Meta is taking steps to reduce ‘spammy content on Facebook’ by hitting those responsible in the wallet
Facebook is so far removed from the platform it first started as, it is hardly the same product. Many users would say it is not even the same platform it was a couple of years ago, and one of the biggest changes -- and irritants -- is the sheer volume of worthless content.
By this, we mean spam-like rubbish rather than stuff you’re just not interested in, and Meta has announced that it is finally taking action that it hopes will effectively reduce and discourage “spammy content”.
Microsoft has finally realized that not everyone cares about Copilot
Despite making claims to the contrary, Microsoft is not really thought of as being a company that takes much notice of user opinion. All too often it seems that incredibly unpopular options, features and changes are introduced with little regard for what users actually want.
But, to buck the trend, Microsoft has apparently been listening to feedback from people who are unhappy about the encroachment of Copilot into... well, pretty much everything, really. The decision to include a physical Copilot key on keyboards has been one such unpopular move, and the reaction from Windows 11 users has forced Microsoft’s hand.
Netflix introduces a big change to subtitles
Subtitles for shows and movies serve many purposes. As well as helping those with restricted hearing, they’re also handy for watching without the need for the volume to be too high, as well as addressing the problem of mumbled dialog.
Now Netflix is introducing what it describes as “a new way to experience subtitles”. To tie in with the launch of the latest season of YOU, viewers have the option of using subtitles that show only dialog and omits reference to other audio events. Here’s what you need to know about what this means for you.
Your WhatsApp conversations have just been made much more secure thanks to the new Advanced Chat Privacy
There are lots of privacy and security features built into WhatsApp, but there have been a few oversights. Looking to remedy this, a new “privacy layer” called Advanced Chat Privacy provides powerful options.
The feature has been designed with those conversations that need to be kept private in mind. It gives the option of blocking anyone you are chatting to -- one-on-one or in a group -- from exporting chats. It’s a nice security boost, but it’s not infallible.
Gmail introduces a Manage Subscriptions tab so you can unsubscribe from junk mailing lists en masse
Your Gmail inbox is home to all manner of useful correspondence, but it’s almost certainly littered with lots of unwanted crap as well. Junk emails, unwanted newsletters, site update messages and the like are serious annoyances with no sign of abating. But Google has taken steps to put users back in charge.
Having previously introduced an Unsubscribe button to provide a one-click means of ending the receipt of unwanted emails, there is now another option available to its users. A new Manage Subscriptions feature makes ditching the junk easier than ever.
Instagram launches its new video editing app called Edits
Clearly keen to keep pace with its main rival TikTok, Instagram has officially launched its video editing app designed to help creators produce more impression content. Available for iOS and Android the free video editing app goes by the name Edits, and it has many of the same features as TikTok’s CapCut.
Edits was first announced back in January, but now it is available for everyone to download. Instagram says that is helps you to “make great videos on your phone”, billing it as a “video creation app designed for creators”. It seems to be something of a work in progress, but does Edits have what it takes to appeal to the masses?
Bluesky’s newly unveiled verification system is a unique and interesting approach
Social media has managed to make everyone more connected and informed than ever before, but it has also created a confusing mix of fact and misinformation. Part of the problem is knowing whether to trust that an individual on a particular platform is who they say they are.
Becoming verified on Twitter used to be a goal -- a dream, even -- for many people, but this changed when Twitter morphed into X and verification became a paid-for label available to anyone. Now rival platform Bluesky has unveiled a new component to its existing system of verification. It is an approach that others may learn from.
Google has lost its ad tech monopoly trial... and Mozilla is scared
In a decision that surprised few, a judge has ruled that Google is guilty of “willfully acquiring and maintaining monopoly power” in advertising technology. Google (or its parent company, Alphabet, at least) is obviously unhappy with the ruling, but it’s not the only one.
Mozilla was one of the first companies to react to the ruling, and CEO Laura Chambers has expressed alarm about what it means for the future of its Firefox web browser. She also voices concerns about the implication of the rules for the open web and online industries.
CISA adds Windows NTLM hash disclosure spoofing flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog
A vulnerability in the Windows NTLM authentication protocol, which is known to have been actively exploited for at least a month, has been added to the US CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog.
While Microsoft deprecated NTLM last year, it remains widely used. Security researchers discovered the hash disclosure spoofing bug, and Microsoft quietly patched it in March. But the creation of a patch is one thing -- having users install it is something else. By adding the vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-24054, to its catalog, CISA is raising aware that action needs to be taken.
If you couldn't attend your Zoom meeting yesterday, GoDaddy may be to blame
Zoom going down is more than an inconvenience, it can be catastrophic. The online video meeting tool has become so important since the COVID pandemic, that it is hard to imagine life without it.
But for a significant period yesterday, Zoom was down. Some users were cutting off in the middle of a meeting, while plenty more were unable to connect in the first place. With Zoom out of service for almost two hours, the impact was significant, and the company has now revealed just what went wrong.
Microsoft admits classic Outlook for Windows has a massive resource usage problem
Users of classic Outlook for Windows have been complaining since last year that Microsoft's email client has turned into a massive resource hog. Months later, the company has conceded that the complaints are justified.
Microsoft is eager for everyone to move away from the classic version of Outlook to the newly updated edition of the app, and there have been suspicions voiced that high CPU usage is an underhand tactic to encourage the move. But having acknowledged the problem, Microsoft says that it is working to come up with a fix.
It must be a day with a 'y' in it -- there's a problematic Windows 11 update causing blue screens
Microsoft has once again been forced to mitigate a problem caused by a faulty update for Windows 11 with a Known Issue Rollback (KIR).
The KB5055523 update, release earlier this month is causing BSoDs and a 0x18B error. The same issue applies to the KB5053656 preview update from March. While it used to be possible to refer to KIRs as a rarely used fix for particularly serious issues, it is something Microsoft is falling back on more and more. The problem is, they don’t work for everyone.
Microsoft brings a new text extraction tool to Windows 11
We’re huge fans of PowerToys, and one of the greatest modules included in the utility collection is Text Extractor. As the name suggests, this provides a way to pull text out of images ready to edit and use in other documents. Microsoft has also added a similar tool to Microsoft Photos, and now the company has brought it to another area of Windows 11.
The increasingly useful and powerful Snipping Tool has been updated with a text extractor button in the app’s capture bar. This makes the process of copying text from your screen to the clipboard insanely quick and easy, eliminating the need to take a screenshot before extracting text.
Google is changing the URL of its search engine for billions of people
Google is making a huge change to the most famous and widely used search engine in the world. And it is the global nature of Google search, and the internet in general, which is at the heart of the change.
For a very long time, Google has used different URLs for its search engine in different countries -- google.co.uk in the UK, google.es in Spain, for instance. But no more. The company has announced that different country code top-level domain names (ccTLD) are no longer needed and will not be used.
Microsoft says that Windows 11 24H2 now plays nicely with wallpaper customization applications
Microsoft is starting the process of lifting a compatibility hold that was preventing some Windows 11 users from updating to Windows 11 24H2.
The block has been in place since September, stopping users with certain unnamed wallpaper customization applications from installing the latest version of the operating system. Microsoft has still not provided a list of the apps that it has, until now, considered troublesome, but says that it will “gradually remove this safeguard hold”.
Sofia Elizabella's Bio
Sofia Wyciślik-Wilson is a queer, transgender journalist based in Poland. She has been writing about technology for more than two decades, and after years working for magazines, her writing moved online. She is fueled by literature, music, nature, and vegetables. You can find her on Bluesky and Mastodon. If you like what you read, you can Buy her a Coffee!
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