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Traditional systems administration of servers, applications, and databases used to be a little simpler when it came to choices and costs. For a long time, there was no other choice than to hook up a physical server, put on your desired OS, and install the database or application software that you needed. Eventually, you could choose to install your OS on a physical server or on a virtual machine running on a hypervisor. Then, large companies started running their own hypervisor and allowed you to rent your VM for as long as you needed it on their servers.

In 2009, Amazon started offering the ability to rent databases directly, without having to worry about the underlying OS in a platform as a service (PaaS) offering called Relational Database Service (RDS). This added another layer of complexity to your choices when managing your infrastructure. Let’s explore AWS RDS pricing a little bit, and examine some of the features that comes with it.

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Ubuntu 17.10 should be available in October. With Canonical making GNOME the default desktop environment, and killing the much-maligned Unity, this will be the most exciting release in years. Quite frankly, the operating system had been feeling sort of stale lately, so a new default DE should shake things up.

Today, the first official Beta of Ubuntu 17.10 becomes available. This pre-lease version of the operating system, codenamed "Artful Aardvark," does not include the GNOME desktop, unfortunately. Instead, it includes several other spins, including Kubuntu, Lubuntu, and more.

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Kodi has been in the news a great deal recently, thanks largely to a surge in interest in addons for the media center software. High profile addons like Phoenix disappeared, as did (temporarily) the addons site TVAddons.

The latest victim is a Plex addon from MetalKettle -- MK Plex. Eager to avoid legal action after receiving a letter from Plex's legal team, MetalKettle decided to shut up shop rather than continue to provide an addon that could be used to access Plex through Kodi without a paid-for Plex Pass subscription.

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We've known for quite some time of Lenovo's Windows Mixed Reality headset, but it is not until today that we learn more about what it will bring to the table when it will finally arrive later this year.

First, let's talk about the name. Unlike ASUS, which calls its offering the Windows Mixed Reality Headset, Lenovo has come up with a more fitting name for its first device: the Explorer. This will surely make it more appealing in the eyes of early adopters.

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The launch of the iPhone 8 has been awaited with bated breath, and this time around there have been rather more leaks than normal. We've not only seen suggestions of what the new phone will look like, but also heard strong rumors about features such as wireless charging and Face ID 3D facial detection.

What we have not known for sure is just when Apple will reveal all. Now the wait is over. The company has just sent out invites to an event to be held at the Steve Job Center in Cupertino ("let's meet at our place"). The date: September 12. The time: 10am. On the agenda: iPhone 8, iPhone 7s, iOS 11 and more.

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Microsoft has confirmed what leaks have suggested for a little while (thanks, Lenovo!). The launch date for Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is October 17, 2017 -- and no, there is no Autumn Creators Update!

This will be the fourth major update to Windows 10, and it is one that has been keenly awaited by users of the operating system, although it's not going to be without its share of disappointments. Microsoft confirmed the release date at IFA today, and pointed out two of the update's key new features: eye-tracking and Windows Mixed Reality.

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As we carry out more of our day-to-day transactions online, so the amount of information about us that exists out on the internet grows.

That means there are more and more opportunities for data to be leaked or stolen, but a new study by IT staffing company Modis reveals that people still aren't taking their privacy seriously.

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Everybody needs a backup -- with ransomware added to the list of threats to your data, now is the perfect time to take full advantage of our latest Downloadcrew giveaway: a full copy of O&O DiskImage 10.5 Professional, worth $49.95, across this coming weekend.

What makes O&O DiskImage special is that it allows you to back up both individual files and folders as well as take a full drive image, so you can protect key data alongside your fail-safe drive image covering your entire Windows installation -- all from one application.

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According to NetMarketShare, in July Windows 10 grew its usage share by 0.83 percentage points -- its largest increase in three months. (This, remember, is an OS that only managed to gain a grand total of five percent share in an entire year).

With a new major update to the operating system right around the corner, you might expect Windows 10 to have grown its share by a similar figure in August, but no. It's back to the glacial growth we usually see for the new OS.

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Any photo editor -- be it on the desktop, or on the web -- can reduce an image’s size. You can shrink images down as little or as much as you like.

However, making an image bigger, well that’s a whole different matter. When you blow up a picture you can introduce all manner of problems, including blurring, general loss of sharpness, and jagged edges. That said, it is possible to increase a picture’s size without introducing these problems, if you know how.

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Two-hundred-and-forty-six in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Windows Store in the past seven days.

Microsoft released a number of new Insider Preview builds this week: build 16275, build 16278, and build 16353.

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Oracle has revealed a major upgrade to its IoT cloud offering that it says will help businesses get more value out of the platform.

The company has revealed it will be imbuing its IoT Cloud with built-in artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities which will be able to provide businesses with more detailed data than ever before.

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Novawave Inc has released Novabench 4.0, a major new update for its Windows and Mac benchmarking tool. Version 4.0 unveils new and updated benchmarks, plus an interface redesign.

The tool opens with updated CPU tests to support the latest processor features, and debuts new graphics tests -- a cross-platform OpenCL GPU compute test, plus Direct3D 11 (Windows) and Metal (OS X) tests. There’s also a new disk read speed test.

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The smartphone market has been a bit boring lately, but things are starting to heat up. Manufacturers are pushing the boundaries of design, as we see with the beautiful Essential Phone, Samsung Galaxy Note8, and leaks of the upcoming iPhone 8. Now is an exciting time to be buying a new smartphone.

The Moto Android smartphones have long been forward-thinking in design, and today, Lenovo unveils its latest such device, which runs version 7.1 of the operating system -- not Oreo. The "Moto X4," as it is called, features a 2.2 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 processor, 3GB of RAM, a 3,000mAh battery, 32GB of on-board storage (expandable with microSD), and a 5.2-inch 1080p display. It has a fingerprint reader for security and IP68-rated waterproofing too. It even features Amazon Alexa integration! Photographers will be excited for the upgraded cameras, including a new dual-lens rear shooter.

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Earlier this year, my local energy company emailed me with an offer I couldn't refuse -- a big discount on a Nest Thermostat. While I had never really cared much about such a product -- I was OK getting up from my chair to control my home's temperature -- the price was too enticing. And so, I installed the product and linked it to my Amazon Echo. With the power of my voice, I can now control both my air conditioning and heating. It is amazing. The energy company has even issued me a check for allowing them to control it during a few weeks in the summer. Yeah, Nest is actually making me money!

Understandably, not everyone wants to spend an arm and a leg to get an energy-saving "smart" thermostat. Thankfully, today, the Google-owned Nest announces a new lower-priced "E" model. This affordable variant should be attractive to more thrifty spenders. It features a "frosted" screen, which could look even more classy than the pricier model, although that will ultimately be a matter of personal preference.

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