Windows key on keyboard

Microsoft releases KB5001391 for Windows 10 20H2 and 21H1

Anyone testing out the very latest versions of Windows 10 has a new bug-fixing patch to install. With the release of the KB5001391 update, fixes and changes introduced to the Dev channel now make their way to the Beta and Release Preview channels.

This latest patch sees Microsoft taking Windows 10 20H2 up to build 19042.962 and Windows 10 21H1 up to build 19043.962. It includes a large number of bug fixes, and addresses problems with a profile-related Group Policy, and fixes an issue that caused soaring memory usage by the lsass.exe process, as well as high CPU usage that led to system lockups.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
luxeg

Google's Fitbit Luxe is a stylish fitness tracker

Alphabet own Google. Google owns Fitbit. And Fitbit largely owns... well... the fitness tracker market. Look, Apple Watch might be wildly popular, but for the average consumer, the name "Fitbit" is synonymous with wearables. I have witnessed many people referring to fitness trackers made by other brands as "Fitbit." This behavior is much like consumers calling all adhesive bandages "Band-Aid."

Fitbit's success isn't a mystery. Besides its catchy brand name, the devices are easy to use and are heavily focused on fitness. In other words, Fitbit devices aren't overly complicated. This has lead to their adoption by people that aren't necessarily gadget enthusiasts. Oh, and they have excellent battery life too -- they don't need daily charging like Apple Watch.

By Brian Fagioli -
XD80_45D_1024

Silicon Power launches XPOWER XD80 PCIe Gen3x4 SSD

Solid state storage is constantly getting faster. The truth, however, is while PCIe Gen 4 SSDs are now available, they are total overkill for most consumers. Heck, most people would be more than fine with a meager SATA drive. With that said, the previous-generation PCIe Gen 3 SSDs are now very inexpensive (and quite speedy) making them a smart purchase whether you truly need the extra speed or not -- as long as your computer is compatible.

Today, Silicon Power launches its latest NVMe M.2 solid state drive for both desktops and laptops. Called "XPOWER XD80," this PCIe Gen 3 SSD has fairly modest specifications in the grand scheme of things, but it is definitely more than fast enough for the majority of consumers.

By Brian Fagioli -

How FinTech and digital currency unfolds global technology disruption

The term FinTech has been coined quite recently. However, this does not change the fact that Finance and technology have always been intertwined. Way back in 1866 the first transatlantic cable was laid, which then became the backbone for the globalization of finance. Next in 1918, the first electronic transfer of money was conducted using Morse code technology. In the 1950s, credit cards, another digital payment medium, was launched by American Express and Diners Club. This event can officially be called FinTech 1.0.

The actual beginning of modern FinTech effectively dates back to 1967 when the first ATM machine was used by Barclays in 1967 and the period was called FinTech 2.0. Owing to the development of technologies in communication and transaction, the world saw its first digital stock market, which marked the beginning of online financial markets. The advances didn’t stop there.

By Peter Davidson -
DDG QR

Use DuckDuckGo to create a QR code for any website

If you care about your privacy on the web, and you’re worried about just what Google knows about you, then privacy-focused search site DuckDuckGo is a great alternative.

It offers lots of features that you may not be aware of, including the ability to quickly generate a QR code for any website.

By Wayne Williams -
Egypt

Google now offers virtual tours of many UNESCO World Heritage sites

I’ve been lucky enough to travel extensively and see a large chunk of the world, although thanks to COVID-19 and lockdowns, I haven’t been anywhere in quite a while and have seriously itchy feet.

Back when overseas travel was easy to do, I visited quite a few UNESCO World Heritage sites, but the world is a huge place and there are still plenty more I would love to go to (I will finally tick Machu Picchu off the list one day).

By Wayne Williams -
Artificial intelligence

Businesses keen to adopt AI despite challenges

The popularity of enterprise AI continues to grow but practices and maturity are stagnant as organizations run into challenges implementing AI within their organizations.

The annual AI Adoption in the Enterprise survey from learning platform O'Reilly finds a lack of skilled people and difficulty hiring topped the list of challenges to adopting AI, cited by 19 percent of respondents. This compares to last year when 22 percent named company culture as the major barrier.

By Ian Barker -
remote working, telecommuting

Adapting enterprise IT to the new normal [Q&A]

The past year has created an unprecedented shift, with businesses scrabbling to implement technologies to allow large numbers of staff to work remotely.

It seems likely that as we emerge from the pandemic a large proportion of this shift will become permanent. So, what can companies do to adapt their IT to this 'new normal' and ensure access to essential systems while maintaining security and compliance standards?

By Ian Barker -
WordPress

FLoC off! WordPress proposes treating Google's new targeted ad tech as a security concern

Google's Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) technology has raised the hackles of many, and the latest to express concern at the new user tracking and ad targeting technique is WordPress.

The blogging platform joins the likes of DuckDuckGo in standing up to Google, suggesting it could block Google's new technology on the sites it powers. With WordPress catering for around two-fifths of the web, the proposal could have a huge impact on what Google has planned. Fighting FLoC, WordPress says it "can help combat racism, sexism, anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination and discrimination against those with mental illness with four lines of code".

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Microsoft building in California

Microsoft fixes Windows 10's drive corrupting NTFS denial of service vulnerability

In the middle of January, we reported about a vulnerability in Windows 10 that could be used to corrupt the contents of an NTFS formatted drive. A specially crafted folder name was all that was needed to cause a volume to be marked as dirty, and then require a fix with the Chkdsk utility.

But Chkdsk did not always do the trick, leaving victims with unbootable systems. A couple of months ago, Microsoft started testing a fix with Windows Insiders and now the patch is being made available to everyone. It addresses the problems which was being tracked as CVE-2021-28312 (Windows NTFS Denial of Service Vulnerability).

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Windows 10 logo on a beach

Windows 10's KB5001330 update is causing problems with shared folders and DNS resolution

It is only a few days since Microsoft released the KB5001330 and KB5001337 updates for Windows 10 which kills off the legacy version of Edge. Having wondered aloud what problems might be caused by the latest batch of updates, we didn't have to wait long for the first issues to rear their heads.

But problems with gaming performance, boot loops and screen flicker are not, it would seem, the end of the story. Users are also reporting problems with DNS resolution and issues with shared folder following the installation of the KB5001330 update.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
PP_SSD250N

Transcend SSD250N is a 2.5-inch SATA solid state drive designed specifically for NAS

If you need to store a lot of... legally obtained media files... such as films and TV shows (piracy is bad, mmkay?), a network attached storage device, or "NAS," is a great way to do so -- especially if it has a built-in Plex server. This is what I use in my home -- some hard drives set up in RAID filled with media that my family enjoys streaming through Plex on Apple TV. For the most part, this works well. There are only two problems -- the hard drives are rather slow and loud. The latter is a major issue, as the NAS is stored in my living room and hearing the drives spin up can be annoying.

I can obviously replace the hard disk drives with solid state drives, although it would mean a decrease in overall capacity. Still, it would be nice to have faster transfer speeds and less noise -- the cooling fan would still whir a bit though. SSDs are not typically ideal for constant reading and writing, however, but a new such drive from Transcend apparently is. Called "SSD250N," it is a 2.5-inch SSD designed specifically for NAS usage. The focus of this drive is reliability and longevity.

By Brian Fagioli -
PowerToys

Microsoft releases experimental PowerToys v0.36.0 with eagerly awaited new utility

While there have been new PowerToys builds released over the last few months, it has been a while since a new tool was added. Now, with the launch of PowerToys Experimental v0.36.0, this changes.

The latest release of the much-loved Windows 10 utility collection now features the Video Conference Mute tool, giving users the ability to quickly mute their microphone and turn off their camera with a keyboard shortcut.

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson -
Angled Facebook logo

Facebook tops the data loss roll of shame

Data breaches have almost become a fact of everyday life, but there are still some that have greater impact than others.

Software company Intact has carried out an analysis of publicly available data to see which companies have suffered the most large-scale data breaches (involving more than 30,000 records or more) over the last 16 years.

By Ian Barker -
nixow

Best Windows 10 apps this week

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

Microsoft removed Timeline's activity history sync feature in preview builds. Timeline is changed to a local activity history tool. The company removed the official Microsoft Translator application as well this week from the Microsoft Store.

By Martin Brinkmann -
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