The Forbes.com financial site was hacked with the use of a  plugin by Chinese hackers. Two security firms are reporting that late last year the financial news site of Forbes.com was infected with a plugin that allowed hackers to gain personal information from financial service workers and defensive employees. A Thought Of The Day widget had malware installed and was able to collect information from any page on the website.

What has become one of the most popular phone apps for messaging internationally is becoming available via a web browser on the desktop (an extension). The browser version is a little odd as it needs an active phone session to operate which it then mirrors. All the messages still happen  on the phone, with the desktop as an interface. Another odd quirk is that the desktop does not work with Apple iPhone, just Android, Blackberry and Windows. The company is blaming Apple limitations for the lack of the new service.

Turbo Tax Enters a New Era with Tax Software Changes and Software wars get tough with tax time soon beginning.

Mouseprint an affiliate of Consumer World.org informed Turbo Tax users that Intuits product, Turbo Tax Deluxe, so popular with filers is changing. The schedule C (self-employment), Schedule E (Partnership Income-Rental) or Schedule D (Investment) no longer exist in Turbo Tax Deluxe. Customers now need to upgrade to the "Premier" editions and above.

The founder of ConsumerWorld.org, Mr. Edgar Dworsky expressed the change as a "Clever ploy." Take away what people consider essential, and set a higher price. The surprise from users might prove quite interesting. Some will only realize the difference while working on their taxes. Tax preparation for many people is stressful and this change will not be met with open arms.

Reports are putting March as the month that Apple will release the Apple Watch. Sales people at stores across the country will be offered training on the new wearable device in mid-February. Testing and function training will be a part of the store involvement. The first round of training will happen early February in the companies headquarters. Software changes and supplier issues have kept the device from being released early 2015, according to reports.

With the addition of HBO GO to Amazon Fire TV, a user can simple say the name of the movie or a television series and the interface with search HBO GO, Hulu, or Showtime Anytime for the program you want to watch. This follows the addition of HBO GO to both Apple TV and Roku media streamers. Amazon Fire TV Stick will get the service in the Spring.

You need to have an HBO subscription with your cable provider to get the service working on your Amazon Fire TV. The service has been available for some time on Amazon Fire HD pads, allowing owners to watch HBO movies anywhere there is a Wi-Fi connection. Connect your Amazon Fire HD to your television through a mini-HDMI cord and watch movies on televisions without a cable box installed.

If you have ever posted something on Facebook that you would not want the public to see, a new improved search function of the social network might bring that old post up from your timeline. The changes will be part of the desktop interface and the iOS app rolled out this week. The amount that gets shared is based on your privacy settings, but if you allow the public to see your timeline, then the new search will be better able to find the old stuff that would embarrass you today.

For over $200 million, Microsoft has acquired Acompli as a possible replacement for Outlook on mobile devices. The mobile app runs on both iOS and Android and can connect to most email systems including MS Exchange. This is seen by many analysts as Microsoft moving closer to offering all office products in mobile formats. The company recently relocated its OneDrive division to work with the Office mobile and cloud groups. In a statement, Microsoft likes the technology of Acompli, the staff, and the option for the company to expand its mobile applications.

The Federal Trade Commission has closed 2 technical support companies including PC HealthBoost after the companies “scammed” computer users from millions of dollars. The companies provided software to users which required a fee to activate. PC Cleaner was distributed for the sole purpose of scaring users into purchasing software after they became notified to system issues which may or may not have existed.

Boost Software was selling similar software with the addition of telemarketing operations that were also fake. Both companies websites have been closed in addition to a company help operate the call center, OMG Tech Help. PC Healthboost claimed to be able to increase the speed of your computer by 216%. Boost Software CEO Amit Mehta was named as the mastermind by the FTC.

The FTC claims that both companies sell useless software that uses fear and a lack of technical knowledge to make money on software sales.

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On your Android phone, the popular messaging app WhatsApp now is providing end-to-end encryption. The Open Whisper Systems technology will move to iOS soon also. Whisper Systems was purchased by Twitter four years and the Open Whisper Systems is the open source off-shoot. With over 600 million users, keeping messages and pictures save from hackers has become more important every month with the NSA and hackers getting ahold of celebrity photos from Apple cloud services.

The Boost Software team in Boston MA has been hard at work updating the company’s anti-virus program, the PC Health Boost application, and most recently; their website. The new site is not a modification to the old site but something completely new. The site was designed with easy navigation in mind. User friendly is the theme of the new site in a similar way to their PC Boost software.