Wayne Williams

Microsoft usually rolls out new Windows 11 Dev Channel builds to Insiders on a Wednesday, although occasionally this slips to Thursday or even Friday.

There was no new build last week due to "quality issues". The plan was to get back on track for this week, but once again Windows Insiders are facing disappointment.

Continue reading →

I like to listen to music on the go, especially when running, so I do what I guess most people do -- play songs from my phone. I listen to lossless/spatial audio tracks from Apple Music through my Airpods, and the quality is excellent. Sony thinks it can do better though, and so has introduced two new Premium Signature Series Walkman music players.

The two new devices -- NW–WM1ZM2 and NW-WM1AM2 -- are designed to appeal to the most demanding audiophiles, producing high quality sound that’s "dynamic and transparent". They also come with a premium price tag.

Continue reading →

Today is a huge day for fans of Samsung’s flagship Android smartphones. At its eagerly awaited Samsung Unpacked event, the South Korean tech giant took the wraps off the Galaxy S22 and S22+.

The two new phones have a "sustainably conscious design" and come with dynamic cameras with advanced intelligent image processing. They promise better night photography thanks to a 23 percent larger sensor and make use of Adaptive Pixel technology to improve high resolution photos.

Continue reading →

Google introduced a feature a while back called Chrome Actions that lets you quickly accomplish tasks like creating a Google doc, managing downloads, sharing a tab, translating a page, and clearing your Google account password, all directly from your browser’s address bar.

All you have to do to use the feature is type in a recognized command and then click on the Action chip that appears under the search bar. Google will often predict what you might want to do, saving you typing in the full request. And today the feature just got even more useful.

Continue reading →

Microsoft usually rolls out new Windows 11 builds to Insiders in the Dev Channel on a weekly basis, but it won’t be doing so this week as it has run into some quality issues with its planned flight.

What the software giant has done however, is lifted the lid on what’s coming to the Windows Insider Program this year. Microsoft says it has more people running test builds of Windows 11 than it did with Windows 10, and going forward its focus will be on trying out new, more experimental features and services.

Continue reading →

At a moment when many of us have lost confidence in brands, companies, influencers and leaders, it’s time to ask why -- as well as what sort of leaders we should aspire to be ourselves to bring that confidence back. 

Step forward Sam Cawthorn, an influencer at the top of his game and the founder of Speakers Institute, an international organization that helps leaders and influencers create powerful, trusted and distinctive voices. Sam knows exactly what it took him to get where he is today, and the secret sauce wasn’t flashy charisma, expensive clothes, and a perfect smile. As he argues in People Follow People, what really wins respect -- and can tie hearts and minds to you for a lifetime -- comes from inside: our values, character, loyalty, and integrity.  

Continue reading →

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has been working on a 64-bit build of its Raspberry Pi OS for a while now, and after a successful beta trial it's finally ready to make it available to anyone with a compatible Pi.

It has been possible to run a 64-bit build of the OS since Raspberry Pi 3 arrived in 2016, but the Foundation has stuck with the 32-bit platform in order to "maximise compatibility between devices and to avoid customer confusion".

Continue reading →

There are a number of Linux distros for WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) available to download from the Microsoft Store. Big names on offer include Ubuntu, Debian, Kali, SUSE and openSUSE. Now one more has arrived -- Oracle Linux.

Sneaking into the store with little fanfare on Monday, January 31, the official arrival of Oracle Linux 8.5 will be welcomed by any developers wanting to run Linux software in a Windows environment.

Continue reading →

In a blog post published a few days ago, Panos Panay, Chief Product Officer of Windows and Devices at Microsoft, talked about the future of Windows 11 and also announced that upgrades of the new OS have been taken up by users at twice the rate of Windows 10 upgrades.

Of course, as is to be expected by any sort of such announcement from Microsoft, there were no figures to back up this claim, but what is clear is that Windows 11 is rapidly increasing its usage share.

Continue reading →

Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel usually get new builds on a Wednesday. This week they’ve had to wait an extra day, but it’s definitely worth it with this latest flight.

Build 22543 comes with quite a few improvements, including updated visuals for some UI areas.

Continue reading →

Penetration testing enables you to evaluate the security or strength of a computer system, network, or web application that an attacker can exploit.

With Python Ethical Hacking from Scratch, you'll understand why Python is one of the fastest-growing programming languages for penetration testing. You'll find out how to harness the power of Python and pentesting to enhance your system security.

Continue reading →

In a new blog post in which he discussed a number of things, including the (near) future of Windows 11, Panos Panay, Chief Product Officer, Windows + Devices talked about how the new operating system is driving 3x more traffic to the newly redesigned Microsoft Store.

"We’re energized by the feedback from both our customers and partners about the new Microsoft Store" he said. But hmm... Perhaps he needs to step out from his bubble and see what Windows customers are really saying about it.

Continue reading →

Let’s be honest here. Windows 11 has the makings of being a good operating system, but it’s not there yet. Some of the features that Microsoft touted in its original presentation -- such as native support for Android apps -- aren’t even available yet.

However, Microsoft today addresses what’s coming next for the new OS and you won’t have long to wait to try out the new features and functionality.

Continue reading →

TikTok’s massive success caught the major social networks napping. While they might not have anticipated the meteoric rise of the platform, they weren’t slow in rushing to produce their own takes on the popular short-form, video-sharing app.

While rivals Byte, Triller, and Clash all have their fans, it’s Instagram’s Reels, and YouTube’s Shorts that have the best chance of dethroning TikTok. You might scoff at the idea of that happening, but YouTube has just announced the all-time views for Shorts so far, and they are massive.

Continue reading →

Open-ended role-playing games like The Legend of Zelda and Animal Crossing are hugely popular with younger children, and codeSpark Academy, the learn-to-code app for children, has just added a new set of design tools to help them make their own such games.

codeSpark Academy says the tools in its "Adventure Game" addition require less hand-eye coordination than other creative modes. It also lets users add features like speech bubbles for characters, to enhance storytelling.

Continue reading →