On the back of Teams, Microsoft Lists will become a boon to collaborative project tracking

MarryComputer

This year’s virtual Microsoft Build event was dominated by news about Azure and AI, offered few details on what could be the most significant change to Windows development in years with Project Reunion, and had practically no news on Windows 10X (the now-delayed version of Windows optimized for multi-screen devices like the Surface Neo, originally due before the end of the year). However, it did have a sleeper announcement for those who think of Microsoft as a provider fo productivity tools: Microsoft Lists.

Lists take the grid-based system of columns and rows used for decades in spreadsheets and database and adds capabilities that focus on organization, collaboration, and approachable custom development. It may sound like a cousin of Microsoft To Do, the company’s simple task tracker that replaced the popular mobile app Wunderlist. But the two apps diverge. While Microsoft worked to make To Do more similar to

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One-third of all bank jobs are now tech-related

MarryTechnology review

One-third of all jobs advertised at UK banks are technology-related, with such roles increasing by 46% over the last three years.

According to a report from global recruitment firm Robert Walters, only 23% of bank jobs were tech-related three years ago.

In the UK, traditional job roles in banks have declined by 42% (about 100,000 jobs) in the last three years, while tech jobs have increased.

The report also said the Covid-19 pandemic will accelerate the move to digital and increase the number of tech roles, as traditional retail banking declines.

“Assuming [banks] successfully make this switch, retail banking as we know it will be changed or, in some instances, disappear – for ever,” said Tom Chambers, senior manager – technology at Robert Walters.

The coronavirus crisis has accelerated this evolution, he added. “Lockdown and social distancing measures mean banks have had no choice but to scale back their retail

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Deakin Uni’s timely cloud prep helps 62,000 students move online during COVID-19

MarryNews

When March 1 hit and social distancing was imposed, Deakin University, like many organisations, were forced to rethink how it would help its 10,500 staff and 62,000 students, including some located overseas, work and learn online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fortunately, for the Melbourne-based university, offering online learning to students was not completely alien.

Deakin University has been offering online learning through what it dubs CloudDeakin, a cloud-hosted learning management system, since 1993.

Deakin University chief digital officer Craig Warren told ZDNet that while its cloud campus looks a lot different compared to how it was when it first launched, CloudDeakin is considered as the university’s fifth campus, alongside its four physical campuses, where some 27,000 students from 73 different countries are enrolled to study exclusively online.

“Our virtual environment has always been dear and most important to us … and has been our fastest growing campus, experiencing 7%

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StrandHogg mobile vulnerability has evil twin

MarryMobile Tech

A Norwegian security research team that identified the dangerous StrandHogg elevation of privilege vulnerability affecting Android smartphone devices last year has warned of a new variant in circulation that has the potential to do much more harm.

StrandHogg first came to widespread attention in early December 2019. The vulnerability enables malware to pass itself off as a legitimate app, giving hackers the ability to access data held on a device, including text messages, photos, credentials and geolocation, as well as recording phone calls and activating cameras and microphones.

The new variant, dubbed StrandHogg 2.0 – but which will more formally go by CVE-2020-0096 – was again uncovered by Oslo-based Promon, a supplier of app security services, and is described by the company as its predecessor’s “evil twin”. While Android 10 (Q) is not affected, multiple versions counting backwards from Android 9 (Pie), which account for the bulk of

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Microsoft: Here’s why we love programming language Rust and kicked off Project Verona

MarryComputer

Microsoft has explained why it’s pursuing ‘safe systems programming’ through efforts like its experimental Rust-inspired Project Verona language and its exploration of the Rust programming language for Windows code written in C++. 

The short answer is that Microsoft is trying to eliminate memory-related bugs in software written in languages like C++, according to Microsoft Rust expert Ryan Levick. These bugs cost a lot to fix and make up a large share of Patch Tuesday hassles. Levick has now offered more insights into Microsoft’s efforts behind safe systems programming. 

Systems programming includes coding for platforms like Windows, Xbox, and Azure, as opposed to programming applications that run on them. 

Key systems programming languages include C++, Google-backed Go, and Mozilla-created Rust, but Rust and Go are ‘memory-safe’ languages while C++ is not. Other languages are memory safe, such as Swift and Kotlin, but they aren’t for systems programming.    

The thing for

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ACCC report and COVID-19 highlight how CVC is an artificial handbrake on the NBN

MarryNews

Image: ACCC

In usual quarters, the total bandwidth purchased by retailers from NBN increases by a percentage in the low teens, but not this quarter.

But in its latest Wholesale Market Indicators Report, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has said total capacity purchased on the network grew 40% to 17.8Tbps, while the average capacity per user grew 31% to 2.5Mbps.

The figures from the ACCC were as of the end of March, while NBN offered its 40% capacity boost in response to the coronavirus pandemic only seven days before the end of the month.

Examining traffic and capacity graphs and history from Aussie Broadband — which is one of the few to publicly disclose capacity and usage at each NBN point of interconnect — the information shows the retailer did not jump all-in as soon as the offer came into force. Instead, it steadily ramped up throughout

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