Short Takes Daily: What's going on in the world of Microsoft this Friday, June 19, 2015

Today in the news: Newt Gingrich is now doing tech reviews for Mashable; Twitter wants to strike with lightning; Finding that perfect gift to connect Dad and the kids on Fathers Day.

ON OUR SITES

How to turn your Windows 10 Insider Preview into Windows 10 RTM

First Impressions: Microsoft Lumia 735 on Verizon Gallery: Windows 10 Build 10147

Could your Microsoft Account and Windows 10 Activation be connected?

How Windows 10 Will Handle Clean Installs

Switch from Android to Windows Phone and Keep Your Personal Data

Security Sense: The Sky is Falling and Password Managers are Risky

IT Innovators: What Is Project Premonition And What Does It Mean For You?

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NEWT GINGRICH IS NOW DOING TECH REVIEWS?

Yes he is and it is a surprisingly good review although it sounds weird when he identifies himself as a Tech Reviewer for Mashable.

The former Speaker of the House lays out his thoughts and experiences of the Apple Watch in a short 3 minute video which accompanies a longer written piece.

Reviews such as these are great no matter what the product is because they are all about the experience which I think is key in helping others to identify different usage scenarios and arriving at their own decision to try the device or service out.

Apparently this is also not his first tech related review as he has also shared his thoughts on self driving cars and virtual reality.

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PROJECT LIGHTNING IS TWITTERS HOPE FOR A SPARK

Twitter has a problem retaining eyeballs on its site and getting new users to sign up.

As the social media company goes through a CEO shake up they are looking for new ways to get people to use their service and now they want to do it whether someone has an account or not.

According to BuzzFeed that is the idea behind Project Lightning:

The new tool will give the company a way to show the best of Twitter to both logged-in and logged-out users on a variety of platforms. It will have instantly loading videos and rich images, and will occupy a front-and-center location in an upcoming version of the Twitter app.

This is great stuff because Twitter is great at breaking big news and reactions to public events however, their accuracy can degrade very quickly in some cases.

Twitter says these will be curated events so maybe that will help with those issues.

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PERFECT FATHERS DAY GIFT TO KEEP THE KIDS AND DAD CONNECTED

This Sunday is Fathers Day here in the United States.

While most are likely already prepared for recognizing their Dear-Old-Dad there are probably just as many, if not more, running around trying to find that perfect gift.

Well TieFi just might be it and it has a secret to get the kiddos to hang out closer to Dad:

Tiefi is a tie that hijacks your home's WiFi signal and reroutes it so that it's only effective within ten feet of the wearer. When dad has it on, the kids in the house will have no choice but to get closer to their father if they want to continue surfing.

This is actually a project using a Raspberry Pi and some other bits so it could make for a great project for Dad and the offspring.

Happy Fathers Day to all you Dad's out there! We will see you next week.