Tausi Insider

Photo : ultrafx ( Shutterstock ) It’s been two years since Microsoft released their Xbox Series S, and the price has finally come down below the $300 mark for the holidays:   Microsoft has announced that their simpler, sleeker Xbox Series S model (compared to the bigger and more powerful Series X) will be $50 off for the holiday season, for a total of $250. But there’s another deal you can take advantage of for a limited time, too. What is the Xbox Series S deal? Target is offering a $50 gift card for those who buy their Xbox Series S online before Saturday, Nov. 19. There is no delivery option, though, you must pick it up in-store. That means you can get the Xbox Series S for a net spending of $200 if you plan to spend at least $50 at Target . Target also offers the “ RedCard ” credit card that you can use to save an additional 5%. And Target has pledged that if the price of the Xbox Series S drops any lower before Dec. 24, Target will refund the difference with the...

As companies are adapting to new ways of working at varying speeds, there is a need for organizations, teams and individuals to optimize and prioritize along new dimensions: What work is best suited in-office versus remote? What is best accomplished synchronously versus asynchronously? How can we rethink and revitalize meetings so we aren’t stuck in meetings all day with no time to think or do? Many employees are overstretched and overwhelmed, finding there aren’t enough hours in the day to deliver on commitments. According to Microsoft’s September 2022 Work Trends Index , 48 per cent of employees and 53 per cent of managers say they are already burned out. In the same report, it was noted that last spring, meetings had increased by 153 per cent since the start of the pandemic, “double bookings” increased by 46 per cent in the last year and, in an average week, 42 per cent of participants multitask during meetings. This goes to show that, in many cases, there is no slack in the syste...

Microsoft MSFT-Q is likely to face an EU antitrust investigation as regulators intensify their scrutiny into its practices in a case triggered by Salesforce.com’s workspace messaging app Slack, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Last year, Slack complained to the European Commission, saying that Microsoft has unfairly integrated its workplace chat and video app Teams into its Office product. Microsoft introduced Teams in 2017, seeking a slice of the fast-growing and lucrative workplace collaboration market. Slack urged the EU competition enforcer to order the U.S. software giant to separate Teams from the Office Suit and sell it separately at fair commercial prices. The Commission last month sent out another batch of questionnaires in a follow-up to those sent out in October last year, a sign that the EU competition enforcer is preparing the ground for opening a formal investigation, the people said. “The Commission is looking at (Microsoft’s) interoperability and bund...

Photo : Respiro ( Shutterstock ) A to-do list is probably one of the most common strategies for keeping track of tasks and goals. But the problem with long and overly ambitious to-do lists is that they can overwhelm us with how much there is to accomplish, leaving us struggling to prioritize or even knowing where to start. A long list can also increase our desire to multitask, ultimately making us less productive . Here’s how to make a short, sweet— and effective— to-do list. How long should a to-do list be? A good to-do list (or set of lists) has anywhere from five to ten tasks on it—and no more than a dozen in total. While there is no magic number, research suggests that we may struggle to make decisions when presented with more options than that. One strategy is to make a list of five to eight work-related (or school- or family-) tasks to accomplish for the day with a separate list of two to three chores or personal tasks. Categorizing separately can reduce confusion and help...

Image : Brendan Hesse Sony and Microsoft recently unveiled the first batch of new games joining their respective subscription services, and December is shaping up to be an excellent month of gaming for PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass members alike. It also looks like both companies are getting ready to cycle several beloved titles out of their free game catalogs. To help you plan out your holiday gaming, here’s a roundup of everything joining (and leaving) PS Plus and Game Pass in December 2022. Every game joining PlayStation Plus in December 2022 (so far) Image : PlayStation Blog We might only know part of PlayStation Plus’ December lineup, but Sony’s service is already stacked with some meaty new additions. Starting with the PS Plus Essentials, PS5 and PS4 players can download Mass Effect Legendary Edition this month, which includes remastered versions of Mass Effect , Mass Effect 2 , and Mass Effect 3 in a single package. Developed by BioWare, the Mass Effect trilogy is o...

The Biden administration filed a complaint on Thursday aimed at blocking tech giant Microsoft’s MSFT-Q $69 billion bid to buy “Call of Duty” games maker Activision ATVI-Q, over concerns the deal would deny rivals access to popular games. Microsoft, which owns the Xbox, said in January 2022 that it would buy Activision for $68.7 billion in the biggest gaming industry deal in history. In its complaint, the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces antitrust law, said that Microsoft had a record of buying valuable gaming content and using it to suppress competition from rival consoles. “Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals,” said Holly Vedova, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “Today we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.” Microsoft President Brad Smith said the company would fight the FTC. “Whi...

Photo : redart14 ( Shutterstock ) Unlike most of the apps on this list, BeReal is a viral sensation . If there’s one app that defined 2022, it’s the one that got us all to take a photo at the same time each and every day. The best part? It’s the same app it was when it blew up: No frills, no new features, just a simple concept that makes it fun to use whenever the notification goes off. For the uninitiated, here’s how BeReal works: The app sends a notification warning users they have two minutes to BeReal. To BeReal, you take a photo of where you are and what you’re doing, both through the front camera and the rear camera. Then, you see what all your other friends are up to. You don’t have to BeReal within the two minute window, but it will mark your post as late (though it’s no big deal). You can BeReal on iPhone and Android . https://www.tausiinsider.com/tausiinsiders-22-favorite-apps-of-2022/?feed_id=327830&_unique_id=641876db86ea6

Companies that survive the current tech beatdown will be positioned to thrive in a saner, and healthier future to come. iStockPhoto / Getty Images Alexandre Lazarow is a global venture capitalist and the author of Out-Innovate: How Global Entrepreneurs – from Delhi to Detroit – Are Rewriting the Rules of Silicon Valley. With the current beatdowns in the technology industry, there is a certain feeling that the tide is starting to go out, and as the Warren Buffett adage warns, we are starting to see who has been swimming naked. Startups often look like the pebbles on a beach, crashed upon by waves. But that’s okay. As the tide recedes, we’ll see which get washed away, and which have built boulders in the sand. Those that remain will be positioned to thrive in a saner and healthier future. The long-standing approach has been to focus on growth at all costs – sacrificing profit to capture market share. Not only has that not been a problem, it was essential to getting a startup off the gr...

Israeli designate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the swearing-in ceremony for the new Israeli parliament the 25th Knesset in Jerusalem, on Nov. 15. POOL/Reuters Several leading Israeli businesses pledged on Monday to strengthen their internal anti-discrimination rules in the wake of remarks by hard-right members of Israel’s incoming government seen as undermining gender equality and minority rights. The remarks, including a call to scrap the Jerusalem gay pride march and another to ease a ban on individuals who support terror or racism from running for parliament, have alarmed many Israelis and drawn a warning from the country’s President. On Sunday, a member of the far-right Religious Zionism party – one of the parties in prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu’s new coalition – told public radio that hotels and doctors should be allowed to refuse services to people on religious grounds, provided others are available. Leading hospitals and health care providers, appare...

Ori and the Will of the Wisps Screenshot : Microsoft There are so many great indie games on Xbox Series X, but combing through the hundreds of titles available can be overwhelming, especially if you’re unfamiliar with what’s on offer. To help, we rounded up 15 of our favorite indie games we think every Xbox owner should play. All 15 games are available for purchase on the Microsoft Store app or are downloadable at no additional cost to Xbox Game Pass subscribers (starting at $10 per month). Note that Microsoft regularly adds and removes games from the Game Pass library so some titles may no longer be available in the future, but they’re all included at the time of writing. There are obviously way more indie games on Xbox Series X and Game Pass than those we cover here, so feel free to offer additional suggestions in the comments, too. And hey, if you’re a PlayStation player, we also have a companion list for PlayStation indies you should check out—though many of these games are ...

Image : spacedrone808 ( Shutterstock ) Windows 7 launched in October of 2009 . Barack Obama was president, Avatar was soon to hit movie theaters, and swine flu was officially declared a global pandemic. The world has changed a lot since then (for example, Avatar 2 is set in the water instead of the forest), and so has Windows. While Microsoft “ officially” ended support for Windows 7 on Jan. 14, 2020, this week, it’s truly, officially dead. If you’re still using it (or Windows 8.1, for that matter) you really shouldn’t be. As reported by Bleeping Computer , Microsoft will pull the plug on software support for the Extended Security Update (ESU) program for Windows 7 on Tuesday, Jan. 10. This program provided a three-year paid exception to Microsoft’s abandoning of Windows 7 for Professional and Enterprise users who relied on the operating system to run specific software. As of this week, however, even ESU customers will find their versions of Windows 7 as unsupported as the res...

Photo : fizkes ( Shutterstock ) The audiobook industry is in the cusp of a major change, with a new technology from Apple using AI-narrated features that promises to make audiobook production more accessible to independent and indie publishers, according to Apple’s website . This means we, as audiobook listeners, could potentially enjoy more audiobooks selections at lower prices in the future. In the meantime, though, here are several ways you can score audiobooks for free. Net Galley You’ve probably heard of free movie screening websites, like Gofobo , where you can get invited to watch an upcoming movie before it comes out—there’s a website that does the same thing for audiobooks. Net Galley gives you access to the latest books and audiobooks by distributing digital galleys, or advanced reader copies (ARCs), in exchange for an honest review with the intention of creating hype for the book. You need approval from the website, but it’s easy if you use Goodreads , Amazon , or Bo...

Microsoft is likely to receive an EU antitrust warning about its $69-billion bid for “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard ATVI-Q, people familiar with the matter said, that could pose another challenge to completing the deal. The European Commission is readying a charge sheet known as a statement of objections setting out its concerns about the deal which will be sent to Microsoft MSFT-Q in the coming weeks, the people said. The EU antitrust watchdog, which has set an April 11 deadline for its decision on the deal, declined to comment. Microsoft said: “We’re continuing to work with the European Commission to address any marketplace concerns. Our goal is to bring more games to more people, and this deal will further that goal.” The U.S. software giant and Xbox maker announced the acquisition in January last year to help it compete better with leaders Tencent and Sony. U.S. and U.K. regulators, however, have voiced concerns, with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission going to court to ...