March technology blogspot: small business

PhotoRec is a data recovery tool for severely damaged digital media. It was originally designed to recover photos from dying digital camera memory but has since been extended to work with over 400 different types of files on nearly any kind of digital media. PhotoRec works by scanning the entire disk from beginning to end looking for files. This approach, referred to as file carving, is why PhotoRec works even when the underlying media is severely damaged, when the filesystem metadata has been corrupted, or even when the media has been reformatted. The PhotoRec step by step section of the Web site gives a detailed walk-through of the recovery process with screenshots and explanations of each step. The site provides executables for Windows, macOS, and Linux. PhotoRec is free software, distributed under the GNU General Public Licence, with source code available.

https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

Samsung quitting blu-ray players

Are we witnessing the slow death of physical media? This month, Samsung revealed it would cease production of Blu-ray players for the US market. Despite 2018 showing all-time high home entertainment spending, sales of physical media have been declining for some time. Samsung isn't the biggest supplier in the Blu-ray player market, where Panasonic and Sony still lead and both continue to develop and manufacture high-end disc players. But Samsung's decision appears to signal a significant shift away from physical media.

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/samsung-confirms-its-stopping-blu-ray-player-production

Booktype

Booktype is a web-based publishing platform that can produce books, reports, and manuals in both digital and print formats. Booktype's authoring environment is designed to be clean and intuitive, using a drag-and-drop approach for both formatting and images. Multiple authors and editors can be simultaneously working on a publication. It is used by Amnesty International, the Research Hive at the University of Sussex and the German publisher Mikrotext, among others. A public demo is also available for users who want to practice with Booktype before installing it. The Web interface works with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Installation instructions are provided for Linux and macOS. Manuscripts can be imported from Word or EPUB files; the finished publication can be exported for short run or litho print, e-readers, tablets, mobile devices and websites, and to Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Word. Booktype is free software, distributed under the GNU Affero General Public Licence, with source code available on GitHub. A hosted version can be purchased for a monthly fee.

https://booktype.pro

Search engine of the month

If you have heard anything about the Dark Web, the most likely impression you will have is of a lawless world of uncharted and unstructured data - much of it illegally acquired and illegally for sale - that can't be accessed without the help of proxy servers and a TOR browser. For most people, it was destined to remain a mysterious place, where masses of information is stored, but access is restricted to those few who understand its secrets. Until, that is, Canadian company Echosec Systems released Beacon, a search engine designed to light a way into the Dark Web for anyone who cares to use it. According to the CEO of Echosec, the aim is to make searching across the dark web as easy as using any normal search engine. Echosec Systems promotes Beacon as a security tool - a way of locating illegally taken information on the Dark Web that could include your company documents, personal data, or other such material that could be detrimental to a company, its brand, or its customers.

https://www.echosec.net/beacon-dark-net/