Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

GLAAD has published the 2025 edition of its Social Media Safety Index, and it shows that the six biggest social media platforms are doing nowhere near enough to keep LGBTQIA+ users safe.

The report looks at the policies and protections of TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, and X, ranking them with a score out of 100. X comes in last place with a score of just 30, and with the highest score being a mere 56 out of 100, it’s clear there is a lot of work to do.

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Unless you can count yourself among those who have a premium subscription, using YouTube means having to endure ads. This is annoying, but it could be getting a whole lot worse.

And things are getting worse because of artificial intelligence. Google has announced Peak Points, a Gemini ai-powered feature that gives advertisers way to hit you with ads when you are most engaged with a video.

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For those who like to live on the cutting edge, beta software, preview programs and the like are incredibly enticing. Just about every major software title -- operating systems, even -- has one or more preview builds available, and web browsers like Firefox are no different.

But Mozilla has a slightly different option for anyone who feels uncomfortable with the idea of installing alpha, canary, or beta builds of apps -- Firefox Labs. This is Mozilla’s way of giving users access to optional features which have not yet made it into the main version of the browser. Here are the unreleased features you can try out right now.

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It has been difficult to escape the fact Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 later this year -- on October 14 to be precise. The company has made much of issuing reminders about this date as well as endlessly pestering people to upgrade to Windows 11.

But it was not just Windows 10 that was to lose support in October. Microsoft had also said that Office (or Microsoft 365) on Windows 10 would not be supported from the same date. Now the company has had a change of heart, and will provide support for much longer than it previously announced.

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The Google logo is iconic -- as, indeed, are its icons. Every so often, though, there is an update, a refresh… normally to great fanfare.

But this time around things are a little different. Google has very quietly rolled out a new icon for its search app and has made no fuss about it at all. All of the familiar design aspects are present, but now there is a rainbow gradient.

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Loved, loathed, feared, viewed with suspicion -- all valid reactions to the existence of Microsoft's Copilot. The AI-powered assistant has proved hard to avoid thanks to the company's crazed promotion of its latest baby, and now things are being ratcheted up a notch.

Microsoft latest attempt to get people to use the Copilot app is to add a new shortcut to the context menu. Right click on a file in Windows 11 and you'll be presented with an Ask Copilot link so you can subject your documents to artificial intelligence.

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With the shutdown of Skype, attention now turns to Microsoft Teams -- something that is true both for ex-Skype users and the company behind the two communication platforms. With Teams now seeing an influx of newcomers, there has never been a better time for Microsoft to show that it is serious about the Skype replacement.

And an upcoming feature will prevent meeting participants from capturing screenshots. This is privacy feature is set to debut in the coming weeks and will be welcomed by businesses.

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Having already started to redesign the Windows 11 Start menu, Microsoft has revealed that there are even more changes afoot. As part of an upgrade to Windows Search, it will soon be possible to find and install apps from the Start menu.

What is happening is that the Microsoft Store is being integrated into the Start menu -- thanks to the fact that it is going to be integrated into Windows Search. The idea is that it reduces friction and makes it quicker and easier to get hold of apps that have not yet been installed.

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Notifications are part and parcel of life, being both useful and interesting. But they can also be problematic. Google is aware that the notifications generated by websites can be “spammy or even deceptive”.

The worst offenders can attempt to trick people into sharing personal information or downloading dangerous software. Google is using machine learning to fight back, launching warnings about warnings of unwanted notifications.

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For all of the talk about establishing and maintaining connections, for the companies behind them social media platforms are about making money. Advertising plays a massive role in this, and Meta is looking for new ways to grab users’ attention.

The company has announced it is testing video ads on Threads as it explores expanding its portfolio of ad formats. There are also new ad options for creators and brands on Facebook and Instagram, as well as the slightly unusual sounding “trending ads” feature.

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Meta has announced some interesting new features for its Threads social platform, and there are other unannounced ones that have been spotted as well.

In the name of transparency, Account Status is starting to roll out so users can find out more about violations they have been committed and if any posts have been demoted.

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Screenshotting stuff can seem like a great way to remember something for later, but captures soon get lost and forgotten. Google is looking to change this by bringing new Gemini-powered features to Google Maps.

The company thinks that it can help you to make sense of the “travel blogs, news articles or social media posts” you’ve screengrabbed while researching a trip. Turning to AI to make sense of a heap of images is Google’s solution. Here’s how it can help you.

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Spotify remains one of the most popular music streaming services currently available, but popularity does not mean perfection. There are many things that Spotify users complain about, such as the oddities of the discovery algorithms. The company is getting better at listening to feedback and is taking steps to improve things.

Spotify has just announced new tools and controls to help with music discovery, playlist curation and recommendations. There’s something for everyone to benefit from, so let’s take a look at what’s new.

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With Microsoft ending support for Windows 10 in just a few short months, the company is busy trying to get users to either upgrade directly to Windows 11, or purchase a new system -- ideally a Copilot+ PC.

It is obvious that Microsoft would prefer Windows 10 users to move to Windows 11, but this is far from being the only option available. A team of Linux enthusiasts has come together in the End Of 10 project, the aim of which is to promote Linux as a logical replacement for unsupported Windows 10.

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The meeting of artificial intelligence and robotics almost unavoidably conjures up images akin to the Terminator -- but with Vulcan, Amazon has something different in mind.

Moving away from the traditional “numb and dumb” robot, Vulcan is described as a “fundamental leap forward in robotics”. Designed for used in its fulfillment centers, this is Amazon’s first robot with a sense of touch.

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