Apple Is Reportedly Cracking Down on App Sideloading on M1 Macs

Earlier this week, 9to5Mac spotted some iOS and macOS beta code that suggested Apple would prevent users from being able to sideload unsupported apps onto the new M1 Macs. Today, 9to5Mac reported that it’s now no longer possible to sideload apps that aren’t available in the Mac App Store even if they’re available on iOS. Read more about Apple Is Reportedly Cracking Down on App Sideloading on M1 Macs[…]

Firefox to block Backspace key from working as “Back” button

Mozilla developers plan to remove support for using the Backspace key as a Back button inside Firefox.The change is currently active in the Firefox Nightly version and is expected to go live in Firefox 86, scheduled to be released next month, in late February 2021.ZDNet RecommendsThe best free video streaming servicesThe best free video streaming Read more about Firefox to block Backspace key from working as “Back” button[…]

Buggy chkdsk in Windows update that caused boot failures and damaged file systems has been fixed

A Windows 10 update rolled out by Microsoft contained a buggy version of chkdsk that damaged the file system on some PCs and made Windows fail to boot. The updates that included the fault are KB4586853 and KB4592438. Microsoft’s notes on these updates now incorporate a warning: “A small number of devices that have installed Read more about Buggy chkdsk in Windows update that caused boot failures and damaged file systems has been fixed[…]

MATRIC – control your PC from phone using button templates

KEYBOARD EMULATION Low level keyboard emulation, works in most apps and games KEYBOARD MACROS Record multiple keyboard actions into precisely timed macros STREAM DECK MATRIC supports OBS Studio from simple scene switching to full blown studio mode mix console DECK EDITOR Create your own decks by using intuitive drag&drop editor PHOTO CAPTURE Snap a photo Read more about MATRIC – control your PC from phone using button templates[…]

X.Org is now pretty much an ex-org: Maintainer declares the open-source windowing system largely abandoned

Red Hat’s Adam Jackson, project owner for the X.Org graphical and windowing system still widely used on Linux, said the project has been abandoned “to the extent that that means using it to actually control the display, and not just keep X apps running.” Jackson’s post confirms suspicions raised a week ago by Intel engineer Read more about X.Org is now pretty much an ex-org: Maintainer declares the open-source windowing system largely abandoned[…]

Ring glitch results in global ding dong ditch: Doorbells keep going off with no one pushing them.

Amazon-owned smart home appliance maker Ring has won the world record for biggest game of “ding dong ditch” after a software glitch broadcast erroneous doorbell chimes to countless users yesterday. The global game of Ring and run (as it’s known in the US) coincided with software issues that prevented owners from viewing archived footage or Read more about Ring glitch results in global ding dong ditch: Doorbells keep going off with no one pushing them.[…]

Microsoft Exchange Online goes down – again

Microsoft’s Exchange Online service fell over in the early hours of this morning.The company’s status orifice initially figured that the problem mainly affected users in India as its engineers noted the wobbling at around 0700 BST. Just under an hour later Microsoft had to admit it was another global outage.It is the latest in what Read more about Microsoft Exchange Online goes down – again[…]

Microsoft Outlook, Office 365, Teams, and other services suffer ~6 hour outage

Some Microsoft services, including Outlook, Office 365, and Microsoft Teams, experienced a multi-hour outage on Monday, but the issues have been resolved, according to the company. “We’ve confirmed that the residual issue has been addressed and the incident has been resolved,” Microsoft tweeted at 12AM ET on Tuesday. “Any users still experiencing impact should be Read more about Microsoft Outlook, Office 365, Teams, and other services suffer ~6 hour outage[…]

A New Version of Microsoft Office Without a Subscription Launches in 2021

Subscriptions may be ideal for certain services such as Netflix, with its constant flow of new content, but for a suite of tools like Microsoft Office? Paying every month doesn’t suit everyone, especially if all they want is access to the word processor and spreadsheet. Thankfully, a new perpetual license edition of the suite arrives Read more about A New Version of Microsoft Office Without a Subscription Launches in 2021[…]

It’s Not Just You, a Ton of Google Services Just Went Down between 2100 – 2230

If you’ve been experiencing issues trying to access Google or YouTube, you’re not alone. Around 9 p.m. ET on Thursday evening, tons of users worldwide reported problems with Google and the many services under the tech giant’s umbrella, including Google Drive, Gmail, Stadia, the Play Store, and even Nest. Some, such as Gmail, were taking Read more about It’s Not Just You, a Ton of Google Services Just Went Down between 2100 – 2230[…]

Microservices guru says think serverless, not Kubernetes: You don’t want to manage ‘a towering edifice of stuff’

Sam Newman, a consultant and author specialising in microservices, told a virtual crowd at dev conference GOTOpia Europe that serverless, not Kubernetes, is the best abstraction for deploying software. Newman is an advocate for cloud. “We are so much in love with the idea of owning our own stuff,” he told attendees. “We end up Read more about Microservices guru says think serverless, not Kubernetes: You don’t want to manage ‘a towering edifice of stuff’[…]

No, Kubernetes doesn’t make applications portable, say analysts. Good luck avoiding lock-in, too

Do not make application portability your primary driver for adopting Kubernetes, say Gartner analysts Marco Meinardi, Richard Watson and Alan Waite, because while the tool theoretically improves portability in practice it also locks you in while potentially denying you access to the best bits of the cloud. The three advance that theory in a recent Read more about No, Kubernetes doesn’t make applications portable, say analysts. Good luck avoiding lock-in, too[…]

Academic Study Says Open Source Has Peaked: But Why?

Open source runs the world. That’s for supercomputers, where Linux powers all of the top 500 machines in the world, for smartphones, where Android has a global market share of around 75%, and for everything in between, as Wired points out: When you stream the latest Netflix show, you fire up servers on Amazon Web Read more about Academic Study Says Open Source Has Peaked: But Why?[…]

Putting the d’oh! in Adobe: ‘Years of photos’ permanently wiped from iPhones, iPads by bad Lightroom app update

Adobe is offering its condolences to customers after an update to its Lightroom photo manager permanently deleted troves of snaps on people’s iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches. First reported by PetaPixel, the data annihilation was triggered after punters this week fetched version 5.4 of the iOS software. Netizens complained that, following the release and installation Read more about Putting the d’oh! in Adobe: ‘Years of photos’ permanently wiped from iPhones, iPads by bad Lightroom app update[…]

GitHub starts week with 4 whole hours of downtime

GitHub marked the start of the week with more than four hours of downtime, as GitHub Issues, Actions, Pages, Packages and API requests all reported “degraded performance.” A problem on the world’s most popular code repository and developer collaboration site was first reported around 05:00 UK time (04:00 UTC) this morning and was resolved at Read more about GitHub starts week with 4 whole hours of downtime[…]

Lenovo certifies all desktop and mobile workstations for Linux – and will even upstream driver updates

Lenovo has decided to certify all of its workstations for Linux. “Our entire portfolio of ThinkStation and ThinkPad P Series workstations will now be certified via both Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu LTS – a long-term, enterprise-stability variant of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution,” said a Tuesday statement from GM and executive director of Read more about Lenovo certifies all desktop and mobile workstations for Linux – and will even upstream driver updates[…]

Software Development Environments Move to the Cloud

If you’re a newly hired software engineer, setting up your development environment can be tedious. If you’re lucky, your company will have a documented, step-by-step process to follow. But this still doesn’t guarantee you’ll be up and running in no time. When you’re tasked with updating your environment, you’ll go through the same time-consuming process. Read more about Software Development Environments Move to the Cloud[…]

Linux not Windows: Why Munich is shifting back from Microsoft to open source – again

In a notable U-turn for the city, newly elected politicians in Munich have decided that its administration needs to use open-source software, instead of proprietary products like Microsoft Office. “Where it is technologically and financially possible, the city will put emphasis on open standards and free open-source licensed software,” a new coalition agreement negotiated between Read more about Linux not Windows: Why Munich is shifting back from Microsoft to open source – again[…]

Command and Conquer Tiberium Dawn and Red Alert Source code Released by EA

Today we are proud to announce that alongside the launch of the Remastered Collection, Electronic Arts will be releasing the TiberianDawn.dll and RedAlert.dll and their corresponding source code under the GPL version 3.0 license. This is a key moment for Electronic Arts, the C&C community, and the gaming industry, as we believe this will be Read more about Command and Conquer Tiberium Dawn and Red Alert Source code Released by EA[…]

Oil Crash Busted Broker’s Computers and Inflicted Big Losses

Syed Shah usually buys and sells stocks and currencies through his Interactive Brokers account, but he couldn’t resist trying his hand at some oil trading on April 20, the day prices plunged below zero for the first time ever. The day trader, working from his house in a Toronto suburb, figured he couldn’t lose as Read more about Oil Crash Busted Broker’s Computers and Inflicted Big Losses[…]

Nervous, Adobe? It took 16 years, but open-source vector graphics editor Inkscape v1.0 now works properly on macOS

Open-source, cross-platform vector drawing package Inkscape has reached its version 1.0 milestone after many years of development. Inkscape can be seen as an alternative to commercial products such as Adobe Illustrator or Serif Affinity Designer – though unlike Inkscape, neither of those run on Linux. The native format of Inkscape is SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), Read more about Nervous, Adobe? It took 16 years, but open-source vector graphics editor Inkscape v1.0 now works properly on macOS[…]

Google Lens can now copy and paste handwritten notes to your computer

Google has added a very useful feature to Google Lens, its multipurpose object recognition tool. You can now copy and paste handwritten notes from your phone to your computer with Lens, though it only works if your handwriting is neat enough. In order to use the new feature, you need to have the latest version Read more about Google Lens can now copy and paste handwritten notes to your computer[…]

PSA: New Character Bug in Messages Causing iOS Devices to Crash [Updated]

There appears to be a new character-linked bug in Messages, Mail, and other apps that can cause the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch to crash when receiving a specific string of characters. Image from Twitter In this particular case, the character string involves the Italian flag emoji along with characters in the Sindhi language, Read more about PSA: New Character Bug in Messages Causing iOS Devices to Crash [Updated][…]