Google Password Checkup

This new Google extension called Password Checkup will automatically check if your password has already been involved in a data breach.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/5/18211766/google-password-checkup-chrome-extension-data-breach-login-credentials

Remote Desktop Software

Good up to date summary of remote desktop software. I use TeamViewer and Google Remote Desktop.

The best remote desktop software 2019 https://www.techradar.com/news/best-remote-desktop-software

Google Duo on the web

Google's equivalent to Apple's Face Time becomes more accessible.

 Google Duo is now available on the web, with voice and video calls supported - Google Duo is now available on the web, with voice and video calls supported https://ausdroid.net/2019/02/27/google-duo-now-available-web-voice-video-calls-supported/amp/

Google Clock & Assistant

Google Clock now links to Google Assistant Routines.

Google brings Assistant Routines to the Clock app for Android https://ausdroid.net/2019/02/26/google-brings-assistant-routines-clock-app-android/amp/

HDD & SSD Combinations

Great summary of HDD vs SSD and how you can take advantage of both technologies.

SSD vs HDD: which is best for your needs? https://www.techradar.com/news/ssd-vs-hdd-which-is-best-for-your-needs

Facebook Problems

It is about time Facebook got its act together with respect to these two issues. Quote "Facebook now employed 30,000 people to check its platform for hate posts and misinformation, five times more than in 2017." and "Facebook was now cracking down on fake accounts and misinformation, blocking “more than one million Facebook accounts every day, often as they are created.”

Facebook admits to major problems controlling misinformation on its platform! Stung by criticism, Facebook’s Sandberg outlines new plans to tackle misinformation. https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/20/stung-by-criticism-facebooks-sandberg-outlines-new-plans-to-tackle-misinformation/

Blog posts now current

With reference to my post on 13 October 2018, I have now reposted all the chosen articles from my Bits & Pieces Google+ Collection to this Google Blog. This has been necessary as Google has decided to close Google+ in April 2019. All future posts in this Bits & Pieces Google Blog will now be current.

If you would like to follow me on Twitter, you can find me at twitter.com/psfowler51 where I also share these posts plus other more general tweets!

Google Assistant Directory

Directory for Google Assistant Apps. Great idea! Makes it much easier to browse or search for Google Assistant Apps.

Google Assistant apps now have a web directory to view on your desktop – Ausdroid: Google Home has been a massive success for Google, selling more than one Google Home device every second since the Mini launched in October. Finding apps has been a difficult experience up until no…

MS Software Quality Problem

Microsoft needs give up on two releases per year. Using the Insider Program and consumers as their main software testing is non professional but it is cheap!

Microsoft Has A Software Quality Problem - Thurrott.com: Windows 10 October 2018 Update rollout highlights a fundamental problem with Microsoft's testing process.

Another Apple Quality Problem

Apple's not so good hardware. Apple makes huge margins on the sale of its hardware but it appears they are getting even greedier with sloppy design and falling manufacturing quality.

Oops, Apple Has Another Quality Problem - Thurrott.com: In yet another hit to its reputation for quality, Apple this week admitted to a manufacturing defect in the iPhone 8.

Downloading YouTube Videos

Downloading YouTube Videos. A common question I get asked is "how do you download YouTube videos?" There are obvious legal issues here that are discussed in the article. If you still want to download videos the article presents a number of alternatives.

How to Download YouTube Videos - PCMag Australia: Tons of footage is uploaded to YouTube every minute. But what if you want to download a video? Here's how.

Chrome OS to Tablets

Chrome OS finds its way to Tablets. I guess this was inevitable now that Chrome OS supports Android Apps.

Google Brings Chrome OS to Tablets - Thurrott.com: Google announced today what many have suspected since the Pixelbook release: It will now rely on Chrome OS, and not Android, for its tablets efforts.

Old pictures on Google Photos

How to upload old pictures to Google Photos from your PC.

How to upload old pictures to Google Photos from your PC | Drippler - Apps, Games, News, Updates & Accessories: I'm all about the Google Photos app for automatically backing up the photos I take on my smartphone. Thanks to its unlimited free storage and high quality, iCloud doesn't even begin to compete. And, when it comes to the hundreds of photos stored in shoeboxes in my closet, Google Photos also happens to...

Facebook loses $120 billion

Beginning of the end for Facebook?? Facebook has certainly got its work cut to stop the slide and its worsening credibility.

Facebook loses $120 billion in market cap after awful Q2 earnings | TechCrunch: Facebook’s share price fell more than 20 percent in after-hours trading today after the company announced its slowest-ever user growth rate and a scary warning that its revenue growth would rapidly decelerate. Before today’s brutal Q2 earnings, Facebook’s share price closed today …

Microsoft wants consumers

Microsoft knows it has lost consumers. Concentrating on "prosumers" in the future will not save the company. Microsoft is losing all segments to smartphones, tablets and Chromebooks. Education, Government and Industry are all looking at alternatives to expensive PCs that are based on 35 year old software.

Microsoft wants to win back the consumers it let down - The Verge

Microsoft's consumer business

Microsoft has given up on consumers? The Microsoft consumer market is little more than beta testers for Windows 10.

Microsoft offers three unconvincing reasons why its consumer business isn't dead yet | PCWorld: Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella tried to respond to concerns that Microsoft's consumer strategy may be floundering, though his response wasn't especially convincing.

Google’s new Fuchsia OS

Is Fuchsia Google's attempt at a unified OS? Apple keeps Mac OS separate from iOS and Microsoft tried the 'unified' Windows 10 but failed. Google's approach is much more realistic. Fuchsia might run alongside Android and Chrome OS for years to allow a smooth transition.

Google’s mysterious new OS may soon replace Android, but it’ll still run Android apps – BGR: Google isn’t ready to talk about it publicly, but Fuchsia does exist. It's a third OS that’ll supposedly replace Android and Chrome OS at some point down the road. We’ve already seen Fuchsia in action, and we know it’s supposed to work on a variety of devices, regardless of form factor.

Service NSW dumps Windows

Service NSW chooses Chrome OS. ACT Education and now Service NSW chooses Chrome OS as its platform of choice.

Service NSW dumps Windows for Chrome OS - Computerworld: Government agency rolling out Chromebooks, G Suite to its staff

Apple not America's favorite

Is Apple fading away? Interesting article about the results of an American survey bearing in mind that the US is Apple's key domain!

Apple is not America's favorite tech company - The Verge

iCloud now on Google servers

iCloud is not really Apple's. Apple is now storing its iCloud data on a combination of Amazon and Google servers. PayPal and Spotify are also Google customers for storage!

Your Apple iCloud data is now stored on Google servers—surprised? – Ars Technica