Forget Avengers: Endgame or Game of Thrones -- watch 'Clippy: The Unauthorized Biography' instead
Steven Sinofsky was a senior executive at Microsoft who is perhaps best known for presiding over the creation of Windows 8 and RT. However, he also had a key role in the development of Microsoft Office back in the 1990s. This was a time when users feared to attempt to write a letter in Word because just starting it could well summon up Clippy -- the Candyman of productivity software -- who would attempt to help, but was rarely of any real use.
Clippy might have been retired for 15 years now, but to mark the Office assistant’s 25th anniversary, Sinofsky has made an Unauthorized Biography of the divisive animated paperclip which you can watch in full here.
Windows 7 users not rushing to upgrade to Windows 10
It took a very long time for Windows 10 to finally overtake Windows 7, but the new OS finally achieved that feat four months ago, according to figures from NetMarketShare.
In March, Windows 10 made large share gains, while Windows 7 declined significantly, and that is a picture one would have expected to see continue in April, especially now that Microsoft has started alerting Windows 7 users to the impending end of life of their chosen OS. However, that has proven not to be the case. Despite the warning, it seems Windows 7 users aren’t in a rush to upgrade anytime soon.
These are the current upgrade blocks for the Windows 10 May 2019 Update
After the disaster that was the buggy October 2018 Update, which most Windows 10 users have avoided like the plague, Microsoft has taken the wise step of introducing additional testing.
The next big feature update is expected to roll out to all by the end of May, but for the moment it’s undergoing extended analysis in the Release Preview ring.
Windows 10 users still avoiding the October 2018 Update like the plague
The Windows 10 May 2019 Update is currently undergoing testing in the Release Preview ring to ensure it should be relatively bug free when it finally rolls out to all (in theory at least).
Microsoft has already identified an issue that prevents the OS update from installing on systems with a USB flash drive or SD card connected.
Kodi alternative Mobdro steals users' Wi-Fi passwords, seeks to access shared media and installed apps
Mobdro is a streaming app that can be installed on any Android device, including phones, tablets, Amazon's Fire TV Stick, and Google's Chromecast. It has been gaining in popularity for a while now, especially after all the negative press surrounding rival service Kodi.
However, Mobdro is now facing controversy of its own after a new malware report made a number of damning claims about it.
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Kodi 19 M's codename revealed
As well as releasing Kodi 18.2 today, the Kodi Foundation also revealed that it has started work on the next big version of its hugely popular home theater software.
Kodi 19 M won’t be released for good while yet, but after teasing us with some clues, the team has now revealed what the M will stand for.
Development on Kodi 19 M* begins -- can you guess the name?
The Kodi Foundation today rolls out a big update to Kodi 18 'Leia', Kodi 18.2, with a number of bug fixes and performance enhancements.
But that’s not the only big Kodi news. Development on version 19 M* has begun!
Kodi 'Leia' 18.2 now available to download with bug fixes and performance improvements
The Kodi Foundation made the release candidate for Kodi 18.2 available last week, and today you can grab the final version.
As you’d expect, this is a bug fix release with no major new functionality, but there are a number of notable changes including improvements to the music database performance and a new Codec Factory for Android.
The source code for all of Infocom’s text adventures is now available to download from GitHub
Growing up I loved playing text adventure games, and most of my favorites came from Infocom. I was lucky in later life to write about the famed adventure company and even got to meet and interview some of the greats behind the best games.
If you’re a fan of interactive fiction and Infocom, the fantastic news is the source code for all of the company’s adventures have been uploaded to GitHub, making it possible for programmers to peruse and download the code, and even build upon it.
Nebra Anybeam turns your Raspberry Pi into a pocket home cinema projector
TVs are available to buy in truly huge sizes these days, and with 4K (and upwards) resolution, movies and TV shows really come to life. But there’s something even more magical about watching a film projected onto a screen or a wall. With the right setup, it can be like having a cinema in your home.
You don’t necessarily need to spend a fortune on a projector though. Nebra Anybeam can turn your Raspberry Pi into a cinema projector that you can slip into your pocket and take anywhere.
Get 'Assassin's Creed Unity' ($30 value) FREE for a limited time
On 15 April, a fire broke out on the roof of Notre-Dame, in Paris, France. The iconic cathedral, which survived both World Wars largely unscathed, was severely damaged. Much of the 850-year old Gothic building's roof and the historic spire were completely destroyed, but thankfully the main building was saved.
A restoration fund has been started, and to raise awareness for it, French video game publisher Ubisoft is giving away the PC copy of Assassin’s Creed Unity for a limited time, and has also pledged €500,000 ($565,000) towards repairs.
Game of Thrones: 1 in 4 online viewers are watching from an account they don’t pay for
The latest -- and last -- series of the biggest TV show in the world kicked off on Sunday, and brought in some big numbers for HBO. 17.4 million viewers tuned in for the season 8 premiere of Game of Thrones, either watching live on TV or streaming the show on HBO GO or HBO Now.
Quentin Schaffer, executive vice president of corporate communications for HBO, is expecting the number to build further, saying it "could eventually surpass the viewing average last year of 33 million per episode". But while it’s all great news for HBO, piracy remains a dragon-sized problem. Straight after the first episode aired, Torrent Freak reported that over 120,000 BitTorrent users were actively sharing copies of it. That’s not HBO’s only concern however.
Apple and Qualcomm bring their global legal fight to an end
Apple and Qualcomm have been suing each other since January 2017. The iPhone maker first sued Qualcomm for over $1 billion, contending that the chip maker was overcharging for its patent licenses, and in response Qualcomm counter-sued and tried to get iPhones banned in a number of countries, siting patent infringement.
In total, there were over 80 ongoing lawsuits in effect globally between the two tech firms, and yesterday saw the start of what was expected to be a three-week trial in a federal court in San Diego.
New Kodi 18.2 'Leia' RC arrives -- download it now!
The Kodi Foundation released Kodi 18 'Leia' three months ago, bringing a number of big new features to the hugely popular home theater software, including a new Games area, updated and improved PVR backend clients, and a redesigned Music section.
A month later, a bug fix release candidate -- Kodi 18.1 -- arrived, and today there’s another new release available to install.
Wayne's Bio
Wayne Williams is BetaNews' managing editor. He has been writing about computers, technology, and the web for over 20 years now. He’s written for most of the UK’s PC magazines, and launched, edited and published a fair few of them in his time also. If you like what you read, you can Buy Me a Coffee!
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