Microsoft to make it easier to decline Windows 10 upgrades

Microsoft to make it easier to decline Windows 10 upgrades

When Microsoft launched Windows 10 last summer, the company promised it would be available as a free upgrade for the first year of availability for anyone running Windows 7 or later. And then the company started pushing the free upgrade hard.

First, the company pushed out a Windows Update that added an upgrade icon to the system tray. Then the company started tweaking the design of that notification — so that trying to close it could cause a user to inadvertently trigger an upgrade.

Continue reading Microsoft to make it easier to decline Windows 10 upgrades at Liliputing.

Microsoft to make it easier to decline Windows 10 upgrades

When Microsoft launched Windows 10 last summer, the company promised it would be available as a free upgrade for the first year of availability for anyone running Windows 7 or later. And then the company started pushing the free upgrade hard.

First, the company pushed out a Windows Update that added an upgrade icon to the system tray. Then the company started tweaking the design of that notification — so that trying to close it could cause a user to inadvertently trigger an upgrade.

Continue reading Microsoft to make it easier to decline Windows 10 upgrades at Liliputing.

Curiosity: Weitere Hinweise auf einst sauerstoffreiche Mars-Atmosphäre

Ein überraschender Fund auf dem roten Planeten ist Curiosity bei der Analyse von Mineraladern gelungen. Seit fast vier Jahren untersucht der kleinwagengroße Rover den Mars. (Mars, Nasa)

Ein überraschender Fund auf dem roten Planeten ist Curiosity bei der Analyse von Mineraladern gelungen. Seit fast vier Jahren untersucht der kleinwagengroße Rover den Mars. (Mars, Nasa)

Dealmaster: Get a 1500VA APC UPS battery backup for only $128

And other deals on laptops, gaming consoles, e-readers, and more.

Greetings, Arsians! Courtesy of our partners at TechBargains, we've got a bunch of great deals to share—and a fantastic one on a battery backup. Now you can get an APC 1500VA 10-outlet UPS battery backup for only $128. The backup comes with automatic voltage regulation, an LCD display, energy-saving features, and PowerChute management software. It would be an great addition to anyone's high-performance PC setup, and the best part is that you won't have to shell out a bunch of cash to get it.

Check out the rest of our deals below.

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Helium: Neues Gas aus Tansania

Eine norwegische Firma will in Tansania den Ausweg aus der Heliumkrise gefunden haben. Vulkanische Aktivität hat ein Vorkommen mit 1,5 Milliarden Kubikmeter Helium hervorgebracht. (Internet)

Eine norwegische Firma will in Tansania den Ausweg aus der Heliumkrise gefunden haben. Vulkanische Aktivität hat ein Vorkommen mit 1,5 Milliarden Kubikmeter Helium hervorgebracht. (Internet)

Xbox Fitness users will soon lose access to workout videos they bought

Microsoft’s “sunset” plan will cut users off from content they paid for.

As of today, you can no longer "Get the complete program." In about a year, you won't be able to use that complete program even if you bought it previously.

Xbox users who purchased training videos through the Xbox Fitness app probably thought they were buying a workout program they'd be able to use regularly for the life of the Xbox One, at the very least. Instead, those videos will soon be completely unavailable to those who paid for them up front, according to a "sunset" plan announced by Microsoft yesterday evening.

Xbox Fitness launched alongside the console in late 2013 as a unique, Kinect-powered health app, using the 3D camera to evaluate users' form as they followed along with on-screen streaming video trainers. The app provided 30 basic routines for free with an Xbox Live Gold account, but that subscriber benefit will end on December 15.

Xbox Fitness also included numerous branded training programs that cost real money up front, from $60/£40 P90X routines to Jillian Michaels videos that could run $12 each. That paid content is no longer available for purchase as of yesterday. Those who purchased it previously will be able to use it for just over one more year before the app becomes completely unavailable for download or use on July 1, 2017.

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Page Flip: Scroll through Kindle eBooks without losing your place

Page Flip: Scroll through Kindle eBooks without losing your place

There are a lot of nice things about eBooks: you can store thousands of books on a single device, start reading an eBook on your Kindle and pick up where you left off on your phone, or read lengthy books without having to hold a few pounds of paper in your hands.

But there’s one thing that’s generally a lot easier to do with a book made from dead trees: flip back and forth between pages without losing your place.

Continue reading Page Flip: Scroll through Kindle eBooks without losing your place at Liliputing.

Page Flip: Scroll through Kindle eBooks without losing your place

There are a lot of nice things about eBooks: you can store thousands of books on a single device, start reading an eBook on your Kindle and pick up where you left off on your phone, or read lengthy books without having to hold a few pounds of paper in your hands.

But there’s one thing that’s generally a lot easier to do with a book made from dead trees: flip back and forth between pages without losing your place.

Continue reading Page Flip: Scroll through Kindle eBooks without losing your place at Liliputing.

Streaming: Netflix arbeitet intensiv an einer Sprachsuche

Netflix hat eine große Abteilung mit 40 Beschäftigten, die neue Fernseher auf ihre Tauglichkeit für den Streamingdienst testen. Denn neue User Interfaces (UI) könnten “schwierig für Geräte sein.” (Netflix, Heimkino)

Netflix hat eine große Abteilung mit 40 Beschäftigten, die neue Fernseher auf ihre Tauglichkeit für den Streamingdienst testen. Denn neue User Interfaces (UI) könnten "schwierig für Geräte sein." (Netflix, Heimkino)

Russian ISPs will need to store content and metadata, open backdoors

Online surveillance measures come as part of anti-terrorism legislation.

Irina Yarovaya, the driving force behind Russia's tough new anti-terrorism law. (credit: Official photographer of the Federation Council of Russia)

Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has approved a series of new online surveillance measures as part of a wide-ranging anti-terrorism law. In a tweet, Edward Snowden, currently living in Russia, wrote: "Russia's new Big Brother law is an unworkable, unjustifiable violation of rights that should never be signed."

As well as being able to demand access to encrypted services, the authorities will require Russia's telecom companies to store not just metadata, but the actual content of messages too, for a period of six months. Metadata alone must then be held for a total of three years, according to a summary of the new law on the Meduza site. Authorities will be able to access the stored content and metadata information on demand.

Snowden pointed out the difficulties of implementing the new law: "'Store 6 months of content' is not just dangerous, it's impractical. What is that, ~100PB of storage for even a tiny 50Gbps ISP?" He added: "This bill will take money and liberty from every Russian without improving safety."

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Tour de France to use thermal imaging to fight mechanical doping

Want to catch cyclists cheating with hidden motors, neodymium magnets.

(credit: YouTube/France TV)

They call it "mechanical doping," but the name simply doesn't do it justice. Cycling is not a sport celebrated for honesty amongst even its top riders, but following several very high-profile doping cases in recent years, it seems as though the cheats have been trying a different route: hiding motors in their seat posts that help push them to superhuman feats of endurance.

The technique has been known since at least 2010; commercial versions of the motors can put out 200 steady watts of power, nearly doubling a typical pro-cyclist's output. An onboard motor can help riders go faster, and can keep their pedalling cadence—the number of revolutions through the crank per minute—up while energy dips in endurance stages.

With the biggest cycling event in the world, the Tour de France, set to begin on July 2, mechanical doping is a serious concern—one that has moved France's sports minister Thierry Braillard to tell the French press: "This problem is worse than doping; this is the future of cycling that's at stake."

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