Tomaree Mature Age Computer Club

Newsletter

Club Meets 2nd & 4th Wednesday at

Tomaree Neighbourhood Centre, Salamander

10:00 AM

http://tmacc.users.nelsonbay.com/

club wiki at : http://tmacc.pbwiki.com/

Steering Committee

Bob Truscott 49821264

Noel Finch 49822797 Brom Crass 49283630

Next Meetings : 22 May 2019 then 12 June 2019

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If you attempt to fix something that isn't broken, it soon will be !

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Most Of World Now Online

by John Lister on May, 2 2019

More than half of the world's population now has Internet access according to newly-published estimates. The figures also suggest there are more mobile phones than people worldwide.

The estimates come from the International Telecommunications Union (a specialized agency of the United Nations), and the World Bank. (Source: itu.int)

While most of the figures relate to subscriptions, the overall Internet use number is for individual people. The estimate has 51.2 percent of people online as of the end of 2018, with dramatic growth in Internet access in Africa helping reach this milestone.

Developing Markets Have Effect

The figure for mobile phone ownership is certainly eye-catching, particularly given it's based on active mobile subscriptionsand thus doesn't cover old handsets that people own but don't use. The figure is 107 subscriptions for every 100 people in the world. (Source: qz.com)

The higher subscription rate for mobile handsets is possible perhaps because it includes basic handsets in developing markets where even computers aren't common. Perhaps another reason is that some users have two or more subscriptions, including separate phones for personal and work use.

Home Phone Lines Getting Rarer

Another potentially surprising statistic is that the number of active mobile broadband subscriptions (69.3 per 100 people) is far above the number of active fixed-line broadband subscriptions (14.1 per 100 people.)

That has similar potential explanations. Businesses may well have a single fixed-line subscription for all employees in an office, but have multiple mobile broadband subscriptions. Meanwhile, mobile broadband may be a more financially and logistically viable way for people in developing markets, particularly in remote locations, to get online compared with fixed-line broadband.

The number of fixed-line phone subscriptions is now below the number of fixed-line broadband subscriptions at 12.4 per 100 people. That figure certainly comes with a note of caution as it may be distorted by how statisticians choose to count people who get their fixed-line phone through a cable bundle (for example), and how the figures distinguish between fiber-optic cables and dedicated copper phone lines.

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Will Windows 7 Keep Working After Support Ends ?

- Ask Leo 1/5/2019

The end of support for Windows 7 means Microsoft will no longer issue security updates. Here's how to continue using it safely.

Apparently there are people that believe when support for Windows 7 ends it’ll stop working. That’s just wrong, right ? It’ll keep working ? Can’t I just keep using it ?

Yes, Windows 7 will keep working.

You can keep using it, but it’s important to understand the risks involved.

One thing we’ve learned, though, from being here before, is that the risks may not be as horrific as some make them out to be.

End of support ?

You’re absolutely right. Windows 7 will keep working.

The only thing that happens when support ends (planned for January 14th, 2020 as of this writing) — is that no further fixes will be made available, even for security-related issues.

In fact, security-related issues are the only fixes you’re getting now. Everything else ended back in 2015.

So whatever Windows 7 looks like next January is what it’ll be from then on. No changes, no fixes, no ‘nuthin.

Applications may still get updates

Just because Windows stops getting updates doesn’t mean that the applications you use will stop getting updates. That depends entirely on the application vendor and when they decide to stop supporting Windows 7.

Some may already have stopped. Others will stop in the future. You simply need to keep an eye on updates for the programs you care about.

Someday, those updates will stop as well. It’ll be up to you to decide if you care.

So, what’s the risk ?

Good question. The “gloom and doom” scenario is that there’s an unpatched vulnerability that will be found, hackers will exploit it, and Microsoft won’t fix it.

The more pragmatic risk is that eventually, your other software will no longer be updated. You’ll have to figure out whether you can live with that, or find alternatives.

The other risk is that when your computer dies, you won’t be able to get Windows 7 for its replacement. Once again, you’ll be faced with a decision: move to the latest, most current version of Windows, or switch to something else entirely ?

Mitigate the risks

Perhaps the most important step to keeping yourself safe is to make sure your anti-malware tools continue to work — including keeping themselves up-to-date. If your security software is no longer supported, then find an alternative immediately.

The hope is that Windows Security Essentials — which (as I understand it) shares its technology, if not its name, with Windows Defender on Windows 10 — will continue to be updated for some time. How long ? No idea. You need to keep an eye on it.

The other very important step I recommend is my old standby: regular and complete backups. If something does go wrong, you’ll want to restore to a backup. This will also protect you to some extent when Microsoft eventually takes existing Windows 7 updates and activation offline, which will prevent you from reinstalling Windows 7 from scratch.2

We’ve been here before

If what we’re experiencing sounds hauntingly familiar, that’s because it is. This is exactly what happened with Windows XP some years ago.

And in the light of many dire predictions of catastrophe and doom … nothing happened. There were no catastrophic malware outbreaks targeting Windows XP. There was no list of known vulnerabilities that hackers were keeping secret until they knew they wouldn’t be fixed.

Nothing.

Windows XP users were probably more impacted by the decreasing hardware and software support for the applications they cared about.

I expect Windows 7’s “death” to be very similar to that still underway for Windows XP — which a few folks continue to use to this day.

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Intel introduces their 9th Generation H Series Processors

- The Windows Club April 24, 2019

Intel has announced their new H Series processors that clock up to 5 GHz and are designed for gamers and creators who want to push their experience to the next level. Due to thermal limitations, this was previously very difficult to be shipped on a mobile device such as a Laptop.

Fredrik Hanberger is the General Manager of the Premium and Gaming Laptop Segments at Intel said,

“Our new 9th Gen platform is designed to delight gamers, creators and performance users by giving them more of what they want. We are bringing desktop-caliber performance with up to 5 Ghz and 8 cores in a range of thinner systems and new level of connectivity with Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) so users can game or create where they want.”

Intel is targetting the gaming market in this world with these processors. It brings in the Intel Core i5, i7 and the unlocked i9 processors clocked up to 5GHz with Intel Thermal Velocity Boost. They also have 8 cores, 16 threads, and support for 16 Megabytes of Intel Smart Cache. The highest performing CPU among these is the Intel Core i9 – 9980HK. And with the Intel Dynamic Tuning, continuous performance optimizations can be made in the background.

It is primarily made for gaming. Some of the highlights of these new chips for gaming are:

Play immersive AAA gameplay with up to 56% FPS improvement on games like “Total War: Warhammer II”.

Experience up to 38% faster turn time on games like “Civilization 6”.

Game, record, and stream without compromise and broadcast HD live streams up to 2.1 times faster, gen-over-gen.

Break the gigabit barrier with the latest Wi-Fi 6 standard running on the Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (Gig+) solution offering almost three times faster throughput and up to 75% latency reduction – pair it with Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) routers based on Intel technology to unleash a great gaming experience.

You can learn more about these new CPUs on intel.com.

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Best Free Media Players for Windows 10

- The Windows Club 27/4/2019

Media Players are an essential part of any operating system. While Windows comes with an inbuilt media player, but it comes with restrictions. It does not support all types of files, and codecs. Also, viewing habits have changed a lot. Not only people like consuming video offline, but online streaming is equally essential. In this post, we are sharing some of the best free media players for Windows 10.

Best Free Media Players for Windows 10

Here is a list of some of the popular media or video players for Windows 10 which is free. You can download and start using them instantly.

VLC Media Player

POT Player

All Player

GOM Media Player

Kodi Player

5K Player

DivX Player

1] VLC Media Player

It doesn’t need an introduction. If anything that can play all possible formats, its VLC. It’s an open source cross-platform player and can be customized. The best part of the player, IMO, is that its lightweight and offers controls which makes it easy to watch anything.

The Media Player toolbar is customizable so that you can decide what buttons are to be shown while listening to music or watching the video. It offers a wide variety range of audio and video formats including OGG, MP2, MP3, MP4, DivX, along with HD Codecs like AES3, Raw Dirac, etc. Mix it with extensions, and you have everything under one roof.

2] PotPlayer

Relatively less popular, but if there is one player who can compete with VLC, then it’s the PotPlayer. It uses enhanced hardware acceleration with DXVA, CUDA, QuickSync for the best experience. It offers a similar lightweight media experience and number of file formats. Here are some exciting features:

You can choose from which soundcard you can play sound

Bookmark favorite scenes

Filters and keyboard shortcuts like VLC player.

Supports various types of 3D glasses

Supports various devices such as DVD,TV,HDTV.

Direct3D9 Ex Flip Mode and Overlay support.

3] All Player

It offers many more features than the other media players favorite over the web. Unlike other video players, AllPlayer helps you watching movies with matching subtitles. It connects with the online database to find the matching subtitles for the movie you are viewing. Other Features include:

Dubbing: The ability for subtitles in movies to be read by a speech synthesizer with a human voice.

The program can also be set to turn off your computer automatically once the playlist ends.

LiveUpdate function can update, and download the latest Codecs if there is a problem with opening a movie file.

‘IQ Text’ function keep longer subtitles on the screen for a little longer.

4] GOM Media Player

GOM Media Player is a great alternative not only in terms of look, and feel, but also in terms of usage.

Supports various file formats including AVI, MP4, MKV, FLV, WMV, MOV, DVD and Audio CD.

Searches codecs and even plays a damaged file or a downloading file.

Movie Subtitles from Classics to Recent Releases

It can search for YouTube VR videos and 360° videos.

Highly immersive VR experiences.

5] Kodi Player

KODI is a free and open source cross-platform digital media center. Its an alternative to the famous Xbox Media Center. It offers a high-quality user interface along with multiple codec support, and GPU Graphics Hardware controller. It supports Music, Movies, TV Shows and Photos. Kodi also supports add-ons to enhance the experience.

6] 5K Player

5K Player is one of the best players out there if you want the latest features on your media player.

Play MP3 AAC APE FLAC music.

It comes with Apple AirPlay + DLNA supports baked into the system. It can wirelessly stream audio video via AirPlay & DLNA no quality loss.

You can download online videos from services like YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, etc.

Supports Hardware acceleration powered by NVIDIA®, Intel®, DXVA 2.0

It can play 4K 8K HDR / 360 degrees videos without any glitch.

7] DivX Player

DivX Player is one of the oldest media players on the internet and the free version offers enough features. Here is the list:

Play most popular video formats, including DivX®, MKV, and HEVC up to 4K

Stream videos to DLNA-compatible devices.

Create and play videos with multiple audio and subtitle tracks in several formats

Convert popular video formats into DivX, MKV, HEVC and MP4 files, including custom encoding settings for resolution, bitrate and more

While the player is excellent, the only reason is it’s at the end, its because it’s bit heavy. However, if you are looking for software like converts and streaming video from online services, choose this. You can download DivX from its homepage.

If you are looking for an alternate music player on your Windows 10, check out our list of alternative Music Players. The list includes QMMP, Audacious, Webamp, Foobar, AIMP, Media Monkey, and MusicBee.

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Dick Barnes, pioneer behind oldest working computer, dies

BBC Technology 24 April 2019

One of the co-designers of a machine later recognised as the world's oldest working digital computer has died.

Richard "Dick" Barnes helped to create the Harwell Dekatron, which was first put to use in 1951 by Britain's fledgling nuclear research establishment. He was also involved in the 2.5-tonne machine's restoration, which saw it switched back on in 2012. Mr Barnes died aged 98 on 8 April,

He and two colleagues, Ted Cooke-Yarborough and Gurney Thomas, began their work on the Harwell Dekatron in 1949.

It was initially used by the Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Oxfordshire, where its tasks involved solving equations used to design the structure supporting the world's first commercial nuclear reactor at Calder Hall.

'Witch'

In 1957, the computer was acquired by Wolverhampton and Staffordshire Technical College.

It was used to teach computing there for 16 years and earned the nickname "Witch", or "Wolverhampton Instrument for Teaching Computation from Harwell".

"All the early computer designers faced the problems of storing data, so we selected dekatrons, a ready-made storage device for one decimal digit," Mr Barnes said in 2012.

Dekatrons were gas-filled tubes that were used as counting devices in some early digital computers. Rows of them could be used to store numbers in the computer's memory so that calculations could be carried out.

In November 2012 the machine was successfully switched back on after a three-year restoration project. The revived machine functioned as planned, which is to say, very slowly.

It could take up to 10 seconds to multiply two numbers - but Mr Barnes and his co-designers had wanted a machine that could run continuously, not necessarily quickly, in order to be useful.

Indeed, it was known to calculate continuously for periods of up to 80 hours.

Delwyn Holroyd, of the Harwell Dekatron restoration team, said Mr Barnes had taken "a keen interest" in the project.

"Dick was responsible for the complex relay logic, which he designed on paper without the benefit of the tools we take for granted nowadays and with very little prior art to draw upon," he said.

"The compactness, elegance and reliability of the resulting design is a fitting tribute to his skill."

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How to unmask Asterisk & show hidden Password or Email address

- The Windows Club 21/4/2019

Usually, when Windows users are attempting to sign into a website, whether it be social media or a personal blog, the password section hides the password with the use of asterisks. This has been the case for decades, But what if folks want to see those passwords ?

Users might wish to view passwords for any number of reasons. Maybe the password is saved in the web browser, and the user has no idea what it is. Maybe a parent want to spy on their child’s activity online, who knows ?

Unmask Asterisk & show hidden Password

For these reasons, we’d like to recommend a few tools to get the job done in quick succession. They are:

Asterisk Password Spy,

Asterisk Logger,

Sandboy Revelation.

All three are pretty effective at what they set out to accomplish, so we’re going to talk about them for a bit.

1] Asterisk Password Spy

What’s interesting about this tool, is how easy it is to use. After installation, simply drag the search icon to any password box to reveal the password behind the asterisk. Bear in mind that it only supports apps for Windows and nothing else.

Here’s a list of known limitations:

It does not work with non-Windows-based applications such as GTK, Flash, Adobe Air or applications not using standard edit box for the password.

Also, it will not work with the application where a password is not actually present. Some times applications do not put passwords in the password box to hide from these tools.

It does not work with HTML pages in browsers such as IE, Firefox, etc. Support for the same is planned for future releases.

Download the tool from the official website.

2] BulletsPassView

This is another one we need to look at because it’s quite good as well. You see, BulletsPassView doesn’t showcase the password from within the password box, but only within the pain window of the software itself.

To find passwords, you must click on the scan button to locate all passwords that are currently on screen via a text box. Once that is done, all passwords should show up without issues inside of BulletsPassView.

It works great in many browsers, including Internet Explorer. In fact, most of these tools will work best in older versions of web browsers, so bear that in mind.

We should also point out that this tool comes with a command-line option, so if you’re that type of person, we suspect you’ll feel right at home.

Download from the official website.

3] Snadboys Revelation

Should the tools we mentioned above fail to work accordingly, then we’d like to recommend another one known as Snadboys Revelation. It’s a weird name for a password recovery tool, but as usual, we do not care about names if the program works as advertised.

Now, we tested this bad boy for a few days and can say for certain what it works quite well, even better than expected.

We’ve come to enjoy this tool because it works similarly to BulletsPassView where the user must drag an icon over the password box to reveal the password inside. It’s quite capable, and as such, folks who are in need should give it a spin.

Download Snadboy’s Revelation via Softpedia.

Now, as you can see, we didn’t have a lot to say for each tool because they are all basics with little to no settings area. Just install and get your password, and that’s about it, to be honest.

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List of countries that have banned Social Media for its citizens

- The Windows Club 19/4/2019

Social Media is an immensely powerful tool today. With a click of a button, it makes it possible for any individual to contact, reach, and share information with thousands and even millions of people in the world – Well, this is something that was nearly impossible a few years ago. Social media can benefit individuals, companies, government, and charities in sharing information or spreading any message to the masses. But keeping this benefit aside, social media like any other tool is being used for both good and evil.

There are several parties who are leveraging this tool to push an agenda, spread propaganda, and even lies and misinformation. No wonder, even in this age of instant information, the usage of Social Media isn’t boundless for all. The gloomy truth is, several countries around the globe seek to limit outside influences, hence they block internet connections and censor content whenever and wherever possible. This article is a look at the top 10 countries that have banned Social Media websites.

10 Countries that have banned social media

1] North Korea

Number 1 on the list of countries that have banned Social Media and perhaps the most tarnished exponent of internet censorship. You will be surprised to know, but they have access to under 30 websites available from inside the country. No wonder, their censorship is ranked as one of the most extreme in the world. The government officially banned Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter in 2016 in a move for underscoring its concern with the spread of online information. Most of the country’s internet use is restricted to military personnel and government. A very limited number of the country’s citizens have access to the internet and can view only government-sanctioned intranet.

2] Eritrea

Eritrea is Africa’s most secretive state. In recent years, it has managed to attract a lot of attention from the journalists – thinking why? The country’s president imprisoned closely 2 dozen without charge in 2014. Access to information in the entire nation is also hurt by a ban against mobile Wi-Fi and means the citizens are only allowed to access the internet via slow dial-up modems, which accounts for the very truncated access rate of just one percent.

3] China

Internet censorship in China is one of the most extensive censorships in the world making it one of the top-most countries that have banned Social Media. It is because of the huge variety of legal and administrative regulations. Even though access to the Internet is broad, and an active social media industry is present, the country block IPs, filters searches and even erases content or reroute queries for restricted content to pro-China information. This barricade is often denoted as “The Great Firewall of China”. Over the past decade, China has blocked Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as thousands of other overseas websites, including The New York Times and Chinese Wikipedia.

4] Saudi Arabia

Several books, magazines, newspapers, films, content, and television published on the Internet are highly censored in Saudi Arabia – the reason is religious beliefs. No. 4 on the list of countries that have banned Social Media, this country has banned nearly a half million websites which contain content countering to Islamic beliefs counting political, social and religious. All internet traffic into Saudi Arabia passes through a router strictly monitored and controlled by the Ministry of the Interior (i.e. a department of the Saudi Arabian government responsible for maintaining a list of previously blocked websites). The government blocked access to Wikipedia and Google Translate, which were being used to evade the filters on the blocked sites by translating them. YouTube isn’t blocked, but the government has made plans to regulate local companies producing the content for this platform. Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook are widely used in the country.

5] Iran

Several social media tools and several products which encrypt internet conversations — have been unavailable in Iran for quite long now. As of 2013, nearly 50 percent of the top 500 visited websites worldwide were blocked, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus, making Iran one of the countries that have banned Social Media. In 2009, Iran became the world’s leading jailer of journalists and has ranked amongst the world’s worst jailers of the press every year since then.

6] Bangladesh

It looks quite like a surprise when Bangladesh is listed in the countries that have banned Social Media. Bangladesh’s social media prohibition comprises more than just Facebook. In 2015, the government temporarily blocked Facebook and other social media, for a period of 22 days following it’s Supreme Court’s decision to defend the death sentence of 2 men convicted of war crimes. Bangladeshi telecommunication authorities dispensed a ban on more than 18,000 websites which supposedly contained pornography or “obscene” content, this included Somewherein.net, the internet’s largest Bengali language-based blogging platform, and Google Books. Mustafa Jabbar, Posts and Telecommunications Minister describes these efforts as a “war” against pornography.

7] Syria

The state on the ground in Syria is far away from being stable, in warlike probabilities, restrictions on Internet use in the country are likely to endure. It is no wonder to see Syria’s name in the list of countries that have banned Social Media. Syria actively bans websites for political reasons and arrests public accessing them. Websites which cover politics, minorities, human rights, foreign affairs, and other sensitive topics are banned completely in Syria. Social media, messaging sites, and video uploading, all suffer from poor reliability and are regularly monitored.

8] Tunisia

Preceding the Tunisian revolution, Internet censorship in Tunisia was widespread. Following the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Internet censorship significantly decreased in the country. Tunisia isn’t prohibitive in terms of preventing its citizens from viewing “subversive” content but is increasingly interested in preventing the bloggers from uploading content. Access to the Web is limited to a mere 40% of all inhabitants. Furthermore, Internet providers should report all the bloggers (including their names, personal info, and addresses) to the government.

9] Vietnam

Vietnam’s communist party permits its citizens to access common websites like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft’s MSN if those sites give up the names of all bloggers using their services. Moreover, they block any websites critical of the Vietnamese government, expatriate political parties, and international human rights organizations; basically, any site which advocates for human rights, freedom, and democracy. In 2016, the Vietnamese government blocked its citizens from accessing Facebook during President Barack Obama’s visit to the country. According to Reuters, the country desired to quiet human rights activists.

10] Myanmar

Myanmar, formerly called Burma also aggressively blocks websites which disagree with the official government or uncover human rights violations. Being one of the countries that have banned Social Media, Myanmar also filters through email messages, social media and all other forms of web-based communications to ban rebel activity in the country. The internet cafes must keep user record and make them available to the police on request.

This list isn’t an exhaustive one, other countries where Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) bans have been common are Cuba, Egypt, Mauritius, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Algeria.

The motivations for censorship can range from well-intentioned requirements to protect children from unsuitable content, authoritarian shots to control a nation’s access to information and yes, the political ones.

(No doubt, some political leaders in Aussie would be thinking hard and long about this idea since some would-be candidates have come undone of late, Brom )

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Microsoft Paint: Fans rejoice as art app saved 'for now'

BBC Technology 24 April 2019

Fans of low-fidelity art app Microsoft Paint are rejoicing after it was confirmed it would remain a part of the Windows operation system "for now".

In 2017, Microsoft had said that Paint would be deprecated but it survived.

Confusion returned in recent weeks as users questioned whether Paint would be part of the next Window 10 update, which launches in May.

A Microsoft developer confirmed that Paint would be included - to the relief of many.

Sydney-based digital artist Miranda Lorikeet, known as "Lazy Bones", uses Paint for her work and is sponsored by Microsoft.

She told BBC News she was surprised to hear that uncertainty over the program's survival had been raised again. "The way I discovered it was when I was like six or seven when I was mucking around on the computer," she said.

"It's a crappy tool at the end of the day, it's not good, and I think I like using something that is genuinely a rubbish tool to make artwork."

It is possible that Microsoft will change Windows 10 so that Paint has to be downloaded separately, rather than being included as a standard app.

This would be unfortunate, added Ms Lorikeet, who praised the "accessible" nature of the program.

Other fans expressed their fondness for the program on social media.

Despite its basic suite of digital paint tools, Paint has attracted interest from patient artists ever since it was launched in the very first version of Microsoft Windows in 1985.

Massachusetts-based illustrator Pat Hines, who goes by the name of "Captain Redblood", is among those who have harnessed the app to produce astoundingly detailed artworks.

In 2017, he released an e-book with illustrations painstakingly produced in Paint.

"I use it pretty much every day," he told BBC News, adding that his illustrations can take anywhere from 15 to 40 hours to complete. He uses a $7 (£5.41) mouse and $200 computer running an old version of Paint. "The limitations are kind of what dictates my aesthetic with it, it's why I chose it as my primary medium. "If I had my way with it it would just be included on every computer."

Yet another aficionado is Concha Garcia Zaera, an 88-year-old Spanish woman who regularly updates her Instagram account with charming digital artworks, all produced in Paint.

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File types supported by Windows Media Player

- The Windows Club 4/5/2019

Windows Media Player is the default desktop application in Windows 10. When you fresh install Windows 10, you can use this to play audio, and video files on your computer. That said, Windows Media Player doesn’t support all formats out of the box. In this post, we are sharing a list of files types supported by Windows Media Player.

File types supported by Windows Media Player

Below is a list of codecs supported by Windows Media Player 12. While Windows 10 comes preinstalled with the same version, make sure to check the version by using ALT+H key combination. Next, click on About Windows Media Player from the menu.

Windows Media formats (.asf, .wma, .wmv, .wm)

Windows Media Metafiles (.asx, .wax, .wvx, .wmx, wpl)

Microsoft Digital Video Recording (.dvr-ms)

Windows Media Download Package (.wmd)

Audio Visual Interleave (.avi)

Moving Pictures Experts Group (.mpg, .mpeg, .m1v, .mp2, .mp3, .mpa, .mpe, .m3u)

Musical Instrument Digital Interface (.mid, .midi, .rmi)

Audio Interchange File Format (.aif, .aifc, .aiff)

Sun Microsystems and NeXT (.au, .snd)

Audio for Windows (.wav)

CD Audio Track (.cda)

Indeo Video Technology (.ivf)

Windows Media Player Skins (.wmz, .wms)

QuickTime Movie file (.mov)

MP4 Audio file (.m4a)

MP4 Video file (.mp4, .m4v, .mp4v, .3g2, .3gp2, .3gp, .3gpp)

Windows audio file (.aac, .adt, .adts)

MPEG-2 TS Video file (.m2ts)

Free Lossless Audio Codec (.flac)

While Windows Media Player includes support for popular codecs like MP3, WMA, WMV, it doesnt have in-built support for modern formats that includes Blue-ray Disc files, and some uncommon ones like FLAC files, or FLV files.

When you try to play a format for which the codec is not available on Windows, you’ll receive a message like “A codec is required to play this file” or “Windows Media Player encountered an error.”

When you install the codecs from the internet, Windows Media Player can make use of those codecs to play unsupported formats.

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Best Medical apps for Windows 10 on Microsoft Store

- The Windows Club 29/4/2019

When the whole world is moving towards the digital boom, how could the medical industry stay behind in taking its advantage? Rather Medical apps become even more important consider the number of books medical students need to carry and the amount of information they need.

Those days are gone, and you can easily use apps to help you through your courses and also remind yourself why you got into this profession in the first place. Starting from medical journals, dictionaries, medical help, anatomical help, you are set to find everything on the Microsoft Store.

Best Medical apps for Windows 10

Here is a list of some of the best Medical apps for students, patients & doctors available in the Microsoft Store for Windows 10.

Offline Medical Dictionary

Complete Anatomy 19 for Windows

Mr. Pillster – Pill Reminder & Medication Tracker

Heart Centre

Student Doctor Network

easyDOK mobile

QMedical

DoctorApp

Med Enews

Let’s Stop Diabetes.

1] Offline Medical Dictionary

With over 30,000 definitions and can be used offline, this Offline Medical Dictionary is available for free from the Microsoft Store. If you are a medical student then having this dictionary is going to be super handy. Rather, if you are a medical student, this is a must-have app.

2] Complete Anatomy 19 for Windows

I will be honest; this app is not for beginners. It is for serious medical professionals or students. It is more than just an anatomy atlas. The catch about this is to access the premium content you may need to pay a subscription, but a substantial amount of information is free.

You get 13,000 interactive modules in full 3D. Download it for free from here.

3] Mr. Pillster – Pill Reminder & Medication Tracker

This is a very useful app to have, especially, if you have medication lined up daily. It doesn’t matter who you are, a sportsperson, a student, the elderly or even a housewife who needs the daily vitamins.

Set your timings on this app and be carefree throughout the day. This app will remind you on time. Download it for free from here.

4] Heart Centre

Another specifically designed app for medical students who are studying the heart. This free medical app for heart students is well equipped with interactive case studies and 20 interactive multiple choice questions too.

Download this app from here.

5] Student Doctor Network

Imagine a constructive social media network for medical students and doctors ? Well, that is exactly what Student Doctor Network is. It gives access to a lot of data and connectivity between people in the medical industry and network.

Download the app from here.

6] easyDOK mobile

This is not a software for non-medical specialties. It is a software for any doctor who has many residents under him/her. It gives each resident to fill in their details and schedules and evaluations for the head doctor to evaluate. It is a very handy app to have for resident doctors in charge of groups. Download it from here for free.

7] QMedical

This is a very useful heart monitor app that helps you ready yourself for your workout and helps you also monitor your calories. It helps you monitor your stress levels too. You can also set your own sleep times, hydration and workout times, giving you a 360-degree coverage to track your wellness.

It is doubly useful for people who have had heart surgeries and is getting back to normal life too. Download this absolutely free app from the Microsoft store now.

8] DoctorApp

Have you ever witnessed how a clinic works in the inside ? How all doctors, nurses and team members are on the same page ? Well, DoctorApp. Helps doctors keep their clinics dot on schedule. Connect with your doctors and team members, share images and prescriptions and keep all appointments on time and accountable.

Get the free app from here.

9] Med Enews

Beautifully catered for doctors to keep up with all the latest innovations in the medical world, the Med Enews is almost a doctor’s companion. You get notified every time that there is a development in the medical world.

Download Med Enews from here for free.

And finally!

10] Let’s Stop Diabetes

Let’s Stop Diabetes is set to be a groundbreaking app that creates a bridge between diabetic doctors and patients. It helps doctors track and understand the disease better to provide successful treatments. Alongside, it is an app that helps diabetic patients to monitor their lifestyle and make the changes they need.

You can easily download this app from here.

End Note

These were the best medical apps available on the Microsoft Store. Some are for medical professionals and some for patients. You can now easily handle your diabetes or even check for your workout prerequisites.

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Microsoft Makes Windows 10 Updates Optional

by John Lister on April, 9 2019

Microsoft is going back to its old policy of letting users choose what Windows updates they get and when they get them, albeit with some restrictions. It's also going to put updates through more testing before rolling them out.

One of the biggest change (and perhaps most controversial) with Windows 10 was the abandonment of the old policy by which users could take a case-by-case approach to downloading updates. The default in Windows 10 for home users has been that everything downloads and installs automatically, though exactly when this happens varies from device to device.

That's partly because of the switch to Windows 10 having "continued updates," rather than having a few major Service Packs released every few years before a completely new version of Windows was released.

Feature Updates Now Optional

With the next big update, due May 2019, security and feature updates will be treated separately. Security updates will continue to go out automatically. With feature updates, the user will get a notification that an update is available.

The user will have the option to download the update but then delayed installation for seven days. They can repeat this process five times, but at the 35-day mark it will install automatically. It wouldn't be surprising if some users chose to delay updates to see if any significant problems become apparent when they start being used by the general public. (Source: zdnet.com)

Testing Program Beefed Up

If the user chooses not to download the update, nothing will happen. The exception will be if their device is approaching the point where Microsoft stops updating it because it's no longer considered powerful enough to cope with the evolving demands of Windows 10 (for example). In this situation, the computer will automatically get what will be its last ever update. (Source: windows.com)

There will also be some changes to the testing process for updates. They will spend longer in the "Release Preview" phase where real-world users can test the updates, then notify Microsoft if something might go wrong. Microsoft is also going to work more closely with computer makers and software developers to get feedback on specific compatibility problems and bugs with an update.

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Screamer Radio is a decent Internet Radio app for Windows PC

- The Windows Club 23/2/2019

It’s not certain how many folks are still listening to radio due to the rise of YouTube and other music platforms. If you’re still one of the few people who listen to the radio regularly, you might want to give internet radio a try. For the most part, it’s much better than regular radio in terms of quality but bear in mind that whenever the internet is no longer in service, everything goes to the dogs. If you’re OK with that, then you’ll enjoy this new radio tool we came across recently that is called Screamer Radio.

We must say, installation is very easy, and not to mention, the user interface is easy on the eyes. Understanding how things work doesn’t take a very long time since all the radio stations are listed right before your eyes.

Screamer Radio Internet Radio app

It should be noted that the list is very small; therefore, you might not locate your favorite channels. Now, since most traditional radio channels are on the web, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get the URL to add your favorite channels to Screamer Radio.

1] Open Stream URL

Here’s the thing, if you want to play your favorite radio stations that are not a part of Screamer, then you’ll have to locate the official stream URL, copy it, and paste it here. Simply click on File, then Open Stream URL, and after that, paste the URL and hit the green button that says Open.

2] Add New Stations

You’ll want to add your favorite stations to this app, so what’s the best way to do it? Well, click on File, then the option that says Add New Station. From there, you’ll need to add the name of the station, description, and the stream URL.

3] Settings

OK, so the Settings are is more or less of what one would expect. Here the user will come across options to alter the user interface and how playback is done. If you’re interested in automatically stopping the radio from playing after 10 minutes of muted playback, then this is not a problem.

Not only that, but users can resume playing the same station after a cold boot, and that’s nice from our point of view.

To make things more visual, Screamer Radio can show a system notification when a track is changed. Furthermore, if you’re interested in seeing an album art, then simply select the option that shows arts from Google.

There’s truly a lot to see here where the Settings is concerned, so we suggest taking your time to go through everything to get a deeper understanding of what it brings to the table.

4] Audio

Since this is an online radio streaming app, it’s safe to say one of the most important aspects would be the audio. You see, by clicking on the Audio tab, folks will have the option to turn on the Compressor, or adjust stereo separation. Hey, it’s nothing significant, but it’s good enough.

Overall, we find Screamer Radio to be an OK experience, and that’s due to the limited radio stations available. Not everyone wants to go through the trouble of locating a stream URL, but at the same time, it means Screamer Radio is less bloated than many of the competition. Download it here.

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Here are 5 sites where you can get streaming TV shows, movies for free

- Kim Komando, Special for USA TODAY May 2, 2019

Streaming video is still a relatively young technology, but most of us can no longer imagine sticking -a disc into a DVD player. Yes, some of us still enjoy our Redbox rentals, and Blu-ray still offers some of the best imaging available.

Gone are the days of driving to Blockbuster, paying late fees, or digging out our membership cards. Streaming video has largely erased that way of life, although there is one last Blockbuster store standing.

Even the big streaming services no longer hold a monopoly. Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime still dominate as top sources of streaming content, but more and more major companies are getting into the streaming business.

This year alone, those options will expand to AT&T, Warner Media, and IMDB streaming services. Disney+ will soon transmit the entire Mickey Mouse, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars universe to your screen. AppleTV+ will release never-before-seen original TV series.

1. Sony Crackle

Sony Crackle is owned by Sony, of course, so it hosts a lot of Sony original content, plus programs and movies from other companies.

● It's a free service to watch some of your favorite TV shows, original programming, and movies.

● It breaks down the content into multiple categories such as spotlights, originals, action, drama, comedy, fandom, thriller, icons, anime, trending and a plethora of other categories.

● Crackle can be connected to a large variety of platforms such as TVs, mobile device, set-top boxes, gaming consoles and online.

● The service is ad-supported to allow it to continue to be free and offers no offline viewing options.

2. Tubi

Tubi streams more than 12,000 titles, including movies and TV shows. Affiliated studios include Paramount, Lionsgate, MGM and more.

● Includes thousands of movies and TV show options for free.

● Stream anywhere on smartphones, Android, iOS, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Xfinity X1, Xbox, Samsung Smart TVs, Sony Smart TVs, PlayStation and the web.

● Includes content from many sources for kids of all ages and content that's not streamed anywhere else.

● Tubi is supported by advertisements during shows.

● Highlights sections called “Not on Netflix,” “Leaving Soon!” and for those Rotten Tomatoes fans a “Highly Rated on Rotten Tomatoes” section.

3. YouTube

YouTube began as a platform for people to upload and display their own videos. That feature remains, but the site now offers videos and some live TV from major partners like CBS, BBC, and others.

● This is a mixture as some films are free if you can find them, while others are at a premium.

● Video quality can vary based on the program. Meaning you could see 480p, 720p, or 1080p resolutions.

● Unfortunately, there is no way to filter the content by genre or free versus paid, so it can be challenging to find what you're looking for.

● When searching and finding what you are looking for, your best bet is looking for content with high view counts and subscriptions to the content.

4. Pluto TV

Pluto TV is owned by Viacom and runs more than 100 free channels, from old TV shows to movies to a (limited) selection of sports.

● Runs on Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Roku and PlayStation.

● Channels include CBS News, Food TV, NBC, Bloomberg TV (which airs The Kim Komando TV Show), Crime Network and more.

● Apps are available for Apple and Android devices.

● Shows include ads.

5. Vudu

Vudu delivers full-length movies and TV for free but offers more content in subscriptions.

● Free programs are thoughtfully labeled with the text in a subtle red highlight if they're free and with ads.

● The profiles provided on a particular film gives you a breakdown of the description of the media, MPAA score, Rotten Tomatoes (RT) scoring, if it has closed captions, length of the content, a trailer, cast and crew information and full RT Reviews.

● Content available for free with ads can also be rented and bought digitally.

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