January 2016

Microsoft's NET Framework has been an integrated component of all recent versions of the Windows operating system. While the actual version of the Framework installed by default differs with every release of Windows, all recent Windows versions have in common that they support Microsoft .Net to a degree.

The versions that were to new for an operating system could be installed to add support for these versions.

Omea Reader is a feed reader application for Windows that, while no longer maintained, supports a wide range of features that may make it interesting for some users of the operating system.

The program is a local reader that does not offer any integration with the cloud or services, but it may be possible to use cloud services to sync the feed listing and status regardless of that.

You can import an existing feed list using opml files but also bookmarks from Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox into the application.

Hosts Block is a free program for the Windows operating system that has been designed to protect the hosts file and update it regularly with lists of blocked malicious, adware or spyware domains.

The program has been designed with ease of use in mind. Simply install it on your Windows PC and it will run quietly in the background for the most part.

The application adds an icon to the Windows system tray which you can use to open its interface and control some of the features it makes available.

NoVirusThanks Stream Detector is a free program for the Windows operating system that allows you to scan entire NTFS hard drives or folders on them for alternate data streams.

Every file on a storage device formatted with the NTFS file system has at least one data stream assigned to it. It is called the unnamed data stream and executed when you double-click on files or when you run files from the command prompt.

When it comes to the password selection process, you are usually only restrained by the limitations imposed to you by the service you are creating an account for.

Some may have very strict but insecure rules, like enforcing 4 digit passwords only, while others may only limit the lower character limit (six or more), upper character limit (no more than 12), and a third kind may require that you pick at least a special character and a number.

Website Grader is an Internet service to grade websites based on core metrics such as performance, mobile support, search engine optimization and security.

The service is without doubt not the most complete application of its kind, but it is fast and provides actionable advice when it finds issues that can be fixed to improve the overall grade of the website.

All you do is type or paste a URL that you want to check and hit the "get your answer" button afterwards. The email field displayed prominently on the site is optional.

The following collection of tips for the Bittorrent client qBittorrent improves the client in several significant ways.

I switched to qBittorrent after it became apparent that uTorrent, my then-favorite client was no longer the lightweight client I once fell in love with.

The application is an excellent program that is available for different platforms and updated regularly.

Windows 10 does a lot of data collecting by default which you may disable for the most part using the Settings application or one of the third-party privacy tools designed to put an end to Microsoft's hunger for data.

If you work on a Windows 10 computer you may have noticed feedback prompts appearing from time to time as notifications on the device.

When Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 3, the device's bootloader was locked "in order to protect user data safety". The company announced later on that it made the decision to lock the bootloader of all of its Mi devices, including the Mi4c and Mi Note Pro.

It is not uncommon for manufacturers to lock the bootloader, even if the device is clearly designed for the developer community.

Advanced Log Viewer is a free program for the Windows operating system that has been designed as an easy to use but at the same time very powerful tool for viewing log files in Windows.

Easy, because it works well for many different log formats out of the box. Ideally, all you need to do is open the log file in the application to view it a heavily optimized interface.

Advanced, because it allows you to add support for custom log patterns to make them work just as well in the program as the many supported formats.