What happens when Microsoft releases eight '-" count '-˜em, eight '-" concurrent beta test versions of Win10 version 1909 without fixing bugs introduced into 1903 on Patch Tuesday?

Pan. De. Moaaan. Ium.

The VB/VBA/VBScript debacle

No doubt, you recall the first wave of pain inflicted by the August 2019 patching regimen. Microsoft somehow managed to mess up Visual Basic (an old custom programming language), Visual Basic for Applications (for Office macros) and VBScript (a largely forgotten language primarily used inside Internet Explorer). Folks running applications in any of those languages would, on occasion, receive '-'invalid procedure call error'-" messages when using apps that had been working for decades.

Sure, higher resolution screens and faster processors may be the sexy features pushed by smartphone makers. But, truth be told, most users just want a phone that won't die by the end of the day.

"Longer battery life" was the top answer from 75% of 1,665 people polled by USA Today/SurveyMonkey last year about the top feature they wanted in a new iPhone. And a Morning Consult poll of more than 1,800 people also conducted last year found 95% chose battery life as the most important feature \ when selecting a new smartphone.

Clearly smartphone owners favor simple features over flashy hi-tech. The proof? A shatter-proof glass screen and expandable storage came in second and third in the USA Today/SurveyMonkey survey. (Memory size and durability were second and third in the Morning Consult poll.)

Tech Events

Several times a quarter, the same question comes up regarding Chromebooks, usually phrased as to whether or not they'-™re successful. What made the platform interesting was that even though Google typically has the attention span of a 4-year-old on sugar, they stuck with this platform. But it still mostly flies under the radar '-" largely because of the lack of native application support and Google'-™s reputation. Google sells information for a living, making people distrust the brand even'-¦though there'-™s no evidence Google is compromising the privacy of Chromebook users.

The promise of the Chromebook has been compelling to mostly education buyers. However, interest appeared to fall off sharply as Google waffled on operating system futures (whether they would merge Android and Chrome operating systems) and native application support continued to favor the alternative (Android) platform and, of course, Windows.

Keeping true to company CEO Tim Cook'-™s '-'several new products'-" promise, Apple will indeed host its next iPhone launch event on Sept. 10. What are we expecting and how can you keep up with the announcements?

Decoding the invitation

Apple'-™s event invite features a new take on the Apple logo. The logo is sliced with each slice a different color: green, blue, yellow, red and lavender and declares: "By innovation only."

Law firm is located in an old house that has been converted to offices and then, at a later date, brought into the internet age '-” somewhat less convincingly.

Firm calls in IT consultant pilot fish because it'-™s been experiencing regular network problems. Fish and colleagues think these might be power-related, and their troubleshooting proves them right. The entire second floor of the house, which includes several offices and the server, is on one power circuit.

Says one of the law firm'-™s employees, '-'Ohhhh, that'-™s why the circuit breaker trips every time we turn on the microwave.'-"

Troubleshooting is Sharky'-™s middle name. Just don'-™t ask my last name. But definitely send me your true tales of IT life at sharky@computerworld.com. You can also subscribe to the Daily Shark Newsletter.

Microsoft never sleeps. Even before the Windows 10 May 2019 Update (version 1903) started to roll out, the company began working on upcoming feature updates to Windows 10. As it did with version 1903, Microsoft has been releasing a series of public preview builds to members of Microsoft's Windows Insider Program.

After years of using '-'Redstone'-" in its code names, Microsoft switched to a new format with the May 2019 Update. The new code names use a YYH1/YYH2 format, with the YY standing for the last two numbers of the year and H1 or H2 referring to the first or second half of the year. So Windows 10 version 1903, which was released in May 2019, was code-named '-'19H1'-" (for first half of 2019) rather than '-'Redstone 6.'-" The next feature update, due in the fall of this year, is code-named '-'19H2,'-" and the feature update that'-™s coming in the spring of 2020 is code-named 20H1.

It may not be Android Q anymore, but the Android version that was once destined to be Queen of Puddings (in my heart, at least) is almost finished and ready to roll out to the world.

Google's expected to launch Android 10, as it'll be known, any week now '-” but despite the software having been out in the open for months already during its public beta phase, The Artist Formerly Known As Q''' has a couple of tricks up its sleeves that we still haven't had an opportunity to explore.

I guess most Mac users already use Sirito search the web and solve maths problems, but you can do much more.

Get to Siri fast

You know you can use Command-H to search Spotlight? You can invoke Siri using the same keyboard combination (Command-H), you just need to remember to keep pressing the keys.

• Command-H (quick): Get Spotlight.
• Command-H (hold): Summon Siri.

You can use a dedicated key on some Macs, or tap the Siri icon in the Menu bar.

I find the keyboard command fits into my workflow best, as I can keep my fingers on the keyboard and eyes on the screen.

The distributed ledger technology (DLT) is a direct competitor to blockchain distributed ledgers such as Ethereum and Hyperledger, and claims it can outperform traditional financial and business networks.

"There is no direct equivalent to Hedera Hashgraph today," said Martha Bennett, a principal analyst at Forrester Research. Hedera is potentially competing with public networks and all the enterprise DLT frameworks (such as Hyperledger Fabric & Sawtooth, R3 Corda, and others) and their commercial providers, which include AWS, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle.

It'-™s many years ago, and this pilot fish regularly travels to company offices around the country, dealing with IT-related problems and running user training sessions.

The big current project is implementing internet filtering after complaints that some workers are viewing inappropriate websites. So fish has to head to a meeting with many directors and managers to demonstrate.

Upon arriving at the meeting site, fish sets up a laptop and projector and connects it to the internal network. Then he tests to make sure the filtering is working, calling up a blocked site that, if it does display, only shows a silhouette of a bunny with a bow tie.

But not to worry: The site is blocked, so everything is ready.

File management isn't the sexiest subject surrounding smartphone ownership '-” but if you use your device for productivity, it's an important area to consider.

Your phone, after all, is your on-the-go connection to the world. It's the always-available PC of our modern computing era. And whether your work involves presentations, PDFs, documents, or images, you're bound to find yourself fumbling around with files on your pocket-sized screen sooner or later.

With the right tools, though, dealing with files from your phone doesn't have to be a hassle. And the good news? Android's got plenty of outstanding options.

These are the best, organized by what they'll help you accomplish.

I use my iPad extensively when I travel '-” it'-™s all the computer I need'-” and over time I'-™ve come across a smattering of essential utilities for the tablet. I want to talk about three of them, which have recently been updated.

3 iPad utilities you should download

I spend a lot of time looking for iPad apps that can help you get things done. I'-™ve mentioned all three of these before, but as they'-™ve all been updated this month (as was the excellent Parallels for Mac) I thought it would be worth mentioning them once again.

Making money work for you is the best way to make even more money, which is why investing is an easy and popular way to earn a passive income. However, unless you'-™re extremely wealthy, your investment options are limited to stocks, mutual funds, CDs, etc. Big-ticket items like real estate require massive amounts of wealth to purchase and invest in, making them out of the realm of possibility for the average consumer. Until now, that is. With DiversyFund, anyone can reap the benefits of real estate investment, and all you need is $500 to get started."