The Verge: Microsoft Lists is now available for everyone on iOS, Android, and the web

The Verge: Microsoft Lists is now available for everyone on iOS, Android, and the web. “Microsoft’s task management app, Microsoft Lists, is now available for everyone to use. Launched in 2020, Microsoft Lists was originally limited to just business and enterprise users, before a limited preview for consumers last year. Microsoft is now letting anyone with a Microsoft Account access this free version of Microsoft Lists through iOS and Android apps and on the web.”

Washington Post: Tech giants ramp up cloud security under pressure from Washington

Washington Post: Tech giants ramp up cloud security under pressure from Washington. “After a recent theft of emails from top U.S. officials raised alarms about the country’s increasing dependence on the biggest cloud computing companies, Amazon, Google and Microsoft have begun to explain more of the work they do to secure the data of tens of millions of online customers.”

How-To Geek: Microsoft Ends Free Windows 10 & 11 Upgrades for Windows 7 & 8

How-To Geek: Microsoft Ends Free Windows 10 & 11 Upgrades for Windows 7 & 8. “Microsoft just closed its free upgrade path for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users. This may seem like an insignificant change, but it will affect two very large groups of people. Enthusiasts can no longer use their old Windows 7 and 8 product keys to activate Windows 10 or 11 on a new PC or in a virtual machine. And stubborn gamers who refused to install Windows 10 will soon be forced to make an upgrade, as Steam will stop working on Windows 7 and 8 in 2024.”

Engadget: Microsoft AI researchers mistakenly leaked 38TB of company data

Engadget: Microsoft AI researchers mistakenly leaked 38TB of company data. “A Microsoft AI research team that uploaded training data on GitHub in an effort to offer other researchers open-source code and AI models for image recognition inadvertently exposed 38TB of personal data. Wiz, a cybersecurity firm, discovered a link included in the files that contained backups of Microsoft employees’ computers. Those backups contained passwords to Microsoft services, secret keys and over 30,000 internal Teams messages from hundreds of the tech giant’s employees, Wiz says.”

Futurism: Microsoft Publishes Garbled AI Article Calling Tragically Deceased NBA Player “Useless”

Futurism: Microsoft Publishes Garbled AI Article Calling Tragically Deceased NBA Player “Useless . “Former NBA player Brandon Hunter passed away unexpectedly at the young age of 42 this week, a tragedy that rattled fans of his 2000s career with the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic. But in an unhinged twist on what was otherwise a somber news story, Microsoft’s MSN news portal published a garbled, seemingly AI-generated article that derided Hunter as ‘useless’ in its headline.”

The Verge: Microsoft is testing a background removal tool in Paint

The Verge: Microsoft is testing a background removal tool in Paint. “Microsoft is testing a new background removal tool in Paint. The feature is rolling out now to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels (version 11.2306.30.0) and lets you remove an image’s background with a single click.” I’m not going to mention every single background removal tool ever, but this seems to me an interesting intersection of the iconic and the future.

UPI: Microsoft report highlights Chinese social media campaign against U.S.

UPI: Microsoft report highlights Chinese social media campaign against U.S.. “Microsoft accused China on Thursday of operating a disinformation campaign targeting political candidates by impersonating U.S. voters on numerous social media platforms. In a threat analysis report, Microsoft said that the Chinese Communist Party has improved its sophistication in engaging targeted audiences and their spread is much wider than observed in the past.”

404 Media: Hackers Can Silently Grab Your IP Through Skype. Microsoft Is In No Rush to Fix It

404 Media: Hackers Can Silently Grab Your IP Through Skype. Microsoft Is In No Rush to Fix It. “Hackers are able to grab a target’s IP address, potentially revealing their general physical location, by simply sending a link over the Skype mobile app. The target does not need to click the link or otherwise interact with the hacker beyond opening the message, according to a security researcher who demonstrated the issue and successfully discovered my IP address by using it.”

The Verge: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Windows 11 to get people to ditch Google

The Verge: Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Windows 11 to get people to ditch Google. “I thought I had malware on my main Windows 11 machine this weekend. There I was minding my own business in Chrome before tabbing back to a game and wham a pop-up appeared asking me to switch my default search engine to Microsoft Bing in Chrome. Stunningly, Microsoft now thinks it’s ok to shove a pop-up in my face above my apps and games just because I dare to use Chrome instead of Microsoft Edge.”