Wayne Williams

High-end routers typically come with lots of advanced features and settings usually not found in lower-spec models, or those provided by your ISP.

However, you don’t need to spend a fortune replacing your existing router to gain access to these features as you can supercharge your existing device (or a spare one) by replacing its firmware with a third-party open source alternative, such as DD-WRT.

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January 1 is not only New Year’s Day, but also Public Domain Day. This is the day where certain previously copyrighted works enter the public domain, allowing anyone to use or creatively reinterpret them without needing to seek permission or pay a fee.

In 2021, copyrighted works from 1925 will enter the US public domain, and the list of books, movies and songs included is an impressive one. The BBC has even stated that 1925 could well be the greatest year for books, ever.

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Microsoft took a big gamble with Windows 8. Back in 2012 the tech giant believed that touchscreens were the way we’d all be interacting with our devices, and so overhauled Windows to give it a touch-first design and a Start screen in place of the traditional Start menu -- which didn’t go down at all well with the Windows faithful.

Although the company relented and eventually added a Start menu and made various other user-requested tweaks, Windows 8 is viewed by many as one of the worst versions of Windows, which is a little unfair as it had much to recommend it.

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Last week, Microsoft released two different Windows 10 builds to the Dev Channel, giving Insiders a chance to choose if they wanted to stay on the FE_RELEASE branch or switch to the more experimental RS_PRERELEASE branch.

For those who stuck with the FE_RELEASE branch, Microsoft now has another new build to try out (those on RS_PRERELEASE won’t get this).

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From now, Windows 10 Insiders on the Dev Channel currently have the choice of installing preview builds from the FE_RELEASE or RS_PRERELEASE branches. By default, Insiders will get flights like new Build 20277 from the FE_RELEASE branch, but you can switch to RS_PRERELEASE if you’re feeling more adventurous.

To get the alternative download, Build 21277, you will have to actively choose to download it via Windows Update. Be warned though, once you’ve switched to RS_PRERELEASE you won’t be able to download FE_RELEASE builds any more.

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We're used to Microsoft rolling out a new Windows 10 Dev Channel build on a weekly basis, but this time around it has something different for us -- two Dev Channel builds, from different branches. It’s like a choose your own adventure.

The first of the new flights, Build 20277, comes from the usual FE_RELEASE branch and sports a handful of fixes and known issues.

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The Kodi Foundation has been hard at work finishing up the next iteration of its hugely popular home theater software. Kodi 19 'Matrix' offers a number of big changes, including a switch to Python 3 for add-ons, improved music handling, an interface makeover, and PVR reminders.

Today, the team rolls out a new update and you won’t want to miss it.

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As part of GitHub Universe week, the Microsoft-owned software code hosting platform has announced a number of changes, improvements and new features. These include GitHub Sponsors for companies, auto-merge pull requests, discussions for all public repositories, and dependency review.

For a lot of people though, the big news is GitHub now has a stylish dark mode and you can enable it today.

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COVID-19 has wreaked havoc across the world and infections are showing no signs of slowing. Just yesterday, the USA reported 218,576 new cases and 2,918 new deaths. Thankfully there are a number of promising vaccines, with Pfizer/BioNTech’s the first to be made widely available. The UK is due to start rolling it out next week.

For those desperate for the vaccine an agonizing wait lies ahead -- if they want to go down the official route at least. However, drug dealers on the dark web are already selling 'Pfizer COVID Vaccines'.

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Microsoft is experimenting with a new Feature Experience Pack which will make it easier to add great new features to Windows 10 in the future.

It is still working on feature updates though, and today it rolls a new FE_RELEASE build to Insiders on the Dev Channel.

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2020 has been a tough year for James Bond, Ian Fleming’s fictional super-spy. No Time To Die, 007’s latest outing and the last time he’ll be portrayed by Daniel Craig, was supposed to come out earlier in the year but was pushed back because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new November date was seen to be rather optimistic by many, and that proved to be true when it was announced the film wouldn’t arrive in cinemas until April 2021.

While this year has been a blow for 007 fans, we have some good news -- you can currently watch 20 classic James Bond films for free on YouTube.

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From creating networks and servers to automating the entire working environment, Linux has been extremely popular with system administrators for the last couple of decades. However, security has always been a major concern.

With limited resources available in the Linux security domain, this book will be an invaluable guide in helping you get your Linux systems properly secured.

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Some Raspberry Pi owners are more than happy to leave their devices uncased, but others prefer to add an enclosure just so it looks smarter.

If you’re a case owner and are concerned about heat building up inside, then the Raspberry Pi Foundation has you covered with a new, official Case Fan designed to keep things cool and help you squeeze more performance out of a Raspberry Pi 4.

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I’ve switched between owning an iPhone and various Android handsets over the years, but for me iOS remains easily the best mobile operating system (and iPhone 12 Pro the best smartphone). It would take something very special to tempt me back to Android.

Something like this stylish vision of Android 12.

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The next major version of Kodi, has been in development for two years now, promising a number of big changes from its predecessor, Kodi 18 Leia.

The Kodi Foundation has been hard at work finishing the next iteration of its hugely popular home theater software, releasing alpha builds of Kodi 19 at the rate of one a month for the past three months. Today the developers take the biggest step yet towards what they're calling the 'Great Unveiling'.

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