Adobe’s Procreate-like Digital Painting App Is Now Free for Everyone – and offers AI options

Adobe tools like Photoshop and Illustrator are household names for creative professionals on Mac and PC (though Affinity is trying hard to steal those paying customers). But now, Adobe is gunning for the tablet drawing and painting market by making its Fresco digital painting app completely free. While Photoshop and Illustrator are on iPad, Procreate Read more about Adobe’s Procreate-like Digital Painting App Is Now Free for Everyone – and offers AI options[…]

Windows 11 24H2 disk space hoarding a ‘reporting error’ – don’t know which is  worse though

[…] Many Windows 11 24H2 users, this writer included, saw a chunk of disk space occupied by “Windows Update Cleanup” after running the Disk Cleanup tool. Efforts to reclaim the space proved fruitless. The cause, according to Microsoft, is not necessarily due to a change in how the company has implemented updates in Windows 11 Read more about Windows 11 24H2 disk space hoarding a ‘reporting error’ – don’t know which is  worse though[…]

Developers Now Required to Share Phone Number and Address on EU App Store to Meet ‘Trader’ Requirement

Apple today reminded developers that the EU trader requirement in the European Union is now being enforced. Developers who distribute apps in the EU will now need to share information that includes address, phone number, and email address on the EU App Store. Submitting updates for apps on the ‌App Store‌ in the European Union Read more about Developers Now Required to Share Phone Number and Address on EU App Store to Meet ‘Trader’ Requirement[…]

Windows 11 24H2 hoards 8.63 GB of junk you can’t delete, blue screens with anti cheat, fingerprint sensors break, mouse cursor problems, VR glasses bricked

Windows 11 24H2 users are finding there is undeletable data that remains on their devices after installing the recently released feature update. The known issues list has not grown in the days since the rollout on October 15, however, for many users – this writer included – attempts to clean up the detritus after the Read more about Windows 11 24H2 hoards 8.63 GB of junk you can’t delete, blue screens with anti cheat, fingerprint sensors break, mouse cursor problems, VR glasses bricked[…]

Some startups are going ‘fair source’ to avoid the pitfalls of open source licensing

With the perennial tensions between proprietary and open source software (OSS) unlikely to end anytime soon, a $3 billion startup is throwing its weight behind a new licensing paradigm — one that’s designed to bridge the open and proprietary worlds, replete with new definition, terminology, and governance model. Developer software company Sentry recently introduced a Read more about Some startups are going ‘fair source’ to avoid the pitfalls of open source licensing[…]

After Synology breaks video station, plex, HEIC, H.265, backups, update now also breaks Surveillence station. What is going on there?!

Installed DSM 7.2.2-72806 on my DS1821+. The update automatically updated Surveillance Station to 9.2.1-11374. When updating I received the following notice: Surveillance Station will automatically install the Surveillance Video Extension package. After this update, the Live View Analytics app will no longer be supported. The support for HEVC (H.265) cameras will undergo the following changes, Read more about After Synology breaks video station, plex, HEIC, H.265, backups, update now also breaks Surveillence station. What is going on there?![…]

‘Windhawk’ Is Like an App Store for Windows Interface Mods

Ever wish Windows worked just a little bit differently? You’re not alone. Windhawk is a free and open source application offering dozens of community curated “mods” for Windows and Windows applications. It’s the simplest tool for customizing Windows that I’ve come across. The application, which you can download for free, gives you a sort of Read more about ‘Windhawk’ Is Like an App Store for Windows Interface Mods[…]

China’s Connected Car Crashes Are a Warning

[…] What happens when connected cars become disconnected cars? […] The phenomenon was chronicled in Rest of World, which spoke to multiple owners of EVs produced by financially troubled Chinese automakers. China kickstarted its EV industry with aggressive subsidies that lured dozens, if not hundreds of companies to produce cars. When those subsidies ceased, an Read more about China’s Connected Car Crashes Are a Warning[…]

synology nas surrounded by flames with a nuclear explosion on top of it

Synology Release DSM 7.2.2 Removes a LOT of features. Think hard about upgrading.

It’s not an update, it’s a destroyer of functionality Removal of Video Station Support: The update no longer supports Video Station, which has upset users who rely on this feature for media management and playback. Incompatibility with Plex: The DSM 7.2.2 update has caused issues with Plex, requiring users to update to a new version Read more about Synology Release DSM 7.2.2 Removes a LOT of features. Think hard about upgrading.[…]

Google is shoving its apps onto new Windows laptops

Google is making a new desktop app called Essentials that packages a few Google services, like Messages and Photos, and includes links to download many others. The app will be included with many new Windows laptops, with the first ones coming from HP. […] The Essentials app lets you “discover and install many of our Read more about Google is shoving its apps onto new Windows laptops[…]

Sonos apologized months too late for messing up its app and has offered a roadmap for fixing everything which has already slipped

Sonos seriously stepped in it a couple of months back when it released an overhauled first-party mobile app that shipped with a number of missing features. These included core functions like sleep timers and alarms. Many of the company’s speakers would not appear as a pairing option and it became extremely difficult to precisely adjust Read more about Sonos apologized months too late for messing up its app and has offered a roadmap for fixing everything which has already slipped[…]

Switzerland now requires all government software to be open source. Sort of.

Several European countries are betting on open-source software. In the United States, eh, not so much. In the latest news from across the Atlantic, Switzerland has taken a major step forward with its “Federal Law on the Use of Electronic Means for the Fulfillment of Government Tasks” (EMBAG). This groundbreaking legislation mandates using open-source software Read more about Switzerland now requires all government software to be open source. Sort of.[…]

Why You Should Consider Proton Docs Over Google

Proton has officially launched Docs in Proton Drive, a new web-based productivity app that gives you access to a fully-featured text editor with shared editing capabilities and full end-to-end encryption. It’s meant to take on Google Docs—one of the leading online word processors in the world, and make it more convenient to use Proton’s storage Read more about Why You Should Consider Proton Docs Over Google[…]

Nike Is Killing the App for Its 5 year old $350 Self-Tying Sneakers

In 2019, Nike got closer than ever to its dream of popularizing self-tying sneakers by releasing the Adapt BB. Using Bluetooth, the sneakers paired to the Adapt app that let users do things like tighten or loosen the shoes’ laces and control its LED lights. However, Nike has announced that it’s “retiring” the app on Read more about Nike Is Killing the App for Its 5 year old $350 Self-Tying Sneakers[…]

The bloat continues: Spellcheck and autocorrect in Notepad begins rolling out. Who wants this stuff?

Notepad (version 11.2402.18.0) With this update, Notepad will now highlight misspelled words and provide suggestions so that you can easily identify and correct mistakes. We are also introducing autocorrect which seamlessly fixes common typing mistakes as you type. Misspelled word highlighted in Notepad with options to correct the spelling. Getting started with spellcheck in Notepad Read more about The bloat continues: Spellcheck and autocorrect in Notepad begins rolling out. Who wants this stuff?[…]

Proton Docs is a privacy-focused answer to Google Docs and Microsoft Word

Proton Docs looks a lot like Google Docs: white pages, formatting toolbar at the top, live indicators showing who’s in the doc with their name attached to a cursor, the whole deal. That’s not especially surprising, for a couple of reasons. First, Google Docs is hugely popular, and there are only so many ways to Read more about Proton Docs is a privacy-focused answer to Google Docs and Microsoft Word[…]

Systemd dev thinks it fine for a temp file purge command to just go and delete your /home/ directory

“A good portion of my home directory got deleted,” complained a bug report for systemd filed last week. It requested an update to a flag for the systemd-tmpfiles tool which cleans up files and directories: “a huge warning next to –purge. This option is dangerous, so it should be made clear that it’s dangerous.” The Read more about Systemd dev thinks it fine for a temp file purge command to just go and delete your /home/ directory[…]

Google’s technical info about search ranking leaks online

A trove of documents that appear to describe how Google ranks search results has appeared online, likely as the result of accidental publication by an in-house bot. The leaked documentation describes an old version of Google’s Content Warehouse API and provides a glimpse of Google Search’s inner workings. The material appears to have been inadvertently Read more about Google’s technical info about search ranking leaks online[…]

winamp interface

Winamp has announced that it is opening up its source code

Winamp has announced that on 24 September 2024, the application’s source code will be open to developers worldwide. Winamp will open up its code for the player used on Windows, enabling the entire community to participate in its development. This is an invitation to global collaboration, where developers worldwide can contribute their expertise, ideas, and Read more about Winamp has announced that it is opening up its source code[…]

Germany’s Sovereign Tech Fund Now Supporting FFmpeg

Following Germany’s Sovereign Tech Fund providing significant funding for GNOME, Rust Coreutils, PHP, a systemd bug bounty, and numerous other free software projects, the FFmpeg multimedia library is the latest beneficiary to this funding from the Germany government. The Sovereign Tech Fund notes that the FFmpeg project is receiving €157,580.00 for 2024 and 2025. An Read more about Germany’s Sovereign Tech Fund Now Supporting FFmpeg[…]

sonos music player being destroyed by an axe chopping it in half

Sonos App Redesign AMA – 769 angry questions, 19 corporate useless answers

After the absolute shitshow and riots around the release of the new app, which missed core functionalities and broke systems, Sonos did participate in their promised Ask Me Anything. Kind of. Three Sonos employees apparently attended, but managed to barely respond to any of the questions – which were almost all overwhelmingly angry, disappointed and Read more about Sonos App Redesign AMA – 769 angry questions, 19 corporate useless answers[…]

Sonos releases new but hugely broken, incomplete app causing shitstorm

Sonos launched a new version of its app this week, altering the software experience that tens of millions of users rely on to control the company’s premium home wireless home speaker systems. Turns out, people really hate it! The response from users on Reddit, on audio forums, and on social media has been almost total Read more about Sonos releases new but hugely broken, incomplete app causing shitstorm[…]

Use This App to Block Ads on Windows 11

Advertisements—sometimes prompts to do something that would financially benefit Microsoft and sometimes actual paid advertisements—are showing up all over Windows 11. Start menu ads are rolling out to all users this month, taking the shape of “Recommended” applications you haven’t installed. Ads also briefly showed up in File Explorer, though this was apparently unintentional. And Read more about Use This App to Block Ads on Windows 11[…]

clean windows 11 start menu

Windows 11: how to clean up after – junkless install; stop links to Edge; start menu searches and ads

Microsoft has gone long with Windows 11 now that Windows 10 support stops. You can’t install it without a Microsoft account and loads of tie-ins. All links open the privacy slurping Edge browser. The start menu is a sea of adverts. Thankfully you can get around all that. This App Stops Windows 11 From Opening Read more about Windows 11: how to clean up after – junkless install; stop links to Edge; start menu searches and ads[…]