Thoughts Unboxed

Microsoft's Katie Savage - The Program Manager DevDiv Community - have announced the release of a new foundational C# certification in collaboration with freeCodeCamp - a charity based organization that creates free learning resources for Math, Computer Science and Programming. Speaking about the significance of the certification, she said:   Our Foundational C# Certification provides just that — a testament to the time and effort you’ve invested in mastering this versatile language. While no certification can guarantee a job, adding this to your portfolio demonstrates your commitment to continuous growth and your proficiency in C#. Partnering with the esteemed freeCodeCamp, our certification is not just a badge, but a mark of quality education. It’s comprehensive, globally accessible, and free. This ensures that learners everywhere can benefit from a robust C# training on Microsoft Learn.   The Foundational C# Certification is available completely free of cost worldwide. To fac

Short-term attention spans are getting more common and it is infiltrating our day to day activities. Someone could be a hero one day followed by becoming a villain the next day. Soon after the takeover by Elon Musk, X( formerly Twitter) caught itself into a myriad of controversies and is fighting some of them to this day. Those controversies sparked a concerted efforts towards finding an alternative to micro-blogging platform. Most of it was based on the controversial figure that Elon Musk is and to the new policies he had been introducing to the platform since then. Instagram's Threads tried to take advantage of one such moment to give a knock-out punch to perhaps the only other viable competitor to Meta in the social media space - X (formerly Twitter). And its success topped the charts initially again, showing the immense level of short-term attention span of the society in general. Meta itself has been perceived as a Villa

Atari once was among the competing gaming consoles. But that part is now a history. However, seems like the group currently holding the rights to Atari brand has something up its sleeves. The official X account from the group that holds the rights to the Atari Video Game brand has shared a teaser video that looks like a classic Atari Console. The unveil will happen on Tuesday, August 22nd.  Incoming… 👀 pic.twitter.com/IrjDsejlvI — Atari (@atari) August 21, 2023   Analysis Going by the teaser video, seems like we may be getting a retro Atari Console. There are some speculations Atari may be announcing a DLC pack for the recently released 50-games pack for XBox, PlayStation and Switch. It may also be about the new Rollercoaster Tycoons title considering Atari secured a 10-year IP deal for the game. However, Atari may pull the biggest surprise of the year by announcing a completely new gaming console to enter the Gaming Console Arena. We won't have to

If you've installed AdBlocker to skip those pesky YouTube ads, brace yourself for some unfortunate news! YouTube has been intensifying its battle against AdBlockers, and recently, reports have emerged from Reddit users about an intrusive popup notification. This pop-up warns users that their access to videos will be blocked if they persist in using adblockers. Within this warning, viewers are presented with three options: 1. Disable Adblocker 2. Add YouTube to the whitelist 3. Subscribe to YouTube Premium for an ad-free experience     Adding a sense of urgency, a countdown timer is displayed at the top right corner of the popup, indicating the time left for users to make their decision. Users have reported it being 30-60 seconds long. This development marks the next phase in YouTube's strategy to steer consumers towards either paying for a premium experience or enduring a suboptimal ad-laden journey. This new popup progression follows a prior phase in which users were informed

In a move that echoes Microsoft's strategic shifts, the tech giant has officially discontinued the Cortana App for Windows. Launching the App would greet you with the following message: Cortana in Windows as a standalone app is deprecated. The support page further details the discontinuation: We're making some changes to Windows and Microsoft 365 that will impact Cortana users. Cortana in Windows as a standalone app is deprecated. Support for Cortana in Teams mobile, Microsoft Teams display, and Microsoft Teams Rooms will end in the fall of 2023. Cortana in Outlook mobile will continue to be available.     Analysis Cortana's journey commenced during the Windows Phone 8 era and seamlessly transitioned into Windows 10 in 2015. Expanding its reach, Microsoft also introduced the Cortana App for iPhone and Android platforms. This endeavor drew inspiration from the AI hologram of the same name in Microsoft's HALO series. However, Microsoft's attempts to posi

Holiday season is typically a busy season for shoppers, but right now, it's a busy season for the corporate lawyers across the technology industry. We have seen a ton of high-profile lawsuits over the past few months and now, Apple has been dragged into one as well. Daniel Ackerman, Editor-in-Chief of Gizmodo and author of "The Tetris Effect," has initiated legal proceedings against Apple and other parties associated with the Tetris Movie. Ackerman alleges that the movie has unlawfully appropriated elements from his work, "The Tetris Effect." Published in 2016, Ackerman's "The Tetris Effect" seamlessly intertwines historical events with his personal research. The lawsuit contends that the movie improperly borrows from his work, particularly framing the game's release within the context of a "Cold War spy thriller." According to the lawsuit: The movie entitled "Tetris" demonstrated the confiscation of Dan

Apple has released its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2023, ending on July 1, 2023. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $81.8 billion, down 1 percent year over year, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $1.26, up 5 percent year over year.   Let's dive into the numbers and analyze the performance of the company during this period. Revenue Overview Overall, Apple's revenues for the quarter were $81.797 billion, showing a slight decrease compared to $82.959 billion from the same period last year. This marks the third consecutive quarter with a year-on-year revenue decline for the company. Net Income Growth Despite the slight dip in revenues, Apple's net income for the quarter experienced a modest increase, reaching $19.881 billion, compared to $19.442 billion during the same period in the previous year. Revenue Breakdown by Product Categories Despite breakdown of the revenue by product categories, Apple doesn't provi

Amazon Clinic, the virtual message and video based medical consultation service from Amazon for more than 30 common health conditions has gone mainstream. The company announced the availability of the service across all 50 states and Washington DC in a blog post by Dr. Nworah Ayogu - Chief Medical Officer and General Manager of Amazon Clinic. In the post, Dr. Nworah Ayogu said: Last November, we introduced Amazon Clinic , a virtual health care marketplace that makes it easy for customers to quickly get the care they need for more than 30 common health concerns like urinary tract infections, pink eye, and erectile dysfunction.   He further said that the customers who have taken advantage of the trail service are generally satisfied with the service giving it a 96% approval rating. He also shared Amazon Clinic reviews: I woke up with pink eye and had prescription eye drops called in to my pharmacy within 15 minutes. I had the eye drops in ha