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If you skipped Windows 8, here’s some new stuff you get with Windows 10

It’s a shame that Windows 8’s interface was so divisive. The UI dominated the conversation around the OS to the extent that its other, subtler changes got buried. People who stuck with Windows 7 never saw these updates at all. Windows 10, as we’ve covered, is Microsoft’s effort to repackage Windows 8’s improvements in a way that will be more appealing to Windows 7 loyalists. As if to drive that point home, Microsoft is giving current Windows 7 users a whole year after launch to hop on the Windows 10 train at no charge . Microsoft has made a bunch of changes to Windows in the last two years that have nothing to do with the new user interface. This list doesn’t have anything new on it, but if you’re still running Windows 7 and you decide to upgrade to Windows 10, it’ll be new to you, and you’ll get to use it all without having to figure out how to live life without a Start menu. (If you’re interested in seeing some of the UI stuff that you’ll be sidestepping, ZDNet’s Ed Bott recently published this piece about Windows 8 features that got cut from Windows 10). Read 27 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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If you skipped Windows 8, here’s some new stuff you get with Windows 10

Verizon will speed up San Francisco data by installing ‘small cells’

Some carriers use “small cells” to boost their coverage, because these relatively tiny transmitters are 1.) a lot cheaper, and 2.) more inconspicuous than their traditional counterparts. Verizon is one of those carriers — in fact, it’s planning to install 400 small cells in certain high-traffic areas in San Francisco starting this second quarter. These devices (designed by Ericsson) will be integrated into street lamps and will generally blend into the surroundings within SF’s Financial District, SOMA, Market Street and North Beach neighborhoods. The cells do have a limitation, though: each one can only cover an area that has a 250 to 500-foot radius. That’s why for this particular rollout, Verizon plans to lay down the structure for a dense network made up of numerous small cells covering some parts of the city only. Verizon’s VP of entertainment and tech policy, Eric Reed, told GigaOm that San Francisco is a great place to prove the technology works: “Verizon’s customers, ” he said, “scarf down mobile data there like few other places in the country.” The company is expecting its LTE network speeds in those locations to be around three times faster once the installation is done by the end of 2015. According to Recode , Big Red wants all 400 units up and running before the year ends in preparation for Super Bowl 50 in February 2016, which might bring as many as a million visitors to the city. Not on Verizon? If you’re on AT&T, don’t worry — by then, Ma Bell could also be done installing over 40, 000 small cells across the United States to beef up its own coverage. [Image credit: Jon Fingas/Flickr ] Filed under: Cellphones , Wireless , Mobile , Verizon Comments Via: GigaOm

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Verizon will speed up San Francisco data by installing ‘small cells’

Ten Lies T-Mobile Told Me About My Data Plan

reifman (786887) writes “Last June, my post “Yes, You Can Spend $750 in International Data Roaming in One Minute on AT&T” was slashdotted and this led to T-Mobile CEO John Legere tweeting ‘how crappy @ATT is’ and welcoming me to the fold. Unfortunately, now it’s TMobile that’s having trouble tracking data; it seems to be related to the rollout of their new DataStash promotion. Just like AT&T, they’re blaming the customer. Here are the ten lies T-Mobile told me about my data usage today.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Ten Lies T-Mobile Told Me About My Data Plan

Save yourself from your OEM’s bad decisions with a clean install of Windows 8.1

Crapware is a fact of life for Windows PC buyers. Most of the time, it’s relatively harmless: limited anti-virus subscriptions you don’t want, WildTangent games, and demoware you don’t need, and Microsoft Office demos you can’t use without spending more money. Sometimes, as we’ve seen with today’s “Superfish” news , it can be actively harmful, putting users’ security at risk. With some effort, this unwanted and unsafe software can usually be uninstalled. If you have an affected Lenovo PC, we’ve outlined the multi-step process for removing the software and the root certificate here . If you want to be sure that everything is completely removed (and if you’re willing to do the work), the more comprehensive solution is to completely reinstall Windows yourself. It’s not for everyone, but there are benefits to doing it this way—you get a totally clean PC that you’re in full control over. Read 38 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Save yourself from your OEM’s bad decisions with a clean install of Windows 8.1

Windows Defender now removes Superfish malware… if you’re lucky

First the good news. Microsoft today released a signature update for Windows Defender, the anti-malware software that’s built in to Windows, to enable it to both detect and remove the Superfish malware that Lenovo installed on some systems . Defender’s removal process seems to be quite robust, both uninstalling the software and removing the dangerous certificate that Superfish installs. However, it doesn’t appear to clean any contaminated installs of Firefox or Thunderbird; for that, you’ll want to check out our manual removal instructions . Uh oh… 2 more images in gallery Now the bad news. While Windows Defender is supplied as part of Windows and works well enough, Microsoft gave it some rather strange behavior as a concession to third-party anti-malware vendors . If a third-party anti-malware product is installed, Windows Defender will automatically disable itself. Many Lenovo systems include trial versions of anti-malware software; during the duration of these trials, Windows Defender will be inactive. Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Windows Defender now removes Superfish malware… if you’re lucky

NVIDIA To Re-Enable GeForce 900M Overclocking

jones_supa writes: One week after NVIDIA disabled overclocking on their GeForce 900M mobility lineup, a representative of the company has reported that NVIDIA will be bringing back the disabled feature for their overclocking enthusiasts on the mobility front. On the GeForce Forums, he writes, “We heard from many of you that you would like this feature enabled again. So, we will again be enabling overclocking in our upcoming driver release next month for those affected notebooks. If you are eager to regain this capability right away, you can also revert back to 344.75.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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NVIDIA To Re-Enable GeForce 900M Overclocking

TrueCrypt Audit Back On Track After Silence and Uncertainty

itwbennett writes: In October 2013 Cryptography professor Matthew Green and security researcher Kenneth White launched a project to perform a professional security audit of TrueCrypt, partly prompted by the leaks from Edward Snowden that suggested the NSA was engaged in efforts to undermine encryption. Their report, published in April 2014, covered the first phase of the audit. Phase two was supposed to involve a formal review of the program’s encryption functions, with the goal of uncovering any potential errors in the cryptographic implementations—but then the unexpected happened. In May 2014, the developers of TrueCrypt, who had remained anonymous over the years for privacy reasons, abruptly announced that they were discontinuing the project and advised users to switch to alternatives. Now, almost a year later, the project is back on track. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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TrueCrypt Audit Back On Track After Silence and Uncertainty

23andMe gets FDA approval, but only to test rare Bloom syndrome

For over a year now, 23andMe has been effectively banned from offering its US customers health-related genetic tests. The company is still selling its personal DNA kits, but the information it can provide is limited to ancestry-related reports and raw genetic data. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was behind the original clampdown in 2013, but this week it’s given the company its blessing for a new test. With the fresh approval, 23andMe can now offer to look for signs of Bloom syndrome , a rare disorder which is characterized by short stature, sun-sensitive skin and increased cancer risk. While this is a specific test, rather than the broader health reports it offered before, 23andMe calls it an “important first step” to offering detailed genetic advice in the US once more. Filed under: Misc Comments Source: 23andMe

800,000 people get bad tax info in latest Healthcare.gov snafu

Healthcare.gov just can’t catch a break — it’s been targeted by hackers and shared personal information with marketing companies in the past six months, and now it’s trying to clean up a mess for the nearly 800, 000 people it just sent incorrect tax information to. The Obama administration confirmed the issue earlier this morning, and officials promised on the Healthcare.gov blog to contact affected households via phone call and email over the next few days. Needless to say, don’t file your taxes yet if you signed up for health insurance using the site this past year. Better safe than sorry, right? Alas, the news came too late save some 50, 000 people who already filed their returns — they’ll be given instructions on how to re-file soon enough. This all might come as welcome news to people who didn’t want to sit down with a copy of TurboTax for an hour, but it could wind up being a crushing blow to affected people who really needed that tax refund soon. Officials told The New York Times they weren’t exactly sure how the glitch happened (expect an investigation to follow shortly), but 80 percent of the folks who used Healthcare.gov to sign up for insurance were in the clear as far as the IRS is concerned. Updated tax forms are expected to hit people’s mailboxes in early March, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled. Comments Via: New York Times Source: Healthcare.gov Blog

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800,000 people get bad tax info in latest Healthcare.gov snafu

Apple Hires Include Car Interior, Transmission, New Vehicle And Auto Safety Engineers

Apple’s car ambitions may go well beyond simply developing tech that benefits from automotive advances to serve its existing offerings. A new breakdown by 9to5Mac of the employees amassed under Apple’s automotive lead Steve Zadesky includes a list of talents that go well beyond skill sets which would be useful in building a better version of the dashboard infotainment software… Read More

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Apple Hires Include Car Interior, Transmission, New Vehicle And Auto Safety Engineers

Ken May

Author: kenmay