Technology

2019 is the year of the streaming game…or at least the start of it. NVIDIA has been doing its thing with GeForce Now for a while, Google started testing Project Stream last year, and now Verizon wants in on the action.

As reported by The Verge late last week, Verizon has been “quietly testing” its own game streaming service. Interestingly enough, the company is using the NVIDIA SHIELD—arguably one of the best streaming boxes you can buy—for its internal testing. The report also suggests that the service will come to all Android devices eventually.

The service, which is uninterestingly called Verizon Gaming during the test phase, is quietly being seeded to testers, who get a SHIELD, Xbox controller, and access to the alpha. They also get a $150 Amazon gift card for testing. That’s pretty neat—playing games on good hardware is something most gamers would do for free.

What’s most intriguing about the service, however, is the current title selection. The Verge notes that games like God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 are already listed on the service; the former is a PlayStation exclusive title, while the latter isn’t yet available on PC. It seems quite possible that Verizon aims to position this as a multi-platform service, which would make this the first of its kind.

That said, it’s also worth noting that these titles aren’t yet playable and could simply be placeholders for the time being. In an internal email obtained by The Verge, the team working on Gaming said the “trial is primarily focused on performance” and that they’re “working on the engine and its parts.” It’s, of course, unclear what that really means for catalog, but if the company could find a way to work with various platforms it could be a literal game changer.

The big question on a lot of users’ minds is why—as in, why would Verizon want a cloud gaming service. The answer is a simple one: 5G. This will be the next big thing for all carriers this year (but still probably not that useful until 2020), and what better what to show off the speed and low latency of this next generation network than something that would normally require only the best internet connections?

It’s unclear how much Verizon will charge for the service, if it will be available on non-Verizon devices (likely), or how users can sign up to participate in the beta.

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Whether you’re using your laptop for work or entertainment in a public space, you want to keep prying eyes away. But you don’t have to sit in the corner of the room, all you need is a privacy filter.

In 2015, 3M and Ponemon did a study on “visual hacking,” a method where hackers obtain usernames, passwords, and other sensitive information by watching people’s computer screens from across the room. It turns out that the low-tech method of “visual hacking” is extremely successful, and visual hackers can expect their beady eyes to obtain sensitive information with a 91% success rate.

But it turns out that privacy filters are a low-effort method to save yourself from any “visual hacking.” That’s why they’ve become a must-have for professionals and privacy seekers alike. Laptop privacy filters are essentially polarization filters, similar to the filters that are in polarized sunglasses. They prevent certain wavelengths of light from going in certain directions. But while polarized sunglasses prevent harsh light from going directly into your eyes, privacy filters prevent any light from straying to the left or right of your laptop screen, so you can only see the screen when you’re directly in front of it.

Okay, so you’ve logged into Facebook in the middle of a Dunkin Donuts enough times that you want to buy a privacy filter. But there are a lot of different filters out there, and some of them may work better for you than others. Lucky for you, we’ve taken the time to find the best privacy filters for everybody’s needs.

Before you get ahead of yourself, you’ll want to figure out the size of your laptop’s screen. You can use InfoBylp, or Google the serial number that’s on the bottom of your laptop.

 Adaptix Touch Screen Compatible Privacy Filters ($25+)

If you’re looking for a reliable and affordable privacy filter for your laptop, then you should take a look at filters by Adaptix. They come in a wide variety of sizes that should fit most laptop screens, and they’re double-sided, so you can choose for your screen to be matte or shiny. Plus, this screen won’t affect your laptop’s touch-screen capabilities, so you can feel free to tap away.

The Adaptix privacy filter comes with two installation options. You can adhere two mounts to the sides of your laptop screen, which let you put on or take off the filter whenever you feel like it. Or you can adhere the filter directly to your laptop screen, a good option if you’d like your privacy filter to double as a screen protector.

Buy on Amazon 3M Golden Privacy Filters ($34+)

Golden privacy filters are clearer than black screen filters, so it’s easier for you to see what you’re doing in certain lighting environments. They also reduce blue light exposure by up to 70%, a big plus if you’re worried about how those night shifts are affecting your circadian rhythm. 3M offers golden privacy filters in a variety of screen sizes, including 14″, 12.5″, and 15.6″. They also have golden privacy filters that are meant to accommodate Macbook screens. Like other privacy filters, you have the option to adhere the filter directly to your screen, or to install two mounts on the sides of your screen to make application and removal easy.

These golden privacy filters may seem a bit pricey, but they’re made specifically for professionals that don’t want to sacrifice quality for privacy. Not to mention, they’re made by a company that’s known for quality and innovation (Scotch Tape and Command Strips, among other things).

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Instagram is the place to be these days and, as someone once said, sharing is caring. It could be your wedding or something much more mundane, but without followers, it’s pointless. Here’s how to make it easy for people to follow you.

The people who work at Instagram know that the key to a great Instagram profile is to make sure it’s easy for people to follow you. All the best photos in the world won’t do you any good if nobody knows that they exist, so sharing your Instagram profile is vital. Until recently, that meant making people aware of your profile name, which depending on how savvy you were when you set it up, might be unwieldy or just plain bad. Towards the end of 2018, Instagram launched the Nametag, and it changed the game completely.

You might not know it yet, but your Instagram profile has a Nametag, and if you don’t like it, you can customize it, too. The idea is that you share your Nametag—essentially a QR code in picture form—and then other people plug that into Instagram to access your profile before they, hopefully, follow you.

So now that we’re all familiar with what a Nametag is, how do you share yours and get those sweet, sweet followers?

How to Share Your Instagram Nametag

As you might expect, the place to start is the Instagram app. Open the app and tap the “Profile” button.

Next, tap the hamburger button in the top right corner to expand the sidebar.

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Smart displays are wonderful kitchen companions: you can easily follow along with a recipe, video call someone while you meal prep, or keep yourself entertained while you clean things up. But depending on where you put your smart display or other electronics, you could be in for some trouble.

Microwave Shielding, Explained

Microwave ovens work by heating your food with short radio waves. These radio waves travel through a small channel, known as a “waveguide,” towards the food compartment. The turntable spins your food around so it can get cooked as evenly as possible, and the metal that your microwave is made of makes the radio signals bounce around the inside of the food compartment. The molecules inside your food start vibrating quickly, which is what heats your meal.

The metal chassis also acts as an electromagnetic shield. The microwave blasts out radio waves and the shielding keeps most of this inside the food compartment, but shielding degrades over time. If you’ve ever had your wireless network act up when you heat some snacks, it’s most likely because you have an older microwave and the shielding has become less effective.

RELATED: Why Does Wi-Fi Use the Same Frequency as Microwaves?

How to Test Microwave Shielding

The best way to test your microwave’s shielding is by downloading a Wi-Fi analyzer app. Here’s what you need:

• A Windows 10 desktop or laptop, set to connect over the 2.4 GHz frequency
• WiFi Analyzer from the Microsoft Store

Step One: Force Windows to Connect on 2.4 GHz

Forcing your device to connect to Wi-Fi over 2.4 GHz is important for the test since that’s the frequency on which microwave ovens also operate. Most modern devices and networks automatically switch between 2.4Ghz and the faster 5Ghz frequency. Microwaves don’t cause interference with the 5 GHz spectrum, so we need to get rid of that option if we’re going to test the shielding.

To force your Windows device to use the 2.4 GHz frequency, start by clicking the Windows logo in the lower left. Type “device” and then select “Device Manager.”

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The little silicone tips that let your earbuds fit in your ear are very easy to lose. Luckily, they’re also easy to replace, with a semi-standard size that will fit about 90% of the earbuds on the market. Here are the best.

We’ve selected the best replacement options for regular silicone tips, which come in a variety of sizes even for the more unusual earbud designs. We’ve also made picks for memory foam earbud tips, which are a popular option for those who want some extra comfort, plus picks for those who need an ultra-secure fit for sports and fitness and a multi-flange design for those who demand superior sound isolation.

Best Silicone Earbud Tips: Spinfit (Various, $10-20)

If all you need is a new set of earbud tips, there are hundreds—maybe thousands—of nearly-identical options online and in retail stores. Among them, we recommend the replacements sold by SpinFit. While the design is more or less the same as the others, SpinFit’s excellent materials are a cut above the rest. Even better, they come with different adapter sizes—that means they’ll work with a variety of earbud and in-ear monitor brands. For the semi-standard size, pick 4mm. For others, check your manufacturer’s specs or measure an original one.

SpinFit’s replacement tips come in a variety of ear canal sizes with several included in each pack for a precise fit. In addition to the standard silicone design, they’re available with multiple flange options for those who want a better or deeper seal. Somewhere in this deep product line is a set that’s perfect for you.

Buy on Amazon Best Memory Foam Earbud Tips: Comply Isolation Plus ($15) 

For those who prefer a more snug, comfortable fit, Comply’s much-loved memory foam tips are perfect. With dense foam that compresses as it goes into your ear and expands to form a tight seal, it’s an excellent upgrade if you’re looking to a set of tips that are more secure without being too tight.

While there are several imitators, Comply’s original memory foam design remains a favorite pick. The standard version comes with three pairs, in small, medium, and large options (with a triple pack available with one of each). Four different adapter sizes are sold as well, for an ideal fit with multiple earbud brands—check this guide to see which ones you need. The ear shapes are also offered in “isolation,” seen here, “sport,” and “comfort” varieties, for different levels of pressure and noise isolation.

Buy on Amazon Best Replacement Earbud Tips For Sports: Phaiser ($10)

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Here at How-To Geek, we think iOS’s Live Wallpaper feature is pretty neat, although it’s underused. If you don’t want to spend the time to make your own great Live Wallpaper, one of the next best options is to use a GIF.

Like with most things on the iPhone, there’s an app for that. In this case, it’s GIPHY, one of the best GIF apps on iOS. Download it and let’s get started.

Open GIPHY and search for a GIF you like. There are a few things to bear in mind when you’re looking:

• Your iPhone wallpaper is vertical. Unless you want a very small or very cropped GIF, you should look for something that’s also vertical.
• Live Wallpapers are stationary most of the time. You should pick something where the still frame looks good.
• GIFs generally have low image quality. It’s worth spending a bit of time to find something that’s high quality. It will look much better.

After a bit of searching, I found this awesome Flanders GIF.

Once you’ve found your GIF, open it and tap the three little dots in the bottom right corner. Next, select “Convert to Live Photo.”

You’ll have two options: Save as Live Photo (Full Screen) and Save as Live Photo (Fit to Screen).

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Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 7 with security updates on January 14, 2020. It’s like Windows XP all over again—but much worse. Many more people are sticking with Windows 7 than stuck with XP.

Windows 7 Usage Is Still High

If you’re still using Windows 7, you’re not alone. According to Net Market Share, 35.63% of Windows users are still using Windows 7 as of December 2018. Windows 10 has 52.36% of Windows users.

Back in April 2013, when Windows XP just had a year left of support left, only 24.93% of Windows users were sticking with XP. A commanding 62.27% of desktop users were already running Windows 7.

Microsoft has a significant problem on its hands here. And Microsoft enters this home stretch with the biggest ever Windows 10 update mess ever on its hands, too. Microsoft is hardly making a case for Windows 10 to skeptical Windows 7 users.

Why End of Support Matters

End of support is a big deal. It means Microsoft will stop issuing security patches for problems in Windows 7, which will make Windows 7 systems increasingly vulnerable to attack. Security flaws that are found and fixed in newer versions of Windows will often affect Windows 7, too. This means attackers have a roadmap for assaulting Windows 7 systems, which will become less and less secure over time.

Microsoft’s end of support date will also encourage other companies to stop supporting Windows 7, too. Windows desktop applications will eventually stop supporting older versions of Windows. This likely won’t happen immediately, as Windows 7 isn’t anywhere near as long in the tooth as Windows XP was when it was left behind. But don’t be surprised when new applications or updates to your existing applications stop supporting Windows 7. You can’t use a modern web browser on Windows XP anymore, for example.

RELATED: What It Means When Microsoft Stops Supporting Your Version of Windows

What You Should Do

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Which Celebrity Named His Daughter After A Video Game Heroine?

1. Tom Cruise
2. Laurence Fishburne
3. Ozzy Osborne
4. Robin Williams

Think you know the answer?

Whether you’re completely new to home ownership or just feel like building or fixing something yourself for the very first time, here are the best tools to get you started on your DIY journey.

Keep in mind, this isn’t an exhaustive list by any means, but it will at least get you started—and it’s enough to complete all sorts of different projects around the house. As you become more experienced and come across more-advanced projects that you want to do, you’ll inevitably grow your tool collection to new heights!

But if you’re starting out, these are the best tools to consider buying at first.

A Handful of Cheap, Basic Tools

Before we get into the bigger tools that you’ll want, it’s important to cover your bases with some cheap, basic tools that you’ll rely on for most projects:

• Hammer
• Screwdrivers
• Pliers
• Tape Measure
• Utility Knife
• Level
• Speed Square
• Stud Finder

You could also aim for an all-in-one tool kit that comes with most everything you’d want starting out, especially if you’d rather not piece together your own custom set of tools.

The point, though, is that a combination of these kinds of tools will be immensely helpful for pretty much any project, whether it’s as simple as hanging a picture frame on the wall, to completely remodeling an entire room in your house. You’ll absolutely want these tools before anything else.

Power Drill/Impact Driver Combo

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Before buying your first projector, you should have a general idea of where it’ll go. You’ll need to have ample space on your wall, as well as easy access to a power outlet. With that settled, you’ll also need to decide if you want to get a screen. Projector screens don’t have to be super expensive, but before spending any amount of money, it’s worth deciding if you need one.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Using a Projector Screen

The biggest advantage of buying a projector screen is that it gives you more control than you’d get with a bare wall. A perfectly smooth wall is great, but any minor imperfections could harm your projected image.

The color of your wall will be the biggest factor. If you own your home, this is less of an issue, but renters may be stuck with a wall color that would make a projected image look too dark or too bright.

Even if you have a perfectly smooth, white wall, you still might want to get a projector screen. Most screens have a black border around them, which helps frame your movies and TV shows. A screen also gives you a bit more control over how much light gets reflected: a screen with a matte coating will have a much easier time of keeping ambient light from ruining your image.

But a screen is at least somewhat permanent. A couple of months ago, I moved some stuff around so my projected image could be a bit larger than it was. Because I project onto a bare wall, I was able to realign my projector and be on my merry way. If I used a screen, I’d have to purchase a larger screen, take down the smaller screen to mount the larger one, and then find a home for the smaller one. Those aren’t impossible tasks, and I’m not going to move my projector to a new spot super often. But it’s nice to know I have more flexibility to try different arrangements since I don’t have to worry about moving a giant frame around.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Projecting Onto a Bare Wall

The main appeal of just projecting on a bare wall is that you don’t have to shell out any money for a screen. Basic projector screens aren’t too pricey—especially compared to the price of the projector itself. But you’ll want to get a more expensive screen to make sure your image is color corrected and have some of the ambient light absorbed. And a good quality screen can add a few hundred dollars to your home theater project.  

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Watching movies and playing games on a projector are great. Once you get used to the giant display, it’s much harder to watch on even the largest TVs. But before you buy a projector, you’ll need to make sure you have the space for it.

The projector itself won’t need too much leeway, but you’ll need to make sure you have enough room between it and your screen to get to your desired screen size. With a little math, it’s easy to figure out just how deep your living room needs to be.

Throwing It Out There

You’ll see a few specs and industry jargon when you start researching projectors. The main one to pay attention to is the “throw ratio,” also known as “throw distance.” You’ll use this to calculate just how far from your screen the projector needs to sit. If the throw distance is “1” then you’ll need to place the projector one foot from the screen to display a one-foot diagonal image. If the throw ratio is less than one, you can place the projector less than one foot from the screen to make a one-foot diagonal image. Following that, if the throw ratio is more than one, you’ll need to place the projector more than one foot from the screen to produce a one-foot image.

You’ll often see projectors with more than one throw ratio listed. This means that the projector has a zoom wheel, so you can change the size of the image. Having multiple throw ratios doesn’t change our math; you just have to calculate it again.

Here’s the calculation to determine how far your projector needs to from the screen:

Throw Ratio X Desired screen size (Inches or Centimeters) = Distance from screen (Inches or Centimeters)

As an example, we can look at the BenQ HT2150ST. Let’s say we wanted a screen size of 150″ and need to know how far away to place the projector. This model has a throw ratio between 0.69 and 0.83, so our math looks like this:

0.69 (throw ratio) X 150 (desired screen size) = 103.5 (distance from screen) 0.83 (throw ratio) X 150 (desired screen size) = 124.5 (distance from screen)

Another way to gauge how much space you need is to look at the marketing or model name for the projector. You’ll see projectors advertised as “short throw,” “ultra-short throw,” or maybe without any throw distinction.

What Is an Ultra-Short Throw Projector?

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Whose Death Brought Twitter, Wikipedia, And Other Sites To Their Knees?

1. Steve Jobs
2. Ryan Dunn
3. Michael Jackson
4. Amy Winehouse

Think you know the answer?

Pull-ups take stamina, strength, and a lot of practice, which is why we’ve rounded up a list of tools to not only aid in your pull up journey, but also add an extra challenge when you finally need it.

Need to work your abs, back, biceps, and shoulders, but don’t know where to start? Want to workout from the comfort of your very own home? Maybe you already work out a lot but are looking for more variety in your exercises. With this roundup of pull up tools, you can enhance your workouts and even make your routines safer for your muscles and joints.

We’ve chosen pull up tools ranging from doorway pull up bars to bands to belts to even machines that help with both pull ups and push ups. And if you’re only interested in push up tools, check out our other roundup of Best Push Up Tools.

Best Doorway Pull Up Bar: ProSource Multi-Grip Pull Up Bar ($26)

Want to exercise without having to go to the gym? With this ProSource Multi-Grip Pull Up Bar, you can practice your pull-ups in any one of the 12 available grips. It will easily stay in place anywhere there’s a sturdy door frame, as long as the doorway is between 24” and 32” wide (so make sure to measure your doorway before buying). The assembly is quick and easy as well.

Practice your closed-, wide angle-, and hammer-grip pull-ups with this bar—and do them comfortably with the padded handles. Not only can you do pull ups and chin ups, you can even work on your leg raises and oblique curls on this bar. You can also take the ProSource and put it on the floor so you can do deep push-ups and tricep dips. Lastly, when placed at the base of a doorway, you can use this bar to focus on abdominal crunches.

This multi-functional bar lets you tone muscles that a normal, straight bar at your gym wouldn’t let you reach. Plus, the ProSource is made of a durable steel material that makes it long-lasting and safe, holding up to 300 pounds of body weight. Just note that this may cause paint chipping or even warping of your door frame if installed improperly.

If you want a home pull-up bar, but don’t want to have it installed in a doorway, check out this Ultimate Body Press Joist Moint Pull Up Bar that you can install on exposed wall joists.

Buy on Amazon Best Pull Up Bands: INTEY Pull-Up Bands ($33)

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We’ve barely started the switch to 4K, and now 8K TVs are already on the market. Are they worth it? Should you care? Here’s everything you need to know.

What Is 8k? How Does It Compare to 4K and HD?

You might think that an 8K TV is double the resolution of a 4K TV, but because of the complicated method for measuring resolution, this isn’t true. The term 8K refers to the horizontal resolution of the TV—that is, how many pixels run across the display left to right. 8K TVs have twice as many horizontal pixels, but they have four times as many total pixels as 4K—and 16 times more than 1080p—when you look at the entire surface area. It’s a lot of pixels.

The different terms can be confusing:

• A 720p TV (or HD) is measured at 1280 pixels wide by 720 pixels tall.
• A 1080p TV (a.k.a. Full HD or FHD) is measured at 1920×1080 pixels.
• A 4K TV (a.k.a Ultra HD or UHD) is measured at 3840×2160 pixels.
• An 8K TV is measured at 7680×4320 pixels.

One thing that’s easy to spot with these resolutions is that after 720p with each new standard, both the horizontal and vertical pixels doubles. It’s this doubling in both directions that lead to such a vast jump in overall pixel count. 8K TVs are just packed full of pixels.

Should I Buy an 8K TV?

Short answer: No.

4K TVs are finally starting to take hold and come down to affordable pricing. HDR may still be in a war of standards, but more and more TVs are offering both options. And HDR does remain a separate factor from resolution, so it will still be up to the manufacturer to implement them. If you’re going to buy a new TV, it should be a 4K HDR TV; you don’t need to wait for 8K for several reasons.

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The Mast Of The Empire State Building Was Originally To Serve As What?

1. A Dirigible Docking Station
2. An Aircraft Reference Point
3. A TV Tower
4. A Lighting Measuring Tool

Think you know the answer?

Every year, CES is chock full of smarthome tech. So much so that there’s even an entire dedicated space on the show floor to just smarthome companies. Here are the best new smarthome devices we saw at CES this year.

Voice Assistant Smart Switches

Many new products we saw on the show floor weren’t necessarily “new” or revolutionary, but rather many companies have come out with their own versions from young product categories, and that includes smart switches with built-in voice assistants.

The Ecobee Switch+ has been around for a little while now, but at CES this year we saw a few smarthome companies unveil their own versions, including Leviton’s Decora Voice with Alexa and TP-Link’s Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Light Switch with Voice Assistant. Although, with the latter, there’s no official word on which voice assistant it will come with.

Lenovo Smart Clock

As you may already know as a Review Geek reader, Google’s Home Hub is our favorite product for 2018, but it’s a bit too big for the bedside night stand. Enter the Lenovo Smart Clock.

The Smart Clock is essentially a much smaller version of the Home Hub, rocking a 4″ display instead of a 7″. It can show you the time (obviously), display upcoming calendar events, and it makes it easy to set alarms and timers. You can even slap it when the alarm goes off to either snooze or dismiss the alarm, just like the good ‘ole days.

The Lenovo Smart Clock will retail for $79 and be available at some point in the spring this year.

Video Doorbells

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Bing is cesspool of filth and Microsoft has just been spraying air freshener. We reported on Bing’s horrifying search suggestions back in October, and Microsoft promised to fix it. Now, a TechCrunch investigation found even worse child exploitation content.

TechCrunch had an in-depth investigation performed by a AntiToxin, an online safety company that works with Israeli authorities, and that company found large amounts of child pornography on Bing’s image search. This is especially shocking because we reported this problem months ago. Microsoft promised to fix it to fix it, but apparently Microsoft just put a few band-aids on Bing and didn’t fix the deeper problem.

We also reported horrifying racist and conspiratorial search suggestions on Bing, so the problem isn’t even just limited to child exploitation. For example, Bing suggested terms like “evil jew,” “black people are stupid,” and “Michelle Obama is a man” at the time.

Josh Constine, writing for TechCrunch, explains the problem:

Illegal child exploitation imagery is easy to find on Microsoft’s Bing search engine. But even more alarming is that Bing will suggest related keywords and images that provide pedophiles with more child pornography.

…The evidence shows a massive failure on Microsoft’s part to adequately police its Bing search engine and to prevent its suggested searches and images from assisting pedophiles.

Read the full investigation report if you can stomach the horrifying details. (And please, don’t search for the search terms linked in the report, as you may be committing a crime by viewing the resulting images.)

Once again, Microsoft said this was unacceptable and promised to clean up Bing. A Microsoft spokesperson didn’t seem happy with the implication that Microsoft had messed up bad here. As that spokesperson told TechCrunch:

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Your hearing is important, and if you lose it, you can’t get it back. We all like to listen to loud music, but limiting the volume is vital, especially for kids. Here, we explain how to limit the volume of Apple Music.

Parents know that making sure their children don’t destroy their hearing by listening to music too loudly is important, but as anyone with children will attest, simply making that statement isn’t always enough to ensure compliance. It’s not that children actively like to disobey—not always!—but sometimes things slip their minds. Thankfully there are ways to limit the volume at which Apple Music can play, meaning you can limit an iPhone or iPad to non-eardrum-busting levels.

It’s important to note that this will only change the maximum volume of music played via Apple Music, which is unfortunate. If you use a different music service, consult its iPhone or iPad app.

If you’re an Apple Music user, read on!

How to Set an Apple Music Volume Limit

Perhaps unexpectedly, the option to limit the Apple Music volume doesn’t reside within the Apple Music app. Instead, to get started, open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad before scrolling down and tapping “Music.”

Next, tap the aptly named “Volume Limit.” You’ll be shown a screen with a slider that represents the volume limit.

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Some Windows 7 admins recently started their days with a rude awakening. They arrived to find that many, in some cases thousands, of PCs were no longer activated. Quick sleuthing determined the problem was recent Windows updates, KB4480870 and KB4480960.

Thousands of Volume Licensed Machines Were Deactivated

As detailed by Mary Jo Foley and Günter Born, a Windows 7 admin arrived to find that thousands of machines had been deactivated and were displaying a “not genuine” error message. The problem appears to have started after installing KB971033 in a monthly roll-up.

These particular machines are KMS activated, a volume licensing option offered by Microsoft. KMS activation allows an admin to activate many PCs conveniently by having them check in with a local server for a valid volume license key.

After installing the update, a problem occurred when a Windows 7 PC checked into the KMS server. The server sent a blacklisted error instead of the usual response, and this resulted in a “not genuine” message. As pointed out by Born, KB971033 is designed to validate standard Windows licenses and likely never should have made it to KMS PCs in the first place.

Microsoft has since acknowledged the issue and reverted the change. It also offered guidance to determine if machines have the update installed, and how to remove and reactivate.

Remote Access is Broken for Some Local Users

Unfortunately, the trouble doesn’t stop there. At the same time Microsoft broke activation for legitimate PCs; it also broke remote access for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 PCs. This issue is limited to remote connections from local users who are part of the local Administrators group. Domain accounts and local accounts that aren’t local Administrators are not affected.

Microsoft has acknowledged the problem, but is only offering the workaround, which is to use one of the above-unaffected accounts.

Once again, Microsoft has released patches and updates that have broken parts of Windows. Given how quickly one administrator found the source of the problem, it definitely seems like Microsoft should do more testing before releasing patches. Unfortunately, Microsoft continues to treat its users as testers, which is why you probably shouldn’t click the “Check for Updates” button.

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When you start your microwave, do you lose Wi-Fi signal on a nearby device? Wi-Fi and Microwaves both operate on a similar frequency, which can lead to interference. But why? And if that’s the case why doesn’t Wi-Fi cook you?

Microwaves and Wi-Fi Use the Same Unlicensed Spectrum

In 1947 the International Telecommunication Union established the ISM bands, short for Industrial, Scientific, and Medical. The goal was to define what devices would be allowed to run at certain bands of radio frequency so that they wouldn’t cause interference with other radio communication services.

The ITM designated the 2.4 GHz band as an unlicensed spectrum specifically for microwave ovens. This band has three compelling properties: It doesn’t require much power to broadcast, it’s easy to contain, and at relatively lower power it can heat food. All this lowered the cost and barrier of entry for consumers.

As the ISM name suggests, the original intention was for use only in devices that didn’t provide communication. In the years since the prospect of an unlicensed spectrum has been used outside the original purpose, such as cordless phones, walkie-talkies, and more recently Wi-Fi. The 2.4 GHz band was ideal with its low cost to implement, lower power needs, and decent distance capabilities.

Microwaves Aren’t a Faraday Cage; They Leak

Anything that runs on the ISM bands is supposed to be designed for intolerances to avoid interference, and Wi-Fi devices do have algorithms expressly for that purpose. However, a microwave is powerful enough to overwhelm any nearby Wi-Fi signals.

Microwaves have shielding to prevent this, but they aren’t a perfect Faraday cage. The very nature of a mesh window on the door prevents that. It isn’t uncommon to have some leakage from a microwave—just look at one that hasn’t been cleaned in a while to see that. You’ll likely see grime and grease on the outside that could only have come from food on the inside. If it can leak solids, then it can leak radio waves too.

Microwaves and Wi-Fi devices use a similar enough frequency that one can interfere with the other. Your Wi-Fi won’t do anything noticeable to the microwave of course, in part because of its shielding and in part because all it is trying to to do is heat your food.

No Wi-Fi Can’t Cook You

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