Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

It's time for a new Windows Terminal release, and the latest update takes this essential developer tool up to version 1.15.

There is quite a lot to Windows Terminal Preview 1.15, but one of the highlights is the addition of the ability to use your keyboard to select any text in the text buffer with mark mode. There is now also experimental support for scroll marks, and more.

For anyone looking to try out Windows 11 without making a full commitment, opting for a virtualized version of the operating system is a great idea. Microsoft has just released updated versions of its Windows 11 virtual machine images which can be used completely free of charge.

It is Windows 11 Enterprise that Microsoft has made available, and there are various versions available to download. No matter whether you prefer VMWare, Hyper-V, VirtualBox or Parallels, there is a free Windows 11 virtual machine for you.

The appeal of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) appears to have dropped off. After enjoying a period of near-meteoric popularity, the value of NFT sales has been decimated over the past six months.

NFT sales for June 2022 were a little over $1 billion, compared to a peak of $12.6 billion at the start of the year. The drop in interest takes NFTs to their lowest level in a year, and it comes as the cryptocurrency markets have suffered a period of extreme volatility and price drops.

There have been several knock-on effects from the Supreme Court ruling on Roe v Wade, but few people would have predicted a change in app use habits out of fear of criminal proceedings. But this is precisely what has happened as growing numbers of users are concerned about the potential for data stored in apps to be used against them

It's just one of the reasons there has been numerous instances of users either ditching period tracking apps altogether, or switching to options considered to be more secure. Now encryption firm Evervault has offered up another solution, announcing it will offer its encryption services free of charge to women's health apps.

Google has announced plans to help protect user privacy in relation to health data. While the company does not make explicit reference to the recent overturning of Roe v Wade, there has been concern in the wake of the historic ruling, including fears that data collected by apps and websites could be used against individuals.

With this in mind, Google says that it will start to automatically delete location data about visits to "particularly personal" facilities such as abortion clinics and domestic violence centers. The company has also announced update to both Google Fit and Fitbit that will give users greater control over their data.

Many of the changes introduced in Windows 11 have divided opinion, from the central Start button to the non-moveable taskbar. An upcoming change that is sure to go down well, however, is Microsoft decision to give the Open With dialog a much-needed overhaul.

As you know, when you double click a file in Windows, it opens in whatever the default app it is associated with is. The Open With dialog can be used to select an alternative app, and with the redesign, Microsoft is not only introducing a new look that is more in keeping with the Windows 11 aesthetic, is also making the dialog more useful.

Popular NFT marketplace OpenSea has started issuing emails to its users warning them of a leak of customer data.

OpenSea says that an employee of its email delivery vendor, Customer.io, abused their position to access and share email addresses with an unauthorized third party. The company has not given an indication of the number of users affected by the data breach, but has warned of an increased risk of phishing attacks. With the number of active users of OpenSea reported to be around 2 million -- and this does not include people who have just signed up for a newsletter -- the potential impact is huge.

Microsoft has released a preview of an update for Windows 10. It will receive a wider release next month, but it is available now for eager testers.

The KB5014666 update is a cumulative, non-security update. As well as fixing a number of bugs in Windows 10 versions 20H2, 21H1 and 21H2, the update also introduces a number of new printing features, as well as IP address auditing for incoming Windows Remote Management.

Microsoft issuing updates for Windows that result in unwanted side effects is far from unknown, and it has happened once again.

With the release of the KB5014019 update for Windows 11, the KB5014021 update for Windows 10, and the KB5014023 update for Windows Server, Microsoft managed to introduce a problem that caused its own Edge browser to stop responding. Rather than issuing a fix, the company has instead opted to use a Known Issue Rollback (KIR) after acknowledging the problems.

If you opt for the base model of Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro with the company’s new M2 chip, you might end up being disappointed by the performance.

Tests have revealed that the entry-level 256GB model, priced at $1,299, have significantly slower SSDs than their M1-based counterparts. And the difference really is significant; benchmarks shows that that SSD read speeds are 50 percent slower in the latest models. Write speeds are also slower, although not quite so dramatically. So, is the M2 MacBook Pro worse than the M1 version?

The US Supreme Court has overturned Roe v Wade, ruling that there is no constitutional right to abortion in the United States. With more than half of states either implementing an immediate ban on abortions or intending to do so as soon as possible, there are serious concerns about women's health care. Large-scale protests continue across the country, but particularly in Washington DC.

While unable to help the majority of those affected by the ruling, many of the major technology companies have detailed the support they offer employees seeking abortion services. Among those to offer helps such as the reimbursement of travel expenses are Microsoft, Meta and Apple.

Like most social media platforms, Instagram has a minimum age for users -- in this instance, it is 13 years old. But verifying ages online -- particularly for non-adults -- has long proved difficult. Now Instagram thinks it has come up with a solution.

As part of measure to enforce age limits more strongly, Instagram is preparing to use a variety of techniques to confirm that younger users are the age they claim to be. One of the options that will be available to such users is uploading a video selfie which will be shared with age-checking agencies.

The NSA might not be the first organization that you think of turning to for advice about how to secure your computer, but the agency has offered up various tips about how to use PowerShell to do just this.

In conjunction with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the New Zealand National Cyber Security Centre (NZ NCSC) and the United Kingdom National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC-UK), the NSA has published a Cybersecurity Information Sheet. The document is entitled Keeping PowerShell: Security Measures to Use and Embrace, and it advises properly configuring and monitoring PowerShell, rather than removing or disabling it as is often recommended.

It is the time of the month when Microsoft releases preview versions of the updates that will be released for Windows on the next Patch Tuesday. As such, the company has unleashed a non-security preview release (or "C" release) of the KB5014668 update for Windows 11.

The list of changes and fixes in this non-security update is pretty lengthy, but there are two major inclusions that are especially noteworthy. As well as addressing an issue that prevented some users from upgrading to Windows 11, there is also a fix for game crashes caused by the use of certain audio technology.

It is pride month, so many companies are wrapping themselves up in the rainbow flag and proclaiming their allyship with the LGBTQIA+ community. It is in this spirit that Google has launched a new label in its Maps and Search products to let businesses indicate that they are LGBTQ+ owned.

The new attribute is currently only available in the US, and only to merchants that have a verified Business Profile on Google. Google says that it gives people a way to support diverse businesses, adding to the existing Black-owned, Latino-owned, veteran-owned and women-owned attributes that verified business are able to use.