Brian Fagioli

Western Digital makes a damn good hard disk drive. The company's quality is legendary -- it is a popular choice for both home and the enterprise. I am currently testing one of the company's latest external offerings -- a 20TB monster aimed at home users and enthusiasts.

But what about the enterprise? Don't worry, Western Digital is focused on business users too. In fact, today, it announces an enterprise hard disk drive with a massive 14TB of storage capacity! This is the largest capacity enterprise HDD ever, and follows its 12TB offering. Called "Ultrastar HS14," the helium-filled drive uses HGST (a subsidiary of WD) branding. This drive isn't just attractive because of its large capacity, however -- it is also very power efficient.

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Last week, Korora 26 was released. This is a Linux distribution based on Fedora 26, which was released back in July. That's the problem with using an operating system that is based on another operating system -- it can seem like you are never truly up to date. Case in point, today, Fedora 27 Beta sees release.

True, this is pre-release software, but recent Fedora Beta releases have been very stable, so it should be fine to run on a non-production machine. Just be aware that there can be bugs and the potential for data loss. If you are comfortable with using a beta operating system, you are in for quite the treat. Fans of Fedora can finally experience GNOME 3.26 -- the default desktop environment on version 27 of the distro. In addition, Fedora 27 Beta now supports TRIM on encrypted solid state disks.

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Skype is an important communication service thanks to its cross-compatibility. There are clients for Mac, Windows, Android, iOS, and even desktop Linux. It may not offer the best user experience, but it is passable, making it a solid choice for those that need to keep in touch across long distances.

Today, Microsoft releases a refreshed preview of Skype for Linux. There are both DEB and RPM packages available, making it easy to install on, say, Ubuntu, Debian, or Fedora. In fact, I successfully installed it on Pop!_OS earlier today. Believe it or not, the new interface is quite nice, making it something I could possibly enjoy using on my Linux machine.

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Fall is officially here, and while some people get excited for pumpkin spice lattes and falling leaves, other folks get excited about something far nerdier -- Ubuntu. Yes, every October a new version of the Linux-based operating system is released. This year in particular is very significant, as with Ubuntu 17.10, GNOME is replacing Unity as the default desktop environment.

Today, Beta 2 of Ubuntu Linux 17.10, code-named "Artful Aardvark," becomes available to download. This second beta is the final beta as well, which signals that the operating system is almost ready for primetime.

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Next month, Ubuntu 17.10 will be released. Even after that release, version 16.04 will remain the most recent LTS version. If you aren't familiar, LTS stands for "Long Term Support," which quite literally means it is supported by Canonical for a longer period of time. For instance, Ubuntu 16.04 will be supported until 2021, while the newer 17.04 is only supported until 2018.

Today, Canonical announces that Samsung has selected version 16.04 LTS of the operating system as the primary Linux distro for some of the ARTIK internet of things modules. This is a smart choice by Samsung, because long support is preferable to bleeding edge for an IoT device.

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Next month, a new era of Ubuntu begins. Unity is dead, and GNOME 3 takes over as the default desktop environment. While this change was for the best, it was still shocking for many. For a company like System76, for instance, that sells computers pre-loaded with Ubuntu, this was problematic. Why? Well, the company essentially lost control of the overall user experience by relying on vanilla Ubuntu. It was being forced to follow Canonical's path.

To solve this, and regain some control, System76 has been developing its own operating system called "Pop!_OS." No, it is not reinventing the wheel here -- it will still use Ubuntu as a base, and GNOME will be the desktop environment. The company is customizing the operating system, however, with things like fonts, themes, and icons, to create something truly unique. This could lead to an improved user experience. Today, the first official beta of the operating system becomes available for download.

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I recently bought the Apple TV 4K, and I absolutely love it. What I don't love, however, is the price. The 64GB model that I purchased cost $200. While that was more than its competitor's 4K offerings, such as Amazon Fire TV, I was willing to open my wallet a bit wider for the compatibility with the Apple ecosystem, such as easily accessing my photos and videos in iCloud.

Today, Amazon unveils a new streaming TV box that features both 4K and HDR, but it is insanely affordable. This all-new Fire TV costs just $69.99! To make things even sweeter, for a limited time, Amazon will sell you an Echo Dot for $10 when you purchase the new Fire TV. Yes, you are reading that correctly -- for $79.99 you get a high-end 4K media box and a standalone Echo device.

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Amazon's Echo and associated Alexa assistant have taken the world by storm. Despite being a big company, Amazon's success in this market was very unlikely. Companies like Microsoft, Google, and Apple should be leading, but no, an online bookseller has been the true trailblazer in voice assistant technology.

Today, Amazon unveils the next generation Echo, and oh my, it looks amazing. Not only is it much shorter than its predecessor (still taller than Echo Dot), but it is wrapped in fabric, creating a more inviting experience in a home. It even has improved audio quality. Best of all? It is even less expensive at a mere $99. Unfortunately for Apple, this will essentially make its upcoming $349 Siri-powered HomePod dead on arrival.

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The photos and videos coming out of Puerto Rico following the devastating Hurricane Maria have been heartbreaking. The little island has been destroyed -- the people have no electricity, but even worse, food and water are scarce, and tensions are running high, leading to very dangerous conditions.

Unfortunately, government aid has not been coming fast enough, with President Trump blaming the fact that Puerto Rico is an island for his poor performance in this regard -- seriously. Luckily, the private sector is stepping up to help their fellow US citizens. People and organizations are donating money, and today Microsoft announces that it is enabling free Skype calls to Puerto Rico area codes 787 and 939.

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Many people are passionate about Twitter -- including President Donald Trump. It is not hard to see why, either -- it allows you to quickly share a communication with the world in 140 or fewer characters. While some people see the character limitation as stupid and unnecessary, others would argue that it forces the user to get to the point. Heck, limitations can breed creativity too -- getting a message across in 140 characters can be a fun brain exercise.

Unfortunately, Twitter seems intent on potentially ruining its service by literally doubling the number of characters from 140 to 280. Before you run to the service to test this out, please know that it is only available to a small group of testers for now.

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When I bought my MacBook Pro last year, I knew I would end up buying some dongles. Since the laptop only has USB-C ports, I would need adapters to complete some tasks. If I want to use a traditional USB-A flash drive, for instance, I need a dongle. What if I need to plug into Ethernet? Yep, another dongle.

Truth be told, I very rarely connect to Ethernet or access flash drives these days, so those dongles are almost never needed. With that said, there is one big limitation of my MacBook Pro that impacts me regularly -- lack of video out. For this, I need to use a USB-C adapter (or a docking station). I've learned that not all of these dongles are created equally, however. While many can do 4K, they often max out at 30Hz. Thankfully, I found a really great USB-C to HDMI 2.0 adapter from a company called ACCELL that can do 4K @ 60Hz.

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Back in July, we reported that USB 3.2 was on the way. With USB being so popular nowadays, this was big news, despite the fact that it was merely an incremental update. While the average computer user probably has no reason to care, computer enthusiasts (aka nerds) will understandably be excited.

Today, USB 3.2 finally becomes official, as the USB Implementers Forum publishes the new standard. While it wasn't considered complete when it was announced in July, it is now properly finalized.

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Today, Apple releases macOS 10.13 High Sierra to the public after a series of beta releases. It has some cool new aspects, but for the most part, its is a very boring release. Don't get me wrong, the new APFS file system and the ability to use an eGPU, for instance, are both very big deals, but let's be honest -- the average user probably won't care.

Overall, the apparent differences are few and far between -- mostly in applications such as Safari and Photos -- and you know what? That is a good thing. The fact that High Sierra is largely uneventful for end users just shows how mature and refined Apple's Unix-like operating system is. Heck, this is probably why the operating system barely got a new name, only going from Sierra to High Sierra.

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The Kodi media center is facing a lot of scrutiny in the media lately. Some people feel that the negative coverage is "fake news." It is important to remember that Kodi is not illegal. With that said, it can be made so with piracy-related addons. Since Kodi is open source, even if the developers removed the ability to install addons, other people could easily fork the code to add it back. Pandora's box cannot be closed.

Many people that use Kodi do so with a dedicated Linux-based operating system, such as the excellent LibreELEC. You see, these distros exist only to run the open source media center, meaning there are no resources wasted on unnecessary things. Today, LibreELEC (Krypton) v8.1.2 BETA sees release. You can install it immediately, and don't worry -- your addons like Exodus and Covenant will work fine.

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AMD has been making big moves lately, releasing the Radeon RX Vega graphics cards and its Ryzen 3, 5, 7, and Threadripper desktop processors. The company now has a very diverse portfolio that can meet the needs of many consumers with various budgets.

Intel is not content to be out of the spotlight, however. After all, the company has long been the market leader for consumer desktop performance. Today, Intel announces its much-anticipated 8th Gen Intel Core desktop processors. Believe it or not, pricing is quite reasonable. This line ranges from Core i3 to i7, meaning regardless of your budget or needs, there should be a product for you. Gamers and enthusiasts in particular should be very excited. As per usual, overclockers can have a field day with the unlocked "K" variants.

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