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There’s been a lot going on recently with Google Chrome (and Microsoft Edge) browser extensions.

Things really heated up when new requirements were introduced, dictating how Chrome extensions are built and what they can do – Manifest V3.

Think of Manifest V3 as a blueprint or set of guidelines for extension developers, with a strong focus on boosting security, privacy, and performance.

While the shift to Manifest V3 is a whole other story, the PayPal Honey scandal prompted Google to take a much closer look at how Chrome extensions behave, especially those involved in affiliate marketing.

I recently upgraded my work computer from i5 8th Generation to i7 11th Generation. In the opposite of installing OS from scratch and setting it all up again, as I haven’t got time, I decided to use Rescuezilla and simply clone my system from the old hard drive to the new computer.

All goes well.

After the first run, some drivers needed to be updated. I needed to detach the Windows 11 license from the old computer and pair it with one that had been delivered (embedded) with it.

All seems to be working really well until I start putting a bit of a stressful task into it.

With very short notice, Microsoft finally made a move to kill Skype altogether and concentrate on something that, by default, is integrated with Windows 11 – Teams.

I personally tried to move a few people out of Skype to Teams years back, but now there are no ifs or buts, as Microsoft is pulling the plug. There is no going back.

As much as I am happy, I quickly started feeling that removing Skype is putting some users back.

If you are not paying anything extra to Microsoft, you will quickly notice that you are missing some crucial features in Teams that have been available in Skype for years.

After years of using a free Google Workspace account, and after ups and downs with it, due to Google’s decision to kill it and then keep it alive, I decided to move my emails and other files back to my personal Gmail account.

My main reason for using Google Workspace was the ability to use my domain across Google services, mainly concentrating on the ability to send and receive emails within my domain, but still using the Gmail interface.

After extensive work I had done to move my data from Google Workspace back to my Gmail account, I set up an option for me to receive and send emails within my domain.

Adding a physical camera button to the iPhone 16 series was a great step towards people using it as a main device for photography and making videos, and believe it or not, there are a lot of them. Some people have even successfully made full movies with iPhones.

When I upgraded my 13 Pro Max to the 16 Pro Max, the camera button was something I had been looking forward to until I noticed that I was not using it at all!

GitHub is a great place to find some good resources and solutions. Whenever I need it personally or professionally, if the solution is really useful, I make sure to add a star to it.

I review my stars from time to time, and it wasn’t any different on the 31st of December 2024.

By the end of 2024, I had accumulated the following, which are really worth looking at.

The list is curated, and I pick the ones that are worth knowing for the following year, 2025.

The announcement of RCS support on iPhone with iOS 18 was a very big disappointment for me, as I mentioned in my earlier post; however, in recent days, the situation has changed.

When Jack Dorsey departed from Twitter, it was passed into the greasy hands of another billionaire who turned it into a cesspool.

I don’t have anything against billionaires. Let them have their money; just do good with it, not harm. This reminds me of the meme that rings true for every hard-working person:

“Most people don’t want to be rich. They just want enough money to not worry anymore.”

I have been waiting patiently for the release of a new version of iOS mainly because of one feature – RCS.

RCS stands for Rich Communication Services. It is an upgrade to traditional SMS messaging, designed to enhance the messaging experience with features like read receipts, typing indicators, high-resolution images, group chats, and sharing larger files. RCS aims to provide an experience similar to messaging apps like WhatsApp or iMessage but integrated into the default SMS app on smartphones.

The main reason I have been looking forward to RCS was the ability to send messages to Android users, other than SMS, but still from the default Messages app.

RCS brings reactions, the ability to send pictures (replacing the outdated MMS service), and shows read receipts. Everything is standard when communicating between iPhone users using the iMessage service.

With the high popularity of WhatsApp, which filled the void and struggle when communicating between Android and iPhone users, RCS was meant to regain the market for native messaging apps.

Recently, I have been required to find a method of manually rebooting user phones on the company network. From time to time, once they are up and running, we discover that some features are causing problems. Sometimes we cannot transfer calls, or we do not hear the person we are talking with. The causes may be numerous, but most of the time, a simple reboot of the phone solves the issues.

The problem with rebooting user phones is that the computers they are using are connected to the internet using LAN cables (for stability). The network cable is connected directly to the phone socket and then goes from the phone to the user’s computer. This saves the need for using two LAN cables; however, once the phone is restarted, the built-in switch is also restarted, hence the network connection is interrupted.

We have some apps that, when they lose network connections, will lock users and require additional action to unlock them. Hence, it is not ideal to restart the phones throughout the day.

As I checked the phones and settings, I struggled to find a simple scheduler to perform the task of restarting phones overnight, so I needed to find a different way.