You probably know Sling TV, one of the darlings for "cord cutters", and you certainly know Xbox, a favorite of gamers. The latter is also great for media with countless apps and HDMI pass-through. Microsoft hopes that is enough to make you remain on its platform and never change systems.

In conjunction with Microsoft, Sling is today introducing two big new updates -- a new interface on Xbox One, and Sling TV pre-loaded on Windows 10.

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In the latest Insider build of Windows 10 Creators Update, there has been an interesting change to the way updates are handled. Build 15058 of Microsoft's operating system now handles updates over metered connections differently -- and it could mean that you incur charges.

If you pay for your internet bandwidth by the gigabyte (that is, you use a metered connection), you may well be concerned about Windows automatically installing updates and costing you money. In previous builds of Windows 10 it was possible to block automatic updates on a metered connection so you were placed in full control of when the downloads took place. Now this has changed.

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ColourGrab is an easy-to-use color picker which enables speedy capture of any color on your screen, and reuse of its hex or RGB value elsewhere.

The program adds an icon to your system tray and can be activated with a click, or you can start grabbing immediately by pressing Alt+C (customizable).

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A common complaint against the censorship of vulgarity on the web to protect children is that organizations are doing the work of parents. In other words, parents should instead be monitoring the activities of minors -- not the government or other organizations. Yeah, that is a fair point, but easier said than done. Nowadays, children are often more tech savvy than their guardians, making it a tough affair. Not to mention, many modern parents are overworked and tired -- they simply do not have the tools to stay on top of it.

Today, Google launches early access to a new app which helps parents to track and manage their child's Android usage. Called "Family Link," it is designed to be easy to use, while not ruining the experience for the minor user. Unfortunately, there is one big catch -- it requires Android 7.0. This is a problem, as most Android devices are running older versions of the mobile operating system.

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Three months into 2017 and we continue to encounter stories and predictions about how artificial intelligence (AI) will fundamentally change a variety of industries on an almost day-to-day basis. While it’s receiving significant attention, the challenge is explaining what this type of technology could do to improve certain functions and jobs. Implementing systems to make dynamic and complex decisions as a way to displace humans is way off from mainstream adoption and the lack of articulating that concept effectively is typical of any hype cycle.

As we continue into the year, we will start to see the hype wear off and broader adoption of AI-based solutions within organizations, particularly in data analysis and deriving insight from that data. Let’s look at the trends we can expect over the coming months.

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The US Justice Department is charging two Russian spies and two hackers with orchestrating the attack against Yahoo in 2014 that saw 500 million accounts being compromised as part of an effort to collect intelligence.

The Justice Department says that Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin "and other known and unknown" FSB intelligence officers hired hackers Alexsey Beland and Karim Baratov to hack Yahoo accounts belonging to Russian journalists, officials, and employees of a "prominent" security company, as well as US officials and employees of tech companies.

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Even though Apple released the first iOS device with a 64-bit processor three and a half years ago, there are still nearly 200,000 titles in the App Store that have not been optimized for those iPhones and iPads. And that will soon turn into a major problem for developers and users alike.

Starting with the next version of iOS, Apple plans to drop support for apps that are not updated to support 64-bit iPhones and iPads, a move which is expected to affect roughly 187,000 titles based on a Sensor Tower report.

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Women make up only 11 percent of the cyber security workforce according to the latest report from the Center for Cyber Safety and Education -- formerly the (ISC)² Foundation -- and the Executive Women's Forum (EWF).

The survey of more than 19,000 participants around the world finds that women have higher levels of education than men, with 51 percent holding a master’s degree or higher, compared to 45 percent of men.

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DevOps has become enormously popular as a means of speeding up tech projects, but a new study reveals the challenges that organizations face in adopting it.

The survey from sandbox specialist Quali finds the top barriers to DevOps success include the respondent's company culture (14 percent), challenges of testing automation (13 percent), legacy systems (12 percent), application complexity (11 percent), and budget constraints (11 percent).

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The issue of ad blocking once again resurfaced at the 2017 Mobile World Congress. Leading network provider, O2 announced that it is looking to give users the ability to block ads if they feel "plagued by advertising." This follows on from similar threats at the 2016 MWC from Three Mobile -- another leading network provider in the UK. Although there have been no legislative changes or work regarding ad blocking, the debate is very much in the headlines and in the public domain.

Ad blocking uptake has slowed, but brands should not be resting on their laurels just yet. According to statistics from Campaign magazine, during 2017, 41.1 percent of millennials will use ad-blockers, versus 26.9 percent of Generation X and 13.9 percent of baby boomers. The increase in mobile phone usage will force marketers to think more carefully about exactly how they will reach these people, so that users do not feel interrupted, specifically during mobile gaming. Consumers are so used to advertising on television and radio, but mobile is a very different medium. Ultimately, advertisers need to be less invasive and more creative in their approach to reach their target audience.

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Sleeper cell accounts which appear normal and hide among normal users, waiting for long periods of time to age the account before striking, are the latest technique being used by cyber attackers.

These accounts are often used for testing or carrying out the attack in stages, according to fraud and financial crime detection service DataVisor.

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While this might be surprising to millennials, not everyone grows up with computers. It wasn't until I was in high school that my family was able to afford a PC. While I learned quickly, I was already many years behind my more well-off peers. Nowadays computers are much less expensive, enabling more folks to own them, but there are still many people around the globe, in places like Africa, that can't afford one. This means they will fall behind the rest of the world on essential skills, such as using the web.

Google was not satisfied with this, however, so it set out to teach more people how to use the web. Last year, the search giant set a goal of training one million African people to use it. Today, the company announces that it has finally met the goal!

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No, we're not talking about the James Bond of the cephalopod world getting his tentacles on your security. Secret Double Octopus is an intriguingly named Israeli company that’s launching a new authenticator app for enterprises.

Authentication systems have traditionally relied on a single layer of protection, such as SMS, tokens, push notifications and biometrics. Secret Double Octopus uses a multi-shield authentication process for users to verify or reject a login attempt, payment or transaction.

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When WikiLeaks' Vault 7 revelations about the spying capabilities and techniques were unleashed, there was concern about a number of popular apps and services that -- the documents suggested -- had been compromised. Included in this list are popular, secure chat apps WhatsApp and Telegram, and Check Point software has just released details of a vulnerability that left millions of user accounts exposed to hackers.

Google was recently criticized for releasing details of a security hole in Windows (and, subsequently another one in Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge) before Microsoft had patched it. In fact, it was a third party who jumped to the rescue, issuing patches before Microsoft. This time around, however, after notification of the problems from security firm Check Point, WhatsApp and Telegram both patched the security holes within a week.

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The Windows 10 Creators Update is set to arrive next month, and Microsoft is rolling out new builds to Windows Insiders at a rate of two a week at the moment. Build 15058 was released yesterday, and Microsoft intends to push out a second update by the end of the week.

As with all big new updates to Windows 10, you won’t simply be able to get it on the day of release. The rollout will be staggered, and that might mean you waiting days or even weeks to get your hands on the Creators Update. But there is a way to be first in line.

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