How long will a customer wait for a field service technician before the appointment – and relationship – goes sour? The length of time that a customer is prepared to wait, and how they feel about a company as a result of the service provided, depends on 3 factors. The value the customer places on the appointment. For example, most customers will wait several hours to have their internet connection or TV fixed, but are less willing to wait for a smart meter installation that may result in a higher utility bill. How well-informed they are kept about when the appointment will occur, as well as the ability to confirm, cancel, or reschedule that appointment. Previous interactions with a field service company. For example, a customer’s tolerance for waiting is affected by whether a previous appointment was accomplished early, on time, late, or was canceled. Repairing the field service technician’s reputation through mobility So what can be done to improve the Computer field service technician’s reputation and improve customer experiences? Measuring and predicting when an appointment will take place and making that information available to the customer are both extremely powerful in improving and growing customer satisfaction. Advancements in smart devices, increased bandwidth, improvements in programming languages, and the advent of data-driven decisions have laid the foundations for today’s connected field service technician. Thanks to this revolution in cloud-based technology and mobility, the mobile employee can now be connected to a much broader scope of resources. These connections save time and costs as well as dramatically increase the number of first-time fixes. More importantly, mobile employees are more connected to the customer. They have the ability to not only connect face-to-face, but through the technologies that encompass all types of media—from the traditional e-mail and text to the use of social networks. Below are the points of connection for today’s mobile employee, and the benefits that each connection provides Improving schedules and job information A connected field service employee has instant access to updated schedules and job information, including: Location of the job Promised and expected arrival time Customer information Required tools and inventory Expected job duration Location of the next job (and subsequent jobs) The schedule should also indicate timing updates, including the impact of delays, reschedules, early completions, and cancellations. When users can connect through the schedule and see what’s happening in real-time, this allows visibility into when events will occur and what actions, if any, must be taken to keep the schedule on track. For example: Field supervisors can see how their teams are doing against their assigned work, or who has the capacity to help a colleague. Dispatchers can assign new jobs to mobile employees or reassign jobs in jeopardy. Computer Technicians can alert everyone in the service cycle if they have a problem or are falling behind schedule. Gathering and implementing post-appointment feedback Gathering customer feedback post-appointment is also critical in maintaining levels of satisfaction. Feedback should be collected immediately after the appointment to confirm that the service is working. If all is working as expected, this feedback can reduce return visits, which is a positive for both customer and technician. And if the service is not working as expected, addressing the issue swiftly will help maintain trust. Author Nerdcore Computers

Hybrid Windows for a hybrid world Windows 365 combines the power and security of the cloud with the versatility and simplicity of the PC. From contractors and interns to software developers and industrial designers, Windows 365 enables a variety of new scenarios for the new world of work. Your Windows in the cloud Securely stream your Windows experience—including your personalized apps, content, and settings—from the Microsoft cloud to any device with your Windows 365 Cloud PC. Your Windows in the cloud Securely stream your Windows experience—including your personalized apps, content, and settings—from the Microsoft cloud to any device with your Windows 365 Cloud PC. Work anywhere Pick up where you left off with your secure, personalized Windows experience on any device. Simplify management Conveniently access and manage Cloud PCs anytime through windows365.microsoft.com. Access all your resources Use popular business apps, custom and line-of-business apps, and all your data and content. Scale your business with the power of the cloud Windows 365 can help you grow your business while reducing risk and managing costs. Increase productivity Allow employees to work when and where they choose with Windows in the cloud streamed to any device. Minimize risk Reduce security risks by storing and securing information in the cloud, not on devices. Manage costs Stay within budget without compromising your business with fixed per-user pricing. Get started fast Quickly and effortlessly set up Cloud PCs for your employees. Streamline IT Enjoy all the benefits of desktop virtualization without the typical costs or required IT expertise. Scale for your needs Choose from a variety of performance options to suit businesses of any size. Windows 365 Business—save up to 16% with Windows Hybrid Benefit With Windows Hybrid Benefit, customers using Windows 10 Pro qualify for discounted pricing on Windows 365 Business Set your organization up for success with Windows 365 Secure and versatile solutions for hybrid work. Support remote and distributed workforces Work from anywhere with secure access to apps, tools, and company resources.2 Bring your own PC Easily enable employee-owned computers without the risk of unmanaged devices. Onboard temporary employees Get limited-term team members up and running quickly with secure access to company resources, apps, and computing power.

Online backup is an essential hedge against physical data disaster. Whether it’s an act of malice or an act of nature (earthquakes, floods, hard-drive devouring locusts), you never know what could hit your PC or phone, and when. Most of us stand to lose a significant store of digital possessions if our primary device disappears or is rendered inoperable. Uploading your data to an online backup service covers a lot of the bases. Some people call these “cloud” services, but in reality, your data is stored on servers at the other end of the connection—that is, someone else’s hard drives. But that’s part of the plan! The backup Rule of Three says you should maintain three copies of your data: the original, a copy, and a copy of the copy. One copy should be in a safe place away from the original and secondary. Cloud backup cheat sheet Best overall online backup:iDrive Online Cloud Backup[idrive.com] Best budget online backup:Backblaze[backblaze.com] Most streamlined online backup:Carbonite Safe[carbonite.com] Most polished online backup:Livedrive online backup[livedrive.com] We always recommend keeping a local backup for quick restores (see our backup software roundup for desktop solutions), but online backup can actually serve as both the second and third copies—assuming the vendor keeps its servers backed up, or adequately redundant. The good news for consumers is that all of the major online backup services we reviewed this year are exceptional products. But while all of the contenders received the same high verdict, each product has its own unique selling point, as you’ll see below. It’s a win-win for consumers, who not only can’t go wrong with any of these excellant products, but can also be exceptionally choosey. Our primary concern here is backup, but we will note other roles that a service can fulfill, such as sharing, multi-device support, or emergency-restore options. Just as when we originally reviewed all the major online backup services, iDrive remains the most comprehensive online backup service. And though it’s not the cheapest, it’s still affordable and comes with backup clients for nearly every PC and device, including Windows Phone—a rarity these days. The company also provides additional storage for syncing all your devices and PCs, allows sharing of files with anyone, and has the ability to back up to a local drive. iDrive has two Personal plans that cover one user with unlimited computers and devices: $69.50 a year for 5TB, and $99.50 a year for 10TB. Business plans allow for up to 50 users, starting at $99.50 for five users, and going up from there, with the 50-user tier costing $999.50. For all the details, read our full review of iDrive. Just as when we originally reviewed all the major online backup services, iDrive remains the most comprehensive online backup service. And though it’s not the cheapest, it’s still affordable and comes with backup clients for nearly every PC and device, including Windows Phone—a rarity these days. The company also provides additional storage for syncing all your devices and PCs, allows sharing of files with anyone, and has the ability to back up to a local drive. iDrive has two Personal plans that cover one user with unlimited computers and devices: $69.50 a year for 5TB, and $99.50 a year for 10TB. Business plans allow for up to 50 users, starting at $99.50 for five users, and going up from there, with the 50-user tier costing $999.50. For all the details, read our full review of iDrive. Carbonite Safe is, in its own way, as simple as Backblaze. The only real difference is that Carbonite doesn’t back up everything by default. It selects what it thinks you need to back up, then leaves the rest up to you. It’s pretty successful selecting data if you use the standard locations (My Documents, etc.), so most users won’t need to provide additional input. The price of elegance is a little steeper: Basic online-only backup is $72 for one computer for one year, $137 for two years, and $195 for three. If you want the ability to duplicate the backup to a local hard drive and back up videos, then you’re talking $112, $213, and $303, respectively. If you want the ability to retrieve your data via a hard drive couriered to you (much faster than downloading when there’s a lot of data), the rate rise to $150, $285, and $405, respectively. To find out why it’s worth the money, read our full review of Carbonite. If you don’t mind paying a premium for your online backup, Livedrive will reward your investment with its elegant setup, minimalist interface, and superb operation. There is something to be said for how reassuring it can be to use a product that is artfully designed and executed. That is especially true for an online backup service. When it comes to mission-critical operations, a bug-free experience makes for peace of mind. If you value impeccability, Livedrive is an excellent choice for online backup. Read our full review of Livedrive. What to look for in online storage and backup Capacity: Obviously, you’ll need as much storage as you have data, plus a little, or possibly a lot, more if you want to track changes and save previous versions of files. Some services keep multiple versions of files, some don’t. In many cases there’s a time limit. Cost: Nearly all online services charge for a maximum allowable amount of data, and generally uploads are free. Aside from the free tiers available from a service like Dropbox, pricing is fairly consistent across services, though you definitely get more capacity for your money from some vendors, notably Backblaze. Features: As we mentioned previously, in addition to backup, you may want to share your files with others, work with them from mobile devices, or even edit them with office applications such as those available with Dropbox, Google, and OneDrive. If you do intend to work online, we recommend that you maintain a local copy as backup, and a hedge against internet downtime. OS and device support: Most services provide client backup software for the major operating systems (Linux, OS X, and Windows) and both Android and iOS. Make sure the service you sign up for supports your entire panoply of computers and devices. Note: iDrive even supports Windows Phone. Privacy: If you’re concerned about the privacy of your data, make sure you use a service that allows the use of a personal encryption key that you define. Do NOT lose it, as it is absolutely required to restore your data. Sadly, using your own key often limits the types of services (e.g., no mobile backup) available. If private encryption keys aren’t available, read the privacy policy, especially with the free services—there are significant differences. Reliability: Generally speaking, data centers are backed up to the hilt, and some of the larger ones even back up to different geographical locations. Availability (hopefully 24/7) can also be important. Check for news of outages and the vendor’s own service blogs. In truth, all the services we’re aware of are near-100% reliable. Speed: Speed in many cases is far more dependent upon your broadband connection than that of the online service, though the geographical location of the storage and the equipment in between can make a significant difference. Check the location of the data servers if speed is important to you. Or, just give the trial a whirl and see if you can live with it. How we tested As noted above, the performance of online backup services will vary wildly according to their location and the network equipment between you and the data depository. We installed the software and backed up the same 2GB data set to check for any major issues or glitches in the client software. These are noted in the reviews. Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details. At a Glance BackblazeRead PCWorld's review $60.00 See iton Backblaze Carbonite SafeRead PCWorld's review $82.00 See iton Carbonite iDrive Online Cloud BackupRead PCWorld's review $69.50 See iton iDrive Livedrive online backupRead PCWorld's review $108.00 See iton Livedrive CloudBerry Backup DesktopRead PCWorld's review $49.99 See iton CloudBerry Backup Desktop

If you’re wondering how to increase the performance of your Windows 11 PC, you may already know one way: Use the Windows power-performance slider. But in Windows 11, Microsoft has hidden it. We’ll show you where. Microsoft offers you an easy way to boost performance in Windows 10, as our previous article notes. On the Windows taskbar, clicking the battery icon opens what we know as the power slider, where you can trade lower performance for extended battery life. In Windows 10, finding the Windows power-performance slider is simple: just click the battery icon. Naturally, this feature is common on laptops, less so on desktops. But it does make a difference. Microsoft, for example, dials down the performance slider on its devices to their most minimal settings, preserving battery life at the cost of performance. On Surface devices like the Surface Laptop 4 and the Surface Pro 7+, simply sliding the performance slide to “best performance” can give you an extra boost of six to seven percent, depending upon the benchmark. (Check out those reviews for the actual numbers.) As our first hands-on with the first official build of Windows 11 revealed, Microsoft—deliberately, apparently—left out the power-performance slider. The most recent update added it back in, but it’s not where it used to be. Clicking the battery icon on the Windows 11 taskbar actually opens the Windows 11 quick settings, where you can adjust the volume levels, turn on Focus Assist, and more. How to get to the Windows 11 Power Mode In Windows 11, the Windows power-performance slider isn’t a slider. In fact, it has a formal name: Windows 11 Power Mode. To get to it, you’ll need to visit the Windows 11 Settings menu proper, either by navigating through the Start menu or just by clicking the WIN+X button and navigating to the proper location. Within Settings, go to System > Power & Battery, then scroll down to the “power mode” button. Here, you should see several options, capping them off with “Best performance.” Choose the one that works for you. Go to the Windows 11 Settings > System > Power & battery menu to access the Windows 11 Power Mode dropdown menu. Note that these menu choices are dependent upon your PC’s hardware maker. If you’ve bought a desktop or built one yourself, you may not see any options here under Power Mode. But if you’ve purchased a laptop, you should have several options from which to choose. Why not crank up your PC to maximum power?

OUR VERDICT The new iMac (24-inch, 2021) is an improvement on its 21.5-inch predecessor in pretty much every way. It’s got a better, larger screen, a new modern and colorful design, and delivers excellent performance – all for the same price. If you’ve been eyeing up an all-in-one for work and play, this is an excellent choice. FOR Excellent screen Striking new design Fantastic webcam Very good performance AGAINST Lack of ports remains Charging the mouse is still awkward Mac mini may offer better value for some The new iMac (24-inch, 2021) is not only an impressive improvement over its predecessor in almost every way, it's also the boldest reinvention of Apple’s iconic all-in-one Mac for almost 15 years. It features a whole new look that’s both sleek and modern, and it's a very welcome update, as the previous design was beginning to feel rather stale. It also comes in a new size, 24 inches, which replaces the 21.5-inch iMac model (the 27-inch iMac remains on sale). Impressively, despite the larger screen size, the new iMac (24-inch, 2021) isn’t actually that much larger than the 21.5-inch model, with dimensions of 54.7 x 46.1cm and a depth of just 14.7cm (the screen itself is just 11.5mm thin), compared to its predecessor’s dimensions of 52.8 x 45cm and a depth of 17.5cm. This means you’re getting a fair bit more screen real estate on the new iMac, but without a significant increase in overall size; in fact, due to it being noticeably thinner, and also lighter than its predecessor (4.48kg compared to 5.68kg), the new iMac is a more versatile all-in-one PC, as it’s easier to carry around and set up. Apple has also released the new iMac (24-inch, 2021) in seven vibrant colors, which harkens back to the days of the iMac G3 and shows a confidence and playfulness from Apple that's very welcome. In a nice touch, the Magic Keyboard, Mouse and Trackpad all come in the same color as the iMac you choose, and elements of the macOS Big Sur user interface are also in the same color. It’s a lovely overall effect. The new iMac achieves the feat of being almost as small (and thinner and lighter) than its smaller predecessor in large part due to perhaps the biggest change under the hood: it's powered by the Apple M1 chip, rather than Intel hardware. As we’ve seen with the MacBook Air (M1, 2020), MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) and Mac mini (M1, 2020), this move to Apple’s own silicone has largely been a success. The macOS Big Sur operating system is fast and snappy, and new apps designed for the M1 hardware run brilliantly. Even older Intel-based apps run well thanks to Apple’s Rosetta 2 tool, and you can also run iOS apps and games, giving you access to thousands of titles. Thanks to the gorgeous new 4.5K Retina screen, great speakers and a fantastic webcam, working and creating on the new iMac is a joy. This isn’t the most powerful PC out there, however, as it doesn't come with a dedicated graphics card, and nor can you use an external GPU. Memory is also capped at 16GB, so if you’re looking for a powerful workstation PC this may not be for you. However, there’s a whole lot to love about the new iMac – and best of all, with a starting price of $1,299 / £1,249 / AU$1,899, the iMac (24-inch, 2021) offers all these improvements for the same price as its predecessor. Price and availability SPEC SHEET Here is the iMac (24-inch, 2021) configuration sent to TechRadar for review: CPU: Apple M1 (8-core) Graphics: Integrated 8-core GPU RAM: 16GB Unified LPDDR4 RAM Screen: 24-inch, 4.5K 4,480 x 2,520 Retina display (IPS, 500 nits brightness, wide color P3 gamut) Storage: 512GB SSD Ports: 2x Thunderbolt USB 4 (USB-C), 2x USB 3 (USB-C), 3.5mm headphone jack Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 Camera: 1080p FaceTime HD webcam Weight: 9.88 pounds (4.48kg) Size: 18.1 x 21.5 x 5.8 inches (46.1 x 54.7 x 14.7cm; W x D x H) The new iMac (24-inch, 2021) became available to pre-order not long after it was first announced, on April 30 2021, with the first customers getting their machines on May 21. The good news is that the eye-catching redesign and the shift to the Apple M1 chip doesn't come with a price increase. The new Apple iMac (24-inch, 2021) price remains $1,299 / £1,249 / AU$1,899 for the base model, which gets you a 7-core M1 with a 256GB SSD and 8GB of RAM. You can also step up to a $1,499 / £1,449 / AU$2,199 configuration, which will get you more color options and USB-C ports, and will also bump you up to the full 8-core version of the Apple M1, although it comes with the same SSD and RAM. As with previous models of the iMac, you can then upgrade certain specs to suit your needs, for example by adding more RAM or storage space. A fully-specced-out option for the new iMac comes with 16GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD storage, and costs $2,499 / £2,449 / AU$3,699. The new iMac comes with an improved Magic Keyboard (more on that in a bit) and Magic Mouse. However, if you want to swap out the mouse for the Magic Trackpad, it’ll cost you an extra $50 / £50 / AU$70, while if you want both the Magic Mouse and the Magic Touchpad that’ll add $129 / £129 / AU$179. Still, the base price for the new iMac is certainly competitive, and we’re glad that Apple hasn’t increased the price over that of the previous model, despite the upgrades. It’s also considerably cheaper than the now-discontinued iMac Pro, which started at $4,999 (£4,899, AU$7,299). While the new iMac (24-inch, 2021) looks like it’ll be able to offer similar performance to the similarly specced MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020), it won’t be able to compete with the kind of power the iMac Pro was offering. It also seems that the 16GB RAM limit of the M1 chip strikes again here; if you’re after more memory, this isn’t the PC for you. It’s also worth noting that the most affordable model of the new iMac (24-inch, 2021), which comes with an 8-core CPU and 7-core GPU, also comes in fewer colors (four), has only two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports (missing two USB 3 ports of the other models), has no Gigabyte Ethernet, and no Touch ID sensor on the Magic Keyboard. Design In our previous reviews of the most recent iMacs, we lamented the fact that Apple was sticking to a design that was largely unchanged since 2009 (and that design was itself only a slight change from the 2007 iMac). While other makers of all-in-one PCs, like Microsoft and Lenovo, were doing new and exciting things with the form factor, the iMac was starting to feel outdated. Its iconic design had become more of a curse than a blessing. So we’re very pleased to see that Apple has made some of the most dramatic changes to the design of the iMac in recent history, giving it a bold and modern makeover, while still keeping that quintessential Apple look. From all of the promotional materials, and the photos in this review, the most obvious change you’ll probably have noticed is the overall look of the new iMac. It comes in seven colors, allowing you to choose the finish that's right for your aesthetic. The Apple iMac colors are: green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue and silver (although you're limited to green, pink, blue and silver for the entry-level model). If you remember back in the late 90s and early 2000s, this color variety was the norm for the iMac, before Apple shifted to the same gray color scheme for every computer it launched. But the new iMac (24-inch, 2021) hasn’t just been given a new lick of paint. It has a slightly more rectangular design that’s reminiscent of the latest iPhones, and it’s now thinner and more compact than ever, thanks in large part to the inclusion of the Apple M1 chip that powers this iMac. This has allowed Apple to drastically shrink down the Logic Board, reducing the volume of the iMac by 50%, and it's just 11.5mm thin. As we've mentioned, that's all while increasing the display to 24 inches, up from the 21.5 inches that this tier of iMac has been in the past. In fact, the total footprint of the new iMac has been reduced by 30%, with dimensions of 18.1 x 21.5 x 5.8 inches (46.1 x 54.7 x 14.7cm). It’s also significantly lighter, at 4.48kg (9.88 pounds) compared to the 5.68kg (12.52 pounds) of the previous 21.5-inch iMac. This means that when you take the new iMac out of the box, the biggest design change you’ll notice is just how light this thing is. It’s seriously impressive, and combined with the reduced depth and footprint, it means the new iMac can be easily carried around, and installed almost anywhere in your home or office. By their nature, all-in-one PCs are more compact and easier to set up than traditional PCs, as there’s no need to connect cables to a monitor, and thanks to the wireless keyboard and mouse included with the new iMac (and the Magic Touchpad in some configurations), you only need to plug in one cable to get up and running – the power supply. And even here Apple has made some pretty neat changes, highlighting the kind of attention to detail its designers have lavished on the new iMac. The power adapter has been redesigned, so it now easily connects to the iMac via magnets, in a welcome return of Apple’s MagSafe technology. This makes it quick and easy to insert the cable, as its placement on previous iMacs could make that tricky. Image 1 of 3 Also, on the higher-end models the power adapter features a Gigabit Ethernet port, so you can just plug your wired network cable into this, which is another nice touch. The power adapter also features a 2-meter woven cable, which compliments the color choice of your iMac. It’s an attractive and useful way of plugging in and powering your iMac. Like the power cable, the Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse and Magic Touchpad are all color-coordinated as well; and when you fire up macOS Big Sur (the latest version of the Mac operating system), you’ll notice that certain elements of the user interface, such as the desktop background, use the same color your iMac. These may be little details, but they all help to give the new iMac a unified look and feel – and make it feel more personal as well, as you’re the one who picked the color scheme. It instantly made us warm to the new iMac more than we have to any previous model, and made it feel less like a productivity tool and more of a fun gadget. Apart from the new colors, the Magic Mouse and Trackpad haven’t seen any major changes – which may be either a good or bad thing, depending on how well you got on with them in the past. We’ve never been huge fans of the Magic Mouse, much preferring to use a mouse with separate buttons and a scroll wheel – which of course you can do if you want (check out our best mouse guide for ideas). It also means that Apple is sticking with its baffling decision to put the charging port for the mouse on the underside of the device. This means that when you're charging the mouse you can’t actually use it, which can be pretty frustrating, and it’s a little strange that this design oversight remains when Apple has been so thorough with the rest of the iMac’s revamp. However, the Magic Keyboard has had some big changes. It comes with new buttons for emoji, Spotlight, Dictation, Do Not Disturb and instant lock (accessed via the Fn key and the F keys at the top). Also, on the higher-end iMac models, the keyboard now comes with Touch ID. This works in a similar way to Touch ID on a MacBook or iPhone – after setting it up, you rest your finger on the Touch ID button, and you can instantly log into the iMac. This button can also be used for switching between user accounts, and for securely paying for things online using Apple Pay. Due to the keyboard being wireless, Apple has assured us that the transmission of your fingerprint is done safely and securely, and during our time testing the new iMac we found it worked well, quickly identifying our fingerprint and logging us in with no perceptible delay due to the wireless connection. The new design of the iMac (24-inch, 2021) also brings changes to the array of ports around the back. On the base model you get two Thunderbolt/USB 4 Type-C ports, which offer 40Gb/s data transfer speeds. On the more expensive models you also get two additional USB 3 Type-C ports, with 10Gb/s data speeds. The difference in performance between these ports means you’ll want to make sure that you plug your peripherals, especially external hard drives, into the right ports. The faster USB 4 ports are indicated by lightning bolt icons above them, but these could be a little hard to identify if you’re trying to find them on the rear of the iMac in a shadowy corner of a room. The power button remains in the left-hand corner of the back of the iMac, but the headphone port has been moved to the left-hand side of the display. This makes it easier to access, and there’s been speculation that Apple needed to put it there because of just how thin the new iMac is, as this meant it couldn't put the audio port on the back. The simplicity of the port selection means the back of the iMac looks neat and stylish, but it once again means that if you have peripherals that don't use USB-C connectors, you’ll need an adaptor. And, if you go for the base model of the iMac, you may find that just two ports aren't enough – and on this model there’s also no Ethernet port in the power adaptor. This means you’ll need to rely on a wireless internet connection, although this shouldn't be an issue for most people, as all models of the new iMac (24-inch, 2021) come with Wi-Fi 6 support. If you do require a wired connection you’ll again need to buy an adaptor (or consider getting an iMac model with the Gigabit Ethernet port built into the power supply). The new and improved screen of the iMac (24-inch, 2021) is another highlight. Apple has shrunk the bezel around the screen by almost 50%, which not only allows the new iMac to have a larger 24-inch display without being much bigger in overall size than the 21.5-inch model, but also makes the new iMac feel much more modern and contemporary; while its competitors were coming out with ever smaller bezels around the screen, the previous iMac, with its chunky borders, was starting to look outdated, so we’re very glad Apple made this change. The screen itself is gorgeous, with a 4.5K Retina resolution that equates to 4480 x 2520 and a pixel density of 218ppi (pixels per inch). Compared to the previous model’s 4K (4096 x 2304) resolution, you’re getting a much improved display that offers the best image quality we’ve seen in a recent all-in-one PC. The screen also offers 500 nits brightness, and supports the P3 wide color gamut, which delivers bright, vibrant and accurate colors. Images really do look impressive on this screen, and it means the iMac (24-inch, 2021) is a viable PC for photo editing and video editing, During our time with the new iMac (24-inch, 2021), several people walked by and made approving comments about its design, which is always a good sign. Most importantly of all, though, people recognized it as the new iMac, showing that despite all the cosmetic changes Apple has made, it's succeeded in keeping the distinct iMac look and feel. Also, if you’re worried about the colorful look being a bit too garish or childlike, don’t be. We chose the purple version for our review, and rather than being too bold it was a nice, subtle, pastel-like shade. Of course, you can also go for the classic silver color if you prefer a more understated look for an office. It’s not just on the outside that Apple has made big changes to the iMac (24-inch, 2021), as this is the first iMac to run on the Apple M1 chip. This is the same chip that powers the Mac mini (M1, 2020), MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) and the MacBook Air (M1, 2020), and replaces the Intel processors that previously powered the iMac. Apple's move from Intel to its own silicon was a bold one, but one that we feel has paid off, with the other M1 devices all impressing us with their performance. In fact, the MacBook Air (M1, 2020) currently sits atop our best laptop 2021 buying guide. According to Apple, the move to the M1 chip means the new iMac is up to 85% faster than the previous iMac that was based on Intel silicon. Meanwhile, Apple claims that the iMac will have up to 2x faster GPU performance than the fastest integrated GPU, something we'd been a bit skeptical of due to the existence of more powerful AMD APUs, and which we explore further in our in-depth M1 tests. Still, even before we unpacked the new iMac we had a decent idea of how it would perform: this is because the M1 chip inside it is exactly the same as the ones inside its other M1 products. So, you get the choice of an M1 chip with an 8-core CPU (with four performance cores and four efficiency cores) and either a 7-core or 8-core GPU – the same options you get with the M1 MacBooks and Mac mini. The review sample we were sent comes with the full 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU, along with 16GB of RAM, making it the highest-specced iMac you can get, so our experiences of the new iMac are what you can expect with the more expensive models. However, for most day-to-day usage you may not notice a big performance difference if you go with the 7-core GPU model. As on previous M1-powered Macs, macOS Big Sur starts up quickly and generally feels very sprightly – even with numerous apps open at once, flicking between them was fast and smooth. Apple has continued to do a great job of getting big third-party apps, such as Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Office, to support the M1 chip, and along with all Apple apps, many now run natively on the M1. As for older apps that don't yet have an M1 version, you should still be able to run these without much issue thanks to Apple’s Rosetta 2 tool, which enables apps made for Intel hardware to run on M1 Macs with a minimum of issues or performance degradation. On the whole, it does an impressive job, and you’d be hard pushed to know if an app was running via Rosetta 2. The SSD is nice and speedy as well, and not only does this mean that macOS Big Sur and its various apps load up quickly, it means file transfers are incredibly fast – we moved a 3GB folder of files from an external hard drive to the iMac’s storage in under five seconds. To put the iMac (24-inch, 2021) through its paces, we loaded up Final Cut Pro (which is now an M1-native app) and did some editing on an 8K video. This is intensive stuff, but like the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020), the new iMac performed very well. Scrubbing through 8K content, and previewing and editing clips, were all handled smoothly, and at no point did the fan cooling system of the new iMac kick in and begin distracting us. While video-editing professionals may want to stick with the 27-inch iMac (or wait to see what Apple brings out next), due to the added performance that a dedicated GPU would bring, the iMac (24-inch, 2021) does an excellent job for hobbyists looking to edit their home videos. Thanks to the likes of YouTube and Twitch, anyone can be a content creator these days, and the iMac (24-inch, 2021) does an excellent job of meeting the needs of such users. We have to give a shoutout to the new iMac’s screen as well: 8K content looks great on it, and as it’s 4.5K, it means you can watch 4K content in full resolution without having to go full-screen. The bright and vibrant screen made working on the iMac a joy, and that added extra space over the 21.5-inch model really helps as well, as the macOS desktop doesn't feel too crowded. The screen isn’t touchscreen, however, which probably isn’t a surprise, as no iMac has come with a touchscreen. However, we kept on wanting to use our hands on it; maybe it’s because an increasing number of all-in-one PCs come with touchscreens, or maybe it’s because the iMac increasingly looks like a giant iPhone, but having touchscreen controls would bring another level of interactivity to the iMac. Maybe that's something for a future update. Unlike the 27-inch iMac, there’s no option to have the nano-texture glass finish on the display, which was first introduced on Apple's Pro Display XDR monitor, and which prevents glare and reflections showing on the screen no matter what light conditions you’re working in. It was an expensive addition to the 27-inch iMac, costing an extra $500 / £500 / AU$750, but the results really were impressive. The screen of the 24-inch iMac does have anti-glare coating, and it does a decent enough job, but it’s not quite as impressive as the nano-texture finish. The speakers in the new iMac, which Apple claims are the "best speakers ever in a Mac" compliment the screen well. There are two pairs of force-cancelling woofers for deep bass notes, and these use the same tech found in MacBooks, which allows for bass sounds without vibrating the thin device they're coming from. Spacial audio with Dolby Atmos is also included, and overall the sound quality of the new iMac is very good, easily offering room-filling volumes without distortion. While the bass was a little lacking, which led to slightly thin-sounding audio with some music, the clarity was fantastic, with the audio the new iMac produces far outperforming similar speakers in rival all-in-ones. For most people, there’ll be little need to hook up external speakers to the new iMac. There’s also a studio-quality three-mic array, which produces some excellent results thanks to its advanced noise-cancellation feature. There’s also beamforming, so the mics can pick up your voice clearly wherever you’re sitting in relation to them. As with other M1-powered Macs, the iMac (24-inch, 2021) can also run iOS and iPadOS apps and games, giving you an enormous library of software and games to choose from. Many games designed for iPhones are pretty visually impressive, and the iMac (24-inch, 2021) does a good job of presenting them on the big screen. As we've mentioned, more of us are also becoming content creators in our spare time, and if you’re a budding streamer, the fact that you can broadcast in such high quality from the new iMac, rather than having to invest in external hardware, will certainly be appealing. In our day-to-day use of the new iMac we were impressed with the performance, although not surprised, based on our previous experiences with the M1 chip. Our benchmark tests actually showed how closely the iMac (24-inch, 2021) matches the performance of other M1-powered Macs. For example, the Cinebench R23 CPU test scored 7,754, pretty much the same as the 7,590 scored by the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020), and almost exactly the same as the 7,755 scored by the Mac mini. The similarities in performance between the iMac (24-inch, 2021) and the other M1 Macs leads to an interesting dilemma. If performance isn't a major factor in your choice of machine, it then boils down to form factor and price. Want the power of the new iMac but in a laptop? Get the MacBook Air or MacBook Pro 13-inch instead. Or, if you want an all-in-one PC that can handle your creative workflow as well as a 13-inch MacBook, then you could buy the new iMac in complete confidence. However, this also means that the new iMac’s biggest competitor isn’t something like the Surface Studio 2, but the Mac mini. You see, the Mac mini is a heck of a lot cheaper than the iMac (24-inch, 2021) at $699 / £699 / AU$1,099 – so if you already have a great monitor, then why buy the new iMac when for almost half the price you could get the Mac mini and enjoy the same level of performance? Sure, it’s not an all-in-one, but the Mac mini is so small that you could easily hide it behind a monitor anyway, essentially turning it into one. So, the only reason to get the new iMac over the Mac mini is if you really love the screen and overall design. That’s a fair enough reason, but with the new Mac mini offering such good performance and such good value, it means some people would be better off getting that instead. Has Apple done itself a bit of a disservice by making such a great product in the Mac mini? Perhaps. However, the new iMac’s screen really is stunning, and that’s not something you get with the Mac mini, while the mini also doesn’t come with the webcam, microphones or speakers that the new iMac has; factor those in, and the iMac (24-inch, 2021) becomes much better value, relatively speaking. The 4.5K Retina display is the highest-resolution display that comes with an M1-toting Mac, and we were pleased to find that in our time with the new iMac the extra demands of that high resolution didn’t have an impact on performance. The iMac (24-inch, 2021) webcam has also been improved. It’s a 1080p FaceTime camera, which is an instant upgrade over the 720p camera in the 21.5-inch model. Along with the resolution boost, it has a larger sensor for better low-light performance, while the advanced image signal processor (ISP) feature of the M1 chip boosts image quality further. This leads to a generally excellent image from the built-in webcam, with excellent colors, high clarity and very little lag. The improvements to the webcam and microphones are particularly important with so many people working from home these days, and relying heavily on video calling for both professional and social purposes. If you’ve found yourself taking part in more Zoom or Skype calls with friends, family or work colleagues, then the excellent webcam and microphones of the iMac will be a major selling point.

Windows 11 will follow up Windows 10 with a wide-ranging update Pocket-lint) - It's nearly time for a next-generation version of the world's most popular desktop operating system - Microsoft Windows. We believe the update will be known as Windows 11 thanks to some hints Microsoft has been dropping and Microsoft has scheduled a 'What's next for Windows' event for 24 June 2021. The event will be livestreamed. How to watch Microsoft reveal the next generation of Windows Microsoft has been stuck on Windows 10 for quite some time - since 2015 in fact. The reason for that is fairly simple, Microsoft has iterated Windows 10 through twice-yearly updates, but not brought forth any fundamental changes. It also probably wanted to stick with a successful version of Windows given that while 2001's Windows XP and 2009's Windows 7 were massively successful, the in-between versions of 2006's Windows Vista and Windows 8/8.1 (2012-13) weren't that well received. Windows 10 X dead: Why can't Microsoft make a lightweight version of Windows? We've known for a while that 2021 would bring a refresh to the Windows design, but it now appears to be bearing fruit as a new version codenamed Cobalt and known as Windows 11. The interface refresh itself is apparently known as Sun Valley internally at Microsoft. 10 June 2021 - Windows 11 will have a startup sound Microsoft has dropped a rather over-the-top video (above) with Windows startup sounds from the past slowed down by 4,000 percent - yes really. It's a direct teaser for the What’s Next for Windows digital event so we can only assume that Windows will, once again, have a startup sound (as Windows 10 X was supposed to have). 3 June 2021 - Microsoft confirms that there will be a 'next-generation of Windows' Microsoft sent out invitations to the media to its What’s Next for Windows digital event on 24 June, saying the key line "where the company will unveil the next generation of Windows". The event teaser also had a reflection of the Windows logo on it with the crossbar taken out from the 'window' meaning that the logo reflection showed as two vertical bars - aka 11. 25 May 2021 - Microsoft teases the next version of Windows will be unveiled 'very soon' There was nothing about Windows 'client' in the agenda for Microsoft's Build developer event this year, which we found rather odd. But the answer came during the opening keynote by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. "Soon we will share one of the most significant updates of Windows of the past decade to unlock greater economic opportunity for developers and creators," teased Nadella. "I've been self-hosting it over the past several months, and I'm incredibly excited about the next generation of Windows." Clearly Microsoft wants to reinvigorate its app store. Nadella added: "We will create more opportunity for every Windows developer today and welcome every creator who is looking for the most innovative new, open platform to build and distribute and monetize applications. We look forward to sharing more very soon." This almost certainly ties into Project Reunion, revealed in 2020 as Microsoft's latest attempt to sort out the mess of Windows apps 8 May 2021 - Microsoft reportedly kills Windows 10X, its answer to Chrome OS At its 2019 Surface event - Microsoft revealed the Android-toting Surface Duo which launched, plus Surface Neo. That device was supposed to run Windows 10 X, a cut-down version of Windows that was reported in 2020 to be delayed but has now been cancelled. We may see some of its features in Windows 11 though. Windows 10 X dead: Why can't Microsoft make a lightweight version of Windows? 25 May 2021 - Microsoft teases the next version of Windows will be unveiled 'very soon' There was nothing about Windows 'client' in the agenda for Microsoft's Build developer event this year, which we found rather odd. But the answer came during the opening keynote by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. "Soon we will share one of the most significant updates of Windows of the past decade to unlock greater economic opportunity for developers and creators," teased Nadella. "I've been self-hosting it over the past several months, and I'm incredibly excited about the next generation of Windows." Clearly Microsoft wants to reinvigorate its app store. Nadella added: "We will create more opportunity for every Windows developer today and welcome every creator who is looking for the most innovative new, open platform to build and distribute and monetize applications. We look forward to sharing more very soon." This almost certainly ties into Project Reunion, revealed in 2020 as Microsoft's latest attempt to sort out the mess of Windows apps 8 May 2021 - Microsoft reportedly kills Windows 10X, its answer to Chrome OS At its 2019 Surface event - Microsoft revealed the Android-toting Surface Duo which launched, plus Surface Neo. That device was supposed to run Windows 10 X, a cut-down version of Windows that was reported in 2020 to be delayed but has now been cancelled. We may see some of its features in Windows 11 though. Windows 10 X dead: Why can't Microsoft make a lightweight version of Windows? 6 May 2021 - Microsoft shows icon updates The latest Insider Preview build of Windows shows Microsoft revising icons that have been around since the Windows 95 era ahead of the new Windows release. Microsoft has been revising numerous Windows File Explorer icons during early 2021. Stalwart Windows icons like This PC, Documents and Recycle Bin have been given a new look. This follows up on the new streamlined Start menu shown off in early 2020. 23 February 2021 - Sun Valley will introduce improved multitasking The Sun Valley design update for Windows will apparently include enhanced snapping capabilities and making it easier to use. Soon you'll be able to drag windows to the corner of the screen and those windows will then intuitively resize to fit perfectly. This should mean it'll be even easier to multitask with side-by-side windows. Apparently Aero Shake - where you shake a window to clear the desktop - will become an optional setting while there will also be the ability to have separate virtual desktops for each monitor. 4 January 2021 - Sun Valley set to be a "sweeping visual rejuvenation" According to a job listing from Microsoft, Sun Valley is set to be a "sweeping visual rejuvination" of Windows. The listing says: "On this team, you’ll work with our key platform, Surface, and OEM partners to orchestrate and deliver a sweeping visual rejuvenation of Windows experiences to signal to our customers that Windows is BACK and ensure that Windows is considered the best user OS experience for customers." 28 October 2020 - Interface refresh is called Sun Valley, OS is called Cobalt The "significant design refresh" coming to Windows in 2021 is codenamed Sun Valley and will see many key elements given a refresh including the Start Menu, Action Center and File Explorer. The overhaul appears to be led by Microsoft Chief Product Officer Panos Panay. The release is codenamed 'Cobalt' [at the time this seemed like a Windows 10 version, now it seems like a new OS version]. 9 May 2020 - Microsoft plans more investment in Windows 10 It was clear earlier in 2020 that Microsoft would be investing in Windows 10 further. Windows Central says: "It's fair to say that Microsoft has put Windows on the backburner in the last couple of years as it shifted focused to other efforts at the company... The fact that Microsoft spokespeople are using words like "reinvestment" when talking about Windows 10 is a breath of fresh air for Windows fans who have been calling for Microsoft to refocus their efforts on Windows."

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5132 Paris Creek 5201 Pellaring Flat 5238 Petwood 5254 Piccadilly 5151 Pompoota 5238 Ponde 5238 Port Mannum 5238 Prospect Hill 5201 Punthari 5238 Purnong 5238 Purnong Landing 5238 Rockleigh 5254 Rocky Point 5238 Sanderston 5237 Scott Creek 5153 Springton 5235 St Ives 5252 Stirling 5152 Summertown 5141 Taunton 5235 Teal Flat 5238 Tepko 5254 The Point 5254 The Range 5172 Totness 5250 Tungkillo 5236 Upper Hermitage 5131 Upper Sturt 5156 Uraidla 5142 Verdun 5245 Walker Flat 5238 Wall 5238 Wall Flat 5238 Warren 5233 Whites Valley 5172 Willunga 5172 Willunga Hill 5172 Willunga South 5172 Wistow 5251 Wongulla 5238 Woodlane 5238 Woodside 5244 Younghusband 5238 Younghusband Holdings 5238 Yundi 5172 Zadows Landing 5254 Auldana 5072 Beaumont 5066 Beulah Park 5067 Broadview 5083 Brown Hill Creek 5062 Burnside 5066 Campbelltown 5074 Clapham 5062 College Park 5069 Collinswood 5081 Dulwich 5065 Eagle On The Hill 5150 Eastwood 5063 Erindale 5066 Evandale 5069 Felixstow 5070 Firle 5070 Fitzroy 5082 Fullarton 5063 Gilberton 5081 Glen Osmond 5064 Glenside 5065 Glenunga 5064 Glynde 5070 Glynde Dc 5070 Glynde Plaza 5070 Hackney 5069 Hampstead Gardens 5086 Hawthorn 5062 Hazelwood Park 5066 Heathpool 5068 Hectorville 5073 Highgate 5063 Hyde Park 5061 Joslin 5070 Kensington 5068 Kensington Gardens 5068 Kensington Park 5068 Kent Town 5067 Kingswood 5062 Klemzig 5087 Leabrook 5068 Leawood Gardens 5150 Linden Park 5065 Lower Mitcham 5062 Lynton 5062 Magill 5072 Magill North 5072 Magill South 5072 Malvern 5061 Manningham 5086 Marden 5070 Marryatville 5068 Maylands 5069 Medindie 5081 Medindie Gardens 5081 Mitcham 5062 Mount Osmond 5064 Myrtle Bank 5064 Nailsworth 5083 Netherby 5062 Newton 5074 Norwood 5067 Norwood South 5067 Ovingham 5082 Parkside 5063 Payneham 5070 Payneham South 5070 Prospect 5082 Prospect East 5082 Prospect West 5082 Rose Park 5067 Rosslyn Park 5072 Rostrevor 5073 Royston Park 5070 Sefton Park 5083 Skye 5072 Springfield 5062 St Georges 5064 St Morris 5068 St Peters 5069 Stepney 5069 Stonyfell 5066 Teringie 5072 Thorngate 5082 Toorak Gardens 5065 Torrens Park 5062 Tranmere 5073 Tranmere North 5073 Trinity Gardens 5068 Tusmore 5065 Unley 5061 Unley Park 5061 Urrbrae 5064 Vale Park 5081 Walkerville 5081 Waterfall Gully 5066 Wattle Park 5066 Woodforde 5072 Andrews Farm 5114 Angle Park 5010 Angle Vale 5117 Athelstone 5076 Athol Park 5012 Banksia Park 5091 Beltana 5730 Bibaringa 5118 Blair Athol 5084 Blair Athol West 5084 Blakeview 5114 Bolivar 5110 Bowden 5007 Brahma Lodge 5109 Broadview 5083 Brompton 5007 Buchfelde 5118 Buckland Park 5120 Burton 5110 Campbelltown 5074 Castambul 5076 Cavan 5094 Clearview 5085 Collinswood 5081 Concordia 5118 Craigmore 5114 Croydon 5008 Croydon Park 5008 Croydon Park South 5008 Davoren Park 5113 Davoren Park North 5113 Davoren Park South 5113 Dernancourt 5075 Devon Park 5008 Direk 5110 Dry Creek 5094 Dudley Park 5008 Edinburgh 5111 Edinburgh Raaf 5111 Elizabeth 5112 Elizabeth Downs 5113 Elizabeth East 5112 Elizabeth Grove 5112 Elizabeth North 5113 Elizabeth Park 5113 Elizabeth South 5112 Elizabeth Vale 5112 Elizabeth West 5113 Elizabeth West Dc 5113 Enfield 5085 Enfield Plaza 5085 Evanston 5116 Evanston Gardens 5116 Evanston Park 5116 Evanston South 5116 Fairview Park 5126 Ferryden Park 5010 Fitzroy 5082 Gawler 5118 Gawler Belt 5118 Gawler East 5118 Gawler River 5118 Gawler South 5118 Gawler West 5118 Gepps Cross 5094 Gilberton 5081 Gilles Plains 5086 Gillman 5013 Globe Derby Park 5110 Golden Grove 5125 Golden Grove Village 5125 Gould Creek 5114 Green Fields 5107 Greenacres 5086 Greenwith 5125 Gulfview Heights 5096 Hampstead Gardens 5086 Hewett 5118 Highbury 5089 Hillbank 5112 Hillcrest 5086 Hillier 5116 Hindmarsh 5007 Holden Hill 5088 Hope Valley 5090 Humbug Scrub 5114 Ingle Farm 5098 Kalbeeba 5118 Kangaroo Flat 5118 Kilburn 5084 Kilburn North 5084 Kingsford 5118 Klemzig 5087 Kudla 5115 Macdonald Park 5121 Manningham 5086 Mansfield Park 5012 Mawson Lakes 5095 Medindie 5081 Medindie Gardens 5081 Modbury 5092 Modbury Heights 5092 Modbury North 5092 Modbury North Dc 5092 Munno Para 5115 Munno Para Downs 5115 Munno Para West 5115 Nailsworth 5083 Newton 5074 North Adelaide Melbourne St 5006 Northfield 5085 Northgate 5085 Oakden 5086 One Tree Hill 5114 Ottoway 5013 Ovingham 5082 Para Hills 5096 Para Hills West 5096 Para Vista 5093 Paradise 5075 Parafield 5106 Parafield Airport 5106 Parafield Gardens 5107 Paralowie 5108 Penfield 5121 Penfield Gardens 5121 Pennington 5013 Pooraka 5095 Prospect 5082 Prospect East 5082 Prospect West 5082 Redwood Park 5097 Regency Park 5010 Regency Park Bc 5010 Reid 5118 Renown Park 5008 Ridgehaven 5097 Ridleyton 5008 Rosewater 5013 Rosewater East 5013 Salisbury 5108 Salisbury Downs 5108 Salisbury East 5109 Salisbury East Northbri Ave 5109 Salisbury Heights 5109 Salisbury North 5108 Salisbury North Whites Road 5108 Salisbury Park 5109 Salisbury Plain 5109 Salisbury South 5106 Salisbury South Bc 5106 Salisbury South Dc 5106 Sampson Flat 5114 Sefton Park 5083 Smithfield 5114 Smithfield Plains 5114 Smithfield West 5114 St Agnes 5097 St Kilda 5110 Surrey Downs 5126 Tea Tree Gully 5091 The Levels 5095 Thorngate 5082 Uleybury 5114 Vale Park 5081 Valley View 5093 Virginia 5120 Vista 5091 Walkerville 5081 Walkley Heights 5098 Ward Belt 5118 Waterloo Corner 5110 Welland 5007 West Croydon 5008 West Hindmarsh 5007 Willaston 5118 Windsor Gardens 5087 Wingfield 5013 Woodville Gardens 5012 Woodville North 5012 Wynn Vale 5127 Yatala Vale 5126 Yattalunga 5114 Aberfoyle Park 5159 Aldinga 5173 Aldinga Beach 5173 Ascot Park 5043 Bedford Park 5042 Belair 5052 Bellevue Heights 5050 Blackwood 5051 Blewitt Springs 5171 Brighton 5048 Brown Hill Creek 5062 Chandlers Hill 5159 Cherry Gardens 5157 Christie Downs 5164 Christies Beach 5165 Christies Beach North 5165 Clapham 5062 Clarence Gardens 5039 Clarence Park 5034 Clovelly Park 5042 Colonel Light Gardens 5041 Coromandel East 5157 Coromandel Valley 5051 Crafers West 5152 Craigburn Farm 5051 Cumberland Park 5041 Darlington 5047 Daw Park 5041 Dover Gardens 5048 Eastwood 5063 Eden Hills 5050 Edwardstown 5039 Flagstaff Hill 5159 Flinders University 5042 Frewville 5063 Fullarton 5063 Glandore 5037 Glenalta 5052 Glenelg 5045 Glenelg East 5045 Glenelg Jetty Road 5045 Glenelg North 5045 Glenelg South 5045 Glengowrie 5044 Goodwood 5034 Hackham 5163 Hackham West 5163 Hallett Cove 5158 Happy Valley 5159 Hawthorn 5062 Hawthorndene 5051 Highgate 5063 Hove 5048 Huntfield Heights 5163 Hyde Park 5061 Ironbank 5153 Kangarilla 5157 Kings Park 5034 Kingston Park 5049 Kingswood 5062 Kurralta Park 5037 Lonsdale 5160 Lonsdale Dc 5160 Lower Mitcham 5062 Lynton 5062 Macclesfield 5153 Malvern 5061 Marino 5049 Marion 5043 Maslin Beach 5170 Mcharg Creek 5157 Mclaren Flat 5171 Mclaren Vale 5171 Melrose Park 5039 Melrose Park Dc 5039 Millswood 5034 Mitcham 5062 Mitcham Shopping Centre 5062 Mitchell Park 5043 Moana 5169 Morphett Vale 5162 Morphettville 5043 Netherby 5062 Netley 5037 Noarlunga Centre 5168 Noarlunga Downs 5168 North Brighton 5048 North Plympton 5037 O'Halloran Hill 5158 O'Halloran Hill 5158 O'Halloran Hill Dc 5158 O'Sullivan Beach 5166 O'Sullivan Beach 5166 Oaklands Park 5046 Old Noarlunga 5168 Old Reynella 5161 Onkaparinga Hills 5163 Panorama 5041 Park Holme 5043 Parkside 5063 Pasadena 5042 Pedler Creek 5171 Port Noarlunga 5167 Port Noarlunga South 5167 Port Stanvac 5160 Port Willunga 5173 Reynella 5161 Reynella East 5161 Seacliff 5049 Seacliff Park 5049 Seacombe Gardens 5047 Seacombe Heights 5047 Seaford 5169 Seaford Heights 5169 Seaford Meadows 5169 Seaford Rise 5169 Seaview Downs 5049 Sheidow Park 5158 Silver Sands 5173 Somerton Park 5044 South Brighton 5048 Springfield 5062 St Marys 5042 Sturt 5047 Tatachilla 5171 Torrens Park 5062 Trott Park 5158 Unley 5061 Unley Bc 5061 Unley Dc 5061 Unley Park 5061 Upper Sturt 5156 Warradale 5046 Warradale North 5046 Wayville 5034 Westbourne Park 5041 Woodcroft 5162 Adelaide Airport 5950 Albert Park 5014 Alberton 5014 Allenby Gardens 5009 Angle Park 5010 Ascot Park 5043 Ashford 5035 Athol Park 5012 Bedford Park 5042 Beverley 5009 Birkenhead 5015 Black Forest 5035 Bowden 5007 Brighton 5048 Brompton 5007 Brooklyn Park 5032 Camden Park 5038 Cheltenham 5014 Clarence Gardens 5039 Clarence Park 5034 Clovelly Park 5042 Colonel Light Gardens 5041 Cowandilla 5033 Croydon 5008 Croydon Park 5008 Croydon Park South 5008 Cumberland Park 5041 Darlington 5047 Daw Park 5041 Devon Park 5008 Dover Gardens 5048 Dudley Park 5008 Edwardstown 5039 Ethelton 5015 Everard Park 5035 Exeter 5019 Export Park 5950 Ferryden Park 5010 Findon 5023 Flinders Park 5025 Forestville 5035 Fulham 5024 Fulham Gardens 5024 Gillman 5013 Glandore 5037 Glanville 5015 Glenelg 5045 Glenelg East 5045 Glenelg South 5045 Glengowrie 5044 Goodwood 5034 Grange 5022 Hallett Cove 5158 Hendon 5014 Henley Beach 5022 Henley Beach South 5022 Hilton 5033 Hilton Plaza 5033 Hove 5048 Keswick 5035 Keswick Terminal 5035 Kidman Park 5025 Kilkenny 5009 Kings Park 5034 Kingston Park 5049 Kirkcaldy 5022 Largs Bay 5016 Largs North 5016 Lockleys 5032 Mansfield Park 5012 Marino 5049 Marion 5043 Marleston 5033 Marleston Dc 5033 Melrose Park 5039 Mile End 5031 Mile End South 5031 Millswood 5034 Mitchell Park 5043 Morphettville 5043 New Port 5015 North Brighton 5048 North Haven 5018 Novar Gardens 5040 O'Halloran Hill 5158 Oaklands Park 5046 Osborne 5017 Ottoway 5013 Outer Harbor 5018 Panorama 5041 Park Holme 5043 Pasadena 5042 Peterhead 5016 Plympton 5038 Plympton Park 5038 Port Adelaide 5015 Port Adelaide Bc 5015 Port Adelaide Dc 5015 Queenstown 5014 Regency Park 5010 Renown Park 5008 Richmond 5033 Ridleyton 5008 Royal Park 5014 Seacliff 5049 Seacliff Park 5049 Seacombe Gardens 5047 Seacombe Heights 5047 Seaton 5023 Seaton North 5023 Seaview Downs 5049 Semaphore 5019 Semaphore Park 5019 Semaphore South 5019 Somerton Park 5044 South Brighton 5048 South Plympton 5038 St Marys 5042 Sturt 5047 Taperoo 5017 Tennyson 5022 Thebarton 5031 Torrensville 5031 Torrensville Plaza 5031 Underdale 5032 Warradale 5046 Warradale North 5046 Wayville 5034 West Beach 5024 West Croydon 5008 West Lakes 5021 West Lakes Shore 5020 West Richmond 5033 Westbourne Park 5041 Wingfield 5013 Woodville 5011 Woodville Gardens 5012 Woodville Park 5011 Woodville South 5011 Woodville West 5011 Suburbs and their postcodes in Far North (SA) Amyton 5431 Anama 5464 Andamooka 5722 Andrews 5454 Appila 5480 Arkaroola Village 5701 Baldina 5417 Bangor 5481 Barna 5641 Barndioota 5434 Baroota 5495 Barunga Gap 5520 Beetaloo 5523 Belalie East 5491 Belalie North 5491 Beltana 5730 Belton 5432 Black Rock 5431 Blanche Harbor 5700 Blinman 5730 Bockelberg 5655 Booborowie 5417 Booleroo Centre 5482 Brinkworth 5464 Broughton River Valley 5454 Bruce 5433 Buckleboo 5641 Bumbunga 5520 Bundaleer Gardens 5491 Bundaleer North 5491 Bungama 5540 Bungaree 5464 Burnsfield 5520 Burra 5417 Burra Eastern Districts 5417 Caltowie 5490 Caltowie North 5490 Caltowie West 5490 Canowie 5419 Canowie Belt 5420 Caralue 5641 Carrieton 5432 Cavenagh 5422 Chilpenunda 5660 Clements Gap 5523 Cockburn 5440 Collinsville 5418 Commissariat Point 5700 Condowie 5464 Coober Pedy 5723 Cook 5701 Coomooroo 5431 Coonamia 5540 Coopers Creek 5731 Cootra 5650 Copley 5732 Cordillo Downs 5731 Cortlinye 5641 Cradock 5432 Crystal Brook 5523 Cultana 5601 Cungena 5660 Cunyarie 5641 Dawson 5422 Durham Downs 5731 Ernabella 0872 Erskine 5422 Eurelia 5431 Euromina 5454 Farina 5733 Finke 0872 Fisherman Bay 5522 Franklyn 5421 Fregon 0872 Georgetown 5472 Germein Bay 5495 Gibson Desert North 0872 Gibson Desert South 0872 Gladstone 5473 Gleeson Hill 5520 Glendambo 5701 Gulnare 5471 Gum Creek 5417 Hacklins Corner 5454 Hallett 5419 Hammond 5431 Hanson 5417 Hardy 5422 Hart 5464 Hawker 5434 Hilltown 5455 Hornsdale 5491 Huddleston 5523 Imanpa 0872 Indulkana 0872 Innamincka 5731 Iron Baron 5601 Iron Knob 5601 Jamestown 5491 Johnburg 5431 Johnburgh 5431 Kaldoonera 5655 Kanyaka 5434 Kelly 5641 Kimba 5641 Kingoonya 5701 Koolgera 5661 Koolunga 5464 Koongawa 5650 Koonoona 5417 Kulgera 0872 Kyancutta 5651 Lake Mackay 0872 Laura 5480 Leigh Creek 5731 Leighton 5417 Lower Broughton 5540 Lyndhurst 5731 Mambray Creek 5495 Manna Hill 5440 Mannanarie 5422 Marla 5724 Marola 5464 Marree 5733 Mayfield 5454 Melrose 5483 Merriton 5523 Merty Merty 5731 Mimili 0872 Minburra 5431 Mingary 5440 Mintabie 5724 Minvalara 5422 Miranda 5700 Mongolata 5417 Moockra 5432 Moolawatana 5731 Morchard 5431 Moseley 5641 Mount Bryan 5418 Mount Bryan East 5419 Mullaquana 5601 Mundallio 5700 Murray Town 5481 Nackara 5440 Napperby 5540 Narridy 5523 Nectar Brook 5495 Nelshaby 5540 Nepabunna 5732 Ngaanyatjarra-Giles 0872 Nonning 5710 North Booborowie 5417 Nurom 5523 Nyirripi 0872 Olary 5440 Olympic Dam 5725 Oodla Wirra 5422 Oodnadatta 5734 Orroroo 5431 Paney 5652 Panitya 5641 Parachilna 5730 Paratoo 5422 Parnaroo 5422 Pekina 5431 Peterborough 5422 Petermann 0872 Pimba 5720 Pimbaacla 5661 Pine Creek 5419 Pinkawillinie 5641 Pirie East 5540 Point Lowly 5601 Poochera 5655 Port Augusta 5700 Port Augusta 5700 Port Augusta North 5700 Port Augusta West 5700 Port Bonython 5601 Port Broughton 5522 Port Davis 5540 Port Flinders 5495 Port Germein 5495 Port Paterson 5700 Port Pirie 5540 Port Pirie South 5540 Port Pirie West 5540 Pygery 5652 Quorn 5433 Redhill 5521 Risdon Park 5540 Risdon Park South 5540 Rochester 5464 Roxby Downs 5725 Saltia 5433 Santa Teresa 0872 Simpson 0872 Snowtown 5520 Solomon 5641 Solomontown 5540 Spalding 5454 Stephenston 5433 Stirling North 5710 Stone Hut 5480 Sunnybrae 5422 Tarcoola 5701 Tarcowie 5431 Telowie 5540 Terowie 5421 Titjikala 0872 Ucolta 5422 Ulooloo 5419 Wallala 5661 Wallaway 5431 Walloway 5431 Wami Kata 5700 Wandearah 5523 Wandearah East 5523 Wandearah West 5523 Ward Hill 5522 Warnertown 5540 Warramboo 5650 Washpool 5454 Waukaringa 5440 Wepowie 5482 West Bundaleer 5491 Whyalla 5600 Whyalla Dc 5600 Whyalla Jenkins 5609 Whyalla Norrie 5608 Whyalla Norrie East 5608 Whyalla Norrie North 5608 Whyalla Playford 5600 Whyalla Stuart 5608 Whyte Yarcowie 5420 Wilcherry 5641 Willalo 5419 Willochra 5433 Willowie 5431 Willsden 5700 Wilmington 5485 Winninowie 5700 Wirrabara 5481 Wirrulla 5661 Witchelina 5731 Wokurna 5520 Wongyarra 5481 Wonna 5419 Woolundunga 5701 Woomera 5720 Wudinna 5652 Yacka 5470 Yalanda 5641 Yalpara 5431 Yaninee 5653 Yantanabie 5661 Yanyarrie 5432 Yarrah 5433 Yatina 5422 Yongala 5493 Yulara 0872 Yunta 5440 Suburbs and their postcodes in Mid North (SA) Altona 5351 Angaston 5353 Barossa Goldfields 5351 Bethany 5352 Black Hill 5353 Cambrai 5353 Cockatoo Valley 5351 Daveyston 5355 Ebenezer 5355 Flaxman Valley 5235 Freeling 5372 Gomersal 5352 Greenock 5360 Keyneton 5353 Kongolia 5353 Krondorf 5352 Light Pass 5355 Lyndoch 5351 Marananga 5355 Moculta 5353 Moppa 5355 Mount Crawford 5351 Mount Mckenzie 5353 Nain 5360 Nuriootpa 5355 Penrice 5353 Pewsey Vale 5351 Rosedale 5350 Rowland Flat 5352 Sandy Creek 5350 Sedan 5353 Seppeltsfield 5355 Stockwell 5355 Stone Well 5352 Tanunda 5352 Towitta 5353 Vine Vale 5352 Williamstown 5351 Allendale North 5373 Alma 5401 Angaston 5353 Annadale 5356 Apoinga 5413 Armagh 5453 Auburn 5451 Australia Plains 5374 Avon 5501 Bagot Well 5373 Balaklava 5461 Barabba 5460 Barinia 5453 Beatty 5320 Beaufort 5550 Beaumonts 5320 Benbournie 5453 Bethel 5373 Black Springs 5413 Blanchetown 5357 Blyth 5462 Boconnoc Park 5453 Bower 5374 Bowillia 5461 Bowmans 5550 Brady Creek 5381 Brenda Park 5320 Bright 5381 Brownlow 5374 Buchanan 5374 Bundey 5320 Calomba 5501 Clare 5453 Dalkey 5461 Dublin 5501 Dutton 5356 Dutton East 5356 Eba 5320 Ebenezer 5355 Emu Downs 5381 Emu Flat 5453 Erith 5461 Eudunda 5374 Everard Central 5461 Farrell Flat 5416 Fischer 5502 Fords 5373 Frankton 5374 Freeling 5372 Geranium Plains 5381 Giles Corner 5411 Gillentown 5453 Goyder 5461 Grace Plains 5502 Greenock 5360 Halbury 5461 Hallelujah Hills 5381 Hamilton 5373 Hamley Bridge 5401 Hampden 5374 Hansborough 5374 Hill River 5453 Hope Gap 5555 Hoskin Corner 5461 Inkerman 5550 Julia 5374 Kallora 5550 Kapunda 5373 Kingston On Murray 5331 Kongolia 5353 Koonunga 5373 Korunye 5502 Kybunga 5453 Lake View 5555 Leasingham 5452 Lewiston 5501 Light Pass 5355 Lindley 5320 Linwood 5410 Long Plains 5501 Lower Light 5501 Magdala 5400 Magdalla 5400 Mallala 5502 Manoora 5414 Marrabel 5413 Maude 5320 Mcbean Pound 5357 Middle Beach 5501 Mintaro 5415 Moorundie 5357 Moppa 5355 Morgan 5320 Morn Hill 5371 Morphetts Flat 5320 Mount Mary 5374 Mount Mckenzie 5353 Mount Templeton 5461 Mundoora 5555 Murbko 5320 Nain 5360 Nantawarra 5550 Navan 5412 Neales Flat 5374 New Well 5357 Ngapala 5374 North West Bend 5320 Notts Well 5357 Nuriootpa 5355 Owen 5460 Paisley 5357 Parham 5501 Peep Hill 5374 Penwortham 5453 Pinery 5460 Pinkerton Plains 5400 Point Pass 5374 Polish Hill River 5453 Port Gawler 5501 Port Wakefield 5550 Proof Range 5550 Red Banks 5502 Redbanks 5502 Reeves Plains 5502 Rhynie 5412 Riverton 5412 Robertstown 5381 Rocky Plain 5381 Roseworthy 5371 Saddleworth 5413 Saints 5461 Salter Springs 5401 Sandleton 5356 Sevenhill 5453 Shea-Oak Log 5371 South Hummocks 5550 Spring Farm 5453 Spring Gully 5453 St Johns 5373 St Kitts 5356 Stanley 5415 Stanley Flat 5453 Steelton 5413 Steinfeld 5356 Stockport 5410 Stockwell 5355 Stockyard Creek 5460 Stow 5461 Stuart 5320 Sutherlands 5374 Tarlee 5411 Tarnma 5413 Templers 5371 Thompson Beach 5501 Tickera 5555 Tothill Belt 5413 Tothill Creek 5413 Truro 5356 Two Wells 5501 Undalya 5451 Wasleys 5400 Watchman 5461 Waterloo 5413 Watervale 5452 Webb Beach 5501 Whitwarta 5461 Wigley Flat 5330 Wild Horse Plains 5501 Windsor 5501 Wombats Rest 5320 Woolshed Flat 5412 Woolsheds 5400 Worlds End 5381 Worlds End Creek 5381 Alford 5555 Armagh 5453 Barinia 5453 Benbournie 5453 Blyth 5462 Boconnoc Park 5453 Bute 5560 Clare 5453 Collinsfield 5555 Dowling 5555 Dowlingville 5571 Emu Flat 5453 Farrell Flat 5416 Gillentown 5453 Hill River 5453 Hope Gap 5555 Hoyleton 5453 Kulpara 5552 Kybunga 5453 Lake View 5555 Lochiel 5510 Melton 5552 Mintaro 5415 Mundoora 5555 Ninnes 5560 Penwortham 5453 Polish Hill River 5453 Porter Lagoon 5416 Sevenhill 5453 Spring Farm 5453 Spring Gully 5453 Stanley 5415 Stanley Flat 5453 Tickera 5555 Winulta 5570 Alawoona 5311 Bakara 5354 Bakara Well 5354 Barmera 5345 Berri 5343 Billiatt 5311 Blanchetown 5357 Bookpurnong 5333 Boolgun 5330 Borrika 5309 Bugle Hut 5311 Cadell 5321 Cadell Lagoon 5321 Caliph 5310 Calperum 5341 Chaffey 5341 Cobdogla 5346 Cooltong 5341 Copeville 5308 Crescent 5341 Devlins Pound 5330 Fisher 5354 Galga 5308 Gerard 5343 Glossop 5344 Golden Heights 5322 Good Hope Landing 5330 Greenways Landing 5354 Gurra Gurra 5343 Halidon 5309 Holder 5330 Holder Siding 5330 Kalyan 5308 Kanni 5330 Katarapko 5343 Kringin 5304 Langs Landing 5354 Loveday 5345 Lowbank 5330 Loxton 5333 Loxton North 5333 Lyrup 5343 Maggea 5311 Malpas 5311 Mantung 5308 Markaranka 5330 Marks Landing 5354 Mercunda 5308 Meribah 5311 Mindarie 5309 Monash 5342 Moorook 5332 Moorook South 5332 Moorundie 5357 Mundic Creek 5340 Murtho 5340 Naidia 5354 Nangari 5333 New Residence 5333 Noora 5333 Old Calperum 5341 Overland Corner 5330 Paringa 5340 Paruna 5311 Pata 5333 Peebinga 5304 Perponda 5308 Pike River 5340 Pinnaroo 5304 Pooginook 5330 Punyelroo 5354 Pyap 5333 Pyap West 5333 Qualco 5322 Ramco 5322 Ramco Heights 5322 Renmark 5341 Renmark North 5341 Renmark South 5341 Renmark West 5341 Sandalwood 5309 Schell Well 5311 Spectacle Lake 5345 Stockyard Plain 5330 Sunlands 5322 Sunnydale 5354 Swan Reach 5354 Taldra 5311 Taplan 5311 Taylorville 5330 Veitch 5311 Waikerie 5330 Wanbi 5310 Wappilka 5332 Winkie 5343 Wonuarra 5340 Woodleigh 5311 Woolpunda 5330 Wunkar 5311 Yamba 5340 Yinkanie 5332 Suburbs and their postcodes in South (SA) Angas Plains 5255 Back Valley 5211 Bald Hills 5203 Belvidere 5255 Bletchley 5255 Cape Jervis 5204 Carrickalinga 5204 Clayton 5256 Clayton Bay 5256 Currency Creek 5214 Deep Creek 5204 Delamere 5204 Encounter Bay 5211 Finniss 5255 Gemmells 5255 Goolwa 5214 Goolwa Beach 5214 Goolwa North 5214 Goolwa South 5214 Hartley 5255 Hay Flat 5204 Hayborough 5211 Highland Valley 5255 Hindmarsh Island 5214 Hindmarsh Tiers 5202 Hindmarsh Valley 5211 Inman Valley 5211 Lake Plains 5255 Langhorne Creek 5255 Lower Inman Valley 5211 Mccracken 5211 Middleton 5213 Milang 5256 Mosquito Hill 5214 Mount Compass 5210 Mount Jagged 5211 Mount Magnificent 5210 Mount Observation 5255 Mulgundawa 5255 Mundoo Island 5214 Myponga 5202 Myponga Beach 5202 Nalpa 5255 Nangkita 5210 Normanville 5204 Nurragi 5256 Parawa 5203 Point Sturt 5256 Port Elliot 5212 Rapid Bay 5204 Red Creek 5255 Salem 5255 Sandergrove 5255 Second Valley 5204 Sellicks Beach 5174 Sellicks Hill 5174 Silverton 5204 Strathalbyn 5255 Tolderol 5256 Tooperang 5255 Torrens Vale 5203 Tunkalilla 5203 Victor Harbor 5211 Waitpinga 5211 Wattle Flat 5203 Willow Creek 5211 Willyaroo 5255 Wirrina Cove 5204 Woodchester 5255 Yankalilla 5203 Yilki 5211 American Beach 5222 American River 5221 Antechamber Bay 5222 Ballast Head 5221 Baudin Beach 5222 Bay Of Shoals 5223 Birchmore 5223 Brown Beach 5222 Brownlow Ki 5223 Browns Beach 5222 Cape Borda 5223 Cassini 5223 Cuttlefish Bay 5222 Cygnet River 5223 D'Estrees Bay 5223 D'Estrees Bay 5223 De Mole River 5223 Dudley East 5222 Dudley West 5222 Duncan 5223 Emu Bay 5223 Flinders Chase 5223 Gosse 5223 Haines 5223 Harriet River 5223 Hungerford 5222 Ironstone 5222 Island Beach 5222 Kangaroo Head 5222 Karatta 5223 Kingscote 5223 Kohinoor 5223 Macgillivray 5223 Menzies 5223 Middle River 5223 Muston 5221 Nepean Bay 5223 Newland 5223 North Cape 5223 Parndana 5220 Pelican Lagoon 5222 Penneshaw 5222 Porky Flat 5222 Sapphiretown 5222 Seal Bay 5223 Seddon 5223 Stokes Bay 5223 Stun'Sail Boom 5223 Stun'Sail Boom 5223 Vivonne Bay 5223 Western River 5223 Willoughby 5222 Willson River 5222 Wisanger 5223 Allendale East 5291 Angas Plains 5255 Ashville 5259 Avenue Range 5273 Avoca Dell 5253 Bangham 5268 Bayah 5260 Beachport 5280 Belvidere 5255 Binnum 5262 Blackfellows Caves 5291 Blackford 5275 Bletchley 5255 Boatswain Point 5275 Bool Lagoon 5271 Bordertown 5268 Bordertown South 5268 Bray 5276 Brimbago 5267 Brinkley 5253 Buckingham 5270 Bunbury 5266 Burdett 5253 Burrungule 5291 Cadgee 5271 Cangara 5268 Cannawigara 5268 Canunda 5291 Cape Douglas 5291 Cape Jaffa 5275 Carcuma 5301 Carew 5270 Caroline 5291 Carpenter Rocks 5291 Caveton 5291 Chapman Bore 5253 Clay Wells 5280 Clayton 5256 Colebatch 5266 Coles 5272 Comaum 5277 Compton 5291 Conmurra 5272 Cooke Plains 5261 Coomandook 5261 Coombe 5267 Coonalpyn 5265 Coonawarra 5263 Coorong 5264 Culburra 5261 Currency Creek 5214 Custon 5269 Deepwater 5266 Dismal Swamp 5291 Donovans 5291 East Wellington 5259 Eight Mile Creek 5291 Elwomple 5260 Ettrick 5253 Field 5265 Finniss 5255 Fox 5272 Frances 5262 Furner 5280 Gemmells 5255 Geranium 5301 German Creek 5280 German Flat 5280 Gifford Hill 5253 Glenburnie 5291 Glencoe 5291 Glencoe West 5291 Glenroy 5277 Goolwa 5214 Goolwa Beach 5214 Goolwa North 5214 Goolwa South 5214 Greenbanks 5253 Greenways 5272 Hartley 5255 Hatherleigh 5280 Highland Valley 5255 Hindmarsh Island 5214 Hynam 5262 Jabuk 5301 Jervois 5259 Joanna 5271 Kalangadoo 5278 Kangaroo Inn 5280 Karoonda 5307 Karte 5307 Keilira 5275 Keith 5267 Kepa 5259 Keppoch 5271 Ki Ki 5261 Kingston Se 5275 Kongal 5270 Kongorong 5291 Koorine 5279 Koppamurra 5271 Krongart 5278 Kulkami 5307 Kybybolite 5262 Laffer 5267 Lake Plains 5255 Lameroo 5302 Langhorne Creek 5255 Laurie Park 5271 Lochaber 5271 Long Flat 5253 Lowaldie 5307 Lowan Vale 5268 Lucindale 5272 Maaoupe 5277 Magarey 5280 Makin 5267 Malinong 5259 Marama 5307 Marcollat 5271 Mccallum 5267 Meningie 5264 Meningie East 5264 Meningie West 5264 Middleton 5213 Mil Lel 5291 Mil-Lel 5291 Milang 5256 Millicent 5280 Mingbool 5291 Mobilong 5253 Moerlong 5278 Monbulla 5277 Moorak 5291 Moorlands 5301 Mootatunga 5307 Mosquito Hill 5214 Mount Benson 5275 Mount Burr 5279 Mount Charles 5267 Mount Gambier 5290 Mount Gambier 5290 Mount Gambier Dc 5290 Mount Gambier East 5291 Mount Gambier West 5291 Mount Light 5271 Mount Magnificent 5210 Mount Mcintyre 5279 Mount Observation 5255 Mount Schank 5291 Moyhall 5271 Mundulla 5270 Mundulla West 5270 Murrawong 5253 Murray Bridge 5253 Murray Bridge East 5253 Murray Bridge North 5253 Murray Bridge South 5253 Nangkita 5210 Nangwarry 5277 Naracoorte 5271 Narrung 5259 Naturi 5259 Nene Valley 5291 Netherton 5301 Ngarkat 5302 Nora Creina 5276 Northern Heights 5253 Nurragi 5256 O B Flat 5291 Ob Flat 5291 Padthaway 5271 Parilla 5303 Parrakie 5301 Peake 5301 Pelican Point 5291 Penola 5277 Petherick 5267 Pine Hill 5269 Pinks Beach 5275 Pleasant Park 5277 Point Mcleay 5259 Point Sturt 5256 Policeman Point 5264 Poltalloch 5259 Pooginagoric 5268 Port Macdonnell 5291 Racecourse Bay 5291 Raukkan 5259 Red Creek 5255 Reedy Creek 5275 Rendelsham 5280 Riverglades 5253 Riverglen 5253 Robe 5276 Rocky Camp 5280 Rocky Gully 5253 Rosetown 5275 Salem 5255 Salt Creek 5264 Sandergrove 5255 Sandy Grove 5275 Sebastopol 5280 Senior 5268 Shaugh 5267 Sherlock 5301 Sherwood 5267 Short 5279 Smithville 5302 Southend 5280 Spence 5271 Square Mile 5291 Stewart Range 5271 Strathalbyn 5255 Struan 5271 Sunnyside 5253 Suttontown 5291 Swanport 5253 Swede Flat 5270 Tailem Bend 5260 Tailem Bend 5260 Tantanoola 5280 Taratap 5275 Tarpeena 5277 The Gap 5271 Thornlea 5280 Tilley Swamp 5275 Tintinara 5266 Tolderol 5256 Tooperang 5255 Toora 5253 Trihi 5279 Waltowa 5264 Wandilo 5291 Wangolina 5275 Wattle Range 5280 Wattle Range East 5279 Wellington 5259 Wellington East 5259 Wepar 5278 West Range 5275 Western Flat 5268 White Hill 5253 White Sands 5253 Wild Dog Valley 5271 Wilkawatt 5301 Willalooka 5267 Willow Banks 5253 Willyaroo 5255 Wirrega 5267 Wolseley 5269 Woodchester 5255 Woods Point 5253 Woolumbool 5272 Worrolong 5291 Wrattonbully 5271 Wye 5291 Wynarka 5306 Wyomi 5275 Yahl 5291 Yumali 5261 Suburbs and their postcodes in Spencer Gulf (SA) Arno Bay 5603 Baird Bay 5671 Boonerdo 5633 Boston 5607 Bramfield 5670 Brooker 5607 Butler 5605 Calca 5671 Campoona 5640 Carawa 5680 Chandada 5680 Charlton Gully 5607 Chinbingina 5680 Cleve 5640 Cocata 5654 Cockaleechie 5631 Coffin Bay 5607 Colley 5671 Colton 5670 Coolillie 5670 Coomunga 5607 Coulta 5607 Cowell 5602 Cummins 5631 Darke Peak 5642 Duck Ponds 5607 Eba Anchorage 5680 Edilillie 5630 Edillilie 5630 Elliston 5670 Farm Beach 5607 Fountain 5607 Green Patch 5607 Hambidge 5642 Haslam 5680 Hawson 5607 Hincks 5603 Horse Peninsula 5607 Inkster 5680 Jamieson 5640 Kapinnie 5632 Kappawanta 5670 Karcultaby 5654 Karkoo 5632 Kellidie Bay 5607 Kiana 5607 Kielpa 5642 Kirton Point 5606 Koppio 5607 Laura Bay 5680 Lincoln National Park 5607 Lipson 5607 Little Douglas 5607 Lock 5633 Louth Bay 5607 Lucky Bay 5602 Mangalo 5602 Maryvale 5680 Midgee 5602 Miltalie 5602 Minbrie 5602 Minnipa 5654 Mitalie 5602 Mitchell 5632 Mitchellville 5602 Moody 5607 Mortana 5671 Mount Cooper 5671 Mount Damper 5654 Mount Drummond 5607 Mount Dutton Bay 5607 Mount Hope 5607 Mount Joy 5670 Mount Wedge 5670 Mudamuckla 5680 Murdinga 5607 Murlong 5642 North Shields 5607 Nunjikompita 5680 Palkagee 5670 Peachna 5607 Pearlah 5607 Perlubie 5680 Petina 5680 Piednippie 5680 Point Boston 5607 Polda 5670 Poonindie 5607 Port Gibbon 5602 Port Kenny 5671 Port Lincoln 5606 Port Lincoln 5606 Port Neill 5604 Puntabie 5680 Pureba 5680 Rudall 5642 Sceale Bay 5680 Sheringa 5607 Sleaford 5607 Smoky Bay 5680 Streaky Bay 5680 Sullivan 5607 Talia 5670 Tiatukia 5607 Tooligie 5607 Tootenilla 5607 Tulka 5607 Tulka North 5607 Tumby Bay 5605 Tyringa 5671 Uley 5607 Ulyerra 5670 Ungarra 5607 Venus Bay 5607 Verran 5603 Waddikee 5640 Wangary 5607 Wanilla 5607 Warrachie 5607 Warrow 5607 Warunda 5607 Westall 5680 Wharminda 5603 Whites Flat 5607 Whites River 5607 Witera 5671 Yallunda Flat 5607 Yanerbie 5680 Yeelanna 5632 Agery 5558 Ardrossan 5571 Arthurton 5572 Balgowan 5573 Black Point 5571 Bluff Beach 5575 Boors Plain 5554 Brentwood 5575 Chinaman Wells 5573 Clinton 5570 Clinton Centre 5570 Coobowie 5583 Corny Point 5575 Couch Beach 5577 Cross Roads 5558 Cunliffe 5554 Cunningham 5571 Curramulka 5580 East Moonta 5558 Edithburgh 5583 Foul Bay 5577 Hamley 5558 Hardwicke Bay 5575 Honiton 5576 Inneston 5577 James Well 5571 Jericho 5554 Jerusalem 5554 Kadina 5554 Kainton 5552 Koolywurtie 5575 Kooroona 5558 Maitland 5573 Marion Bay 5575 Matta Flat 5554 Minlaton 5575 Moonta 5558 Moonta Bay 5558 Moonta Mines 5558 Nalyappa 5558 New Town 5554 North Beach 5556 North Moonta 5558 North Yelta 5558 Paramatta 5558 Paskeville 5552 Petersville 5571 Pine Point 5571 Point Pearce 5573 Point Souttar 5577 Point Turton 5575 Port Arthur 5552 Port Clinton 5570 Port Giles 5582 Port Hughes 5558 Port Julia 5580 Port Moorowie 5576 Port Rickaby 5575 Port Victoria 5573 Port Vincent 5581 Price 5570 Ramsay 5575 Rogues Point 5571 Sandilands 5571 Sheaoak Flat 5581 South Kilkerran 5573 Stansbury 5582 Stenhouse Bay 5575 Sunnyvale 5552 The Pines 5577 Thomas Plain 5554 Thomas Plains 5554 Thrington 5552 Tiddy Widdy Beach 5571 Urania 5573 Wallaroo 5556 Wallaroo Mines 5554 Wallaroo Plain 5556 Warburto 5556 Warooka 5577 Wauraltee 5573 Weetulta 5573 White Hut 5575 Willamulka 5554 Wool Bay 5575 Yelta 5558 Yorke Valley 5573 Yorketown 5576 Suburbs and their postcodes in West Coast (SA) Bookabie 5690 Ceduna 5690 Charra 5690 Coorabie 5690 Denial Bay 5690 Fowlers Bay 5690 Kalanbi 5690 Koonibba 5690 Maltee 5690 Merghiny 5690 Nadia 5690 Nundroo 5690 Penong 5690 Thevenard 5690 Uworra 5690 Wandana 5690 Watraba 5690 White Well Corner 5690 Yalata 5690

Software runs on data and data is often regarded as the new oil. So it makes sense to put data as close to where it is being processed as possible, in order to reduce latency for performance-hungry processing tasks. Some architectures call for big chunks of memory-like storage located near the compute function, while, conversely, in some cases, it makes more sense to move the computer nearer to the bulk storage. In this series of articles we explore the architectural decisions driving modern data processing… and, specifically, we look at computational storage “Computational storage is defined as architectures that provide Computational Storage Functions (CSF) coupled to storage, offloading host processing or reducing data movement. These architectures enable improvements in application performance and/or infrastructure efficiency through the integration of compute resources (outside of the traditional compute & memory architecture) either directly with storage or between the host and the storage. The goal of these architectures is to enable parallel computation and/or to alleviate constraints on existing compute, memory, storage and I/O.” Fern writes as follows When it comes to computational storage, people ask how exactly should software engineers identify, target and architect specific elements of the total processing workload to reside closer to computational storage functions? With quantum computing on the horizon (whether that be that a couple of years away, or more than a decade), software engineers need to be conscious of the threat it poses to traditional digital encryption and the knock-on effects for how data is processed and stored. Solutions developed to protect that data – and how they operate – will have a clear impact on how we architect specific elements of the processing workload and where they are located. Data disaggregation For example, data disaggregation offers real potential to future-proof data security in a quantum computing world but there is a trade-off, to some degree, between security and speed of data processing that may require a rethinking of how we architect storage and processing functions. Disaggregating data inherently creates some latency when it comes to accessing that data but there are ways of storing and processing that disaggregated data that allow system architects to bring data that is needed quickly close to the CPU while maintaining its wider disaggregated form. How? By making the storage ‘content-aware’. The Content Addressable Filesystem (CAFS) approach may have fallen by the wayside over recent years as massively parallel processing (MPP) architectures became prominent, but it’s actually quite a nifty way of doing things. It allows data exchange to take place remotely from the processor while also being aware enough to know that the next bit of data – which may be further away from the processor – will take longer to access and should therefore be moved closer. Crucially, there are ways in which this and other technologies can be applied to make the cloud inherently safe and secure, delivering an outcome analogous to homomorphic encryption – querying the data in its disaggregated using form without ever opening it up to the airwaves in clear. Latency you can live with Yes, there is some additional latency but there are three clear advantages to this approach: Firstly, the data itself is never revealed in its unencrypted state; Secondly, any latency disaggregating, re-aggregating, encrypting and decrypting the data can be mitigated by use of smart storage that identifies and pre-fetches relevant data, bringing it closer to the CPU as needed; Thirdly, limiting the amount of data stored near the CPU reduces the security risk of storing it all close to the processor, while that risk is further mitigated by a retrieval process that focuses on identifying and pulling back smaller pieces of data – effectively just bringing the relevant page from a book rather than the whole bookcase at any one time. This approach does mean reviewing what have become the accepted norms of data storage, processing and system architecture but there’s an argument that approaches such as CAFS were not the wrong approach, just before their time in terms of the solutions they enable. The refactoring X-factor So how much refactoring does it take to bring about a successful computational storage deployment and, crucially, how much tougher is that operation when the DevOps team in question is faced with a particularly archaic older legacy system? Our aim at Nerdcore Computers is to make the deployment of computational storage as transparent as possible so that it doesn’t interrupt workflow during the transition period and in-life. In essence, our approach to data storage is mapped in traditional storage terms but delivered virtually, meaning you don’t have to fully switch everything over on day one and risk breaking the whole integrated IT and human subsystems. Instead, you can deploy new storage at a manageable rate, decommissioning old systems as each phase of the transition completes and evolving your business practices and workflows gradually, as capacity and capability allows. It’s a new approach but not a novel one; more a change of mindset about how to structure computational storage and implement change that smooths the transition, especially where existing structures are particularly archaic or need to incorporate – initially at least – legacy systems. Author Nerdcore Computers

For much of IT history, your options for acquiring IT solutions were pretty limited. It was a choice between a one-off capital charge, combined with annual maintenance fees, and a three year lease – perhaps with an option for a peppercorn rental extension if you wanted to keep the kit for a year or two longer. Life was simple. How things have changed. We now have a range of new ways to pay, many of them pay-as-you-go or subscription services inspired by the popularity of public cloud services and SaaS software. What some may be surprised to learn is that subscription or consumption-based payment plans don’t just apply to cloud-based applications and virtual machines. Now it can be for the servers and storage systems that you run in your own data centre or computer room, too. Of course, this process – like the pressure on IT spending – is not entirely new. Over the years a few approaches have been made by IT vendors to make it easier to acquire kit. One that enjoyed some success in larger environments was the “capacity on demand” model, whereby the vendor would install more capacity in the computer room than the customer planned to use immediately, so it would be there ready for when a spike in demand occurred. This was good if you had a workload (or loads) with an unpredictable usage profile, but it came at a price premium, and should your workload subsequently drop back below the new baseline, there would be no reduction in cost. However, as the pressure on IT spend continues, vendors are now adapting these models still further, whether it’s to cater for fluctuating workload patterns, or simply to help organisations get a new project off the ground without having to make significant day one investments in new IT capacity. From capacity-on-demand to consumption-based pricing Many of these new models are based on consumption pricing similar to that used for cloud services. In other words, the vendor puts the kit into your data centre, computer room or colocation site and you pay them whenever you have workloads running on the equipment. They monitor the kit and work out when they will add new resources to cater for your growing usage or update the equipment to newer technology. This approach can also help organisations looking to get IT kit “off their books” under the new financial reporting standards. This is because some of these financial solutions are true “services” where the client has no control over the hardware used, just the ability to define the service qualities needed. The vendor does everything else. Dell, HPE, Fujitsu, Pure and IBM are just some of those bringing this new way of financing IT to market. And unlike most of the past 30 years, the vendors are actually taking pains to market such offerings in their own right, usually with their own branding wrapped around. It’s the first time I can remember when paying for IT was a subject of marketing campaigns. But beware: consumption-based IT pricing comes at a premium, making it sensible to use only in particular investment cases. It is not the answer to everything. So make sure you understand the offers open to you and work out the economics, as best you can, over a budgeting lifecycle of at least three years, to ensure you get best value for IT your spend. Author: Nerdcore Computers

CLOUD-MANAGED STACKABLE ACCESS SWITCHES The Cisco Meraki MS225 series switches provide layer 2 access switching and are ideal for deploying to branch locations. With stacking capabilities and 10G SFP+ uplinks on every model, performance is guaranteed. This family also supports an optional, rack-mountable remote PSU (Cisco RPS-2300) for power redundancy requirements. All Meraki switches are managed through an elegant, intuitive cloud-based interface, rather than cryptic command line. To bring up a Meraki switch, simply plug it in. Meraki switches do not require CLI for switch configuration or port management. Meraki’s centralized management platform gives administrators granular visibility into their network. Our dashboard helps you keep track of every configuration change in your network with our detailed event and change logs. Stackable access switches with 10G SFP+ uplinks, designed for the branch and campus INDUSTRY LEADING CLOUD MANAGEMENT Cloud management has a number of benefits that make it easier to build networks large and small:• Automatic email alerts from power loss, downtime, excessive Layer 1 errors, or configuration changes• Powerful remote diagnostic tools such as packet capture to help isolate and troubleshoot network issues• Role-based administration • Firmware upgrades and enhancements from the Meraki cloud• Virtual Stacking enables switch port configuration changes on the dashboard interface without the need to physically stack switches• Incredible network transparency with application, operating system, client, and hostname visibility• Zero-touch provisioning for rapid deployment across sites Product Highlights• Gigabit access switching with 24- and 48- port models and optional PoE+ support up to 740W• Stacking-compatible with the MS210• 4 x 10G SFP+ uplink interfaces on all models • Dual stacking interfaces with up to 80 Gbps of bandwidth• Non-blocking switch backplane with up to 176 Gbps bandwidth support• 6 configurable QoS queues for converged voice, video, and data applications• Low power consumption, quiet acoustic design, and shallow rack depth options, enabling flexible deployment in wiring closets as well as offices and classrooms• Integrated mounting brackets for rack mounting• Fanless design on select models• Lifetime hardware warranty and advanced replacement at no additional cost

Catalyst Quality for Small Deployments When your business is growing, you need your network to enable that growth, not stand in the way of it. So, it’s important to have a network that you know you can rely on. This is why we designed the Cisco Catalyst 1000 Series switches – providing flexibility, simplicity, and security for deployments of up to 250 users. Flexible, so you can allocate resources intelligently Small businesses are known for agility, so your network requirements may change over time. The great news is, the Catalyst 1000 switches fit a host of use cases, whether you’re adding connectivity for an increase in staff or bringing online a host of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The compact, fanless design of the Cisco Catalyst 1000 Series means it does not need to be placed in a wiring closet, but instead can sit in an open-plan office, day spa, or classroom without disturbing the environment. The series also offers a greater PoE budget, which means you can run more devices per port. Plus, Perpetual PoE ensures that the connected devices retain power in the event of a switch reboot. Simple, so you can do more, easier and faster Not all businesses have the luxury of experienced, dedicated IT professionals to keep their networks running. Even if they do, it’s likely that each IT person has to wear multiple hats. For this reason, we have built in several features that help save on network management time. One of these features is an on-box intuitive WebUI, called Cisco Configuration Professional for Catalyst (CCP). CCP provides you with a wizard for day-0 setup, day-N provisioning, image upgrades, troubleshooting, diagnostics, system monitoring, and a client view. Other time-saving features include the ability to connect via a Bluetooth dongle, and automatic switch recovery. You can access the user interface through Bluetooth connectivity by pairing the switch to a computer – helpful when the switch is tucked away somewhere hard to reach. With automatic switch recovery, you can configure automatic recovery on the switch to recover from the error-disabled state after the specified period of time. To demonstrate how easy it is to use, we asked a customer why they recommend the Cisco Catalyst 1000 Series switches over any other competitor’s switches or even pro/consumer options. “Adding users, access points, and changing port types and VLAN settings can all be accomplished in minutes. The user interface is designed for people with minimal technical knowledge – and the device pretty much configures itself.” —John House, Senior IT Network Administrator for Transpo Systems Secure and reliable, so you can grow with confidence Even smaller networks must serve multiple functions, and the Cisco Catalyst 1000 Series switches make it easy to meet competing demands with expanded support for VLANs. Larger-scale access control tables enable network administrators to segment traffic for greater security and control. The series runs classic Cisco IOS, one of the most hardened networking operating systems ever released. Advanced security features like 802.1x authentication and IPv6 First Hop Security provide additional protection. And with Perpetual PoE, your endpoints will continue to have power even if the switch must be rebooted. Upgrade from the Catalyst 2960-L switch series The Cisco Catalyst 1000 Series is the upgrade for the Catalyst 2960-L series. Compared to the C2960-L, the C1000 series has improved hardware, more advanced software options, and provides expanded support for VLANs. All in all, the Catalyst 1000 series offers cost-effective connectivity that is ideal for a variety of network needs: Branch offices with conventionally wired workspaces with PC, IP phones, Wireless Access Points, Cash Registers and printers, etc. Building infrastructure networks to connect physical security, sensors and control systems; and any application requiring Gigabit Ethernet connectivity and a low total cost of ownership. The Catalyst 1000 series switches are also backed by our enhanced limited lifetime hardware warranty. This provides next-business-day delivery of replacement hardware where available and 90 days of 8×5 Cisco Technical Assistance Center. Flexible, simple and secure, the Cisco Catalyst 1000 Series switches deliver enterprise-grade quality sized for small deployments

Chromebooks continue to find success as affordable, simple, cloud-based laptops. Chrome OS isn’t as complex as Windows or macOS, but sometimes less is more (especially when you’re saving money). If you have a Chromebook of your own, these are some of the most useful features you need to make yourself aware of. 1. Record screen activity The screen capture capabilities of Chrome OS have been significantly improved recently. Press Ctrl+Shift+Show Windows (the fifth button from the left at the top), or click Screen capture in the Quick Settings pane, and you get a new pop-up panel. This lets you switch between image and video capture, opt to include the microphone in video recordings, capture part or the whole of the screen, or capture activity in one specific window. 2. Pin files to the shelf Need easy access to a specific file or group of files in Chrome OS? If you open up the Files app on your Chromebook, then right-click on a particular file or folder and choose Pin to shelf, you’ll then be able to access it by clicking on the icon just to the left of the Quick Settings buttons. Note that some types of file, including screenshots and downloads, automatically appear in this pinned section so you can access them more quickly. 3. Change wallpapers automatically Make sure you’re fully aware of all the options you get for setting the wallpaper on your Chromebook. If you right-click on the desktop and choose Set wallpaper, you can pick from a wide range of gorgeous-looking images provided by Google (or select an image of your own). Note that some categories on the left (including Landscapes and Art) reveal a Daily Refresh toggle switch when selected. Enable this to get a new backdrop every day. 3. Change wallpapers automatically Make sure you’re fully aware of all the options you get for setting the wallpaper on your Chromebook. If you right-click on the desktop and choose Set wallpaper, you can pick from a wide range of gorgeous-looking images provided by Google (or select an image of your own). Note that some categories on the left (including Landscapes and Art) reveal a Daily Refresh toggle switch when selected. Enable this to get a new backdrop every day. 4. Access the clipboard history The traditional computer clipboard has always been somewhat limited, what with it only being able to hold one item at a time. That’s starting to change across multiple platforms now though, including Chrome OS: If you hit the Search+V keyboard shortcut rather than the more traditional Ctrl+V shortcut, you’ll see the last five items copied or cut to the clipboard. Click on anything in the list to paste it, or use the X icons to remove something. 5. Open up virtual desks Chrome OS supports virtual desktops, similarly to Windows and macOS. Google calls them Desks, and you can find them by hitting the Show windows key (it’s fifth from the left on the top row). Click the Desk you want to switch to, or the + button to add a new one. You can have up to eight Desks in total, and by right-clicking on the title bars of windows you’re able to access a Move window to desk option which can come in handy. 6. Turn on the Night Light Chrome OS comes with a built-in feature for making the display warmer and reducing the strain on your eyes late at night. To turn it on, click the time (bottom right) to bring up the Quick Settings panel, then choose Night Light. It’s also available in the main Chrome OS Settings pane (under Device and Displays). Here you can also schedule Night Light to turn on automatically, either from sunset to sunrise, or at a time of your choosing. 7. Right-click for quick answers The right-click option in Chrome OS is more powerful than you might have realized: Select a word or phrase in a webpage, right-click on it, and Google Assistant swings into action to bring you definitions, translations and conversions right in the pop-up menu. (The options you see will vary depending on what you’ve selected.) You can click the Google Assistant icon on the left to open up the full Google Assistant interface and get more answers. 8. Scan QR codes You might not spend much time thinking about the camera(s) on your Chromebook—at least not in between video call meetings—but if you open up the Camera app you’ll notice a little QR code icon on the right (just above the shutter button). Click this to open the QR code scanner, and you’ll be shown where the QR code needs to be lined up. The other icons in the app let you mirror the camera, set up a timer, and put up a grid overlay. 9. Switch channels There are multiple channels of Chrome OS, just as there are multiple channels of Chrome. You can switch to the Beta or Dev channels rather than the Stable one if you don’t mind a few bugs and want to check out new features earlier. To change channels, from the Settings pane pick About Chrome OS, then Additional details, then Change channel (note that switching to a more stable channel will require a full reset). 10. Read text aloud Having your Chromebook read out text to you can be helpful for those with low vision or who are blind, but can also be beneficial for everyone. Click the time in the lower right corner, then Accessibility and Select to Speak. Any text on screen that you’d like to be read out loud can then be selected by holding down the Search button and clicking and dragging, or by clicking on the Select to Speak button in the shelf and then making your selection. 11. Pin media controls to the shelf Start playing media in one of the Chrome OS tabs, and you get a handy mini player in the Quick Settings panel (click the time in the lower right hand corner to see it). Open up these controls, click on the pin icon up on the right, and this pop-up box gets pinned to the shelf for easy access. You may prefer having it pinned if you’re often playing audio in the background. If multiple tabs are playing audio, you’ll get a mini player for all of them.

PCIe Gen 3, With Micron TLC And No RAM Lexar have released a new NVMe 1.4 NM620 SSD family which uses a modified Innogrit IG5216 Shasta+ controller along with the Micron 64-Layer 3D TLC we see in the majority of drives on the market. It doesn’t have any sort of RAM cache but the 1TB model that Nerdcore reviewed does have a 208 GB SLC cache to ensure that you don’t encounter slowdowns when writing large files. The choice to skip an integrated heatsink proved to be effective, with no evidence of thermal throttling during their torture tests. The same is true of the pseudo-SLC cache, with the drive offering the second highest random write speed they have tested, as long as you keep the files around 1GB or so. In some tests it was outpaced by Lexar’s own NM610 but overall the new family proved to be the better performer. The price is an example of the trend that is happening, even if no one wants it to. At $0.16/GB the drive feels expensive for a PCIe 3.0 drive with no RAM cache, but unfortunately that is currently a decent price, as we see the price of all drives slowly creeping up again. On the plus side we aren’t seeing supply shortages; one trend we do want to see continue! The Lexar NM620 uses a custom DM620 flash controller from Lexar. In our real-life performance testing we saw good performance results, despite the lack of a DRAM cache chip. With over 200 GB, the pseudo-SLC cache is also large enough to handle all bursts in write activity

When you were in school, were computers a part of your generation’s education? It could be that based on your age computers were in the early development stages when a computer was the size of a room. Aware of how technology is changing the medical landscape? Chances are you are somewhat aware, and we will look at one specific example that could revolutionize how chronic headaches are treated. A look will also be taken at how the medical research community is making strides for the betterment of the welfare of test mice. Once again, a demonstration of how technological advancements are helping all species, not just humans. It is hard for many of us who were born prior to the 1990’s to envision a time when kids in school come home with a school supplies checklist and it includes either a laptop or notebook. That time is now. One computer is now provided for every five students in the public-school system in the United States. Imagine a time when elementary and middle-school students are issued standardized testing on a computer rather than paper and pencil. Well, the 2015-2020 school year saw just this. More students in these categories were administered the standardized tests with technology than paper and pencil. Which sets the stage for these future generations to work in fields that will have a focus on the betterment of society through technology. The chances are good that you know somebody who suffers from severe headaches from time to time. The types of headaches that a couple of aspirin will not solve. The technologically inclined researchers have developed an electronic device which can be installed on the sufferer’s upper gum on the side of their head where the chronic headaches flare up. Once installed, when the individual senses the headache coming on, they can take a remote and place it on the side of their cheek where the device is located. At that time, electronic signals are distributed which causes a block of the pain causing neurotransmitters. This is a true demonstration of how the people who have been educated in technology are putting it to good use for society. Us humans may not take much, if any, time to consider how it is that many of the lifesaving medications have come about. It is necessary for the pharmaceutical industry to test medications before they are made available to humans, and that is where mice come in. According to world renowned companies and organizations such as the FDA and Johnson & Johnson, rodent ear tags have become painless, lightweight, and secure. Gone are the days of tagging a rodent’s ear with a metal tag which invariably leads to infections. Technology is our friend, yet many people continue to fight its advancements. This is a closed-minded approach. By embracing what is happening with an open-mind, and seeing how it is bettering the lives of all species one can surely be filled with thanks. Thanks for the tireless hours spent by the young as they learn the basics of technology, using that as a stepping stone to further education and then career paths focused on helping others. Author Nerdcore Computers

Get your website up and running super-fast while sharing server costs and resources! Shared Web hosting is the most popular and low cost hosting option available used by almost 90% of websites. With Shared hosting you share the server space, CPU, RAM, disk storage and other resources with multiple other websites on a first cum first serve basis. It is similar to renting a room in a big house where you share all the common utilities as the kitchen, dining area, electricity and water costs with other partners. Nerdcore Computers Cloud offers you affordable web hosting plans along with a simple Control Panel, Free Set up and Local Support. Bronze $3 .95 EX GST 2 GB Storage Space 10 GB Data transfer Sydney Data Centre Unlimited Emails(POP & IMAP Control Panel (CPanel) Spam Filter Premium DNS 24/7 Site Monitoring Daily Remote Backup Monthly $9.95/mo 12 Months $9.95/mo $5.95/mo 24 Months $9.95/mo $4.95/mo 36 Months $9.95/mo $3.95/mo Order Now Silver $9 .95 EX GST 5 GB Storage Space 20 GB Data transfer Sydney Data Centre Unlimited Emails(POP & IMAP Control Panel (CPanel) Spam Filter Premium DNS 24/7 Site Monitoring Daily Remote Backup Monthly $14.95/mo 12 Months $14.95/mo $12.95/mo 24 Months $14.95/mo $11.95/mo 36 Months $14.95/mo $9.95/mo Order Now Gold $12 .95 EX GST 10 GB Storage Space 50 GB Data transfer Sydney Data Centre Unlimited Emails(POP & IMAP Control Panel (CPanel) Spam Filter Premium DNS 24/7 Site Monitoring Daily Remote Backup Monthly $19.95/mo 12 Months $19.95/mo $17.95/mo 24 Months $19.95/mo $14.95/mo 36 Months $19.95/mo $12.95/mo Order Now Platinum $14 .95 EX GST 20 GB Storage Space 100 GB Data transfer Sydney Data Centre Unlimited Emails(POP & IMAP Control Panel (CPanel) Spam Filter Premium DNS 24/7 Site Monitoring Daily Remote Backup Monthly $24.95/mo 12 Months $24.95/mo $19.95/mo 24 Months $24.95/mo $17.95/mo 36 Months $24.95/mo $14.95/mo Order Now Our Shared web Hosting Packages include the following: Free Set up We assist you with the complete set up of your web hosting service for free. Our control panel is easy to operate without requiring technical expertise. 99.9% Uptime The Nerdcore Cloud, we provide you with high class reliable hosting solutions. Our QLD based data centres offer super quick page loads with 99.9% uptime. Unlimited My SQL Databases We provide you with unlimited My SQL databases making it simple for you to manage all your business data however big your business is. Unlimited Emails & Subdomains Send unlimited emails to your employees as well as clients. With our shared hosting services there is no restriction to the number of emails you can send. We also provide you with unlimited sub domains and email forwarding options along with your chosen hosting plan. Control Panel Life is easy with our intuitive control panel. You can manage your server settings without being a technical expert in case you wish to do so. Else we are always there for you! Web Statistics Get detailed reports related to your website performance. Our comprehensive reports give you an idea about what is trending hot and which time of the day or year is most profitable. PHP My Admin PHP My Admin is a free software tool that helps you manage SQL administration. We provide you with free PHP My Admin access along with our web hosting packages. FTP Access Uploading your files to your website is now simple and easy. At Nerdcore Computers, we provide you with FTP access details so that you can carry out tasks without any dependence. In case you require help we are just a call away! File Manager Nerdcore Computers shared web hosting also gives you the file manager. You have the freedom to access, manage and edit files on your website. No Lock In Contracts Our customers love us for the service we provide. So our Nerdcore Data Centre, we do not have any lock in contract period. You can choose to opt out of our hosting services anytime, in case you are not satisfied. Author Nerdcore Computers

A server crash could spell absolute disaster for your business. With the crash of your server, goes the crash of your website. In the meantime, your competitors are getting that much further ahead! Research has shown that website downtime can negatively affect your business reputation in a big way. The reliability and professionalism of your brand fly right out the window, along with your revenue. Additionally, server downtime can negatively affect employee productivity. This lag leaves you with both unhappy customers and a back-log of work! Avoid disaster and learn more about the 5 most common server problems your business could face, and how to avoid them. What is Business Server Monitoring? Most businesses run everyday functions on a server, allowing them to perform important tasks, such as: Hosting a business website Sending and receiving emails Accessing shared business data and files Sharing business data and files Ever tried to operate a fully productive day without access to email? In this day and age, your business productivity would sit at zero. This why server up-time is crucial for your business and your website. Server problems are costly, no doubt about it. Your business reputation, productivity, and overall revenue are on the line. Server monitoring can prevent problems before they happen, a measure all businesses should employ. It helps to detect any bugs or viruses in the system, helping you avoid major issues that could lead to server downtime and loss of productivity. How Does Server Monitoring Work? Generally, a server host company offers monitoring software to a business to protect its servers. This software regularly scans the network to detect any irregularities or potential failures within the system. 5 Common Server Problems Your Business May Encounter 1. Slow Page Load According to research, if a page on your website takes longer than three seconds to load, a user will abandon it. Three seconds doesn’t sound like much, but in today’s world, it’s a lifetime! This is where your server needs to perform at its best. Along with server irregularities, a number of things can slow your website speed: High resolution image rendering (loading) Long and complicated forms Videos which auto-play when a page is loaded A user’s web browser Network connection speed High amounts of traffic on the website The bottom line: if your server has issues, your website and page load times will tank. Your business could suffer, you’ll lose revenue, all because of server problems slowing down your website. 2. Viruses and Cyber Hacking Cybersecurity is a major concern for all businesses. Keeping your employee and customer information safe should be a top priority. Online servers are at risk of cybersecurity breach, especially when personal or business details are stored there. Unfortunately, cyber attacks and viruses are common in today’s tech age and can disrupt businesses by stealing and abusing information. A server can be taken down by any virus imposed by a cyber attack for days, if not weeks at a time. It’s an absolute nightmare for businesses and makes investing in robust online security protocol a necessity. When choosing a host for your web server, ensure they include a closely managed security system in their package! 3. Website Traffic Overload High amounts of traffic to your website is always the end-goal. It generates leads for your business, and as a result, revenue – that’s the point isn’t it? Well, it turns out you can have too much of a good thing. If your website receives an unusually high amount of traffic in a short period of time, your server may not be able to handle it. It can slow down your website speed and hurt functionality. In some instances, too much traffic can crash your entire server, shutting you down completely. Cyber Monday and Black Friday sales are common occasions where websites experience high amounts of traffic. Popular websites such as PayPal, Target, and Kmart have all crashed due to traffic overload. Even if you have a niche type of business selling medicinal cannabis oil, packed with informative cbd facts, you need a reliable host server! A hosting company which fully supports any amount of traffic eliminates risk of major server failure and other server problems. 4. Failure of Hardware or Software The failure of hardware and software in your business happens all the time. Hardware can malfunction, while software programs can become corrupted. Many businesses have faced hardware or software failure of some kind, in this instance, resulting in server downtime. Your host server company must offer time-efficient resolution services to get you back in business as soon as possible! 5. Server Crash The biggest issue a business could face is a total server crash. It could be the result of unpredictable events such as flooding, a fire, theft, or a major cyber attack. Additionally, if your web service is down, it could also cause your server to go down with it. The cost of recovering from a total server crash is huge, something no business should have to endure. This type of server issue could potentially cost your business thousands of dollars a day! When faced with a server crash, there’s not much you can do, but adequate monitoring and protection beforehand could mitigate potential disaster! Avoid Server Problems and Protect Your Business In the modern business world, your IT infrastructure needs to be a top priority. The world we live in is more connected via technology than at any other time in history. Without a fully functional IT infrastructure, your business could suffer – don’t leave your success open to your competition! Secure your business with a reliable server hosting and monitoring company. For complete peace-of-mind, an IT network and monitoring company will ensure business success at all hours of the day! And if you need help choosing one, or want more tips, check out our website. We have experts standing by to help you keep your website in tip-top shape. Author Nerdcore Computers

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Many of your users are coasting along without adequate computer knowledge. Help them close the gap by sharing this list of essential skills. It is tempting to think that because you have used a computer for a long time, you are "computer literate" or "computer savvy," but this is not the case. Here are 10 skills you absolutely must know to be considered computer literate. If you already know these, you should be helping others learn them as well! 1: Search engines Using a search engine is more than typing in the address, putting a couple of keywords into the big text box, clicking Search, and choosing the first result. While that may work, it won't give you the best results much of the time. Learning the advanced search, Boolean operators, and how to discern good results from bad results goes a long way toward enabling you to use a computer as a powerful research tool. 2: Word processing Word processing is one of the oldest uses for a computer. And it continues to be extremely important, even though in many ways its functions have been put into other applications. (For example, people may write more emails than documents, but the task is nearly identical.) It is tough to claim to be computer literate if the basic functions of word processing -- like spell check, table creation, and working with headers -- are outside your capabilities. 3: Spreadsheets Spreadsheets were the killer application that got a lot of people willing to pony up big bucks for a PC in the early 1980s. Spreadsheets offer incredibly powerful analysis possibilities... if you know how to use them for more than storing the holiday card address list. (Okay, I use Excel for that too.) Being able to use formulas, references, and macros can turn a "grid of numbers" into actionable information in the hands of the right person. 4: Browser basics It is almost painful to watch some "computer savvy" people operate a Web browser. The most obvious goof is going to a search engine to type in the address of the site they want to go to. But folks are unaware of a lot of other things they do that make the Internet more difficult than it needs to be. Mastering techniques like opening links in new windows, using bookmarks, editing URLs to perform navigation, clearing the browser cache, and understanding common error messages will give you access to a world of unlimited information instead of keeping you stuck with only what Web site designers make obvious. 5: Virus/malware scanning Much of typical computer maintenance is automated or unneeded at this point, but it is still essential to understand how to check a system for nasty bugs, spyware, and other malicious applications. While the scanning tools come with real-time monitors, something can still slip onto the system before the scanner has the right filter for it. So it's critical to know how to trigger a manual virus/malware scan, as well as how to use alternative systems, spot signs of an infection, and other similar tasks. 6: Common keyboard commands If you do not know how to copy/paste without a mouse, you are not computer literate. Sorry! Every operating system has some universal keyboard commands, and while knowing them won't add 30 minutes back into your day, it will take a lot of the "friction" out of using a computer. Learning these commands is more a matter of routine than anything else; a short tutorial done once a day for a week will probably be enough to put you in the habit, and it will make you a happier user. 7: Basic hardware terminology It is tough to have someone help you with a problem when you tell them that your "hard drive" is unplugged, when you really mean "the computer." There are a number of common hardware misunderstandings out there, and while some are understandable (for instance, confusing a NIC with a modem -- the cables look similar and they serve the same purpose, networking), knowing basic hardware terminology is a must-have skill to be a savvy user. 8: Simple networking diagnosis Networking problems create the most common trouble with most computers. While you don't need to be able to program a Cisco router, you should know how to: Determine your IP address Verify physical connectivity to the network Check that you have a logical connection to the network Find out what path network traffic takes to get to its destination Translate from DNS names to IP addresses 9: How to hook it up Despite the color coding of connections and the fact that most cords can be plugged into only one hole, tons of people still can't hook up a computer. It is tough to claim to be computer literate if you can't even get it hooked up and turned on without some help. 10: Security/privacy 101 It is a dangerous world out there! You absolutely must know how to protect yourself from attackers on the Internet and keep your personal data private. Everything from knowing to check a link before you click it to verifying that encryption is being used to transmit sensitive data to researching sites before giving them your personal data are all critical skills for the modern computer user. If you do not know how to keep yourself safe, you need to learn how. What else? Does this cover the basic requirements of computer literacy or would you add a few more skills to the list? Share your thoughts with other TechRepublic members.

Our Verdict macOS Big Sur gives Safari major improvements, but its design changes may require some adjustments on your end. For Safari gets more complete Control Center collects options Messages gets pinned texts, GIF search Against Interface changes may not please all Doesn't support some older Macs macOS Big Sur is finally here. I've spent the summer playing around with the Developer Beta, where I saw some the perks of Apple's biggest refresh to its laptops and desktops in ages, and I'm ready to tell you if you should or shouldn't update now. The biggest Big Sur changes revolve around the interface, which has become more iOS-like, and pushed for bolder color, thanks to increased use of transparency and translucency. Safari's gotten a lot of tricks as well, including a tab preview option that we're surprised they beat Chrome to. That being said, macOS Big Sur isn't coming out in a vacuum. A new generation of Macs just debuted — all running the Apple M1 chip, including the new MacBook Air (2020) — and they will run Big Sur and also offer the ability to emulate iOS and iPadOS apps. We haven't gotten our hands on those yet, so I can't speak to how well that works. But for everyone else considering the upgrade from macOS Catalina (or earlier), here's everything you need to know to see if you should download the macOS Big Sur today: macOS Big Sur review: Release date and supported devices macOS Big Sur's release date has been "this fall," and since that season doesn't end until mid-December, they've hit that window. At the "One more thing" event, Apple announced that macOS Big Sur is arriving on Thursday, Nov. 12. Here's the complete list of Macs that support Big Sur: MacBook: 2015 and later MacBook Air: 2013 and later MacBook Pro: Late 2013 and later Mac mini: 2014 and later iMac: 2014 and later iMac Pro: 2017 and later (all models) Mac Pro: 2013 and later Personally, this is the biggest issue I have with macOS Big Sur, as my personal MacBook Pro, the first Retina Display model, came out in 2012. While it still runs (albeit a bit slower than it once did), I can see the writing on the walls, and anticipate buying a new Mac soon. macOS Big Sur review: Design I almost worry about the day my parents update to macOS Big Sur, because they're going to call or text and say "it's so different!" The biggest change from my point of view is the increased use of transparent and translucent layers, which you'll see everywhere from the Menu Bar at the top of the screen to every app's Toolbar, where all of its buttons are found. Your preference for Apple's changes here — where they're seemingly having the menus recede into the background to make content more prominent — will likely depend on how your eyes like (or dislike) text overlaid on transparent layers. At first, I saw the combination of white text on an opaque bright blue background as ... not what I would have chosen personally. Fortunately, you can switch your desktop background, and Apple offers plenty of options, which can and will change the color of the menu bar text for optimal legibility. Gripes aside, though, I love some of the new stock desktop backgrounds, so play around and find what works best for you. I probably wouldn't have gone this route had I been given the choice, as a more consistent interface allows you to pick the background you want and stay with it. That being said, I understand Apple's decision, and in the months I've used Big Sur, I've gotten used to all the different combinations. These moments happen throughout macOS Big Sur, including in Safari, where the backgrounds of websites can change the colors of the Toolbar and bookmark bar as you scroll down. To adjust, open System Preferences, select Accessibility, select Display in the left menu and click "Reduce transparency." Also, Apple's dialed back the silver hues of many of their applications, including Finder, Music and Safari, to a more neutral white tone. This may just be personal preference — I'm not sure — but while I preferred the silver hue of the past, this is something I quickly got over as well. The other big aesthetic change comes to macOS' app icons. Apple's introduced a new standard icon shape, using the squares with rounded edges seen in iOS. Along with that, we've got icons that look a lot more bubbly and curved. The design language used here is known as Neumorphism, and it puts an emphasis on shadows and dimensionality. If you're the type to care about app icons (and I count myself as one of those nit-picky types), you'll probably have strong opinions. I prefer how Music and News look, where the secondary element looks debossed, rather than how the chat bubble for Messages and the envelope for Mail are seemingly popping up out of the background. The one actually annoying part of this is that I have not gotten used to the new red hue of the Music app icon, making it hard to visually find it (I know I'll get used to it). One design discrepancy I've noticed, though, is how macOS handles security alerts and notifications. The former appear in middle-of-screen boxes, while the latter are smaller in the top-right corner, often times only showing you there's a button to click when your cursor hovers over it buttons. For new email notifications, that's not a big deal, but those initial notifications for each app, where they ask for permission to send notifications, I'd rather those appear in the center, where they'd be harder to ignore. Anything that appears in the top right corner is easier to dismiss. It's hard to be especially critical about design, since it's so much more subjective than almost any other aspect of technology, so I couch all of the above in "your mileage may vary." macOS Big Sur: Safari Advertisement Every time Apple announces a big new macOS update, I decide to use it as a chance to spend more time with Safari, which often gets more and more perks. And with macOS Big Sur, it feels like I'm going to be spending more time with Safari than ever. Sure, I won't be able to use it for some work stuff (some of our extensions are Chrome-only), but Safari's finally getting some features it's long needed. Similarly, I'm saying "finally" at the sight of favicons — the little icons for each website, like Twitter's bird and Dropbox's opened box — for tabs in Safari. These make it much easier to keep track of which tab is which, and have been in every other web browser since I can remember. Apple had made favicons available in Safari previously, but they were in the app's settings, where many people might not poke around and find. Apple didn't stop at that low-hanging fruit, though, as it's also rolled out tab previews. If the favicon isn't enough for you to realize what's on that page (it's been enough for me so far), you can hover over a tab to see what that page looks like, as a pop-over image will show a glimpse of said site. Advertisement Apple rates Safari on macOS Big Sur as "50% faster on average at loading frequently visited websites than Chrome," but I haven't noticed any significantly faster performance myself, though I haven't done any testing yet. Apple also claims that Safari is going to last an hour longer on battery than Chrome and Firefox for web browsing, and up to 3 hours longer for streaming video online. macOS Big Sur: Control Center and widgets on the Mac Apple's also imported iOS' Control Center, which collects a lot of system preferences (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, AirDrop, display brightness, volume, Do Not Disturb, keyboard brightness and screen mirroring) under a Menu Bar button that looks like a pair of on/off toggles. The best part of this feature is that it's not moving any features away from where they were, but consolidating them under one easy to find area, so users who are more familiar with their iPhone (both place this set of options in the top right corner) may find them faster. At the same time, these buttons all look a little bigger than they did in previous macOS versions. The larger icons aren't just easier to see, they're also a little more finger friendly, suggesting that Macs will some day offer a touch screen. That being said, I didn't find myself using Control Center at all, because my ingrained muscle memory for macOS defaults to using the traditional means. Yes, that includes the Touch Bar, which I don't like, but use anyways, as my fingers are still reaching for the row of keys at the top of the keyboard. Oh, and Apple's so in love with widgets in iOS 14 that Big Sur is also getting widgets. I haven't gotten to use any third party widgets (the best on iOS if you ask me), but I do like how the Notes widget makes it easier to access my household's shared grocery list. I just wish I could see more of it, as the single note version of the Notes app widget is only available in the small size, and not medium (2x) or large (4x). macOS Big Sur: Security and privacy macOS Catalina got a lot of flack for its heavy-handed security measures, forcing users to manually approve access for a lot of features -- over and over again. Personally, I'm all for it, because people should be more aware of what applications can do what with their data. Similarly, people should be more capable of seeing how websites are tracking them, something that Safari has pushed harder on. From the Safari start page you're presented with a counter of how many trackers Safari has stopped from "profiling you." Mozilla's Firefox browser has a similar feature. And when you load any website in Safari, you can click the Shield icon to see how many trackers are active and prevented on that page. macOS Big Sur: Beta notes Advertisement Beta versions of software are (nearly all of the time) less stable than the final versions released to the public — and that's been true for some of my time with macOS Big Sur. Most of the time, though it was stable, but when I did hit insurmountable flaws, I remembered why I warn people to never ever use beta software on their production machine. For example, software developers tend to only put betas on their test machines, and not their actual work machines. During earlier builds of the Big Sur developer betas, I ran into a really annoying problem where Mac App Store apps such as Due and Fantastical had to be deleted and reinstalled, but you couldn't delete them without restarting. Later, and this is the one that really sent me chasing answers, I couldn't open any Google Docs in Chrome. I kept getting an "Aw, snap" error message, which was both annoying and reminiscent of Steve Buscemi's "hello fellow kids" moment on 30 Rock (though that's more an issue with Google than Apple). macOS Big Sur: Features also found on iOS 14 In Messages, macOS gets the pinned messages (up to 9) that we see in the iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, but also threaded messages for replies in group chats. Those are nice, but I'm more happy to see the GIF search engine finally built into the OS. Now, when you tap on the Messages Apps icon next to the text entry field, you get the search option, to pull GIFs off the internet. I don't know if or when folks will give Apple Maps another shot, but if they pull up Maps on macOS Big Sur, they'll get a pleasant surprise at how full featured it is. In the left rail, you see our favorites (home, work, the movie theater you used to go to before COVID-19) and recent locations, such as the one NYC park that's actually quiet and my nearby UPS store. What I really like is how the Music app mini player can be turned into a beautiful full-screen experience presenting lyrics and artwork on a larger scale. Hit Shift + Command + M to open the Mini Viewer, and click the Green full screen button to see it for yourself. Big Sur also gets the automatic AirPods device switching that the iOS and iPadOS got earlier this fall. It works a little differently, though, as you'll only switch the audio after confirming a small pop-up in the top right corner of the screen. Wish it were more truly automatic, but I guess Apple's trying to avoid false-positives when people own multiple devices. macOS Big Sur: Outlook While I like a fair share of macOS Big Sur's features, I have a hard time telling people to install it ASAP. The design changes and Safari improvements are nice, but this is arguably not where all the big news in the land of Macs is happening. Advertisement Maybe one of the above features is calling your name, and that's well and good. My one piece of advice is to look up any third-party applications that you rely on for work, and make sure they have been updated for Big Sur. Major updates always carry a risk for compatibility issues — just like how the beta of Big Sur wasn't As noted above, the biggest story in macOS is the impending arrival of Apple M1 chip Macs that run on ARM-based chips. Not only will those bring iOS apps to the Mac, but the performance and endurance gains found in Apple Silicon chips have a chance to reshape the Mac as we know it. Maybe you can wait until your first Apple Silicon Mac to get Big Sur, as that may be a safer bet. For now, though, Big Sur looks like solid terrain for the future of the Mac.

Apple's macOS Big Sur is the latest version of its desktop and laptop operating system and the first to support both traditional Intel Macs and the new “Apple Silicon” Macs. Based on a three-month tryout in a series of public betas, Big Sur is quick, stable, impressively good-looking, and packed with subtle and significant improvements to the macOS interface. If you’re running last year’s Catalina version and haven’t installed a lot of third-party, non-Apple software, you can upgrade immediately to Big Sur, though only after making a complete Time Machine or other backup of your existing system. If you rely on third-party software, you may want to wait a few weeks or months for the first or second interim, or point release. But upgrade you should, because Big Sur is a substantial improvement, even over the excellent Catalina. Pros Integrated iOS-like Control Center Improved and more-informative Notification Center Redesigned toolbars and menus for easier navigation Security audits in Safari and the App Store Improved Maps app Better support for Home devices OS files cryptographically protected from hackers Cons Compatibility issues with third-party backup software Doesn't support 32-bit legacy apps Existing apps require updating security permissions No touch-screen support, despite mobile interface elements The first thing you notice when you start up your Mac running Big Sur is that the traditional Mac startup sound is back by default, though you can silence it from the System Preferences app. (With Catalina, expert users could enable or disable it using a terminal command.) After Big Sur appears on the screen, you see the most radical overhaul that Apple has given its flagship OS in years. But, as with almost every other new version, the new features and conveniences in macOS Big Sur integrate so well into the familiar interface that existence users will face a minimal learning curve. Apple has mastered the art of improving its OS design without disrupting the basic design established by OS X. Turning macOS Up to 11 Speaking of OS X—now called macOS—Apple is signaling the size of the shift Big Sur represents by increasing the main version number for the first time. The “X” in OS X meant ten, and Catalina, the previous macOS release, was version 10.15. When you click on “About This Mac” from the Apple menu, Big Sur describes itself as version 11.0. (But advanced users who dig deep into Big Sur’s internals will find that, for the sake of compatibility, it tells apps that its version number is 10.16.) Part of the point of changing the public-facing version number is that Big Sur is the first version that runs under Apple’s new Macs based on what Apple calls “Apple Silicon” and everyone else calls ARM. The first chips are here now, and they go by the moniker Apple M1. Big Sur and an unspecified number of future versions will run on both Intel and Apple Silicon machines, but a few years from now Apple will stop making Intel Macs and we’ll all be using Apple Silicon machines. Apple's iOS devices already use Apple Silicon, and that means that many iOS apps will run perfectly on new Macs with Apple Silicon hardware. All you’ll need to do is download them from the Mac App Store Big Sur will run on almost all Macs dating back to 2013, and the upgrade is free for the download. If you’re still running Mojave or earlier versions of the OS, keep in mind that Catalina and Big Sur won’t run your old 32-bit software, and you’ll need to open the System Report in the About This Mac app, and look at the list of “Legacy Software” to find out which apps you’ll need to replace with 64-bit apps if you decide to upgrade. For corporate and advanced computing, Microsoft Windows 10 offers far more features and flexibility than Apple has ever managed, but I consider macOS more coherent and enjoyable. Windows offers convenient integration with Android devices (and minimal integration with iOS devices), but Apple’s deep integration between Mac computers and iOS devices is a major part of its consumer-level appeal. The Big News First The biggest changes in Big Sur are in the macOS interface, which benefits from dozens of refinements that make it more convenient and intuitive than ever before. Apple continues to make macOS look more like iOS, and many individual elements in the updated interface resemble those in recent versions of mobile OS. The overall effect remains familiar from earlier macOS versions, however.

Despite a recent onslaught of rumors and reports, Apple hasn't officially announced its long-rumored virtual/augmented-reality headset. That means we don't really know what it's going to look like, save from a fairly crude sketch by The Information based on an image of a prototype. Now, designer Antonio de Rosa has shared his vision of what the finished product might look like, and one thing is certain — it looks a lot better than it does in the sketch. In De Rosa's renderings, the headset's face is a slab of curved black glass (or plastic) with a silver bezel and a silver Apple logo boldly placed in the middle. For some reason I doubt Apple would be so on the nose (both literally and figurative) with the logo, but the rest looks nice, slightly retro, and somewhat reminiscent of the original iPhone's black-and-silver design. Look closely, and you'll see cameras and sensors built into the top of the visor, just above the Apple logo. Reports say the headset will have passthrough cameras for a mixed-reality effect. SEE ALSO: On the inside, what De Rosa has imagined looks a lot like a snorkeling mask, with a rubber headband, and a rubber and mesh combo where the headset meets the face. A recent report says the headset will pack some powerful hardware, including dual 8K displays. Of course, all of this is just one artist's idea based off a sketch which, in turn, is based on an early prototype. In other words, Apple's actual headset might look very different when it finally launches, possibly in 2022. Price is unknown, but one report says it will cost around $3,000 Author Nerdcore Computers

Bottom line: Intel in a support document has confirmed that motherboards based on entry-level H410 chipsets and mid-tier B460 chipsets will not be compatible with upcoming 11th Gen Intel Core (Rocket Lake) CPUs. Both platforms launched in Q2 2020 and unless something changes, it appears as though they are going to have very short lifespans. Motherboards running an H470 or Z490 chipset may need a BIOS update in order to boot with a Rocket Lake processor, Intel added. The chipmaker didn’t explicitly say why H410 and B460 chipsets wouldn’t be compatible with the upcoming CPUs. According to Nerdcore Techs, however, H410 and B460 are based on “a different and older 22nm process node.” To circumvent this, the publication adds, some motherboard makers are resorting to sneaking the H470 chipset onto boards sold as H410 and B460 products. Examples cited include the Gigabyte H410M DS2V V2 (rev 1.0) and the H410M S2H V2 (rev 1.0). Looking at the name, you’d think these products would feature the H410 chipset but in fact, they utilize the H470. Intel is expected to launch Rocket Lake desktop chips sometime in the first quarter of 2021. Early listings from some European retailers last month provided a glimpse of Intel's upcoming lineup and what you might expect to pay for them. Intel has also shared some benchmarks from the Core i9-11900K which show it besting AMD chips in some scenarios. Author Nerdcore Computers Service Centre

Recently, I bumped into a friend (at an appropriate social distance because, yes, this is 2020) that I hadn't seen in a long time. The two of us have many common interests, and little time to discuss them. But in the few minutes before parting ways, we immediately slid into discussing Linux. We talked distros, desktops, and configurations, and everything in between. This serendipitous meeting reminded me of how tightly knit the Linux community is. So, I thought I would explore what about Linux brings us together. In previous pieces, I profiled some of the hubs where Linux fans convene. This time, I will go more in depth about what Linux users talk about. Before I'm finished, I have a feeling you will see just what makes Linux such an inexhaustible font of conversation. Choices Beget Chatting Merely as a point of comparison, and not as disparagement of users of other operating systems, I have not observed communities as active, vocal, and visible as Linux's among Windows and Mac users. Admittedly, it is difficult to gauge the entirety of an operating system's community, so I will consider each respective OS's customization and theming subculture as a proxy metric. All things being equal, users of any OS should be equally inclined to break in their UX. In support of this assumption, I have anecdotally observed no correlation between one's operating system and whether one's laptop is bedecked with stickers. There are some Windows themers, but they don't seem to have a large footprint. Reddit has a few small groups for those interested in tweaking their Windows UI. A lot of Windows GUI customization requires third-party programs, and these usually have forums for sharing recipes. Aside from these hubs, it was difficult to locate Windows personalization chatter. One can find some articles pointing the way to Windows modification bliss, but these are mostly listicles of theming software. Taken together, I didn't get the impression there were many spots for Windows modders to chit-chat beyond officially sanctioned customization software forums. Mac's themer community seems similar in scope. Articles on first-party settings changes and third-party theming applications are more plentiful for Mac compared to Windows. Reddit has only marginally more populated Mac themer subreddits. I had a hard time finding any other forums where Mac themers socialize. Most Mac theming options I discovered live on GitHub which, for GitHub's strengths, doesn't naturally lend itself to organic dialog. On the whole, while Mac seemed to have more theming programs than Windows, Mac had fewer forums I could track down. None of this came as a shock, as Apple is historically protective of its UX, and goes to great lengths to discourage users from straying beyond its walled garden -- one need only look at how hard Apple makes it for users to install software beyond the App Store. By comparison, Linux has a veritable sprawl of online tweaker presence. For one thing, the behemoth "unixporn" subreddit dwarfs any comparable Reddit presence. There is also a bustling presence on DeviantArt. And if that wasn't enough, there's the fact that every distro and every desktop environment has its own respective forum, too. There are even forums on theme download sites like Gnome-Look and its numerous siblings. Why Is There So Much Linux on the Web? I chalk this up to a few factors. First, Linux was practically born on the Web. In Linux's infancy, Linus Torvalds not only made the kernel available online, but he attracted a throng of would-be contributors via Usenet who collaborated in Linux's development. The Internet has been a significant distribution channel ever since, facilitating the obtainment and installation of desktop Linux distributions in the large majority of cases today. Second, since one could not easily purchase a computer with Linux preinstalled until around the last decade, online communities were essential for fielding the questions of Linux initiates. It is comforting to know there are veterans who can help when setting up an entirely new OS, especially one so off the beaten path. This has traditionally been, and remains, Linux's main analog to customer support that competing OSes offer. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, Linux simply offers so many choices. Windows gives you Windows the Windows way. On Mac, you get Mac the way Mac was intended. Not so with desktop Linux. Why? Simply put, there is no one "desktop Linux." With Linux, every distribution gives you a completely different suite of user programs built atop the kernel, sometimes with its own repackaging of the kernel itself. Not least of the cornucopia of options that the desktop Linux world offers is that of desktop environments. Most distros present a handful of curated desktop environments. Between all the Linux distros out there, one will encounter literally dozens of them. The only hope a humble Linux user has of figuring out which one they might want, aside from taking them all for a spin, is to ask around. Users also really get into advocating for particular desktops. This is nearly always good-natured, leading to amusing, if not informative, discussion threads. Talk of the Tux So, now that we have firmly established that Linux users love to chat, let's get into what keeps them so occupied. Few topics are so prevalent among Linux users as distributions. We can easily descend down a rabbit hole purely talking about how Linux users talk about distributions, so let's keep this high-level. There are many considerations that this topic prompts. A big one is a distro's suitability for beginners. Drawing in eager new users is the only way to grow the Linux community. Successful recruitment often hinges on making sure that these neophytes start with a distro that will give them an ideal experience. Some aspects of a "beginner-friendly" distribution include the availability and amiability of community support, ease of installation, ease of maintenance, and degree of similarity its UI has with those the user is more familiar with. Of these points, assessing a distro's ease of installation receives much attention. Discourse on this score can center on whether less choices or more choices are better. Some argue that too many choices will overwhelm newcomers who just want to meet the new OS on its terms, while others contend that new users will be put off by the lack of an expected feature. Distributions are also frequently scored on their customizability. Irrespective of one's view on customization, the degree to which it is open to users varies from distro to distro. It is common for distros to take the approach of releasing one or more images with a desktop environment baked in. By contrast, there are still proponents of disentangling the "system" software from the desktop environment, instead letting users pair any desktop with the base system at the time of installation. Debian and Arch Linux subscribe to this paradigm and win many devotees precisely for this trait. Customizability is also dependent on the desktop environment, as the number of UI options in the settings panel varies from desktop to desktop. The last dynamic of distribution dialog is size and memory usage. It's not necessarily a major concern for most, but those with older hardware or the security-conscious may prefer to have as few active processes on their system as possible. For others, system resource footprint is about having enough programs to get normal computing tasks done, and nothing more. Argument here typically centers on competing definitions of "enough." The next perennial topic of conversation is raw GUI customization. Naturally, much of this talk focuses on desktop environments. What makes desktop environments such fertile ground for discussion is their myriad philosophies, which are defined by their distinct combinations of positions along a few dichotomies: Does the desktop try to capture a "traditional" or revolutionary desktop interface paradigm? Does it favor sleekness or no-frills functionality? Do the developers strive for constant evolution or stability and consistency? Are windows, menus, and settings panels minimalist or information-dense? Should users accept the UI as it is, or make it their own? The Security Debate Last, but not least, there is an avid segment of Linux users waging the never-ending debate on security. This subject, too, can quickly get esoteric, so I will tread lightly. A regularly recurring security subtopic is whether to embrace a stable or bleeding-edge update model. Proponents of the stable approach, with its occasional waves of releases, note that the slower pace of releases provides fewer opportunities for introducing vulnerabilities, and that the longer interval between releases ensures the methodical review to reduce the number of bugs in each release. Bleeding-edge die-hards point to the quick turnaround for patches, and the rapid shedding of legacy code that these distros enjoy. Then, of course, there is the proverbial ever-thread on what crypto is best. I even waded into this debate with my heterodox argument for file-level encryption as a more practical alternative to the substantially more widely endorsed full-disk encryption. But even among the full-disk encryption acolytes, some fully encrypt an entire partition and leave it at that, while others set up logical volumes (usually with the LVM utility) inside a single fully-encrypted partition. Still others are fine with encrypting multiple partitions, each with a different key. These all have their merits, and their adherents will be sure you know it. Security debates can be dizzyingly complex and spirited. But this is the kind of thing that deserves constant reevaluation, so their energy is aptly spent Joining the Flock So, if you weren't convinced before that Linux users have plenty to talk about, you probably are now. That is definitely a sign of the wider community's strength -- differences aren't just tolerated, but celebrated. The more that Linux keeps us talking, in agreement or disagreement, the more we remember that computing should be a joy, and that we all found that joy in the same humble kernel. Author Nerdcore Computers

Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 30-series laptops are finally here, and while they’re no longer equivalent to their identically named desktop cousins, this new breed of GPUs is still formidable, as our RTX 3080 mobile review proves. Even better? Unlike desktop graphics cards, you can actually buy them! Well, some of them. Most of the GeForce RTX 30-series we’ve spotted so far come paired with Intel’s potent, yet older 10th-gen Comet Lake H gaming processors. New AMD Ryzen 5000 Mobile and Intel Tiger Lake H35 gaming processors were announced at CES 2021, but they’re not available quite yet—though the page for Asus’s intriguing Ryzen 9 5900HS-powered ROG Flow X13 laptop and its complementary ROG XG Mobile graphics dock teases that they’ll be available soon, and we’ve already got a review unit in our hands. The Asus ROG Flow X13 weighs as much as an XPS 13 2-in-1 yet features an 8-core Ryzen 9 5980HS, GeForce GTX 1650 and can be paired with a GeForce RTX 3080. For now, however, if you want an RTX 30-series laptops in your hands, you have to go with 10th-gen Intel. Good thing those chips still rock for gaming. You’ll also need to go with a more powerful RTX 3070 or 3080 graphics, at least for a few days, because more moderately priced (and modestly performing) RTX 3060 laptops won’t hit the streets until after February 2. Shopping for a gaming laptop is harder now because of some fundamental changes Nvidia made with the RTX 30-series. None of the listings for these laptops include crucial power or clock speed info to let you know how hard the manufacturers are pushing these machines. Nonetheless, at a time when desktop graphics cards are impossible to find and inflated to incredible prices in the rare times you can, we felt it worthwhile to pull together a list of some of the RTX 30-series laptops you can buy right now. All of the models in this non-comprehensive list come with drool-worthy, ultra-fast displays, and all were in stock at the time of writing, though a noted few remain in preorder status. Feel free to hit any link for even deeper configuration info. Let’s dig in. 11 GeForce RTX 30-series laptops you can buy right now If you want to spend under two grand on an RTX 30-series laptop, your options are extremely limited in these early days. You’ve only got two, in fact. The Gigabyte Aorus 15G costs $1,800 at Newegg. Here’s what you get for your cash: CPU: Intel Core i7-10870H GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Display: 15.6-inch, 240Hz 1080p IPS Memory: 32GB Storage: 512GB SSD Weight: 4.51 pounds The $2,099 Gigabyte Aorus 17G includes the same basic hardware but steps up to a larger, faster 17-inch display with a blistering 300Hz refresh rate. If you want a more potent RTX 3080 laptop from Gigabyte, you’ll need to opt for the company’s Aero line instead. It starts at $2,200 for the Aero 15 with an RTX 3070 inside, but several configurations are available, culminating in a beastly $3,700 Gigabyte Aero 17. For your cash, you’ll get an RTX 3080 paired with Intel’s ferocious Core i9-10980HK, 64GB of memory, 2TB of fast PCIe SSD storage, and a factory calibrated 4K display. MSI If you want to spend under two grand on an RTX 30-series laptop, your options are extremely limited in these early days. You’ve only got two, in fact. The Gigabyte Aorus 15G costs $1,800 at Newegg. Here’s what you get for your cash: CPU: Intel Core i7-10870H GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Display: 15.6-inch, 240Hz 1080p IPS Memory: 32GB Storage: 512GB SSD Weight: 4.51 pounds The $2,099 Gigabyte Aorus 17G includes the same basic hardware but steps up to a larger, faster 17-inch display with a blistering 300Hz refresh rate. If you want a more potent RTX 3080 laptop from Gigabyte, you’ll need to opt for the company’s Aero line instead. It starts at $2,200 for the Aero 15 with an RTX 3070 inside, but several configurations are available, culminating in a beastly $3,700 Gigabyte Aero 17. For your cash, you’ll get an RTX 3080 paired with Intel’s ferocious Core i9-10980HK, 64GB of memory, 2TB of fast PCIe SSD storage, and a factory calibrated 4K display. MSI MSI also offers a sub-$2,000 RTX 30-series laptop with the $1,799 MSI GP66 Leopard. It’s the same price as the Gigabyte Aorus 15G discussed previously, but a bit more modestly spec’d out. The overall experience matters greatly for laptops but the Gigabyte notebook definitely offers more bang for your buck on paper. Both wield the RTX 3070 mobile chip, though. CPU: Intel Core i7-10750H GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Display: 15.6-inch, 144Hz 1080p “IPS-level” Memory: 16GB Storage: 512GB SSD Weight: 5.25 pounds MSI offers a wider variety of RTX 30-series laptop lines. The $2,300 MSI GE66 Raider bumps things up to a 300Hz display, a Core i7-10870H processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The company’s larger 17-inch GE76 Raider is only in preorder status for now, alas, as are more potent notebooks with a step-up RTX 3080 inside. The flagship $2,999 MSI GS66 Stealth for example can be ordered on Amazon now but won’t ship until February 15. Razer leaned hard into the RTX 30-series, with plans for Razer Blade and Razer Blade Pro models with an awesome selection of displays in various sizes, speeds, and panel types. Currently, however, you can only buy the Razer Blade 15 base edition with either a 144Hz, 1080p display for $2,000 or a 165Hz, 1440p display for $2,200. Every other model is listed as a preorder, or comes with a notification button for when stock arrives. Here’s what’s inside the Razer Blade 15 Base Edition, aside from those differing display configurations: CPU: Intel Core i7-10750H GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Memory: 16GB Storage: 512GB SSD Weight: 4.6 pounds Eventually, you’ll be able to buy a 17-inch 4K Razer Blade Pro with a Core i7-10875H, an RTX 3080, a 1TB PCIe SSD (with an option for 2TB), and 32GB of RAM (with a 64GB option) as the ultimate Razer offering. For now, you can preorder it. Cutting-edge GeForce RTX 30-series laptops are only just starting to hit our test bench, but be sure to check out our guide to the best gaming notebooks for concrete recommendations as time goes on. Until then, the guide offers buying advice that can help you navigate the somewhat confusing world of laptop specs and configurations. Good luck! Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details.

Mozilla has yet to completely win or lose the war on video codecs, but has made a tactical retreat to preserve its forces, according to Ogg Vorbis creator Monty Montgomery. Cisco and Mozilla have announced a plan that will enable the browser maker to distribute an H.264 codec, and in effect end a standoff over which video codec should be at the end of the W3C's WebRTC standard. The problems for Mozilla stem from the fact that the H.264 codec is licensed by MPEG LA under terms that Mozilla is not willing to accept. The new arrangement will see Cisco pay the licence fee and distribute binary builds that can be used in Firefox. "We plan to open source our H.264 codec, and to provide it as a binary module that can be downloaded for free from the internet," wrote Rowan Trollope senior vice president and general manager, Cisco Collaboration Technology Group, in a blog post. "Cisco will not pass on our MPEG LA licensing costs for this module, and, based on the current licensing environment, this will effectively make H.264 free for use in WebRTC." Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich welcomed the move, but admitted that it is not a complete solution. "At Mozilla, we always come back to the question of what's good for the users, and in this case, that means interoperation of copious H.264 content across OSes and other browsers," "We've already started looking at how to integrate the Cisco-hosted H.264 binary module, and we hope to have something ready for users in early 2014." Mozilla is working on a new codec called Daala, which it hopes will leapfrog its competition to be the best video codec, but one that is also free from patents and licencing. Monty Montgomery, author of Ogg Vorbis and a recent Mozilla recruit charged with developing Daala, said that the deal with Cisco is not a win, though. "Let's state the obvious with respect to VP8 vs H.264: We lost, and we're admitting defeat," said Montgomery in his response. "Cisco is providing a path for orderly retreat that leaves supporters of an open web in a strong enough position to face the next battle, so we're taking it. "By endorsing Cisco's plan, there's no getting around the fact that we've caved on our principles." Montgomery said that it makes little sense for Mozilla to maintain its holdout against H.264 after its chief ally, Google, shipped recently with H.264 support. He said that the move by Cisco will see it cough up at least $6.5 million per year, due to the terms of the codec's licensing, which sets a yearly cap for licensing costs. The Ogg Vorbis author said that the arrangement has short-term benefits, but solves nothing in the long term. "H.264 is already considered 'on the way out' by MPEG, and today's announcement doesn't address any licensing issues surrounding the next generation of video codecs. "We've merely kicked the can down the road and set a dangerous precedent for next time around. And there will be a next time around, " he said.

When you search online, you will find various blog posts, documentation and tutorials on Azure DevOps. All of these items are valuable resources but rarely does one walk you through a real-world scenario. Many skim over the security aspect leaving passwords in clear text for simplicity or an end product that essentially does nothing. Let's change that. In this article/tutorial, you're going to learn from soup to nuts how to build a real Azure DevOps release pipeline that automates infrastructure. More specifically, you're going to learn how to use Azure DevOps to build a continuous deployment pipeline to provision Azure virtual machines. By the end of this project, you will have a fully-functioning Azure pipeline. From a single GitHub repo commit, it will: Build a temporary Azure resource group Provision an Azure VM via an ARM template Set up said ARM template in a CI/CD pipeline Upon any change to the template, kick off a template validation test Deploy the ARM template to Azure Test the deployed infrastructure Tear down all Azure resources Let's dive right in! Project Overview This project is going to be broken down into six main sections. They are: Azure resource preparation In this section, you will learn how to set up all of the prerequisite resources in Azure. Here you will: Create an Azure service principal for various tasks in the pipeline Set up an Azure Key Vault with secrets for the pipeline to use Set appropriate access policies for ARM deployments and pipeline usage Azure DevOps preparation Once you have all of the Azure resources set up, it's time to prepare Azure DevOps for your pipeline. In this section, you will: Install the Pester Test Runner build task in your Azure DevOps organization Create service connections to provide Azure DevOps with required resource access Create an Azure DevOps variable group linking a key vault to access Azure Key Vault secrets Script/template overview There are various artifacts that go with this project including the ARM template to build the server and the Pester tests. In this section, we'll briefly cover what the template is provisioning and what exactly Pester is testing in the pipeline. Pipeline creation In this section is where the real fun begins. You will begin setting up the actual pipeline. Here you'll learn how to setup this entire orchestration via a single YAML file. You'll be building the pipeline using the Multi-Stage Pipeline UI experience. As of this writing, this feature is in Preview. Pipeline demonstration Once the pipeline is built, you need to see it run! In this section is where you'll learn how to trigger the pipeline and simply watch the magic happen. Cleanup And finally, this since is just a demonstration, you'll get access to a script to tear down everything built during the tutorial. Does this sound like a lot? It is! But don't worry, you'll learn step-by-step as attack each task one at a time. If you’d like a script with all of the Azure CLI commands used to build this pipeline, you can find it in the ServerAutomationDemo GitHub repo as demo.ps1. Prerequisites You're going to learn a lot but you're also expected to come to the table with a few things. If you plan to follow along, be sure you have the following: An Azure DevOps organization - Check out the Microsoft QuickStart guide for instructions on how to do this. In this article, you'll be working with a project called ServerAutomationDemo. A GitHub repo - In this article, you'll be learning from a GitHub repo called ServerAutomationDemo. Sorry, we're not using Azure repos in this article. A GitHub personal access token - Be sure to create the token with the permissions of admin:repo_hook, all repo and all user options Cloud Shell or PowerShell 6+ if running locally - Examples may work in Windows PowerShell but were not tested. All of the examples will be performed locally via a PowerShell console but the Cloud Shell will work just as well. You will automate building the pipeline. Azure CLI installed (if running locally) - You'll learn how to perform tasks in this article with the Azure CLI. But, the same procedures can also be performed via the Azure Portal, PowerShell or the Azure SDK. Warning: The actions you're about to perform do cost real money unless you have some Azure credit. The most cost-intensive resources you'll be bringing up in Azure is a VM but only temporarily. Before you Start You're going to be doing a lot of configuration in this tutorial. Before you begin, please be sure you have the following items handy. The name of the Azure subscription resources will be deployed to - the examples will use Adam the Automator. The ID of the subscription The Azure AD tenant ID The DevOps organization name - the examples will use adbertram. The region you're placing resources into - the examples will use eastus. The name of the Azure resource group to put the temporary key vault into - the examples will use ServerAutomationDemo. A password to assign to the local administrator account on a deployed VM - the examples will use "I like azure.". The URL to the GitHub repo - the examples will use https://github.com/adbertram/ServerAutomationDemo. Logging in with the Azure CLI Be prepared to do a lot of work with the Azure CLI in the article. I love the Azure PowerShell cmdlets but the Azure CLI is currently capable of doing more DevOps tasks. Your first task is getting to a PowerShell 6+ console. Once in the console, authenticate to Azure using the command az login. This command will open a browser window and prompt you for your account. Once authenticated, be sure to set your subscription to the default. Setting it as the default will prevent you from having to specify it constantly. az login az account set --subscription 'Adam the Automator' Preparing Azure Resources Once you're logged in with the Azure CLI, it's time to get down to business. An Azure Pipeline has many different dependencies and various knobs to turn. In this first section, you're going to learn how to do some set up and prepare your environment for your pipeline. Installing the Azure CLI DevOps Extension You'll need a way to build the various Azure DevOps components with the Azure CLI. By default, it doesn't include that functionality. To manage Azure DevOps from the Azure CLI, you'll need to install the DevOps extension. Luckily, installing the extension is a single line as shown below. az extension add --name azure-devops Once the extension has been installed, then set your organization as the default to prevent specifying it over and over. az devops configure --defaults organization=https://dev.azure.com/adbertram Creating the Resource Group Although the pipeline will be creating a temporary resource group, you should also create one for any resources brought up in this demo. More specifically, this resource group is where you'll create an Azure Key Vault. az group create --location "eastus" --name "ServerAutomationDemo" Creating the Azure Service Principal The next task is to create an Azure service principal. You're going to need an Azure service principal to authenticate to the Azure Key Vault. You'll also use this service principal to authenticate a service connection. Create the service principal for both the key vault and for the eventual ARM deployment as shown below. $spIdUri = "http://ServerAutomationDemo"$sp = az ad sp create-for-rbac --name $spIdUri | ConvertFrom-Json At this point, it’d be a good idea to save the value of $sp.appId somewhere. When you get to building the pipeline later, you will need this! You'll notice some PowerShell commands in the examples e.g. ConvertFrom-Json. Since the Azure CLI only returns JSON strings, it's easier to reference properties if converted to a PowerShell object. Building the Key Vault The pipeline in this tutorial needs to reference a couple of passwords. Rather than storing passwords in clear text, let's do it the right way. All sensitive information will be stored in an Azure Key Vault. To create the key vault, use the az keyvault create command as shown below. This command creates the key vault in the previously-created resource group. Also notice the enabled-for-template-deployment switch. This changes the key vault access policy to allow the future ARM deployment to access the key vault. az keyvault create --location $region --name "ServerAutomationDemo-KV" --resource-group "ServerAutomationDemo" --enabled-for-template-deployment true Once in the variable group, click on Link secrets from an Azure key vault as variables. Once you do, you'll then be warned you'll be erasing all variables and click Confirm. You'll see how to do this below. This action is fine since the foo variable was temporary all along anyway. Once confirmed, select the ARM service connection and the ServerAutomationDemo-KV key vault created earlier as shown below. Click Add. Now check both of the secrets created earlier as shown below and click OK and Save to save the changes. Project Files Overview If you've made it this far, congratulations! You're now ready to begin building the pipeline. But wait...there's more! To make building an Azure Pipeline real world, this tutorial builds a pipeline complete with "unit" and "acceptance" tests. This makes the tutorial more interesting but also warrants some additional explanation on what's going on. In the GitHub repo for this tutorial, you'll find a few files as shown below. Now would be a good time to either clone this repo or build your own from the files. azure-pipelines.yml - The final YAML pipeline connect-azure.ps1 - PowerShell script to authenticate to an Azure subscription server.infrastructure.tests.ps1 - A simple Pester test to confirm VM configuration is goodserver.json - An Azure ARM template to provision a VM server.parameters.json - An Azure ARM parameters template that provides the ARM template with parameter values. server.templates.tests.ps1 - Pester "unit" tests to confirm the ARM template is valid You'll see how each of these files fits together in the pipeline in a little bit. Creating the Pipeline Assuming you've cloned my GitHub repo or set one up on your own, it's time to create the pipeline! To do so, run the az pipelines create command. The below command creates a pipeline called ServerAutomationDemo using the provided GitHub repo as a trigger. It will look at the master branch and use the service connection built earlier. az pipelines create --name "ServerAutomationDemo" --repository "https://github.com/adbertram/ServerAutomationDemo" --branch master --service-connection $gitHubServiceEndpoint.id --skip-run Depending on if you have the azure-pipelines.yml file in your GitHub repo, you may or may not receive feedback like below. Either way, your console will look similar. Be sure to have your GitHub personal access token ready! YAML Pipeline Review At this point, your pipeline is ready to run but it's important to first understand the YAML pipeline. Take a look at the azure-pipelines.yml file. This file is the pipeline when using the multi-stage YAML pipeline feature. Let's break down the various components that make up this YAML pipeline. The Trigger Since you're building a CI pipeline that automatically runs, you need a trigger. The trigger below instructs the pipeline to run when a commit is detected in the Git master branch. Notice also the paths section. By default, if you don't specifically include or exclude files or directories in a CI build, the pipeline will run when a commit it done on any file. Because this project is all built around an ARM template, you don't want to run the pipeline if, for example, you made a tweak to a Pester test. trigger: branches: include: - master paths: include: - server.json - server.parameters.json The Pool Every build needs an agent. Every build agent needs to run on a VM. In this case, the VM is using the ubuntu-latest VM image. This image is the default image that was defined when the build was originally created. It hasn't been changed due to the "simplicity" of this pipeline. pool: vmImage: "ubuntu-latest" Variables Next up, we have all of the variables and the variable group. The various tasks in this pipeline require reading values like the Azure subscription ID, tenant ID and the application ID for the service principal and so on. Rather than replicating static values in each task, they are defined as variable. Also notice the group element. This element is referencing the variable group you created earlier. Be sure to replace the subscription_id and tenant_id at this time. You'll learn how to get the application_id a little bit later. Remember in the Creating the Azure Service Principal section you were reminded to save the value of $sp.appId somewhere? This is where you’ll need it. Assign the value of that service principal application ID to application_id as shown below. variables: - group: ServerAutomationDemo - name: azure_resource_group_name value: "ServerProvisionTesting-$(Build.BuildId)" - name: subscription_id value: "XXXXXXXXXXXXX" - name: application_id value: "XXXXXXXXXXXXX" - name: tenant_id value: "XXXXXXXXXXXX" Note the value of the azure_resource_group_name variable. Inside of that value you'll see $(Build.BuildId). This is a system variable that represents the build ID of the current job. In this context, it is being used to ensure the temporary resource group created is unique. PowerShell Prep Tasks The next set of tasks invoke PowerShell code. This pipeline example uses PowerShell to create and remove a temporary resource group for testing purposes. In these deployment tasks, you'll see two examples of invoking PowerShell code. The first task invokes a script called connect-azure.ps1 that exists in the GitHub repo. This task authenticating to the Azure subscription for the subsequent Azure PowerShell commands to run. This Azure PowerShell connect task is calling the script and passing a key vault secret value (Server Automation Demo-AppPw) and the pipeline variables subscription_id, application_id and tenant_id. The second task is running PowerShell code inline meaning a script doesn't already exist. Instead, PowerShell code is defined in the pipeline YAML itself using the value of the azure_resource_group_name pipeline variable. - task: PowerShell@2 inputs: filePath: "connect-azure.ps1" arguments: '-ServicePrincipalPassword "$(ServerAutomationDemo-AppPw)" -SubscriptionId $(subscription_id) -ApplicationId $(application_id) -TenantId $(tenant_id)'- task: PowerShell@2 inputs: targetType: "inline" script: New-AzResourceGroup -Name $(azure_resource_group_name) -Location eastus -Force Pester Template Test Next up we have the first Pester test. In a CI/CD pipeline such as this, it's important to have a few different layers of tests. If you were creating a pipeline for a software project, you may create various unit tests. Since this example pipeline is built around a single ARM VM deployment, the first "unit" tests will be to test the validity of the JSON template. Inside of the server.templates.tests.ps1 file is where you can add as many different tests on the ARM template file itself as you'd like. Notice below, the pipeline is using various system variables. These variables are referencing the file location of the files once they get onto the build agent. The Peste rRunner task is sending the test results out to an XML file which will then be read later in the pipeline. - task: Pester@0 inputs: scriptFolder: "@{Path='$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/server.template.tests.ps1'; Parameters=@{ResourceGroupName='$(azure_resource_group_name)'}}" resultsFile: "$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/server.template.tests.XML" usePSCore: true run32Bit: False The ARM VM Deployment We have now come to the ARM deployment. Since the entire pipeline is build around the ability to deploy a VM, this one is important! This task deploying the ARM template providing all of the required attributes needed to make it happen. Note the deployment Outputs: arm_output attribute. In the next step, a task needs to connect to the VM that was deployed. A great way to get the DNS name or IP address of this VM is by returning it via the ARM deployment. The deployment Outputs option creates a pipeline variable that can be referenced in other tasks. - task: AzureResourceManagerTemplateDeployment@3 inputs: deploymentScope: "Resource Group" azureResourceManagerConnection: "ARM" subscriptionId: "1427e7fb-a488-4ec5-be44-30ac10ca2e95" action: "Create Or Update Resource Group" resourceGroupName: $(azure_resource_group_name) location: "East US" templateLocation: "Linked artifact" csmFile: "server.json" csmParametersFile: "server.parameters.json" deploymentMode: "Incremental" deploymentOutputs: "arm_output" Pester "Acceptance" Test Once the VM has been deployed, you need to ensure it was deployed properly with an "integration" or "acceptance" test. This Pester Runner task is invoking Pester and running another set of infrastructure-related tests to ensure the VM was deployed successfully. Notice that we're passing in the value of the output of the ARM deployment via the Arm Deployment Json Output parameter. The Pester test script file has a parameter defined that takes the value and reads the DNS hostname of the VM. task: Pester@0 inputs: scriptFolder: "@{Path='$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/server.infrastructure.tests.ps1'; Parameters=@{ArmDeploymentJsonOutput='$(arm_output)'}}" resultsFile: "$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/server.infrastructure.tests.XML" usePSCore: true run32Bit: False You can see below what he server.infrastructure.tests.ps1 PowerShell script looks like. Notice that it's reading the VM's DNS hostname to then run a simple open port check. $ArmDeploymentOutput = $ArmDeploymentJsonOutput | convertfrom-json## Run the tests describe 'Network Connnectivity' { it 'the VM has RDP/3389 open' { Test-Connection -TCPPort 3389 -TargetName $ArmDeploymentOutput.hostname.value -Quiet | should -Be $true } } "Acceptance" Test Cleanup The only reason the pipeline deployed any infrastructure was to test the validity of the ARM template. Because this infrastructure as only temporary, it needs to be cleaned up. In the last PowerShell task, the pipeline is removing the resource group created earlier and everything in it. - task: PowerShell@2 inputs: targetType: "inline" script: Get-AzResourceGroup -Name $(azure_resource_group_name) | Remove-AzResourceGroup -Force Pester Test Publishing And finally, we have come to the last set of tasks. Azure Pipelines has a task called Publish Test Results. This task reads an XML file on the build agent and displays tests results in Azure DevOps. This is a handy way to easily see the results of all tests run. - task: PublishTestResults@2 inputs: testResultsFormat: "NUnit" testResultsFiles: "$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/server.infrastructure.tests.XML" failTaskOnFailedTests: true- task: PublishTestResults@2 inputs: testResultsFormat: "NUnit" testResultsFiles: "$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/server.template.tests.XML" failTaskOnFailedTests: true Using the Azure DevOps Pipeline Finally, we're ready to run the pipeline and see how it works. In the Azure DevOps web UI, ensure you're in the Server Automation Demo project. Once here, click on Pipelines and then you should see the Server Automation Demo pipeline. One way to run the pipeline is to click on the three dots on the far right as shown below. Then, click on Run pipeline. This will kick off the automation goodness. The pipeline will chug along and run each task as instructed. By the end, you should see all green check marks for each task performed by the job as shown below. Cleaning Up Once you've fiddled around with the pipeline and everything you've accomplished here, you should clean things up. After all, this was just meant to be a tutorial and not a production task! Below you'll find some commands to clean up everything built in this article. This code removes the service principal, Azure AD application, the resource group and everything in it and the Azure DevOps project. $spId = ((az ad sp list --all | ConvertFrom-Json) | ? { '' -in $_.serviceprincipalnames }).objectId az ad sp delete --id $spId## Remove the resource group az group delete --name "ServerAutomationDemo" --yes --no-wait ## remove project$projectId = ((az devops project list | convertfrom-json).value | where { $_.name -eq 'ServerAutomationDemo' }).id az devops project delete --id $projectId --yes Summary This tutorial was meant to give you a peak into building a real Azure DevOps infrastructure automation pipeline. Even though there are countless other ways to build pipelines such as this, the skills you've learned in this tutorial should assist you through many different configurations. Now get out there and start doing more automating!

Top 10 Secure Computing Tips "Top 10" List of Secure Computing Tips Tip #1 - You are a target to hackers Don't ever say, "It won't happen to me." We are all at risk and the stakes are high - both for your personal and financial well-being and for the university's standing and reputation. Cybersecurity is everyone's responsibility. By following the tips below and remaining vigilant, you are doing your part to protect yourself and others. Tip #2 - Keep software up-to-date Installing software updates for your operating system and programs is critical. Always install the latest security updates for your devices: Turn on Automatic Updates for your operating system. Use web browsers such as Chrome or Firefox that receive frequent, automatic security updates. Make sure to keep browser plug-ins (Flash, Java, etc.) up-to-date. Tip #3 - Avoid Phishing scams - beware of suspicious emails and phone calls Phishing scams are a constant threat - using various social engineering(link is external) ploys, cyber-criminals will attempt to trick you into divulging personal information such as your login ID and password, banking or credit card information. Phishing scams can be carried out by phone, text, or through social networking sites - but most commonly by email. Be suspicious of any official-looking email message or phone call that asks for personal or financial information. Check out our Phishing Resources section for details about identifying phishing scams and protecting yourself. Tip #4 - Practice good password management We all have too many passwords to manage - and it's easy to take short-cuts, like reusing the same password. A password manager can help you to maintain strong unique passwords for all of your accounts. These programs can generate strong passwords for you, enter credentials automatically, and remind you to update your passwords periodically. Our Protecting Your Credentials how-to article contains detailed recommendations for keeping your password safe. Tip #5 - Be careful what you click Avoid visiting unknown websites or downloading software from untrusted sources. These sites often host malware that will automatically install (often silently) and compromise your computer. If attachments or links in the email are unexpected or suspicious for any reason, don't click on it. ISO recommends using Click-to-Play(link is external) or NoScript(link is external), browser add-on features that prevent the automatic download of plug-in content (e.g., Java, Flash) and scripts that can harbor malicious code. Tip #6 - Never leave devices unattended The physical security of your devices is just as important as their technical security. If you need to leave your laptop, phone, or tablet for any length of time - lock it up so no one else can use it. If you keep protected data on a flash drive or external hard drive, make sure their encrypted and locked up as well. For desktop computers, lock your screen or shut-down the system when not in use. Tip #7 - Safeguard Protected Data Be aware of Protected Data that you come into contact with and its associated restrictions. Review the UCB Data Classification Standard to understand data protection level requirements. In general: Keep high-level Protected Data (e.g., SSN's, credit card information, student records, health information, etc.) off of your workstation, laptop, or mobile devices. Securely remove sensitive data files from your system when they are no longer needed. Always use encryption when storing or transmitting sensitive data. Unsure of how to store or handle sensitive data? Email us at security@berkeley.edu(link sends e-mail). Tip #8 - Use mobile devices safely Considering how much we rely on our mobile devices and how susceptible they are to attack, you'll want to make sure you are protected: Lock your device with a PIN or password - and never leave it unprotected in public. Only install apps from trusted sources (Apple AppStore, Google Play). Keep the device's operating system up-to-date. Don't click on links or attachments from unsolicited emails or texts. Avoid transmitting or storing personal information on the device. Most handheld devices are capable of employing data encryption - consult your device's documentation for available options. Use Apple's Find my iPhone(link is external) or the Android Device Manager(link is external) tools to help prevent loss or theft. Tip #9 - Install antivirus/anti-malware protection Only install these programs from a known and trusted source. Keep virus definitions, engines and software up-to-date to ensure your programs remains effective. See our Minimum Security Standards Anti-Malware Software Guidelines for more information Tip #10 - Back up your data Back up regularly - if you are a victim of a security incident, the only guaranteed way to repair your computer is to erase and re-install the system Author# Nerdcore Computers

You can configure your fans however you like, use as many dust filters as you can, and make sure your PC is well away from carpets and floor-bound fluff, but at some point, the inside of your case is going to get dusty. You can't escape it, and it's a good idea to clean your PC now and then if you want to keep your components' temperatures manageable. Here are the methods we use to safely and thoroughly clean out our computers. How to clean dust from your PC The Complete Guide to PC Gaming Nerdcore Computers is going back to the basics with a series of guides, how-tos, and deep dives into PC gaming's core concepts that we're calling The Complete Guide to PC Gaming. There's much more to come, and it's all being made possible by Razer, which stepped up to support this months-long project. Thanks, Razer! The most important thing to consider when cleaning your case is that we want to make it possible for cool, fresh air to get into the case and hot air to get out. If dust filters are clogged or there's excess dust collected around the heat sinks, that's not going to be possible and your system could overheat. To counter that, you want to do everything you can to eliminate dust and leave your system fresh and clean. Note: Whenever cleaning your PC or its components, you need to take extra special care about static damage. Using an anti-static wristband is ideal, but if you don't have one to hand, make sure to regularly ground yourself by touching your case or PSU housing. Wear a dust mask or respirator if you want to avoid breathing in any of the dust and dirt you remove from your case. Turn off your PC and unplug the power cable from the rear. If you want to be extra safe, unplug everything. Move your computer to somewhere well ventilated if possible, or at least open a window or door to let fresh air into the room. Remove the side panels and (if possible) the front panel of your case. Use a lint-free cloth or can of compressed air to clean the dust from any dust filters, as well as any obvious collections in the base of the case. Use a can of compressed air—we don't recommend trying to blow forcefully yourself—to clean the dust from any heatsinks like your CPU or graphics card cooler. A quick few blasts will have your components, like this radiator, looking good as new. Once you've knocked all the dust loose, use a vacuum cleaner to clean up any dust that ends up on the floor. However, don't use the vacuum directly on the interior of your case, as there is a real risk of static damage. (You could use one as a blower in a pinch, which Jarred regularly does, but don't get the tip close to sensitive components.) If your PC hasn't been cleaned in a while, there's a good chance you have dust caked onto the fans, vents, and heat sinks. In this case, a quick dusting won't get you much further than the below picture, and you'll need to do a deep clean. How to deep clean your PC If you display your PC like a work of art as much as a functional tool or gaming machine, then you'll want to do more than just give it a light dusting. For that, we'd recommend removing everything from the case. That means redoing all of your cable management, draining the water-cooling loop, and unhooking all your drive caddies. The end result, though, is worth it. Note: We still recommend an anti-static wrist band when handling any components. If you don't have one to hand, periodically touch your PC case to ground yourself. Remove all of your components and lay them out on a non-conductive surface. If you remove your CPU heat sink—not strictly necessary—be aware that you should remove and re-apply the thermal paste. If you're not sure how, read our guide. Use compressed air and a lint free cloth to blow and wipe any dust build up you can see. Pay particular attention to any crevices, plastic shrouds, and heat sinks. Thoroughly clean any dust filters too. To clean fan blades, hold them steady and wipe or blow each blade individually. If there are any fingerprint or oily marks on anything, use cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol or equivalent to wipe them clean. Make sure to leave them to dry before putting them back together. Some components, like a graphics card, can get dust build-up inside a covered area. Cleaning these may require disassembling the card, which is possible if you have the right tools (small hex and Torx bits are often required). There are certain components, like the interior of your PSU, that you aren't going to be able to clean effectively without taking it apart and voiding your warranty. Doing so can be dangerous, too. Instead, we'd recommend using a can of compressed air with a long straw attached to give it a little blast to dislodge any stubborn dust. When you next turn it on, its own fan and natural airflow should blow any loosened dust out of the rear. When you're finished cleaning, put everything back together. Take this opportunity to do a little cable management as it can help avoid dust build up by making for a cleaner passage of air through your system. How often should I clean my PC? To maintain a healthy system, we recommend a light dusting at least every three to six months, or more often if you have pets or live in an especially dusty environment. For deep cleanings, every six months to a year is recommended if you want to maintain peak performance, or every couple of years at the very least to avoid any potential overheating issues. Author Nerdcore

It’s official! The iPhone 12 is here, and it has some incredible features for both Apple lovers and Apple newbies alike. Launched on October 23, the iPhone 12 has a family of four models: the iPhone 12, the iPhone 12 Mini, the iPhone 12 Pro, and the iPhone 12 Pro Max. In this blog, we’ll cover the need-to-knows of each model. By the end of the blog, you’ll want to get your hands on one of these—trust us! (Quick reminder before we get started: Our technicians are continuously trained on new Apple models as they are released. So if you ever experience any issues with your iPhone 12 or any other iPhone model, we’ve got you covered with our Apple iPhone repair experts!) The iPhone 12 The iPhone 12 is a huge technological success, boasting a new design, exceptional dual-lens cameras, 5G connectivity, and a solid battery life. As far as iPhones go, it is the future! Its exciting new features include: Design – Unlike the rounded edges of previous iPhones, the iPhone 12’s edges are flat, making it more comfortable to grip and hold. Perhaps the most exciting design aspect of the iPhone 12, however, is its color options—black, white, deep blue, light green, and red. Display – The iPhone 12’s Super Retina XDR display makes colors intense and lifelike, transforming the viewing experience into something truly incomparable. And more! The iPhone 12 Mini The iPhone 12 Mini is almost identical to the iPhone 12, holding all of the same features in a smaller, sleeker package. The iPhone 12 features a 6.1 inch display, while the Mini features a 5.4 inch display, making it the smallest iPhone since the iPhone SE. Its compact size is perfect for those who have been looking for a phone they can use one-handed. A couple of other features of the iPhone 12 Mini include: Water Resistance – Less graceful iPhone users will be happy to discover that the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini can withstand up to six meters of water for up to thirty minutes. This means they can withstand rain, spills, and other common accidents with no problem! No one likes needing iPhone water damage repair, so this feature is a gamechanger. Drop Protection – The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini have four times stronger drop protection than other iPhone models due to the “ceramic shield” material protecting them. Ceramic shield is known as one of the toughest, most durable smartphone glasses. With a ceramic shield, you will rarely be in need of iPhone screen repair! The iPhone 12 Pro Photographer lovers, this one is for you! The iPhone 12 Pro offers advanced triple-camera setups and other photography features such as: Telephoto Lens – This third telephoto lens is only a feature of the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max models. This lens is designed for taking accurate, precise images of distant objects. Night Mode – Although the Night Mode feature is on the iPhone 11, Night Mode on the iPhone 12 Pro is a part of the ultra-wide camera, standard wide camera, and the front camera. This allows you to take low-light photos that are crisper without having to use the flash. The iPhone 12 Pro Max The iPhone 12 Pro Max offers almost all of the same features as the iPhone 12 Pro, except it boasts a larger and better display, battery, and camera system. Other features include: A Wider Wide Camera – You read that right! The iPhone 12 Pro Max’s wide camera is even more improved with a 47% larger sensor and pixels. Sensor-Shift Stabilization – Yet another incredible camera feature, sensor-shift stabilization makes your pictures and videos steadier. Say goodbye to blurry photos! Convinced yet that you want to upgrade to one of these beauties? Whether you’re looking for a new iPhone, looking for iPhone repair help, or just looking to learn more, Nerdcore Computer Technicians are here to help!

You’ve probably noticed that your phone battery begins to drain more quickly as your phone ages. When you first purchase the laptop, you hardly ever have to hook it up to its charger. But the more you use it and the older it gets, the shorter its battery lifespan becomes. As soon as this happens, many people choose to purchase a new laptop without considering other options like laptop battery replacement. At the right local laptop repair shop, replacing the Laptop battery is a much cheaper solution than dumping your old phone and buying a new one. Stay tuned to learn why! Fortunately, if you’re noticing any issues with your laptop battery, we can quickly and affordably replace it for you here at Nerdcore Computers. Our technicians will have your laptop running optimally again in no time! Here are a few reasons you should consider laptop battery replacement: 1. Cost Efficiency Laptops are more expensive than ever, and as tempting as it is to simply purchase a new laptop when your laptop battery is giving out, it will likely be a far more expensive purchase than a basic battery replacement. Plus, your laptop battery life may start to give out before the performance of the laptop itself slows down. This means everything except your battery is functioning perfectly, and it would be a bit of a waste to throw out a laptop that is only experiencing one particular problem. 2. Time Efficiency Another benefit to getting your laptop battery replaced (especially at a local repair shop like ours) is the fact that it will save you a significant amount of time. Most local laptop repair shops can replace your laptop battery the same day you bring it in, or they can even replace the battery within the hour. So getting your laptop battery replaced is both cheaper and faster than buying a new laptop 3. Security Most laptop repair shops offer some kind of warranty on their work as well. This means that if they replace your battery and it fails only weeks or months later, you’ll be covered. No time or money wasted! 4. Safety At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Hey, I can replace my battery myself and save even more money!” Although you might be a smartphone expert and capable of replacing the battery on your own, we highly recommend taking it to a professional. It’s the safest, easiest, and most reliable way to replace your phone’s battery. Here are a few things that could go wrong with DIY laptop battery replacement: There’s a strong possibility that you will break your laptop. Opening your laptop requires specific tools and specific skills like knowing how much pressure to use when opening up the laptop. You will have to purchase expensive tools and know how to use them. Most modern laptops have embedded batteries, which means replacing them isn’t as simple as opening your laptop and pulling out the battery. Removing the battery can entail heating, prying, and removing screws so you can access the internal components of the laptop, all of which are time consuming and difficult tasks. An exposed battery can release dangerous chemicals into the air if it’s broken or ruptured, meaning it could also start to swell and explode. Your laptop will be in good hands with the help of a local laptop repair shop technician. Perhaps the largest benefit of having your laptop battery replaced by a professional repair shop is the comforting knowledge that it will be replaced with a battery of the highest quality, and it will be installed efficiently and correctly. So count on us for all of your laptop battery repair and replacement needs! Author Nerdcore Computers

Here are five different health apps that helped improve our fitness and wellbeing and gave us useful information during COVID 19. Coronavirus had an unprecedented impact on healthcare in Australia. And changed the traditional way treatment was distributed and delivered. With digital technology and healthcare professionals forced to combine their services the use of telehealth surged – and allowed “health-related services and information via electronic information and telecommunication technologies” to effectively attend to the needs of even the most remote patients. Here are five digital health-based organisations, apps and approaches that truly made an impact in improving people’s wellbeing 2020. 1. COVIDSafe https://apps.apple.com/au/app/covidsafe/id1509242894 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.gov.health.covidsafe&hl=en_AU&gl=US Released by the Australian Health Department, the COVIDSafe app served as a contact tracking tool designed to slow the spread of the virus. 2. Bloom https://apps.apple.com/au/app/bloom-meditation-sleep/id1469479066 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.applantis.bloomapp&hl=en_AU&gl=US This free online self-help program features over 500+ exercises from cognitive-behavioural-therapy (CBT), designed to significantly improve mild-to-moderate symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. According to its founder, Molly Jane, the app saw a surge in usage, as coronavirus-related stress drove young people to find solutions on their phones. Telehab https://apps.apple.com/au/app/telehab/id1439042849 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.telehab.client.pwa&hl=en_AU&gl=US In an attempt to control the spread of COVID19, and adhere to the rules of quarantine and movement restrictions, physiotherapists were forced to innovate and use telehealth to allow patients to attend appointments virtually. Through Telehab, therapists were empowered to consult via video and prescribe a treatment program, while patients were also able to record themselves performing their home exercises. This allowed for a safe and confidential way to digitally report and track progress for all participants. F45 Training https://apps.apple.com/au/app/f45-training/id946427655 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fitnessmobileapps.f45training&hl=en_AU&gl=US With gyms, fitness studios and indoor boot camps forced to shut their doors during the height of the pandemic in March, 2020, fitness brands pivoted and provided a solution to the mission of keeping physically fit by offering a plethora of free online or subscription classes and routines. One of the best was the F45 Challenge app which provided users with body weight exercises designed to be completed at home. Daybreak by Hello Sunday Morning https://apps.apple.com/au/app/daybreak-alcohol-support/id1107514492 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hellosundaymorning.android.challenges&hl=en_AU&gl=US While COVID closed pubs and limited public gatherings, social isolation created a lonely, stressful, anxious situation that had the potential to serve as a trigger for alcohol abuse. In recognising the importance of responding to this, online and phone support services for people experiencing drug and alcohol problems received an additional $6 million from the Australians Government during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of them was Daybreak by Hello Sunday Morning – a treatment and early invention mobile app that provides online support to individuals seeking assistance in reducing their alcohol consumption. This provided a substitute for people who may have previously relied on face-to-face meetings with counsellors and psychologists to continue to receive the support they required to make healthy choices about their drinking behaviours.

1. Make WhatsApp messages automatically disappear We're huge fans of the WhatsApp messaging service. Offering free, cross-platform text, multimedia, voice messaging, and free voice and video calls, what's not to like? Chances are you've been using it on your phone for a while now, but you may not have spent any time tinkering under the hood to get next-level good at WhatsApp. We've taken some time to really drill down into the app to find its special tips, tricks, tweaks, hacks, and secret features so you can become a WhatsApp expert. 2. Change your WhatsApp chats background While we wouldn't suggest activating this functionality for your bae's message history, the ability to have WhatsApp messages automatically disappear after a certain period of time is useful to keep more noisy chats manageable. It is possible to change a setting that means all future messages in a certain chat will be automatically deleted from your phone after seven days. Do be aware though that this doesn't mean someone hasn't screenshotted or shared any messages in the meantime. To enable this feature, go into the WhatsApp chat you want to change the settings for, and at the top of your screen click on the person's or the group chat's name. In the menu screen that next appears, scroll down until you see the "Disappearing messages" option and tap it to toggle it on. This means the messages will disappear for everyone, but do note that you can only activate this option for group chats where you are the admin. If you're still stuck with the default WhatsApp wallpaper for your chats, then ya basic! It's super simple to change it out for a more interesting choice. To do it, go into WhatsApp and click on the cog-shaped Settings icon. Select Chats from the next menu screen that appears, then tap on Chat Wallpaper. This will then bring up your further options. You can choose to use one of WhatsApp's preloaded images from its gallery (it's worth having a browse, there are some pretty sweets pics), change your wallpaper to a solid color, or use an image from your own photos. If you select one of WhatsApp's images you will be prompted to select whether you want the image to remain still or move slightly by choosing the "perspective" view. 3. Use bold, italic, and crossed out text in WhatsApp chats You can make your WhatsApp text messages more interesting — and get your points across better — by using bold text, italics, and even crossing text out with a strikethrough. For bold text, simply add an *asterisk* to either side of the word or phrase. Adding an _underscore_ to either side of the word or phrase creates italic text. To strikethrough text, add a ~tilde~ to either side of the word or phrase. 4. Use the secret WhatsApp typewriter font Did you know WhatsApp has a secret font you can use to make your messages stand out from the crowd? You can use a special sequence of symbols to activate an old school typewriter-style typeface. To do it, you simply need to add three slanting apostrophes: ```. Note that on iOS this is not the standard apostrophe you will see in your main keyboard view. You have to press and hold the apostrophe sign to see the correct symbol to use — you want to select the first one that slants diagonally downwards from left to right. 5. Reply to a specific message within a WhatsApp chat thread Group chats on WhatsApp can get seriously noisy, and messages can come flying in from all directions when things get a bit busy. If someone messaged something that you want to reply to that would not make sense to post in a chronological way, you can go back to that past message to highlight it and reply directly. This makes the original message, with your reply beneath, appear at the bottom of your chat screen. To do this, press and hold on the message until a menu pops up from which you can select Reply. Alternatively, and a quicker method, is simply to swipe on the message you want to reply to from left to right. 6. Pin a WhatsApp chat to the top of your chats screen This is a really useful hack to keep a chat thread visible at the top of your Chats screen. If you want to give any of your chats top billing, simply swipe on the chat from left to right and tap on the drawing pin icon that appears. This will move that chat to the top of your chats screen so it's always immediately visible. This also adds a pin icon to the chat so you know it's been pinned. To undo this action, simply swipe the chat again to unpin it. You can pin up to three chats at one time. 7. Broadcast a personal WhatsApp message to multiple contacts It's possible in WhatsApp to send the same message to multiple contacts without them being in a group chat or even seeing who else received the message. Useful if you want to share important news with an announcement, or if you want to wish everyone seasonal greetings. It’s quick and simple to do. From your chats screen on iOS, tap on Broadcast Lists at the top right of your screen, then New List at the bottom, and then add the recipients you want to get the message. On Android devices, you need to choose New Broadcast from the chats menu. Any messages you send using this method will be received as individual messages in WhatsApp chat threads. 8. Give yourself more time to read WhatsApp messages before they are marked as read We all know that those two ticks below WhatsApp messages turn blue when the message has been seen, which puts you under pressure to reply. On iOS, if you want to get a sneak preview of a WhatsApp message before it's marked as read, you can tweak your notification settings to ensure a preview of the message appears on your home screen and stays there until you manually dismiss it. To set this useful feature up, ensure that you have message previews enabled in your WhatsApp settings menu. Check this by going to Settings, then Notifications, then toggling Show Preview to on. Next, go to your iPhone settings menu and select Notifications, then scroll down to find WhatsApp. In the next screen, ensure your notifications are enabled, then tap on Banner Style and change it to Persistent. This now means the previews of any WhatsApp messages you receive will remain on your iPhone's home screen until you dismiss them and the person who has sent the message won't get the blue ticks to say you've read it until you actually go into the app. 9. Customize alert tones for different WhatsApp chat threads you can customize the sound alert tone you hear when you receive a WhatsApp message from any contact or group. This is very useful because it means you can differentiate between group chats that you might not necessarily need to keep up with in real time and important direct messages from your loved ones. To give a WhatsApp group or contact a custom tone, go into the chat and tap on the person's or group's name at the top of the screen. Scroll down to Custom Tone and click through. You can then change the default tone to one you know you're either safe to ignore or one that you know means you need to grab your phone stat. What's up on WhatsApp Hopefully, you'll have found some useful tips, tricks, tweaks, and more within this list. From buying yourself time to reply to messages, to making your messages stand out with a different font, there are some great tricks here for all users of the popular WhatsApp messaging platform.

On average, a desktop PC gets replaced every 5.2 years in Australia Just like any other device, your Windows 10 Machine can sometimes stop working as well as it should. Whether you’re trying to get things back in order with a serious tune-up or are ready to upgrade and hand over your device to a friend or colleague, you may want to look into resetting your PC to factory settings. In this article, you’ll learn how to do a factory reset on Windows 10 to get your PC running smoothly again. How to do a Factory Reset on Windows 10 After deciding to give your computer a fresh restart, give yourself plenty of time in advance to work. If you’re keeping the device, you’ll want to back up your files before you get started. Expect the reset to take anywhere from two to three hours to complete. Once you’re ready, follow these steps to reset your Microsoft Windows computer to its factory settings. Open the Recovery Tool First, click on the Start menu in the bottom left-hand corner and open your settings menu by selecting the gear icon. Additionally, you can type in “Settings” directly into the search bar and double click when it shows up. Once you’re in settings, select “Update & Security” in the lower-left corner of your screen. Select Recovery Options A new window will appear, asking you to either keep your files or remove everything. If you’re looking to wipe out all your personal data and pass your PC onto a new user, click “Remove everything.” Otherwise, choose “Keep my files” to refresh your device and retain your information. This option also allows you to see a list of apps and settings that will be wiped from your PC. If you’ve opted to clear everything, you’ll be prompted to confirm once more before proceeding. Additionally, you can remove data by clicking on “Just remove my files” or wipe the drive entirely by selecting “Remove files and clean drive.” For security purposes, we recommend going with the second option before you hand over your device. Wiping your hard drive helps keep your files safe while minimizing the chances of them being recovered from another user. This option is a must if you’re selling or recycling your PC. Reset your Computer Lastly, click “Reset” to fully restore your computer to its original settings. Your PC will automatically restart or prompt you to do so. After a few minutes, it will reboot. Once you’re able to login after the reset process, your computer is ready to go. If you’re lending it off to someone, double-check that everything you previously selected is clear from the device. Need some additional tech help? Get the most out of your Windows PC or laptop with Computer Troubleshooter’s IT services! We proudly provide residential and business services and can troubleshoot and repair a variety of issues. Whether you need diagnostic services, maintenance, upgrades, or file back up solutions, we have you covered. Contact your nearest Nerdcore office today for reputable and customized IT solutions. Author Nerdcore Computers

Good Stuff Excellent camera Killer performance Dolby Vision video looks great 5G can be very fast Bad Stuff Battery life not as good as last year 5G hype is exhausting Not quite enough of an upgrade over the iPhone 12 iPhone 12 Pro design The iPhone 12 and 12 Pro share the same fundamental new design, which is very squared off and very flat — almost shockingly flat. Nearly every other phone has a curved edge and an obvious border between the display and the frame, but the iPhone 12s feels much more like a single piece. It reminds me a little of the iPhone 5, but more importantly, it looks and feels very different than any other modern phone, in the way Apple is historically good at making older designs seem instantly out of date. Oddly, the squared-off design also makes the iPhone 12 Pro seem more substantial than it actually is. It doesn’t look it, but it’s thinner than an iPhone 11 Pro. iPhone 12 Pro Camera Last year I said the iPhone 11 Pro had the best camera on a smartphone, and it’s not like the iPhone 12 Pro went backward. But it’s only a small step forward — enough to stay just ahead of the competition. Most of the improvements are fairly minor. The main camera has a very slightly brighter lens than last year, which helps it in low light, and Apple’s new Smart HDR 3 processing seems to be, well, a little smarter. The noise reduction is improved and looks better than the iPhone 11: photos look less grainy, and there’s a little more detail. The photos are also slightly more contrasty; every year, Apple seems to be more willing to let highlights be highlights and shadows be shadows, which is a look I’m personally fond of. iPhone 12 Pro on the left, Pixel 5 on the right All four cameras on the phone can do night mode now, which is very nice to have, but it’s most useful on the front camera for night mode selfies. Using the tele or the ultrawide for night mode shots works, but I’d stick with the main camera. It’s the best camera on the phone, and it takes the best images. There are some other small but noticeable photo improvements over the 11 Pro: the ultrawide lens distorts a little less at the edges, and photos from the ultrawide and telephoto are a tad sharper and more detailed. There are also some new settings: you can actually turn lens correction off, and you can turn off both Smart HDR and “scene detection,” which tries to intelligently recognize a shot and expose it correctly. It’s nice to see Apple embrace additional camera options, but I would generally leave everything flipped on; if you are offended by auto camera modes, you should just use an app with good manual controls like Halide 5G on the iPhone 12 Pro II am obligated to discuss 5G in a review of a new 5G iPhone, even though I personally do not find 5G compelling because I do not live anywhere close to a 5G service area on any of the major networks. I think that will be the case for a great many people for some time to come, and so I am happy to report the iPhone 12 Pro does just fine on LTE. But I did spend a day in Melbourne, and I can report that Optusnet Sub-6 “nationwide” 5G is basically fine. It’s there, and it was reasonably fast, although my iPhone 11 Pro on Telstra could produce equivalent speeds in many cases. Optusnet “nationwide” 5G network feels like the early days of LTE to me: I can’t tell if it’s always going to be this fast or whether it will slow down as a flood of devices — like, say, aggressively subsidized 5G iPhones — hit the network. We’ll find out! Real 5G is blazing-fast — when you can find it There’s a optusnet mmWave 5G tower just across the street from our office, and the iPhone 12 Pro was fast to latch onto it and light up the UW indicator. In a patch of 20 glorious square feet, I pulled over 2 gigabits per second down. (And 40 megabits per second up, which matched regular 5G.) If I walked 100 feet away, the signal dropped, and that was that. I hope you are not anticipating being very mobile with your 5G mobile phone if you have giant files to download. Using mmWave definitely made the phone get a little warm, and it seemed to drain the battery a little faster. It’s good that it’s very difficult to use mmWave, I suppose.

About MEGA MEGA's end-to-end encrypted cloud storage and chat service has stored more than 66 billion files for over 160 million users in 250 countries / territories. MEGA is accessible in multiple languages from desktop (Windows, macOS and Linux) and Android / iOS mobile apps. User files are stored in secure facilities in Europe or in countries (such as New Zealand) that the European Commission has determined to have an adequate level of protection under Article 45 of the GDPR, depending where the user based. No user files are stored in, or made available from, the United States of America. MEGA The Privacy Company was architected around the simple fact that cryptography, for it to be accepted and used, must not interfere with usability. MEGA is accessible without prior software installs and remains the only cloud storage provider with browser-based high-performance end-to-end encryption. Today, millions of business and personal users rely on MEGA to securely and reliably store and serve petabytes of data. We believe that this success is the result of MEGA's low barrier to entry to a more secure cloud. Get a free 50gb of cloud storage for basic file storage you can also look at some of there compare plans. Its the fastest an cheapest by far compared to Google drive and one drive or even drop box.

Learn how to sync music, films and more using iTunes on your Mac or PC. If you're using macOS Mojave or earlier or a Windows PC, use iTunes to sync content to your devices. Before you use iTunes to sync content to your iOS or iPadOS device, consider using iCloud, Apple Music or similar services to keep content from your Mac or PC in the cloud. This way, you can access your music, photos and more on your devices when you aren’t near your computer. Learn more about using Apple Music or iCloud Photos instead of iTunes. If you use iCloud or other services like Apple Music to keep your content up-to-date across all of your devices, some syncing features through iTunes might be turned off. What you can sync with iTunes Albums, songs, playlists, films, TV shows, podcasts and audiobooks. Photos and videos. Contacts and calendars. iTunes features might vary by country or region. Sync or remove content using iTunes Open iTunes and connect your device to your computer with a USB cable. Click the device icon in the upper-left corner of the iTunes window. Learn what to do if you don't see the icon. From the list under Settings on the left side of the iTunes window, click the type of content that you want to sync or remove.* To turn syncing on for a content type, select the checkbox next to Sync. Select the tick box next to each item that you want to sync. Click the Apply button in the lower-right corner of the window. If syncing doesn't start automatically, click the Sync button. * You can only sync your device with one iTunes library at a time. If you see a message that your device is synced with another iTunes library, your device was previously connected to another computer. If you click "Erase and Sync" in that message, all content of the selected type on your device will be erased and replaced with content from this computer. Sync your content using Wi-Fi After you set up syncing with iTunes using USB, you can set up iTunes to sync to your device with Wi-Fi instead of USB. Connect your device to your computer with a USB cable, then open iTunes and select your device. Click Summary on the left side of the iTunes window. Select "Sync with this [device] over Wi-Fi". Click Apply. When the computer and the device are on the same Wi-Fi network, the device appears in iTunes. The device syncs automatically whenever it's plugged in to power and iTunes is open on the computer. Author Nerdcore Computers

Apple is expected to introduce the first Macs running on Apple Silicon on Nov. 10, and Microsoft appears ready to make good on its promise to support these new Apple-powered Macs and macOS Big Sur. ARM support for Office Microsoft has already confirmed it will support Apple’s new Mac processors in Office. Word, PowerPoint and Excel were all shown running on these new processors at Apple’s WWDC event, where Apple Silicon was introduced. The expectation is that this support was enabled through use of Apple’s "Rosetta 2" technology, which lets applications developed for Intel Macs function on Apple Silicon. Microsoft has demonstrated a range of new Office for Mac features designed for Apple’s new macOS, which is perceptually becoming semi-synonymous with the new Apple Silicon Macs. Get native However, Microsoft is clearly planning to field native support of its apps on these new Macs. This is evidenced in the form of the latest "Slow ring" Office Insider update, which introduces a couple of new features and ushers in support for SQL Open Data Connectivity (ODBC) connectivity running on Apple’s chips in Excel. "The built-in SQL Server ODBC data connection provider will now support the new Apple Silicon devices as well as the TLS v1.2 communication protocol. This feature provides support for SQL Server ODBC data connections to work properly on new devices that have Apple Silicon processors, as well as support for SQL Servers that require secure connections via the TLS v1.2 protocol,” Microsoft’s release notes state. In September, we learned Microsoft and other developers were working to port Java (OpenJDK) to ARM-based Macs and Windows devices. Windows for ARM The latter is particularly interesting as it confirms Microsoft continues work on Windows for ARM. As recently as September, the company was revealed to be working on x64 app emulation support for Windows on ARM chips, which it needs to improve application support on Surface Pro X. One thing we don’t yet know is whether Microsoft has any plans to make it possible to support Windows on Apple Silicon. Microsoft has been reticent to discuss any such plans. Nor has it revealed any intention to make a version of Windows capable of running in VM on Parallels on Apple Silicon. Author Nerdcore Computers

Spyware Removal Don't be fooled by the term Spyware being minor or less innocent than viruses. Spyware is a malicious program that collects information about habits of users without their knowledge. As in the word "SPY", the presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user and most often is difficult to detect. There are countless types of spyware and the most common are keyloggers which are used to monitor users on corporate or public computers. Spyware can be designed to collect any type of data such as personal information, internet surfing habits, user logins, and bank or credit account information. Most often spyware causes degradation of system performance. Common signs of spyware infestation are significant CPU activity, disk usage, and network traffic. Spyware is also quite often associated with program applications freezing and system crashes. When a computer is infected with spyware it is rarely alone. It has been the experience of Nerdcore Computers that a computer infected with spyware usually has multiple infections such as viruses, and in the some worst cases trojan viruses and malware. Nerdcore Computers specializes in removing spyware, malware, trojans, backdoor viruses, conflicker viruses, contra viruses, darksma viruses, and defender viruses. If you have spyware, viruses or malware problems or suspect your system has been compromised call 1300Nerdcore In Shop Technical Support About Us Apple Computer Repairs Common Computer Problems Computer Services Computer Tune-Up Computer Tutoring Computers We Service Custom Computer Systems Data Backup Services Data Recovery Desktop Computer Repairs Firewall Setup Home Theatre Installation In-Shop Tech Support IT Services Laptop Computer Repairs Laptop Screen Replacement Mac Computer Repairs Mac Computer Setup Mac Operating System Install Malware Removal Network Design and Setup Network Security Setup Online Tech Support On-Site Tech Support Outlook Repair and Recovery Parental Control and Monitoring Smartphone Setup Spyware Removal System Recovery Tablet Setup Virus Removal Windows Computer Setup Windows Operating System Wireless Installations Contact Us Software Training Apple - Mac OS X Training Adobe Creative Suites Training Microsoft Office Training Microsoft Windows OS Training QuickBooks Accounting Training Myob Accounting Training Search Engine Optimization SEO Local Geo-centric Website Design Website Hosting Locations We Service On-site Melbourne North East Suburbs of Melbourne South Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne Western Suburbs of Melbourne Melbourne CBD One of the questions Nerdcore Computers is most asked is, "Why do I get viruses when I have antivirus software?" Well, the simple and short answer is, you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The long answer is much more complicated. However, luck or the lack thereof is a big factor. Read More Monday - Friday: 9:30 am - 5:00 pm Saturday: 7:30 am - Noon Telephone: 1300637326 In-Shop Computer Help and Technical Support Nerdcore Computers do in-shop PC and Mac desktop and laptop computer repair services. These computer services include; desktop repair, laptop repair, notebook LCD repair, mother boards, GPU, hard drive repair and replacement, power supply, video card, memory, CPU and all major computer components. Regardless if it’s a simple printer problem or Malware Viruses, Trojan Viruses, Spyware, or any of the many thousands of computer issues that could be causing your computer problems, Nerdcore Computers will resolve them. Our specialists fixes that simple printer problem or scans and clears your PC of viruses and secures your system quickly. Nerdcore Computers specializes in removing malware, trojans, backdoor viruses, conflicker viruses, contra viruses, darksma viruses, and defender viruses. Nerdcore Computer Specialists can install Windows 7, 8, 10 and Mac OS X Operating Systems. Nerdcore Computers has developed a strong partnership with many Australia businesses. We have earned a reputation as an active and aggressive player in many residential and business sectors providing In-Shop Tech Support. If you require In-Shop Tech Support, System Recovery, Operating System Install - Software, Computer Help & Technical Support call Nerdcore Computers on 1300nerdcore.

As a computer user, you have most likely faced one of the following Most Common Computer Desktop & Laptop Problems at one time or another. Here are the Most Common Computer Desktop & Laptop Problems The nerdcore group repairs: Windows or MAC Systems Business IT Technical support MacBook Air Repair MacBook Pro Repair iMac Repair Software Tech Support Microsoft Windows 10 Repairs PC Repairs System Setup / Move Old System Data to a New System Move Programs & Data from Old System to a New System Windows 10 stuck in restart loop Computer keeps rebooting on startup Home network setup services Laptop repetitive beep sound on startup Laptop sound not working Laptop touch pad touchiness Laptop turns on and off repeatedly Laptop does not turn on at all Laptop Screen is blank / black Laptop screen repair Cracked laptop screen replacement MacBook Pro screen repair Cracked MacBook Pro screen replacement Laptop Battery not charging properly Laptop Power Connector repair Laptop Power Connector replacement Laptop Keyboard repair Laptop Keyboard replacements Laptop liquid spill MacBook Pro liquid spill Computer is extremely slow Computer needs to be tuned up Computer is infected with Viruses, Worms, Trojans, Malware and Spyware Pop-ups Make Computer Unusable Applications or Programs that won't Install Applications or Programs run slowly Abnormal Applications or Program behavior Microsoft Windows Missing DLL File Computer is not responding, freezing, crashing, mouse not working Wireless Network setup & troubleshooting Wireless Router Security Setup Dropped Internet Connections Internet & E-mail setup & troubleshooting Outlook or Outlook Express emails are lost or missing Microsoft Outlook setup or repair Windows Reinstallation, Recovery & Re-format Windows 7, 8, 8.1 or 10 Upgrade or Reinstallation Computer shows a blue screen... often referred to as Blue Screen of Death Computer won't start up - power supply problems Computer won't boot - corrupted files on hard drive or hard drive failure Computer keeps shutting down Synchronization & Consolidation of Contact lists & Databases Data backup On-line Data Backup Data Recovery - Personal or Business Security and data protection Lost Password(s) - Password Recovery for: 7, 2008, 2003, 2000, NT or MAC OS X Systems - Internet Explorer - Mozilla Firefox Password recovery for Outlook or Outlook Express - Microsoft Office Access, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, Publisher, Word - Adobe Acrobat - QuickBooks - Filemaker Password recovery for archives such as .zip, .rar, .exe files and many other programs Bios power on Password Removal Computer has overheating problems, cooling solutions Strange or garbled image on the screen Desktop Computer beeping Driver conflicts DVD RW / CD RW not working or replacement Memory (RAM) upgrade or replacement / installation Hard drive upgrade or replacement / installation Solid State Drive (SSD) upgrade or replacement / installation Graphics Card upgrade or replacement / installation Motherboard upgrade / installation Fan replacement or noise reduction Hardware Installations & Upgrades Software Installations & Upgrades File and Printer Sharing / Networking Printers and Scanners Setup / installation Tablets and Smartphones If you have one or more of these computer problems, you are at the right place. MR PC DOCTOR will do all these repairs either In-shop, On Location or On Line Remote Assistance. Call Nerdcore Computers today at 1300637326

Your network is arguably your business’s most valuable asset. It keeps your team connected to critical information and applications that are imperative to the continued success of your company. With complex cabling, however, your workstation and network infrastructure can quickly grow uncontrollable. Isn’t there an easier way to manage your network components that can help your business grow, unhindered by physical infrastructure? One of the best ways that you can improve your business’s infrastructure is by implementing a virtual network. Basically, this process entails taking your current physical network infrastructure, virtualizing it, and migrating it to the cloud, making the deployment and access of data much easier. Doing so allows you to tie all of your IT components together without having to go through the painful process of cabling. Furthermore, a virtual network provides the following benefits: Mobility: Most notable is the fact that virtual networks allow business owners and their employees to access data from anywhere with an Internet connection. This is particularly helpful while out of the office. If you’re at a trade show or on a business trip, you can access data while on the road. Or, if you have a team of remote employees, they can access files that are critical to your company’s success. Flexibility: Playing off of mobility, adding new network users can be a huge pain, especially when cabling is involved. Instead of physically being connected to a network, anyone with an Internet connection and proper credentials can access the network. This makes adding new users and connecting new workstations to your company’s network much easier. The Main Problem: Security Of course, the biggest problem that faces virtual networks is by far security. If you’re accessing your network through a local wireless signal, you’re placing all of your faith on the wireless Internet connection to be secure. Particularly in public places, doing this can put sensitive data in the way of hackers. You need a virtual network solution that’s capable of encrypting your data while it’s in transit; otherwise, any hacker on the network can grab your data, which makes using public networks a liability. A virtual private network (VPN) from Nerdcore Computers Management provides a quality solution to this problem. A VPN encrypts data that’s transferred along your business’s virtual network, protecting it while it’s in transit. This allows your business to send and receive information from your virtual machine without fear of it being compromised by hackers. It’s an absolute must-have technology for business owners that are constantly on the move for work purposes. To learn more about VPNs and other virtualization services, give the nerdcore group a call on 1300637326

These days it’s possible to feel completely confident about hacker attacks as long as you have the most effective security in place. But what is the most effective security? How do hackers work? How can you feel completely confident? If you want to know, read on. In order to attack someones network, you will need to know as much as you can about that network, so gathering as much information as possible is pretty much where they all start. The information can be technical or non-technical, for example, the partners of the target can be useful for them to know, the location of all office branches etc. This information can help hackers understand the possible technologies in place to stop them. Technical information may contain IP addresses in use, services available, etc. More services running on servers means more entry points. More entry points make it easier to get access. The more services running on servers means more points of entry for the hackers. For example, if you saw that server A only had port 21 open, but server B had 7 different ports open, then server B is the clear choice for entry because each open port is an entry point and you get full access if you can bypass the security to one port entry point, so the one with more options would be the clear choice. Now what if I deployed SERVER-B just to grab your attention, distracting you from some meaningful server SERVER-A. I may install a (fake) server SERVER-B for hackers to attack so as to safe guard my production servers, as soon as they start I can now study attack patterns. Is it not a brilliant idea? That’s called the honey pot. Basically, what a honey pot is is effectively a trap designed to detect, distract and generally counter attempts to hack into your servers. Usually its in the form of data or a network that appears to be part of your main system and to contain valuable data, but in fact its isolated and monitored. A honeypot is valuable as a surveillance and early-warning tool. It can carry risks to a network, and must be handled with care. If they are not properly walled off, an attacker can use them to break into a system. Honeypots can be classified based on their deployment and based on their level of involvement. Based on the deployment, they can be classified as: Production Honey Pots  and Research Honey Pots Production Honey Pots: These Honey Pots are used mainly by the bigger companies and corporations in order to increase their overall security. They are easy to use, and only capture a small amount of information which would be useless to a hacker. Research Honey Pots: These are run by volunteers or an educational organization to simply gather information about how hackers work, their motives and tactics in order to create better protection from them. To learn about great ways to enhance your software security and train to become an expert in their uses, browse through the security training courses on koenig-solutions.com where you’ll also find a great range of cisco training courses. Tags: Computer Networking, computers, hackers, internet, IT, network, online, online protection, security, systems, technology Category: Computer Networking

Laptops are becoming as much of a necessity as cell phones and choosing the right one for you can be cumbersome. Choosing the most feasible laptop in fact depends upon personal preference and usage. If we look at the laptops on the market today, each extols their own traits. However, the mainstream has the same attributes on average. Processors, chipsets, size of hard disk drives, DVD players, and a wireless interface are found on all laptops. Of course all the other standard features are also there too like network ports, USB ports, serial port, etc. Right now it’s the Intel i9 Core or the Ryzen processors that have taken the market by storm but there are multiple features you may want from your laptop. Some want to use their laptop for gaming so you’ll want high speed processors. Others want to listen to music while they are working and want high quality speakers. Still others require high quality graphics. Students want laptops that are lightweight as they have to be carried all over the campus. Elderly people also want lightweight computers. Some people want widescreen laptops. The individual needs for laptops are so speckled that one single laptop cannot realize all the wants. Laptop makers are active in trying to add more attributes and make their laptops more versatile. Here it’s not only the American laptop makers that are in stiff competition, there are laptop manufacturers world wide. All are trying to achieve a sizable niche in the world of laptops. So when you’re in the market for a laptop, first recognize your requirements. Is the weight of the laptop a concern for you? Should the laptop be so strong that it can resist falls or weights falling on them? What is the absolute elementary size of hard disk you require? How fast should the processor speed be? How much battery time do you need? After you’ve determined what you’re looking for,  do a search for that specific laptop. Cost will also be a main concern and you want your laptop to work for a long time. Also the type of guarantees that are presented by laptop manufacturers has to be taken into account. Some people fancy international warranties as they do a lot of traveling. You may replace your cell phone after a couple of months but not your laptop. Your laptop is going to be around for a long time. Laptops have become the life support systems for a number of people globally. Journalists, business executives, students, and many other people have now become totally dependent on their laptops so buying a feasible laptop is a big decision. What you want is a laptop that suits your needs, gives you the battery time you want and is not a burden to carry around. Finding an apt and viable laptop is not tough once you categorize what you require. Do some research and gawk at reviews on the diverse brands and models available. This little research will help to narrow down your choices then you should be able to find a suitable laptop that will meet your current and future needs. Tags: acer laptop repairs, branded laptops, buying a laptop, cheap laptops, Computer Shopping, dell laptop repairs, laptop, Laptops, notebook, shopping, shopping for a laptop, sony vaio laptop repairs, toshiba laptop repairs Category: Computer Shopping

A high quality data center disaster recovery plan is a must for any company. It is not wise to be complacent as there is no telling when a problem may occur or disaster may strike. This plan is not something to put off until it’s more convenient, or until you have more money or more time. Too many company managers make the mistake of concentrating on business proposals, deadlines, and meetings…failing to consider that the deadline for a good data center disaster recovery plan could be at any given time. Quite a few have paid dearly for this mistake. The disaster recovery solution enables the use of remote standby servers to take over an application in case of server or application failure. Data is replicated in real-time to the remote site by using data replication software or storage devices. When a failure is detected, recovery procedures are started automatically. There are currently two options available for disaster recovery: One being a 2 node: this is when there is one server on the local site and one server at the recovery site. The other being 3 node: this is when there are two servers at the local site and one at the recovery site. Having a top-notch data center disaster recovery plan is a good investment. Not only does it give the assurance of surviving a potential catastrophe, but it can save money over the longer-term by keeping your business running smoothly through efficient data management. Getting a high quality plan can offer your business a new life, while readily dismissing such a plan may lead to the death of your business. In more than one case, companies or individuals that lose important data to a fire or earthquake face a time of uncertainty that is unrivaled in the world of business conflicts and personal negativity. The pits of despair are now too familiar a home for those that have lost crucial pieces of data or information because of a strong type of calamity. Disaster data recovery can not only serve to restore the data to its original form but it can also restore relationships between them and, perhaps more profoundly, the human heart. Tags: Computer Data Recovery, data disaster recovery plan, data management, data recovery, data replication software, disaster recovery solution, failure data, standby servers Category: Computer Data Recovery

Life has taken a jet fast pace where there is no place for the “slow and the steady” to win the race. Evidently, electronic mixers have replaced the hand crusher/grinder in the kitchen, telephones have replaced the telegram and market hopping has given way for subsidized e-shopping. While this has become an inseparable part and parcel of our lives, we are still looking for alternative faster means of sustenance at a cost-effective price, which is also reflected on the market. For instance, cheap laptops and computers have taken the market on their stride. However, one has to be very careful while buying a cheap laptop. With the demand steadily going up, thanks to advanced education and the IT boom, retailers and manufacturers have started providing discount offers for the convenience of the users and the consumers. For instance, some of the computers nerdcore computers like to sell are HP, Acer, Sony, etc have some of the best bargains in cheap laptops that range from $350.00 to $1000.00 The demand for cheap portable laptops is going up at a steady pace with the present developments in the global market. The advanced education pertaining to information technology new aspects of this field are being developed with the passing day. The consumer markets pertaining to these goods are also picking sales with the help of different types of discounts, steal deals, and many more. If you are buying a second hand cheap laptop it is better to invest in one that has a memory of 8gb memory minimum. The memory space is the main determining factor in the amount of information that can be stored in the laptop. Once the memory in upgraded, the processor speed increases remarkably. Make sure that the second-hand laptop has a memory of at least 8gb memory. This is because if the speed of the processor is slow then you could store more information at a given time for further reference. A stark difference can be seen in the speed of the processor if the memory is slightly increased. If you can, just go to the dealer and ask for second hand laptops they can provide you with a very good option. But you have to go through the configuration well. The cost of these laptops will be far less than the new ones. Another thing while buying a second hand laptop is that the system should not be more than a year old. A cheap laptop needs at least 8 GB memory in order to function properly. If you want a notebook, buy one that has at least 8gb memory. It is your requirement that decides what laptop you should buy. A small screened laptop with a screen of 14.1 inch is the best option if you travel a lot. It is light, portable and its battery life is also better. Know all about the warranty period, the after sales service and the charges of servicing when buying cheap portable laptops. Then you are sure about where to go when your portable laptop gives you trouble. It saves your money as well. Combining service and cost-effectiveness, cheap portable laptops are the best when you want to buy one for your personal or professional use. Online sources can also give you ideas about the cheap portable laptops available in the market. We also buy second hand computers. Just remember 1300nerdcore

Being a computer repair company, we get all kinds of computers in our shop. Some customers wonder why we often need to get their computer in the shop before we can give a free estimate – and there are two main reasons! We need to be sure of the problem at hand If we give someone a quote over the phone for an OS reinstall, that’s a software-only procedure and thus has no part-cost tied to it. If we get to look at it later and unfortunately something ELSE is a problem (need to replace a hard drive, for example) the estimate is useless because now we need to do more work on the computer, AND we need to account for the cost of the part. Thus, a customer can get upset and feel like they were lied to on the phone with the first quote. We try to avoid this situation completely and take a look at the computer before we give an estimate, or we make sure that the customer knows we will need to inspect the computer before we do anything to verify that the estimate we gave is still accurate. Some computers are more “repairable” than others Most PC desktop computers are pretty simple and easy to get into. Replacing a part is straightforward and usually doesn’t have any unseen complications. Getting into some laptops and iMacs can be a real hassle sometimes though! In fact, some newer Chromebooks are almost impossible to open up for hardware replacements without severely damaging the computer. There are so many different types of PC laptops out there now that it’s hard for the customer to give a full-detailed description of the computer they’re bringing in. We might be expecting one type of laptop and when it gets in the shop and we realize we under-estimated how long it will take to open up the computer and replace a part (and therefore we need to increase the labor cost). In rare cases, we might get surprised with the laptop and have to tell a customer that we can’t safely perform hardware repairs on their model! Both of those scenarios can be avoided if we avoid giving an estimate until we get the computer in front of us. That being said, many customers want to hear something over the phone, so we try to assess the situation as best we can and give a tentative estimate. Ring our service team during covid Just remember 1300nerdcore

You’ve probably heard of Cloud computing and services, but you may not know the many assets that it provides. By taking advantage of cloud services, small and medium-sized business owners gain access to numerous solutions and products ranging from hosted servers and email, virtual desktops, and industry and business applications. Since the inception of Cloud services, the industry has seen various improvements. The following benefits make cloud computing in 2020 more useful than ever. Three Reasons You Should Use Cloud Computing in 2020 Cloud services change the way small businesses use technology and operate day-to-day. Whether your goals are to increase productivity in the workplace or strengthen your security efforts, cloud computing has solutions to help you achieve them. Continue reading to learn how you can improve productivity with your business and your employees and take advantage of these improvements to cloud services in 2020. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is Cost-Effective SaaS now contributes $20 billion to the quarterly revenues of software vendors. The number is expected to grow with 32 percent each year. As SaaS continues to grow, there are more specialized platforms to monitor and manage the spend on cloud-based apps. Plus, with the Cloud, you’ll be hosting databases and software remotely. This means you won’t have to budget the purchase and maintenance of equipment. Typically with cloud computing, you pay for services as you go, and you only pay for what you end up using. Since you won’t be paying for things you don’t need, you’ll ultimately save money by switching to the Cloud. AI Offers Improved Security As cybercrime damages are expected to reach $6 trillion annually by 2021, cybersecurity is a growing concern around the world. With the implementation of Artificial Intelligence, the Cloud can detect security threats and help businesses become proactive in protecting against unauthorized entrance into cloud services. AI in Cloud computing provides you with excellent security standards that keep your confidential information safe. There are policies, procedures, and technologies in place to protect cloud-based systems. These security protocols will protect your company from third-party tampering when transmitting data to clients or fellow employees. While you’re looking for cloud services, find a company that will assess security threats and provides the right solutions for your business through AI. Cloud Services Support Flexible Schedules 4.3 million people in the Australia work from home at least half of the time. The same report indicates that 40 percent more Australian companies offer remote work than five years ago. With more and more employees working from home, cloud services can support remote work by providing your employees with everything they need online.  As an employer, you may be concerned with your employees’ productivity while working at home. You can rest assured knowing that 77 percent of workers report higher productivity while working remotely, and 52 percent are less likely to take time off work. Providing this flexibility and accessibility has the opportunity to pay off in the long run. Are you thinking about making the switch to the Cloud? Our local experts will help you understand how the Cloud works, what services it can provide your business, and decide if it’s the right fit for your business. Get in touch with us today by finding the office nearest you!

What's new You expect your data, applications, and systems to always be available. Acronis True Image 2021 does that by delivering true cyber protection, integrating reliable backups and advanced antimalware in one. Real-time protection Cyberthreats are constantly evolving, with 350,000 new types of malware being reported every day. Our integrated, AI-enhanced antimalware technology blocks them all – even those never seen before – by checking every file you interact with to detect and stop malicious activity in real-time. On-demand antivirus scans Ensure threats aren’t lurking on your computer by scanning for malware whenever you want. Choose a quick scan of files that are most typically where malware will hide or conduct a full system scan to check everything. You can schedule a scan or run one with the click of a button. Web filtering Most websites are useful, informative, or fun – but others are designed to inject malware, ransomware, and cryptojackers onto your system, or harbor scams, fake news, and phishing threats. Our new protection automatically blocks those malicious URLs the moment someone tries to visit them. Videoconference protection As work applications like Zoom, Cisco Webex, and Microsoft Teams are used to keep people family and friends connected, they don’t have IT support ensuring their security. Acronis’ new protections stop malware injection attacks and prevent hackers from exploiting these tools on your machine. Visual protection dashboard Your data is valuable, but so is your time. That’s why our Protection Dashboard let’s you quickly run scans, manage exclusion lists and quarantined items, etc., and monitor your protection at a glance with graphic displays of files checked, threats found, threats stopped, and the status of scans. New capabilities Signature-based analysis Traditional antivirus defenses deliver constantly updated protection by checking for updates to the threat database every five minutes. Behavioral analysis engine Our new dynamic detection engine is able to identify malware when it executes based on how it interacts with your Windows machine. CPU load balancing A new load-balancing setting keeps your computer’s CPU from overloading during antivirus scans by giving priority to other applications. Protection pause Suspend protection functions when you want for as long as you want: resume them automatically, on a schedule, or on your next restart. Quarantine and exclusions Potential threats are isolated in quarantine, while you control exclusion lists that allow approved programs to run uninterrupted. Windows Security Center Integration with Windows’ built-in protection ensures compliance with Windows guidelines and compatibility with other security solutions. Enhancement highlights Quick backup validation You now have the option to validate only the latest version for your backup, which significantly speeds up the standard process for validating the effectiveness of your backups. Resumable replication If the replication of a backup is interrupted, the replication process restarts from the point of the interruption, ensuring data isn’t duplicated – saving you time and cloud storage space. More backup functionality Several in-demand capabilities have been incorporated so you can do more with your backup files, such as the ability for .tibx archives to be mounted, moved, renamed, and converted to the .vhd format. Faster anywhere access Our Web Restore page has been redesigned to deliver faster, convenient, and more secure access to your cloud data – including the new option to password-protect your shared files and folders. Author Nerdcore Computers

Personal or business computers networked in a peer to peer fashion might function well when the number of interconnected users ranges from 2 to 3. If the number of users exceeds the aforementioned range, you should consider setting up a server to serve all your online business requirements. A server based network has several benefits that are tailor made for small business ventures. Let’s take a peek at a few of them without further ado. A server gives your business a whole lot of reliability Every business wants to lay their foundations on a bed of reliability. If that’s your thing, a server is an absolute must for you. Why? Let’s see. Say for example, you have three working PCs on an interlinked network connection. If one PC fails (on basis of any motherboard, hard disk or power supply faults) on the interlinked network, your entire system goes down until and unless the problems are diagnosed successfully with proper solutions. A server, on the other hand is an effective solution to such a serious issue. Server hardware maintains redundant hardware to tackle these issues at moment’s notice. In such cases, the failure of one device doesn’t guarantee the failure of the entire server system. Thus, it can continue to serve your business with full gusto even after the failure of a petty little associated device unlike your interlinked PCs. Reliability you wanted, reliability you’ll get. A server provides your business with network security This can be considered one of the best and most significant benefits of a server. By creating distinguished group and individual accounts, individual right can be assigned to users based on the nature and amount of data they can access on basis of their requirements. This can bring down unauthorized data access to a great extent and can provide your network with additional security that you had craved for in the past. For example: If you have a sales team and a HR team in your company, both would not be able to access data of one another even if the entire data is present on a single server. A server provides your business with a seamless remote accessibility A Windows 2020 server would give you the option to have 2 remote users on its network at the same time by default. And it also gives you the opportunity to add as many remote users you want in the near future through Remote Desktop licensing or a 3rd party software. Thus, geographical barriers cease to be a problem anymore. Your workers will be able to work remotely and access files on your server whenever they want wherever they are. They would also be able to access their individual company emails from any web browser on their respective devices whenever they want from anywhere in the world. You can’t ask for more than that; can you? A server provides your business with a centralized back up facility Data losses occur commonly in workplaces for several reasons ranging from machine failures to carelessness. These things create huge issues especially when the workplace functions in the absence of a server. A server can be considered a blessing in this aspect because it aids a lot in smoothing up your data backup process. You will be able to back up all your data including your mails to a centralized storage on your server and reduce all the hassles associated with data losses thereby, improving your workplace productivity at the same time. A server system aids in proper virus management One of the greatest threats faced by your network is a possible virus or spyware infection. Hence, an antivirus system is an absolute necessity these days. A server system can aid a lot in convenient virus management. The system administrator will be able to deploy the anti-virus software from a single PC to each workstation PC connected on the network, run a network wide scan as a whole (including the devices connected on the WiFi network) and remove all sorts of viruses if any. So you can very well see that this convenience is basically unmatched. Thanks to the compact server system, the entire virus management process can be done from a single PC itself. Always remember that expenses incurred in creating a server based network isn’t just a cost. It’s an investment; an invest having high ROI especially when your small business venture is concerned. It’s definitely going to benefit you in the long run. Author Nerdcore computers

10 x Hp 8200 small form factor desktop 2nd generation core i5 14 x Hp 6300 small form factor 3rd generation core i5 9 x Hp 8200 small form factor 2nd generation core i5 - 1 has slight cosmetic damage 2x Lenovo m91p think centre core i5 2nd gen They were from a school all information is deleted wiped you have to reinstall windows 10 with the license that comes with each computer Most have hard drives and memory all come with power cords all have windows 10 professional licenses Please ring me on 0468546397 if i dont answer leave a message or on facebook messenger i will return your call. serious buyers only location is Hughesdale Selling all together no separations. All working an tested an in very good condition. None are bios locked would suit computer technician a courier drop off service might be available depending on the bubble opening in your area. We have work permits to drive around. A small fee will be included. If you are in regional victoria an can have them collected from our office in Hughesdale address will be provided once you ring. Available by appointment $3400.00