Monthly Archives: March, 2015

Microsoft Is Developing Software That Converts Android Phones To Windows 10

Microsoft dropped an interesting piece of information today amid its confirmation that Windows 10 will go on sale this summer.Near the end of its announcement, the Redmond-based company casually revealed that it is testing Windows 10 with “power users” of Xiaomi’s flagship Mi 4 Android smartphone. The initiative, which Xiaomi stressed is not a partnership but merely assistance with the trial, is an interesting one because it again shows Microsoft’s new ‘platform agnostic’ approach.

Neither Microsoft nor Xiaomi provided specific details of the Windows 10 software being trialled, but TechCrunch understands from sources that it effectively overrides Android, turning the Xiaomi phone into a Windows 10 device complete with Microsoft services. (Which the company hopes will dazzle Android owners into making the switch.)

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The Kitchen Skills Kids Can Learn, By Age Group

The Kitchen Skills Kids Can Learn, By Age Group

The Power of ‘Good Enough’

How settling can make people happier and more satisfied than gunning for “the best”
Carnie Lewis/Flickr

Over a decade ago, psychologist Barry Schwartz published what might be the ultimate psychological life-hacking tome, The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less.​ In it, Schwartz argues that the modern world’s smorgasbord of options—Brawny or Bounty? Coke Zero or Diet? Major in sociology or anthropology?—makes us less happy, not more. “Choice overload,” as he calls it, makes us question our decisions, set our expectations too high, and blame ourselves for our mistakes.

The book spawned the usual TED talks and counterintuitive Internet takes. More recently, Schwartz has been interviewed in a variety of publications and platforms about how his advice holds up 10 years later. The rise of social media, he argues, has only heightened the agony of decision-making through phenomena like FOMO (fear of missing out).
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Safari bug saves Web page URLs in Private mode

NewSafariIconXPrivate Browsing mode should prevent most Web browsers from saving loaded content in any way. Any such information such as that in your browser’s cache, its history, or cookie information should be stored temporarily for the current session, and then discarded when you close your browser window. However, in Safari your pages might be logged by a small but overlooked aspect of how Safari handles Web pages.

As described by MacIssues reader Tyler C.:

“I was troubleshooting some issues with Safari and opened up ~/Library/Safari/WebpageIcons.db, and in that file, I was surprised to find all the URLs of sites (stored in plain text) that I and others using my Mac visited in “private windows” in Safari. The URLs seem to stay in there basically forever unless you clear out all your browsing data (which defeats the entire purpose of using a “private window”).”

Co-Worker Slacking Off? Don’t Get Mad—Ask This Question