Wednesday Newsbytes: Windows AI Co-Pilot is Here; Windows 11 Destroying SSD Speeds; Windows 11’s New Start Menu; 5 Easy Tips to Protect Your Data; 35 Easy Ways to Make Extra Money; World’s First Electric Fly Car Certified … and more!
Every day we scan the tech world for interesting news in the world of technology and sometimes from outside the world of technology. Every Wednesday, we feature news articles that grabbed our attention over the past week. We hope you find this week’s ‘Wednesday Newsbytes’ informative and interesting!
Microsoft releases preview of AI-powered Windows Copilot, aiming to change how people use PCs
For more than four decades, since the 1980s, pointing and clicking has been the primary method of using a personal computer.
Of course, the traditional computer mouse isn’t going away. But what if it could be augmented more frequently by simply thinking and typing, rather than hunting around on your computer for some sort of setting, or other solution to whatever you’re trying to do?
That’s one promise of AI. Rather than remembering the keyboard shortcut to take a screenshot, or the setting to shift the screen into dark mode, for example, you could just tell the computer what you want it to do in natural language…
Windows 11 Is Still Destroying SSD Speeds On Some PCs And There’s No Fix In Sight
If you use Windows 11, how’s your SSD doing? Ever since March of this year, users have been complaining of drastically reduced write performance on solid-state drives due to Windows updates, and the issue has gotten progressively worse. If you’ve felt like your system is slowing down over time this year, this could be why.
No, these aren’t the same storage speed issues we saw back in 2021, nor the network transfer speed bug that came up early this year. This issue also doesn’t appear to be the same one Microsoft addressed last year. This is a different and more pernicious problem that seems to be harder to nail down, because nobody has been able to offer a concrete explanation for it—or a real fix.
What’s actually happening is that SSD write speeds are severely hampered for some users. It’s not clear if there is a common factor between the users beyond the use of Windows 11 with the latest updates…
Hidden change to Windows 11 Start menu uncovered in testing – and we like it
Handy labels for default system apps are inbound, it would seem
Windows 11 is hopefully set to receive a useful tweak for the Start menu to help users identify which are the core apps for the operating system.
PhantomOfEarth flagged up the change, which is hidden in preview build 23493 and was uncovered using ViVeTool (a Windows configuration utility used for digging into the OS to find incoming features like this).
Build 23493 has updated the system app labels feature in Start > All apps first added in build 23481 (hidden/disabled). Specific apps like Settings and File Explorer are now labeled instead of ‘Microsoft = System’vivetool /enable /id:44571814,44573982 pic.twitter.com/ZTWSbce91cJuly 4, 2023
So what’s the big idea here? Microsoft is labeling its default apps – the company’s own programs for Windows 11, that come preinstalled with the OS – so the user can clearly see which these are.
Previously, we were told that these were given a ‘Microsoft’ badge to indicate they are first-party apps for Windows 11, but now, that label has been changed to ‘System’, meaning stock apps that come with the system…
5 Easy Tips to Protect Your Data During Summer Travels
Just because the Fourth of July – including those crazy fireworks in your neighborhood – is over doesn’t mean you should let down your guard on upcoming summer travels. With plenty of sunny days left before school starts, the folks at Keeper Security have some important vacation travel tips for you.
It turns out that simple actions such as using public Wi-Fi in airports, hotels, or tourist spots can leave your devices vulnerable to being hacked and your cyber identity being compromised. To help travelers keep their identity, financial data, sensitive documents, and passwords secure this summer, Keeper Security is providing these five cybersecurity safety tips.
Limit social media posts that share your location: Posting while traveling, especially disclosing your exact location with geotags while you’re still at that location, can be highly dangerous. Once your location is exposed publicly, any bad actor can target you. Though it may seem unlikely as a tourist, locals with more familiarity of your surroundings will have an easier time locating you than you think. Plus, people will know you’re not at home.
Avoid public Wi-Fi: Though finding reliable Wi-Fi while traveling can be challenging…
Read more at Florida Travel+Life.
How to Make Extra Money: 35 Easy Ways
Whether you’re trying to get out of debt, save more for retirement or just boost your monthly income, there has never been a better time to figure out some ways to make extra money on the side.
No longer do you have to settle for a part-time job with a set schedule. Today’s gig economy is all about flexibility.
We’ve researched the following ways to make extra money to confirm that they’re legitimate. Many of these strategies have been put to the test by Team Clark and even money expert Clark Howard himself.
To learn more about these side gigs, click on one of the links in our table of contents or keep scrolling for the full list…
How to download YouTube videos for free, plus two other ways
Need to download a YouTube video? Here are two easy download options and a more advanced Linux command line option.
While basic YouTube only offers downloads for a few videos in selected locations, there are ways to download any YouTube video you want at any time.
… Your free option (and my preferred way) to download YouTube videos: ClipGrab
I have to give ZDNET’s managing editor props for introducing me to this program a few years ago. I’ve been using it ever since.
ClipGrab is a free program available for Mac, Windows, and Linux users. The developer says it’s open source, but the source code is only available for Linux. In any case, ClipGrab rocks. Here’s how to download and use it…
Here’s the World’s First Flying Electric Car Certified to Fly
The Alef Model A flying car is the first of its kind to be certified by the FAA. Find out all about the Model A and what the certification means.
The first flying car has been certified to fly after Alef Aeronautics was awarded a Special Airworthiness Certification. These certify the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approves flights. This after revealing its flying car in October 2022 for the first time.
At that time, Alef unveiled a full-size version of its Model A craft, along with two working demonstration cars. The price is $300,000, and since the unveiling has seen pre-orders soar. Alef’s two-person flying car is road worthy and features vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) functions, too.
What does “limited certification” for flying cars mean?
“We’re excited to receive this certification from the FAA,” said Jim Dukhovny, CEO of Alef. “It allows us to move closer to bringing people an environmentally friendly and faster commute, saving individuals and companies hours each week. This is one small step for planes, one giant step for cars.”
The FAA certification limits certain aspects of flying the Model A…
Thanks for reading this week’s Wednesday Newbytes. We hope these articles were informative, interesting, fun, and helpful. Darcy & TC
I think Windows Copilot is interesting.