HPE stops shipping Windows Server 2016
HPE has stopped shipping OEM editions of Windows Server 2016, as of 31 October 2019, and has declared the OS “will be considered obsolete at the end of November 2019.”
Windows Server 2016 was launched on 26 September 2016 and has more than two more years of mainstream support, which ends on 11 January 2022.
Extended support runs for another five years and one day, ending on 12 January 2027
the company’s post seems to be suggesting that those moving from Windows Server 2009 should instead jump to Windows Server 2019
The post also points out that buyers can acquire a new server with Windows Server 2019 onboard and then downgrade to Windows Server 2016
Australia cops third Microsoft cloud outage in a week
Microsoft is experiencing its third cloud outage in Australia this week, and has another global mess on its hands too.
The first cloud outage was a November 19th hosted mail problem that started in Australia and then spread to other nations in the Asia-Pacific region.
The next day came a big one: a global Office 365 outage that took out Teams, Sharepoint, Visual Studio and more. Microsoft attributed that one to a networking configuration change gone bad.
Microsoft has described the new outage as “an event impacting Azure DevOps where hosted builds are were delayed
Floppy disk with Steve Jobs’ signature valued at $7,500
The floppy disk in question contains Macintosh System Tools 6.0 software. That dates it to around 1988. The disk is especially valuable, RR Auction claims, because Jobs was not a prolific autograph signer.
“A hugely desirable format for Jobs’ seldom-seen autograph — known as a reluctant signer, he often declined to comply with the requests of collectors,” reads part of the item description.
In September a Jobs-signed poster for the original Toy Story sold for over $30,000.
TV shows and video games that are set in the roaring 2020s.
The defeat of Thanos in Avengers: Endgame — one of the highest-grossing films of all time — is set in November 2023.
Doom
In Doom, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a portal to an ancient city on Mars is discovered under Nevada in 2026.
Star Wars Instant Pots are here and R2-D2 can now cook your dinner
Instant Pot just released a Star Wars collection featuring R2-D2, BB-8, Darth Vader and more.
The five editions include 6-quart R2-D2, Stormtrooper and Darth Vader models, which retail for $100 (about £73, AU$147) each.
There’s also a smaller 3-quart BB-8 for $80 (about £62, AU$118), and a bigger 8-quart Chewbacca Instant Pot for $120 (about £93, AU$177).
Black friday
Russian dairy cows wear VR glasses for better milk production
Farmers try virtual reality headwear to see if it will help cows calm down and produce more milk.
They’re watching serene pasture scenes that researchers hope will keep them calm so they produce more milk.
On a farm near Moscow, farmers are trying out new prototype VR glasses that have been altered to be worn comfortably by cows.
Wearing the glasses, the animals were shown a summer field simulation program — created specifically in “shades of the red and weaker green and blue tones” that cows can actually see — to determine if the pasture scene altered the cows’ moods,
Researchers noted during the first test run of cows watching the VR simulation that there was a decrease in anxiety and an increase in the overall good mood of the herd.
The emotional state of cattle plays an important role in dairy production. Recent research shows that a calm atmosphere can effect both the quantity, and sometimes the quality, of cow milk.
Joes Podcast Notes for
27/11/2019
Twitter will remove inactive accounts and free up usernames in December
- Twitter is sending out emails to owners of inactive accounts with a warning: sign in by December 11th, or your account will be history and its username will be up for grabs again. Any account that hasn’t signed in for more than six months will receive the email alert.
The email being sent out has a subject line of
“Don’t lose access to @(username).”
Here’s what the email says:
Hello,
To continue using Twitter, you’ll need to agree to the current Terms, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Use. This not only lets you make the best decisions about the information that you share with us, it also allows you to keep using your Twitter account. But first, you need to log in and follow the on-screen prompts before Dec. 11, 2019, otherwise your account will be removed from Twitter.
- Twitter says that they we’re working to clean up inactive accounts to present more accurate, credible information people can trust across Twitter.
- a spokesperson has told The Verge via email. That they have begun proactively seeked out many accounts who have not been logged into Twitter in over six months, They will inform them that their accounts may be at risk of permanently being removed due to prolonged inactivity.
- Please note That – This doesn’t just affect people who’ve abandoned Twitter; it also stands to have an enormous impact on accounts belonging to the deceased. The Verge has asked Twitter whether those will also be pulled into the inactive pool and ultimately removed as part of this process. “We do not currently have a way to memorialize someone’s Twitter account once they have passed on, but the team is thinking about ways to do this.
- Now just keep this in mind, the accounts don’t have to actually tweet anything. They just have to be logged into at least once every 6 months, so even if the username you want seems long dormant based on activity, whoever owns it can still hold on to it pretty easily.
———————————————————————————————————–
Microsoft is blocking Windows 10 updates for some Avast and AVG Antivirus users
https://betanews.com/2019/11/24/avg-avast-blocking-windows-updates/
- If you’re updating or installing either Windows 10 – 1903 or Windows 10 – 1909 which are the ( May 2019 and the November 2019 updates) and you’re a user of Avast or AVG Antivirus, you may well find that Microsoft prevents or is blocking you from updating.
- Microsoft has identified a compatibility issue with the antivirus software and is therefore blocking the updates. Microsoft is also advising users not to try to sidestep the block by manually installing the update.
- Microsoft explains that : “Microsoft and Avast has identified compatibility issues with some versions of Avast Antivirus and AVG Antivirus software and that any application from Avast or AVG that contains Antivirus version 19.5.4444.567 or earlier is affected”.
- The fix is very simple: just update your Avast or AVG to a newer version, and the updates for Windows will be unblocked.
——————————————————————————————
TESLA CYBERTRUCK – ELON MUSK’S ELECTRIC PICKUP TRUCK
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed a futuristic, electric pickup called Cybertruck to the world this week.
- A single-motor base model of the Cybertruck will allegedly get 250 miles or more on a full battery, with a 3,500-pound payload limit and 7,500-pound towing capacity — all for basically the same price as the entry-level Model 3 and Model Y.
- Also a version with a proposed 500-plus mile range and 14,000-pound towing capacity, which is powered by the same three-motor known as the “Plaid powertrain”.
- Musk promised the Cybertruck will crush any off-road scenario, too, thanks to adaptive air suspension and up to 16 inches of ground clearance. There is even some plans to feature new things for a modern truck, like 110V and 220V outlets, and lockable storage, and some more unique touches, like an onboard air compressor.
- All of this is hiding behind a stainless steel body, or “exoskeleton” as Musk called it, the dashboard almost looks like marble and there was no side mirrors, and the rear-view mirror was a display on the dash connected to a camera embedded in the back of the truck. Tesla said the CyberTruck will run it’s next-generation version of its in-car software on a landscape-oriented, 17-inch touchscreen.
- A reporter named Sean O’Kane went for a ride in The CyberTruck and this is what he said… We are riding in the mid level, dual-motor version of the truck, which is supposed to go from 0 to 60 miles or (0-100 Kph ) in 4.5 seconds and will eventually start at $49,900. While the prototype truck was pretty quick, the sensation of speed was dulled by its size and (undisclosed) weight. It didn’t really provide that thrilling jolt forward that Teslas are known for.
- He went on to say that – The most stunning thing about my ride in the Cybertruck was how big and roomy it was. Say what you will about the outside of the Cybertruck, but I (and the rear-seat passengers) had more space to spread out than previously seemed possible in a vehicle of this size, almost as if Tesla had pulled off some sort of magic trick.
—————————————————————————————————
Google is killing Google Cloud Print
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/11/google-is-killing-google-cloud-print
- The latest Google product to receive a death sentence is Google Cloud Print, which is a printer-to-cloud bridge service that was launched in beta back in 2010. According to a new Google support page and emails sent out to GSuite Admins, Cloud Print will die December 31, 2020, at which point it will no longer be supported, and “devices across all operating systems will no longer be able to print using Google Cloud Print.”
How Google Cloud Print works.
- Cloud Print is…..well… was—pretty cool. Google Cloud Print was the missing link, that allowed your dumb printer to work with more modern devices. You could print from Chrome and Chrome OS, or print from a phone, or even print remotely over the Internet. The idea was that the Cloud Print server was built into every copy of the Chrome browser, and your printer probably connected to a computer running Chrome at some point, either over a local network or USB cable. Once your printer hit a computer running Chrome and you registered it to your Google account…. Google took care of the rest. The printer was then accessible from pretty much anywhere via your Google account, as long as the local computer was turned on. Chrome OS and Chrome on the desktop would automatically list Cloud Print printers alongside your local ones.
- Android also supported cloud print throughout the operating system, and on iOS, Cloud Print was built into Gmail, Chrome, and the whole Google Docs suite….. Cloud Print has a year to live, then it will be gone…. Google says, “We recommend that over the next year, that you identify an alternative solution and execute a migration strategy.
Points of Discussion
Do you know any other way to do this ?
A look at some of the comments about this – > https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/11/google-is-killing-google-cloud-print/?comments=1