Microsoft releases Office 2024, the latest buy-once-own-forever version of Office

Microsoft’s push to get Windows and Office users to buy Microsoft 365 subscriptions can be irritating, but to the company’s credit, it’s one of the few that has continued to sell buy-once, use-forever versions of its flagship software after launching a subscription model. This week the company has officially launched Microsoft Office 2024, a new “locked-in-time” update to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other apps for people who don’t want the…

October 2, 2024
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Crook made millions by breaking into execs’ Office365 inboxes, feds say

October 1, 2024

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Federal prosecutors have charged a man for an alleged “hack-to-trade” scheme that earned him millions of dollars by breaking into the Office365 accounts of executives at publicly traded companies and obtaining quarterly financial reports before they were released publicly. The action, taken by the office of the US Attorney for the district of New Jersey, accuses UK national Robert B. Westbrook of earning roughly $3.75 million…

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OpenAI unveils easy voice assistant creation at 2024 developer event

October 1, 2024

Enlarge (credit: Benj Edwards) On Monday, OpenAI kicked off its annual DevDay event in San Francisco, unveiling four major API updates for developers that integrate the company’s AI models into their products. Unlike last year’s single-location event featuring a keynote by CEO Sam Altman, DevDay 2024 is more than just one day, adopting a global approach with additional events planned for London on October 30 and Singapore on November 21….

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Windows 11 24H2, the biggest update in two years, starts rolling out today

October 1, 2024

Enlarge (credit: Microsoft) Microsoft will begin rolling this year’s annual Windows 11 update out to consumers starting today, the company announced at a Windows- and Copilot-centric event today. The Windows 11 2024 Update, also known as Windows 11 24H2, will roll out in phases, starting with Windows 11 PCs running versions 22H2 or 23H2 that have opted in to getting new feature updates faster. New features in 24H2 include an…

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Systems used by courts and governments across the US riddled with vulnerabilities

September 30, 2024

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Public records systems that courts and governments rely on to manage voter registrations and legal filings have been riddled with vulnerabilities that made it possible for attackers to falsify registration databases and add, delete, or modify official documents. Over the past year, software developer turned security researcher Jason Parker has found and reported dozens of critical vulnerabilities in no fewer than 19 commercial platforms used by…

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Verizon customers face mass-scale outage across the US

September 30, 2024

Enlarge / A Downdetector map showing where Verizon outages are reported. (credit: Downdetector) Wireless customers of Verizon and AT&T have found that they cannot make calls, send or receive text messages, or download any mobile data. As of this article’s publication, it appears the problem has yet to be resolved. Users took to social media throughout the morning to complain that their phones were showing “SOS” mode, which allows emergency…

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Apple backs out of backing OpenAI, report claims

September 30, 2024

Enlarge / The Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. (credit: Anadolu Agency | Getty) A few weeks back, it was reported that Apple was exploring investing in OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT, the GPT model, and other popular generative AI products. Now, a new report from The Wall Street Journal claims that Apple has abandoned those plans. The article simply says Apple “fell out of the talks to join…

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Report: Apple changes film strategy, will rarely do wide theatrical releases

September 27, 2024

Enlarge / A still from Wolfs, an Apple-produced film starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt. (credit: Apple) For the past few years, Apple has been making big-budget movies meant to compete with the best traditional Hollywood studios have to offer, and it has been releasing them in theaters to drive ticket sales and awards buzz. Much of that is about to change, according to a report from Bloomberg. The article…

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iFixit’s iPhone 16 teardown finds a greatly improved battery removal process

iFixit’s iPhone 16 and 16 Plus teardown. iFixit has published teardown views for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, along with their larger cousins, the Plus and Pro Max. The videos are really marketing for iFixit’s various repair kits and other tools and products that you can buy—and sometimes these videos now have lengthy plugs for some new product or another—but nonetheless, the videos almost always include interesting insights…

September 27, 2024
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Google and Meta update their AI models amid the rise of “AlphaChip”

September 27, 2024

Enlarge / There’s been a lot of AI news this week, and covering it sometimes feels like running through a hall full of danging CRTs, just like this Getty Images illustration. (credit: Grandfailure via Getty Images) It’s been a wildly busy week in AI news thanks to OpenAI, including a controversial blog post from CEO Sam Altman, the wide rollout of Advanced Voice Mode, 5GW data center rumors, major staff…

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