Wayne Williams

Windows 10 Insider Preview build 10041 Start menu desktop

Microsoft releases Windows 10 Build 10041 -- download it NOW!

Microsoft is intending to release Windows 10 this summer -- which doesn’t give the tech giant long to finish and polish up its new operating system.

It’s been a rather long time since we saw a new Technical Preview build -- 9926 was released back in January -- but Microsoft has finally pushed out a new version -- 10041 -- to those Insiders enrolled in the Fast ring and if that includes you, you can grab it now via Windows Update.

By Wayne Williams -
anonymous goes into space

Anonymous wants humanity to go into outer space and 'explore other worlds'

Hacktivist collective Anonymous is mostly famous for launching attacks on the Church of Scientology, ISIS, world governments, child pornography websites and, er, Kanye West. But its latest mission is to unite humanity and get us working together to go into space and colonize new worlds. No, seriously.

I suspect someone at Anonymous may have enjoyed Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar a little too much.

By Wayne Williams -
dotcom

30 years of dotcom -- what became of the first 100 domains?

Sunday marked the 30th anniversary of the first ever 'dotcom' domain being registered. Symbolics.com (originally a homepage for computer programmers) was the first ever dotcom, followed a month later by Bbn.com (an American high-technology company) and then another month later by Think.com (a supercomputer manufacturer).

There aren’t many big tech names in the top ten (with the exception of Xerox and HP at 7 and 9 respectively) and despite its reputation as being an innovator, Apple didn’t register a domain until February 1997, making it the 64th oldest dotcom. There are now approximately 275,000,000 dotcom domains in existence.

By Wayne Williams -
facebook-eye_2459156k_contentfullwidth_contentfullwidth

Anonymous accuses Facebook of siding with Islamic State [Update]

Facebook has just updated -- or rather clarified -- its Community Standards document, which outlines the type of content that are not allowed on the social network. Among the list of banned topics is, as you might expect, terrorism.

Anonymous has been battling terrorism online for a while now, taking down Islamic State related sites and Twitter accounts via its #OpISIS campaign. The aim of this operation is to prevent the terrorist organization from spreading its message online, but now Facebook has taken steps to prevent Anonymous from spreading its own message on the social network.

By Wayne Williams -
Jamie Oliver

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver still serving up malware

Three weeks ago we reported on how celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s website was serving up malware. The site, www.jamieoliver.com, has around 10 million visitors a month, so the fact it had been hacked to redirect people to an exploit kit was a big deal.

Naturally, Jamie Oliver’s management team acted swiftly to fix things, except according to Malwarebytes, which discovered the original problem, the site is now dishing up digitally signed malware.

By Wayne Williams -
cortana__contentfullwidth

Microsoft's personal assistant Cortana headed to iOS and Android

Microsoft regularly pits its personal assistant Cortana against Apple’s Siri in a series of adverts, with predictable results. Cortana is always much smarter, funnier and more helpful. She’s certainly one of the high points of Windows Phone, and is set to make her debut on the desktop when she arrives as part of Windows 10 later this year.

However, it seems Cortana isn’t just going to be confined to working on Windows devices. According to Reuters, Microsoft is also working on bringing the personal assistant to iOS and Android in the form of a standalone app.

By Wayne Williams -
Kanye west

'Anonymous' targets Kanye West

Anonymous is a very loose collective of hackers. In the video setting the record straight on #OpISIS, it is described as a family that is as "divided and fractional as any more traditional, not so Anonymous family in any city, town, or isolated rural village in the world".

Almost anyone can claim to be in Anonymous, and launch their own attacks or operations, and proving the point, someone claiming to be from the hacktivist collective has released a video targeting Kanye West and his wife Kim Kardashian.

By Wayne Williams -
anonymous

Anonymous sets the record straight regarding its battle with ISIS

Hacktivist network Anonymous has been taking down ISIS related sites and Twitter accounts in a bid to prevent the terrorist organization from spreading its message online. Anonymous has declared ISIS a virus, and itself the cure.

However, cyber blog Krypt31a has described Anonymous's recent actions as Whack-a-mole without a plan, spurring a representative of the hacktivist group to issue a video reply setting the record straight.

By Wayne Williams -
digital couple

No sex please, I'm checking my emails (and then updating Facebook)

According to a new survey from Durex and Durham University’s Center for Sex, Gender and Sexualities, a large portion of us are more likely to be seduced by the lure of our smartphones than our partners.

40 percent of couples admitted to delaying sex because of smartphones or tablets, while others said they’d raced through the act in order to respond to messages. One third of respondents admitted to interrupting sex in order to answer the phone (because, you never know, it might be the spouse calling to find out where you are).

By Wayne Williams -
624

BBC Micro Bit is a free Raspberry Pi alternative for kids

It’s no secret that the Raspberry Pi has its roots in the microcomputers of the 1980s. And one device in particular inspired the creation of the massively popular barebones system -- the BBC Micro. Auntie Beeb’s computer was available in two models -- A, and B -- as is the Raspberry Pi.

Interestingly, while the BBC Micro inspired the Raspberry Pi, the Raspberry Pi has now inspired a new BBC Micro -- the Micro Bit.

By Wayne Williams -
SXSW

SXSW Accelerator continues to discover amazing new startups [Q&A]

The annual SXSW Accelerator competition presented by Oracle is set to take place on Saturday, March 14 and Sunday, March 15 at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival.

I spoke to Chris Valentine, event producer for SXSW Accelerator and Startup Village, about the competition, and what innovations and trends we can expect to see emerging this year.

By Wayne Williams -
apple watch steel

I should want an Apple Watch -- but I don't

I’m the target audience for the Apple Watch. I own an iPhone, and iPad, I’ve invested heavily in apps over the years, and I wear a watch so am used to glancing at my wrist when I want to see the time, rather than looking at my phone screen. The price doesn’t scare me off, either. Going into the Spring Forward event I was around 85 percent certain I would be buying an Apple Watch.

But now? Now I really don’t want one at all.

By Wayne Williams -
HBO Now

HBO announces HBO NOW streaming service -- exclusive to Apple at launch

The Apple 'Spring Forward' event is currently underway, and the first big announcement is that HBO NOW, the name of Home Box Office’s standalone premium streaming service, will be exclusive -- initially at least -- to Apple customers.

Similar to HBO GO, HBO NOW will offer more than 2,000 titles online and includes every episode of every season of its programming, including of course, Game of Thrones. It costs $14.99 a month and Apple customers who sign up in April can enjoy a 30-day free trial. It will be available to watch on iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, or directly on Apple TV.

By Wayne Williams -
Apple-Watch-event-invite

Watch Apple's 'Spring Forward' event live on any device including Windows and Android

Whether you think the Apple Watch will revolutionize wearables, or be a rare misstep for Apple, we’re about to find out as the tech giant is all set to launch its latest new product at a 'Spring Forward' event which is being hosted today at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco.

While the Apple Watch will be the center of attention, it’s possible that Apple will have a few other products to show off too including maybe a Retina MacBook Air and Beats Music Service.

By Wayne Williams -
Asus RP-AC52

ASUS RP-AC52 Dual-Band Wireless Range Extender: An affordable solution to patchy Wi-Fi [Review]

My home broadband connection is a speedy (up to) 152Mbps, and when I’m downloading on a PC connected to the router, I get impressive speeds. But because the router is in the basement (where my home office is), accessing the internet in other rooms via Wi-Fi is often flaky and unreliable. At times I can’t connect at all.

I’ve boosted the connection with multiple TP-Link 300Mbps Universal Wi-Fi Range Extenders and while that’s helped, the truth is the end result is still far from great. ASUS’s RP-AC52, an 802.11ac concurrent dual-band wireless range extender, looks to be a suitable solution to my woes -- but is it?

By Wayne Williams -
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