Posts

There are 400 wind farms in Ireland that generate over 35% of electricity in the country. This is a major clean energy commitment and there are challenges involved in generating electricity from windmills. Distribution companies contend with fluctuations in wind intensity throughout the day, which means power production varies considerably. In other words, there is sometimes more power generated than other times. With natural gas resources, it is easier to maintain what is known as the spinning reserve....

If you are unfamiliar with GitHub Desktop, it is a version of the platform that works on PCs that are offline. Leading the new feature on GitHub Desktop 3.0 is an ability that allows users to review the status of their pull requests. Developers can use this tool to decide which code is production-ready. In a blog post to introduce the new platform version, GitHub describes the feature in the following way: “Just click on the badge with the pull request number, and start diving into the checks, jobs, and steps to better understand and fix whatever problem you might run into....

In a blog post, the company says enterprise customers have frequently asked how they know if their Windows devices are mitigating Meltdown and Spectre. Microsoft explains there are challenges posed by the vulnerability. “These hardware-based security vulnerabilities are a new challenge for all of us. Customers’ devices require both updates to CPU microcode (firmware) and the Windows operating system, and anti-virus software must be compatible with the latest Windows updates....

Check Point Research had previously shown a vulnerability in RDP could give bad actors the means to connect to the client. By exploiting one of the newly discovered flaws, an attacker can branch out from the RDP and control an entire local network. In its research, Check Point found 16 major vulnerability from 25 security issues. These flaws were observed in the open source FreeRDP client and rdesktop. More worryingly, some vulnerabilities were also found in Microsoft’s own RDP technology....

This also completes Microsoft’s vision for Defender which has gone back several years. Through the transition from Windows Defender to Microsoft Defender, the company has been targeting the suite as a cross-platform service. Windows Defender became Microsoft Defender with the launch of Windows 10 20H1. Microsoft originally made the name change when Defender first became available on Apple’s Mac. It made little sense calling it Windows on Apple’s platform. The new Microsoft Defender is for individual users (Microsoft Defender for Endpoint remains the enterprise version) who subscribe to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family....

The news comes the same week Microsoft received criticism for working with the Chinese military on Facial Rec technology. So, why does Microsoft allow its software to be used by one organization and not another? Speaking at Stanford University this week, Brad Smith said Microsoft is worried police will use the tech for inaccurate profiling. He says evidence suggests facial recognition tech used by police leads to more women and minorities being stopped....

Included in the information is all the sessions attendees at Build 2019 can attend. However, it is worth noting this is still not the full complete schedule. We know that just by doing some comparisons with previous years. So far for Build 2019, Microsoft has announced a schedule including 123 sessions. For last year’s conference, the company held 434 sessions. Needless to say, we think more are to come. This is typically how Microsoft schedules the event....

To accompany the remix of Warren Hue’s latest track, Microsoft has created a web portal. At TooManyTears.AI, users can listen to the never-ending remix while seeing images from San Gabriel Valley. Microsoft says the AI knows what time of day it is an adapts with different moods depending on morning or night. Because it never ends, the company points out the AI aims for “longer, more contemplative loops of music....

Microsoft’s softly-softly approach with Edge is frustrating for some. Certainly, it has prevented the browser from competing more directly with Google Chrome. Still, through each Windows update, Microsoft Edge is improving. Extensions were a big deal back in 2016. Simple third-party (and Microsoft-owned) integrations into Edge help add significant functionality to the browser. From the company’s own Skype to AdBlock Plus, Edge extensions have expanded in the two years following....

It is worth noting today’s cut-ff affects Windows 10 Home and Pro SKUs of version 1809. Also this week, Microsoft is rolling out the last cumulative update for the build as part of November 2020 Patch Tuesday. As the version reaches two years old, that’s all Microsoft will support for Home and Pro users. Those running Enterprise or Education variants of Windows 10 have longer support of 30 months. In other words, those machines will be supported until May 2021....

With the new update, Bing Maps imagery covers Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport, Niagara Falls, Ontario and other locations. In a blog post today, Microsoft discussed some of the more important new additions: Peterborough, Ontario – Nicknamed “The Electric City”, Peterborough was the first town to use electric streetlights in Canada. Located in Central Ontario and harkening back to its technologically pioneering history, Peterborough is also home to operations of several large multinational companies and local technology businesses....

Today Microsoft has explained the scenario and how to fix any issues caused by it. Speaking on Twitter, Insider head Dona Sarkar said: “#WindowsInsiders, thank you for your patience as wen debugged our #flight problem today and reached a resolution.” She clarified further in a blog post, giving details about the fault. “This happened because an inadvertent deployment to the engineering system that controls which builds/which rings to push out to insiders,” she said....

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced Office 2019 is now available for all customers. The latest iteration of the productivity suite comes with Fluent Design. Microsoft has now published a blog to help users understand how the design language weaves into Office. “For the first time in history, five generations share the workplace — this remarkable reality makes improvements like these more important than ever,” Jon Friedman, Head of Microsoft Office design, explains in a blog post....

In fact, make that late spring with a May launch the most likely. We previously reported Windows 10 20H1 was likely to be finalized in December. That was probably the case, although Microsoft is only announcing it now. It does seem as though the current Windows 10 Preview Build 19041 is the final Build candidate of the branch. That said, don’t be surprised to see Microsoft refine the build in the months between now and the launch of version 2004....

As the name suggests, this update is available globally and provides new content related to the United States. The good news for Microsoft Flight Simulator users is World Update II: USA is completely free. Specifically, the relevant update is 1.11.6.0 World Update II: U.S. and it comes with a bunch of changes. The package includes 48 brand new points of interest with full graphical detail, alongside some new airports. Microsoft has also thrown in the usual performance upgrades and bug fixes....

With the Microsoft FOSS Fund, engineers within the company have a way to be part of the nomination and selection process for open source projects. When a project is selected by an employee, Microsoft will provide $10,000 in sponsorship funding. “While Microsoft and its many teams sponsor everything from open source conferences to contributing to foundations like the Open Source Initiative (OSI) and industry groups such as the Linux Foundation, we hope that the FOSS Fund can help to connect to a new set of projects that we may not have thought to fund in the past, providing real value to communities and projects that help power Microsoft products, services, and our customers,” Microsoft says....

Specifically, users can decide if Microsoft can access audio recordings. It’s worth noting this is for all voice-enabled Microsoft services, not just Cortana. Microsoft uses recordings made by its apps to improve its speech recognition algorithms. In terms of Cortana, this would mean only interactions that the user makes. In other words, Cortana listening behind the scenes on Windows 10 would not be used. Previously, users had little control over what information Microsoft could access....

As this Office 2016 build comes with some of the most sought after new features, it is extensive. For example, Microsoft has made collaborations more seamless with the ability to chat with co-authors. When a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document is being worked on, collaborators can now chat with each other to make editing more efficient. Version 1708 also brings with it new ink effects for the core Office apps (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)....

For example, Files On-Demand has been oft requested by users for some time. Microsoft announced the feature back at Build 2017. After a long wait and much testing, the feature will be moving to general availability on October 17. Yes, this is the date the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. Files On-Demand will debut alongside the new Windows build. Files On-Demand is a service that lets users work with Office 365 files across OneDrive and SharePoint....

An issue with the Microsoft Store meant users would see the error 0x800B0100 whenever an app download was initiated. This required a blanket update of the majority of Microsoft’s applications. Palani Sundaramurthy, Principal Program Manager Lead on Developer & Partner Service explains: “We are sorry about this failure and are actively working on mitigating it.. We have tracked this issue to our submission workflow incorrectly signing certain apps. [We need] to re-process the impacted apps in order to alleviate the problem....