Microsoft Builds USB Drive For Police

By Digital Trends Staff April 29, 2008

Microsoft Builds USB Drive For Police It looks like a typical USB thumb drive, but under the hood there’s a lot more going on. Microsoft has built these items specially for police forces, andinside that mild-mannered exterior, it contains a few super powers. Called the Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor, it has over 150 commands, including the ability to check surfinghistory, decrypt some passwords, log hard drive activity and map hard drives – all without shutting down the computer and risk losing evidence. The company began giving the device topolice last year, and now it’s used by more than 2,000 forces across 15 different countries, but it was put on display for the first time when Microsoft hosted a conference for law-enforcementpersonnel at its Redmond campus. Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith told the Seattle Times: "These are things in whichwe invest substantial resources, but not from the perspective of making money. We’re doing this to help ensure that the internet stays safe." However, he admitted that the altruism doespay off in the other software and services they sell the forces to go with the USB stick.

Digital Trends Staff

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Computing

How to change margins in Google Docs

Laptop Working from Home

When you create a document in Google Docs, you may need to adjust the space between the edge of the page and the content --- the margins. For instance, many professors have requirements for the margin sizes you must use for college papers.

You can easily change the left, right, top, and bottom margins in Google Docs and have a few different ways to do it.

Computing

What is Microsoft Teams? How to use the collaboration app

A close-up of someone using Microsoft Teams on a laptop for a videoconference.

Online team collaboration is the new norm as companies spread their workforce across the globe. Gone are the days of primarily relying on group emails, as teams can now work together in real time using an instant chat-style interface, no matter where they are.

Using Microsoft Teams affords video conferencing, real-time discussions, document sharing and editing, and more for companies and corporations. It's one of many collaboration tools designed to bring company workers together in an online space. It’s not designed for communicating with family and friends, but for colleagues and clients.

Computing

Microsoft Word vs. Google Docs

A person using a laptop that displays various Microsoft Office apps.

For the last few decades, Microsoft Word has been the de facto standard for word processors across the working world. That's finally starting to shift, and it looks like one of Google's productivity apps is the heir apparent. The company's Google Docs solution (or to be specific, the integrated word processor) is cross-platform and interoperable, automatically syncs, is easily shareable, and perhaps best of all, is free.

However, using Google Docs proves it still has a long way to go before it can match all of Word's features -- Microsoft has been developing its word processor for over 30 years, after all, and millions still use Microsoft Word. Will Google Docs' low barrier to entry and cross-platform functionality win out? Let's break down each word processor in terms of features and capabilities to help you determine which is best for your needs.
How does each word processing program compare?
To put it lightly, Microsoft Word has an incredible advantage over Google Docs in terms of raw technical capability. From relatively humble beginnings in the 1980s, Microsoft has added new tools and options in each successive version. Most of the essential editing tools are available in Google Docs, but users who are used to Word will find it limited.