microsoft - CybAI news

23 Jul

Implementing the Cached Repository Pattern in C#

stp2y0 CommentsNewscoding, community, csharp, development, dotnet, engineering, inclusive, microsoft, software

Cached Repository in C#: An Introductory Article Using the Decorator Pattern and Entity Framework Core Introduction to the Concept of a Cached Repository A cached repository is a design pattern aimed at enhancing application performance by storing data in a fast-access memory area known as a cache. This reduces the number of database accesses, thereby improving response times and the application's scalability. A repository abstracts data access and provides uniform interfaces for CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete). Combining these concepts offers a powerful method for optimizing data access patterns in modern applications. Importance and Benefits of Using Cached Repositories…

21 Jul

The FTC is as mad about the Xbox Game Pass price increase as you are

stp2y0 CommentsNewsCall of Duty, Call of Duty Black Ops 6, FTC, gaming, microsoft, news, xbox, Xbox Game Pass

Microsoft has made changes to its Xbox Game Pass service that are "exactly the sort of consumer harm" from its Activision acquisition that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was worried about, the agency wrote in a letter addressed to the US Appeals Court. The FTC's letter focused on a recent price hike for the Xbox Game Pass and pointed out that the Game Pass Ultimate now costs $20 a month, which is $3 more per month than before and represents a 17 percent year-over-year increase.In addition, the agency called attention to Microsoft's decision to discontinue the $11 Console Game Pass…

21 Jul

Outage caused by CrowdStrike’s disastrous update affected 8.5 million devices

stp2y0 CommentsNewsCrowdStrike, gear, microsoft, news, outage, windows

The global outage caused by a faulty update from cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike on Friday affected some 8.5 million Windows devices, Microsoft said in a blog post. The update triggered a blue screen of death, bringing systems used by hospitals, airlines, banks and other major services temporarily to a standstill. Only machines running Windows were affected.While the issue was mostly resolved by Friday afternoon, Microsoft and CrowdStrike are still dealing with the fallout. In the blog post on Saturday, Microsoft’s VP of Enterprise and OS Security, David Weston, wrote that the company is working with CrowdStrike to “develop a scalable solution…

20 Jul

The workers at Bethesda Game Studios have fully unionized

stp2y0 CommentsNewsbethesda, gear, microsoft, news, Zenimax

The workers at Bethesda Game Studios have joined the Communications Workers of America (CWA), and they say they're the first Microsoft video game studio to form a wall-to-wall union. A total of 241 workers have either signed an authorization card or have indicated that they wanted to join a union through an online portal. The "wall-to-wall" nature of their organization means the CWA will be representing workers across job descriptions and divisions — and not just one type — including artists, engineers, programmers and designers. Bethesda is the developer behind Starfield and the Elder Scrolls and Fallout games.Microsoft has already…

20 Jul

The Global CrowdStrike Outage Triggered a Surprise Return to Cash

stp2y0 CommentsRAG modelscash, cashless, microsoft, money

On Friday, when a CrowdStrike update caused millions of Microsoft systems to crash around the world, many businesses were faced with a choice: Go cash-only or close until systems came back online.This quickly caused chaos in Australia, whose government has explicitly encouraged businesses to go cashless. Pictures posted on social media showed card-only self-checkout registers at the grocery chain Coles displaying blue screens of death. Queues for human-run registers at Australian groceries stretched to the back of the store, according to local media. Some Australian marts simply locked their doors.Meanwhile, as evidenced on social media, some Indian airlines had to…

19 Jul

Huge Microsoft Outage Linked to CrowdStrike Takes Down Computers Around the World

stp2y0 CommentsRAG modelscybersecurity, it, microsoft, security, vulnerabilities, windows

Banks, airports, TV stations, hotels, and countless other businesses are all facing widespread IT outages, leaving flights grounded and causing widespread disruption, after Windows machines have displayed errors worldwide.In the early hours of Friday, companies in Australia running Microsoft’s Windows operating system started reporting devices showing Blue Screens of Death (BSODs). Shortly after, reports of disruptions started flooding in from around the world, including from the UK, India, Germany, the Netherlands, and the US: TV station Sky News went offline, and US airlines United, Delta, and American Airlines issued a “global ground stop” on all flights.The widespread Windows outages have…

19 Jul

Faulty cybersecurity update takes out banks, airlines and other major companies worldwide

stp2y0 CommentsNewsBSOD, CrowdStrike, gear, microsoft, news, outage, windows 11

A massive Microsoft Windows BSOD (blue screen of death) outage has impacted multiple companies worldwide including airlines, broadcasters and others. The problem was a caused by a faulty update from security giant CrowdStrike that forced PCs and servers into an unrecoverable boot loop. The change has since been rolled back, but many machines are still affected."We have widespread reports of BSODs on windows hosts, occurring on multiple sensor versions," CrowdStrike wrote in a pinned Reddit post. "[We have] identified a content deployment related to this issue and reverted those changes." The company went on to describe a workaround, which involves…

18 Jul

The live-action Halo show has been canceled at Paramount+

stp2y0 CommentsNews343 industries, entertainment, Halo, microsoft, news, paramount+

Many moons ago, back in 2013, we that Hollywood royalty Steven Spielberg had teamed up with Microsoft to create a live-action Halo television series. It took about ten years for the vision to finally come to fruition, but the show has now been canceled by the Paramount+ streaming service after a mere seventeen episodes. The first season in 2022 and the second earlier this year. We had about the show's debut, but it's still a sad conclusion for the big-budget project.According to an unnamed source, the show creators plan to shop the project around and search for a new home…

18 Jul

Microsoft releases iOS and Android apps for Designer, its AI-powered Canva competitor

stp2y0 CommentsNewsai, DALL-E, Designer, gear, image generation, microsoft, Microsoft Designer, news, openai

Microsoft has officially its platform for AI image generation. After a long preview phase, Designer is now available to most people with a Microsoft account. Designer can be used on the web in more than 80 languages, as a mobile app for iOS and Android, and as a Windows app. You can create a brand new visual from the ground up with AI, or use Designer to edit and tweak a picture you've already made. There are plenty of templates available to guide the creation of common image types, like a greeting card, smartphone wallpaper or a profile avatar. More…

10 Jul

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 stores will close up shop on July 29

stp2y0 CommentsNewsgame pass, gaming, microsoft, news, xbox 360, xbox 360 marketplace, xbox 360 store, Xbox One, Xbox Series S

Get ready to feel old and/or cluttered, depending on how many consoles are hooked up to your game room TV right now. The Xbox 360 Store and Marketplace are coming to a close later this month. Microsoft announced this last year and put an official end date of July 29, according to its official FAQ page. In case you didn’t notice, the end of July is fast approaching.All of the games, DLC and any gaming tidbits for Microsoft’s second generation console won’t be available to purchase or download on the Xbox 360 console. Your games and movie purchases are still…