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The United States had a record seven-day average of new cases, with more than 290,000 new infections reported daily, a Reuters tally showed.
According to the record, at least 18 states and Puerto Rico have set pandemic records for new cases. Maryland, Ohio and Washington, DC also saw record hospital admissions as U.COVID hospital admissions rose 27%.
The increase is due to an increase in vacation travel as New Years celebrations are yet to come and schools grapple with students returning to classrooms after the winter break.
"We will see the number of cases in this country rise so dramatically that it will be difficult for us to keep everyday life going," said Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert from the University of Minnesota, told MSNBC.
"Next month is going to be a viral blizzard," he said. "It is putting pressure on society as a whole. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease official, said Wednesday that cases are likely to increase by the end.
" He and other U.S. health officials said early data shows Omicron appears less severe, but they have continued to push for vaccines, masks, and physical distance.
Services, schools and retailers among others in the coming weeks. "We have to be very careful not to underestimate Omicron too much," said Dr. Peter Hoetz, an infectious disease expert at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN.
It is also worrying that healthcare workers are being marginalized with their own COVID cases as well as less effective therapies, said Hoetz.
"We are at a pretty serious time. As early as early 2020, 825,663 people in the United States have died of COVID, the data showed, with the latest wave of hospital admissions for the unvaccinated being driven.
" President Joe Biden announced new news this month. plans to tackle the Omicron-powered wave, including federal reinforcements to hospitals and more testing, but some experts say it's too little and too late.
So far, however, the economy appears to be stable, even if some economists are cautioned. While air traffic was largely disrupted and stores closed and events canceled in some troubled areas, other measures such as the Christmas sales were maintained.
The labor market is also holding up: the new applications for state unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in the pandemic era, the Ministry of Labor announced on Thursday. small businesses, he said he expected the first week of January to be slower than Omicron's forecast.
"The rest of January will likely depend on state and community health policies and epidemiological data," Greenberg told Reuters. Keys, especially for working parents, with systems in Washington and New York promising to stay open with further testing.
Education Minister Miguel Cardona admitted the problem was staffing but urged schools to take measures to keep the children in classrooms. Unlike last year's closings, “we now have better tools. They should stay open, ”he told MSNBC, adding that federal funding continues to be available to increase staffing levels and testing.
In the meantime, some universities have postponed their next semesters or have gone online. "We have light at the end of the tunnel," said Osterholm. “But now you have to duck.
Image Credit:SamsungSamsung has commenced teasing its subsequent flagship cellphone SoC — predicted to be known as the Exynos 2200 — in advance of a January eleventh statement with a tantalizing tidbit of information: the brand new chipset will function a GPU powered through AMD’s RDNA 2 pics architecture, higher regarded for powering the subsequent-gen pics at the Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, and AMD’s RX 6000-collection pics cards.
Of course, for the reason that the Exynos 2200 may be powering a cellphone, the brand new GPU won’t be magically allowing subsequent-gen pics on par with the maximum effective consoles and gaming PCs.
But it probable will allow a few upgrades in pics, along with something different improve Samsung has up its sleeve for its modern flagship chip.
#PlaytimeIsOver. The gaming marketplace is about to get serious. Stay tuned for the next #Exynos with the new GPU born from RDNA 2. January 11, 2022. pic.twitter.com/0H2MeVUbeS
— Samsung Exynos (@SamsungExynos) December 30, 2021
A successor to the 2021 Exynos 2100, the Exynos 2200 is expected to power some of Samsung's top performing phones in 2022, including the alleged Galaxy S22 and S22 Ultra. Limited to international models of their upcoming flagships, with the US variants presumably configured for the recently announced Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset from Qualcomm.
Fortunately, we don't have to wait long for more details on the Exynos 2200 (or whatever Samsung calls it) as the company promises an official debut on January 11th.
Google and Microsoft have turned to a new strategy which has seen both companies make big investments in other businesses in an effort to bolster their cloud market share and better compete with AWS.
After replacing Diane Greene as the CEO of Google Cloud back in 2019, Thomas Kurian hasn't been afraid to tap the company's $142bn cash reserves to attract more customers to the service. In fact, Google has made sizeable investments in the business security system provider ADT ($450m), the Spanish-language media company Univision, the healthtech startup Tempus Labs and the futures-exchange firm CME Group ($1bn).
These investments are part of Google Cloud's larger strategy to bring more customers to its platform and so far, they have already started to pay off with many companies making multiyear commitments to use its cloud services which are worth as much as $1bn or more according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.
However, Google isn't the only cloud computing provider trying to grow its market share through investments as Microsoft has taken stakes in several startups in deals that would see them use its cloud while Oracle's planned $28.3bn acquisition of the medical-records company Cerner has led to a significant boost in its own cloud business.
This new strategy of making strategic investments to bring businesses to its cloud seem to be working for Google as it now has six percent of the cloud market (up by one percent last year) though the company is still far behind Microsoft with a 20 percent share and the leader in the space, Amazon with a 41 percent market share.
In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, a Google Cloud spokesperson admitted that investments and partnerships in other businesses are one of the ways the company is trying to bring more customers to its cloud though it has attracted many on its capabilities alone.
Microsoft is employing a similar strategy and one of its biggest investments so far has been a stake in General Motors' driverless-car startup Cruise which will use Microsoft Azure to roll out its autonomous vehicle services. Not to be outdone, Google then took part in a $200m investment round for the startup Tempus which uses AI to improve patient care.
Even as both Google and Microsoft try to gain ground in the cloud wars, recent AWS outages have shown that more competition in the space can benefit businesses, governments and even consumers.
We've also featured the best cloud hosting, best dedicated server hosting and best bare metal hosting
Thousands of new domains are registered everyday so that businesses and individuals can build websites but new research from Palo Alto Networks has revealed that cybercriminals often register malicious domains years before they intend to actually use them.
The cybersecurity firm's Unit 42 first began its research into dormant malicious domains after it was revealed that the threat actors behind 2019's SolarWinds hack used them in their attack. To identify strategically aged domains and monitor their activity, Palo Alto Networks launched a cloud-based detector in September of 2021.
According to the findings of the firm's researchers, 22.3 percent of strategically aged domains pose some form of danger with a small portion being straight-out malicious (3.8%), a majority being suspicious (19%) and some being unsafe for work environments (2%).
The reason cybercriminals and other threat actors let a domain is age is to create a “clean record” so that their domain will be less likely to be blocked. Newly registered domains (NRDs) on the other hand are more likely to be malicious and for this reason, security systems often flag them as suspicious. However, according to Palo Alto Networks, strategically aged domains are three times more likely to be malicious than NRDs.
When a sudden spike in traffic is detected, it's often the case that a strategically aged domain is actually malicious. This is because normal websites typically see their traffic grow gradually from when they're created as more people visit a site after learning about it through word of mouth or advertising.
At the same time, domains that aren't intended for legitimate purposes often have incomplete, cloned or questionable content and usually lack WHOIS registrant details as well. Another sign that a domain was registered and intended to be used at a later time in malicious campaigns is DGA subdomain generation.
For those unfamiliar, DGA or domain generation algorithm is a method used to generate domain names and IP addresses that will serve as command and control (C2) communication points used to evade detection and block lists. Just by examining sites using DGA, Palo Alto Networks' cloud-based detector was able to identify two suspicious domains each day.
During its investigation, the cybersecurity firm discovered a Pegasus spying campaign that used two C2 domains registered in 2019 that finally became active two years later in July of 2021. Palo Alto Networks' researchers also found phishing campaigns that used DGA subdomains as well as wildcard DNS abuse.
We've also highlighted the best web hosting, best endpoint protection software and best malware removal software
Tesla issued recalls for 475,318 Model 3 and Model S all-electric vehicles on December 21 to address two separate safety-related issues.
While Tesla hasn't commented publicly, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) posted the recalls this week.
Tesla, which has an NHTSA 5-star overall safety rating from the NHTSA for the Model 3 and Model S, is recalling virtually all Model 3 cars made between 2017 and 2020 for a rearview camera issue. According to the NHTSA report, the rearview backup camera may not function properly because a cable harness connecting it can be damaged by opening and closing the trunk lid.
Model S owners face a more worrisome issue. According to the NHTSA report, the car's front hood may open unexpectedly. As electric vehicles, there's no motor under that hood, just trunk space. The good news is that there isn't just one latch to fail here. The report describes a situation where the hood would open unexpectedly when the primary latch is released only if the secondary latch is not engaged. This recall affects all Model S vehicles made between 2014 and 2021.
In both cases, Tesla will inspect, replace, and repair all the Model 3 and Model S vehicles free of charge.
There haven't been widespread reports of drivers with these issues but there are scattered reports on Reddit of trunks flying open and backup cameras failing.
It's unclear if Tesla has already contacted car owners electronically, but the company is expected to contact the owners of the 119,009 Model S and 356,309 Model 3 cars by mail on February 18, 2022. TechRadar has contacted Tesla for comment and will update this story with their response.
These aren't the first recalls for either model (each has six), and they may not be the last. According to Motortrend, tens of millions of cars are recalled each year. And while ignoring these repairs could result in serious safety issues, Teslas still have an excellent safety track record with the NHTSA.
The last few years have been awful. This means that the New Year’s resolutions we make to ourselves as we enter 2022 are more important than ever.
That’s why for my New Year’s resolution I’m not telling myself I’m going to lose weight or write a novel or eat less pizza (you’ll have to pry my pizza cutter from my cold, dead hands). Instead, I’m going to make a promise to myself that will do me a lot more good: play more PC games.
I’m not joking either. This will be my goal for 2022. And it’ll do me a lot more good than forcing a FitBit on my arm or wherever you’re supposed to stick them.
The most important reason for making this resolution is that since I was young, PC gaming has been a comfort. Sure, it’s often a complete pain in the wherever you stick a FitBit, such as when you try an install a game via the Xbox Windows 11 app on any other drive apart from C:, but throughout the years, it’s been wonderful escapism as well.
From the first PC games I played on my beloved Amiga A500+, to immersive graphically impressive titles I have sitting in my Steam library, PC gaming has allowed me to escape the sometimes stressful and upsetting real world. It’s let me set sail for mythical islands whispered about in pubs by wannabe pirates over mugs of grog, fly across the world in all manner of aircraft, and visit far-off planets. Most importantly, it’s allowed me to switch off. When I’m playing, I’m not thinking about work or bills or the end of the world; I’m not doomscrolling on my phone.
Instead, I’m liberating an island from a dictatorship, planning an elaborate assassination using an exploding rubber duck or building the theme park of my dreams. Sometimes all at once.
It’s an act of mindfulness and mental breathing space. For some reason, playing games is often dismissed as a childish hobby, but I’ve found it to be more effective for improving my mental health than more ‘grown up’ mindful techniques like meditating – and I’m sure I’m not the only one.
Something I’ve found during this past difficult year is how important it is to look after your mental health, so for 2022 that’s what I am going to prioritize.
1. Laptop or desktop?
If you want to get into PC gaming, you'll need to decide if you want a gaming laptop or gaming desktop PC. Gaming laptops are portable and powerful, while PCs offer more value for money - and can be upgraded.
2. Know the specs that matter
Sometimes specs can be a bit confusing when buying a gaming PC or laptop (and checking if games can play it), but you really just need to make sure it has a modern processor and decent graphics card (Nvidia's RTX 3000 series and AMD's Radeon 6000 series are the most recent).
3. Have fun!
The most important thing is having fun. With PC gaming you have access to an immense amount of games – as well as many community-made mods. These can improve and transform the games you play.
While I love playing games on my PC, I’ve found it harder than ever to make time to play them recently. This has been a shame, as it’s meant I’ve not been able to take the time out I’ve needed mentally, while also having – you know – some fun. Which is also important.
But, real life has an annoying habit of getting in the way. I’ve not had a chance to play as much as I’d like to – and that in itself has been stressing me out.
It means I have an RTX 3090-powered rig that’s not been used for much outside of opening up Word, while my Steam, Epic Games Store and other libraries continue to grow with an untouched backlog.
So, I have the hardware, and I have the games. But I don’t have the time. So, for 2022, I’m going to make the time. Carve out a little bit of the day every so often to escape, and chip away at that backlog.
Another important aspect of this New Year’s resolution is that it’s actually going to be achievable. For too many years, I’ve made resolutions that were too ambitious, so even if I did well, I’d inevitably fail and beat myself up about it. That’s not healthy.
With this one, it’s something I actually can do, and that’s going to once more help me feel positive. In the end, the New Year’s resolutions we make should help us, even in the smallest ways, not make us feel inadequate.
So, that’s why for 2022, I’m going to be playing a lot more PC games.
The cyber espionage group APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) Blackwell has been targeting Japanese companies with a new type of malware that researchers call "Flag pro". Second level malware and run it.
The chain of infection begins with a phishing e-mail that was developed for the target organization and pretends to be a message from a trusted partner.
The e-mail contains a password-protected ZIP or RAR attachment with a Microsoft Excel file [.XLSM] linked to a malicious macro. Running this code creates an executable file in the Flag pro home directory.
When it first runs, Flagpro connects to the C2 server over HTTP and sends the system identification details obtained by executing hard-coded operating system commands.
In response, the C2 can send additional commands or a second-level payload that Flag pro can execute.
An example of a sent command Source: NTT Security
Communication between the two is base64 encoded, and there is also a configurable delay between connections to avoid creating an identifiable operating model.
Communication between Flagpro and the C2 Source: NTT Security
Flagpro has been used against Japanese companies for more than a year, at the latest since October 2020, according to a report by NTT Security.
The most recent samples the researchers were able to obtain are from July 2021. The target companies are from a variety of industries, including defense, media and communications technology.
At some point in their analysis, NTT researchers noticed a new version of Flag pro that can automatically close relevant dialog boxes to make external connections that could reveal their presence to the victim.
"In the Flag pro v1.0 implementation, if a dialog box titled 'Windows ã‚» ゠ュ リ テ ã‚£' appears when Flagpro is accessing an external site, Flagpro will automatically click the OK button to close the dialog box" explains NTT Security report. “This handling also works if the dialog is written in Chinese or English indicates destinations are in Japan, Taiwan, and English-speaking countries.
Inserted code serving as obfuscation in Flagpro v2.0 Source: NTT Security
Blackwell APT is a lesser known player discovered by Trendier researchers in the summer of 2017 and has partnered with China. His typical targets are in Taiwan, although he has occasionally targeted companies in Japan and Hong Kong to steal technology.
In February 2021, a report from Unit 42 linked Blackwell to Waterbear Flag pro, another cyber espionage group believed to have the backing of the Chinese government like Apt, Black tech, Knowledge and Refinement to adapt their tools to new reports like this one, Flag pro is likely to be modified for more stealth use.
As the NTT report concludes, “Recently they (Blackwell) started using another new malware called Selfsame Loader and Spider RAT. “That means they are actively developing new malware. Defenders should be aware of the new indicators of exposure to new malware and follow all security best practices to maintain a strong defense against sophisticated threats like Blackwell.
Source: Bleeping Computer
Every Android phone owner knows the fun of customizing their desktops … but what about those countertops? At CES 2022, Samsung plans to unveil an expanded version of its Bespoke lineup of appliances, which let anyone customize the heck out of their kitchen experience, with a broad array of colors, finishes, and technologies to truly make that new range or fridge unique.
Announced on Wednesday was the first French-door fridge in the lineup, shockingly called the Bespoke French Door refrigerator (we were hoping for something fun like “Norma” or “Dizzy”). The fridge comes in three- and four-door models and a whopping 12 colors; for those trying to see beyond the white and stainless steel that dominate nearly every chef’s kitchen, Samsung is offering two finishes – glass and steel – amounting to thousands of color combinations. In glass, new colors include pink, charcoal, morning blue, clementine and sunrise yellow. In a steel finish, new colors include Tuscan, navy, emerald green, and more.
That’s right, you can buy a bright orange refrigerator, and trick it out with a snappy yellow panel for even more color. No word on whether Samsung’s design consultants will prevent you from combining two hues that simply don’t work together, but we assume hideous is your prerogative.
That said, most of the colors look simply gorgeous, and are designed to complement each other. Do your worst!
Beyond an astonishing array of colors, Samsung’s Artist Series includes custom designs as well. Just in time for the holidays, there’s a limited edition winter wonderland design, featuring art deco trees and a snow scene all in white, against a warm blue background.
There are a few nods to technology as well, including an upgraded camera within the Bespoke fridge to scan food labels for nutrition info and expiration dates, and an updated Family Hub external screen, which now will offer support for Alexa and Samsung’s TV Plus service. But bigger changes lie in store for Samsung’s SmartThings Hub technology, finally built into the company’s appliances. Mostly. It’s not a complete replacement for physical hubs, Samsung says. Yes, it’s a bit confusing.
Other Bespoke products in the line include the Bespoke Jet cordless vacuum, announced last year and freshly expanded for worldwide availability. New colors include midnight blue, misty white, and woody green. A funky docking system for the Bespoke Jet allows this model to empty itself of debris and begin charging itself as well. Yes, you’ll eventually have to empty something. Dust doesn’t just vanish into thin air, after all.
Bespoke extends to more than just appliances: At an otherwise quiet Galaxy Unpacked event in October, Samsung expanded the service to its phones, offering a colorful way to personalize the exterior of those devices as well.
Custom designs on unique appliances like these don’t come cheaply, of course. Samsung did not release pricing yet for the new lineup, but assume it won’t be cheap. But hey you’re worth it, right?
It can be hard to keep children entertained in the week between Christmas and New Year's. So, it's not surprising that a 10-year-old in the UK turned to Amazon's Alexa digital assistant for some fresh ideas after her family finished their list of fun physical challenges.
In this case, according to a report from the BBC, Alexa found her what's known as "the penny challenge," a viral stunt where people plug a phone charger partially into a wall outlet and then touch a penny to the exposed prongs. Alexa apparently described to the young girl just how the challenge works.
Instead of following Alexa's guidance, the child's mother, Kristin Livdahl, who overheard the suggestion, shouted a quick, "No!" and the crisis was averted. However, Livdahl told the BBC that her daughter was too smart to follow that advice, anyway.
They also alerted Amazon, which has already updated Alexa so this kind of bad idea doesn't issue from the system's digital lips again.
In a statement given to the BBC, Amazon said, "Customer trust is at the center of everything we do and Alexa is designed to provide accurate, relevant, and helpful information to customers. As soon as we became aware of this error, we took swift action to fix it."
It's worth noting here that Alexa, like Siri, and Google Assistant, is not a sentient being seeking to prank unsuspecting humans. For most search queries, like "Find me a challenge," it turns to a search engine - in this case, Microsoft's Bing - to find relevant results. Alexa will usually let you know this by saying, "This is what I found on the Web."
TechRadar checked in with Alexa on Tuesday, asking it in a number of different ways if it could provide us with a new challenge. Nothing remotely dangerous (or interesting, for that matter) came up.
When we checked TikTok, we did find a few instances of the aftermaths of the year-old "Penny Plug Challenge." All of them looked disastrous. One, however, was from a paramedic, explaining just what could happen if you tried it (he'd be pulling you from the burning wreckage of your home).
Ahead of CES 2022, images of a new widescreen laptop from Lenovo's ThinkBook Plus line have appeared online and it could be the perfect mobile workstation for content creators.
The PC maker has been experimenting with dual-screen laptops for some time now and previous ThinkBook Plus devices have featured E Ink displays built into their lids. Not only can these external displays be used for reading ebooks or text documents but they can also be used for taking notes as they feature stylus support.
Now though, Lenovo appears to be expanding its ThinkBook Plus line with a new model that includes a built-in graphics tablet right next to the laptop's keyboard. With this new device, graphic designers and digital artists will be able to work on content in Photoshop or other drawing software without having to lug around a separate graphics tablet.
Although an image of Lenovo's latest ThinkBook Plus laptop appeared online back in November, prolific gadget leaker Evan Blass has now shared four additional high-resolution images of the device on Twitter in the run-up to CES 2022.
These new images give us a better idea of the device's layout with the keyboard and touchpad on the left and the built-in graphics tablet on the right though they also show off its 17-inch widescreen display. The included graphics tablet features a touchscreen display with digital pen support so that users can write or draw on the screen.
The secondary display in Lenovo's upcoming ThinkBook Plus may also help boost the productivity of content creators as it can be used as an app launcher. This means that instead of opening the start menu or navigating to the taskbar to launch frequently used apps, users will be able to launch them directly from the second screen. However, it could also be used to show another full-screen app which means that users can have Microsoft Teams, Slack or another online collaboration tool open while working on the main display.
While we'll likely hear more about the full specs of this new ThinkBook Plus at CES 2022, from Blass' leaked photos it appears that the device will have an HDMI port as well as two USB-A and USB-C ports, a fingerprint sensor built-in to the power button and a webcam with a privacy shutter.
Looking to create content on the go? Check out our roundups of the best laptops for photographers and best laptops for graphic design
Via Liliputing
Windows 11 suffers from a bug which is causing colors to be rendered incorrectly – with the most common error cropping up being white showing as yellow – at least with some HDR monitors when running certain image editors.
As Tom’s Hardware spotted, this is something Microsoft is actively investigating, and the software giant has flagged it up in the support document which lists the current known issues with Windows 11.
Microsoft observes: “After installing Windows 11, some image editing programs might not render colors correctly on certain HDR displays. This is frequently observed with white colors, which could display in bright yellow or other colors.
“This issue occurs when certain color-rendering Win32 APIs return unexpected information or errors under specific conditions. Not all color profile management programs are affected, and color profile options available in the Windows 11 Settings page, including Microsoft Color Control Panel, are expected to function correctly.”
The color glitch affects those running Windows 11 version 21H2, and Microsoft says it is working on a fix right now, with the expected timeframe for delivery being late January.
The expected arrival date of late in January could mean we see this fix bundled in the cumulative update in preview (testing) for that month, which will see a full release come Patch Tuesday in February. So, if this bug is one which is plaguing you at times – and we imagine seeing white as ‘bright’ yellow (not even just a faint yellow) would be pretty jarring – at least you won’t have to suffer with this for much longer (assuming the cure arrives as planned and is successful, naturally).
While annoying, at least this particular bug is confined to a fairly limited subset of Windows 11 users in terms of it just affecting some image editors, and only with certain HDR monitors.
It’s a fairly niche problem, then, but more widespread Windows 11 bugs are an ongoing theme for Microsoft, and as we recently pointed out, it’s disappointing to see quite a lot of glitches popping up. Particularly ones which pertain to fundamental parts of the interface like File Explorer, as these contribute to the general impression of the new operating system being released before it was fully ready. Before it came out, we felt Windows 11 was a good opportunity to change the perception of Windows 10 being bug-ridden, but thus far, that hasn’t panned out.
While Square Enix originally had plans to debut new PS5 footage for Final Fantasy 16 by the end of 2021, it’s now looking at the middle of next year, instead.
According to the game’s producer, Naoki Yoshida, it’s all because Covid messed up the team’s communication and work practices.
"When we last spoke, I promised I would have more information on Final Fantasy XVI sometime later in 2021," Yoshida wrote on Twitter. "However, I regret to inform you that I will be unable to keep that promise, as complications from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic have delayed the game’s development by almost half a year."
Apparently, not having the team in one central location really took its toll on development, and is the root cause of the delay. "This has unfortunately hampered communication from the Tokyo office, which, in turn, has led to delays in - or in extreme cases, cancellations of - asset deliveries from our outsource partners," Yoshida said.
As of right now, there’s no hard release date for Final Fantasy 16, which makes sense considering how little we know about the game.
Fans have speculated that the game could be released in the middle of 2022 - somewhere around June of next year - but that now seems like a complete longshot.
That said, games in the main Final Fantasy series rarely come out that close together. Final Fantasy XV was released back in 2016, while its non-MMORPG predecessor - Final Fantasy XIII - was released way back in 2009.
With about seven years between each modern release, Final Fantasy 16 could be looking at 2023 or even 2024 as a new potential release window.
Getting a new PC is exciting and most of us want to dive right in and start using it to its fullest. It's important to stop for a moment and make sure you're starting things off right by doing a few things first before diving into gaming, browsing, or loading the system up with apps.
By getting your PC started off on the right foot, you'll be saving yourself a ton of headaches down the road. Best of all, it won't take very long at all to get yourself set up right.
We've broken down the most essential things you'll need to do on your new computer to make it easier than ever to start off 2022 with a secure and well-running system, whether it's a Windows PC, a iMac or MacBook, or a Chromebook.
Before you do anything else, invest in the best antivirus software you can.
You can never have 100% protection, but you can still get as close to that as possible, especially given the consequences of some particularly malicious code that can lock up all your files and demand a cryptocurrency payment to unlock them (assuming the bad guys even bother to do so after you've paid them off).
Both Windows and macOS come with some anti-malware protection, so right out of the box you will have some protection, but it's worth investing in a dedicated antivirus software suite that is regularly updated with new virus definitions as they are found by security researchers.
You're in even better shape if you've got a new Chromebook, since Chromebooks are some of the most secure devices by default that you can get. That shouldn't make you complacent though, and there are third-party antivirus solutions out there for Chromebooks that are worth investing in.
Finally, keep your antivirus software regularly updated. It's not going to help you if it's not updated against the latest threats out there in the digital wilderness.
Now that you have some security on your new computer installed, next thing to do is get its software up to date.
For Windows PCs
For Windows 10 users, click the Start button, then go to Settings (the small icon on the left that looks like a cogwheel/gear). From there select Update & Security, and then select Windows Update.
While not essential, it's a good idea to install optional updates in addition to required system ones, so select the "View optional updates" link. Here, if you see any driver updates, select them along with any other available options and click "Download and Install".
For Windows 11 systems, the process is basically the same. Click the Start button, and if the settings icon isn't shown in the Start window, click on the search bar and type Settings to bring it up. Once that's open, select Windows Update at the bottom of the list to the left.
In the update window, select Advanced options and from there scroll down to Optional updates. If there are any driver updates that need to be installed, check those off, along with any other optional updates available, then select Download & Install.
For Macs and MacBooks
For Macs, click the System Preferences icon on the bottom dock (should look like a set of gears), or select System Preferences from the Apple menu.
From there, select the Software Update icon. If there is an update available (there likely will be) select Update Now and follow the onscreen prompts.
You can also opt to automatically keep your Mac up to date, and opt to update App Store apps automatically.
For Chromebooks
For Chromebooks, click the time on the taskbar to bring up the Notification panel on the right side (you can also press Shift+Alt+N to bring it up as well).
Select the gear icon to access Settings. From there, select About Chrome OS on the bottom left.
In this window, click Check for Updates and Chrome OS will download and install any available updates.
Most new systems are going to come with software preinstalled that you don't want or need. Software that you don't use but takes up space and even key system resources, which is going to hurt your system's performance, so there's no reason to keep them around if you don't have to.
For Windows PCs
For Windows 10 or 11, press the Windows Key+I (as in the letter "i"), to bring up the Settings window. From there, select the Apps option, then Apps & features. You should now see a list of apps installed on the system.
There won't be any critical system apps on this list, so you shouldn't be worried about uninstalling anything that is going to brick your new computer, but if you are unsure it's always better to leave something installed that might disable some third-party software that you do want to keep but which might not obviously be obviously related.
Apps on the list will also tell you the company that made the app, so generally anything from Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Dolby, or other hardware-specific vendors is probably better left untouched,
For everything else you know you don't want on your computer, click the app on the list and it should give you the option to uninstall. Click uninstall and follow the prompts. That's it.
The next thing to do is manage what apps load on system startup.
For Windows 10, click the Startup option from the list on the left. Again, there won't be anything on this list that is essential to running the OS itself, so everything on here can be safely turned off.
For Windows 11, you'll need to click the back arrow at the top of the Apps & features window to get back to the Apps screen. From there, click on Startup at the bottom of the list. Otherwise, the process is the same as for Windows 10.
This will make the OS load much faster, but at the cost of longer load times when actually opening any of the apps on the list, like Adobe Photoshop or Spotify.
For Macs and MacBooks
For Macs, there likely won't be much that needs to be uninstalled since Macs don't really have a bloatware problem – at least not one that you can fix. To delete apps from a Mac, go into the Applications folder in the Finder. From there, Control+click an app icon and look for the menu option Move to Trash.
If you see it there, select it to move an app to the trash bin and empty the trash bin when you're finished to free up space. That's it. Macs won't let you uninstall system apps, so you don't have to worry about deleting anything important and they won't impact performance unless you actually run them.
To keep an app from running on login, after logging in, Control+click on the app's icon in the dock. From the menu, hover over Options and you'll see some options open in a menu and a checkmark next to Open on Login. Click that option to uncheck it, stopping that app from opening on login.
For Chromebooks
For Chromebooks, go into the Settings menu by clicking on the time in the right corner (or press Shift+Alt+N) and select the gear icon. From there, select the apps option on the left side. Click on Manage your apps to open an Apps list. Click on an app you don't want and you'll open a new window for that app.
If you can uninstall the app, you'll see the Uninstall button on the top right. Click that button and remove the app. If the uninstall option isn't there, then it's a system app that you can't uninstall, so you don't have to worry about uninstalling any important system programs.
To keep an app from opening by default on startup, click the More settings and permissions option on the app's page. It should bring you to a page where you can select to not have it open by default on startup unless it's a system app that the OS needs to start up (like the Chrome browser).
Speaking of cloud storage, it's great for a number of reasons. First, it allows you to access files from anywhere you have an internet connection (or on any device onto which you've downloaded the files).
Also, it provides a level of security for important documents and files in case a system failure makes files inaccessible on a local device.
There are a lot of cloud storage providers and many offer a good amount of storage for free, which should be more than enough for basic documents, photos, and personal videos.
If you decide to subscribe to a service, however, you can get yourself considerably more space, which can allow you to back up your entire system on the cloud, which is incredibly useful in the event that a system becomes so corrupted by malware or some other major system failure that a complete factory reset is required.
Windows systems automatically have OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage system, installed, so you only need to set it up with your Microsoft account. You have 5GB of storage for free, with paid tiers for more storage available.
Apple also has a cloud storage service called iCloud that automatically backs up photos, movies, and documents across all your Apple devices and gives you 5GB storage for free, with paid tiers available for more storage.
Chromebooks obviously have Google Drive automatically installed, and provide the most free storage available at 15GB. You can also purchase more storage from Google as well.
No matter which provider you go with though, make sure to put any important files or documents into some form of cloud storage to prevent them from being lost forever because of a drive failure or other calamity.
After setting up an antivirus program, updating your system, clearing out unwanted apps, and setting up cloud storage, the next step is setting up a plan for when things eventually go sideways with your system in non-virus related ways.
Sometimes something just becomes inoperable and you're not sure why. Maybe you accidentally deleted a necessary system file. Maybe you installed an update that doesn't play nice with your system and you'd like to go back to a time when things worked.
The best way to protect yourself against these and other minor system issues is to create periodic backups or restore points that can roll a system back to how things were at an earlier date.
Plus, if you're set up with a cloud storage provider, you won't have to worry about losing any important documents or files in the process.
For Windows PCs
For either Windows 10 or Windows 11, the easiest way to do this is to click on either the search bar or the search icon in the taskbar and enter Restore into the search field. Create a restore point should be the only option there, so select that.
In the window that comes up, you can set up restore points for different drives, but the one you'll really want to protect is the System or OS drive, usually labeled "C:".
Select that drive at least and select Configure. You'll have to allocate storage space for the restore point data, though you shouldn't need more than 15% of your available storage capacity for restore points, though you should allocate at least a minimum of 5%.
Once you've configured your restore point for the selected drives, click Apply on the bottom right of the System Restore window, then click Create to set up your first restore point. Restore points will be created automatically, but at least you'll have an initial restore point to work with until more are automatically generated.
This window is also where you will go if you ever need to restore system settings from a restore point by clicking on System Restore... and selecting a restore point to roll back to.
For Macs and MacBooks
For macOS users, Macs have a built-in app called Time Machine that will back up files to an external storage device.
To access it, select System Preferences from the Apple menu or from the app dock, then click on Time Machine. From there, select the connected storage device where you want the backup to be created, then click Use Disk.
Time Machine will now automatically use that device to make periodic backups with no additional input need from you. You can also create manual backups by clicking the Time Machine icon in the Menu Bar at the top of the screen (it's the clock icon with a counter-clockwise arrow around it) and selecting Back Up Now.
If you want to restore files from your backups, you will need macOS to be installed on the device, so if you've suffered a catastrophic system error and can't access your current install, reinstall macOS first.
Then, connect the external storage containing your backups and open Migration Assistant in Utilities, found in the Applications folder.
From there, select the option to transfer from a Mac, Time Machine backup or Startup disk. Select the backup you want to restore and follow the prompts to get things back to the way they were before.
For Chromebooks
Chromebooks automatically back up your apps and files to Google Drive unless you specifically chose not to save files to Google Drive.
For those files, Google doesn't really have anything for you. It's best to save to Google Drive so everything you need is safely stored in the cloud and can be accessed in the future, or else save to external storage if possible.
If you need to reinstall Chrome OS or get a new Chromebook, there's nothing you need to do beyond setting up your Chromebook with the same account you used last time. Chrome will then automatically sync your files to the new device or Chrome OS installation.
Maintaining even the best electric bikes isn't difficult, but there are some important things to know if you're going to keep it in top condition and get the best performance every time you head out on a ride.
To find out exactly what you need to know to keep your e-bike in perfect shape, TechRadar spoke to Julian Thrasher, Head of Training at Shimano. Buy your Shimano products and support local bike shops at www.freewheel.co.uk.
Before heading out on your electric bike, a few quick checks will help make sure you're getting the best, safest ride possible.
"Mechanical and electrical checks are the key thing," says Thrasher, "so from a mechanical point of view, tire pressures and if you’ve got any mountain bike suspension settings as well. Mainly because if you’re riding an e-bike with deflated tires then you may not get the range out of the bike that you want."
You'd normally notice if you're riding a bike with deflated tires or worn gears – you'll have to work harder than usual – but an e-bike will compensate, effectively masking the problem and draining the battery faster than necessary,
"It’s also really important that your brakes are working properly because the e-bikes are slightly heavier," says Thrasher. "I’d have a check of the brakes and gears before you go on a ride. Just a spin around the car park or just down the side of your house, just to make sure everything’s operating mechanically as it should.
"From an electrical point of view, making sure that the battery’s got a full state of charge," he says. "You’d ideally do this with enough time to make sure that you can put charge into it. There’s nothing worse than rocking up to a ride and finding that you’ve got one bar of battery. It’ll either be a very difficult ride, or the ride won’t happen.
"And a quick check of the cables as well. Speaking from a Shimano Steps point of view, the cables are quite delicate and they carry all the data through the system, so if they’re slightly damaged or you’ve managed to hook it on a car when you’re taking the bike off a rack, they can get damaged and that can cause an error to occur. So it’s definitely worthwhile checking."
You should also check that the cables are correctly plugged in. Shimano has a special wire tool (catchily named the TL-EW02), which makes sure that you're pushing on the correct part of the wire and not damaging it.
Also take a look at the magnet for the speed sensor. "It’s a bit like the old school cycle computers that you had where the magnet went round and it told you how fast you were going," Thrasher explains. "The e-bike has a drive unit that knows how much pressure you’re putting through the pedals – there’s an in-built power meter – but it also has a speed sensor to work out how fast you’re going. With those two metrics it can work out the right amount of power delivery, but if the magnet gets knocked then it can’t see that, and then the drive unit won’t work."
It's quite common for that magnet to get knocked out of place, either in transit or being out on the trails. Just make sure that the magnet is in line with the sensor, with the correct distance between it."
If your bike has a Shimano Steps drive system, also watch out for an error code called WA13. Thrasher explains that this is a torque sensor error, and is easily fixed.
"This happens when someone hops on the bike, they start pedalling it off down the road or down the trail, and then they think ‘Oh no, I haven’t turned it on!’ So they turn it on, and then the system sees that there’s pressure going through it, which it doesn’t expect. What it then does is say ‘Well, that must be a problem’. So then it beeps and comes up with a WA13 error code.
"The easiest way to clear this is to stop the bike, get off the bike, turn the battery off, ideally if it’s a downtube-mounted battery remove it – that clears everything from the system – put the battery back in, turn the system on again without any pressure on the pedals. Nine times out of 10, that clears the WA13 error code."
Finally, make sure that the battery is secure in its mounting. That's not easy to do for an internal battery, but for an external one, make sure that there's no play between the battery and its mount. Any movement can cause intermittent faults.
There are lots of ways to eke greater mileage out of your e-bike's battery, some of which are more obvious than others. "We always think about marginal gains in cycling, but they’re all things you can do to improve the life of the battery, and certainly the range of the battery," says Thrasher.
"We spoke before about the tires being correctly inflated and things like your brakes rubbing. You notice all these if you’re a human being pedalling a bicycle, but with an e-bike they’re quite good at masking those little things."
Also think about which of your bike's modes you're going to be using. Most e-bikes have a set of different options that give varying degrees of assistance. "On Steps we have three modes – we have Eco, Trail and Boost modes – and there are two factory preset modes for these of Dynamic and Explore, but you can also customize it, Thrasher explains. "We have an app on the phone called E-Tube, and through this E-Tube app you can customize Eco, Trail and Boost from a low, medium and high setting.
"So if you went out on your bike and you wanted the best life out of the battery then you’d ride it in Eco with Eco set to low, because you’re just going to receive a small amount of power through the system. So you’re not going to go as fast as going up a hill in Boost, but you are going to get a lot of life out of the battery, or range out of the battery."
There's really no substitute for knowing your route. If you're planning a whole day out with lots of good hills, don't hit them all in Boost mode or you'll end up riding without any assistance at the end.
If you just want to go for a blast in Boost mode, you won't be able to go nearly as far, but it'll be a lot of fun.
"The last thing I’d add to that is that lithium-ion batteries do like to be charged, so don’t let your battery run all the way out and then leave it run out," Thrasher says. "The battery can enter a sort of hibernation mode, and then it can be very difficult to wake that battery. What we recommend is that even if you’ve just used a bar of battery, put it on charge. It likes that. You’ll increase the life of it if you charge it often.
If your bike has an electrical fault, never try to disassemble your bike's battery or drive system. You might void your warranty, cause more damage, or even give yourself a bad electric shock.
"The first thing I’d say is visit a professional bike shop, or we prefer a Shimano Service Center," says Thrasher. "They’ve got a tool called an SM-PCE02, and this is a linkage device that checks the electrical internals of each component that’s on the bike. So the motor, the display and so on, and that’s something that’s very difficult to do at home."
You might occasionally see error codes on your e-bike's display, which an expert at a bike shop or service center can interpret into a solution. "So to give you an example, we’ll have an E010 error code, which will appear on the display in combination with an E013, says Thrasher.
"What the first error code means is a general system error code. The second error code is a torque sensor error code. So from a bike shop’s point of view, you look at both of those and you go ‘I’m pretty sure I know where that problem is.’
"And they also need to look at well, has that been caused through a mechanical issue, and they’re much better equipped to do that. They look at your bike as a whole and then offer you a solution, whereas when you’re at home, you can really only make the problem worse."
"Definitely don’t disassemble the battery or the drive unit because you’ll give yourself a big shock," Thrasher says. "The other thing is don’t poke things into the terminals of the battery, because that could also give you a huge shock."
Poking and prodding is a bad idea, but you should make sure that the male terminals on the battery are nice and clean. "Those are fine once you’ve got the battery out and off the bike it’s not going to hurt you, so you can clean the other parts."
Thrasher gives the example of one of Shimano's sponsored riders who was having an error code in his bike. It turned out the problem was down to the dust he'd been riding in; once he cleaned out the dusk, the error code went away.
"Don’t spray any lubricant into the wire ports – that’s really a no-no – and treat the cables with care," Thrasher adds. "If at any point you don’t think it’s going in, don’t use more force because that generally ends up with something breaking. Don’t force them into the components, and if you can, do use the wire tool that I spoke about.
"Don’t try to get into the motor or the battery, but you should ensure that the bolts that are mounted to the frame are tight, and there’s generally only six bolts that do that, and there’ll generally be a torque setting from the manufacturer. That’s really good because that can lead to creaks coming from the bike, but they’re quite easy to solve. Do make sure those bolts are tight.
"If you’re cleaning the e-bike, don’t point a high-pressure hose directly at the electrical components – they don’t really like that – but do keep it clean. We say use a clean cloth and then a clean T-shirt afterwards just to dry it down."
When storing your electric bike, the most important thing is to keep it clean, dry, and fully charged. "Really the best way is to make sure the e-bike’s ready for the next ride," says Thrasher. "Make sure it’s ready when you get back from the last ride. Keep it clean, inspect it for damage.
"These are all things that are really stressful when you’re about to go out for a ride, but actually if you spend five minutes just looking over the bike when you get back, it’s nice to know that you’ve put that bike away in a state that you can just pick it up, turn it on and go for a blast on it on the next ride. It relieves some of the stress."
You don't have to take the battery off the bike when you're storing it, Thrasher explains. "A lot of people to take the battery off the bike to charge it, which is fine, you can do that, but some e-bikes have remote on switches on the top tube, and they also have a cell inside them that needs a little bit of the power of the battery to make them operable. So we say every four times, just put the battery into the bike to charge it on the bike. They do benefit from that."
Storing your e-bike somewhere damp or humid might cause corrosion of the electrical parts, which can cause issues down the line,
"Don’t hang your oily rags over the charger or the battery because they get warm and that can lead to fire," Thrasher adds. "Definitely don’t cover anything up – don’t cover the charger up, don’t cover the battery up. Make sure you’ve got lots of free space around where you’re charging the bike."
Finally, don't let the battery run out of charge completely and leave it that way.
Getting an ordinary bike serviced once or twice a year helps nip any potential problems in the bud and keep it running smoothly. It's very similar for an electric bike, and provided you care for it properly, as described above, taking to the professionals every six to 12 months is fine.
"A lot of the things you need to consider are like a regular bike," says Julian Thrasher. "We’re lucky in that Shimano Steps is a pretty robust e-bike system, so if you do take care of the bike in terms of keeping the chain oiled, keeping the pads replaced, the need to take it in for a professional service isn’t all that often."
Your bike will be thoroughly examined for mechanical issues, but for an e-bike it's also your opportunity to get any new firmware updates. Thrasher explains that i's very much like updating your phone, but can only be done professionally.
"This is something that you would need to visit a professional bike shop or a Shimano service centre for," he says. "They ensure that any bugs in the system that [the developers] have found are taken out, that all the components speak effectively together, and sometimes there can be little upgrades. "Basically there’ll be features that come out that the new firmware accommodates. So it’s a really good virtual upgrade."
"People don’t need to be scared that you need to be taking the bike in every five days to be looked at," he says. "They’re pretty robust, so the main thing is the firmware, to take it in and to just get it checked over to make sure there’s nothing that you may not have seen that a professional bike shop could see."
If you live in the UK, you can apply for a £50 voucher towards maintaining your e-bike through the government's new Fix Your Bike scheme. Vouchers cover essential repairs and services, and are available through retailer including Halfords and Evans Cycles, plus smaller bike shops.
This article is part of TechRadar's Get Fit in 2022 series – a collection of ideas and guides to help get your new year's health goals off to the right start, whatever your current level of fitness.
In a big thrust into e-commerce and business, WhatsApp is rolling out a feature to let users search for nearby businesses, right within the app. The feature, when it becomes fully mainstream, will help the messaging platform to make an impact in one area where it has not made much headway - business & commerce segment.
According to the ever reliable team at WABetainfo, WhatsApp had made available a nifty business directory to users in Sao Paulo a couple of months back. And the new search option for nearby businesses is an extension of that. "When you search for something within WhatsApp, there will be a new section called “Businesses Nearby”: when you select the category, the results of business accounts will be filtered based on your choice," the report said.
Businesses will be happy with the putative feature as it will allow them to become more visible, directly from inside WhatsApp.
So, soon you can basically search for things like hotels, eateries, groceries or clothing, without leaving the app. This useful tool will be available to both iOS and Android users.
This feature has been made available to some users in Sao Paulo but is not available yet for all. But it is likely that WhatsApp will first roll out the aforesaid business directory feature and then follow it up with the search tool. But it is something that would be worth the wait.
Once users are allowed to search for products and services nearby it will be only a matter of time before they can place orders for the same.
It is clear that the folks at WhatsApp are doubling down on business and commerce segment for future growth of the platform. WhatsApp recently introduced a redesigned page for Business Info.
WhatsApp is also planning to redesign the page for Contact Info, in that it will have a search shortcut.
In-app shopping possibilities have grown across the social media platform’s apps. WhatsApp now also features shopping tools including product catalogs and shopping cart options for businesses to use.
Meta has announced new shopping and discovery tools, including Shops on WhatsApp.
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LG Display is almost hell-bent on making its flexible, transparent OLED technology a part of every piece of furniture in our homes, offices, and department stores. The South Korean tech giant latest targets include windows, display cases, and even bookshelves.
At CES 2022, the company is announcing a handful of oddball and exciting flexible and semi-transparent display innovations, including a bookshelf, called OLED Shelf, that doubles as a larger, hanging display.
OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screens are now thin and light enough to go almost anywhere, in part because they do not require backlighting. Last week, the company unveiled OLED screens in a rotating easy chair and as a head-to-toe curved display for a spin bicycle.
For its OLED Shelf, LG hung two 55-inch 40%-transparent OLED panels from a wall shelf (LG claims these are the largest transparent OLEDs in the world). The two screens are serially connected and hang down to another base shelf to form a relatively rigid frame. The top screen serves as a traditional TV, while the bottom half is more of a passive display for showing weather, news, and other updates.
When it’s time to watch TV, an opaque screen rolls down from the top shelf, right behind the top OLED display, which offers about 400 nits of brightness.
Even when you’re not watching TV, the top display can show off a gallery of art and the bottom screen can provide context for the image on the top screen, listing the artist and when they created the work.
LG told TechRadar the product is ready for commercial production, but they still need a partner to build and sell the system. As for what the shelf can hold, LG told us it's strong enough for some knick-knacks like a vase or your holiday elf.
LG is also pushing the limits of what you can do with and how we might think about display transparency. In its Show Window concept, LG demonstrated how a transparent panel could be built into a corporate meeting room window (the wiring and power are hidden in the window bezel).
Even as the display allows for an effectively clear view of the outside world, the OLED technology displays a video of meeting participants and touch-screen presentation elements. There’s also the possibility of the Show Window offering a window into a completely different world – if we ever adopt the Metaverse and add it to our corporate meeting routine.
LG is also collaborating with retailers in South Korea to integrate transparent OLED displays with product showcases, or what it calls “Shopping Managing Showcase,” which places a transparent OLED inside a wooden display case. Inside the case are physical products. Customers looking through the OLED screens see both the real products and visually engaging and, sometimes, useful video information (like current sales).
There’s also a new “Show Window” concept that looks, naturally, like a free-standing window, but each pane is a transparent OLED screen that could be used for advertising or even to display personalized messaging to a passerby (our guess is that this could use beacon technology to connect with passing smartphones and, with permission, use shared information to create the messaging).
In Japan and China, LG's transparent screens are appearing in subway systems where riders can both see outside the rail cars and get information about their trips on the see-through OLED-covered windows.
From shelves to products cases, and office windows, the possibilities with OLED are seemingly endless. However, LG Display and its partners have yet to overcome the technology’s biggest hurdle: cost. A flexible OLED that’s used in LG’s rollable TV, which rolls out of a narrow box to become a rigid, 65-inch 4K TV, still costs $100,000.
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