NETWORKING

Get a one-year subscription to Microsoft 365 at a big discount right now. StackSocial If you’ve recently upgraded your laptop, you may have suddenly found yourself without access to Microsoft Office, Excel, PowerPoint, and the rest of Microsoft’s near-necessary software. And since Microsoft switched from the traditional Office suite to a Microsoft 365 subscription service, it’s become more expensive to access those programs. But right now, Microsoft partner StackSocial is offering a one-year subscription to…

While smartwatches often include GPS and can provide casual athletes all they need, dedicated GPS sports watches track more data and provide extensive customization of the information displayed on the watch while working out. Most provide some basic smartphone notifications, but the emphasis is on focused sports and outdoor activity tracking.  Companies are also taking a broader look at your daily life so that sleep, typical activity, and more are incorporated into calculating adequate recovery…

A laptop feature that often gets overlooked is its cooling system. Processors, graphics cards, and more demand a lot of energy, which results in a lot of heat. Ask anyone with a gaming laptop — they’ll tell you how uncomfortably hot it can get. Unfortunately, you can’t prevent your computer from generating heat, but you can mitigate it with a laptop cooling pad. These devices sit underneath the laptop, absorb the heat created, and actively…

Get a Babbel lifetime language subscription at a big discount right now.  StackSocial Learning a new language can be daunting. But right now, you can buy a lifetime subscription to Babbel Language Learning from Stack Social that lets you choose from 14 languages and access more than 10,000 hours of online language education for $180 — that’s 69% off.  Not everyone has the time or resources to study a brand-new language. Babbel keeps you organized with…

Broadcom CEO pushes on-prem private clouds Aug 29, 2024: In a keynote address at VMware Explore 2024, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan talked up the new version of VMware Cloud Foundation and extolled the future of the enterprise: “private cloud, private AI, your own private data.” VMware Cloud Foundation gains AI model store, other updates Aug 28, 2024: Some companies are looking to third-party AI platforms that don’t lock them into any one particular AI vendor…

ZDNET’s key takeaways The ViewSonic TD1656-2K portable monitor is available now for $349. It’s thin and lightweight, comes with a stylus, and has a crisp visual display that might even look better than your laptop. The price might be more than some want to pay, and isn’t the best for particularly cramped workspaces. I’ve reviewed a handful of portable monitors, but ViewSonic’s TD1656-2K is one of the most premium mid-range devices I’ve used this year….

Technology jobs will contribute to significant job growth in the coming years across the U.S., and recent research from online learning provider Pearson finds that high-tech skills will infiltrate many professions in the future. Pearson recently released its Skills Map—United States, a report that examines trends in job growth and skills demand to uncover how technology is changing existing roles and creating new opportunities. The current employment landscape and near-future outlook are altering the definition…

The Creative Pebble X Plus is a Bluetooth speaker set that punches way above its weight. Jack Wallen/ZDNET ZDNET’s key takeaways The Pebble X Plus speakers are available now for around $130. The rich, deep bass perfectly matches the mids and highs delivered by the satellite speakers. However, they do not have built-in battery power, so your portability will be limited to having a power source. It shocks me how good Bluetooth speakers have come…

Broadcom announced upgrades to its VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Portfolio this week, including an increase in vSAN capacity as well as compute virtualization options for customers. VMware increased the virtual storage area network (vSAN) capacity in vSphere Foundation by 2.5x to 250 GiB per core, which the company says will offer customers a more powerful HCI (hyperconverged infrastructure) offering for running virtual machines and containers. VMware’s vSAN is storage virtualization software designed for HCI and…