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The inventor of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has launched a new initiative with the bold aim of transforming the web for the better, avoiding what he sees as the very real risk of it becoming a "digital dystopia".

The Contract for the Web is the work of 80 organizations and sets out a number of key principles that will help to bring global internet access while simultaneously fighting problems such as fake news, privacy invasion and political manipulation. In all, there are just nine principles underpinning the vision; three for governments, three for companies, and three for citizens.

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I am not one to judge people. However, the whole "Brony" thing does bewilder me. If you aren't familiar, "Bronies," as they are called, are adult males that enjoy watching the TV show My Little Pony -- a cartoon designed for children. They even play with pony action figures and attend conventions where they dress up like ponies. Sadly, some of these Brony people even sexualize the cartoon ponies. It's a really disturbing community.

And so, today, I was a bit dismayed by a Tweet from the official Ubuntu Linux Twitter account. You see, on that social network, the operating system seems to be promoting Brony culture by suggesting users install a cartoon pony-related package called "ponysay."

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If you're looking to install either Windows 10 1903 or Windows 10 1909 (the May 2019 and the November 2019 updates) and you're a user of Avast or AVG Antivirus, you may well find that Microsoft prevents you from updating.

The company has identified a compatibility issue with the antivirus software and is therefore blocking the updates. Microsoft is also advising users not to try to sidestep the block by manually installing the update.

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When you download Windows 10 November 2019 Update (Windows 10 version 1909), you might be somewhat surprised at just how small it is.

At a ridiculous 180KB (yes, you did read that correctly) this is a tiny size for a feature update -- but it doesn't signal the way things are going to be moving forward. So how on earth did Microsoft manage to make this update so small? What's going on?

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There's a lot to be said for enhancing account security with two-factor authentication (2FA) but Twitter has long-insisted that this be done by handing over your phone number -- not something everyone is happy with.

But now the company has announced a change of heart. With immediate effect, Twitter says "you can Starting today, you can enroll in 2FA without a phone number". The move comes after Jack Dorsey's account was hijacked and used to send racist tweets, and just two months after Twitter revealed that 2FA data had 'inadvertently been used for advertising purposes'.

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If you were hoping to get your hands (or ears) on a pair of Microsoft's Surface Earbuds for Christmas, you're going to have to wait a little longer.

Originally pencilled in to launch before the end of the year, Microsoft's $249, AirPod-baiting wireless earphones have been delayed. The worldwide launch is now destined for spring 2020 according to a tweet by Panos Panay.

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OnePlus has issued a security notice to customers that have used its online store, informing them that their order information has been accessed by an unnamed third party in a security breach.

The company is giving away very little in the way of details about the incident. It is not clear when the data breach happened, who may be responsible, or how many customers are affected. OnePlus says that information such as names, phone numbers, email addresses and shipping addresses have been exposed.

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Companies are now readily investing in digital transformation to completely digitize their internal operations and get ahead of the competition. But most companies end up focusing too much on the number of applications they are integrating and too little on how those applications are actually helping their employees.

When departments use different applications that don’t integrate well, it can lead to data stagnation and isolation which will threaten your digital transformation initiatives.

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Now that the Windows 10 November 2019 Update is done and dusted, Microsoft is hard at work putting the finishing touches to the 20H1 release, due out next year.

The software giant rolled out another Insider flight earlier in the week, Build 19028, and today -- in time for the weekend -- it treats us to a second new build.

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Ah, Black Friday -- the day after Thanksgiving where people run to the store to score great deals on various items. Technology enthusiasts in particular love this day, as you can save a lot of money on computers, tablets, smartphones, and more. Over the years, however, Black Friday has begun starting earlier and lasting longer -- it no longer lasts just a single day. Hell, you don't even need to leave the house anymore -- many retailers put the same deals online.

Case in point, starting today, Microsoft is launching some of its Black Friday deals -- an entire week in advance! This includes both online and physical Microsoft Store locations. Not all of sales start today, however -- the company is staggering the dates a bit. And yes, this sale includes many of the the products you love, such as Xbox, Surface, and other Windows 10 devices.

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Earlier in the week, Team Kodi rolled out an update for Kodi 18 Leia, and also a major new version of the upcoming Kodi 19 Matrix, which included a switch to Python3.

At the time, the developers warned that the addition of Python3 was a "breaking change" for the popular home theater software, and would stop lots of add-ons from working.

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Ethical human hackers supported by machine learning and artificial intelligence are 73 percent more efficient at identifying and evaluating cyber risks and threats according to a new report.

The study from crowdsourced security platform Synack also finds this combination of cybersecurity talent and AI results in 20 times more effective attack surface coverage than traditional methods.

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While I am a big fan of watching films, I absolutely detest doing so at the cinema these days. Look, if I decide to dedicate my valuable time to watching a movie, I demand absolute silence and no distractions so I can experience proper immersion. Nowadays, people don't respect the movie-going experience -- they are on their smartphones, talking, and eating smelly food. Humans are disgusting and it can be an absolute nightmare. Worst of all, it is a very expensive affair -- I feel like a sucker spending a fortune only to be miserable in the theater.

But OK, some folks still love going to the the movie theater. If that's you, I have some pretty cool news. Starting today, you can now purchase movie tickets with Google Assistant on Chrome. That is an undeniably cool thing, but sadly, it is Android-only for now. Apple iPhone users cannot join this party.

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Many demands have been made of Twitter: longer tweets, tweet editing and an end to trolling and abuse. The company has implemented a number of changes, but the most recent is the ability to schedule tweets.

Until now, this is something that has only been available to people using Twitter clients such as TweetDeck, but finally -- for some people, at least -- it is an option that's available via the Twitter website.

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When major cybersecurity incidents make the headlines it's easy to assume that defenders are fighting a losing battle, but in fact a new report from threat intelligence company DomainTools shows that in breaches are down and confidence in security programs is up.

More than 500 cybersecurity professionals were surveyed and the results show 30 percent of respondents gave their program an 'A' grade this year, doubling over two years from 15 percent in 2017. Less than four percent reported a 'D' or 'F'.

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