A few days ago, OpenAI's board announced the shock firing of CEO Sam Altman, stating that the executive had not been candid in his communications with the board. CTO Mira Murati was appointed as the interim CEO while the search for a permanent replacement began. However, the news cycle around this topic has been rife with rumors, speculation, and public statements from those involved. Now, in a major twist of events, Microsoft has announced that it is hiring Altman following his ouster, while continuing its partnership with OpenAI.

Windows 10 and Windows 11 come with a new homepage for File Explorer called Quick Access (or Home, in recent versions of Windows 11). This page highlights recent files, frequent folders, and more, and while it can be useful, it's not for everyone. If you don't want to have the Quick Access page in File Explorer, here's how to remove it.

If you want to ensure full privacy on Chromebook, the obvious choice is a virtual private network (VPN). This ensures all real-time internet activity is encrypted from snoopers and hackers, especially when using public Wi-Fi. Moreover, the best VPNs help hide your VPN usage from ISPs and heavy-handed governments, which means less chance of throttling and censorship.

It's almost that time. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the biggest shopping days of the year, and so many stores save their biggest savings for those days. Black Friday is traditionally the largest event, with deals on all kinds of items for you and your loved ones, and Cyber Monday follows that up with even more massive savings, usually on electronics and consumer tech. Many people will track which stores, shops, and online outlets have the best Black Friday savings on laptops, graphics cards, or SSDs, and then get ready to purchase them when the sales drop. You can sometimes even find deals on Apple devices, which are rarer throughout the year.

Anker is a very respectable brand that manufactures almost anything and everything you can think of. One of my first experiences with the brand came from using their Bluetooth wireless speakers, and I eventually fell in love with Anker’s Soundcore Motion X600 portable Bluetooth speaker, which basically goes with me anywhere I go, as it’s a great option whenever I want to share my favorite tunes. However, when I want to enjoy my favorite music all alone, I pick up a pair of Soundcore Liberty 4 NC Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds and enjoy my music to the fullest. The best part is that you can now pick up a pair of these outstanding wireless earbuds for just $70, thanks to the latest Black Friday deals.

There are plenty of great web browsers available in 2023, and the most popular one is Google Chrome. I use Chrome anytime I'm using a Windows PC or Android phone, and it's a generally fine experience. However, every time I find myself using Chrome, I start wishing I was using Safari on macOS Sonoma or iOS 17. It's only available on Apple platforms, but for Mac users, it's the best desktop browser available. From fantastic privacy features to useful continuity tools, Safari is a must-use application, and here are four reasons why.

Black Friday deals are hotter than ever this year, with fantastic deals on SSDs. But if you're looking for a great SSD that will offer plenty of speed and reliability, look no further than Samsung's 980 Pro SSDs. The SSDs come in a wide variety of sizes, and there's also a heatsink model as well.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on stage at OpenAI’s first developer conference. | Image: Getty Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced late last night that former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman were both joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team, an announcement that sent Microsoft’s stock price soaring. Now, less than 24 hours later, following The Verge reporting that Sam Altman is still trying to return as OpenAI CEO, Nadella doesn’t seem so sure.“[We’re] committed to OpenAI and Sam, irrespective of what configuration,” said Nadella in an interview with CNBC’s Jon Fortt, adding that Microsoft “chose to explicitly partner with OpenAI [and] obviously that depends on the people at OpenAI staying there or coming to Microsoft, so I’m open to both options.” Nadella added that “obviously we... Continue reading…

Joe Biden arriving to pardon the National Thanksgiving turkeys on November 20, 2023. | Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images US President Joe Biden signed up for a Threads account today, as did the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris, and the second gentleman, Douglas Emhoff. Biden’s first post on Meta’s X (formerly Twitter) competitor harkens back to his 2020 presidential victory speech with references to the country’s divisions and its current “inflection point.” Harris gestured to her travels throughout the US and her having met “over 100” world leaders, and Emhoff wrote about gender equity and “countering hate of all kinds.” Meanwhile, the White House wrote, “The wait is Joe-ver.” Yes, I suppose it is. Former President Obama also posted a birthday message to Biden on Threads today.Biden and company signing up is a good sign for the platform.... Continue reading…

Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Vox Media Last week, Elon Musk appeared to endorse antisemitic conspiracy theories and posted about supporting white pride on his social platform X, formerly Twitter. Musk’s tweets were then highlighted by a Media Matters article that found advertising from major companies had shown up next to pro-Nazi content. Major advertisers then halted their ad spends on the platform. To address the controversy, CEO Linda Yaccarino sent a memo titled “Our Work Is Meaningful,” reiterating her commitment to X.As pressure mounts for the company to distance itself from supporting antisemitism, Forbes reported that advertisers are urging Yaccarino to resign as well. A former NBCUniversal chairperson with close ties to the ad industry, Yaccarino had been brought... Continue reading…

Image: The Verge Music streaming service Spotify struck a seemingly unique and highly generous deal with Google for Android-based payments, according to new testimony in the Epic v. Google trial. On the stand, Google head of global partnerships Don Harrison confirmed Spotify paid a 0 percent commission when users chose to buy subscriptions through Spotify’s own system. If the users picked Google as their payment processor, Spotify handed over 4 percent — dramatically less than Google’s more common 15 percent fee.Google fought to keep the Spotify numbers private during its antitrust fight with Epic, saying they could damage negotiations with other app developers who might want more generous rates. Google’s User Choice Billing program, launched in 2022,... Continue reading…

When you set up a new Apple Watch, you will choose a four-digit passcode to access the device (if you want to have a passcode activated). Once set up, you must enter this passcode to see anything on the watch face when it isn’t on your wrist, or when you first put it back on your wrist after charging. This is for security purposes so someone can’t grab your watch and access your personal health information, messages, and more. What happens if you decide you want to change the passcode because you think a nosy co-worker saw you input yours or your child has figured it out and you don’t want them reading your personal messages? It’s easy to change the Apple Watch passcode.