By Hisan Kidwai Free Fire Max is one of the most popular games on the planet, and for good…
The post Garena Free Fire Max Redeem Codes for July 17 appeared first on Fossbytes.

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By Siôn Geschwindt Norwegian industrial investment firm Aker has announced plans to build an AI “factory” in the Arctic. It’s the latest company heading to the far north to tap into abundant green energy and natural cooling for power-hungry data centres.  The facility will be located in the Norwegian coastal town of Narvik, which lies 220km within the Arctic Circle. Aker’s president and CEO, Øyvind Eriksen said that the site already had access to 230MW of power and was ready for construction to commence. He added that discussions with potential tech firms and partners for the project were ongoing.  However, Eriksen provided limited details…This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

For a while now, OpenAI has been rumored to be working to develop its own web browser, with the aim of challenging Google’s dominance in the segment. And that browser will apparently be named “Aura”, according to Bleeping Computer. The browser name was referenced in the code used by ChatGPT.

The interface in Aura is said to be reminiscent of ChatGPT — in other words, the focus will be on conversations rather than the traditional clicking of links. Alongside ChatGPT, Aura is expected to offer built-in support for the SearchGPT search engine and the AI agent Operator.

The launch of the new browser is expected to take place later this summer, possibly by the end of July.

Source:: Computer World

Engineers in China are maintaining US Department of Defense computer systems under a contract with Microsoft, a news report said Tuesday.

The arrangement relies on US staff known as “digital escorts” to supervise the Chinese workers, but the escorts often lack the skills to monitor the work effectively, the report by investigative news service ProPublica said.

“We’re trusting that what they’re doing isn’t malicious, but we really can’t tell,” Propublica quoted one of the escorts as saying.

The arrangement has been in use for almost ten years but has not previously been reported publicly, ProPublica said.

Allowing Chinese workers to access US government systems with inadequate supervision is surprising given the tensions that have arisen between the two countries in recent years.

In its 2023 Intelligence Threat Assessment, the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence identified China as “the broadest, most active, and persistent cyber espionage threat to US Government and private-sector networks.” A year later, China was still top of the threat list for defense security experts in the US and other Western countries. And in its 2025 Intelligence Threat Assessment, the ODNI doubled down, saying, “China stands out as the actor most capable of threatening U.S. interests globally.”

The steady drip of revelations about Chinese attacks on US critical infrastructure, businesses, government IT systems, contractors, and perhaps even courts has done little to calm matters. The trade war over tariffs and access to rare earth elements and other materials essential to IT vendors begun by US President Donald Trump when he took office in January has further aggravated the situation — although in June Trump claimed the relationship is excellent between the two countries.

Protecting sensitive data

Microsoft said that company staff and contractors with privileged access to US government cloud systems had to pass government-approved background screening controls, and that it adheres to FedRAMP (NIST 800-53) and Department of Defense Security Requirements Guide (DoD SRG) security requirements.

“For some technical requests, Microsoft engages our team of global subject matter experts to provide support through authorized US personnel, consistent with US Government requirements and processes. In these instances, global support personnel have no direct access to customer data or customer systems. Only authorized US persons with the appropriate clearances and training provide direct support. These personnel are provided specific training on protecting sensitive data, preventing harm, and use of the specific commands/controls within the environment,” said a Microsoft spokesperson.

The company “told ProPublica that it has disclosed details about the escort model to the federal government,” according to the report.

But people involved in the work have told Microsoft those protections are inadequate, according to the report. Foreign engineers have access to detailed information about the federal cloud that could be exploited by hackers, and the digital escorts are insufficiently skilled to catch all suspicious activity, it said.

The Defense Information Systems Agency told ProPublica that digital escorts are used “in select unclassified environments” for “advanced problem diagnosis and resolution from industry subject matter experts” and that “experts under escort supervision have no direct, hands-on access to government systems; but rather offer guidance and recommendations to authorized administrators who perform tasks.”

That description matches a job posting for a “DoD Secret Cleared Escort” by contractor Insight Global, which illustrates the kind of work digital escorts perform — although it says nothing about the nationality of the workers who will be supervised. For between $18 and $28 per hour plus medical insurance, escorts are required to “act as the front door of the service” for work on Insight Global’s sovereign cloud serving US federal and state government customers, while “taking direction from the requesting engineers” (who may not have the necessary security clearance). Escorts run commands provided by the engineers and share results with them, and their activities can involve Exchange Server maintenance, Active Directory administration, working with SQL databases, managing virtual machines with Hyper-V, and network management.

Source:: Computer World

By Siôn Geschwindt Dutch file-sharing service WeTransfer is under fire after users spotted sweeping updates to its terms of service that appeared to let the company train AI models on their uploaded files. The company has now removed the controversial language, but users remain outraged. Here’s what’s going on — and why it matters. What did WeTransfer change? WeTransfer users discovered this week that the service had updated its policy with a clause granting it a perpetual, royalty‑free license to use user‑uploaded content, including for “improving machine learning models that enhance content moderation.” The changes were due to come into effect on August…This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

By Hisan Kidwai Water is the worst enemy of any electronic device, as it conducts electricity and damages the…
The post 4 Ways To Get Water Out Of Charging Port on Android & iPhone appeared first on Fossbytes.

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By Siôn Geschwindt A giant cargo ship is trapping carbon from its exhaust and turning it into cement for use in onshore construction. The technology, developed by UK startup Seabound, is billed as the world’s first commercial carbon capture system for boats. It’s installed on the UBC Cork, a cement carrier owned by Germany’s Hartmann Group. “These are the systems we intend to scale across hundreds, and eventually thousands, of vessels,” Alisha Frediksson, Seabound’s CEO and co-founder, told TNW. “We’re therefore very excited to get them out into the world — to gather valuable data, optimise future iterations, and most importantly, to show…This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

By Hisan Kidwai Inspired by the belovedBlue Lockanime series, Blue Lock Rivalsis a soccer/football game in which players compete…
The post Blue Lock Rivals Codes (July 2025) appeared first on Fossbytes.

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As I’ve noted before, it will take the better part of a decade for Apple or anyone else to manufacture smartphones in mass market quantities in the US. Getting there requires huge investments to solve big problems, including training, manufacturing, component sourcing, and raw materials supply.

And now, Apple is about to invest $500 million in the last of those, working with the only US rare earth supplier, MP Materials. The decision includes plans to purchase US-made rare earth magnets from the company in what is being billed as a win for the Trump Administration. Apple and MP Materials will build a new recycling facility in which to extract materials from used electronics, along with another factory to make components for Apple devices.

Unlocking the component supply chain

It’s a big deal because right now China produces around 60% of the globe’s rare earths and processes around 90% of that material. The investment puts at least some of that capacity in US hands, even though a recent deal with China saw the trade in those critical materials between the two nations resume. (The materials are available elsewhere, but they are so rare they are paid for in human misery.)

There’s a lot that matters in the news. First, the reality is that rare earths are essential to manufacture most modern electronic devices, from iPhones to satellites, cars to stealth bombers. Secondly, America’s reliance on external suppliers for these substances is a strategic problem that puts the brakes on any hope of bringing electronics manufacturing back to the US. A recent US Department of Defense decision to invest $400 million in MP Materials has contributed to interest across US rare earth stocks as investors sense opportunity.

“MP Materials is America’s only fully integrated rare earth producer with capabilities spanning the entire supply chain, from mining and processing to advanced metallization and magnet manufacturing,” the company’s website explains. “We extract and refine materials from one of the world’s richest rare earth deposits in California and manufacture the world’s strongest and most efficient permanent magnets.”

The complexity management business

Apple has been in the current US government’s cross hairs in recent weeks, under pressure to build up manufacturing of Apple products in the US. Apple has, no doubt, argued that it has taken steps to reduce reliance on China and invested billions in making products in India and elsewhere. Still, the company has been slammed for not doing enough, even though moving manufacturing is not simple and requires extensive investments in everything from skills development to infrastructure enhancement, not to mention the logistics of component supply.

Apple must hope that by committing half a billion dollars to a US rare earth supplier it will be seen as showing a willingness to invest in the country on a journey toward future expansion of US manufacturing. I see it as most likely that any Apple products made in the US will either be very high-end advanced technologies, or lower-end products that require less skill to manufacture — the US just doesn’t have enough trained staff.

Jaw-jaw beats war-war

Apple CEO Tim Cook’s determination to continue to negotiate with people even where he doesn’t agree with them may be paying off, at least a little. Commenting on the arrangement a White House official told Fox News, “Apple deserves a lot of credit for stepping up.”

While it remains open to question whether the government sees the full significance of this step, it is significant all the same. The principle in play is that if Apple can source raw materials in the US, it is one giant step closer to being able to manufacture some of the more advanced components it uses in its devices. While the practicalities of production and supply mean many of the rest of these components will continue to come from elsewhere, the opportunity to move toward final assembly in the US grows a little each time Apple manages to source components in the US. 

Nothing will – or can – happen overnight. But it is certainly not at all true that Cook’s complex approach to working with sometimes opposing intergovernmental demands has failed – because while there’s no doubt its complicated, he continues to find incremental positives within an incredibly complex politico-business environment.

You can follow me on social media! Join me on BlueSky,  LinkedIn, and Mastodon.

Source:: Computer World

The relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI, once the biggest bromance in the tech industry, has deteriorated so badly that the companies are now mulling taking “nuclear options” against one another — actions that could seriously damage both companies. 

At issue is how much Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in OpenAI will be worth if OpenAI goes public, as it plans to do. The companies are locked in an increasingly bitter battle over how Microsoft’s investment should be valued.

OpenAI has already hinted at moves that could get the US government to prosecute Microsoft for AI-related antitrust violations, which could force the company to spin off its AI products. Microsoft, in turn, might shut off negotiations with OpenAI, putting any IPO — and the company’s future — at risk.

Now OpenAI is going straight for Microsoft’s jugular: It’s considering launching a productivity suite with generative AI (genAI) tools built in, a direct attack on Microsoft’s multibillion dollar Microsoft 365 office suite business.

OpenAI’s plans for a productivity suite remain hush-hush, but some details have leaked. Here’s what we know now, and what the consequences of launching one might be.

What might OpenAI’s productivity suite include? 

The little reporting done about OpenAI’s suite says it will focus on collaborative document editing, include automated meeting transcriptions, have team chat capabilities, and be tightly integrated with ChatGPT. 

Beyond that, little is known. Will it have a full suite of applications, including a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software, and email? Will there be more than that, along the lines of Microsoft’s Clipchamp for video creation, or Project for project management? What collaboration capabilities would it have? And how would it all linked to genAI?

Most important of all: What in the suite would make enterprises abandon Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace for OpenAI’s offering? So far, mum’s the word.

At first glance, it seems as if there’s little room in the market for a third enterprise-focused office productivity suite. Google and Microsoft take very different approaches to their suites, which leaves OpenAI with very little to offer that either of them doesn’t have already.

Microsoft takes a maximalist, everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink approach with Microsoft 365. Each app is stacked with so many features, there’s very little they can’t do. When was the last time you needed to print envelopes or do mail merges? Probably never. But they’re available in Word if you want them. The same holds true for all the other apps in the suite.

Google has taken a different approach. Workplace isn’t nearly as feature-rich as Microsoft 365, but Google’s collaborative tools are much better than Microsoft’s. 

With such a clear differentiation, it’s relatively easy for enterprises to decide which suite they prefer: Microsoft 365 for a full feature set, Google Workspace for collaboration.

That seems to leave no room for an OpenAI’s productivity suite. It’s unlikely to improve so much on Google’s traditional collaboration tools or Microsoft’s feature set that it can gain a foothold. Trying to split the difference between the suites and offer a wishy-washy application somewhere between the two won’t help at all.

So, it’s likely OpenAI’s suite will play to its strengths and offer genAI-centric collaboration for creating, editing, and finalizing documents, possibly turning the way people create documents on its head. Rather than have a single author write a document, then send links to others so they can collaborate on editing it, OpenAI’s suite might well use collaborative AI from the get-go, allowing people to use AI prompts together to create documents from scratch. They would also collaboratively edit it using AI. It could also use genAI-guided brainstorming and even genAI graphic-creation tools as well.

This way, the suite won’t need to replicate Microsoft 365’s bells and whistles or take a back seat to Google Workplace for collaboration. It could be pitched as the future of the genAI-driven workplace.

Follow the money

Just as no one knows the exact feature set of the suite, no one knows how much OpenAI might charge for it if it’s launched. Pricing is one area where Microsoft is extremely vulnerable. Enterprise versions of Microsoft 365 cost anywhere from $7.75 per user per month to $35.75 per user per month, depending on the feature set. Adding Microsoft 365 Copilot costs $30 more per user per month, tripling the cost of Microsoft 365 with AI for some companies — and doubling the price or more for most others. Given that many enterprises have thousands or tens of thousands of Microsoft 365 users, that’s a tremendous price increase. 

Beyond pricing, it’s not clear that workers in enterprises are particularly taken with Copilot’s capabilities. Bloomberg reports that ChatGPT is far more popular with enterprise workers than Copilot, and that companies that have bought Microsoft 365 Copilot are having serious problems convincing their employees to switch from ChatGPT to Copilot.

That doesn’t mean, of course, that companies will be willing to abandon Microsoft 365 for a new OpenAI productivity suite. But it does offer OpenAI at least an opening. And if it lowballs the price of its productivity suite at $10 or $15 a month per user, that would be a big incentive for enterprises to at least test it out, given that many have to pay more than $65 per month per employee for Microsoft’s office suite with AI included.

The upshot

We don’t know much yet about the OpenAI productivity suite, or even if the company is serious about launching it. It could be that the company is only using the threat of selling it as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with Microsoft.

Either way, though, Microsoft should be worried about OpenAI’s suite. If Microsoft wants its AI investment to pay off, it’s going to have to get serious about improving Microsoft 365 Copilot to fight off the potential challenge from OpenAI.

Source:: Computer World

By Siôn Geschwindt London-based insurtech startup Laka has raised $10.4mn in Series B funding as it eyes profitability at the end of next year. Laka offers “collective” insurance for bikes and e-scooters, pooling claims across a community of riders. Instead of fixed, upfront premiums, customers pay a variable monthly fee based on the total number of claims across the entire user base. The fee is capped at a maximum amount based on the value of their gear. Fewer claims mean lower costs for everyone.   Laka provides the insurance cover both directly and through retailers like Decathlon, Brompton Bikes, Gazelle, and Ribble Bikes.  Tobias…This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

The US Department of Defense’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) on Monday announced it had awarded contracts worth up to $200 million each to four leading generative AI (genAI) companies to develop AI capabilities needed for “critical national security issues.”

The contracts with Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI will, CDAO said, “enable the Department to leverage the technology and talent of US frontier AI companies to develop agentic AI workflows across a variety of mission areas.” 

The department defines frontier AI companies as those that “lead development of the most advanced AI models and technologies, conduct insightful research into the use of frontier AI, and pioneer efforts to address both the potential benefits and risks of frontier AI technologies.”

CDAO is also providing access to all four companies’ genAI models for general purpose use in multiple defense departments, including the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and will provide wider access via embedded AI models within Department of Defense (DoD) enterprise data and AI platforms. It is also partnering with General Services Administration (GSA) to bring AI technologies to the US government as a whole, while aiming to control the costs of AI production and required computing resources through combined buying power.

“The adoption of AI is transforming the Department’s ability to support our warfighters and maintain strategic advantage over our adversaries,”  Chief Digital and AI Officer Doug Matty said in a statement. “Leveraging commercially available solutions into an integrated capabilities approach will accelerate the use of advanced AI as part of our Joint mission essential tasks in our warfighting domain as well as intelligence, business, and enterprise information systems.”

In a separate announcement, xAI today unveiled Grok for Government, a suite of products for US federal, state, local, and national security customers. In addition to what’s in the company’s commercial offerings, it includes custom models, additional support, custom AI-powered applications, and soon, models in classified and other restricted environments.

Source:: Computer World

This morning, I found an interesting Canalys report shared by analyst Runar Bjorhovde that shows — despite everything Apple does— people still don’t seem to think iPhones are all that durable. That’s strange, given how much cash Apple spends improving iPhone durability and the device’s reputation as leading second-user markets.

I contacted Bjorhovde to get more insight.

The perception reflected the opinion of more than 8,000 consumers across Europe and shows that while Apple continues to outpace most of the rest of the industry on privacy and security, Samsung over-indexes on durability while Apple seems to score lower than it should. 

Apple has a strong brand value

“Our respondents associate Apple with being [a] reliable brand representing quality design, though being expensive,” Bjorhovde told me by email. “Personally, I think the expensive price perception — and consistently high price tag — is what makes Apple so desirable in many cases through its status.

“Apple’s perhaps greatest benefit compared to its smartphone and PC competitors, is that people have strong opinions about the brand and a clear idea of what it represents,” Bjorhovde said. “Risk aversion amongst buyers can be a massive hurdle for any company seeking to succeed in an establish category.”

But Apple lags when it comes to consumer perception around durability. Here’s the chart that shows the data.

Canalys

Why is this? 

I think Apple is a scapegoat in this perception because of its size and popularity, which means that when an iPhone gets smashed, Apple gets the blame. It is also worth pointing out that Apple was first to market with a modern smartphone back in 2007, and with so much new technology the original device was more prone to breakage than subsequent generations.

The devices were so new and so exciting that everything about them (good and bad) was reported, including screen breakages, which baked in an assumption that they break. The messaging we picked up then were the first impressions of the modern smartphone industry, and those messages stick. The phone cover and case market among iPhone users remains vibrant as a result.

“There are stories going far back around — for example, around reducing battery capacity over time — that might still be holding Apple’s durability perception back,” the analyst said. “Apple has also been subject to fierce opinion pieces and lawsuits towards its repairability, a lot stemming from companies that have a strong stake in the second-hand value of iPhones,” he added. “More than anything, I think the poor durability score is a result of Apple not owning its durability narrative well enough.”

Follow the money

It’s a perception that is amplified in another way, as repair industry stores tend to focus on iPhones in their advertising, reflecting how popular those devices are. This builds the perception of fragility of Apple products. 

iPhones aren’t the only advanced and expensive devices that break. “Even though the most advanced smartphones today are made with space age materials like titanium, Armor Aluminium, and Ceramic Shield screens, they’re still susceptible to damage when dropped on a concrete sidewalk,” Jason Siciliano, vice president of marketing and global creative director at Allstate Protection Plans, said in a statement.

The perception that iPhones break more often remains, though the data also shows that for innovation, privacy and security, the iPhone indexes well, as it does for the camera. So, perhaps it can afford a little misconception around durability.

Like many prejudices, it isn’t completely true

I think Apple should attack this perception head on. It should not be too hard to break it, either, given that iPhone dominates the used-phone markets. People are happy to buy a second-user iPhone because they know their new/old devices will keep working longer — and this extends to durability.

Ask yourself: How could a device that lasts longer be less durable? “The reality is that Apple might be the most criticized vendor in the smartphone industry when it comes to durability,” Bjorhovde said, “but that doesn’t mean that it actually represents reality.”

In 2024, there were 5.14 billion active smartphones, of which 21% were iPhones, standing several percentage points ahead of Apple’s market share of newly sold devices, according to data from Canalys (now part of Omdia). “iPhones have a longer lifetime and more value in the second-hand market than any other brand,”Bjorhovdehe said. 

He pointed out that other vendors like Samsung even “subsidize the trade-in values of their own smartphones to help them match Apple in attractiveness.”

Europe’s other plan

There is one more thing to consider. Europe has yet another idea to attack Apple, this time in the form of its weirdly formulated energy efficiency labelling scheme, which threatens to be inconsistently applied.

Apple generally scores very well, but has been highly critical of the unclear methodology of that scheme. “The EU Energy Labelling regulation has a number of significant ambiguities in the prescribed transitional test methods,” the company said. (The concern is that Europe might use these tests as yet another way to attack US tech.)

“Apple leans towards durability more than most other vendors,” the analyst told me.

Of course, the problem with erroneous beliefs once they do bed in is that they are remarkably hard to shift. But perhaps sharing a few facts will help change perception. 

You can follow me on social media! Join me on BlueSky,  LinkedIn, and Mastodon.

Source:: Computer World

By Siôn Geschwindt Funding focus is a new series analysing cash flow into the European tech ecosystem. Last week, we looked at the largest investment rounds in the Netherlands, and now we’re honing in on Europe’s budding fusion energy sector.  European fusion energy startups raised a record €290mn in the first half of this year as VCs bet big on a technology with the potential to supply virtually limitless clean power. Funding in 2025 has already eclipsed 2024 levels — the previous record year — which saw fusion energy companies raise €185mn, according to Dealroom data. Leading the pack this year was Munich-based…This story continues at The Next Web

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By Hisan Kidwai Free Fire Max is probably one of the most popular games on the planet, and for…
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By Deepti Pathak Free Fire Max is probably one of the most popular games on the planet, and for…
The post Garena Free Fire Max Redeem Codes for July 13 appeared first on Fossbytes.

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By Hisan Kidwai Free Fire Max is probably one of the most popular games on the planet, and for…
The post Garena Free Fire Max Redeem Codes for July 12 appeared first on Fossbytes.

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With 133 patches in its Patch Tuesday update this month, Microsoft delivered a big, broad and important release that requires a Patch Now plan for Windows, Microsoft Office and SQL Server. A zero-day (CVE-2025-49719) in SQL Server requires urgent action, as do Git extensions to Microsoft Visual Studio. 

To help IT admins navigate these changes, the team from Readiness has provided this useful infographic detailing the risks of deploying the updates to each platform. (More information about recent Patch Tuesday releases is available here.)

Known issues 

Microsoft is doing a pretty good job these days and there are a relatively small number of known issues reported for the desktop and server platforms, including this minor issue with Windows 10:

Noto fonts are still experiencing display issues at smaller (less than 96 DPI) resolutions. For additional support, users can report issues related to Noto CJK fonts through the official Google Noto Fonts GitHub repository.

Major revisions and mitigations

So far, Microsoft has not published any revisions or updates to this month’s patches.

Windows lifecycle and enforcement updates

Likewise, there are no further enforcement updates from Microsoft this month. However, for some (strange) reason, every Microsoft support page that deals with Windows 10, displays this message;

“After October 14, 2025, Microsoft will no longer provide free software updates from Windows Update, technical assistance, or security fixes for Windows 10. Your PC will still work, but we recommend moving to Windows 11.”

The team at Readiness has analyzed Microsoft’s latest updates to develop technically sound, actionable testing plans. July’s release brings significant updates to core Windows components, most notably in the areas of printing, networking, and media playback. Two components have been designated as high-risk and warrant immediate attention: the Printing Subsystem and Routing and Remote Access (RRAS).

As always, we have grouped Microsoft’s updates by Windows feature and accompanied each section with prescriptive test actions and rationale to help prioritize enterprise validation efforts.

Core OS and printing

Microsoft updated several core kernel drivers affecting Windows as a whole. This is a low-level system change and carries a high risk of compatibility and system issues. In addition, core Microsoft print libraries have been included in this month’s update, requiring additional print testing in addition to the following recommendations:

Run print operations from 32-bit applications on 64-bit Windows environments.

Use different print drivers and configurations (e.g., local, networked).

Observe printing from older productivity apps and virtual environments, paying close attention to the boundaries/margins of the printing area.

Remote Desktop and network connectivity

This month’s updates could affect the reliability of remote access, and regressions in RRAS can disrupt critical network infrastructure. We recommend the following tests:

Create and reconnect Remote Desktop (RDP) sessions under varying network conditions.

Test modifying NAT and routing settings in RRAS configurations and ensure that changes persist across reboots.

Create a VPN profile using the UI or PowerShell and try to connect/disconnect with different VPN servers.

Test RemoteApp functionality by setting up and using web feed URLs.

Test devices such as touchpads, keyboards, and touchscreens that use the I2C protocol.

When validating routing information, ensure property pages report expected settings (checking the following protocols: DHC, NAT, RIP, IGMP, BOOTP). 

Filesystem and storage

Updates to core Windows storage libraries impact nearly every command related to file and storage operations. A minor misalignment here can result in data access issues. These are high-priority components in modern data center and hybrid cloud infrastructure, with the following storage-related testing recommendations:

Mount and dismount FastFat, NTFS, and UDFS volumes.

Test directory query related scenarios, such as [NtQueryDirectoryFileEx] and [NtQueryDirectoryFile]. 

Configure a cluster shared volume and use it for a VM deployment.

Media and codecs

Microsoft issued extensive testing guidance for media codecs, indicating a focus on this area. We recommend the following:

Perform extensive testing of DVD playback, including menu navigation, chapter selection, and playback of MPEG2-encoded files from local storage.

Validate playback on both modern and low-end hardware, monitoring for performance issues or excessive CPU usage.

Test advanced DVD features such as subtitle/audio track switching, region encoding, and CSS copy protection.

Open and play TIFF files.

Application deployment and SQL Server

Updates to application deployment and management components require validation to ensure that application lifecycle operations are not affected. Additionally, the latest updates include patches for various versions of SQL Server with the following suggested testing:

Perform installation, repair, and uninstallation of MSI Installer packages using standard enterprise deployment tools.

Test any application deployment operation on the System drive (default) or additional volume (D: or E:).

For SQL Server, install the appropriate GDR patch on top of the baseline/RTM version and perform a clean installation and removal of the patch.

It’s important to prioritize printer testing this month, leading onto remote desktop and RRAS deployment testing, and ensuring that your core business applications install and uninstall as expected. Finally, validate the media and codec updates, as these have been highlighted by Microsoft as a key area of change.

Each month, we break down the update cycle into product families (as defined by Microsoft) with the following basic groupings: 

Browsers (Microsoft IE and Edge) 

Microsoft Windows (both desktop and server) 

Microsoft Office

Microsoft Exchange and SQL Server 

Microsoft developer tools (Visual Studio and .NET)

Third-party updates (rather than Adobe)

Browsers

Microsoft delivered two important updates to its browser platforms. In addition, Google updated the Chrome engine, addressing the vulnerability CVE-2025-6554. These low-profile changes can be added to your standard release plan.

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft released six critical patches and 95 patches rated important for Windows; the critical vulnerabilities:

CVE-2025-36357 — The vulnerability assigned to this CVE is in certain processor models offered by AMD. The mitigation requires a Windows update. 

CVE-2025-36350 — This vulnerability is also in certain processor models offered by AMD. The mitigation also requires a Windows update.

CVE-2025-49735 — Use after free in Windows KDC Proxy Service (KPSSVC) allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network. 

CVE-2025-47980 — Exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor in Windows Imaging Component allows an attacker to disclose information locally.

CVE-2025-47981 — Heap-based buffer overflow in Windows SPNEGO Extended Negotiation allows an attacker to execute code over a network.

CVE-2025-48822 — Out-of-bounds read in Windows Hyper-V allows an attacker to execute code locally.

Due to the number and severity of critical issues, make this a “Patch Now” schedule for Windows.

Microsoft Office

Microsoft released seven critical updates (and 11 rated as important) for the Office platform. The critical-rated Office patches deal with the following vulnerabilities:

CVE-2025-49695 — Use after free in Office allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code locally.

CVE-2025-49696 — Out-of-bounds read in Office allows an attacker to execute code locally.

CVE-2025-49697 — Heap-based buffer overflow in Office allows an attacker to execute code locally.

CVE-2025-49698 — Use after free in Word allows an attacker to execute code locally.

CVE-2025-49702 — Access of resource using incompatible type (“type confusion”) in Office allows an attacker to execute code locally. 

CVE-2025-49703 — Use after free in Word allows an attacker to execute code locally.

CVE-2025-49704 — Improper control of generation of code (“code injection”) in SharePoint allows an attacker to execute code over a network. 

This represents a lot of critical updates for Microsoft Office and is unusual for their concentration in the general aspects of the platform rather than specific issues with World or Excel. We suggest adding Office to your Patch Now release calendar, too.

Microsoft SQL Server

Microsoft released one critical and two important updates for SQL Server, including:

CVE-2025-49717 – Heap-based buffer overflow in SQL Server allows an attacker to execute code over a network.

CVE-2025-49718: Information disclosure vulnerability could allow an attacker to disclose information over a network.

CVE-2025-49719 has been reported as publicly disclosed.

Given the presence of zero-day vulnerabilities, add the Microsoft SQL Server updates to your  Patch Now schedule.

Developer tools

There were two updates (rated important) released this month affecting .NET and Visual Studio. Interestingly, there were several vulnerabilities to the Microsoft Visual Studio platform that were addressed by a third party (Mitre). These updates address security vulnerabilities in how Git integrates with Visual Studio:

CVE-2025-27613 — Gitk Arguments Vulnerability

CVE-2025-27614 — Gitk Arbitrary Code Execution Vulnerability

CVE-2025-46334 — Git Malicious Shell Vulnerability

CVE-2025-46835 — Git File Overwrite Vulnerability

CVE-2025-48384 — Git Symlink Vulnerability

CVE-2025-48385 — Git Protocol Injection Vulnerability

CVE-2025-48386 — Git Credential Helper Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

Add these updates to your standard developer release schedule.

Third-party updates

This is a big month for third-party updates, with Chrome (CVE-2025-655) and patches to Git extensions adding substantial weight to the July release. In addition, we have Mitre and AMD (CVE-2025-36350 and CVE-2025-36357) as the registered CNA for the Microsoft-targeted updates. I expect that we will see more of this, with an extended range of third-party vendors registering and addressing Microsoft security vulnerabilities.

Source:: Computer World

By Siôn Geschwindt A new study has found that large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT consistently advise women to ask for lower salaries than men, even when both have identical qualifications. The research was led by Ivan Yamshchikov, a professor of AI and robotics at the Technical University of Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS) in Germany. Yamshchikov, who also founded Pleias — a French–German startup building ethically trained language models for regulated industries — worked with his team to test five popular LLMs, including ChatGPT. They prompted each model with user profiles that differed only by gender but included the same education, experience, and job…This story continues at The Next Web

Source:: The Next Web

By Deepti Pathak It’s no secret that Sakura Stand is a super fun game. But levelling up when you’re…
The post Sakura Stand Codes (July 2025) appeared first on Fossbytes.

Source:: Fossbytes