Spielberg revisits 1980s heyday in 'Ready Player One'

He tugged at heartstrings with "E.T." and "War Horse," played on our deepest fears in "Jaws" and amped up the Cold War paranoia in "Bridge of Spies."

Now Steven Spielberg is returning to his favorite target -- the adrenal gland -- with the release of "Ready Player One," a high-octane love letter to the thrilling family films of the 1980s that made his fame.

Starring Tye Sheridan, the movie is based on a 2011 novel about a teenager on a treasure hunt in a virtual reality game, in a world torn apart by an energy crisis.

Sheridan plays teenage gamer Wade Watts, who finds himself inside an addictive virtual reality world called Oasis in the year 2045.

Hoping to escape the squalor of his trailer park in a futuristic Columbus, Ohio, Wade puts on the Oasis headset and gloves and is transported into the body of an avatar named Parzival.

Within the program he discovers clues to a game embedded by its mysterious creator, played by Oscar-winner Mark Rylance, that promises the winner full ownership of the Oasis.

The all-star support cast also features Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller and Simon Pegg, who told AFP at the world premiere in Hollywood on Monday that shooting the movie felt like experiencing the future.

"We had a VR set that we could go into. We could put the mask on and actually have a look at the set that we were gonna be in," he said.

"Because you know, when you're in the grey room, you're like 'what am I looking at?' so we could have a little look at it before we start acting, which was a real treat."

'You can do anything'

In the world of Oasis, Wade encounters 1980s pop culture icons such as Freddy Krueger and the Iron Giant, and gets to race the DeLorean from "Back to the Future" as he weaves to avoid huge wrecking balls.

King Kong, R2-D2, the Joker and Mechagodzilla all get screen time while the classic 1960s Batmobile whizzes through the streets -- and there is even a glimpse of the Overlook Hotel from Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" (1980).

"I was born in 2025, but I wish I'd grown up in the 1980s, like all my heroes," Wade says in voiceover.

Spielberg told the Comic-Con crowd in San Diego, where the movie was previewed last year, that the source novel by Ernie Cline was "the most amazing flash-forward and flashback at the same time about a decade I was very involved in -- the 1980s."

The veteran filmmaker said he had relished directing a sci-fi feature about the dystopian world people would be living in almost 30 years in the future.

"People are leaving the country and all of a sudden virtual reality gives you a choice, gives you another world to exist in," he said.

"And you can do anything in that world -- anything you can possibly imagine."

Spielberg actually cut most of the novel's references to his own movies, but this hasn't stopped critics suggesting that the big-screen "Ready Player One" is a kind of cinematic autobiography.

'Sweetly nostalgic'

The critics have been mainly positive, yielding a 79 percent "fresh" rating from more than 200 reviews collated by Rotten Tomatoes, which described it as "a sweetly nostalgic thrill ride" that played to Spielberg's strengths.

Not everyone is on board, of course. The Chicago Reader described the sci-fi epic as an empty "special-effects maelstrom" in which a taciturn Sheridan is in constant danger of "being out-acted by his own avatar."

Wednesday preview screenings gave the production, scripted by Cline with Zak Penn ("The Avengers"), its first $3.8 million, and it is expected to come out of the four-day Easter weekend atop the domestic box office with $45-$50 million.

Penn remembers the 1980s as a decade of technological breakthroughs in the arts, pointing to the Walkman personal stereo, video consoles and the advent of the personal computer in people's homes.

"And also films: the move towards blockbusters... really changed the way people went to the movies," he told AFP.

"I think a lot of stuff happened in those 10 years that really has had some lasting impact."

Universal's "Pacific Rim Uprising," Marvel's "Black Panther" and Lionsgate's "I Can Only Imagine" are expected to vie for second place over the holiday weekend.


The also-rans will include Lionsgate thriller "Tyler Perry's Acrimony" -- starring Taraji P. Henson as a vengeful wife -- and Pure Flix's "God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness."

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Preacher for president? Costa Rica votes

Costa Rica is facing a choice of an evangelical preacher who has surged from obscurity or an ex-minister from the current ruling party in a presidential race to be decided voting on Sunday.

Costa Rica is facing a choice of an evangelical preacher who has surged from obscurity or an ex-minister from the current ruling party in a presidential race to be decided voting on Sunday.

The result of the run-off election is uncertain. Surveys show the two candidates to be neck-and-neck -- but each appealing to very different segments of the small Central American country's population of five million.

Fabricio Alvarado, a 43-year-old right-wing preacher, journalist and singer, is riding a wave of support fanned by neo-Pentecostal churches that have sprung up in poorer rural areas in recent years.

His rousing rhetoric, honed at the pulpit, has resonated strongly with the religious and conservative voters attracted to his criticisms of political corruption and gay marriage.

Against him is Carlos Alvarado (no relation): a 38-year-old former labor minister in the ruling center-left Citizens' Action Party who is also a journalist, as well a published novelist.

Far more restrained in his speeches, Carlos Alvarado has promised to tackle Costa Rica's growing deficit, while upholding its environmental protection standards and promoting education.

Social divide

Their styles are poles apart, reflecting a social divide pitting earthy, faith-based country folk against their more-educated, better-off urban counterparts.

For many Costa Ricans, especially in the capital San Jose, the prospect of the preacher becoming president carries the risk of losing some of the country's much-vaunted human rights record.

They are proud that their nation was the first to do away with its military, enshrined in its 1949 constitution, and its relative prosperity in a region riven by poverty and violent crime.

And they boast that its ranking as one of the world's happiest countries has much to do with its social tolerance.

But Fabricio Alvarado's unexpected emergence as frontrunner in the first round of the presidential election in February has forced a rethink of the national character.

The preacher -- hitherto unknown -- triumphed over 12 rivals by vociferously opposing gay marriage, tapping into a conservative Christian current that runs deep in the country.

The issue had been brought to the fore after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which is hosted in Costa Rica, urged Latin American nations to recognize same-sex marriage.

Rights 'at stake'

Since then, though, Fabricio Alvarado has broadened his platform somewhat, to offer policies on the economy, sport and infrastructure -- though he has kept up verbal attacks on UN agencies in Costa Rica, and defends "cures" for homosexuality offered by evangelical churches.

He told El Pais newspaper in an interview that his stance on gays "is in a church context, not a political context."

Some, though, portray him as a threat to the very foundations of Costa Rican society.

"This election isn't about small things at stake. In this election, democracy is at stake, education is at stake. culture, and above all, human rights are at stake," Leonardo Garnier, former education minister, said as Carlos Alvarado wrapped up his main campaigning last weekend.

Garnier is part of the National Liberation Party, the biggest mainstream grouping in Costa Rica. Yet others in the party have rallied to Fabricio Alvarado.

One of the country's highest-profile diplomats, Christiana Figueres, who led negotiations on the Paris climate change accord, said her country should not allow backsliding on its human rights record.


"I am very worried that some people have chosen to focus in this election on people's personal right to choose who to love," she said.

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Tesla recalls 123,000 cars for power steering fix

Tesla on Thursday issued a voluntary recall of 123,000 Model S cars to replace a power steering bolt that could corrode due to salt used on winter roads.

Tesla on Thursday issued a voluntary recall of 123,000 Model S cars to replace a power steering bolt that could corrode due to salt used on winter roads.

No accidents or injuries have been caused by a flaw that prompted the decision to replace the part in all Model S vehicles built before April of 2016, according to the Silicon Valley-based company.

"If the bolts fail, the driver is still able to steer the car, but increased force is required due to loss or reduction of power assist," Tesla said in an email to Model S owners whose cars are impacted by the recall.

"This primarily makes the car harder to drive at low speeds and for parallel parking, but does not materially affect control at high speed, where only small steering wheel force is needed."

No other Tesla models were involved in the recall.

The corrosion has only been noticed in places where winter roads are frequently salted to melt snow or ice, but all Model S vehicles with the part will be retrofitted in a protective move, according to Tesla.


Tesla shares that ended the Nasdaq trading day up lost 2.5 percent to $259.40 after hours.

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Huawei P20 Pro triple camera explored: Everything you need to know about Huawei's camera

Here's everything you need to know about Huawei's P20 Pro camera, based on what Huawei has revealed and our initial experiences with the camera so far.

The Huawei P20 and P20 Pro were announced on 27 March 2018 in a huge global launch event in Grand Palais, Paris.

The Huawei P20 Pro will grab the attention of a lot of people because it has three cameras on the back. Dual camera phones are now fairly common, but Huawei wants to take things further - looking to bring "master level" photography to its new flagship phone.

Huawei P20 Pro camera specs

• 40MP RGB 1/1.7in type sensor, f/1.8
• 20MP monochrome, f/1.6
• 8MP 3x zoom, f/2.4, OIS
• 24MP front camera, f/2.0
• Laser AF and colour temperature sensor 

There are three cameras on the rear of the Huawei P20 Pro: two are combined into a raised unit; this is the RGB and monochrome cameras. These operate in the same way as previous dual camera Huawei systems, developed with Leica involvement. 

That means that you have one sensor that captures colour information while the second captures monochrome (black and white) information. Together, these should give you a better quality photo, because it can gather and assess more data. But, Huawei was also keen to point out that this sensor is big with a 1/1.7in size, larger than most rivals.

In addition, you have dedicated monochrome shooting that can leverage that 20-megapixel sensor to create a black and white photo, rather than converting one from a colour image - and it's this that you might naturally associate with Leica.

The third camera is the zoom. It has an 8-megapixel sensor, but the lens offers 3x optical zoom. This is designed to get you closer to the subject without losing quality as you would through digital zoom, also offering optical image stabilisation with an aperture of f/2.4.

As well as the 3x optical zoom, the Huawei P20 Pro also offers 5x Hybrid zoom. Hybrid zoom uses sensor cropping on that 40-megapixel sensor to take you closer to the action, aiming to reduce image degradation. 

The cameras are supported by laser autofocusing and a colour temperature sensor, aiming to make sure that white balance is accurate. This new colour temperature sensor will assess the white balance across the entire scene, not just in one point. 

All three cameras can provide data, so there's more information for creating depth maps when portrait shooting, for more accurate bokeh effects, as well as offering a "variable aperture" mode where you can change the background blurring after you've taken the photo. 

What about that 40-megapixel camera?

• Pixel Fusion technology for 2µm pixels
• Default 10MP shooting

That 40-megapixel camera is likely to be the thing that a lot of people notice. Let's just remind everyone that more megapixels does not make a better camera - it's what you do with them. If you're a smartphone fan you'll know that the likes of Apple, Samsung and Google all use a 12-megapixel main camera and generally have the excellent results from that. 

So what is Huawei doing with the 40-megapixel camera? Firstly, it's not shooting massive 40-megapixel images. It's combining the pixels using Pixel Fusion, so you're then getting the equivalent of a 2.0µm pixel (the Pixel 2 is 1.4µm for example). The idea is that the larger the pixel area, the more light it can receive and the better it will work in low light conditions.

So the default camera mode is 10-megapixels in a 4:3 aspect and if you don't change the settings, that's what you'll be using.

Secondly, the 40MP camera is being used for hybrid zoom. This isn't new to Huawei, it offered Hybrid zoom on previous devices. Now, in addition to the optical 3x zoom offered by the third lens, it can now use information from that zoom lens and the main camera to give you 5x Hybrid zoom. 

This uses sensor cropping - and we've noticed that the zoom options aren't available if you tell the camera to shoot at 40-megapixels, because it then can't do the crop to get you closer to the action. There's something clever that works all the details out and we'll be sure to explore this further, as the results hopefully will be much better than standard 5x digital zoom.

Huawei P20 Pro low light shooting

• ISO 102,400 for low light shooting
• Live exposure
• Hand-held long exposures

The Huawei P20 Pro also offers ISO 102,400 for low light shooting to try and ensure you get the shot no matter what - although we're yet to see exactly how these photos come out. Examples we've seen suggest that this camera will take photos that rivals won't be able to take at all.

We've already mentioned the Pixel Fusion technique it will use to give a larger surface area to pixels for light capture, but one of the big headline features is the ability to handhold longer exposures - up to 8 seconds. Huawei says you can ditch the tripod for those night shots thanks to this technology. 

We've not tested this extensively, so we don't really know what the final results are like, but we have tried it a couple of times. This involved taking a long exposure in a dark room - and the results looked good on the phone, but we've not seen it on a larger screen. 

The exposure on these longer night shots happens gradually, so you can see it developing, the same system that some use for light painting capture where you progressively see the image building up. This uses Huawei's AIS - artificial intelligence stabilisation.

We'll bring you a lot more on the low light performance when we've had the time to fully review the Huawei P20 Pro. 

Huawei P20 Pro AI shooting

• 19 modes
• Auto recognition and categorisation 

Huawei says that a lot of the camera's skill comes down to AI. AI is a central theme of all smartphone launches and has been used to great effect by the likes of Google. 

For Huawei, the AI recognises the scene with a choice of 19 different types - food, portrait, cat, landscape and so on. This isn't that revolutionary (Sony has offered the same thing on its Superior Auto modes on its phones and cameras for years), but it claims to pick out the best type of shot for the subject that's recognised.

Some of this comes back to the reference for the type of photo and Huawei worked with photographers in a range of different disciplines to teach the AI what constituted a photo that looked good. Exactly how that all pans out we don't yet know, but we've seen the Huawei P20 Pro recognising things and switching modes.

One thing that might be controversial is switching to portrait mode when it recognises a face - exactly how that will effect the background we don't yet know, but we have found it's easy to cancel the mode, as well as having the option to turn off AI mode selection entirely. 

The categorisation of photos also extends to your galleries, to make it easier to find your best shots.

Huawei P20 Pro 960fps shooting

• 960fps super slow-motion
• 720p resolution

Huawei joins the likes of Samsung and Sony in offering 960fps super slow-motion capture. This is at a 720p resolution, the same as Samsung, not reaching the high levels of 1080p offered by the Sony Xperia XZ2. 

We've not had long to play with this function, but we've seen it in action and compared capture to the Samsung Galaxy S9+. 

Samsung offers automatic detection of motion, but it's not that effective unless the action is very deliberate. Samsung also suffers in low light: testing the two side-by-side we found that Huawei was able to capture 960fps indoors and give a nice, bright and clear super slow-mo video where Samsung struggled with dark and grainy video.

This was only one test however, and we've not seen the results from Huawei on the big screen yet. 

There's loads packed into the new camera on the Huawei P20 Pro and there's a lot more we need to do to assess the quality. Huawei promised a renaissance and there's a lot happening here on the P20 Pro. 

Will this approach reward us with results that can beat the likes of the Pixel 2 XL? We'll be sure to share our findings as soon as we can.

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What are Google Home, Home Max, and Home Mini and what can they do?

As a result, we have the Google Home family. Here's everything you know about it, including what it is, how the original Google Home works and where you can buy these speakers.

What is Google Home?

Google Home is a Wi-Fi speaker that doubles as a smart home control centre and a personal assistant for the entire family. You can use it to playback entertainment throughout your home, effortlessly manage everyday tasks, and ask Google things you want to know. It's basically an Amazon Echo device, but it's Google version.

The device itself has interchangeable bases available in various colours and finishes (such as metal and fabric, allowing you to match it to your decor). Underneath that swappable shell there is a speaker that can playback songs and allow Google Assistant to talk to you. And at the top, there is a capacitive touch display with four LEDs.

You'll use this display to interact with Home, trigger Assistant, adjust volume, and so forth. As for buttons, there are none (just dual mics that listen for your voice). There is, however, a single mute button on the shell. Google Home can filter and separate speech from noise and offers "best-in-class voice recognition", according to Google.

The actual speaker insider features dual side-facing passive radiators, which deliver full range, clear highs, and rich bass. And the entire contraption is available in three colour variations: Mango, Marine, and Violet bases join Carbon, Snow, and Copper tops. The $20 bases can be swapped out, too. So you can buy several of them, if you want.

What about Google Home Max and Mini?

In 2017, Google expanded the Google Home line to include the Google Home Max and Google Home Mini. Think of Google Home Max as the Sonos-level version of Google Home. It's a premium speaker product. Meanwhile, the Google Home Mini is more like an Amazon Echo Dot. It's a compact, affordable speaker. Both have Assistant.

These three speakers make up the Google Home family. Although they have different speaker specs and tech specs, the important thing to remember is that you can use any of them for music and video playback, smart home control, and usual voice command queries. To see how they technically differ, check out our guide here:

How does Google Home work?

Music and video playback

Because Google Home is a Wi-Fi speaker, it can stream music directly from the cloud. With it you can access songs, playlists, albums, artists, and podcasts from your favourite music services just by asking with your voice. Or, if you prefer, you can send music from your Android or iOS device through Google Cast.

That last bit is important because, with Google Cast support, you'll be able to use Google Home to control other connected speakers in your home. You'll even get multi-room playback, meaning you can add one or more Google Home devices to a group of speakers in order to blast tunes throughout your house. But that's not all...

Google Home will let you control your video content. Let's say you want to watch your latest episode of Daredevil on Netflix, or some sort of cat video on YouTube. Just issue a voice command to Google Home, and then the content will appear on your TV. This only works if you've set up both devices in the Google Home app, however.

Smart home hub

Google Home can be a control centre for your entire home, because it has access to Google Assistant (see below). It will let you do the basics like set alarms and timers and manage to-do lists and shopping lists. It will also connect your smarthome and support popular network systems. But you need the Google Home app to do any of this.

Once you set up your Google Home device in the Google Home app and all your smart devices in your home, you will be able to control them, whether they're smart lights, switches, doors, or Google's own Nest products. Google plans to work with developers so you can control things beyond the home too, such as booking a car or ordering dinner.


The best part is you will be able to do this with just your voice.

Ask Google

Speaking of your voice, Google Home will let you ask Google anything.

You can ask for the weather update or seek facts on Wikipedia. You will have access to Google's 17 years of search experience. That allows you to ask specific questions such as "How much fat is in an avocado?" or "What is Wayne Rooney's shirt number?" Those types of questions would stump Amazon Echo, but not Google.

Because Google Home has Google Assistant, you can be conversational and ask follow-up questions, too, like "Where did he go to school?" and then Google Home will be able to connect the "he" pronoun to your previous question about Rooney or whoever in order to serve up an accurate answer. You can even ask complex stuff.


So, say, "OK Google, what was the US population when NASA was established?" Google Home will give you immediate answers each time. Also, it can read the relevant parts of webpages back to you.

Which services does Google Home support?

At launch, Google Home works with YouTube Music, Spotify, Pandora, Google Play Music, TuneIn, and iHeart Radio. In the UK, there are specific services, such as BBC, Telegraph, and Guardian news sources. To connect your accounts of these services to your Google Home, you will need to use the Google Home app.

With support for these services, you can ask, "OK Google, play that Shakira song from Zootopia." Without having to name the song, Google Home can figure it out and play it from your favourite app. Thanks to Google Assistant and its machine-learning capabilities, Google Home knows you and your preferences and learns over time.

Google Home also works with Nest, SmartThings, Philips Hue, and IFTTT, which means you'll be able to control these smart home devices and activate your IFTTT recipes using the speaker. Google Home also acts as a Chromecast Audio receiver. We know we sound repetitive, but again, you must set these up with the Google Home app.

What is Google Assistant in Google Home?

At Google I/O 2016, Google announced a new Siri-like bot that is an adaption of Google Now and OK Google. It's Google Assistant, and it improves the two-way conversation experience of those services with AI and machine learning.

These advances essentially add context to your questions. For instance, when you say, "OK Google", followed by "What's playing tonight?", Google Assistant will show films at your local cinema. But, if you add, "We're planning on bringing the kids", Google Assistant will know to serve up showtimes for kid-friendly films.

You could then say "Let's see the Jungle Book", and Assistant will buy tickets. You can even ask, "Is the Jungle Book any good?", and then the assistant will display reviews, ratings, and a trailer. Google Assistant is able to string your questions together in order to determine context and serve up the right information.

It can do basic stuff like retrieve your travel itinerary, daily schedule, commute time to work, package delivery information, and more. Google Home isn't the only device with access to the Google Assistant, however. You'll also be able to use the assistant with Android Nougat devices and your Android Auto head unit.

Here's how Google explained its new assistant:

"The assistant is conversational - an ongoing two-way dialogue between you and Google that understands your world and helps you get things done. It makes it easy to buy movie tickets while on the go, to find that perfect restaurant for your family to grab a quick bite before the movie starts, and then help you navigate to the theater."

Assistant on Google Home is the same as your Assistant on the phone. Data is shared across your devices.

When will Google Home be available?

Google Home is now available in the US and UK. 

Where can you buy Google Home?

Google Home

• Availability: UK (from Currys, Argos), US (from BestBuy)
• Price: $130

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How to make Google Home play music through a Bluetooth speaker

Google has rolled out a new feature to its Google Home lineup that allows you it to play music on other Bluetooth speakers in your house.

The features: which works on Google’s Home, Home Max, and Home Mini speakers, is particularly useful if you own the Home Mini. It's an affordable, compact speaker that supports Google Assistant and can process your commands, but it's not ideal for playing music since it's so tiny. But now, thanks to his update, you can essentially amp up the sound by connecting it to another Bluetooth speaker.

“Any of your Google Home devices can connect to other Bluetooth speakers so you can control your entertainment experience simply using the sound of your voice," Google explained. You can even add multiple Bluetooth speakers to Google Home groups for multi-room audio.

Here's what you need to know.

What are Google Home, Home Max, and Home Mini and what can they do?

How to make any Google Home device play music through a Bluetooth speaker

Pair and connect a Bluetooth speaker and Google Home
Pair and connect a Bluetooth speaker and Google Home
First, pair your Bluetooth speaker with your Google Home. You need to open the Google Home app on your mobile device, then head to device settings, and follow the instructions to make it your default speaker.

Turn on your Bluetooth speaker and make sure it’s in pairing mode (press the pairing button on your speaker, if possible).

• Open the Google Home app.
• In the top right corner of the app's Home screen, tap Devices.
• Find the Google Home you want to pair with a Bluetooth speaker.
• In the top right corner, tap the device card menu (three vertical dots).
• Then, go to Settings > Default music speaker > Pair Bluetooth speaker.
• Tap the speaker you want to pair.
• Tap Done.

Ask Assistant to play music

Now, you can say things like, “Hey Google, shuffle my date night playlist” or “Hey Google, turn down the volume.” The music should automatically play on your Bluetooth speaker - without you having to tell Google the name of the device. You’ll still need to talk to your Google Home device, rather than your Bluetooth speakers, to ask Assistant questions, getting weather updates, and using other commands.

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Do you know the alternative menu of Fall Creators Update

What’s new in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update? 

Microsoft has maintained in the latest version of Windows 10, Fall Creators Update , the alternative menu that complements the typical start menu offering shortcuts to some of the  most important operating system tools . This menu is especially aimed at advanced and professional users and Microsoft is adjusting it in each version of the system.

Alternative menu of Fall Creators Update

The menu is activated by clicking the right mouse button on the start button or using the WIN + X key combination. From there, we already have access to the components of this interesting functionality. We review the options in detail:

Applications and features: It offers access to applications installed on the system, search or uninstall. Also choose the installation source or the ability to add, modify or delete existing desktop styles and activation / deactivation of Windows features.
Mobility center: Quick access to screen brightness, sound volume, battery charge status if applicable or connected screens. It also offers access to the synchronization center and presentation mode.
Energy option: Access the Start / Stop and Suspend tool in the Settings menu. It allows its management and other additional functions such as the additional power configuration, which in this case transfers you to the control panel.
Events viewer: It is an administrative utility called  Microsoft Management Console (MMC)   that helps to find and solve Windows problems and applications, including blue screens and other errors.
System . Like most management functions, Microsoft focuses on the “Configuration” tool of Modern UI and not the application of the same name in the Control Panel. It allows access to almost any function and includes information about the edition, version and compilation of Windows installed.
Device administrator: This is the classic MMC, one of the oldest utilities in Windows. The Device Manager identifies each of the hardware components of the PC and displays the assigned status and controller at a glance. It is one of the first places that any user will visit after installing Windows to ensure that all hardware devices and peripherals are configured correctly.
Network connections: One of the functions added to those included in Windows is the network, with direct access for managing the connections available on a computer, Ethernet LAN or wireless networks. It also manages here the airplane mode, the telephone access or the use of data, proxies or virtual private networks, VPN.
Disk management: Another classic MMC interface that shows the mass storage units connected to the computer and provides tools to change the drive letters, the format, the decrease or growth of partitions, and the like. The disk manager may seem old-fashioned but it also offers modern Windows features such as the ability to create virtual hard drives VHDs.
Team management: Another  Microsoft Management Console (MMC)  of the old school, a container for several other instruments and that could be considered as the spiritual predecessor of the new user menu that we are analyzing. Includes access to the task scheduler, event viewer, shared folders, users and local groups, performance, services and device or disk administrator.
Command prompt – Windows PowerShell: Access to the classic   DOS style command line interface. The command  prompt or CMD,  is the application used in NT-based systems to execute MS-DOS commands (16-bit .exe) and others as scripts with .bat and .sys format. This command line (equivalent to the Mac OS console or the Linux terminal) allows us to communicate directly with the team. Powershell is the advanced console interface of Windows. Choosing the access between one or the other is managed in “Settings> Personalization> Taskbar”.
System symbol: (administrator). A version of this Windows console but at the administrator level, which allows completing any task, order or instruction not only at the user level.
Task Manager: Quick access to  another important management tool , very useful for professionals or advanced users who want to control their equipment in depth, stop hanging tasks, see performance data, online search of suspicious processes and much more. It has been well improved from Creators Update.
Configuration: The great general tool of system management that Microsoft is promoting against the classic Control Panel. There are still some functions that are only available in the Control Panel.
File Browser: Another classic tool that has been renewed in Windows 10 to give it maximum functionality. New icons or the presence of Ribbon, the ‘Scenic UI’ interface type tape created and released by Office 2007 office suite.
Search: Access to the new search tool with Modern UI style and supported by the personal assistant, Cortana.
Run: Another of the classic tools of any Windows. Also accessible from the  keyboard shortcut WINKEY + R.
Shut down: It offers shortcuts to close the current system session, enter sleep mode, shut down or restart the computer.
Desk: Direct access to the desktop. All applications and open windows are minimized to the taskbar. If you activate it again, you will recover the above. This element works identically to write WINKEY + D.

What's missing from the Fall Creators Update?
Timeline, Pick Up Where You Left Off, and Clipboard

Not everything has made it into the 2017 update, however, so we'll have to wait until 2018 for some of the other major features.

Microsoft will introduce a feature called Timeline. It will allow you to go back to an earlier snapshot of your system and restore open programs and documents. You can therefore "go back in time" to find what you were working on, scrub through your history of open apps and documents, and restore a session.

Timeline will also work with the new Pick Up Where You Left Off feature - which will let you resume sessions and apps on multiple devices. Microsoft wants app developers to link their desktop apps so users can resume experiences on an iPhone or Android device. It will even add a cloud-powered Clipboard that will sync across Windows, iOS, and Android, so you can copy from a PC and paste it on a phone.

Clipboard will also be directly integrated into Microsoft's suite of Office apps, which will make it easier for you to quickly grab content from your mobile device and place it into a document you're working on from your desktop.

Is the Fall Creators Update free?
Yes, the update will be free for existing Windows 10 and 10 S users. All features will work across both flavours of Windows.

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The plunder of Albania's coastline exposes deeper ills

Only when the police questioned him in January did Rrahman Qosja discover he had been the victim of identity theft -- some of Albania's publicly owned coastline had been sold in his name.

                                                                                                                            Albania (AFP)

Only when the police questioned him in January did Rrahman Qosja discover he had been the victim of identity theft -- some of Albania's publicly owned coastline had been sold in his name.

"This is a mafia, more dangerous than a mafia," said the shocked septuagenarian, a farmer from Sterbeg, a hillside village some seven kilometres (4.5 miles) from the Adriatic coast.

And Qosja was not alone in his misfortune -- in total, 180 ordinary people like him were caught up.

They were all supposedly co-owners of the land -- part of an army military base at Rreth-Greth -- and had "sold" it to a businessman, according to prosecutor Artan Madani in the western town of Kavaja, who is leading the probe.

Although spectacular in scale, the case is far from unique.

Prosecutor Artan Madani, in the western town of Kavaja, is leading a probe into property fraud targeting the coastline (AFP)

Similar variations of the audacious fraud have become common in Albania, one of Europe's poorest countries.

"It seems to follow the same pattern" in each case, the police's anti-financial crime chief Lutfi Minxhozi told AFP.

With the help of corrupt property notaries, officials and local politicians, crooks, money launderers or shady promoters create false property certificates on behalf of individuals who are totally unaware.

They then "buy" the plots of land, which are actually the property of the state, and resell them at a higher price or construct villas, buildings and hotels on them.

A gravedigger with 220 hectares

A top judiciary official, who asked not to be named, told AFP about the case of a gravedigger in the southern coastal city of Vlora.

He had no inkling that he was supposedly the "owner" of 220 hectares (540 acres) of military land in the Karaburun peninsula.

Fabian Zhilla, of the Canadian Institute of Technology who specialises in the subject of organised crime, called the problem "white-collar organised crime" (AFP)

In early March, the authorities decided to examine more than 30,000 property titles on 200 square kilometres (77 square miles) of coastline, according to the urban planning administration.

Thirty-five land registry agents have already been sacked.

By mid-March, all sales had been suspended along 450 km of the coast, from Shengjin in the north to Saranda down in the south.

Land, buildings, accounts seized -

Albanian authorities are examining more than 30,000 property titles and sales along 450 km of the coast have been suspended as officials try to stop rampant property fraud (AFP)

Other moves to clamp down on property fraud already got under way at the start of the year.

In February, a dozen beach bars and restaurants were pulled down near Golem in the north.

Bank accounts, villas, land and hotels are increasingly being seized.

Farmer Rrahman Qosja was victim of identity theft when publicly owned coastline was sold in his name, a fraud that has become common in Albania (AFP)

Albania is plagued by corruption, the looting of public property and an anarchic land registry system.

Its coastline has been disfigured by concrete, environmental degradation is ignored, while money laundering and trafficking, especially of drugs, is rife.

In Qosja's case, the police probe revealed that his personal documents and signature had been misused by a local official when Qosja went to register land acquired by his family in the 1990s, Madani said.

Prosecutors in the case, which concerns 10 hectares, are investigating 23 people, including officials and local politicians.

Assassinated judge

"It is white-collar organised crime, which falls under corruption and money laundering via property," said Fabian Zhilla, of the Canadian Institute of Technology who specialises in the subject of organised crime.

Albania is blighted by scams that involve false property certificates being drawn up on behalf of unsuspecting individuals. Plots of land are then bought which are actually state property and resold at a higher price (AFP)

It is a "mafia style" crime "if one looks at the nature of its organisation and the land concerned", said Minxhozi, of the police's anti-financial crime squad.

In 2011, a judge Skerdilajt Konomi was assassinated in Vlora.

Investigators believe he paid the ultimate price for refusing to sign fake property deeds for land near the western port city of Durres, a legal source from the prosecutors' office for serious crime said.

Stretching to the south of Durres, kilometres of concrete buildings, often empty, blight the coast.

"Every official involved will be held criminally responsible, regardless of their hierarchic level," Madani said.

EU-required reforms

Albania has instigated judiciary reform in a bid to clamp down on corruption and links to organised crime as part of Brussels' demands for entry into the European Union.

A candidate since 2014, Albania hopes to begin accession talks this year.

Justice Minister Etilda Gjonaj has pledged that the reforms will enable authorities to "identify judges and prosecutors involved in illegal operations".

The task may be challenging since many fraudulent operations have already been "laundered", for instance through municipal councillors or mayors buying votes in exchange for issuing backdated property certificates or building permits, a notorious practice in Albania, according to journalist and analyst Aleksander Cipa.

However, on March 16 arrest warrants were issued for 24 people in the northern town of Lezha, including the mayor and his deputy.

With an eye on developing its tourism, the stakes for Albania are also economic.

In 2009, the French holiday company Club Med gave up plans for building a village resort on the Ionian coast due to a land ownership dispute.

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Afghan mum cradling baby during university exam goes viral

Afghan farmer Jahantab Ahmadi sits on the ground, her baby resting in her lap, as she focuses on the university entrance exam she hopes will help her fulfil her dreams.

The photo of Afghan student Jahantab Ahmadi sitting an extrance exam with her baby in her lap has gone viral(YAHYA ERFAN/AFP)

Afghan farmer Jahantab Ahmadi sits on the ground, her baby resting in her lap, as she focuses on the university entrance exam she hopes will help her fulfil her dreams.

The powerful photo, taken by a professor at Nasir Khusraw private university in central Afghanistan, has gone viral after striking a chord in a country where most women are illiterate and treated as second-class citizens.

The picture has sparked an outpouring of admiration and offers of financial help for the 25-year-old mother of three.

"I don't want to be deprived of my studies," Ahmadi, who comes from a remote farming village in Daikundi province where wheat, corn and potatoes provide a meagre income, told AFP in Kabul.

"I want to work outside the house. I want to become a doctor, someone who serves women in my community or society."

Ahmadi passed the exam after undertaking an arduous journey to reach the provincial capital Nili -- two hours on foot through mountains and nine hours in public transport on a bumpy road.

Jahantab Ahmadi's determination to be educated has struck a chord in a country where most women are illiterate (AFP)

An online GoFundMe campaign launched by the Afghan Youth Association to help pay for her university fees has so far raised more than $14,000 -- a fortune in a country where about 39 percent of the population lives in poverty.

Ahmadi appears a little bemused by the attention triggered by the photo of her cradling baby Khizran during the exam last month, which she only found out about later.

"My friends in the village told me 'you have been photographed'. I said 'how did I not know that I was being photographed and they said 'you were concentrating on the paper," she said, smiling shyly.

At the beginning of the test, which was held outdoors, Ahmadi sat at a desk with Khizran in her lap.

But the infant had an ear ache and would not stop crying. To keep her quiet and not disturb others, Ahmadi sat on the ground in the shade of another person -- and kept writing.

"I had to concentrate on the baby and do the paper," she said.

University a 'life goal'

Ahmadi's story has resonated with social media users across the country, who have praised her determination to be educated.

"You are a true world champion, you have shown that a Hazara girl can do anything in any conditions or circumstances," Nazar Hussein Akbari wrote on Facebook, referring to her ethnicity.

Another user posted: "I hope this hard-working woman reaches her goals."

Ahmadi and her family are now staying in the capital Kabul where she is hoping to enter a private university(AFP)

Afghan women's rights activist Zahra Yagana was also impressed. She contacted Ahmadi and convinced her to come to Kabul to study.

The family is staying with Yagana while she helps Ahmadi get into a private university in the Afghan capital.

"If she had to study in Daikundi it would be difficult for her," Yagana told AFP at her apartment.

"The standard of education is low. There is no student hostel in Daikundi and she would have to live in a rented house.

"We will give her a house (in Kabul). There are many friends who have promised to help her. We are trying to find a job for her husband and also raise money for her children to go to school."

For Ahmadi, this would be the fulfilment of her dreams.

Ahmadi's life goal was to enter university, but her family's poverty meant she had to set aside her dreams for years (AFP)

"My life goal was to get admitted into university," said Ahmadi, who finished high school after she got married at the age of 18.

"But due to our poor economic situation and poverty I could not afford to study for three or four years."

Afghanistan's general literacy rate is one of the lowest in the world -- just 36 percent, according to official figures. It is much lower for women.

"I don't want to be left behind," she said.

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