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Google and Microsoft are using dark pattern design to trick or force users to do things they never intended. Is it time to switch to more ethical browsers? (We list 10 alternatives.)

This month has seen a whole lotta hand waving and sky-is-falling-caliber rhetoric, but the reality is much more prosaic. If you aren’t running a major network (and thus aren’t susceptible to the imminent problems with Remote Desktop Gateway, the Citrix network bugs or the whopping 334 patches in Oracle), there’s been little reason to install this month’s updates. To read this article in full, please click here

Modern companies rely on capable IT professionals to manage their networks. However, the IT landscape is always evolving. If you want to stay up to date with the latest technologies and advance in your IT career, you need to earn certifications. CompTIA is one of the most popular certification vendors because it teaches you versatile, vendor-neutral skills, and you can learn them and prepare for CompTIA’s cert exams with this $89 bundle.To read this article in full, please click here

If you’re interested in learning about the history of the computer industry or even if you just want to figure out how to lead an enterprise technology company, then you should take a look.The Computer History Museum I think millions of computer users will have heard of the Computer History Museum, a world-class institution in Mountain View, California.It’s a place in which you can learn everything about the history of the technologies which continue to transform the way humans interact with each other and with the world.Being human in a computer world “What does it mean to be a human in a world of computing?” asks Dan’l Lewin, President and CEO, Computer History Museum in the latest StoriesHere podcast.To read this article in full, please click here

It’s Cold War days, and on his first day at a defense contractor, this pilot fish is taken to lunch by his new boss. Who has some advice upon leaving the campus: Remove your ID badge. He explained that foreign government agents were suspected of showing up in local restaurants and bars looking for employees of the contractor.Three decades on, fish still follows the advice, though the Cold War is long over. And he has extended it to another sphere: He never wears conference badges outside the venue. He calls them “Mug-me” tags.Send Sharky your true tales of IT life — no ID required — at sharky@computerworld.com. You can also subscribe to the Daily Shark Newsletter.To read this article in full, please click here

If you regularly use a Windows 10 PC and an Android phone or tablet, there are several Android apps you can install that can seamlessly link the flow of information between the two. For instance, you can start a quick note on your phone, then finish it later on your Windows 10 PC, or you can receive the same alert on both devices for an appointment.The following Windows 10-friendly Android apps are all from Microsoft — and all free. To get the kind of interoperability described above, you need to be signed into each of the apps on your Android device with the same Microsoft online account you use to sign into your Windows 10 computer.1. Cortana: Sync reminders between your Windows PC and Android device The Cortana app for Android lets you create reminders that will sync with, and send notifications to, your Windows 10 PC. To set a reminder in the Cortana app for Android, tap the three-dot icon on the upper-right of the app’s main screen, tap Reminders, tap “Remember to…” on the next screen, and enter a name for your reminder to the right of the circle icon.To read this article in full, please click here

Atlassian has expanded the roadmapping functions in Jira Software in a bid to offer users greater insight into the progress of their software development projects. The update comes a year after Atlassian introduced its “next-gen” Jira Software, with roadmaps as one of the key new features.Roadmaps can provide a high-level view of tasks under way, show how that work relates to specific items in each project, and can be shared with a range of stakeholders, including  executives and and cross-functional partners, according to Atlassian.The company said the feature was an immediate hit: 45% of Jira Software customers were accessing roadmaps within a month and active use is now above 50%. To read this article in full, please click here

In the near future, human and robot collaboration will be the norm for digital enterprises of all sizes. According to the 10 technology megatrends predicted in Huawei's Global Industry Vision (GIV) 2025 report, there will be an average of 103 robots for every 10,000 employees in the manufacturing industry by 2025.The overall digitization trend sweeping industry extends far beyond manufacturing, too, as other industry verticals deploy wireless technologies and Internet of Things (IoT) to become more competitive. For example, in the automobile industry, in-vehicle software is updated over Wi-Fi while the energy and construction industries use IoT to realize predictive Operations and Maintenance (O&M). Elsewhere, remote medical care is increasingly common in the healthcare industry, and cities and public sectors are incorporating more technology into asset management systems.To read this article in full, please click here

The big patching problems this month fell at the feet of admins who had to deal with an unholy mess of pressing exposures: Fixing the holes in Microsoft’s RD Gateway (CVE-2020-0610; see Susan Bradley’s Patch Watch, paywalled); dealing with Server 2008 R2 systems that booted to Recovery mode after installing the January patches; scrambling to pick up after breaches in Citrix networking products; or the 334 Oracle security patches. They all took a toll.To read this article in full, please click here

Ah, the beginning of a new year: What better time to clean up, start fresh, and make sure your various work spaces are primed for productivity?Making your physical desk presentable is all on you (seriously, pal, would it kill ya to do a little dusting once in a while?), but when it comes to that virtual office in your pocket — y'know, that shiny ol' smartphone of yours — I'm here to help.A handful of simple-seeming steps can go a long way in clearing out the virtual clutter, y'see, and turning your Android phone back into the optimal work companion it oughta be. And best of all? It shouldn't take you more than 20 minutes to complete.So pop open your hood, put on the nearest pair of coveralls, and get ready to get your hands metaphorically dirty: It's time to step into the garage and get your mobile device in tip-top shape for 2020.To read this article in full, please click here

Is technology really good for your health? Can Apple really make a difference in future healthcare? Questions like this are all perfectly appropriate, argues Apple’s VP health, Dr Sumbul Desai.You have to test what tech firms claim Desai leads Apple’s teams in developing health focused software and sensors, such as Activity, Health, ECG reading on Apple Watch and the company’s selection of health-focused research apps. She joined the company in 2017.To read this article in full, please click here

Is technology really good for your health? Can Apple really make a difference in future healthcare? Questions like this are all perfectly appropriate, argues Apple’s vice president for health, Dr. Sumbul Desai.You have to test what tech firms claim Desai leads Apple’s teams in developing health-focused software and sensors, such as Activity, Health, ECG reading on Apple Watch and the company’s selection of health-focused research apps. She joined the company in 2017.To read this article in full, please click here

Microsoft quietly announced last week that it will change the default search engine of Google's Chrome to Bing - Microsoft's own search service - on personal computers running Office 365 ProPlus, the productivity applications that serve as the heart of the enterprise-grade subscriptions.The swap of search defaults within Chrome will begin next month and wrap up in July, the timing dependent on when corporate IT administrators have scheduled Office 365 ProPlus' upgrades."Starting with Version 2002 of Office 365 ProPlus, an extension for Microsoft Search in Bing will be installed that makes Bing the default search engine for the Google Chrome web browser," Microsoft said in the support document announcing the switcheroo. "This extension will be installed with new installations of Office 365 ProPlus or when existing installations of Office 365 ProPlus are updated."To read this article in full, please click here

Sysadmin pilot fish is working at home when he gets a trouble ticket that was logged the night before.“The guy reported that he can’t print from an application in location 1 (about 10 miles away),” says fish. “He spoke to the help desk in location 3 (about 300 miles away), and left a location-4 number (about 40 miles away).“Location 3 passed it to the applications admins in location 5 (about 180 miles away), who called me at location 2 (about 15 miles away) last night.“I can't get the guy on the phone. Try to ring him on the location-4 number this morning, still wondering why he can’t print in location 1, to find it’s the guy who lives at the end of my road, who is also home as he got called out last night.To read this article in full, please click here

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are being used even more these days. Listen as InfoWorld’s Serdar Yegulalp and IDG TECHtalk hosts Juliet Beauchamp and Ken Mingis discuss how AI and ML are being used and answer viewers’ questions. To read this article in full, please click here