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Linux is the future, and even closed-source champion Microsoft has gotten onboard. The Windows-maker is not only contributing to many open source projects, but developing software for the Linux desktop, with programs such as Skype. You can even install Linux distributions from the Windows Store nowadays. Hell, the company has even created a version of Microsoft Office that runs on Linux by way of Android! Yes, Google's mobile operating system is Linux. Android is also what effectively killed the much maligned Windows Phone, so Microsoft clearly has no problem with joining forces with prior "enemies."

Today, Microsoft further pledges its loyalty to Linux and open source by becoming a platinum member of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. If you aren't familiar, the CNCF is a part of the well-respected Linux Foundation (of which Microsoft is also a member). With the Windows-maker increasingly focusing its efforts on the cloud -- and profiting from it -- this seems like a match made in heaven. In fact, Dan Kohn, Executive Director of the foundation says, "We are honored to have Microsoft, widely recognized as one of the most important enterprise technology and cloud providers in the world, join CNCF as a platinum member."

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There are four key areas where digital businesses can make a significant profit, and Google's parent company Alphabet appears to be gaining in all four of them according to its latest earnings report.

In a recent call to reveal its results, Alphabet said revenue rose 21 percent to $26 billion, in the second quarter of 2017. Net income was $3.5 billion.

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When you buy a company's product, the experience doesn't end at the store. Well, at least it shouldn't. While some companies may wipe their hands after the sale, the truly high-quality brands will focus on the overall experience for the life of the product. Apple, for instance, does an excellent job here, making you feel like you've joined a club that cares about you. While buying Apple Care improves that experience, even without it, some consumers may end up with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Another company focusing on the customer experience? LG. If you weren't already aware, owners of the G6 Android flagship -- an excellent smartphone -- are able to get a complimentary second year warranty at no charge. Yup, you can register for what the company calls the "LG G6 Second Year Promise." In fact, the company even guarantees an expedited turnaround time if your under-warranty G6 should need replacing. Quite frankly, this warranty -- coupled with decreasing price -- makes buying the device a no-brainer. To highlight this previously announced promise, the company has now created a new video explaining it.

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A new version of the Mac malware dubbed Fruitfly has been spotted in the wild, and it’s unclear if the latest macOS is vulnerable to it or not.

This is according to former NSA hacker and chief security researcher at Synack, Patrick Wardle. He told ZDNet that the malware, which was first revealed back in January, can take full control of an infected machine, including files, camera, screen, and peripherals.

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The world is once again reeling from a massive ransomware attack that either severely impacted companies’ operations or caused them to take a closer look at their ability to identify, contain and remediate these incidents. As attacks on enterprise networks grow more common and complex, incident response (IR) teams and security operations centers (SOCs) grow increasingly besieged: 44 percent of security operations managers see more than 5,000 alerts every day, according to the Cisco 2017 Annual Cybersecurity Report. Due to the staggering volume, organizations only investigate 56 percent of these alerts, and remediate less than one-half of the actual threats they receive.

Clearly, cybersecurity managers and staffers are overwhelmed. That’s why they must work with their leadership to come up with a multi-step process to effectively monitor, identify and eliminate threats. With this in mind, we’ve developed what we call an "IR Hierarchy of Needs" to empower SOC and IR teams:

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A new study has claimed that, contrary to what they may think, many businesses are struggling to be ready for GDPR.

According to The Veritas 2017 GDPR Report, a third (31 percent) of respondents believe their enterprise is in line with the regulation’s key requirements. On the other hand, when they were asked about specific GDPR provisions, their answers have shown that they’re most likely not compliant.

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New Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Build 16251 is rolling out now and brings with it lots of changes and some great new features, such as the ability to shut down or restart your PC using Cortana voice controls.

The standout feature though is cross-device web-browsing that lets you browse the web on an Android phone and then switch to continue browsing the same site on your Windows 10 PC. Here’s how to use it.

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Businesses looking to establish themselves online now have an easier way to set up a website thanks to Wix.

The web development specialists have today launched Wix Code, a new platform that makes building a fully-fledged online site more straightforward than ever before.

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It’s been two weeks since Microsoft rolled out a new Windows 10 build to Insiders on the Fast ring. Build 16241 came with a sizeable number of improvements and fixes, with a large number of those focused on the Mixed Reality side of things.

Today the software giant pushes out Build 16251, and the main focus here is on cross-device web-browsing -- that is linking your PC and Android phones together (support for iPhone is coming soon) so you can browse the web on your mobile device and then continue browsing the same site on your PC.

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Despite the rise of fast broadband and various social sharing cloud services, it’s always wise to archive your files for distribution. Indeed, in many cases you never know who is going to download your shared files, so you want to pack them up in the smallest possible archive so the downloader can obtain them as quickly as possible.

An archive management tool is one of our go to applications, especially when working with files each and every day.

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Google is sidelining one of its famous features: Google Instant. The feature displays search results in real-time as you type, eliminating the need to press Enter or hit Search, but after 7 years, Google thinks it's time to wave goodbye to it.

The reason given for the cull is that the majority of searches are now conducted from mobile devices, and Google Instant makes less sense on a touchscreen. This does not mean, however, that Google's autocomplete function is disappearing.

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There are lots of affordable action cameras on the market today, many of which have similar specs and features. In fact, save for a couple of design tweaks here and there, you could be forgiven for thinking they are identical.

In practice, however, action cameras that appear to be the same on paper will produce different results. The WiMiUS L1 that I tested last month, for instance, is not on the same level as the SJCAM SJ5000X Elite, which is underpinned by the same chipset, and neither is on the same level as the ODRVM OD9000R, which I've been testing for the past couple of weeks. The OD9000R is a more attractive proposition, despite costing basically the same as the L1.

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USB is one of the greatest inventions in computing. If you are a younger computer user, you may not remember a time before USB devices. It was rather terrible. Sure, there were external devices, but they connected to the very slow serial or parallel ports. I had a parallel port Zip drive, for instance. Ugh. Most things were in card form, however, and Windows wouldn't make installations an easy affair. Remember IRQ conflicts? No? Consider yourself lucky. I still have nightmares.

Over the years, USB has improved dramatically, with the latest connection, Type-C, solving the biggest issue -- a reversible connector. Not to mention, the newest specification, USB 3.1 generation 2, is insanely fast. In other words, life is good for consumers wanting external devices. Today, however, The USB 3.0 Promoter Group announces that things will be getting even better. Why? USB 3.2 is on the way.

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Enterprises are under constant attack from increasingly sophisticated cyber adversaries, but they are struggling to recruit people with cyber security skills.

Automation is the answer that many are turning to and cyber defense specialist DarkLight is launching its latest software which has AI that is trained to think and act like a human analyst.

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Finding what you're looking for on eBay can be tricky. You need to find the right words to home in on exactly what you mean, and there's no guarantee that the seller will use quite the same wording. Far better, you might think, to be able to search using a photo of the item you want.

eBay agrees. With Image Search, users can take or upload a photo from their camera roll to search for matching items. The second new tool, Find It On eBay, can share images from the web -- including social media -- to eBay and use them to conduct searches. eBay says both features are facilitated by artificial intelligence and machine learning.

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