Facebook bug secretly unblocked people you thought you'd blocked

Facebook is primarily about connecting with other people, but its "block" functionality certainly has its place for avoiding those you don't want to be in touch with for one reason or another. It's a great option to have... until it goes wrong. And that's precisely what happened. The social network has admitted that more than 800,000 were hit by a bug that meant people they had blocked on either Facebook or Facebook Messenger were temporarily unblocked and able to see content that had been posted. See also: Facebook relaxes its ban on cryptocurrency ads World Cup: access the hidden mini… [Continue Reading]

SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD: Excellent performance at a good price point [Review]

The easiest and best way to speed up a slow computer is to replace its HDD with an SSD. This will deliver a huge performance boost, and can make an old PC feel brand new. If you’re after the best speeds and your computer has a compatible PCIe-based M.2 slot, then a NVMe solid state drive is what you should you be looking for as they are significantly faster than SATA models. That said, SATA remains the dominant interface for connecting a SSD to your PC, and for most consumers the performance improvement it provides will be perfectly acceptable --… [Continue Reading]

Ubuntu-based Bodhi Linux 5.0.0 release candidate now available

One of the best things about the Linux kernel, is that it can be used by lightweight operating systems to breathe new life into older hardware. Not all Linux-based operating systems focus on computers with aging and meager hardware, however. Instead, there are specialized distributions that focus on being light on resources. One such excellent option for those with old hardware is Bodhi Linux. This is a lightweight operating system that is based on the wildly popular Ubuntu. It uses the Moksha desktop environment, which is a fork of Enlightenment 17. Today, Bodhi Linux 5.0.0 reaches release candidate status. ALSO… [Continue Reading]

Dell could be about to go public again

A report by the Wall Street Journal suggests that Dell could be on the verge of becoming a public company once again. The deal could be announced as soon as later today and -- if the cited sources close to Dell are correct -- it would see the company swapping the "trading stock" it created when it bought EMC a couple of years ago. It would simplify Dell's current structure, seen by many as overly complicated, and make use of the stock that tracks VMware Inc. The deal is not yet thought to have been finalized, and the paper warns… [Continue Reading]

OnePlus announces 8GB OnePlus 6 Red, launching July 10

OnePlus is no stranger to launching multiple versions of its flagship-killing handset, and things are no different with the OnePlus 6. Joining the existing line-up soon is the OnePlus 6 Red -- and the price is pretty appealing. While previous models of the OnePlus 6 have borne the tag "The speed you need", this one is also billed as being "The Red you need". Kitted out with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, and powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, speediness -- as well as redness -- should not be a concern. The OnePlus 6 Red is hardly unique… [Continue Reading]

#BetaNews20 Giveaway: System76 Linux computer seller swag kit

Today is July 1, meaning BetaNews' month-long birthday celebration is officially over. We still have some active giveaways, however -- be sure to use the below links to enter them. We want to thank all of our readers for visiting our site over the last two decades. We look forward to serving you all for another 20 years! To close out the celebration, we are launching one final giveaway today. Linux fans in particular will love this one -- we have three System76 "swag kits" to give away. Other #BetaNews20 active giveaways: #BetaNews20 Giveaway: Logitech Keys-To-Go portable wireless keyboard Win… [Continue Reading]

The NSA is deleting all of its call records since 2015 because of privacy issues

The NSA -- not exactly a bastion of privacy -- has announced that it is deleting hundreds of millions of call and text records because of "technical irregularities". The agency says that back in May this year is started to delete all of the calls records it collected since 2015. While full details of the reasons for the deletion are not given, the NSA notes that it collected data it was not authorized to collect. It is not clear how far through the process of deleting all of the unauthoratized records the NSA is, or how long it will take… [Continue Reading]