The internet takes a trip down memory lane as Windows turns 35, Go SMS Pro gets taken down from Google Play due to some serious security issues, and LinkedIn gets chatty about the death of office perks.
It’s all the tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Monday November 23, and I’m your host Alex Coop.
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Windows 10 has come a loooooong way since Windows 1.0, but it’s worth revisiting some of the important contributions the original operating system delivered us. In addition to running a surprisingly super-hi-res photo of a young Bill Gates, The Verge recently wrote about how 1.0 introduced a functional mouse and keyboard combo, and the concept of playing well with others. Microsoft, even back then, started making it easier for rivals and software developers to create apps, ensuring patching and other reconfigurations were easy to accomplish. Of course, it the modern era of Windows didn’t exist until Windows 95. That leap represented another huge milestone for Microsoft, as the company moved to a 32-bit architecture and introduced the Start menu.
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Messaging app Go SMS Pro disappeared from the Google Play store over the weekend after a massive security flaw was recently exposed within the app, allowing people to access the content sent by users. TechCrunch recently reported that it found phone numbers, bank transfer info, order confirmations and home addresses, as well as explicit photos during an investigation into the vulnerability. It’s worth noting that Go SMS Pro has been downloaded more than 100 million times.
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And lastly, say goodbye to secret passageways behind bookshelves and cocktail lounges. A story from the BBC has led to a passionate conversation on LinkedIn about the possible death of office perks, and the reason we went crazy for them to begin with. It’s unclear how office culture will be defined as a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic forces workers to stay at home in sweatpants, but many agree that in retrospect “cramming self-serve craft-beer taps,” didn’t exactly inspire a strong sense of shared culture. One remote worker was quoted saying he places a lot of value in his employer’s giving employees more “autonomy, mastery and freedom in their life.”