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The feature couldn’t come sooner for a number of users, including teachers who have been obliged to use Teams or Zoom to host remote classrooms during the global coronavirus pandemic. At the outset of the pandemic’s spread to the US and Europe in February, Microsoft Teams only supported four simultaneous onscreen participants. Then in May it bumped it up to nine in a three-by-three grid, a limit that a Teams engineer admitted was “not good enough”....

In the Windows 11 build 25252 that has been released to the Dev Channel, Microsoft is testing different ways to display the search in the taskbar. One example draws directly on Windows 10 and offers a search box that users can type into, with results displayed in a separate window. The other is a pill-shaped ‘search button’ that opens a window where text can be typed in. There’s also the smaller search icon that opens a new window for search, and a ‘hide’ option where there is no box or icon in the taskbar and users would press the Windows icon to open the Start page, which features a search box at the top....

Xandr is a “first-tier affiliate” of AT&T, according to the press release, as well as a “data-enabled technology platform powering a global marketplace for premium advertising. Xandr offers ad products including Xandr Invest, Xandr Monetize, Xandr Curate and Invest TV. The release says Xandr’s technology complements Microsoft’s current ad offerings, including its audience intelligence, technology and global advertising customer base. Microsoft’s own ad-buying solution, the Microsoft Audience Network, its PromoteIQ retail-media solutions and Microsoft Customer Experience Platform for marketers is the backbone of Microsoft’s digital advertising platform....

This update isn’t aimed at Excel-using business execs but developers who need to wrangle metadata in Excel cells. Excel has historically been about organizing text and numbers, but for several years, Microsoft has been working to boost the number of data types the application supports. At last year’s Ignite 2020 conference, it introduced both dynamic arrays and array formulas and support for Stocks and Geography data types via Bing. Ignite’s on again this week, and Microsoft has furthered this goal with more data types that also power Wolfram search....

The subsidiary, MacroStrategy LLC, will hold MicroStrategy’s 92,079 Bitcoins. MicroStrategy was an early mover in adding cryptocurrency to its balance sheet. MicroStrategy is a business intelligence software company. By raising $400 million for Bitcoin purchases, MicroStrategy is betting that cryptocurrency prices will increase in the long run. Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy CEO, said Bitcoin is going to be one of the most disruptive technologies. In a regulatory filing, MicroStrategy said that it will incur an impairment loss of at least $284....

For that to happen, Lee Goddard, who was appointed earlier this year to lead Minderoo Foundation’s Fire and Flood Resilience initiative after serving in the Royal Australian Navy for three decades, said it would not only require a concerted effort from various stakeholders, but also for satellite technology and predictive analytics to be leveraged. Using such tools, Goddard said, would help firefighters put out fires as close to inception as possible....

For the past few weeks, I have been running and walking with the Mojawa Mojo 1 headset and I’ve been pleased with its performance. They offer longer battery life, a newer version of Bluetooth, and a higher water-resistant rating than the Trekz Air I have been using. Also: Trekz Air wireless bone conduction headphones: Run safer hearing your environment AfterShokz now has a newer model, called the Aeropex, that offers the same specs as the Mojo 1 headset with a two-year warranty and a price of $159....

Mozilla told ZDNet that the tool’s goal is to combat cross-site tracking, which allows companies to monitor what websites users visit and what products they search for. “Have you ever signed up for a contest to win a big-screen TV or a vacation to an exotic location? Or have you joined a big retailer loyalty program so you can save money? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you may be exchanging your name, home address, email address, phone number, and sometimes even your birthdate to companies who are building your profile with the information you freely provide,” Mozilla explained....

It all started when I got a plausible Instagram message from a friend. His message asked for my help and included a reset link for their account. Rather than asking me to click the link, which I’d never do in a million years, it simply asked me to send him back a screenshot of the message including the link. I thought, “How can I be hacked by sending a PNG image?...

Full-year cash earnings came in nearly 39% higher than last year to AU$6.56 billion. Meanwhile, investment levels hovered just below AU$1.3 billion, which were similar levels to FY20. This helped the bank limit FY21 cost growth to 1.8%, which NAB said was consistent with its 0-2% target for the year. “Execution of our strategy is delivery good momentum with lending up 6% in FY21, while FY21 expense growth of 1....

Viper will scour the moon for the location and concentration of ice that could help deliver the first global water resource maps of the Moon. It will also inform future landing sites for astronaut Artemis missions and help discover where and how water can be harvested. NASA officials said last year that VIPER would help astronauts “live off the land a little” rather than having to bring up their own supplies....

Much like how a sailboat uses the wind to move forward, solar sails use the pressure exerted by sunlight to propel a vehicle through space. Large sails made up of reflective material like Mylar capture the momentum of the Sun’s photons. The photons bounce off the sail, sending it in the opposite direction. Also: NASA’s Mars lander is running out of power. Here’s what happens next However, as NASA points out, existing solar sail designs rely on very large and very thin sails....

On 13th June, Hubble automatically placed all of its science instruments on standby as a security measure following the failure of the telescope’s payload computer – one of the central systems that controls and coordinates the instruments onboard the spacecraft, and transmits science and engineering data to the ground. SEE: An IT pro’s guide to robotic process automation (free PDF) (TechRepublic) This means that for the past month, Hubble’s instruments have been offline and the telescope hasn’t been taking in any data....

Voyager 1 launched in September 1977 and is now the farthest spacecraft from Earth, traveling in space at about 14.5 billion miles (23.3 billion kilometers) away. It would take light about 20 hours to travel from the spacecraft. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is investigating a glitch in the system data the interstellar explorer is collecting. Readouts from the probe’s attitude articulation and control system (AACS) “don’t reflect what’s actually happening onboard”, according to JPL....

The SLS rocket survived relatively unscathed during its exposure to Hurricane Nicole, a Category 1 storm that swept through Florida’s West Palm Beach area on Friday. NASA has a two-hour launch window at 1:04 a.m. EST Wednesday. The countdown clock will begin at 1:54 a.m. Monday, it said. Rather than roll the SLS back on the nine-hour journey to the Vehicle Assembly Building, NASA opted to tie it down at the launch pad....

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the first year climbed 254% to AU$1.5 billion, while a steady AU$1.7 billion in depreciation and amortisation gave the company an 85% improvement in EBIT from AU$1.28 billion loss to a AU$193 million loss. Following AU$752 million in finance costs, and an AU$88 million tax benefit, NBN posted a net loss of AU$857 million, a 59% improvement on last year’s figures....

The Accointing Crypto Tax Software (Pro Plan) provides everything you need in order to easily file your crypto taxes yourself, and new users can currently get it at 60% off. Its Trader Plan and base software are also available for the same discount. Accointing allows you to track, manage, and report all of your cryptocurrency transactions in just one place. The platform features more than 300 integrations that you can access on both your desktop and mobile devices....

The Aluminum Band is designed for the bigger of Apple’s smartwatch designs, with the product page listing 45mm/49mm as the sizes it’s compatible with. That said, it’s compatible with any Apple Watch model within that size range, not just Apple’s newest Watch models. Also: Trouble sticking to your New Year’s resolution to be more active? Try this Actually, at the bottom of the page, Nomad lists the band as compatible with 42mm and 44mm Apple Watch sizes....

Nothing says its newest earbuds, the Ear Stick, are not the successor to the Ear 1, but instead, usher in a separate accessory in a different form factor. What remains, however, is the company’s fashion-forward mindset. Debuting as a part of designer Chet Lo’s SS23 runway during London Fashion Week, Nothing’s Ear Stick, inspired by a cosmetic classic – lipstick – are more than just a tech gadget, they’re a fashion statement....

The Finite Group incident response team confirmed with ZDNet that when the incident occurred, business operations were not disrupted. “Our security monitoring systems identified and closed down the threat quickly,” they said. “Since then, remedial works have been undertaken and the business has been fully operational.” The company’s incident response team added it has been reviewing what data was stolen due to the incident. “Following conclusion of this investigation, we will take steps to immediately contact any impacted stakeholders/individuals in accordance with our privacy obligations....