Microsoft’s new Windows 10 operating system is here, as the longtime leader in PC software hopes that giving the upgrade away for free will help it carve out a new role in a world where people increasingly rely on smartphones, tablets and information stored online.
The company is counting on tens or even hundreds of millions of people to download its latest release in the coming months. Many people will also get Windows 10 as part of new PCs. The launch will be accompanied by a global marketing campaign for an event the company hopes will be pivotal — both for its own future and for a vast audience of computer users around the world. Continue reading Microsoft Windows 10: 5 things to know.→
LONDON: Your fears are not completely unfounded: mobile phones can actually cause cancer, says a study.
A metabolic imbalance caused by radiation from your wireless devices could be the link to a number of health risks, such as various neurodegenerative diseases and cancer, the study suggested.
This imbalance, also known as oxidative stress, is defined as “an imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant defence” by the authors.
Windows 10 comes with new features that make it an attractive upgrade. Whether you’re looking to try the new Start experience or if you just want to talk to your new assistant, Cortana, there are a few things you should do before you upgrade.To ensure that your system can handle Windows 10, you should check the Windows 10 Upgrade Advisor. When you get a notification in your taskbar to reserve your free copy of Windows 10, you can click the hamburger menu on the top left, navigate to Check Your PC and run the Advisor to ensure that your hardware and software will work with the latest version of Windows.Microsoft will run a check, and you’ll get feedback on whether your installed software or hardware is compatible with Windows 10. Once you know how upgrade-ready your system is, here are a few things to do before you actually take the Windows 10 plunge:
Microsoft has been banging the Windows 10 patch drum almost daily as it prepares for Wednesday’s launch.
In the last seven days, Microsoft has pushed four security updates to build 10240, the final served to members of Windows Insider before the July 29 release. Insider is the beta program Microsoft’s run since October 2014 for the new OS.
Luciano Floridi issued a challenge to scientists to the world in 2005: prove that robots can display the human trait of self-awareness through a knowledge game called the “wise man” test. It was a venture he didn’t ever see being achieved in the foreseeable future.
A decade later, the Oxford professor’s seemingly unattainable challenge has been met.
Microsoft has pushed out a few more updates to Windows 10 as it rushes to prep its new OS for launch next Wednesday.
On Thursday, Gabe Aul, the engineering general manager for Microsoft’s operating systems group, tweeted: “Another update now available on Windows Update for Windows 10 PC build 10240.” Build 10240 is the latest and final build for Windows 10 before the official launch. As such, Microsoft has been focused on pushing out updates for that build to ensure that it’s as solid as possible.
The two updates released late Thursday include a security update with the Microsoft Knowledge Base number of KB3074679 and a new driver for Intel HD graphics. The security update description says little other than the generic: “A security issue that been identified in a Microsoft product that could affect your system.” The one for Intel HD graphics updates the driver for PCs with Intel’s integrated graphics processor. I also caught an update for Windows Defender, Microsoft’s built-in antimalware software, which is updated on a regular basis with new definition files. Continue reading Microsoft rolls out more Windows 10 updates as July 29 launch looms.→
Bloke rigged systems so he knew which numbers would come next.
Iowa state lottery’s IT security boss hacked his employer’s computer system, and rigged the lottery so he could buy a winning ticket in a subsequent draw.
On Tuesday, at the Polk County Courthouse in Des Moines, Iowa, the disgraced director of information security was found guilty of fraud.
Eddie Tipton, 52, installed a hidden rootkit on a computer system run by the Multi-State Lottery Association so he could secretly alter the lottery’s random number generator, the court heard. This allowed him to calculate the numbers that would be drawn in the state’s Hot Lotto games, and therefore buy a winning ticket beforehand.
Tech companies including Google, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Facebook are backing Samsung Electronics as it appeals a court ruling to pay Apple almost $1 billion in damages in a patent infringement suit.
Samsung has already persuaded the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to whittle the bill down to $548 million, but in June asked it to cut another $399 million. Apple, however, is not giving up, and on Monday filed a 24-page document asking the court to deny Samsung’s request.
Meanwhile, though, Google and others had filed a friend of the court brief arguing that upholding the ruling “will have significant detrimental consequences for the continued development of useful modern technologies.” The brief, filed July 1, was discovered by InsideSources on Monday. Continue reading Big tech companies back Samsung in Apple patent fight.→
I’ve now been using Windows 10 for a month, and though it’s still just an early version with lots of rough edges, I’m convinced that it’s going to be a solid desktop operating system for the world’s billion-odd mouse-and-keyboard users — when they finally decide to upgrade from Windows 7 or XP, anyway. It has been slowly dawning on me, however, that Windows 10 is a lost cause; even in a best-case scenario where Microsoft delivers the finest desktop OS to ever grace humankind, there’s no getting around the found that Windows 10 is an attempt to revivify a slowly dying beast. While there’s always a chance that Windows 10 triggers some kind of renaissance, it’s far more likely that it will be squished into ignominious oblivion by the stumbling, apathetic, and commoditized beast that the desktop PC has become. Continue reading Windows 10 is great – but it won’t stop the PC from dying and taking Microsoft with it.→
NEW YORK: The more time you spend on your phone, the more likely you are suffering from depression, says a study.
According to researchers, depression can be detected from your smartphone sensor data by tracking the number of minutes you use the phone and your daily geographical locations.
The team from Northwestern University found that the average daily usage for depressed individuals was about 68 minutes.
