MacBook Pro 13in (2015) review

if you want to buy laptop this is the perfect chose.  this is the most advanced of all of Apple’s laptops with price of £1,000

METAL Laptop

To MacBook veterans out there, the 2015 MacBook Pro 13 will look incredibly familiar, though. Apple hasn’t fiddled with the outer design at all. You still get an aluminium casing that looks great and weighs in at a fairly shoulder-friendly 1.56kg. It’s 18mm thick, which is only 1mm chunkier than the MacBook Air at its thickest point.

However, its silhouette is quite different. Where the MacBook Air and 12-inch MacBook are wafer-thin wedges, the MacBook Pro is quite brick-like. It’s roughly the same thickness all the way across, so while it’s still portable, it doesn’t have the excitingly thin feel of Apple’s other laptops.

If you really must show off, you probably want to wait for the 12-inch MacBook. Shove it in a rucksack, though, and the differences start to fade. I’ve been out and about every day with the MacBook Pro for a while now, and you’d barely know it’s there a lot of the time. There are slimmer laptops, but this one is more than slim enough for most, given its other benefits.

THE CLICK TRACK

You might be left thinking: so what’s different to last year’s model? The main change aside from the usual annual power updates is in the trackpad. It looks the same, but is very different inside. Last year, the MacBook Pro used a tilting mechanism, like just about every laptop trackpad. The panel moved on a hinge at the top, getting you that recognisable motion, which was emphasised with a software-managed ‘click’ at the end.

It has been the norm for years, taken for granted. But Apple has changed things up. In the 2015 MacBook Pro, Apple has done away with the hinge movement, relying entirely on haptic feedback. Not only does this mean you can press down on the whole pad with zero dead zone, it also enables a neat new pressure sensitive feature.

The trackpad knows not just when you’re tapping, but how hard too. Press down harder and you’ll get a second, deeper click that’s already used for secondary functions in a bunch of Apple apps. For example, in Safari it’ll bring up web link previews that you can even scroll through. Is it going to change your life? Probably not.

But when every app developer under the sun starts using it, we’ll all be wondering how we got by without it in the first place. Most importantly: it just feels right. The keyboard is much the same. It doesn’t use the fancy (but contentious) new butterfly mechanism you may have heard about, as used in the 12-inch MacBook. Apple has altered the keyboard backlight a bit, but you’d honestly be hard-pressed to notice.

Still, as ever the keyboard is great, full-size and comfy enough to tap out novels on.

INTELLIGENCE

The other deep and meaningful change for 2015 is the MacBook Pro 13’s processor. Last year the Pro used Haswell processors, and now they’ve been upgraded to Broadwell. These are generations in Intel’s Core series, and supply the Pro troupe with far more power than the new 12-inch MacBook, which uses an Intel M CPU.

Every Pro comes with at least 8GB RAM these days, and a Core i5 or i7 CPU. While the chipsets aren’t quite as all-guns-blazing as you might see on a desktop that’s always going to be plugged in, each and every configuration has enough power for video editing, music production and pretty serious Photoshop hijinx. They’re capable computers.

This year’s class doesn’t come with a gigantic performance boost, but our tests show that we’re looking at about a 10-15 per cent boost over last year. Our Core i5 review sample is certainly very snappy, and most people won’t really need to upgrade to a Core i7 - which is for the best as it's a £250 upgrade. Really, those who need serious muscle should be considering the 15-inch model, as it’s the only one that offers quad-core processors instead of dual-core ones.

The 15-inch MacBook is still stuck with last year’s processors, but its top models pack serious power - just remember the extra size means extra weight means less portability.

GAMING GRAVITAS?

The only element that is still a tiny bit malnourished is gaming. Part of the new Broadwell family is an upgraded Intel Iris 6100 GPU that gets you more grunt than last year’s Iris GPU. And, sure enough, it can handle recent games at low settings and juggle less demanding games such as The Sims 4 with relative ease.

However, if gaming is your life, you’re probably better off buying a Windows gaming laptop or the 15-inch MacBook Pro. Apple hasn’t actually updated the 15-inch models for 2015 yet, but they’re the only ones that can fit in discrete graphics cards. That model will cost you a cool £2000, mind. Keep your expectations in check and all will be fine. Levelling-up to Broadwell comes with a side benefit too.

The MacBook Pro 2015 lasts for up to 10 hours off a charge, up from nine hours in last year’s model. Having used the new version as my main laptop for a week, upgrading from the 2014 one, the difference is definitely noticeable. It’s about that extra security of getting all-day stamina even if you do play a couple of games over your lunch break.

Of course, MacBook Airs are still the reigning kings of battery life. The 13-inch MacBook Air lasts for an incredible 12 hours on light duties.

How hackers hack your facebook account

Facebook is, undoubtedly, the most popular social networking website with more than 500 million active users. Due to its popularity, many hackers (or should I say crackers?) are actively involved in hacking Facebook accounts of unsuspecting users. This article outlines the many strategies that such hackers use to gain access to Facebook accounts of hundreds of users each day and how you can stop them from hacking your account.

Email Address Hack

I have always been puzzled by Facebook's leniency in this matter. All a hacker needs to do is know your name and he will be conveniently shown your email address at your profile. How easily a hacker can then hack your Facebook account (and everything else associated with that email id) if he 'guesses' your password (if you use a weak password) or answers your security question! This is something I hope Facebook improves on quickly. Until Facebook does so, here are some tricks you can use to protect yourself from this vulnerability.

How to safeguard your Email Address?

Just follow these steps:-

Hide your Email Address from everyone by going to Edit Profile>Contact Information>Clicking on the icon beside your email address> checking 'Only Me'.

Change your primary email address to a one that is only known to you by going to Account Settings>Email> and changing your primary email to the new one (known only to you) and removing your previous email address.

For additional security, when in Account Settings, check 'Secure browsing' and 'Send me an email when a new computer or mobile device logs into this account' and click Save.

Phishing

Phishing is one of the easiest ways to trick users into giving out their login credentials. All a hacker does is set up a webpage similar in design to that of the Facebook homepage, attach a server sided script to track the username and password entered and store it in a log. Sending people emails stating that someone tagged a photo of them on Facebook in the same format as Facebook and giving a link below to the phishing website further reduces the chances of it being detected as a fake. Sometimes, spam Facebook apps, like those promising to tell who viewed your Facebook profile, automatically post links to phishing websites. A new trend amongst phishers is creating Facebook look-a-like widgets for stealing user's login credentials.

How to prevent yourself from being phished?

At all costs, avoid clicking on suspicious links. Moreover, always check the URL in the address bar before signing in. Avoid logging in through various "Facebook widgets" offered by websites and blogs. Instead, use Facebook's homepage to sign in. Always try to use Safe Search while searching. If you do manage to get phished, report the website so that others may get a warning before visiting it.

Keylogging through Keyloggers

Keylogger is a type of computer virus that tracks keystrokes. Keyloggers can be installed remotely on a computer system by a cracker to record all the activity that is going on the victim's computer. Keylogging gets more easy if the hacker has physical access to the victim's computer.

How to stop keyloggers?

Install a good antivirus and update it frequently. Do not click on suspicious links and avoid downloading illegal software. Also, avoid installing free toolbars and other such spam software. Always scan third-person's flash and pen drives before using them on your computer.

Social Engineering

Social engineering involves using any trick to fool the user into making himself vulnerable to exploits. This could involve anything from sending spoof emails, pretending to be from Facebook, telling you to change your password to 12345678 to a hacker maliciously getting out the answer to your security question in a friendly chat or discussion.

How to prevent yourself from being socially engineered?

Stay aware during chats and discussions. Use a tough security question, preferably one whose answer you would never disclose to anyone. Moreover, Facebook, or any other company for that matter, will never ask you to change your password to 12345678 or do something as silly as asking you to send out your login details to prove that you are an active user. Always think before taking actions and your e-life on Facebook will be safe from hackers looking to hack Facebook accounts.

The Story of Kali Linux

If you've ever tried to crack Wi-FI passwords or test for security vulnerabilitieson your network, then you're likely familiar with Kali Linux. It's a security-focused version of Linux that offers a multitude of tools to seek out weaknesses and secure your network.

It began out of necessity for lead Kali developer Mati Aharoni (known as muts in the community). While doing professional security work he needed a variety of security tools without being able to install any software on his client's systems, and so he took to Linux. We spoke with Mati to learn more about how it started and how the community-driven project has grown and evolved over the years into one of the leading security-focused Linux distributions.

Where did the idea for Kali come from? Were you trying to solve a problem you'd experienced, or did the inspiration come from somewhere else?

Mati Aharoni: The idea for a Live Linux distribution which contains a bunch of security tools was born out of necessity many years ago, when I faced a perplexing dilemma on a security engagement. I was not allowed to bring any hardware to the engagement—and what's more, I was only allowed to use onsite computers on the condition that I would not touch their hard disks or modify them in any way. (I actually was allowed to bring a laptop onsite, however it would be taken on exit).

After thinking long and hard, I figured that these seemingly impossible work conditions could be met by adding a few tools to an existing bootable Live Linux CD (Knoppix 2.0, to those familiar with ancient history). Once created, I would be able to bring in the CD to the engagement, boot an onsite computer with the CD, and work directly out of RAM. At the end of the engagement, I would be able to destroy the CD without too much heart-ache. And so I started a Linux Security based Distribution, ten years ago!

After you came up with the idea, what was the next step?

I will take the liberty to apply this question to our recently released Kali Linux distribution, the 3rd iteration of the Matrix.

Kali Linux was born out of our understanding that we need to take our eight years of experience in building Linux Security Distributions and apply them to a new, clean canvas. This meant tearing down everything we had done to that point, and starting afresh. This process was both terrifying and liberating—on one hand we had let go of our beloved BackTrack distribution, but on the other, we had the opportunity to rebuild and expand our current systems to create something better.

Once this hard decision was made, we figured that the next step should involve people who actually know what they are doing, and we brought in a Debian developer who helped us build our development infrastructure from the ground up. His assistance proved to be invaluable to our project and crucial to the success of the distribution.

How did you choose which platforms to target and which to ignore or wait on?

I'll answer this in regards to our Kali Linux ARM images.

One of our goals with Kali is to provide images of the operating system for all sorts of exotic hardware—mainly ARM based. This includes everything from Raspberry Pi's to tablets, to Android TV devices, with each piece of hardware having some unique property. For example, the MK808 has a dual-core CPU with a whopping 1GB of RAM, while having the form factor of a medium-sized USB dongle. Imagine that: a powerful hacking computer, battery-powered, in your pocket.

So how do we decide what type of ARM hardware to target ? That depends on several things—availability being the main obstacle. We try to identify interesting hardware that could be used in interesting ways for security assessments—and if such is found, we try to build Kali for it. By now, we have a wide array of hardware supported by Kali, and this list keeps on growing every month.

What was your biggest roadblock and how did you overcome it?

One of our biggest concerns with the move from BackTrack to Kali was the rebranding we had to do. After so many years of being a major force in the security community, "BackTrack" was known by all. To suddenly change this around would undoubtedly be hectic and confusing for our users. I thought long and hard at other major rebranding feats in the open source world, and thought to myself, "Didn't Wireshark rebrand a few years ago? What was their name beforehand?" After having to think for two long minutes before coming to the right answer, I figured that rebranding would be tough, but not impossible.

What was launch like for you?

The launch of Kali Linux went better than we could ever have hoped for. We had good friends to support the effort, and a proper infrastructure to support the mind-boggling amounts of traffic required to allow the gazillion downloads we experienced in the first few days.

We had the good sense to create a knowledge source before the release, as well as some community outlets like forums and a bug tracker.

How do you handle user requests and criticisms effectively?

Over the years we have become much more patient with opinionated users and criticism at large. I think we've learned that sometimes a seemingly silly bug report can actually be a symptom of a serious underlying problem. Treating all of these reports with the respect they deserve is something we are getting better and better at as time goes by.

Now, how do you split time between developing new features and managing existing ones?

In Kali, this question can be applied to the tools and features we provide in our distribution. We don't have a specific methodology for this. If we see a useful security tool, or a relevant security feature we think may be useful, we simply add it. A good example for this was the LUKS NUKE feature in Kali, which allows the user to "self destruct" their hard drive.

What advice would you give to others that want to take on a similar project?

In the world of Unix-derived operating systems, we all stand on the shoulders of giants. Going back to the original Berkeley source, to the initial Linux kernel, to the GNU toolset, to the modern Debian distribution, in all cases every Linux distribution is a true community effort. The biggest advice I would have is "don't be afraid to leverage existing infrastructure where possible." Why recreate the wheel unless you have to, especially when you can take an existing one and simply modify it for your purposes.

the story of the internet

A single person did not create the Internet that we know and use today. Below is a listing of different people who have helped contribute to and develop the Internet.

The idea

The initial idea of the Internet is credited to Leonard Kleinrock after he published his first paper entitled "Information Flow in Large Communication Nets" on May 31, 1961.

In 1962, J.C.R. Licklider became the first Director of IPTO and gave his vision of a galactic network. Also, with ideas from Licklider and Kleinrock, Robert Taylor helped create the idea of the network that later became ARPANET.

Initial creation

The Internet as we know it today first started being developed in the late 1960's in California in the United States.

In the summer of 1968, the Network Working Group (NWG) held its first meeting, chaired by Elmer Shapiro, at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI). Other attendees included Steve Carr, Steve Crocker, Jeff Rulifson, and Ron Stoughton. In the meeting, the group discussed solving issues related to getting hosts to communicate with each other.

In December 1968, Elmer Shapiro with SRI released a report "A Study of Computer Network Design Parameters." Based on this work and earlier work done by Paul Baran,Thomas Marill and others, Lawrence Roberts and Barry Wessler created the Interface Message Processor (IMP) specifications. Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc. (BBN) was later awarded the contract to design and build the IMP subnetwork.

General public learns about Internet

The UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) put out a press release introducing the public to the Internet on July 3, 1969.

First network equipment

On August 29, 1969, the first network switch and the first piece of network equipment called "IMP" (Interface Message Processor) is sent to UCLA.

On September 2, 1969, the first data moves from the UCLA host to the switch. The picture to the right is Leonard Kleinrock next to the IMP.

The first message and network crash

On Friday October 29, 1969 at 10:30 p.m., the first Internet message was sent from computer science Professor Leonard KleinRock's laboratory at UCLA, after the second piece of network equipment was installed at SRI. The connection not only enabled the first transmission to be made, but is also considered the first Internet backbone.

The first message to be distributed was "LO", which was an attempt at "LOGIN" by Charley S. Kline to log into the SRI computer from UCLA. However, the message was unable to be completed because the SRI system crashed. Shortly after the crash, the issue was resolved, and he was able to log into the computer.

E-mail is developed

Ray Tomlinson sends the first network e-mail in 1971. It's the first messaging system to send messages across a network to other users.

TCP is developed

Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn design TCP during 1973 and later publish it with the help of Yogen Dalal and Carl Sunshinein December of 1974 in RFC 675. Most people consider these two people the inventors of the Internet.

First commercial network

A commercial version of ARPANET, known as Telenet, is introduced in 1974 and considered to be the first Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Ethernet is conceived

Bob Metcalfe develops the idea of Ethernet in 1973.

The Modem is introduced

Dennis Hayes and Dale Heatherington released the 80-103A Modem in 1977. TheModem and their subsequent modems become a popular choice for home users to connect to the Internet and get online.

TCP/IP is created

In 1978, TCP splits into TCP/IP, driven by Danny Cohen, David Reed, and John Shochto support real-time traffic. The creation of TCP/IP help create UDP and is later standardized into ARPANET on January 1, 1983. Today TCP/IP is still the primary protocolused on the Internet.

DNS is introduced

Paul Mockapetris and Jon Postel introduce DNS in 1984, which also introduces the domain name system. The first Internet domain name, symbolics.com, is registered on March 15, 1985 by Symbolics, a Massachusetts computer company.

First commercial dial-up ISP

The first commercial Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the US, known as "The World", is introduced in 1989. The World was the first ISP to be used on what we now consider to be the Internet.

HTML

In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee develops HTML, which made a huge contribution to how we navigate and view the Internet today.

WWW

Tim Berners-Lee introduces WWW to the public on August 6,1991. The World Wide Web (WWW) is what most people today consider the "Internet" or a series of sites and pages that are connected with links. The Internet had hundreds of people who helped develop the standards and technologies used today, but without the WWW, the Internet would not be as popular as it is today.

First graphical Internet browser

Mosaic is the first widely used graphical World Wide Web browser developed and first released on April 22, 1993 by the NCSA with the help of Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina. A big competitor to Mosaic was Netscape, which was released a year later. Today, most of the Internet browsers we use today, e.g. Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, etc., got their inspiration from the Mosaic browser.

Java and JavaScript

Originally known as oak, Java is a programming language developed by James Gosling and others at Sun Microsystems. It was first introduced to the public in 1995 and today is widely used to create Internet applications and other software programs.

JavaScript was developed by Brendan Eich in 1995 and originally known as LiveScript. It was first introduced to the public with Netscape Navigator 2.0 and was renamed to JavaScript with the release of Netscape Navigator 2.0B3. JavaScript is aninterpreted client-side scripting language that allows a web designer the ability to insert code into their web page.

Related Questions

That is a great overview, but who are the key inventors of the Internet?

If you had to isolate the key inventors of the Internet, it would have to be two people:Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn. The WWW, which is different from the Internet, but what most people think of as the "Internet", was invented later by Tim Berners-Lee.

The new Apple MacBook (2016)

The MacBook (priced between AED 4,399 and 9,899) is notable as the Apple's thinnest and lightest laptop. The MacBook keeps the slim profile of the original thanks to a fanless design, and the Retina Display remains, but this time around there's a Skylake-based Intel Core m5 processor with improved performance.

Though there's plenty to like here, drawbacks include a very limited I/O port selection and a sleek, but shallow keyboard and trackpad that are likely to be uncomfortable for some. The aluminum laptop is now available in four colours including gold (our review unit), silver, space gray, and rose gold (a metallic pink, which is the newest addition).

Physically, not a lot has changed from last year's model. At 0.52 by 11.04 by 7.74 inches (HWD), the MacBook weighs 902-gms, an imperceptible increase that makes it slightly heavier than its predecessor. It fits easily in backpacks and shoulder bags made for 10-inch tablets or 13-inch laptops.

The MacBook should be on your short list if you often find yourself in coach class working on an airline tray table. It can also be your go to machine if you are looking for a capable ultraportable to haul around while on the road.

Also unchanged are the butterfly-switch keyboard and Force Touch trackpad. Both are less comfortable than traditional laptop keyboard and trackpads, since the keys offer very little travel, and the trackpad doesn't move at all. Though, Haptic feedback vibrations on the trackpad make it feel like you've clicked, and the sensor can detect pressure, so if you press a little harder, the touchpad will click a second time, and activate the Force Click function. In practice, it does feel like two separate physical clicks.

You can use the Force Touch trackpad's pressure-sensitivity for signing your name on the trackpad, or to vary fast-forward or zoom speeds in programs like QuickTime Player or Apple Maps. The shallow, but clicky keyboard is tolerable for extended typing sessions, but traditional keyboards are more forgiving on your fingertips.

USB-C adoption has improved since the MacBook was introduced last year. Apple now offers a USB-C-to-Lightning cable so you can sync your iPhone to your MacBook. Because there's still only one IO port on the laptop, you'll have to unplug the AC adapter to do so, however. You'll also need a USB-C-to-USB-3.0 cable for most other peripherals, including connecting a USB SSD or flash drive.

USB-C-to-DisplayPort and USB-C-to-Ethernet cables are available from third-party companies such as Belkin and Monoprice. Cables aren't included, so you'll have to budget for them. If you're considering a MacBook, you'll have to decide if the sleek design is worth the inconvenience of the single port and required adapters.

Also disappointing, Thunderbolt 3 support still isn't built into the MacBook. That means you won't be able to use your legacy Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2 drives here, even if an adapter is available. New Thunderbolt 3 drives that are just coming to market are also a no-go. The only other physical port on the laptop is a 3.5mm headset jack on the left side.

For wireless connectivity, the MacBook integrates 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. The 12-inch IPS screen is a bright point. Its 2,304-by-1,440 resolution isn't quite as expansive as the 4K (3,180 by 2,160) screens on some systems on the market. However, text and graphics are displayed smoothly with sharp outlines and vivid detail.

1080p and scaled-down 4K videos looked excellent and played back without a hint of stutter in my testing. The speakers, located just above the keyboard, are loud and clear, which is rare in such a thin system. Inside, there's 8GB of memory and a 512GB Flash Storage module (Apple's way of saying solid-state drive or SSD).

The MacBook's flash storage, memory, and CPU aren't upgradable after purchase, so you'll want to think in terms of future proofing. Apple covers the system with a one-year standard warranty. An upgraded Intel Core m5-6Y54 processor with integrated Intel HD Graphics 515 powers the laptop and helps maintain the thin profile.

The Core m5 processor is cooled without a fan, allowing the remaining space inside the chassis to be filled with more battery packs. As we continue to test more Core-M-equipped laptops and tablets, we're seeing that they perform almost, but not quite as fast as, Intel Core i5-powered systems.

Mac laptops can't run our PCMark and 3DMark benchmarks, so we couldn't compare those scores with PC counterparts. The system took 2 minutes 55 seconds to complete the Handbrake video encoder test and 5:17 for the Adobe Photoshop CS6 test. That's an improvement over last year's MacBook (3:39 on Handbrake; 5:24 on CS6).

The new MacBook's 3D scores on the Valley test were better (15 frames per second (fps) on Medium quality; 6fps on Ultra quality) than last year's model (9fps on Medium; 4fps on Ultra), which shows the improvement of Intel HD Graphics 515 over the older HD Graphics 5300.

Recent Macs have been battery champs, and the new MacBook is no exception, returning an excellent 11 hours 37 minutes on our rundown test. That's 27 minutes longer than the MacBook Pro. You can run the new MacBook on a long flight, with a recharge needed for juice for the return trip.

Aside from the new Rose Gold option, the new MacBook is visibly unchanged from last year's model, though its new Skylake-based processor improves benchmark performance a bit. But battery life takes a hit due to that faster CPU. You can't deny the sleek design, but connectivity compromises you'll have to make may be deal breakers, particularly the single USB-C port and shallow keyboard.

If these drawbacks are show stoppers, and you still want an Apple laptop, the MacBook Pro 13-inch, though not as slim, offers more versatile connectivity and will likely be a better choice. However, if you need a very very slim and light ultraportable that can do all the jobs you would ever want to throw at a laptop, while on the road, the Apple MacBook (2016) should definitely be on you shortlist

Here’s why you might not want to make money decisions after a tough work day

After a hard day at the office, where you were focused intently on a challenging project, you may consider a choice on the way home: impulsively splurge on a fancy dinner as a reward for that cerebral slog or save that bit of cash as planned—perhaps putting it toward a relaxing vacation next month. Despite any frugal inclinations, your weary noggin may not be able to rally your normal level of willpower, according to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In the study involving 52 healthy adults, researchers found that six hours of challenging cognitive tasks fatigued a part of participants' brains involved in higher thinking and willpower—the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC)—and increased their impulsiveness. The finding suggests that real-life scenarios, such as having a mentally taxing day at work, may have critical but unappreciated impacts on people’s economic decisions. It also may point to the need for more brain-resting periods throughout a workday.

“The number and duration of work breaks could be adapted to avoid any dramatic LPFC dysfunction,” the authors of the paper conclude. And, they note, if employees have control over their own work breaks, they might instinctively avoid this brain drain, as researchers saw in a control group.

In their experiment, researchers divided participants into three groups: one that had to perform tough cognitive exercises (involving working memory and task switching) through a period of a little longer than six hours, including two 10-minute breaks; a second that had to perform relatively easy cognitive tasks over the same period, also with the breaks; and a third group that got to read and play video games at their discretion over the same six-hour time period.

Each group had its time divided into 30 minute sessions, after which researchers had them choose between immediate monetary rewards or larger, delayed pay-offs. Also during the study period, participants had their brain activity periodically measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging, which assesses activity based on relative blood flow through various brain regions.

The researchers found that after about four and a half hours, the 27 participants performing the toughest mental tasks became more impulsive than the other groups—even taking into account each participant’s natural impulsive inclinations. Also, those participants getting the hardest mental workout showed reduced activity over time in their brains’ LPFC, which is involved in tough cognitive tasks and self-control.

The researchers speculate that the heavy mental lifting from hours of cognitive exercises tires out the brain and reduces activity in LPFC. And this cuts down on willpower, because the region is also involved in that mental feat. Thus, the authors argue, willpower and self-control may rely on limited resources that are shared with other cognitive processes.

This idea, that willpower draws on shared, limited resources, is not a new one; it has been around for decades and is called ‘ego depletion.’ But the idea has faced criticism recently after some studies and a meta-analysis failed to reproduce the effects seen in earlier works. However, the authors of the new study argue that some researchers failed to capture ego depletion because they didn’t tire people’s brains out for long enough. That’s why the authors were looking at six-hour-long tests, which also happen to be closer to real-world work schedules.

Researchers will have to validate the current study and do more tests before there’s something resembling a consensus on whether ego depletion is real. And even if the idea stands, the authors admit that scientists don’t have a clear biological explanation of how it might work in various regions of the brain. For instance, it's unclear what ‘resource’ might be limiting to undermine willpower. Blood glucose was suggested earlier, but it didn’t hold up in experiments.

Facebook and Netflix reset passwords after data breaches

With vast swathes of data being sold on the dark web in recent weeks following high-profile 

breaches, many sites are encouraging users to change their passwords, even if they weren't directly affected.

Facebook and Netflix appear to be taking this a step further with reports a number of users are being forced to update their credentials.

According to security researcher Graham Cruelly, Facebook users are being shown a warning message that reads: "Recently, there was a security incident on another website unrelated to Facebook. Facebook was not directly affected by the incident but your Facebook account is at risk because you were using the same password in both places."

It then goes on to say that to secure their account, the user will need to answer security questions and change their password. It also adds: "For your protection, no one can see you on Facebook until you finish."

By comparison, Netflix is emailing members claiming: "We believe that your Netflix account credentials may have been included in a recent release of email addresses and passwords from an older breach at another company. Just to be safe, we’ve reset your password as a precautionary measure."

Neither Facebook, nor Netflix, are saying they have been hacked or suffered data breaches and the other website referred to is likely to be LinkedIn.

In 2012, a rumoured 167 million account details were stolen from LinkedIn. Initially the data was being sold on the dark web for five bitcoin, this amounts to around $2,200 (£1,500). It has since dropped in price and is at around half of this value.

Facebook and Netflix are being cautious because many people - including Facebook's own Mark Zuckerberg it transpired earlier this week - use the same passwords on multiple accounts.

Security blogger Brian Krebs was sent one of the Netflix emails, and he said he believes more sites may follow suit in the coming weeks.

Experts are advising people change their passwords on their accounts, or make each password unique, to protect themselves. They should also enable two-factor authentication where available.