The Internet Is Broke: Almost Every Major Site Experiencing Outages

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The Internet Is Broke: Almost Every Major Site Experiencing Outages

The majority of high-profile sites are experiencing outages Tuesday afternoon, with no indication what the cause is.

According to DownDetector.com, Google, Google Cloud, Amazon, AWS, Facebook, Instagram, Cloudflare, Spotify, Discord and other are experiencing spikes in reported outages. The reports range from a few hundred to tens of thousands of users.

It’s still too early to know the precise cause, although some sites are already returning to normal.

The Internet Is Broke: Almost Every Major Site Experiencing Outages
Matt Milano

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Report: 91% of attacks on tech platforms now come from bots

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The latest trends in online fraud include increased threats during the holidays and a rise in bot attacks.Read More

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Windows 11 Updates Locks Users Into Edge and Bing

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Windows 11 Updates Locks Users Into Edge and Bing

Windows 11 users hoping for more browser choice are in for a disappointment, as Microsoft is locking users into Edge and Bing.

Microsoft started generating criticism for making it difficult for users to change their default browser in recent editions of Windows 11. For example, rather than letting individuals simply change their default browser, Windows required a user to change the default browser for each and every type of file a browser handles — HTTP, HTTPS, HTM, HTML, XHT, XHTML, PDF, SHTML, SVG, WEBP, and FTP. Needless to say, this could be a daunting task for many.

Even if a user managed to successfully change their default, Windows would ignore the setting and continue using Edge for Start menu searches and other widgets. To make matters worse, a recent beta is blocking EdgeDeflector and other utilities designed to let users select the browser they want to use in those situations. Some were hoping the issue was a bug, but Microsoft has confirmed the behavior is planned.

“Windows openly enables applications and services on its platform, including various web browsers,” a Microsoft spokesperson told The Verge. “At the same time, Windows also offers certain end-to-end customer experiences in both Windows 10 and Windows 11, the search experience from the taskbar is one such example of an end-to-end experience that is not designed to be redirected. When we become aware of improper redirection, we issue a fix.”

As we pointed out in August, when Microsoft first started going down this path, this kind of behavior is unacceptable in today’s market, and exactly the kind of action that has put Big Tech in the legislative crosshairs.

Windows 11 Updates Locks Users Into Edge and Bing
Matt Milano

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Canada May Finally Ban Huawei

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Canada May Finally Ban Huawei

Canada may finally ban Huawei from its 5G networks, the last of the Five Eyes countries to do so.

Huawei has been banned from participating in 5G networks in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Despite its allies doing so, Canada had signaled it would not necessarily follow the same course. The ruling Liberal government has been hesitant to ban Huawei, with Conservatives trying to pressure it to do so. 

According to The Canadian Press, however, the government may finally be ready to ban the Chinese firm.

“However, in order to leverage this opportunity for economic growth through 5G, the safety and security of the technology must be ensured,” reads briefing notes prepared earlier this year for Bill Blair, when he was public safety minister.

“Incidents resulting from the exploitation of vulnerabilities by malicious actors will be more difficult to safeguard against, and could have a broader impact than in previous generations of wireless technology.”

Should Canada follow through on the ban, it would be another major hit to Huawei’s business.

Canada May Finally Ban Huawei
Matt Milano

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T-Mobile’s Ultra Capacity 5G Now Covers 200 People

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T-Mobile’s Ultra Capacity 5G Now Covers 200 People

T-Mobile has reached its goal of covering 200 million people with its Ultra Capacity 5G by the end of 2021.

Ultra Capacity 5G is the term T-Mobile uses for its 5G running on the mid-band 2.5 GHz spectrum. Unlike the faster mmWave, which is in the 6 GHz range, T-Mobile’s Ultra Capacity can reach farther and penetrate obstacles better. Despite being slower than mmWave, T-Mobile has achieved speeds in excess of 1 Gbps with its mid-band spectrum.

The company had set a goal of reaching 200 million people by the end of 2021, a goal it has already achieved.

“We’re delivering game changing Ultra Capacity 5G to people across the country at an unprecedented pace, putting us in a network leadership position with a two-year head start on the competition. And that gap is only getting wider as we speed up,” said Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile. “Only T-Mobile is delivering a 5G network capable of truly transforming the smartphone experience – 5G’s first killer app – and that’s just the beginning. With Ultra Capacity 5G nationwide, we’re unleashing innovators across the country to build new 5G applications that will change the world.”

In the meantime, Verizon and AT&T have both paused their mid-band spectrum rollout over concerns of interference with aviation altimeters. Verizon and AT&T’s mid-band spectrum is in the 3.7 to 3.98 GHz range, relatively close to the 4.2 to 4.4 GHz range of altimeters. In contrast, T-Mobile’s 2.5 GHz spectrum is far enough away to not pose any concern.

T-Mobile’s Ultra Capacity 5G Now Covers 200 People
Matt Milano

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OpenAI rival Cohere launches language model API

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Cohere, which is developing large language models for a range of use cases, has launched its commercial API.Read More

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AI Helps Restore Trust Between Employers and WFH Workers

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AI Helps Restore Trust Between Employers and WFH Workers

In the last 24 months we’ve seen enormous changes to our lives. Our work, our healthcare, and just about everything that we do and all the ways in which we interact changed. Now that we’re closing out 2021, we’re seeing many things returning to some form of the old normals. Some of the changes we’ve made, for better or worse, don’t seem to be going anywhere at all. Let’s learn more about WFH workers and their impact below.

One of those lasting and impacting changes is the switch from working in the office to working from home. Working from home was already on the rise and many employees were wanting to go this route long before the COVID pandemic forced it upon us. However, we never saw the events of 2020 coming and the challenges we are now facing from remote work are something that we must address in order to ensure that remote work remains the positive change that we need it to be. 

The WFH Trend

Since 2019, we’ve gone from 4.1% of US employees working from home to 42% in 2021. The number has dropped back down from it’s 69% at the height of the pandemic, but it looks as though working remotely is a permanent addition to the new normal. As such, businesses and their employees are learning to navigate new ways to communicate and new territories of trust and work ethic. 

For the most part, working from home is seen as a positive for employees. The majority are satisfied with their workspace and available technologies. They’re able to meet project deadlines with fewer interruptions, and they feel motivated to work. Fifty-seven percent of these employees are also more satisfied with their jobs, which means a lower turnover rate, not to mention the 18% decrease in road traffic as a result of working from home. The benefits are well worth the necessary adjustments. 

Employers are benefitting as well, with thousands of dollars saved on overhead costs and more productivity from happier employees. 

Trust is a Challenge

However, one of the challenges with remote work is that the level of trust from employer to employee has decreased with remote work. In fact, 41% of employers are uncertain about their employees’ work ethic, which results in the issue of micromanagement. 

Employees are feeling this lack of trust and report that micromanagement is the number one cause of stress in their jobs. It is such an obstacle that 69% would consider changing jobs just because of this one issue. Micromanagement is not doing employers any favors either as they see higher turnover rates and less productivity from those who are feeling this stress. They also then must cover the costs of replacing dissatisfied employees who turn elsewhere for work. 

AI can help businesses and their employees to mitigate some of the trust issues by automating processes that can be automated, such as payroll apps, scheduling, timesheets, online leave management, and on-the-go workforce management. Four out of five employees believe that using AI technology would help improve their job performance, and employers could use these tools to rebuild the environment of trust between them and their employees.

Learn more about trusting WFH workers in the infographic below:

Source: TrackTime24.com

AI Helps Restore Trust Between Employers and WFH Workers
Brian Wallace

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