Information Technology

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ZDNETOne of the world’s biggest airlines is making it a little easier to track down your lost luggage.Last fall, Apple introduced “Share Item Location,” a feature that lets you share the location of an AirTag or Find My accessory with someone else. Apple partnered with a number of airlines, including Air Canada, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Lufthansa, and United, to incorporate this feature into official customer service protocols. Also: Finally, Bluetooth trackers for Android users that function even better than AirTagsOne more big name is now on that list. More

Just how water-resistant is that box filled with electricity? Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET I remember a time when you wouldn’t dare let water anywhere near a smartphone or power bank, as it would almost certainly mean disaster. Today, however, most smartphones are designed to be water- and dust-resistant to some extent, and even gadgets like power banks and portable power stations are following suit. Also: The best portable power stations you can buyBut how can you determine exactly how water- and dust-resistant a device is? And what’s the difference between something being water-resistant and truly waterproof? IP ratings explainedThis is where IP ratings come into play. IP, short for Ingress Protection, is an international standard used to measure a device’s resistance to water, dust, and other foreign objects. It’s expressed in the form of IPXX, where each “X” represents a numeral. The first digit indicates protection against solid particles, like dust, while the second digit measures resistance to liquids. The numbers for dust range from 0 (not dust-resistant) to 6 (dust-tight), while the numbers for liquids range from 0 (no protection) to 9 (protection against high-temperature, high-pressure water jets). Also: My favorite power bank for traveling is waterproof and surprisingly lightweightIf an X appears in the rating, that indicates unknown, meaning a test wasn’t carried out. For example, IPX5 means that no test was carried out for dust intrusion. IP RatingDust Protection (First Digit)Liquid Protection (Second Digit)XUnknownUnknown0No protection against dust or solid objectsNo protection against liquids1Protection against solid objects larger than 50 mm (e.g., hands)Protection against vertically falling water drops2Protection against solid objects larger than 12.5 mm (e.g., fingers)Protection against vertically falling water drops when the device is tilted up to 15°3Protection against solid objects larger than 2.5 mm (e.g., tools, wires)Protection against water sprays at an angle of up to 60°4Protection against solid objects larger than 1 mm (e.g., small wires)Protection against water splashes from any direction5Limited protection against dust (dust might enter but won’t interfere with operation)Protection against low-pressure water jets from any direction6Complete protection against dust (dust-tight)Protection against high-pressure water jets from any direction7N/AProtection against temporary immersion in water (up to 1 meter for 30 minutes)8N/AProtection against continuous immersion in water under conditions specified by the manufacturer (e.g., depth and time)9N/AProtection against high-pressure, high-temperature water jetsThis standardized system eliminates the ambiguity often caused by marketing claims, providing a clear and reliable measure of durability. More

ZDNETThere is a very thin line between our physical and digital identities.A PC or mobile device with an internet connection lets us stay entertained, research, purchase items, study, and work. Friends and family can use social media to keep tabs on how your life is going, and we can use these profiles, personal websites, and email to communicate with others. Also: The best VPN servicesBenefits of having an online presence aside, some employers will evaluate your social media presence when you apply for a new job to decide if you are a suitable candidate. Advertisers constantly invade your privacy by scraping publicly available information on you, your public profiles, and your search history for targeted marketing. A misjudged tweet from years ago or an inappropriate Facebook photo can destroy future job prospects or ruin a career. There’s the idea that once something is online, it is immortal, immutable, and almost impossible to contain. The golden rule is simple: Don’t put anything online you wouldn’t want your grandmother to see. Although sometimes you aren’t in control of what gets published, and once something detrimental to you is out there, it can be tough to separate yourself. Also: How to find out if an AirTag is tracking you – and what to do about itAbuse, stalking, and bullying may also factor as reasons to erase our digital footprints and seize control of our devices. How to remove yourself from the internet and hide your identityIf you want to take control of your privacy and online data, you can take some simple steps to begin the process and then decide how much time and effort you want to contribute to the endeavor. Read on to find out where to start. More

An ESU subscription entitles customers to receive updates delivered automatically through Windows Update. If Microsoft follows its customary practices, those updates will also be available for download individually through the Microsoft Update Catalog. It’s a tedious process, but a customer who’s determined to save money could set a calendar reminder to check for new updates a day or two after those updates are delivered on the second Tuesday of the month and install them manually. If you’re managing only one or two PCs, that process might be an acceptable workaround.As an alternative, you could subscribe to the third-party service 0patch, which says it will provide “critical security patches” for Windows 10 for at least five years after the end-of-support date, at a price (in euros) that works out to something between $25 and $36 per PC per year at current exchange rates, plus tax. These aren’t clones of Microsoft’s updates. Here’s how the service explains their offering:With 0patch, you will be receiving security “micropatches” for critical, likely-to-be-exploited vulnerabilities that get discovered after October 14, 2025. These patches will be really small, typically just a couple of CPU instructions (hence the name), and will get applied to running processes in memory without modifying a single byte of original Microsoft’s binary files.Finally, there are completely unauthorized alternatives, such as the PowerShell activation scripts provided by the Massgrave hacking collective that will allow users to bypass Microsoft’s license agreements and sign up for a three-year ESU subscription without paying. Those scripts aren’t legal, of course, and businesses that rely on them will be at risk of being audited and subjected to lawsuits. Do you feel lucky? More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Aqara Camera Hub G5 Pro is available for $180 for the Wi-Fi version and $200 for the PoE version This indoor/outdoor security camera doubles as a smart home hub, features 1520p resolution for crystal-clear images, RTSP support, and has a built-in NPU to process video with AI for visual recognition […] More

Floriana/Getty Images In October 2023, former president Joe Biden signed an executive order that included several measures for regulating AI. On his first day in office, President Trump overturned it, replacing it a few days later with his own order on AI in the US. This week, some government agencies that enforce AI regulation were […] More

Andry Djumantara/Getty Images After reversing a Biden-era executive order on AI regulation and firing staff across several government agencies, the Trump administration is gearing up to make cuts to the US AI Safety Institute (AISI) next.  On Wednesday, Axios reported that probationary employees at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which houses AISI, […] More