THESE are extraordinary times we’re living in. A pandemic in the modern age. There’s a whole lot of things and lessons that we can all pick up from all these. One thing’s for sure though, despite the advancements of human civilization, not one nation is ever truly prepared for a pandemic.
But that’s something to talk about for another time in another place. Right now though, here are a few recaps of what went down in the world of tech.
AMD’s Ryzen 4000 on a gaming laptop
The Ryzen 4000 series processors were first announced last January during CES 2020. That series of processors were something to pay attention to if and when it comes to the gaming laptops. And it already has. I first learned about this from Dave Lee’s YouTube video. And judging from how Dave described it, the Ryzen 4000 series is making big waves. I think it’s also safe to say that ASUS scored early here by using the Ryzen 4000 on one of their gaming laptops -- the Zephyrus G14. Check out this review from PCMag.
Zoom on back to Skype
See what I did there? If you’re troubled with the latest issues Zoom is facing like Zoombombing incidents, privacy issues of its conference calls, and the lack of true end-to-end encryption, look back to Skype. Skype just rolled out a new product called “Meet Now.” What is it? Here’s an excerpt from Tom’s Hardware:
Meet Now allows you to host conference calls by generating a free unique link with one click. You then share that link with participants to enjoy unlimited meetings via Skype. According to Microsoft, which owns Skype, your meeting link does not expire and can be used at any time.
Skype says that you'll be able to leverage its features during your video conferences. This includes the ability to record your call and save it for later. The company stores your recording for 30 days. You can also blur your background before entering the call, which is helpful for those of us are don't have the neatest home office or who have pets or children jumping in and out of the frame.
With Skype Meet Now, you can also share your screen at any time, which makes it easier to collaborate with colleagues and share presentations with a group.
Meet Now works on any device with the Skype app installed, and you don't even need a Skype account to join these calls. You can also use the Skype web client for making calls.
Clean your smartphones. Clean meaning disinfect.
Let’s face it, our smartphones are gross. They carry a whole shebang of microbes that can potentially harm you and your loved ones. If you haven’t done this yet or are not doing it regularly, I strongly recommend that you do so right after you read this and make sure you also do it on a daily basis. I do it daily and it’s easy and it doesn’t take a lot of time.
And it only makes sense to do so in this pandemic that we are going through. I, personally, use an industrial grade disinfectant and finish off with 70% alcohol. What I do is I get a clean piece of non-abrasive cloth then spray the disinfectant on to the cloth then wipe my phone with it. Of course, my phone is powered off. After using the disinfectant, I leave my phone on my desk for a minute or two and then use the alcohol next. I wipe if the same way when I used the disinfectant.
You can check out this article from Popular Science as well for reference.