detect
4 over your network your Mac over
connection. a network.
Search online for Enabling stealth
any you don’t mode stops this,
recognise to check and is useful
it isn’t malware. when using a
public Wi-Fi
hotspot.
62 www.apcmag.com
How to
Shore up your Mac’s security
www.apcmag.com 63
superguide » lock down facebook
Learn how
to lock down
Facebook 1
The social media giant is great 2
for sharing, but it’s easy to 3
4
overshare — but you can control
who sees what with a little help
from this guide by Alex Cox.
T
here’s a good reason Facebook is the most popular
social network in the Western world. It’s easy to 5
join, easy to connect with your friends and
incredibly convenient. If you want to share
something, it’s only a couple of clicks away. But is that
really such a good thing? Do you want every one of your
friends to see every little thing you post? Should anybody
that stumbles on your profile be allowed to poke through
your family pictures or find out your personal
information? Absolutely not.
Facebook doesn’t exactly hide its privacy features, but it
doesn’t push them either. It’s up to you to decide how secure
you want your account and posts to be. We’ll walk you
through the steps and safeguards; use your own judgement
over how much you want to put in place, to ensure the people
that matter can still see your posts and profile.
Step-by-step
Make Facebook more secure.
64 www.apcmag.com
ACCOUNT BLOCK AND
1 PROTECTION 4 MUTE
Use the ‘Security Remove every
and login’ section nuisance, from
to lock your account troublesome friends
and so prevent to annoying app
unwanted intrusion. requests, in the
Blocking section.
GET
2 UNFRIENDLY BACKUP NOW
Unsolicited requests 5 Even if you’re
from people you not concerned
don’t really know about security,
can be unsettling you may want to
— block them in the keep a copy of your
Privacy section. account data in case
of disaster.
REVIEW
3 YOUR TAGS START
See what friends are 6 SETTING UP
posting about you To find all of these
by activating ‘tag settings, use the
reviewing’ under Settings option
the ‘Timeline and in Facebook’s
tagging’ option. less-than-obvious
6 drop-down menu.
Jargon buster!
Two-factor authentication
A way of logging into a service which requires two parts —
usually a password, plus another single use code. The idea
is that, even if someone does find out your password,
they won’t be getting in without a fresh code.
Friend request
The way Facebook users connect with people they know —
or people that they want to know.
Timeline
All your Facebook posts are arranged in chronological order —
at least in theory. However, that is not always the case.
www.apcmag.com 65
superguide » lock down facebook
66 www.apcmag.com
114 www.apcmag.com
superguide » google privacy check
Give yourself a
Google privacy check
Nathan Taylor shows you how to stop Google
from tracking your online activity.
U
nless you’ve been extra
careful, it’s probably fair to
say that Google knows you
just about as well as you know
yourself. The internet giant hoovers
up vast amounts of information on
millions of users, ostensibly to deliver
better ads (or, more accurately, to sell
that user information to advertisers
in order to better target ads).
This is especially true if you have a
Google account. When you’re logged into
your Google account, Google will keep
a permanent record of:
≠≠ Every search term you type into
Google
≠≠ Every search result you click on
≠≠ Every YouTube search you perform
and every video you watch
Google does let you get
≠≠ Ads you click on
a view of everything it
≠≠ A complete timeline of your has recorded about you.
movements by tracking your
mobile’s GPS
≠≠ Every time you issue an ‘OK Google’ Its DoubleClick, AdSense and AdMob google.com and log in. It’s here that you’ll
voice command ad networks use tracking cookies and see the complete record of every bit of
≠≠ Potentially any time you visit a page similar techniques to monitor app usage data Google has associated with your
with embedded Google services and movement between sites, too. account, plus you can delete your records
(like maps) and your complete To its credit, Google does now give you and stop future tracking.
Chrome browser history (thankfully tools to switch a good deal of that The first thing we want to do is delete
this last one is turned off by default). account tracking off — and that’s more the archives. This will remove every item
than can be said for some of its from Google’s record about your activity.
This information is recorded and competitors, such as Microsoft and Now we need to say up front that we
attached to your personal Google Facebook. We’ll walk you through that pretty much have to take it on faith that
account permanently. But even if you process below, as well as give some Google is actually deleting these records.
don’t have a Google account or are not extra tips for dodging Google’s tracking. The company has said that it does,
logged in, it will still gather although it notes that, in some cases, the
information. DISABLING TRACKING records may still be stored on backup
It records the IP addresses of people AND RECORDING tapes and in archives.
searching with Google and what they Google now, thankfully, gives you the Click on ‘Delete activity by’ on the left
searched for. This data is kept for tools to delete your account records side of the page. Then under ‘Delete by
a period of time before being permanently, as well as turn off future date’, select ‘All time’ from the drop-down
“anonymised” by deleting part of tracking. You just have to know where menu and click Delete. This will clear the
the IP address. to find the settings. Head to myactivity. records of your online activity up until
now. You’ll be asked to confirm.
Now it’s time to stop Google from
Facebook tracking gathering data in the future. Go back to
When it comes to tracking, Facebook is another company the My Activity page, then click on
that you have to be wary of. Activity Controls on the left. This is
where you can switch off all the logging
The omnipresence of Facebook widgets such as ‘Like’ buttons provides Facebook that Google does.
with incredible amounts of information about your online activity. Every time Here, you will see a set of panels for
you visit a site with a ‘Like’ button, Facebook can know about it. And Facebook different types of activity that Google
has not been as forthcoming about its tracking activity as Google, and it doesn’t records. There are panels for ‘Web & App
provide the same means of deleting and reviewing your records. Thankfully, Activity’, ‘Location History’, ‘Device
the browser privacy add-ons like Disconnect and Ghostery are also effective Information’, ‘Voice & Audio Activity’,
against Facebook widgets. More on curtailing Facebook on page 64. ‘YouTube Search History’ and ‘YouTube
Watch History’. In each panel, there is a
blue switch. One by one, turn them to off
68 www.apcmag.com
Disabling third-party
cookies
Another thing you can do to
stop ad cookies is disable
third-party cookies in your
browser — though installing
Disconnect or Ghostery has
much the same effect.
(which Google calls “paused”). You’ll get done, but we’ve always liked Disconnect
a warning popup for each one. (disconnect.me). Another solid solution
The one exception you might make is is Ghostery (www.ghostery.com).
watched YouTube videos. That’s actually Installing these browser add-ons will
useful, since it determines YouTube block all tracking cookies from being Disconnect blocks
recommendations. Once you’ve done sent by your browser. They also stop tracking cookies.
that, Google should stop recording analytics and other tracking systems,
your activity in your Google account. like Facebook and Google widgets, from
It does not stop IP logging of searches reporting your activity back to the startpage.com. StartPage still gives you
(we’ll get to that), and it will still keep mothership. Google Search results. Except that it
some search information in cookies If you really want to kill ad tracking, fetches those results for you like a proxy,
for the duration of a session, but your you can also install uBlock Origin so that you don’t give Google your IP
permanent account activity record (www.ublock.org, which we now prefer address. StartPage itself claims that it
will remain clean. to Adblock Plus) which will stop your logs no IP addresses or search terms —
browser from communicating with ad but again, we take that on faith.
ANTI-COOKIE MEASURES services like DoubleClick altogether. With all Google account tracking
Now to stop the tracking that Google turned off, with ad cookies and analytics
does regardless of your account settings DODGING IP LOGGING disabled, with Google widgets blocked
or login status. First up, let’s stop those Finally, to deal with the fact that Google and by using a third-party search engine,
cookies and analytics. still links online searches with IP you should now be mostly clear of the
The best way to do that is with a addresses, you can use a third-party Google octopus. Now you just have to
privacy add-on for your browser. search engine. If you still want Google’s figure out a way to stop Facebook and
There are a number that get the job search results, we recommend Microsoft... (See page 70.)
www.apcmag.com 69
superguide » stop windows 10 from spying
T
he latest major patch for
Windows 10 — aka the 2
Creators Update — has made
a good stab at streamlining
the raft of additional security options
that first became available in the
previous Anniversary Update, but
thankfully, there’s still more than
enough customisability to keep you
feeling safe and protecting yourself
from oversharing.
With a over 18 subcategories of
privacy options, there’s really a control
for everything that you might want or
need to shut off included in the options.
In such a long list, however, that there
are a few that aren’t explained
particularly well, so as a rule of thumb,
just turn sharing off for anything you
don’t fully understand. Most software
will prompt you to change particular
settings if it requires special privacy
privileges to work anyway.
5 6
1 START AT THE BEGINNING
The Anniversary Update brought
with it some great new security
features that have stuck around
in the subsequent Creators Update.
In particular, the Windows 10
lockscreen allows you to hide your
email address if you log in with an
Microsoft account. Go to ‘Settings >
Accounts > Sign-in’ options and scroll
down to ‘Privacy’ to find it.
4 LOCATION SETTINGS
6 KEEP CORTANA IN LINE
2 STOP ADS TRACKING YOU
From the main Settings app, you
The ‘Location’ settings is worth
visiting. Some apps, such as Maps and
Cortana’s virtual assistant duties
mean that it (and, therefore, Microsoft)
need to click on ‘Privacy’ to discover Weather, use your location in a helpful is keeping close tabs on what you say.
the main collection of privacy settings way — showing you the local area or To improve Cortana’s comprehension,
available. If you’d prefer advertisers telling you the forecast for where you data about your commonly-used
were not able to track you using an are, for instance. That’s why you vocabulary is stored in a personal
anonymous tracking number, then set probably shouldn’t turn off location profile. To turn this off, select ‘Turn off
‘Advertising ID’ to ‘Off’ and Windows information completely, but instead services and typing suggestions’,
will randomly allocate you a new choose which specific apps are allowed but bear in mind you won’t be able
tracking number each time you use to access the data. Just scroll down and to use Cortana at all if you do so.
the internet. select the approved apps.
7 ACCOUNT INFO
3 GENERAL PRIVACY
The first of the remaining two
5 CAMERA AND MICROPHONE
The next two screens change how
The Account window asks if you
want to share your “name, picture and
options in the General Privacy section Windows 10 uses your webcam and other account info” from your Microsoft
concerns sharing the language microphone — if you have one installed. account with apps. While there are
(or multiple languages) that you If you use services like Skype to bound to be apps that need this to get
configured Windows 10 in with the video-call people, you probably don’t to the transaction stage, there are no
websites you visit, which is generally want to block access to your camera specific apps that populate the ‘Choose
used to more accurately deliver local or microphone, so it’s a good idea to the apps that can access your account
content. Finally, you can chose to allow approve apps that can access your info’ category and the vagueness of
Microsoft to anonymously monitor camera and microphone on a case-by- sharing ‘Other account info’ is a red flag
the apps you open, so it can streamline case basis — as in the previous step. to us. We’d turn this off unless it’s
the search bar and Start menu specifically interfering with one of
configuration. your apps working properly.
70 www.apcmag.com
5
1
2 4
www.apcmag.com 71
feature » optimise the way you use windows
OPTIMISE
THE WAY
YOU USE
WINDOWS
Nick Peers urges you to rethink
how you use Windows 10
so you can speed things up.
W
e all want our PCs to run will probably shave a few seconds off little brother, the Quick Access menu),
faster, but that doesn’t here and there, but when you start and Taskbar, plus reveal which
simply involve fitting a using them regularly, things soon start Settings tweaks can streamline
new processor, doubling to add up. Imagine: one tip that saves the way you work.
the amount of RAM, or tweaking you five seconds, used 12 times a day, We also take you on a tour of
system settings in an effort to boost will save you a single minute, but over timesaving keyboard shortcuts,
Windows’ raw speed. It also involves the course of a year, that adds up to six investigate ways of using the right-
reappraising the way you use your PC, hours — from one tip. That means you click menu more efficiently, and
finding new shortcuts, and basically don’t have to apply that many of our unlock ways to search faster using
forcing yourself to work in a more recommended keyboard shortcuts and File Explorer. There’s even time to look
efficient way. There are dozens of tweaks before your annual savings at creating your own custom Jump List
hidden tips and shortcuts that can stretch into days and even weeks, commands, reacquaint yourself with
revolutionise the way you interact simply by familiarising yourself with the Run dialog box, and speed up the
with both Windows and your the content of this feature. way you use Microsoft Office (along
favourite programs, saving you We focused primarily on Windows 10 with other apps).
a huge amount of time in a relatively here, although many of the tweaks and With all that time waiting to be
short period. tips also work with Windows 7 and 8.1. saved, don’t delay — discover how
How much time can you save? We optimise the way you use the to make your Windows PC even more
Taken in isolation, each tip we reveal desktop, Start menu (and its hidden productive right now.
72 www.apcmag.com
Let’s begin our efficiency drive by Access your entire PC’s
streamlining your desktop and making contents from the Taskbar.
things more accessible. If you’re not
already doing so, start by placing
shortcuts to your favourite apps on the
Taskbar. This puts them a single click
away — if you need to open a second
instance of a program alongside the
first, simply hold the Shift key as you
click on the Taskbar icon to do so.
The simplest way to do this is to open
the app in question — you’ll see its icon
appear in the Taskbar, so just right-
click it, and choose ‘Pin to taskbar’,
then drag it into place. You might,
for example, want to group related
apps together, so office apps in one
part, web apps in another, and so on.
Another advantage to running apps
from the Taskbar is that many use
Jump Lists to give you two-click access
www.apcmag.com 73
feature » optimise the way you use windows
(and indeed a link to the parent folder on the Taskbar to speed things up program entry in the Jump List),
itself), Homegroup and Network. if you frequently switch desktops, and choose Properties. From here,
To change these, navigate to ‘Settings > plus configure ‘Alt-Tab’ to show all open click inside the ‘Shortcut key’ box,
Personalization > Start’, and then click windows, not just those open on the then hold down your choice of key
‘Choose which folders appear on Start’. current desktop. More virtual desktop combo to launch the app — it needs
tweaks to come. to be ‘Ctrl-Alt’, ‘Shift-Alt’ or ‘Ctrl-Shift-
USE QUICK ACCESS Go to ‘Accounts > Sign-in options’ Alt’ plus your choice of key.
The Start menu has been and set a device-specific PIN to save The Win key is also gateway to many
streamlined slightly in the you time whenever you’re asked for useful tools: ‘Win-Pause/Break’ opens
Creators Update, but it’s still your Microsoft Account password. the old System Control Panel, for
no substitute for the Quick Access Finally, it’s also worth exploring the example, while ‘Win-A’ opens the
menu that appears when you right- ‘Ease of Access’ section to see if any Action Center. If you’d like to pair the
click the ‘Start’ button or press ‘Win-X’. of the accessibility options on offer Win key with Ctrl and Alt for more
This contains many useful shortcuts to can improve your Windows experience keyboard shortcuts, download
various system settings and tools, but to make things easier (and quicker) WinHotKey from www.directedge.us/
why stop with the options provided? to use. content/winhotkey, which works fine
You can add your own with the help of in Windows 10.
Win+X Menu Editor (winaero.com/ MASTER THE KEYBOARD It’s also worth exploring your
comment.php?comment.news.30). Point and click is convenient, favourite apps for useful keyboard
This portable tool enables you to edit but it’s no substitute for fast shortcuts. There are some useful
what’s there, rearrange items and — keyboard action. Assign shortcuts universal to all apps (and
crucially — add your own. keyboard shortcuts to your favourite Windows itself), such as the ‘Ctrl-C’,
Once launched, click ‘Add a program’ programs to quickly launch them. ‘X’ and ‘V’ shortcuts for copying,
to add your choice of programs, Control First, examine the Taskbar. The first 10 cutting and pasting to and from the
Panel items or Administrative Tools. entries to the right of the ‘Task View’ clipboard. ‘Ctrl-Z’ undoes the last action
Select ‘Add preset’ and you’ll find some button can be triggered using the (including file operations in Windows),
handy shortcuts to hidden tools and shortcuts ‘Win-1’ through ‘Win-0’ while ‘Ctrl-Y’ redoes or repeats the last
power options as well. You can also (left to right). Alternatively, right-click action. Most keyboard shortcuts are
organise your items into groups to a program shortcut (or right-click its clearly labeled within a program’s
keep related items together, and make Taskbar entry, then right-click the menu, but where no shortcut is
things easier to find.
74 www.apcmag.com
Use the Run Dialog
The old ‘Start > Run’ dialog may not be shown by default on
the Start menu anymore, but it’s still there (press ‘Win-R’) and
it’s as useful as ever. The more you use it, the better it becomes,
because autocomplete kicks in, while typing paths is also quick,
as all available sub-folders pop up as you type, helping you to
locate and travel through your filesystem that little bit quicker.
Let’s start with a Windows 10-only tip. The new Settings
menu can be labyrinthine to navigate, but the Run dialog gives
you access to any section with the following syntax:
ms-settings:<shortcut>
You need to replace ‘<shortcut>’ with your choice of location,
such as ‘ms-settings:windowsupdate’, ‘ms-settings:lockscreen’
The Run dialog box is a timesaving superstar.
or ‘ms-settings:display’.
The Run dialog also speeds up access to the Control Panel,
although many of the shortcuts now redirect to their Settings This is done with environment variables — %AppData%
equivalent, such as ‘control desktop’. Those that don’t include points to C:\User\<Yourname>\.AppData\Roaming,
‘control admintools’, ‘control system’ (System Control Panel) for instance, while %LocalAppData% redirects to
and ‘control sysdm.cpl’ (System Properties). See a full list C:\User\<Yourname>/.AppData\Local. Type “%AppData%\”
at support.microsoft.com/help/192806. Others include and you see a list of sub-folders — keep typing, and they
‘devmgmt.msc’ (Device Manager), ‘taskmgr’ (Task Manager), filter down until you can select one.
‘cleanmgr’ (Disk Cleanup), as well as any program shortcuts or Other environment variables include %windir% (your
program file names (such as ‘winword’ for Microsoft Word). Windows directory, typically C:\Windows), %OneDrive%
One other major use for the Run dialog is to browse hidden (your OneDrive folder) and %ProgramData% (the location
user folders — specifically your application data folders. of the ProgramData folder).
“Point and click is convenient, but it’s forthcoming, always remember the Alt
trick — press Alt and the highlighted
letter of a menu and you open the
no substitute for fast keyboard action.” menu. Combine this with the
underlined letter of a specific menu
option — ‘Alt-F-O’ for ‘File > Open’, for
example — and you trigger that menu
option.
Office 365 users should press Alt
once — you’ll see a list of letters appear
above the various ribbon and Quick
Access toolbar options. Hold Alt as you
press the corresponding key to access
that option — if it’s a ribbon tab, more
letters appear next to various ribbon
options, enabling you to select those
options quickly, too. For more Office
Assign a keyboard
tips, see the boxout opposite.
shortcut to launch
favourite apps. USE RIGHT-CLICKING
The right-click menu —
also accessible by pressing
‘Shift-F10’ to trigger it at the
current cursor point — is packed full
of useful, context-sensitive options,
particularly in File Explorer. Hold
down Shift as you right-click, and you
often reveal hidden options — ‘Copy as
path’ for a selected file or folder, and
loads more destinations under the
‘Send to’ sub-menu.
To add your own custom apps and
locations to the ‘Send:to’ menu, open
the Run dialog, type “shell:sendto” and
hit Enter. Place your shortcuts in here,
or use SendToToys (www.gabrieleponti.
com/software) to add loads more
options, such as clipboard, Command
Prompt and so on.
The right-click menus can become
The Alt key accesses menus and ribbons alike. cluttered by third-party apps adding
www.apcmag.com 75
feature » optimise the way you use windows
their own options, which can slow user folders, it’s worth getting
navigation down. If there’s no option Windows to index those locations
to disable these within the application to speed up future searches. On the
itself, there are a few third-party tools Search tab, choose ‘Advanced Options
that can help clear the clutter for you. > Change indexed locations’ to do so.
If you’re using CCleaner (www.piriform.
com), then go to ‘Tools > Startup > WINDOWS DESKTOP
Context Menu tab’. If you want more Let’s finish with some handy
control — including options for adding keyboard shortcuts for
more entries to the menu — then use navigating your desktop.
the portable Context Menu tool Aero Snap enables you to pin two
(www.sordum.org/7615/easy-context- windows side-by-side by dragging Speed up
menu-v1-6) instead. Choose ‘File >
ContextMenuCleaner’ to review
them to either edge of the desktop.
You can also snap windows via the
Microsoft Office
and scrub unwanted entries. keyboard. Hold Win and press left If you’re an Office user, you’ll find
or right cursor keys respectively. lots of timesaving shortcuts are
SPEED UP FILE EXPLORER Once there, press ‘Win-up’ to move waiting to be discovered. Start by
File Explorer is packed with the window to the top corner or saving yourself a trip around the
timesaving tips and tools. ‘Win-down’ to move it down to the ribbon hunting down frequently
Here are some of the best. bottom corner, allowing up to four used commands; instead, locate a
First, make use of the Quick Access windows to be on screen at once. popular command, right-click its
menu in the Navigation pane — drag Finally, start making good use button and choose ‘Add to Quick
frequently accessed folders here of Windows’ task- and desktop- Access Toolbar’. This pins it to the
for quick and easy access. switching tools with the help of some top of the ribbon for easy access.
If you’re still using Ctrl or Shift to Tab key combos. The new visual Task There’s space for a finite number
select multiple folders or files, switch View may not be to everyone’s tastes, of commands, so click the ‘More’
to the View tab of File Explorer’s but you can invoke it with ‘Win-Tab’. button to the right of the Quick
ribbon instead, and select ‘Item check Once open, use the cursor keys to Access toolbar and choose ‘Show
boxes’ — now you can simply select select your desired window, and hit below the ribbon’ to move it to a
each file or folder by using its Enter. If you prefer the old-school more accommodating area.
checkbox. view, hold down ‘Alt’ and press ‘Tab’ You can customise the ribbon
File Explorer’s search box is still instead — cycle left and right using with your favourite commands,
the go-to location for file and folder ‘Tab’ (right) and ‘Shift-Tab’ (left), all too, placing them under a tab, or
searches — learn to make the most of while continuing to hold the Alt key. you can assign custom keyboard
its filters to find what you need. The ‘Alt-Tab’ only displays windows from shortcuts to any frequently used
Search tab on the ribbon provides you the current virtual desktop, while you tools. Choose Options from the
with two-click access to these, but you can configure Task View (see earlier) File tab and select ‘Customize
can quickly input your own filters to display windows from all desktops, ribbon’ to set up the ribbon as
directly into the search box, including making it quicker to switch. Speaking you want it. While you’re here,
“type:” (filetype), “kind:” (type of file, of which, hold ‘Win-Ctrl-D’ to create a click Customize next to ‘Keyboard
such as document), “date:” (date or date new virtual desktop, and ‘Win-Ctrl-F4’ Shortcuts’ to assign shortcuts.
range), “size:” (file size) and “tag:” (tags). to close the current one. Move If you frequently waste time
The Search box also supports all between virtual desktops using styling up individual passages
standard Boolean operators, so ‘Win-Ctrl-left/right’ cursor keys. of text, use Word’s Styles instead.
enclose exact phrases inside double As an aside, if you’re navigating This makes it easier to make
quotation marks, precede unwanted a multi-tabbed application, such as wholesale — and consistent —
terms with a dash (-), and use ‘AND’, your web browser, then use ‘Ctrl-Tab’ changes across your document.
‘OR’ or ‘NOT’. Visit msdn.microsoft.com/ and ‘Ctrl-Shift-Tab’ to cycle backward You can apply keyboard shortcuts
aa965711 for a comprehensive guide. and forward through the tabs. to styles, plus quickly update
If you store key files outside of your styles using the currently selected
text (simply right-click the target
style and choose ‘Update...
Switch open apps quickly
to match selection’).
with the old-school Finally, save time performing
‘Alt-Tab’ combo. repetitive tasks by recording them
as macros. The simplest way is to
use the ‘Record Macro’ button on
the Developer tab of the ribbon
to record your command clicks
or keystrokes — note it only
works with items selected using
the keyboard, which can restrict
its usefulness somewhat. Go to
support.office.com and search
for ‘macros’ to find out more —
be aware that macros can harbour
malicious code, so only allow
macros that are digitally signed,
by clicking ‘Macro Security’.
76 www.apcmag.com
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Experts solve your computing problems
APC and its readers can be one giant helpdesk. If you have
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OFFICE APPS
TROUBLE WITH MAIL
CONFIGURATION
I’m trying to use Mail in Windows 10 and
cannot make the server alterations required
to send mail through another account.
Where can I find them, please?
Colin Travis
MAC
EXTERNAL DRIVE TROUBLE
When my iMac crashed today, its logs were
full of “Failed to composite image for
descriptor” error messages prior to forcing
its shutdown. I also saw some repeated
errors from the kernel about a “disk1s2: I/O
error”. I’ve only recently upgraded to
El Capitan: does this indicate an
incompatibility with it?
Mark Syder
any necessary repairs. If that reports a can still be the cause of crashes,
The upgrade process may have brought SMART status error or other hardware although OS X is getting more resilient
on your problem, but the more critical failure that can’t be fixed, eject the to such hardware issues.
and worrying of those error messages drive and shut it down immediately. Howard Oakley
are those relating to disk1s2, which is Several utilities, such as the excellent
likely to be an external hard drive. DriveDx, can provide you with more WINDOWS
Input/output errors like this are details about SMART warnings, errors WINDOWS KEEPS CHECKING DRIVE
normally the result of a serious issue and other faults, but once your drive has ON STARTUP
with a drive, possibly even complete failed, there is little point in holding a I have been spring-cleaning by running
drive failure or a defective electrical post mortem. If the drive hasn’t died, the Chkdsk tool on my hard drive, and now
connection. Ensure both ends of the it might still be recoverable. When you it’s continually running it at startup.
drive’s connecting cable are fully have a replacement, you might be able How do I prevent this?
inserted into its ports, and that the to salvage the old drive’s contents Hannah Eastwell
cable is a good one. Check the drive and copy them over to your new one.
using Disk Utility first, and perform Unfortunately, sudden drive failures
78 www.apcmag.com
Sometimes Chkdsk can get stuck in a
loop even if there isn’t a problem with
the drive. We instructed Hannah to
click ‘Start > Settings > Update &
security > Recovery’ and click ‘Restart
now’ under the Advanced start-up
option. At the recovery menu, choose
‘Troubleshoot > Advanced Options >
Command Prompt’. Windows will reboot
and you’ll need to select your username
and enter your password. When the
prompt appears, type the following,
substituting ‘c:’ for whatever drive
letter you are scanning: ‘chkdsk c: /f /r
/x’. On running the command, Hannah
reported that Chkdsk made a minor
correction, but more critically, it also Prevent Panda
Free Antivirus from
stopped trying to run at every boot. constantly bugging you
Nick Peers to activate it.
SOFTWARE
PANDA ANTIVIRUS KEEPS
PROMPTING TO ACTIVATE Obviously, if your Windows partition and running for you. Almost anything
I’ve downloaded and installed Panda Free is mounted at a different location, you can script can be run from Cron, So
Antivirus (from www.pandasecurity.com), you should change the above path. if you create a shell script (as below) to
and activated an account via email — or so Clamscan doesn’t need special run clamscan and put it in the /etc/cron.
I thought. Yet the antivirus software keeps privileges to run but it must be able to daily directory, it will be run every day:
prompting me to activate my account enter all the directories and read all #!/bin/sh
whenever it starts up. Can you offer any the files it scans, so you may need to run clamav --recursive --quiet /
assistance please? it as root depending on how the mnt/windows
Ergin Vlietstra filesystems you want to scan are We use the --quiet option so it
mounted. only gives output if it finds something
This sometimes happens if Panda isn’t Once you’ve installed ClamTK, it suspicious. Set the executable bit on the
aware you’ve clicked the link in the should be available from Dash and you file and save it in /etc/cron.daily and
email (perhaps you accessed the email can scan files or directories, as well as your system will be checked every day.
on a different computer). Thankfully, perform other functions from the GUI. To make sure you’re kept informed of
it’s straightforward to fix. When you You may be wondering why we’ve the results, you should have the output
next see the “Don’t forget to validate bothered with instructions for the from the command emailed to you by
your Panda account” message, click command-line client when the GUI you editing /etc/crontab (as root) and adding
‘Want to use another email address’. wanted is available. The reason is that the line MAILTO=your@email.
Leave your existing email address in the command-line version can be address right after where SHELL
there, but type in the password you scripted. Otherwise, you have to and PATH are set. Of course, you can
created when setting up your Panda remember to run the GUI and scan your still do manual checks with the GUI,
account. Click Continue, and the directories at sufficiently regular especially if the automated scan
program should finally register your intervals. But the OS has a tool, called highlights anything.
activation. Cron, that does all that remembering APC Team
Mayank Sharma
LINUX
GRAPHICAL VIRUSES?
I’ve tried installing ClamAV as I have
a dual-boot PC (with Windows 7). First,
I used a DVD to upgrade from Ubuntu 14.04
to 16.10 then added Lubuntu.
After installing ClamAV, I have no GUI
I can invoke from Dash!
Simon Bateman
www.apcmag.com 79
howto » mac
Advanced
image editing
in Apple
Photos
For more ambitious photographers,
Photos has some powerful editing
options, says Dave Stevenson.
P
hotos, Apple’s bundled OS X app for sorting your
images, does some amazing jobs automatically.
Sorting images by their geo-tags, dates and
auto-detecting faces and assigning identities
spring to mind, and that’s before you consider the
computational gymnastics required to sync the photo
library on your Mac with your iCloud account and Apple
mobile devices.
Still, while you might be aware that Photos can be used
to edit your images, for most, that stops at relatively
straightforward changes such as rotating and cropping,
or perhaps applying a few one-click filters. Here, we’ll look
at the editing tools you might have missed. Tools that can
elevate a good photo to a great one, or rescue a shot that
was otherwise destined for the bin.
Thinking about getting an expensive third-party editor?
Hang fire until you’ve read this.
80 www.apcmag.com
1
CHOOSE TOOLS
1 The most crucial button — use this
2 to choose and add new tools to Photos’
editing palette.
THE HISTOGRAM
2 The histogram is not turned on
by default, but is a very useful tool
once you start editing.
MORE OPTIONS
3 You see that little down arrow?
Any time you see that, Photos is hiding
more detailed options. Click it and see
5 what you can do!
REVERT
4 Made a mistake? No sweat.
This handy little number takes you back
3 to square one.
LIVE PREVIEWS
5 Changes are previewed live,
so it’s easy to make sure you’re happy
before you export a finished version
of your shot.
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howto » mac
82 www.apcmag.com
Having two websites open
at once is great for comparing
products, prices, opinions
and much more.
Master
Split View
on iPad
Nick Peers shows how you can
view two web pages side by side
in Safari on iOS 10.
I
n iOS 10, Apple extended the Split to set it to private browsing mode Finally, should you want to revert to
View feature for working in two without affecting the other one. Once a single pane, you have two choices:
apps side by side, so that you can in Split View, each pane behaves the first is to combine all the tabs from
view two web pages next to each largely as normal — you can open both panes in one. To do this, hold the
other in Safari. You can quickly split multiple tabs in each one, though you ‘Show All Tabs’ button — there’s one at
the screen in two from scratch or open may need to use the forward/back the end of the toolbar in each pane —
a link or move an existing tab to the buttons to navigate your browsing and choose ‘Merge All Tabs’ from the
right half of the screen. If you’ve history. pop-up menu that appears. Every tab
connected your iPad to a Bluetooth You can easily move tabs between you had open will remain, and a single
keyboard, you can quickly create panes — just drag one across to the page will again fill the screen’s width.
a new Split View pane using other side of the screen. (Note: if one If you want to close Split View
‘Command-N’. pane is in private browsing mode and without retaining the tabs from one
Split View only works with your the other isn’t, this won’t work.) of its panes, you can close all the tabs
device in landscape mode, however, To open a link in the opposite pane, in the unwanted pane at once. Again,
and you can’t resize the panes. With a hold a finger on a link and choose ‘Open hold a finger on the ‘Show All Tabs’ icon
second pane open, you can tap Private on Other Side’ from the pop-up menu. and choose ‘Close <number> Tabs.’
How to
Invoke Split View on your iPad...
www.apcmag.com 83
howto » linux
1 0 1 1 01001
0100
1 1 01010
01
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1 0
0 0 1 10010
1 1
001
01101
01001 1010
0
0111
0 011
101 1
10 01
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1
11001
T
here’s an entire thread on checker, discuss various password- weaknesses in popular Linux apps
Reddit discussing whether strengthening measures and lots more. and services such as Samba have been
Professor Alastor ‘Mad-Eye’ Finally, we’ll discuss the projects that found and unless you plug these your
Moody, from the Harry Potter are working towards making Linux system is at risk. As a further
books, ever uttered the catchphrase, even more secure for servers and precaution, you can also disable or
“Constant vigilance!” Regardless of networks and the efforts being made uninstall services that you don’t need.
who to attribute the statement to, if to make the kernel robust. For instance, if you only have a single
you’re concerned about securing your While we’re using Linux Mint for machine at home and haven’t
Linux installation, whether as a home this feature (which is on the cover disc), configured it for printing, you don’t
user or a system administrator, it’s all the tools discussed here can just as need CUPS or the Samba services.
good advice to adopt this mantra. readily be used on any popular distro Another trick to employ is to opt
The entire gamut of operations that such as CentOS, Fedora, Mageia, for encryption. Most Linux distros
you can employ to defend yourself Ubuntu, Debian and so on. nowadays allow you to encrypt your
from threats are spread over the next But first, baby steps. These are the home folder during installation itself.
few pages. We will walk you through tricks that you can and must adopt You can also optionally use apps such
creating a digital moat around your to secure your machines. If you’re as zuluCrypt to configure encryption
machines to stop the marching interested in protecting a relative’s on your current installation.
invaders in their tracks. This involves desktop which they use to browse the It’s imperative to not use dictionary
using password managers such as internet for their daily dose of words nor keywords such as ‘qwerty’ or
Keepass2, using secure login, working entertainment or world politics, even ‘god111’ as your passwords. The safest
with ClamAV to detect trojans, viruses these changes should be enough to set option is to ensure that passwords are
and malware, and more. We’ll also show your mind at peace. reset regularly, and you can program
you how you can make life easier for The first step is to choose the right your system to reject passwords that
yourself by automating a number distro. Sounds rather silly, but there’s users have used previously.
of essential tasks, such as monitoring a reason why you should give serious Throughout the next few pages,
the ports for scanners using tools like thought before settling on any Linux you’ll find helpful hints and sometimes
Nmap and implementing tools such as distro. You must consider whether the detailed instructions on how to adopt
logcheck and logrotate to make sense distro has a dedicated team working on many of these principles into your
of all the logs that are generated by pushing regular bug fixes and security Linux installation, apart from all the
various apps and services. Along the updates. This is important, because other advanced tools and tricks which
way, we’ll help you deploy a rootkit in recent years, many security you can use to thwart attackers.
84 www.apcmag.com
To secure your machines, you must improve your passwords. Open the
adopt a two-pronged strategy against /etc/pam.d/common-password file in
potential attacks. The first involves your favourite text editor and identify Quick Tip:
preparing against intruders by the line that reads password
installing a firewall and adopting [success=1 default=ignore]
Unique passwords
better password policies. But this alone pam_unix.so obscure sha512 . Use the remember=X parameter
isn’t enough. It’s one thing to lock all Add the minlen parameter to the end in the common-password file,
the windows in your house, but you of the line if you want users to choose which is used to store X number
must still make sure no one got in passwords with a minimum-length of previous passwords and ensures
before you closed them. password [success=1 users don’t reuse any of them.
default=ignore]
SECURE LOGINS pam_unix.so obscure sha512
Trusting passwords to hold all your minlen=8 .
data is foolhardy. To prevent If you similarly want to ensure that One of the most popular rootkit
unauthorised access to your machine, users choose passwords with a mix of scanners is chkrootkit. You can easily
you can add an extra layer of upper/lower-case letters and special install it from the terminal with the
authentication. One of the easiest characters, throw in parameters such sudo apt install chkrootkit
methods is by using the Google as lcredit=-3 ucredit=-2 command. Once installed, you can
Authenticator service, which issues dcredit=-2 , which forces users to invoke it with the sudo chkrootkit
a time-based authentication token respectively use three lower-case command. The tool is designed to scan
to supplement the existing password letter, two upper-case letters and two your machine for a host of known
challenge. digits. You can install it using the rootkits and malware. Run the
You can configure the utility for sudo apt install libpam- chkrootkit -l command for a list
all configured users on your Linux pwquality command from the of all the tests the utility runs by
machine, and each will receive the OTP terminal. default. Keep in mind that the process
on their configured Android devices. can take some time, depending on your
Unless a user enters the token that CHECK FOR ROOTKITS system configuration and available
quickly expires, they can’t log in. The password tricks discussed here, resources.
If you’ve configured your machine coupled with using a firewall and A common trick adopted by rootkits
to allow remote logins, you can also regular system updates, are a good is opening ports, which would allow
configure Google Authenticator start to protecting your system, an attacker entry into your system.
to work with SSH. but hackers often employ other means You can scan your system for open
To implement this multi-factor to do you harm. A common attack ports using the Nmap utility. You can
authentication with Google strategy used by attackers is privilege scan for ports by specifying a range
Authenticator, you’ll need the Google escalation, wherein after gaining or scan all of them with nmap -p
Authenticator PAM module. PAM access to the machine by compromising 1-65535 localhost . The full range
stands for ‘pluggable authentication your password or installation of of Nmap’s capabilities are too vast
modules’ — a mechanism for plugging malicious script, an attempt is made for us to list here. Refer to the manual
different forms of authentication to gain root access such that more (use man nmap ) for details on
into a Linux computer. harmful operations can be carried out. getting the most out of it.
A rootkit is a script or program As a further precaution, you must
STRONGER PASSWORDS designed to gain unlawful root access also install the ClamAV app, which can
The libpam-pwquality tool is another for nefarious purposes. detect trojans and viruses. If your
such module that you can use to setup involves Windows and Linux
machines, it’s also recommended
to install Linux Malware Detect,
a malware scanner for Linux which
“It’s one thing to lock all the windows even allows users to submit suspected
malware for review.
Identify issues
Formerly known as rkhunter, Lynis is one of the most popular identified issues and provides tips on how to harden the system
security auditing tools for Linux. Although favoured by more effectively.
sysadmins, it’s a must-have tool if you’re running a server You can grab the latest version of Lynis with git clone github.
or allow remote access through SSH while its ease of use com/CISOfy/lynis, which will fetch the latest version into the
and simplicity of operation can also help home users. lynis directory. The tool doesn’t require any installation, so you
Lynis will study the config files of the installed applications, can begin using it by switching into the lynis directory and
report user accounts without passwords, check firewall rules, running the ./lynis audit system command.
identify expired SSL certificates and much more. In all, When running the scan, Lynis will output the result of every
the tool will run hundreds of tests on the host machine, but it performed test to the screen, but you must interpret the result
doesn’t require any extra software. Rather than automatically yourself and take appropriate actions.
addressing problems, it generates a report listing all the
www.apcmag.com 85
howto » linux
86 www.apcmag.com
Your system log files
can be classified into
four broad categories:
application logs, event
logs, system logs
and service logs.
www.apcmag.com 87
howto » linux
as comparing current logs with the For example, if the rotation is set SEARCH LOG FILES
archive can help you detect nefarious to 10 for the output.log file, the Another important tool in the arsenal
activity. At the same time, you can’t logrotate utility will automatically of log watchers is swatch. It works
retain log files indefinitely, as they create output1.log, output2.log and by looking for the specified regular
can take a large amount of space over so on until output10.log, while the expressions and promptly informs you
a period of time. latest logs will be stored in output.log. when a match is found.
The man page has more details and The user invoking swatch must
MANAGE LOG FILES you can find detailed instructions create a ~/.swatchrc file which
You can use logrotate for easy and examples easily on the internet as describes the ignore and ‘watchfor’
management of log files. It supports the utility has been around for ages. directives as well as the notification
automatic rotation, compression Another popular tool is logcheck. email address. The watchfor entry
and mailing of log files and can be It is designed to periodically scan is a list of keywords that you want
configured by editing the all the logs — it starts the scan where to be alerted about as soon as a match
/etc/logrotate.conf file. The logrorate it left off last time, saving crucial time. is found. You must be familiar with
utility enables you to define the The highly configurable tool lets regular expressions to get the most out
frequency of rotation, whether weekly you define the frequency of checks, of swatch. Also your system must be
or monthly, and the number of log files the log files to be checked, what is configured to send mails to local users,
to be used for each log. You can also considered normal and not, and where as well as to an internet domain, if you
set different parameters for different to email the alerts. You must define want emails sent to external services
log files and define whether a log is to the normal behaviour which the tool such as Gmail.
be rotated based on its size, and the can ignore, otherwise you’ll be Once configured, you can use swatch
period for which a rotated log file inundated with alerts. to monitor a number of logs for
is to be stored. essential keywords.
Safer surfing
Essential browser extensions
NoScript: Disables all scripts such as Flash, Java,
Naturally, you must be cautious when downloading files. 3 JavaScript and other executable content on a web
Fortunately, there are several helpful extensions available page. It enables you to create a whitelist of trusted websites,
for Firefox and other web browsers. like your bank, but takes getting used to.
HTTPS Everywhere: Available for Firefox, Chromium, WOT: Web of Trust maintains a list of trusted websites.
1Opera and many other browsers, it ensures all 4 For each website you visit, a green icon indicates
communications with websites are SSL-encrypted. a trustworthy site, yellow tells you to be cautious and red
indicates potential danger.
Ghostery: This extension disables trackers on websites
2 like Facebook and Google such that data is not BetterPrivacy: LSOs are ‘super-cookies’ that can contain
collected even after you navigate away from the sites, 5 more detailed information, including your browsing
as is increasingly becoming the norm. preferences. With BetterPrivacy, you can choose to delete LSOs
at fixed time intervals.
88 www.apcmag.com
So far, we have discussed a number of
tools and practices that you can adopt
to secure your system and prevent
attacks, but there’s still plenty more
that you can do, depending on whether
you’re interested in protecting your
server or your network, or even a
home workstation.
The entire gamut of available
solutions can very well lead to a
troubling case of paralysis from
analysis, which is why we listed some
of the best protective tools. But there’s
still more that various other projects
and entities are working on to protect
your machine from harm. Nmap Front End
The Linux Security Modules (LSM) (NmapFE) is a well
framework allows the Linux kernel to designed and stable
GUI that allows you to
support a variety of security models control almost every
to implement mandatory access control aspect of Nmap.
(MAC). SELinux and AppArmor are two
of the most popular LSMs on Linux.
While the former allows you to define
the activities which can be performed to run isolated application instances. require you to, in the words of Linus
by each user, process or daemon, If you’re spooked by the prospect of Torvalds: “Unplug the network cable
AppArmor can be used to restrict each performing too many tasks to feel and instantiate draconian measures
installed program using application- secure while connecting to the for physical security.” There’s no golden
specific profiles. Container vendor internet, consider using Subgraph OS. rule for security that applies in every
Docker is also working on another LSM Based on Debian, the distro has been case, and even if there were, it would
called Landlock, although it’s still designed from the ground up, with a have been cracked already. Security is
at the nascent stage. focus on security and privacy. It ships something that needs to be worked on
Apart from these, there are a large with a hardened Linux kernel, along and personalised. With the combined
number of updates that ship with each with out-of-the-box sandboxing for weight of all the tools discussed, you’ll
new Linux kernel which fix many applications, firewall and proxy. get the three essential ingredients for
identified issues to keep you safe. Despite all these tools, you must good system security — prevention,
On top of that, the Kernel Self understand that attaining a completely protection and detection — and that’s
Protection Project was started to secure system is an unachievable goal. the best anyone can hope for.
provide additional layers of security This is because the process would
to the Linux kernel.
You can also tweak a number of
parameters on your kernel to bolster
the security. Run sysctl -a for a
list of current kernel settings. You can Harden your system
save these to a file with: sysctl -a
> ~/sysctl.settings , which will Security hardening involves poorly configured systems, from a security point of
enable you to use the file for reference view, being identified and made to conform to security standards. This applies to
or comparisons if you make any the different layers of a system such as the network, where it’ll enable the firewall.
changes. On the software level, hardening involves removing packages with known issues,
You can change these settings on allowing only signed packages to be installed and so on.
your running kernel by editing the Ansible is a popular hardening tool that does all of the above and more.
/etc/sysctl.conf file. On Linux Mint, Note, however, that you’ll still need to update packages and install security updates
the file already exists and contains manually. To install Ansible and run:
a number of these settings, but they pip install ansible
are disabled by default. ansible-galaxy install git+https://git.openstack.org/
One of the biggest risks to system openstack/ansible-hardening
security is from untested and
unknown applications and you must
take precautions to protect your
system from such programs. One way
to do that is through sandboxing.
This involves providing a
compartmentalised environment to a
script or app, so that the larger part of
your installation remains protected.
www.apcmag.com 89
howto » linux
90 www.apcmag.com
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Build a liquid-cooled
Ryzen gaming rig
Create an (almost) mid-range build under ice, with Zak Storey.
THE CONCEPT We made the decision to go with speed by an additional 200–300MHz.
Well, this was fun. EK Water Blocks Ryzen at the very last minute. We’ve And it’s not heat that limits the plucky
sent us one of its latest Fluid Gaming been wanting to revisit the platform processor, but silicon, with most,
Kits. In fact, it sent us two: a standard for some time now. As both BIOS and if not all, Ryzen chips being limited
240mm CPU-only loop, and one with an micro-code have developed over the to around the 4GHz mark,
additional GPU block. Naturally, we past few months, the platform has gone Threadripper included.
gravitated to the latter, not because it’s from being a touch sketchy to a well- That said, contrary to popular belief,
pricier than its kin, but because it’s the equipped all-rounder, filled to the brim it’s not a hot part. Once you strip off the
more intriguing solution. We’re used to with serious computational ridiculous +20°C offset AMD imposes
cooling processors off a single 240mm performance. on the internal temperature
radiator, but adding a GPU to the loop Overclocking has always been its monitoring, it’s actually cooler than
(literally), a part that can pack some limitation, though, with most parts a lot of Intel’s latest Kaby Lake parts.
serious heat, just seemed ludicrous. only ever capable of boosting the clock Weird, huh?
92 www.apcmag.com
DISSECTING THE BEAST PARTS LIST
In our continued attempts to annoy our photographers, we decided to go
with the shiniest, most reflective case in the world, Corsair’s Crystal PART STREET PRICE
570X, with its included RGB fans. It’s a dash gaudy, a fingerprint magnet
and lacks a lot of the home comforts we expect from a case at this price CASE CORSAIR CRYSTAL 570X RGB TG $269
point. Still, the last laugh was over us, as it’s not the friendliest of liquid- MOTHER-
ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR VI HERO $365
cooling chassis. At least, not if you’re planning on mounting a reservoir BOARD
anywhere.
CPU RYZEN 7 1800X $669
Case aside, the core components are fairly high-end. It’s not a cheap
build, but not ridiculous either, featuring a GeForce GTX 1070, 32GB of MEMORY 32GB (2X 16GB) G.SKILL
DDR4, and ASUS’s king of X370 mobos, the Crosshair VI Hero. And it all TRIDENTZ SERIES 3,200MT/S $555
went together quite nicely. That G.Skill memory comes packing 16GB per
GPU EVGA GEFORCE GTX 1070 $689
stick at an impressive 3,200MHz, which is apparently the optimum for
Ryzen parts, as the infinity fabric connecting all the core complexes runs BITFENIX FURY ALCHEMY 750W
PSU $199
at the same frequency as the memory, which seems odd, but we’ll bite. PLUS GOLD
The GPU is the kingpin of this build. The 1070 is a stunning sweet spot 275GB CRUCIAL MX300 2.5-INCH
STORAGE $145
of a card. Perfect for 1440p and high refresh 1080p, if you ramp up the SSD
power target, and throw a +200MHz clock on the core, it’s easy to get an COOLING EKWB FLUID GAMING KIT A240G $399
extra 10–15% performance from it.
Unfortunately, ours was a reference card, and is currently unavailable OS WINDOWS 10 HOME $179
— however, the cheaper GTX 1070s on the market generally use a
stock-standard reference PCB, which is fully compatible with EK’s latest TOTAL $3,469
aluminum waterblock.
www.apcmag.com 93
howto » pc builder masterclass
94 www.apcmag.com
Here are those CableMod LED
1 strips in action yet again. One
1 single 30cm strip placed along the
top of the chassis really helps make
the hardware pop.
3 The PSU here is a something
2 of an old office beastie.
Running for over two years now,
the BitFenix Alchemy 750W is still
4 available today, and comes with
black braided cables.
Our APC Labs test PC uses a Core i7-6700K CPU @ 4.6GHz, an AMD R9 Fury X and 32GB of
RAM. All games are tested at 1080p on max settings, with HD texture packages installed.
www.apcmag.com 95
howto » raspberry pi masterclass
W 1 MOUNT
hat have you done with YOUR STOP-MOTION even the floor, but it should be a hard
your Raspberry Pi camera PI CAMERA and flat area in most cases (unless you
lately? While it gives us Before you get started, think about the have need for a bumpy carpeted
plenty of new ways to use type of animation you’re going to be environment for your video) to aid with
the Pi, unless you’ve got your computer capturing. If you’re using the traditional the creation of your stop-motion film.
set up as a security webcam or you’re top-down method, as used by classic As time progresses and your skill
particularly a fan of time-lapse cartoon animators, then you’ll need a develops, other surfaces can prove
photography, the chances are that rostrum to mount the Raspberry Pi. useful alternatives, but keep it simple
you’ve overlooked the Pi camera Alternatively, you may be animating for now and stick with flat surfaces
module for a while. something on a desk, table or perhaps while you get to grips with the art form
If you’re a fan of animation or you the floor, but you’ll need your Pi camera using the Raspberry Pi stop-motion
simply want to extend the possibilities mounted in a similar way, looking camera.
of the module, why not build a stop- across rather than looking down.
3 CONNECT THE PI CAMERA
motion camera? By using Python and an Various options are available, such as
external button to capture images, smartphone tripods and dashboard MODULE
the Raspberry Pi can actually be the mounts. Most of these should be Next you’ll need to connect the Pi
perfect tool for animators. suitable for securely mounting your camera module to your Raspberry Pi.
Better still, you can go beyond Raspberry Pi. All models have the necessary
animating toys or bits of Lego and go connector, although where it is found
2 FIND SOMEWHERE TO SHOOT
old school by mounting the Pi on a on the device will depend on the version
rostrum and creating a cartoon. Even if For your first attempts at shooting of your Raspberry Pi.
you can’t buy or build one, you can a stop-motion video, you should use a The Model A has the Pi-camera
mount the stop motion Pi camera with wide and uncluttered space. This might connector next to the Ethernet port,
a smartphone mount for stability. be a desk, a kitchen work surface or as does the Model B.
96 www.apcmag.com
On the B+ and the Raspberry Pi 2, camera.vflip = True import picamera
the connector is in a similar position, camera.hflip = True from RPi import GPIO
but it’s a little further from the camera.start_preview()
Ethernet port between the audio-out sleep(3) button = 17
and HDMI ports. camera.capture(‘/home/pi/
Connecting the camera module can image2.jpg’) GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)
be tricky. Begin with taking your Pi camera.stop_preview() GPIO.setup(button, GPIO.IN,
out of its case or remove the top where GPIO.PUD_UP)
import picamera
from time import sleep
with picamera.PiCamera() as
camera:
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Why bother when a camera tripod story. Remember, each second of the
video will require 26 frames!
98 www.apcmag.com
14 PEOPLE
FILMS
IN STOP-MOTION
16 FROM STOP MOTION
TO TIME-LAPSE
# Note the time before the
capture
It isn’t only inanimate objects that Similar to stop motion, time lapse is a start = time.time()
you can include in stop-motion films. technique that automatically captures capture_frame(frame)
People can feature too! Pop videos images on a preset timer. We can use a
such as Peter Gabriel’s 1985 hit Python script to control this, saving # Wait for the next
‘Sledgehammer’ have taken advantage the captures in a directory and using capture. Note that we take
of stop motion (that video was ffmpeg to compile them into a film. into
produced by Aardman Animations, However, what you may not want for # account the length of
the eventual creators of Wallace and this project is a mains cable trailing all time it took to capture the
Gromit) and the technique can be used over, especially if you’re attempting to # image when calculating
on humans to create surreal effects. capture the movement of the stars at the delay
If you want your subject to be moving night or nature activity. We suggest time.sleep(
around a room too, they can appear to employing a Pi-compatible battery int(60 * 60 / FRAMES _
be floating or gliding. The results can pack to make your time-lapse Pi PER _ HOUR) - (time.time()
be strange, but useful if you know camera truly mobile, using SSH to run v- start)
what you want. the script remotely: )
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Quad-core Android
computers for under $35
The Raspberry Pi has changed the face of DIY computing,
but there are Android-ready quad-core single-board computers
available, some for under $35. Darren Yates explains.
I
f you’ve been reading us for Android releases to power your Pi MT6735P quad-core ARM Cortex-A53
a while, hopefully, you get the are few and far between. You’ll find SoC CPU. We found it on special for
sense we like to do a lot of do-it- occasional homebrew Marshmallow $34.50 at Coles and $39 at Australia
yourself here at Masterclass and Nougat builds; however, at the time Post. For that price, you can hardly
Central, whether its hacking your of writing, there still wasn’t a factory- expect a phone that’s going to trouble
Android phone, building your own backed Android distro for the a Samsung Galaxy S8 — but for about
Arduino projects or learning to code Raspberry Pi. It’s a bit surprising, 3% of the price of an S8, surely that
your own Python and Java apps. really, given the Pi 3 hardware is right hardly matters. What matters is that
There’s no better way to learn about in Android’s wheelhouse, being based you’ve got a portable battery-powered
tech than getting your hands dirty, on ARM Cortex-A53 core technology. touch-screen quad-core computer
lifting up the bonnet and seeing But one of the important things ready to use, built-in OS, storage and
what’s going on underneath. It’s this about DIY is making do with what’s all, for quite a bit cheaper than you
same philosophy that’s embodied in available — that, and a little creative can buy a Raspberry Pi 3 locally.
the Raspberry Pi single-board thinking. That’s why, if you head off When you compare what you get with
computers. to your local supermarket or Australia the Zume 5 against the Raspberry Pi 3,
However, at up to $75 for a new Post store, you’re likely to find some it’s pretty decent value. Sure, there are
quad-core Raspberry Pi 3 on your pretty useful alternatives with up to things the Raspberry Pi 3 can do most
Australian door step, their continued quad-core SoC CPUs, built-in screen, budget phones can’t do, like HDMI
popularity isn’t helping bring the local 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 video output, for example. But there
price down. Still, get creative and you’ll connectivity, even built-in battery are things the Zume 5 can do that the
find a number of alternatives available, and Android operating system. Pi 3 can’t, like built-in OS and storage,
some selling for under $35 — and OK, yes, I’m talking about budget battery power, touchscreen, speaker
they’ll even run Android. pre-paid smartphones, but remember, and microphone, not to mention
these things are quad-core mobile optional 4G phone connectivity.
BATTERY POWERED battery-powered computers first. For $35, you’ll struggle to find
The Raspberry Pi 3 is a pretty decent And they’re even better value when anything close to offering the same
board, offering a quad-core Cortex A53 you see prices regularly under $35. functionality for the price.
SoC CPU, 1GB of RAM, built-in Wi-Fi
and Bluetooth 4.0 wireless BOOST ZUME 5 WHAT YOU CAN DO
connectivity, HDMI, four USB 2.0 ports At time of writing, local telco Boost If you’re struggling for ideas of what
and an active user community any Mobile was pushing its Zume 5, a you’d do with a $35 quad-core battery-
product maker would die for. But while rebadged ZTE B112 Telstra 4GX-locked
there are a number of excellent Linux phone with Android 6.0/Marshmallow,
distros available, fully-working four-inch screen and 1GHz MediaTek
100 www.apcmag.com
Armbian comes
with a curated The Armbian OS
software app called features the XFCE
Software Boutique. desktop environment.
Download Python
and learn to write
your own code.
powered computer — aka pre-paid Torque and On-Board Diagnostics-II exotic features in your Android device,
smartphone — we’ve got a few already (OBD-II) Bluetooth dongles for under $5 features like text-to-speech, Bluetooth
tried and tested: on eBay that plug into your car, you can connectivity and speech recognition.
monitor all sorts of real-time data out And yes, you can do it on a budget $35
MAKE YOUR OWN SPEECH- of your car’s engine control unit (ECU), smartphone (we’ve done it and it works
RECOGNITION PROJECTS from engine revolutions per minute, a treat).
In our Learn to Code Masterclass pages to speed, to fuel rates, temperature —
this month (see page 106), we show you dozens of points of real-time data CHROMECAST REMOTE
how to use an Android phone with about what your car is up to. Track your Can’t get enough Netflix or Stan?
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to write Python driving, analyse the data, improve Grab a Chromecast or Chromecast
code and tap into Google’s speech- your skills. Ultra TV dongle and turn any HDMI-
recognition technology. Combine this ready TV into the ultimate streaming
with the Arduino Masterclass this LEARN TO CODE PYTHON video-on-demand box. Then grab the
month (page 104) and you can build No, that’s not a typo — you can learn Netflix and Stan apps from Google Play
your own Bluetooth-enabled LED light to code Python on Android. Everyone and turn a budget phone into a simple
you control via your Android phone thinks to code on Android, you need to low-cost Chromecast remote control.
simply using your voice. The Raspberry know Java — that’s true to build native When you consider the price of
Pi gets plenty of kudos for having its apps, but if you read this month’s some universal remotes, $35 for
General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) Python Masterclass, you’ll learn you a touchscreen remote is pretty damn
bus, but don’t assume just because a can still do some cool things with good value.
smartphone doesn’t have an obvious Python on Android. We’re using the
I/O bus that you can’t use it to control free QPython3 app from Google Play, CAN’T FIND THE ZUME 5?
your own electronic projects. which includes a code editor plus Realistically, budget pre-paid phones
console to run your code. What’s really come and go with regular monotony
TAP INTO YOUR CAR’S COMPUTER cool about QPython3 is it includes SL4A these days. The ZTE B112 is similar
We looked at this back in issue 444, — Scripting Layer for Android — which to the Alcatel Pixi 3 (4.5)/TCL 5017A
but thanks to excellent free apps like allows you to tap into some of the more that we looked at last year, which had
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howto » android masterclass
the same SoC, same price, but older cheapest boards is the Orange Pi One. adapter with a USB-to-4.0x1.7mm DC
Lollipop/Android 5.0 operating system. This credit card-sized board features plug cable instead.
If you can’t find a ZTE B112, it’s highly a GPIO header pin-compatible with The Orange Pi team have a number
likely there’ll be something very the Raspberry Pi Model B+, full-size of OS releases available, mostly Linux
similar in its place. HDMI output, two USB ports (one OTG), distros, with the occasional Android
Of course, if you’ve got an old even RJ45 Ethernet port. It’s powered offering — unfortunately, none of
Android phone sitting in the drawer, by Allwinner’s H3 SoC, a 1.2GHz which we could get working. That’s not
this is the perfect opportunity to give quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 SoC, with a problem, though, for there’s an
it a second life. QPython3 works on 512MB of RAM and microSD card slot excellent third-party Linux distro,
devices with Android 4.0.3 or later, for storage. Best of all, you’ll find it on a Debian Xenial-based release
although we’ve found Google Speech eBay for just $21, or about a third of called Armbian (www.armbian.com).
Recognition works a little better on the price of a Raspberry Pi 3. It features my favourite XFCE desktop
devices with 4.3/Jelly Bean or later. In fact, it’s almost an exceptional environment and access to the full
Either way, couple QPython3 with little single-board computer — almost. Debian ARMv7 software repository
on-board Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and The Orange Pi One uses a more-limited for a genuine Linux desktop setup.
you’ve got the tools to code simple CPU voltage regulator with a reduced From our experience, it’s a great little
speech recognition apps. The benefit CPU voltage range, the end result being OS — it’s fast, automatically found our
of buying new is the more recent it gets a bit warm — to be safe, I put a D-Link DWA-125 Wi-Fi dongle, it’ll even
version of Android. small self-stick heatsink on mine over play 1080p (Full HD) MPEG-4 video,
the CPU. You’ll find these on eBay, no sweat. Love it.
ORANGE PI ONE designed for Raspberry Pi boards,
For something more like a genuine for about $1. And while we’re on the H3DROID
Raspberry Pi, there are plenty of subject of power, you must power the But if you’d prefer something more
options available. Some of those board via the DC socket, not the Android-flavoured, the new H3Droid
options are the Orange Pi family of USB-OTG microUSB port. Use the is worth a look. This is third-party
single-board computers (SBCs) made microUSB port and the sky falls in. Android 4.4.2/KitKat release is
by Chinese maker Shenzhen Xunlong Well, it probably doesn’t — but don’t do designed to run on SBCs powered by
(www.orangepi.org) and one of their it. Use a good 5VDC/2A USB power the Allwinner H3 SoC, including the
H3Droid is Android
4.4.2/KitKat with
Google Play store
app thrown in.
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Orange Pi One. We’ve tested it and it’s The O-Pi One includes
actually pretty decent. H3Droid is Ethernet, HDMI
essentially not much more than an output and two USB
Android Open-Source Program (AOSP) ports (one OTG).
build with the Google Play store
thrown in, but that’s enough to get you
everything else.
As for performance, the Allwinner
H3 won’t blow you away for speed, but
for a 1.2GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7
SoC, it’s similar to a few entry-level
tablets available at the moment. But it’s
another reason why we recommend a
Class-10 microSD card — most retailers
should have a 16GB Sandisk Ultra
Class-10 card for under $15.
INSTALLING H3DROID
H3Droid runs off the MicroSD card
and the H3Droid team has done its
homework, creating a simple setup
system you can perform on any
Windows computer. First, you
download the latest H3Droid Image
Installer (H3ii) image from h3droid.
com/download. Unzip it with 7-Zip
(7-zip.org/download.html) and write
the image to a MicroSD card with
Win32DiskImager (tinyurl.com/
odxlnmf). Then you install the card
into the Orange Pi One and boot.
But here’s the clever bit — H3Droid
automatically launches a boot script
to convert the file format to ‘ext4’ and
rewrites Android onto the card. The
Android image itself is only 171MB to
download and 260MB written to the
card. We used a 4GB card, and even
after the full install, we still had just
over 2GB of space left for apps.
However, once that initial boot
process is complete, it boots into
Recovery Mode where you must
perform two important additional
steps. The first step is to set the correct
U-boot bootloader for the Allwinner
board you’re using. In our example with
the Orange Pi One, you first enter ‘21’ to
move into the ‘switch U-Boot’ menu list,
then choose ‘11’ for the Orange Pi One H3DROID PERFORMANCE easy. However, for some reason,
U-Boot bootloader. The second step You can set the HDMI output we had trouble with 1080p playback
is set the correct FEX file (choose ‘9’ resolution and frequency, but the happening with software decoding
for the Orange Pi One). An FEX file is one thing to be aware of is the higher only (with noticeable frame skipping).
basically a descriptor file telling you set the resolution, the harder the Gmail worked a treat, but Angry
Android how the board works, SoC has to work, the hotter it’ll get Birds took ages to load (we didn’t
everything from which GPIO pin is and the slower it’ll run. Personally, bother waiting).
which, through to USB devices, HDMI, for Allwinner H3 boards and All that said, H3Droid is still the
the works. Select the wrong FEX option H3Droid, I’ll be sticking with 720p best Android release for Orange Pi
and everything goes pear-shaped. (1,280 x 720 pixels) to maximise boards we’ve seen so far, so we’ll keep
That said, once that’s done, you now performance. an eye on it over coming months.
just reboot (select option ‘99’). Android While it shows great potential,
will boot up straight to the home H3Droid is, realistically, still a work THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX
screen, not the usual Android setup in progress — in our experience, There’s an old saying that if all you
process, so to be safe, we logged in there were good bits and some not so have is a hammer, everything looks
using a test Google account we have good bits. We had USB Wi-Fi dongles like a nail. The Raspberry Pi is a great
for these occasions. working on boot (D-Link’s 802.11n learning tool, no question, but if that’s
Like any Android device, the first DWA-125 and 802.11g DWL-G122), all you know, it can make it more
boot will take some time, but after but Bluetooth didn’t work. YouTube difficult to see other solutions you
that, things should be fairly was generally fine, just a little may already have. And those solutions
streamlined — even more so if you stuttery at first, while MX Player could be as close as your local
use a fast-class MicroSD card. delivered 720p (1,280 x 720-pixel) supermarket — or hiding in your desk
HD video with hardware decoding, drawer.
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T
his month, we’re combining
Arduino, Python and Android
to create a wireless light
switch controlled by
Make sure you set
combining Bluetooth, your Android the correct COM port
smartphone and your voice. Your to code your Nano.
Android phone provides the speech (Hint: not COM1.)
recognition and wireless control,
Python provides the code to activate
the speech recognition and Bluetooth
communication, but here, we detail
the Arduino hardware, including the
Bluetooth module and LED light.
HC-06 BLUETOOTH
The Arduino Nano microcontroller
board we’ve based this project on
doesn’t have wireless connectivity
built in, so we pull in the compact
four-pin HC-06 Bluetooth module. It’s
easy to code and just like working with
a serial connection.
There’s one condition, however —
it’s designed to run on anything from those into the equation and you get Our voice-controlled
3.6V to 6VDC, but can only deal in signal 3.33VDC. If you don’t have a 20kohm LED uses an Arduino
levels of 3.3VDC. The signal it sends to resistor, you can substitute an 18kohm Nano and Bluetooth.
the Arduino (‘TXD’) is fine but it must resistor instead — this will give
receive a 3.3VDC signal in return. 3.21VDC, which will be fine. Most
Since the Arduino Nano only deals in digital inputs have a tolerance of
5VDC increments, we need to +/-10% before things start to wobble
implement a simple voltage divider to and we’re well inside that.
drop the voltage down. There’s a simple
equation for working out voltage SOFTWARE SERIAL
division with just two resistors: The other issue we have with the
Arduino Nano is that it only has one
Vout = Vin x R2 / (R1 + R2) serial channel — the RX and TX ports
on pins D0 and D1. If we use these to
Here, we’re using a 10kohm resistor for communicate with the HC-06, we lose
R1, a 20kohm resistor for R2 and Vin our ability to communicate with the PC
(the input voltage) is 5VDC. Punch over the Serial Monitor, which uses the
104 www.apcmag.com
The Arduino Nano is a tiny
8-bit microcontroller
for making your own gear.
Rc = (Vin – Vf) / If
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A
rtificial Intelligence or ‘AI’
is pretty big business at the
moment. You have the tech
giants promoting their This month’s Python
code talks to our
speech-recognition standalone Arduino project
assistants, particularly the new over Bluetooth.
Google Home, not to mention
Amazon’s Echo, Apple’s soon-to-arrive
HomePod and a raft of other
alternatives we’re yet to see in
Australia. Typically, you can ask
these devices questions, get them to
turn on and off network-connected
lights — think of yourself as Tony
Stark communicating with JARVIS
to create a ‘smart’ home.
But if you have a late-model Android
phone or tablet, about $15 worth of
eBay-sourced electronics (which we
cover in this month’s Arduino
Masterclass, page 104) and some
Python code, you can create your own
speech-controlled wireless LED light,
courtesy of Google’s existing speech-
recognition tech inside Android.
PYTHON ON ANDROID
We looked at QPython3 last month, Python code for our After saying ‘stop’,
Bluetooth LED light the code acknowledges
a nicely-done Python 3 integrated coded on a Motorola and drops back
development environment (IDE) Moto G5. to the console.
for Android. What makes it worth
106 www.apcmag.com
the download is its ability to not only
run Python code on your Android
device, but also tap into exotic Android
features such as text-to-speech (TTS),
speech recognition and Bluetooth
wireless connectivity.
We’ve tested QPython3 on a range
of Android releases from 4.0.3 through
to 7.0 and it works really well. The only
place you might strike trouble is
getting it to run on x86 hardware —
The free Bluetooth
we tried it on the latest Android-x86 Finder app finds
7.1 RC1 release with no success. the MAC address of
your HC-06 module.
SCRIPTING LAYER FOR ANDROID
This added ability to tap into Android
goodies comes from a programming However, in the background, there’s speech and the language libraries, so
layer inside QPython3 called ‘Scripting even more going on — once the sending the recorded speech to Google
Layer for Android’ or ‘SL4A’. Originally SpeechRecognizer class has captured is a necessity.
developed by Google, SL4A has been your speech, it must send that audio
added to QPython3. SL4A’s original back to Google to turn into plain text. TEXT-TO-SPEECH
goal was to allow scripting languages Once that’s done, the plain text is But if you’re going to have speech
like Python and Ruby to use Android returned back to your Android device. recognition in your app, you can’t not
features without needing to fight your We’ve tested this with Wi-Fi and mobile have text-to-speech going back the
way around the Java programming network data and it works either way. other way. Android has supported TTS
language to make them work. Without this internet connection, since the very beginning (well, at least
It potentially makes using these though, this form of speech recognition since Donut/1.6), but in more recent
features easy, although, as we found, just doesn’t work. Phones don’t have Android releases, it’s received plenty of
not everything works exactly as the necessary RAM to handle the love from Google with improvements
expected. That said, our project uses algorithms required for detecting such as variation in expressiveness
three key Android features via SL4A
— speech recognition, text-to-speech
(TTS) and Bluetooth.
To use SL4A in Python, you begin by “Phones don’t have the necessary RAM
just importing the SL4A library into
your code and creating an ‘Android’ to handle the algorithms required for
object using the commands:
detecting speech and the language
import sl4a
droid = sl4a.Android() libraries, so sending the recorded
The first line imports the sl4a code
library, the second creates an SL4A
speech to Google is a necessity.”
Android object called ‘droid’.
ANDROID SPEECHRECOGNIZER
Speech recognition has been baked
into Android for a long time now —
ever since Android 2.2/Froyo. The
functionality itself is available to Java
developers through an Android class
called ‘SpeechRecognizer’. Thankfully,
you don’t need to know anything about
how it works, other than one brilliantly
simple SL4A command:
answer = droid.
recognizeSpeech().result
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droid.ttsSpeak(“hello, my
name is python”) The problem is it didn’t do that for us. ‘mac_address’ variable in the
In fact, it didn’t do anything. The only voicelight.py source code.
TTS is initiated by calling the way we could make this work is to use There’s one other thing this
‘ttsSpeak()’ function as part of the the more-complex command: command does and that’s to wait or
‘droid’ object and the only parameter ‘block’ further code execution until
you need to add is the text string you retVal = droid. either you get a connection success
want your device to say. Simple. bluetoothConnect(“00001101 or fail condition. With a successful
The one thing we’ve found is that you -0000-1000-8000-00805F9B34FB connection, your code can now
don’t quite get enough of a delay from ”,”04:12:00:14:00:53”) continue with a connected Bluetooth
a comma during TTS, so for a more module.
dramatic pause, try a full-stop (period) The first string of characters looks
instead. You also don’t have to worry like nonsense but it’s actually a 128-bit CONNECTING VS PAIRING
about capitalising your text — if you universally unique identifier (UUID) In terms of coding, it’s important to
don’t say it normally, the TTS engine for serial port profile (SPP) service remember that connecting is not the
won’t. Spelling, however, is important used by Bluetooth modules like the same as pairing — just because a
— TTS will say exactly what’s in your HC-06 in our Arduino project. In other Bluetooth device is paired with your
string, but if it doesn’t recognise the words, think of it as a universal phone Android phone doesn’t mean it has an
word, you may get some unexpected number for dialling up Bluetooth serial active connection ready to go. To throw
results. connectivity functions. The second in a fairly dodgy analogy, pairing is
string is the 48-bit media access like giving your phone number to your
BLUETOOTH control (MAC) address of the HC-06 mate — that alone doesn’t give you a
The real key to this project is being able module as it’s paired to your Android phone connection. Your mate still
to tap into your Android device’s device. The first string is always the has to dial the number and you accept
Bluetooth transceiver. Now the various same, however, the second string has the call before you can have a
online SL4A reference guides suggest to match the HC-06’s MAC address conversation.
you should be able to code the and it’s not always easy to find. What’s even more impressive about
command: That’s where Bluetooth Finder on the bluetoothConnect() command is
Google Play (tinyurl.com/nrufr4w) that if your Android device isn’t first
returnValue = droid. fits the bill. This free app locates paired with the Bluetooth module
bluetoothConnect() nearby Bluetooth devices, gives you before that command is executed,
their signal strength and, importantly it’ll automatically bring up the pairing/
Do this and Android should ask you for us, their MAC address. Grab that password window and have you fill in
to select from the paired Bluetooth MAC address for the HC-06 Bluetooth the password (typically ‘0000’ or ‘1234’
devices you already have available. module and type it into the in this case) before continuing —
108 www.apcmag.com
kudos to the developers who figured Apple’s new HomePod,
that all out. coming to Australia
in December 2017.
GETTING AND USING THE CODE
You’ll find the Python source code
for this project on the APC website
(apcmag.com/magstuff). Unzip it, copy
the ‘voicelight.py’ file to your phone
and into the ‘/qpython/scripts3’
subfolder. Make sure your Arduino
project is powered up and the HC-06
module’s red LED is flashing away.
Pair your phone with the HC-06
module, then launch QPython3 on your
phone, select ‘Programs’ from the main
screen and load ‘voicelight.py’ from the
list. On the little pop-up window, select
‘open’, change the ‘mac_address’ string
variable to match the MAC address
of your HC-06 Bluetooth module you
recorded from Bluetooth Finder.
Once you’ve done that, save (press
the disk icon) and press the triangle
‘run’ icon at the bottom of the screen
and the code should launch. Once a
connection is made, the HC-06’s LED
should stay lit. Press the back arrow on
your phone at any time to end the code. DATA CHARGES AND LIMITATIONS YOUR IMAGINATION
The one thing to be aware of is that Turning on an LED by voice
THROWING YOUR VOICE speech recognition requires the using Bluetooth might not float
As soon as everything is set, you’ll get Android ‘SpeechRecognizer’ class and everyone’s boat, but once you have
the Google speech recognition dialog according to Android documentation, the mechanism for switching
user interface appear on your Android “The implementation of this API is digital I/O wirelessly by voice,
device. We’ll assume you’ve read this likely to stream audio to remote you can use it to switch on or off
month’s Arduino Masterclass, built the servers to perform speech recognition. just about anything with the right
Bluetooth LED light project and have it As such this API is not intended to be electronics and a good dose of
up and running — otherwise, nothing used for continuous recognition, imagination. Python wasn’t
much else will happen. which would consume a significant designed to create standalone
Now you’re ready for your big amount of battery and bandwidth.” Android apps, but it’s still a fun
moment — speak the command into (tinyurl.com/zpn78bn). So we’ve got two way to learn coding and learn just
your phone to turn the LED light on or implications here — first, the more how versatile the Python language
off. The way we’ve designed the Python you say, the more it will cost you in can be.
code is that it doesn’t matter really bandwidth, and if using your phone
what you say into your phone at this network data plan, watch that usage
point — it’s just looking for two carefully. But second, the service is in
keywords: ‘on’ and ‘off’. If you say either some way time-limited. Google doesn’t
one in your speech, the code picks up say how it’s limited; however, some
on this and then sends the appropriate users have reported a 60-second
command wirelessly to the HC-06 time-limit exists for each speech
Bluetooth module in the Arduino ‘session’. After that time, the speech
project. So you could try being cute and recognition dialog interface closes.
say: “Jarvis, turn the lights on, thanks, One thing we’ve observed in practice
mate!” and show off to your friends, or is that, if the speech interface doesn’t
you could go for word-economy and just hear any speech, it’ll revert to the ‘tap
say: “On!” and get the same result. You and speak’ dialog and just wait until
could even code in your own secret you’re ready, which is handy as it
keywords — ‘apple’ for ‘on’ and ‘cats’ for provides its own code-blocking, rather
‘off’ — whatever, that’s up to you. than you having to code it.
The key thing is that Google sends
back the plain text of whatever you CREATING SHORTCUTS
said and it’s stored in the ‘answer’ A cool little extra is the ability to
variable in our Python code. We then create shortcuts for your Python code.
use the ‘in’ string search function to While you’re in the ‘scripts’ window of
look for the keywords and execute the QPython3 app, press and hold one
the appropriate action from there. of the Python script files and the
Once that’s been done, we loop around ‘create shortcut’ dialog box should
again over the while-loop, waiting for appear, allowing you to create an app
the next audible input. If that input launcher icon for your apps list.
is ‘stop’, the code will disengage the Drag the shortcut to your home screen If the speech dialog
doesn’t hear you,
Bluetooth connection and give you and now you can run your Python app it’ll wait for you to tap
audible cue to that effect. code without having to pre-launch and try again.
QPython3.
www.apcmag.com 109
downtimegames
» EDITED BY CARMEL SEALEY
O
pting to go the indie experience. Those voices in an ingenious way to subtly solve perspective puzzles or
route for its latest Senua’s head? Now they’re put you back on the right finding hidden glyphs in the
release, British the voices in your head, path without holding your surrounding environment
developer Ninja constantly insulting and hand. You may get some help in order to unlock closed-off
Theory has applied the laughing at you, telling you from time to time, but don’t barriers. You do this by
same triple-A production how worthless you are and let that fool you — this is a using your focus ability,
values that brought it great doubting you at every turn. relentlessly grim game with which allows you to look
acclaim in titles like At first, these taunts are the lurking threat of perma- closely at symbols, activate
Heavenly Sword and DmC disheartening, but then, death constantly looming totems and even slow down
to a more intimate, yet no something clicks and it over you if you fail too many the action during combat
less ambitious affair. becomes apparent that times. scenarios. Combat isn’t
A psychological horror these jibes can be used to In terms of gameplay, particularly deep, but it still
game at its core, Hellblade your advantage. Walking off Hellblade consists mostly manages to be quite
follows a Pict named Senua in the wrong direction? of puzzle-solving and melee satisfying in its simplicity.
as she takes an unnerving Expect the voices to mock combat with some light However, the quality of
journey into a Celtic and you about how you don’t exploration. A lot of the Ninja Theory’s storytelling
Norse mythology-inspired know where you’re going — time, you’ll be trying to has never been better.
underworld where she Hellblade aims to show you
must battle psychotic what it’s like to suffer from
You will know what
manifestations caused by it’s like to be in
mental illness, and does a
her severe mental illness. this person’s head. better job than any other
Needless to say, this is far game in recent memory.
from light entertainment. Stephen Lambrechts
With only the abusive voices
in her head to keep her
company, Senua sets off on
a lonely quest to bring her
deceased lover back to life.
Verdict
A hellish odyssey that will blow you
The game recommends you away with its cinematic presentation
play with headphones — and nightmarish atmosphere.
a terrific suggestion that
greatly improves the overall
110 www.apcmag.com
Sonic Mania
The holy trinity —
Sonic, Tails and
Knuckles — are
back in the blue
hedgehog’s best
PC, PS4, XO | $22.95 | WWW.BLACKTHEFALL.COM in 20 years.
You say you want a revolution? Jump to it... One look at those
screenshots and you’ll
think you’ve gone back
B
to 1994. Sonic Mania is a
lack The Fall is an a swift demise, and headscratcher to the next, firm return to the halcyon
intelligent and, at anything orange is vital to we longed for earlier days when a new Sonic
times, brilliant interact with. What works moments of invention like The Hedgehog game was
side-scrolling best about these puzzles is having to navigate using guaranteed to be fast, fun
platform-puzzler that will that they’re often contrived only sound, and the tension- and all about platforming.
prompt comparisons with so that you’re working relieving, puzzle-free It’s almost as if the last
Playdead’s Inside. But Sand yourself free while in sequences i n which we only 20-something years of
Sailor Studio’s debut has extreme, agonising had to run, jump and admire torturous 3D games with
enough character to say proximity to your captors. the scenery for a bit. Big The Cat and fishing
something new about Sometimes to your fellow On balance, that later never happened.
dark futures informed downtrodden denizens, too. difficulty doesn’t sour This really is the best
by dark pasts. Better still are the moments the experience, and the bits of Sonic 3 and Sonic 2,
It begins with a room full of revelation that dawn solutions are never so the games you remember,
of people pedalling when the camera obscure that they aren’t but remade and remixed.
stationary bicycles, forever. perspective unexpectedly signposted at least a little The only concession to
In a dim and noisy shifts, or the world’s colour bit. What does take the edge modern tech (depending
warehouse, somewhere deep palette suddenly expands. off Black The Fall’s obvious on your hardware) is that
in the belly of a USSR-esque It conveys a lot without qualities is that, as the it runs in 1080p, 60 frames
regime, bike wheels whirr, uttering a word. puzzles get harder, per second, and Sonic and
powering the machinery Then a less revelatory the thematic cohesion chums have more frames
that oppresses their riders. thing happens: the puzzles that worked so well in the of animation giving them
The nameless protagonist get harder, but not more beginning — puzzles that more sticking power on
has pedalled his last, inventive. The signposting made sense in the game those giddy loop-the-
though. He’s breaking out gets subtler, and as it does, world and told the story — loops. Levels are a hit-list
of this world, right under the oddness of Black The reaches its limit. of favourites, from the fast
the noses of the pot-bellied Fall’s 2.5D perspective Latter-half slog aside, and rolling Green Hills
guards and surveillance becomes problematic. it’s an affecting and, Zone to the more technical
cameras surrounding him. Sometimes, we got stuck at times, inspired debut Flying Battery with a few
By puzzling, you because the Escher-esque from Sand Sailor Studio. new locations thrown in
understand. Many shots landscapes distorted Phil Iwaniuk between. Remarkably,
are fired in Black The Fall, relative distances between Sonic Mania manages to
but they’re directed at you, objects, obscuring the appeal to anyone feeling
rather than by you. For the solution. Sometimes, nostalgic, and anyone
opening hour, you’re the imprecise movement Verdict who’s only ever seen the
introduced to the visual and jumping controls let us While the level design did trip us up blue blur’s titles in the
language and the rules: down. Towards the game’s a bit at times, the overall experience bargain bin. Paul Taylor
being spotted by anything climax, when the cadence is definitely worth it.
means being shot dead on becomes a treacle-slow
sight, missing a jump means trudge from one 15-minute
www.apcmag.com 111
downtime » games
Pyre
A spark of genius
that lights an
impressive fire.
PC, PS4 | $29.95
SUPERGIANTGAMES.COM
Caveblazers
and in pieces, a dangerous
game for a writer to play.
We’re pleased to report
that the tactic pays off
handsomely. The surreal
fantasy atmosphere is
Does this procedural platformer steal Spelunky’s crown?
C
expertly supported by
a gorgeous and varied aveblazers is a weapons and upgrades decided to try our luck with
soundtrack. In terms of sidescrolling factors in — maybe you’ll a potion. We combusted —
gameplay, there are 3v3 roguelike with end up with an amazing bow, unceremoniously burning to
battles, which mix ARPG random loot and but an underpowered sword, death only two levels in.
presentation with sports perma-death. As you delve or a powerful axe paired The bosses are our
game elements. Each side down further into a cave with a hand cannon that’s least favourite part of this
has a pyre that they need full of riches, you’ll useful in specific situations. game, largely because of the
to protect. An orb with encounter powerful The loot defines your build, repetition. As a challenge,
the power to weaken a enemies and find new gear and changes your strategy they’re fine — there are
pyre is dropped into the to kill them with. You’ll each time. bosses we can kill without
middle of the arena. The find gold, and spend it on Caveblazers is quick to taking a hit, but who’ll still
two teams then vie for items and health refills punish mistakes, and also punish a lapse in
control of the orb, so that from shrines. You’ll find desperation. You’ll find concentration. But unlike
they can either fling it into blessings — buffs that can potions but, in classic in regular play, these
the opposing pyre or jump tweak and enhance you roguelike style, they’re encounters mostly remain
into it while holding the build. And you’ll die, in unidentified. Maybe they’ll the same, no matter the
orb, which respawns each many painful, cheap and restore health or increase build. A better bow may
time a side ‘scores’. This amusing, ways — often as a your melee or ranged make things quicker, but
continues until one pyre result of your own hubris. damage stats, or decrease that only affects the length
is extinguished. Between A Spelunky comparison those stats (or worse). of the fight, not how we
battles, you’ll make choices is inevitable. I don’t think Health restoration items are approach it. Despite this
as you go. Early on, any Caveblazers is as good as a big deal, and rare, and the misstep, though,
effects of any decision you Spelunky — few games are — price of filling your health Caveblazers is an excellent
make will almost always but it finds success in how it bar at shrines becomes procedural platformer.
be short-term only, but builds on the simplistic increasingly prohibitive as It’s slightly looser and less
when you finally make it perfection of Mossmouth’s you move deeper into the intricate than Spelunky,
to the end, your decisions dungeon diver. For instance, dungeon. You can befriend but it scratches the same
become more impactful. here, you have two weapons: AI dungeon delvers to help itch — offering plenty of
Outside of the campaign, one melee, one ranged. This soak up some of the damage, variety, and a difficult, yet
there’s a Versus mode, changes how you approach but they can also be a rewarding, challenge that’s
where you can concentrate combat encounters and the liability. Everything is a risk fun to unravel. Phil Savage
on the Rites, which is best abilities of the monsters down in the dark.
appreciated after finishing you face. Many can close On our 12th run, we made
the story. The lack of online distance quickly, forcing a dumb mistake with some
functionality is a shame, you to make a split-second Jumpers — difficult, highly Verdict
but understandable. decision. Do you stand your mobile monsters that A great 2D platformer with
Luke Kemp ground and battle, or try to explode on contact. We procedurally generated levels
increase the gap — giving limped towards the first and randomised loot.
you the space to pick them boss encounter and, seeing
off at range? Randomised that it was the flying cube,
112 www.apcmag.com
SWITCH | $79.95 | WWW.NINTENDO.COM.AU
Splatoon 2
Splat’s entertainment! Nintendo’s speedy sequel makes another fine mess.
T
his follow-up to changed, but then there during matchmaking. These temporary armour, allowing
Nintendo’s gleefully wasn’t an awful lot to fix. are the kind of quirks that them to withstand a single
gungy shooter may Ink is thicker, shinier and are harder to forgive the attack that would normally
feel familiar, as the gloopier, lightning has second time. kill them.
original was released only improved and everything There are few stage- Splatoon 2’s campaign is a
a year ago. While Splatoon looks sharper, brighter and specific gimmicks in the more confident, diverse
2 does suffer a little from altogether better. The plaza current batch of maps, offering this time around.
second-man-in-space hub is sunnier and livelier, though all have individual The bosses range from a
syndrome — a terrific feat, with more to do outside the features that make them sentient oven that shoots
but less thrillingly new online lobbies, and with distinctive. out loaves of bread to a brute
than the first launch — menu shortcuts for those On weapons, there’s little wielding a motorised roller
you’ll quickly find yourself who aren’t in the mood for to beat the Splashdown, while riding a unicycle. But
engrossed. Inkopolis, mooching about. which sees an Inkling leap while its difficulty curve is
it’s good to be back. There are eight maps at up and thump the ground better judged than the
Seasoned players can leap launch – two are repurposed with great force, splattering original,the final encounter
in and know pretty much versions of older maps — but ink in a wide radius — here is anticlimactic. You’ll
exactly what they’re doing. Nintendo’s planning to combine it with a super jump find plenty of excitement in
But Wii U’s sales woes surely introduce more maps, into enemy territory and the Horde-style co-op mode
mean plenty of newcomers weapons and gear in the you’ve got a potential Salmon Run, however.
will need bringing up to months to come. Any team-killer. It’s one of a With an audience hungry
speed. If you haven’t had the quibbles about quantity are clutch of terrific new special for more of the same, this is
pleasure, Splatoon is a outweighed by the quality of weapons, including a a follow-up that delivers,
competitive multiplayer these arenas. And with maps powerful laser that can with added polish.
game where two groups of now being rotated every two shoot through walls, a Chris Schilling
four Inklings (humanoid hours rather than four, jetpack that lets you fire
creatures that can assume there’s more chance of thick ink projectiles and our
squid form) battle over turf getting to play one of your favourite: a translucent ball
by spraying it with brightly- favourites. The inability to that can roll up walls, which Verdict
coloured ink. At the end of quit lobbies or change your you can manually detonate While this feels more like a makeover
three minutes, the total area weapons while you wait, to take out nearby rivals. than a true sequel, it’s still packed
splatted is totted up and a however, is still a pain, Or if you’re feeling more with squidding fun.
winner declared. exacerbated by the fact you altruistic, pick a set that
Fundamentally, little has can’t play arcade games gives your whole team
www.apcmag.com 113
downtime » chip chat
» CARMEL SEALEY REPORTS ON THE LIGHTER SIDE OF TECH NEWS
Forget fingerprints or
facial recognition...
GUYS CAN NOW SIGN IN WITH THEIR
WIFE’S BEST FRIEND.
RIP, Steve
The security robot who drowned himself.
‘Dick-ometrics’ log-in process! Yes, that’s
right. If you’ve got a John Thomas, you’ll
soon be able to log in to your CamSoda
account hands-free! According to the
site, the pictures of your Johnson will
be encrypted and, since your pocket
Steve the Knightscope K5 Autonomous Data Machine began his short career rocket is as unique as a retina scan
fighting crime as a patrol robot along the Washington Harbour on the 12th of July. or fingerprint, it’s a viable substitute
Armed with multiple sensors (including anomaly and gun detection, forensic identification method. At the time of
capabilities and 360° video streaming), the 136kg TicTac on wheels apparently writing, CamSoda has stated that its
failed to see the handful of stairs in his path and took a tumble into a fountain. joystick recognition software is about
Knightscope has said that Steve is in a “critical condition” and that there is no 76% accurate, and actually relies upon
evidence that this is anything but an accident. He has been replaced by another K5. the penile state of the Master Sword
From all of us here at APC, we wish Steve a swift recovery. in question. In their own words, “girth,
length, curve, vascularity are all affected
by the level of arousal”, so you’d have
to do a bit of a warm-up first — which,
in our humble opinion, kind of negates
half the purpose of porn...
What’s in a name?
AN AI HAS RENAMED THE ENTIRE UK!
114 www.apcmag.com
114 www.apcmag.com