It's finally here! Download Kodi 21 'Omega' now
It’s been a long time coming, but Kodi 21 ‘Omega’ is here, and ready for prime time. The latest incarnation of the hugely popular home theater software comes with a number of big new features and improvements.
The Kodi Foundation says there have been over 3,750 commits made since Kodi 20 'Nexus' was released to a waiting world on January 15, 2023.
Get 'Robust Python' (worth $47.99) for FREE
Does it seem like your Python projects are getting bigger and bigger?
Are you feeling the pain as your codebase expands and gets tougher to debug and maintain? Python is an easy language to learn and use, but that also means systems can quickly grow beyond comprehension. Thankfully, Python has features to help developers overcome maintainability woes.
Wah! Google cries over EU’s Digital Markets Act
Over the years, I have seen many tech companies go through various regulatory hurdles. With that said, I can’t help but raise an eyebrow at Google’s recent complaints regarding the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The act, designed to promote competition in the digital market, has seemingly ruffled some feathers at the tech giant.
Adam Cohen, Google’s Director of Economic Policy, has taken to the company’s blog to air grievances about the DMA’s impact on their services. In a bid to comply with the new regulations, Google has had to strip down some of its useful search features, particularly those related to flights, hotels, and local businesses. Cohen argues that this move benefits only a select few online travel aggregators while disadvantaging a broader range of businesses, from airlines to small firms, who now find it harder to directly reach customers.
Almost a quarter of consumers consider cybersecurity when choosing a bank
What factors do you take into account when choosing a bank? How good the interest they offer on your savings is perhaps? Whether there's a convenient branch nearby? How easy the website is to navigate? A new study shows that 23 percent of US and UK consumers say that a bank's approach to cybersecurity is a factor when they consider opening an account.
The research from CybSafe finds that 85 percent of customers feel it important that their bank offers training about staying safe online and avoiding scams to those who want it, with 42 percent of respondents stating that such measures are 'very important'.
Get 'Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, 13th Edition' (worth $94) for FREE
In the newly revised 13th Edition of Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling, project management pioneer, leader, and educator Dr. Harold Kerzner delivers a comprehensive and intuitive approach to project management.
Widely known as the bestselling "bible" of project management, this book aligns with the concepts and standards outlined in PMI’s latest A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK Guide) and contains the detailed coverage of tools and methods used at all stages of a project.
Best Windows apps this week
Five-hundred-and-eighty-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 and 11 on the Microsoft Store and elsewhere in the past seven days.
Windows 10 customers may extend support by up to three years after the operating system reaches end of support in October 2025. While Microsoft has yet to announce pricing for consumers, it announced that organizations will have to pay $61 in the first year for a regular extension. The price doubles each year, reaching an incredible $427 for the three year period.
Microsoft releases PowerToys v0.80.0 with new Winget-powered Desired State Configuration feature
It is time for a new PowerToys release, and with version 0.80.0 Microsoft has a lot in store. Across the suite there are loads of changes and fixes, but there is also what everyone hopes for with a PowerToys update -- new features.
One of the highlights this time around is the arrival of Desired State Configuration support. This is a feature that makes it possible to configure PowerToys using a Winget configuration file. Other new additions include new file type support in the Peek module, and a significant update to the popular FancyZones.
Disney+ is following the lead of Netflix and starting to fight back against password sharing
Disney CEO and Elon Musk nemesis Bob Iger has said that the company is ready to start clamping down on Disney+ subscribers from sharing their passwords to give other people free access to their account.
Netflix has already taken steps in this direction, and now Disney has revealed that it is going to start tackling the matter in earnest this summer. Speaking on CNBC, Iger indicated that measures to prevent password-sharing would begin In a handful of countries and markets in June before applying to all subscribers in September.
Will the conversational web see the end of tech giants' app stores? [Q&A]
The rise of generative AI platforms like ChatGPT has brought us a step closer to a 'conversational web' where it's possible to find information and access services without needing an app.
This could potentially mean the end of app stores from the likes of Apple and Google and disrupt the whole app ecosystem.
Microsoft is working on a RAM slider for Edge to help control memory usage
Microsoft Edge is based on the Chromium engine these days, and while the browser tends to follow in the footsteps of Chrome, there are occasions when it leads the way. The latest example of this can be seen in the most recent Canary build of Edge where Microsoft has been spotted testing a RAM slider.
Aimed primarily at gamers, the feature will give users control over how much memory the browser is able to use. Two questions immediately spring to mind -- when will this ship, and how long before Chrome follows suit?
Microsoft is arrogantly giving Copilot greater prominence than your notifications in Windows 11
Microsoft is ramming Copilot further down the throats of Windows 11 users in the latest push of its AI-driven assistant.
The company is so eager for people to take notice of Copilot, that the company has elevated the tool so it is more prominent than important notifications. The change is seen in Windows 11 build 26100 as well as Windows 11 version 23H2 where the gesture previously used to access notifications now calls up Copilot instead.
Companies turn to communities to bolster in-house test automation
Under increasing pressure to release new digital services, apps, and features faster, many companies are resorting to automating their entire quality assurance process. While this approach is by no means new, not many companies can claim that their test automation keeps pace with the rate of development of new features. This is because software testing by nature is reactive. Despite development methodologies like test-driven development (TDD), testing still hinges on the readiness of products and components. This has made the life of automation engineers quite difficult. Often pressed for time, components are often only ready towards the end of the sprint.
In-house engineers have become so overwhelmed that organizations are turning to a community-based model to access qualified test automation engineers. Fully qualified professionals can quickly supplement the work of in-house teams to ensure that releases stay on track. It is a way of ensuring quality is assured at speed that the market demands.
Five ways AI can boost your data backups
In the event of a data emergency -- say, a cyber attack or a natural disaster shutting down a data center -- no organization wants to worry about whether they have secure, up-to-date backups, and whether they can be easily recovered.
But without the help of artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML), fewer organizations are able to protect their backups against attacks, meet the necessary backup workload, or meet the defined service level agreements (SLAs) for the availability of information, applications, and infrastructures (or do so quickly and recover efficiently).
Through green IT, businesses can do their part
Whether at an individual level or enterprise scale, we now know that it’s important for us all to make an effort when it comes to protecting our planet. When we think of effective sustainability measures, we likely think of practices like recycling, reducing plastic consumption, and minimizing food waste.
One potentially overlooked area for sustainability improvements is the world of technology -- which, as we know, continues to expand and advance at a breathtaking rate. In the United States alone, data centers are responsible for 0.3 percent of our planet’s carbon dioxide emissions, a bigger carbon footprint than some countries. While there do exist programs for responsible recycling of technology materials like old laptops and dead batteries, there are still far too many of these items taking up valuable space in landfills.
Get 'Python 3 Using ChatGPT/GPT-4' (worth $54.99) for FREE
Ever wanted to learn Python using ChatGPT/GPT-4? The process is easier than you might think.
This book is intended primarily for people who want to learn both Python 3 and how to use ChatGPT with Python. It covers an introduction to fundamental aspects of Python programming, including various data types, number formatting, Unicode handling, and text manipulation techniques, loops, conditional logic, and reserved words in Python.
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