Autodesk¡¯s Pixlr Editor is an image editor that works in your browser. There are also native desktop apps for Windows and Mac, which have an optional subscription charge of $1.99 a month (about ¡ê1.30) or $14.99 a year (¡ê9.75) to activate some of their features.Pixlr Editor runs in a browser window using Flash. The distracting ads can¡¯t be removed, but they can be shifted off screen by resizing the window ¨C click for a larger image
The web app provides a decent range of features for free, and works in just about any recent browser as long as Adobe Flash is installed ¨C so you can use it on Chromebooks, for example. Its user interface is a stripy mess of black, pale grey and Windows Vista-era gradients, and just to distract you even more it opens with a column of animated ads down the right-hand side.The ads can¡¯t be removed, but you can size up the window and drag it so they¡¯re off the screen. It¡¯s vital, though, to remember that you¡¯re working in a browser. If you close the window, there¡¯s no warning before your work is lost. Accidentally using the standard File > Open command or key shortcut (instead of selecting File > Open in Pixlr¡¯s own menu bar) bumps Pixlr out of the window, and pressing Back won¡¯t restore your session.

With no advanced selection tools available, mask painting is the only way to isolate complex areas, and Pixlr doesn¡¯t make it easy ¨C click for a larger image
Pixr doesn¡¯t support raw images, but you can open the standard file formats, including layered PSDs (although I found these occasionally crashed Flash), and save your work back to your hard disk, to your Flickr account, or to your personal Pixlr Library online. Layers can have masks, although mask painting works oddly: only the brush¡¯s opacity, not lightness, is heeded, and you have to switch to the Eraser tool to increase transparency. There are a few layer styles, but no adjustment layers.A History palette lets you step back through recent operations, and ¨C unlike with some web apps ¨C key shortcuts and right-click menus are available. But on the Mac, where holding Alt normally switches modes from Add to Subtract, you have to use the Command key, which would normally switch tools; and holding both Command and Shift just invokes Add, instead of Intersect.

As in Photoshop and other apps, the Clone Stamp tool is a simple way to paint a small part of an image seamlessly over another to remove small unwanted elements ¨C click for a larger image
Clone Stamp and Spot Heal brushes, Levels, Curves, Unsharp Mask and a bunch of filters are present and correct. But with no selection tools beyond Lasso and Magic Wand, no vector paths, no Shadows/Highlights and no non-destructive editing features, Pixlr Editor is of limited practical use. Even so, it¡¯s a handy option if you¡¯re stuck without an editing app. Certifications such as ISO27001 and ISO9001 are considered essential by many customers: they help tick the boxes when the auditors pay their annual visit to check that all is in order with governance and compliance.And yes, formal certifications do demonstrate that a provider has a certain level of process and procedure and has given due consideration to security and data protection.Would I refuse to sign up with a data centre provider simply because they don't have one or other of these certifications? For most of them probably not, but I'd question the lack of ISO9001 as I'd want some assurance that the provider is appropriately equipped with regard to policy and process, which is what this certification relates to.

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One of the most valuable aspects of your choice of data centre is what others think of that company and/or that site and how they've actually performed over the years.For example, I've said you ought to ensure you go for at least a Tier-3 installation, but even though they're in theory allowed 90 minutes or so downtime per year, there are plenty out there that have had no downtime, ever.Similarly, I've come across data centres with similar facilities and similar levels of resilience and reliability but vastly different levels of customer service. For instance, in the Philadelphia data centre I mentioned earlier, one of the Ops guys was super-keen to help me unpack my kit and clear up the packaging, and managed instantly to rustle up what I needed when I discovered a LAN switch had been delivered with a European power cord rather than a US one.Be diligent when you choose your data centre. You'll be with that provider for a significant amount of time, so spend a decent amount of time understanding what you need, clarifying what they will do for you, asking your peers and their other users what they're like and conferring with network providers to ensure that you can get the connectivity you need.

But don't just concentrate on the formal stuff, such as uptime guarantees and ISO certifications: you need to be clear that you'll actually be happy and that the qualitative level of service you'll receive will be sufficient.There's no point signing up with a provider that ticks the boxes but is a nightmare to work with, because the market is generally competitive enough that you won't have to. The x360 doesn't boot up quite as fast as a Chromebook but you need to be pretty bloody impatient to think that 25 seconds is too long. Still, since we are comparing this Stream machine to a Chromebook, it makes sense to see how the x360 lines up against Lenovo¡¯s N20p touchscreen convertible Chromebook, powered by an Intel Celeron N2830 in a browser performance test.Running SunSpider and Peacekeeper in Chrome on the x360 returned scores of 1175 and 579 respectively. That¡¯s slightly worse than the Lenovo managed ¨C 1267 & 535 ¨C but not by enough to make any real world difference.Rounding up the hardware the DTS-enhanced stereo speakers produce a loud if rather raucous noise while the 720p webcam does a decent job even in poor lighting.Powering the x360 is a 3-cell, 43.5Wh Li-ion battery. It¡¯s built-in, so forget any ideas you may have of swapping in out down the line. I found that a full charge kept me going for the best part of 8 hours with all the wireless comms on, the screen brightness turned up to 11 and a 2 hour movie watched. Not bad.

There's obviously a knack to getting the back off the Stream x360 which doesn't involve breaking it
Sadly HP has bundled a traditional, black rat-and-tail power supply which is a bit bulky and does rather let the aside down when you whip it out in Starbucks and plug it into something as funky-looking as the x360.Incidentally, I tried taking the back off the x360 to have a rummage but even after I¡¯d removed the nine Philips screws the rear panel showed absolutely no signs of wanting to come adrift.Right about now some of you will be asking, can you run Linux on this thing? In a word, yes. I booted Ubuntu 14.04 off a USB stick and everything worked perfectly apart from the Wi-Fi radio. Even the touchscreen worked faultlessly. I¡¯m guessing a full install and a quick furtle with the Broadcom BCM43142 Wi-Fi card¡¯s drivers would fix the wireless problem.Are HP¡¯s new Stream machines really Chromebook killers? As a fan of the Chromebook it pains me to say it, but yes. The x360 is as well made and stylish as most Chromebooks but offers the full Windows experience which, at version 8.1, ain't at all bad.

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Once you install Chrome and the Google apps launcher you pretty much have a Chromebook anyway. The build quality, design and basic hardware of the x360 are all better than I expected for the price making it a hard machine to criticise. I had to turn off anti-aliasing and reduce the resolution to 1650x1050 before I could get a more playable 26fps. That¡¯s fine for some casual gaming, and it¡¯ll handle 2D graphics work in Photoshop well enough, but it seems that there¡¯s now a clear gap opening up between the mid-range performance of the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the workstation configurations available for the 15-inch model.Incidentally, running GeekBench 3 produced respectable results of 3358 (single-core) and 7071 (multi-core). So while the Broadwell chip may not break any speed records, where it does come up trumps is with power-efficiency and battery life. The MacBook Pro managed an impressive 6 hours 23 minutes when running the intensive PCMark 8 battery test, and delivered 9 hours of streaming video with the BBC iPlayer.

Overall, the battery life is excellent for a mid-range laptop such as this, and might actually raise questions about the future of the MacBook Air as it also has the new slimline MacBook breathing down its neck.The MacBook Pro is meant to be Apple¡¯s most powerful laptop for professional users, so the fact that the new Broadwell processor only just matches the performance of its Haswell predecessors is disappointing. The improved battery life is always welcome, of course, but that alone may not be enough of a reason for existing MacBook Pro users to upgrade.To be fair, this 13-inch model is still reasonably good value for money at ¡ê999, but professional users who need real power might be better off waiting for the next update of the 15-inch model. Another handheld DLP/LED solution, Optoma¡¯s titchy (0.38kg) ML750 is an easy to use, well behaved multi-purpose projector. Setup is a doddle. There's a manual focus level up top, along with a little block of onbody controls, as well as both horizontal and vertical keystone correction.

Rear-side connections comprise HDMI/MHL, Micro SD card reader, USB and a universal AV port which can be used with a supplied VGA adaptor cable. There¡¯s 1.5GB of onboard memory. The USB media reader is pleasingly accommodating, with useful video support (AVI, WMV, MP4, and MKVs). Audio playback covers MP3 and AAC, while the Office viewer handles .doc and .ppt files.Optoma quotes 700 LED lumens, but the image is bright enough to be cast upwards of 2m across, although resolution appears obviously limited. Native resolution is WXGA 1280 x 800. For movies and games, this projector is best viewed in a darkened room. Colour fidelity is good but contrast, at 10,000:1, seems a little flat. There¡¯s an update to this model coming imminently, the ML750e, which lifts contrast to 15,000:1.As you¡¯d expect, there¡¯s a modest sound system onboard, which at least covers the low-level 30dB operational whine. The projector comes with a diddy credit card-sized remote.