Whether you've ever asked her to do anything or not, Cortana is on your Windows 10 computer. If you're one of the 12 people worldwide who own a Microsoft phone, she's there, too. But Cortana is available on Android devices and even on Apple phones.
Some of us have been talking to computers for decades, usually mutterings of profanity, and the computers have ignored us. But now when you talk to the computer, it might do something for you. Apple has Siri, Google has an eponymous service, and Microsoft has Cortana.
Sometimes it's faster to ask for something than to open a browser and look for it. "Hey, Cortana, what's tomorrow's forecast?"
[CORTANA SPEAKS] Normally embedded audio from the podcast is included on the website. Because there are so many audio clips in this segment, they are only in the podcast. Listen by clicking the podcast icon at the right.
Or maybe you're looking for slightly more esoteric information. "Hey, Cortana, what's the tallest mountain in Australia?"
[CORTANA SPEAKS]
You'd think she'd give me a little more information that that. "Hey, Cortana, so how tall is Mount Kosciusko?"
[CORTANA SPEAKS]
I could have opened a browser and typed in a question for all of these, but when Cortana is listening, it's faster to just ask her. She might be listening. By default, though, Cortana doesn't listen until you turn her on -- and I mean that in the most electronic way possible. Until you tell Cortana to listen, getting her attention requires at least one mouse click and possibly several.
When Cortana is listening, you can just address her by name and ask something. It's a lot like "Simon says". "How fast does sound travel?"
[NO RESPONSE FROM CORTANA]
You noticed that, right? I didn't say the magic words. "Hey, Cortana, how fast does sound travel?"
[CORTANA SPEAKS]
This illustrates one problem with Cortana. She is able to make sense of some notations, but not of others. The Wikipedia entry says: "The speed of sound is the distance traveled per unit time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elastic medium. In dry air at 20 °C (68 °F), the speed of sound is 343 meters per second (1,125 ft/s; 1,235 km/h; 767 mph; 667 kn), or a kilometer in 2.91 s or a mile in 4.69 s." Cortana didn't pronounce the parentheses, but paused appropriately. She didn't understand "ft/s" and pronounced it "f, t, slash, s" instead of "feet per second". She understood "km/h" as "kilometers per hour" and "mph" as "miles per hour", but was flummoxed by "4.69 s", which most humans would immediately understand as "4.69 seconds".
Cortana's speech recognition is nothing short of phenomenal, though. In earlier days, speech recognition required a high-quality microphone and a considerable amount of time to train the system. Cortana works without training and the microphone she's using to hear me is inside a closed notebook computer. That's impressive.
"Hey, Cortana, how is onomatopoeia spelled?"
[CORTANA SPEAKS]
Compare the way Cortana spelled it to the way most people would spell it. Humans generally do it by syllable: on·o·mat·o·poe·ia.
"Hey, Cortana, what does onomatopoeia mean?"
[CORTANA SPEAKS]
And sometimes she fibs a bit. "Hey, Cortana, when is the Columbus Zoo open tomorrow?"
[CORTANA SPEAKS]
In fact, the internet connection was just fine. I suspect that Cortana wasn't able to find a page with operating hours on the zoo's website. Maybe that's something the webmaster should take a look at.
So Cortana is able to provide information that you might want on a whim ...
"Hey, Cortana, how far is it to San Francisco?"
[CORTANA SPEAKS]
... or something like "Hey, Cortana, how many flights are there to New York City tomorrow?"
In that case, Cortana doesn't say anything. Instead, she displays the results of a Bing search.
Cortana and other assistants will become increasingly popular because there's no need to stop what we're doing, change gears, research what we're looking for, and then return to what we were working on. Currently, the capabilities are limited -- almost trivial -- but expect change.
Cortana, Siri, and "Hey, Google" are most helpful on portable devices. If you have a Windows 10 system, Cortana is there. Those whose job description calls for them to look into the future say that digital agents eventually will be the main way we communicate with electronic devices, computers or light switches, automobiles or refrigerators. Microsoft, Apple, and Google are all trying to be the company that creates the "universal digital agent".
So all three main players, and probably a bunch of other small companies, are all doing everything they can to garner the largest number of users. People who become familiar with one system will generally be locked into that system because the digital agent learns more about you every day so that it can more accurately respond to your requests. Change systems and you'll be back to an agent that knows little about you.
I've mainly illustrated Cortana as a search assistant, but she can also set reminders and do other basic tasks. More is coming. Cortana can now create calendar entries if you allow her to read your email. You can already add an appointment by just telling Cortana to do it, but giving her access to your email eliminates the manual step.
Working across platforms, you can tell the digital agent on your phone to create an appointment and that information will be communicated back to your notebook, tablet, or desktop computer. Although you can control what Cortana or any other digital agent knows about you, the more information the agent has, the better it can serve you.
And all of the agents need to be simplified. Unless you're comfortable tinkering with configuration information, you may find them cumbersome to use.
Once you turn Cortana on (electronically!) she starts collecting data about you -- what you do and when, your preferences, who your friends are. The information is all stored in a data file and you can tell Cortana to forget some things.
"Hey, Cortana, what's the temperature in Moscow?"
[CORTANA SPEAKS]
Google is an excellent resource for support. Ask it a question and it will point you to several (and perhaps several dozen) answers. Some of the answers will be exactly right, some will be totally wrong, and a few will be dangerous. When you're looking for something that doesn't exist, most of the "answers" will be dangerous.
Note how prominent Google is in an xkcd cartoon from many, many years ago. By the way, if you're wondering how xkcd is pronounced, here it is: ecks-kay-see-dee. Yeah, just say the letters: X, K, C, D. It's a lot simpler than it seems like it should be.
Maybe you're having a problem with Facebook and you'd like to call their support department. After searching Facebook, you can't find a support number. That should probably be a clue. But you decide to try Google.
The top result for "facebook tech support" is the Facebook Help Center. It's an on-line resource for Facebook users, but there's no option to call. There's another clue, but you can return to Google and scroll down.
After scrolling down, you'll find several options. Look at all those phone numbers! The first two websites listed are blocked by Malwarebytes because they attempt to plant malware on your computer. The third one claims to use the secure https protocol but doesn't. The fourth result at least readily admits that it is a "third party", meaning that they're not associated in any way with Facebook.
This applies not only to Facebook but to any website, software, or hardware you may need assistance with. Fraudsters know that people who are desperate for answers don't always think clearly. So the first rule of dealing with computer emergencies is this: Don't panic. In most cases -- unless whatever you're concerned about is physically on fire -- a delay won't make things worse, but an ill-advised action can turn an inconvenience into a catastrophe.
Firefighters are taught to stop, observe, and assess the situation before taking action. Be the solution to the problem, not part of it. That's good advice for many aspects of life and particularly for someone who's trying to solve a problem that involves a computer.
If you call the number, you'll probably be told that they see the problem. It's likely that they'll tell you somebody has been trying to log on to your account, but they can fix it if you'll just give them your credentials. Of course there will be a small fee, and you'll have to pay it with a gift card. They'll give you the instructions for buying the card and then you'll have to call back and give them the number on the card.
Some companies (Microsoft and Lenovo, for example) have both free and paid service options. The difference is that, as legitimate companies, they can accept credit card payments. The scammers like to use gift cards because once they have the card's number, the money is theirs. You have little or no recourse.
Once the scammers have your money, that might be the end of it. Or it might be just the beginning. The next step might involve logging on to your computer. The scammer can then install malware that steals user names and passwords as you connect to banking accounts or malware that encrypts all the files on your computer so that you'll have to pay hundreds of dollars to regain access to them.
There's no small number of crooks out there and they want your money. Don't allow a computer problem to give them control.
Edge is the new browser that Microsoft included with Windows 10. It's a better browser than Internet Explorer, but I prefer to use Chrome, Firefox, or (occasionally) another browser such as Vivaldi or Maxthon. Use one of those other browsers and occasionally Microsoft pops up a message that tells you Edge is a better choice.
This is annoying, but it can be turned off.
Previously Windows notified users of battery-powered computers that Edge uses less power than Chrome or Firefox. These messages are delivered via an overlay pop-up that hovers over the Edge icon in the Taskbar The current message campaign says that Edge blocks more malware than Firefox or Chrome.
The claims are based on tests by NSS Labs in which Edge blocked 91% of phishing URLs and 99% of social-engineering malware. By comparison, Chrome blocked 82% and 86%, respectively, and Firefox blocked 81% and 78%. NSS Labs says that the research was not sponsored by Microsoft, but the company has worked with Microsoft in the past.
Microsoft says it's just trying to "provide people with quick, easy information that can help them enhance their Windows 10 experience", but an equally plausible reason is that Edge hasn't reached the level of acceptance that Microsoft had hoped for. It's current usage has been hovering around 5% for a long time.
But look, Microsoft, I have tried Edge. It's OK, but I prefer to use the browsers that I downloaded and installed. It may be that removing Edge from the Taskbar would eliminate the messages, but I like to have it handy because I do use it occasionally.
These pop-up messages can be blocked by visiting Settings, but the problem is it's an all or nothing thing. You can't just block the Edge notifications; you'll have to turn off all notifications -- some of which are helpful.
If you want to eliminate all of the pop-ups, open Settings and choose the System icon. Choose Notifications and Actions from the sidebar, scroll down to "Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows", and turn it off.
Ten years ago, supporters of the open source movement were optimistic because Munich, Germany, had fully endorsed a version of Ubuntu Linux and Open Office for municipal government workers. This week Munich's city council started the process of returning to Microsoft applications by 2021.
No matter how much I like the idea of open source software, the applications always come up just a bit short of what Microsoft provides. Open Office and Libre Office are remarkable office suites, but Microsoft Office is more remarkable. Now Munich is trying to determine how long it will take and how much it will cost to build a Windows 10 client for use by the city's employees.
When that task is complete, Munich's city council will determine whether to replace the customized version of Ubuntu city employees have been using (LiMux) with Windows.
The Green Party's Florian Roth doesn't like the idea, but he says it appears that the municipality will return to Microsoft.
Linux is a powerful operating system. It runs much of the internet, but it's not Windows and most computer users are familiar with Windows. Open Office is a powerful office suite, but it's not Microsoft Office and most computer users are familiar with Microsoft Office.
A member of the Pirate Party (yes, that's the name of the party), Thomas Ranft, says that the decision is unfair. He says that LiMux has been accused of creating problems that are not related and that returning to Microsoft will "cost the town a lot of money and even then there's a question about whether it will actually improve quality".
Munich began to adopt LiMux in 2004 and even though Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer met with city officials in a desperate attempt to halt the move, the decision to move to open source was confirmed. Munich saved about €10m by choosing an open-source operating system and an open-source office suite, but apparently the result was confusion. Now the city council seems to think that removing the confusion will save the city millions of euros by improving staff productivity.
That's unlikely.
The organization that manages LibreOffice (The Document Foundation) has a different view: Moving to Windows 10 and Microsoft Office 2016 could cost the city €90 million over the next six years. They call the abandonment of open-source software "a significant step backwards for the City of Munich" and they predict much higher costs.
Can Munich return to Windows and Microsoft Office in just 4 years? Well, consider this: The LiMux migration and has been in progress for 9 years.
