From this list, all I have been able to do well is use strong passwords. Would anyone still be using Windows XP in 2019? It is easy to forget the small tasks like clearing junk files and removing unnecessary files from the hard drive.

While it doesn’t come without its shortcomings, MacOS Catalina has arrived with a lot of excitement. It comes loaded with exciting features such as Sidecar that could be a huge boon to making Apple computers a lot more productive. Other improvements are much less likely to get the same enthusiasm as Sidecar but are just as important. Here’s some of them: Axing iTunes and Turning to Project Catalyst One big change is that Apple has given iTunes the boot. It’s been the default media management software on Apple devices for as long as I can remember. This move by Apple shows just how confident they are at nudging users into their Project Catalyst initiatives. This means we'll be using iOS-style apps in managing media on Apple computers from now on. The company introduced Project Catalyst last year when it was still known as Marzipan. They initially released a suite of iOS apps that were converted into usable desktop applications. iOS media management applications such as Apple Music, TV, and Podcasts have already been rolled out then. This aims to unify user experience between mobile and desktop devices. Whether this will be received well is yet to be seen. Sidecar Implementation The Apple Store already has a couple of software that lets you use tablets such as an iPad as a secondary display for your Apple laptop. One such example is the Duet Display designed by former Apple engineers. They’re great apps but they’re more geared towards heavy users who require such a setup. They’re also paid apps that only unlocks more features if you cough up more money. The wireless connectivity, for example, is not available for the basic $10 app download. Sidecar is Apple’s answer to these types of apps. The best thing about it is that it’s free for users. So long as you have compatible devices, you’ll be able to use Sidecar. You also won’t be limited to wired connections because Apple’s very own Airplay technology can hook up the iPad and the laptop. Since it’s a feature that Apple itself developed, it should also be more uniform and easier to use. The interface is almost lag-free. Software compatibility is also no issue. Some apps even have their very own specialized functions. You can, for example, use the iPad as a drawing tablet if you use the Apple Pencil with the Affinity Designer & Photo, Adobe Illustrator, and a lot more. There are caveats though. One of them is that it only works for modern Apple hardware. You can only use 2016 or newer MacOS laptops or a late-2015 unit of the iMac. On the tablet side, on the other hand, you can only use iPads no older than the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini 4. The paid apps, on the other hand, should work with a lot more devices. Apple Photos Improved Curation AI technology is going to have a more active role in photo curation. The Photos app in MacOS Catalina aims to aid you in your quest to organize your photos by featuring your best photographs and by automatically removing duplicates. Don’t fret though, they haven’t axed the chronological search hasn’t gone the way of the iTunes yet. The result is a slight change in photo organization. For example, photos are now organized in Years, Months, and Days as opposed to Years, Collections, and Moments in the previous version of the app. This may seem like a subtle change but it's a huge leap in helping you find your photos. Machine learning kicks in to choose the best thumbnail that represents the most interesting photo you have for a particular year. It does this for the Months and Days categories as well. If you click on the Months tab, it might feature only one photo while other months might show you a collection of related photos that machine learning deems is a better representation of photos you have for that month. Security Improvements Apple’s MacOS and iOS are famous for being extra careful about security. For one thing, the well-curated iOS App Store is a case study in what heavily policing apps for both quality and security can do for your device’s reputation. MacOS Catalina further improves your laptop’s security in various ways. One of the most useful ways is known as Sender Block. This allows you to block emails sent from an email address of your choosing. If this feature is activated, the messages would go straight to the trash. But there are more subtle changes that Apple has implemented to increase security. On the app-level for example, the Cupertino-based tech giant has begun making developers jump through more hoops if they need access to your computer’s files. They do this by making apps ask for permissions first before allowing them into the folder. Apple is also nudging users to be more active in trying to protect their privacy and data in MacOS Catalina. They do this by warning users about weak passwords that you may have to websites when you’re logging into them via Safari. It would then recommend a new, stronger password that you can save in the browser for later use. But they’re not all about making your laptop difficult to break into. The new security updates also make it easier for you to access your computer. It does this by letting you log in to anywhere that requires your Mac password via your Apple Watch. Previously, you can only use your Apple Watch to log into the computer itself. The new OS, however, lets you access a lot more via your watch. You can, for example, now see all the passwords stored in Safari just by double-clicking on the side button of your Apple Watch.

E-commerce has taken over the world of retail. Those who were first to the scene are now considered titans of the information age. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Alibaba’s Jack Ma, for example, have reached a mythical business guru status like Henry Ford. But online shopping has become old news. Honestly, it has become so mundane that you’d see delivery men with huge merchandise-filled backpacks every few blocks. This internet shopping boom is ripe for a wave of innovation. Various online shopping companies such as Shopify have been sprouting left and right. Each one with their own twist on a platform that’s now become the norm. The next Amazon and Alibaba, it seems, is hinged on who’s the first to the scene of innovation in the online shopping experience. Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Online Shopping Some of the innovations are still bit gimmicky. Augmented reality shopping, for example, is a great idea. There are a ton of people who have trouble when shopping for furniture. Sometimes, it could be difficult to visualize how much room a certain piece would take up. Space, it seems, is something that we’re not very good at approximating. AR shopping, in this scenario, solves a problem and simplifies a solution. But this use-case is niche-specific. Aside from the inaccessibility of AR-capable hardware, there are a lot of other factors that limit its penetration. When it comes to market penetration and ease of use, artificial intelligence is king in retail innovation. It has the potential to take over a larger chunk of the market than any innovation that has come since online shopping. It’s basically already on any hardware connected to the internet. This means even your IoT devices such your refrigerators can have it on-board. Some of them can even order provisions that you’re running low on. Are you low on fresh milk? Your IoT-equipped refrigerator can order it online for you automatically. You don’t even have to actively use AI. to reap its benefits. It’s often just a set-and-forget type of deal. Google Assistant, for example, can help you find the best restaurant in your area and book you a table all with just a simple voice command. Even the linguistic enhancements that Google put in place makes it seem like you’re just talking to another human being. In some cases, AI can even predict what you want before you even know you want them. This is the case with Netflix, Spotify, and other streaming applications. These subscription services use the data that they already have on you to help you choose which shows you’d likely want to watch next. Bill Gates once stated on a 2001 interview that: “The advance of technology is based on making it fit in so that you don't really even notice it, so it's part of everyday life.” If we judge artificial intelligence in shopping in this light, then A.I. is a huge boon to the industry. Visual Shopping Humans are visual creatures. “We eat with our eyes,” the famous expression goes. This fact is understood by marketers and advertisers all too well. Those luscious, melt in your mouth burgers in commercials, for example, show how easily we all get lured by good visuals. Just a few seconds of watching it the fat dribble down the patty can trigger a very real hunger response to nothing but images on screen. Instagram is huge proponent of visual marketing. This makes it one of the most sought-after platforms for brands. But there are smaller sites that are worth looking into. Scooget is a great example. It’s a social media platform much like Facebook and Instagram with a focus on technology. In it, users form a community of tech-heads and enthusiasts who share ideas on their favorite tech. Have a banging desktop setup that you’d like to show off? You can post the photo on the site and let others know how and where to buy it through links on the images. This way, the community can more accurately search for the products that they want. No need to type keywords in a search box. It, much like AI, is a seamless integration of new technology to make the experience better for the user. AI-Powered Visual Shopping It was only a matter of time before enterprising companies put the two concepts together to form a potent sales machine. Lens from Pinterest is perhaps one of the most popular examples of this union. One aspect of AI that’s rapidly improving right now is in image recognition. This is perhaps the most useful tool for Lens. It lets users find a product by simply snapping a photo of it. AI would then recognize what the product is, find it on the internet, and then show relevant information. It’s a subtle technological advancement but it’s having big effects on the search behavior for countless individuals. This can potentially put SEO tactics on its head because keywords might become a thing of the past. Current marketing strategies, therefore, have to change. Right now, AI-powered visual shopping is having its moment in the fashion industry. If, for example, you like a certain piece of clothing on a friend, all you must do is snap a photo of it and let AI do its magic. But it’s slowly rolling out in other industries too. It’s only a matter of time for this combination to hit the shelves for the technology industry too. The Scooget community already has their foot in the door of this. All they must do now is fully embrace it.

Check out #MSI's Alpha 15 gaming laptop. It's decently priced for a cutting-edge device that includes a #Radeon RX 5500 graphics card and a #Ryzen 7 3750H processing chip. It's speaker system is supposed to be powerful too. #MSIAlpha15 #gaminglaptop #gamer #digitalgames #videogames #AMD

#HTC released a truly innovative #smartphone. The #Exodus1s can hold a full ledger and has the capability to run a full bitcoin node. It's the first of its kind. There's only one catch - it's not available in the U.S. #cryptocurrency #Bitcoin #BTC #crypto #digitalcurrency #technews #innovation

This device is a bold attempt by HP to ensure that it meets the requirements of a majority of applications. Hopefully, Chromeboxes will gain traction over time, although it may take time for people to get used to programs that are non-Windows based.

I am not sure I get it, probably because I hardly use Google Photos, but either way, do you think this is going to thrill iOS users? I agree with the article that this would (effectively) hurt functionality.

I hardly play online fighting games, but I agree that translating the offline success of these games to the online environment can be challenging. At its core, players need a stable network and reliable connection.

#Google is taking some heat for creating the new #NestWiFi without upgrading to the newest wireless technology, Wi-Fi 6. The excitement around Wi-Fi 6 is real, but in practice its advantages are largely useless since it won't be faster unless all the other devices have Wi-Fi 6 built in too. Do you think it's still important to users? #GoogleNestWiFi #Nest #smarthome #smarttech #smartspeaker #MadebyGoogle #Googledevice #GoogleAssistant

I used to think that any headset would do. I wasn't picky at all. I quickly realized I'd been missing the immersive experience when I tired my buddy's #HyperX Cloud Alpha headset. I became an instant convert. Get a decent headset and you'll be blown away by the difference. #gamer #gaming #digitalgames #videogames #gamingheadset #HyperXCloudAlpha #Razer #Fortnite #Twitch #PUBG #Corsair

#Drone deliveries are no longer a thing of the distant future. Customers in Christiansburg, Virginia are part of the test as they receive packages from #Walgreens, #Fedex, and a local gift shop by the name of #SugarMagnolia. The test is going well so far. It feels like exciting things will come from this. #dronedelivery #Google #Wing #Alphabet #AmazonPrimeAir #technews

I like how it is decorated and the setup looks cool to me. This collection even includes drums and piano etc. I would love to imagine my future apartment to be like this.