Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

Computers make life easier, right? Computers are fun, valuable tools, yeah? True, but they can also be such utterly infuriately pieces of tech that they seem to serve no purpose other than to raise our blood pressure and drive us mad.

I'm not talking about when Windows crashes, when an app hangs, or the internet slows to a crawl. I'm talking about those 'ARGH!' moments we've all experienced where there's no one to blame but ourselves. When things go wrong because of 'user error' it doesn't make them any less infuriating; in fact, the opposite is often the case. Here are ten of the most frustrating scenarios that just about every computer user has encountered at some point.

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In another blow for Mark Zuckerberg's free internet service, Facebook Free Basics has been banned in Egypt. The Egyptian government made the decision after Facebook refused to allow it to use the service to spy on users.

The shutdown comes just five months after Facebook Free Basics launched in Egypt, having proved controversial in other countries for contravening net neutrality rules. But Facebook's refusal to permit government surveillance of users means that the service has been banned this time for political reasons.

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The Notification Center in Windows 10 is a great idea but, many would argue, one that is both limited and poorly implemented. For anyone with a Windows 10 Mobile phone it is marginally more useful thanks to notification sharing, and this feature is due to expand to Android users as well.

At Build, Microsoft revealed that the Notification Center is in line for a major overhaul that will not only bring Cortana-power notification mirroring to Android users, but will also bring a richer, more image-heavy notification experience. The news isn’t so great for iPhone users as the more tightly controlled nature of iOS means Microsoft has a harder task on its hands.

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One of the first browser add-ons many people install to improve their online experience is Adblock Plus or something similar. Until recently, Microsoft Edge's lack of support for add-ons put off a lot of would-be users, but reports from Build 2016 suggest that native ad blocking is on its way to the Internet Explorer successor.

Adblock Plus is coming to Edge, but built-in ad blocking would negate the need for such an add-on. A slide shown off and snapped at a Build presentation shows that the next version of Edge, in response to user feedback, will feature ad blocking capabilities. There's no word on delivery timescale, but the upcoming Windows 10 Anniversary Update would seem a likely candidate. [Update: we now have a clarifying statement from Microsoft that puts rather a different spin on things].

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Having revolutionized the world of vacuum cleaning, James Dyson moved his attention to hand drying, heating and cooling. The latest gadget to roll off the Dyson production line is the IoT-enabled Pure Cool Link air purifier. Like just about every Dyson product out there, reviews are almost universally positive, but there is the question of the price tag.

The Pure Cool Link comes at something of a premium (be prepared to part with around $500), but it's certainly not a unique product. Dyson may have blazed a trail in many areas, but when it comes to air purifiers, it wasn't the first, and it certainly isn’t the cheapest. Take, for instance the Mi Air Purifier from Xiaomi. It's a relative snip at just $200, and the lower price tag doesn’t mean missing out on the Internet of Things.

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Facebook's Memories feature can be a nice way to start the day. Fire up your phone first thing in the morning, and you can wax nostalgic as you look at your status updates and photo uploads from years gone by. But the On This Day look-back is not always warm and fluffy; Facebook isn't just about the fun aspects of your life.

In response to feedback from users who were unhappy to be cheerily reminded of the death of a loved one or some other tragic event which they might prefer to put to the back of their minds, Facebook has introduced On This Day preferences making it possible to filter out content involving certain people, or from a particular date range.

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The smartphone market is essentially a three horse race these days. Android and iOS lead the way, while Windows Phone (or Windows 10 Mobile) limps along at the rear, looking for all the world as though it needs to be put out of its misery at the knacker's yard.

Today at Build, Terry Myerson admitted that Microsoft's mobile platform has failed to set the world on fire, going on to say that the company's focus is very much on Windows 10 for non-mobile platforms. This means Windows 10 for the desktop, Windows 10 for Xbox One, and Windows 10 for HoloLens and the Internet of Things. He acknowledges that mobile is "the wrong place for us to lead".

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Seemingly having learned nothing from its AI Twitter chatbot, Tay, Microsoft is experimenting further with bots. At Build 2016 today, the company announced Skype Bots and the Skype Bots Platform.

Designed to "bring expertise, products, services and entertainment" to Skype conversations, Skype Bots can be programmed to respond to chats -- and Microsoft will no doubt be hoping it is not left making another red-faced apology if things go awry. It's all part of Microsoft's vision of "conversation as a platform" and bots are available for the Windows Desktop, Android, iPhone and iPad versions of Skype.

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Apple has been hugely successful in building up an app ecosystem over the years, Microsoft rather less so. Today at Build, the Windows 10 manufacturer announced a tool that it hopes will bolster the number of apps that appear in the Windows Store: Desktop App Converter, part of the Project Centennial program.

The tool has been designed to make it possible for developers to convert legacy desktop apps into Windows Store-compatible AppX apps. The quick-and-easy conversion to Universal Windows Platform apps will enable developers to bring their creations to not just Windows 10 on the desktop, but also Xbox One and the Windows Mobile platform.

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At Build 2016, Microsoft revealed that Windows 10 has now been installed on more than a quarter of a billion devices. But Build is about looking forward, not to the past or present. Windows 10 may have been lapped up by hundreds of millions of users, but there is already demand for the next big update -- and it's just on the horizon in the form of Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

Due for release late summer -- although no date has been given at this stage -- Windows 10 Anniversary Update is described as an "interim release", but one that will feature "significant new features". Timed to coincide with Windows 10's first anniversary, the update will enable developers to make use of hundreds of new features in an updated API set.

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Ransomware is the malware du jour, and each strain seems more vicious than the last. As with any virus variant, there is a game of cat and mouse played out between virus writers and security companies as each battles to outwit the other.

Trying to get ahead of the curve, Bitdefender has released a tool that offers protection against the likes of CTB-Locker, Locky and TeslaCrypt. When it comes to dealing with ransomware the advice, unfortunately, has become a case of either pay up, or revert to data backups. Alternatively, you could try prevention rather than cure, and Bitdefender's 'crypto-ransomware vaccine' could be what you've been looking for.

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Yesterday, the FBI announced that it had managed to break into the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone sans help from Apple. The iPhone manufacturer will undoubtedly be pleased that the court case has come to an end without the company having to cave in and assist the agency.

In a statement, Apple said: "From the beginning, we objected to the FBI’s demand that Apple build a backdoor into the iPhone because we believed it was wrong and would set a dangerous precedent. As a result of the government’s dismissal, neither of these occurred. This case should never have been brought". But with the FBI's previous insistence that help from Apple was absolutely essential, some serious questions remain.

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The US justice department has announced that it has successfully cracked the iPhone belonging to the San Bernardino shooter, Syed Farook. The FBI was able to unlock the phone without help from Apple, ending the lawsuit that had pitted the FBI against Apple.

In a statement, the Justice Department said: "The government has now successfully accessed the data stored on Farook's iPhone and therefore no longer requires the assistance from Apple." It has been thought that Israeli security firm Cellebrite was helping the FBI, but the question now has to be asked about the security of other iPhones and whether law enforcement agencies will use the same technique to access data in the future.

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Any time a social network makes a change, it upsets a lot of people. Facebook has done it countless times -- just look at the vocal outpourings that followed the launch of reactions, for instance -- and Twitter recently irked many users with a new algorithm timeline, albeit one that can be disabled. Now it's the turn of Instagram.

The image- and video-based social network is currently testing an algorithm-driven timeline, much like Twitter and Facebook. Instagrammers are not happy. Not one bit (hence the appearance of the #boycottinstagram hashtag). The primary concern among users -- the narcissistic blighters! -- is that their posts will not be seen and will instead be buried in the noise of their followers' timelines. But all is not lost.

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The UK culture minister, Ed Vaizey, has warned that people who share screenshots of Snapchat messages without permission are breaking the law. Snapchat is characterized by its self-destructing messages that automatically delete after a short time.

The Conservative politician warned that anyone sharing screenshots of messages without consent could be sued and could face a prison sentence. If the content was of a sexual nature, it could result in a lengthier sentence.

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