Chris Young, Microsofts head of business development and its venture unit, resigned from his role on Wednesday, the company said.Young led Microsofts M12 venture fund, and was whats known as a named officer. Microsofts other named officers include CFO Amy Hood, top lawyer and vice chair Brad Smith, head of sales Judson Althoff, and CEO and chairman Satya Nadella. Because Young was a named officer, Microsoft was legally obligated to publicly report his compensation, responsibilities, and departure. On Wednesday, Microsoft announced Youngs resignation in an SEC filing.When Microsoft filed its annual proxy report in October, it listed Youngs accomplishments as increasing M12s engagements in areas like AI and data infrastructure, working with company leadership in emerging tech, closing a strategic partnership, and helping the company make progress on its big sustainability goals. The company also said that Young championed diversity and inclusion within the business development organization and across the company. Young was formerly CEO of McAfee. He joined Microsoft in 2020 to replace the companys previous dealmaker, Peggy Johnson, who founded M12. M12 was originally created by the Seattle tech giant to keep tabs on emerging Silicon Valley tech and rising startups through typical venture investment. Under Young, it became more like an extension of Microsofts business development team.The SEC filing did not indicate why Young was leaving. It did say that he would be staying on as an employee until March to assist with the transition, although no longer in his former job. Young did not immediately reply to a request for comment.We are deeply grateful for the significant impact Chris had at Microsoft over the past 4 years, a spokesperson told TechCrunch. During Chris tenure, he led hundreds of strategic partnerships, fostered a culture of innovation, and laid the groundwork for our future growth. We support Chris decision to pursue a new endeavor.

In 2015, the blogging site Tumblr launched a GIF discovery feature called Tumblr TV as an experimental product. Now, with the U.S. TikTok ban leaving the fate of the short-form video app uncertain, Tumblr has decided its finally time to launch Tumblr TV, which has since evolved to support video, to all its users as one of its standard features. The company on Tuesday announced the products graduation from its experimental projects home known as Tumblr Labs, explaining how the tab would become available to everyone. New users will see the tab in a fairly prominent third position in the app. Meanwhile, existing users will be able to toggle Tumblr TV on or off in their Dashboard Tabs configuration settings, Tumblr said.The decision to promote the video product from an experiment to a core feature nearly 10 years after its creation has a lot to do with the demand for TikTok alternatives in the wake of the U.S. law that banned the app and others with Chinese ownership in the country. Though enforcement of that ban is currently on hold after President Trumps intervention, its still unclear whether TikTok will agree to a deal despite its many suitors to keep the app live in the U.S. after the 75-day deadline extension is up.Like many apps, Tumblr noted it saw a surge of users joining its service on the day of the TikTok ban on January 19, a company spokesperson told TechCrunch. As a result, the blogging service saw a roughly 35% increase in iOS app installs and a 70% increase in new users joining Communities, a feature that allows users to join various groups focused on specific interests.In fact, some newcomers even established Tumblr Communities, like TikTok Repository, aimed at those who wanted a place to back up and share their TikTok videos. Another Community, TikTok Refugees, was active with both new and returning users, the company said. As a competitor to TikTok, however, TumblrTV falls short. Though the company made many improvements while the service was a Labs feature including the addition of lightbox support, improved scrubbing, and video support the final product doesnt feel all that much like TikTok, where original creator content dominates.Tumblrs video feed does allow for vertical swipe-based navigation within its channels (like Art or Sports) when viewed on mobile, similar to TikTok. But the GIFs featured in this full-screen viewing mode are naturally grainy, while many of the videos featured arent formatted for vertical viewing because they were never recorded for a vertical video app in the first place. Still, the company hopes that a video feed could make TikTok users feel a little bit more at home if they decide to move to Tumblr. Of course, with TikTok back online in the U.S. for the time being, the demand for a backup app is likely waning.

The construction of a new South Station Terminal in 1899, prompted a development boom for the nearby area, which had for the previous decades been almost entirely mercantile and centered around the leather and woolen industries. Due to increased land values and an influx of travelers to the area, developers saw an opportunity toerect this buildingto serve as a hotel for visitors to Boston via South Station.Boston architect, Arthur H. Bowditch, furnished plans for this building in theBeaux Arts/Renaissance Revival style, with use of brick and limestone construction, ornate finishes at the faade including the fluted pilasters, arches and cartouches in the spandrels.The buildingwas completed in 1900 and known asHotel Essexand featured a long, storied history as a hotel until it closed in the second half of the 20thcentury. After years of deteriorating conditions, the building was adapted as the corporate offices for Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation in 1982. The building was restored and has been known as the Plymouth Rock Building ever since.

The company teased at Unpacked that it's launching a new Galaxy S25 Edge, although it'll likely come later as Apple prepares its iPhone 17 Air.

Samsung's partnership with Google imbues its new Galaxy S25 phones with powerful AI and deep integration across its ecosystem. That's a major, major win.

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 18: Kevin Holland prepares to face Reinier de Ridder of The ... [+] Netherlands in a middleweight fight during the UFC 311 event at Intuit Dome on January 18, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)Zuffa LLCKevin Holland isnt picking up a lot of wins lately, and hes also not making any new friends among his peers and legends of mixed martial arts.The 32-year-old UFC veteran has lost two fights in a row, most recently suffering a one-sided first-round submission defeat to Reinier de Ridder at UFC 311.RDR made it look really easy.INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 18: Reinier de Ridder of The Netherlands reacts after a victory ... [+] against Kevin Holland in a middleweight fight during the UFC 311 event at Intuit Dome on January 18, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)Zuffa LLCHolland has also dropped four of his last five fights and six of his last nine. Two days before his loss to RDR at UFC 311, Holland was a guest on the Jaxxon Podcast with Quinton Rampage Jackson and Bear Degidio. Several segments from the podcast went viral due to the tension between Holland and Jackson.Holland came on the podcast with what Rampage described as bad energy, rebuffing a bro hug and seemingly challenging the UFC legend and former world champion to a physical altercation, which included some awkward and misplaced gun references.MORE FOR YOUHolland was upset with Rampage over a joke the latter made on social media, which seemingly poked fun at Holland following his loss to Michael Venom Page.Throughout the first part of the interview, Holland kept challenging Jackson to fight and began asking him about the caliber of his firearms. Holland escalated the tensions further by telling the 46-year-old to shut the f### up.To Rampages credit, he remained professional. His poise diffused the situation and facilitated an entertaining interview. During a recap of the segment, Jackson, who was on with another former world champion, TJ Dillashaw, and Degidio, admitted he was angered by Hollands disrespect.At the end of the podcast, I wasnt mad at the kid, Rampage said on the recap episode. But right here at the time, when I got quiet; I had to think. I really had to think. This is one thing a lot of people didnt see on the podcast, he came in with bad energy. I tried to come in for the bro hug and he pushed me away.Degidio called out the disrespect from Holland and Dillashaw slammed his behavior on several levels.He cant talk s###, Dillashaw said. He cant come in her talk s### to a legend across the table. I text Bear, I was like homeboy needs to get slapped.Others chimed in with a similar sentiment. For Kevin, talking guns and start you know, telling him to shut the f### up, I didnt like that, Paul Felder said while on Michael Bispings Believe You Me Podcast.I remember being that age, being mid-fight career, you know, and you do have that chip on your shoulder, we dont feel that need to impress or prove ourselves anymore, so Rampage was really restrained and he was like Bro, what are you talking about?' Bisping said.Dude hes so average, former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker said on his MMArcade Podcast. What do you want me to say? He just time and time again keeps doing the same thing, and the same thing keeps happening. The same thing! Good on those guys, I dont know.The part of Hollands appearance that raised an eyebrow was his commitment to mediocrity in his sport. Most everyone believes hes talented. Lets be honest, youre not in the UFC if youre not among the best fighters in the world.However, Holland tries to sell us a bill of goods by claiming he doesnt want to be champion. He says he is more comfortable staying unranked and collecting fights. In fact, he said his goal is to have the most fights in UFC history, but he feels there are too many politics involved and expectations if youre ranked or the UFC champion.Dillashaw, who had some rough spots in his career, had a poignant take on Holland that cuts through what seems like a facade.Hes entertaining and hes fun, Dillashaw said. I heard him in here talking when he was saying he doesnt care about being champion. Theres too much politics. Im like, alright dude, thats just an excuse because youll never be a champion. Hell never be a champion, and I promise you that.Dillashaw called out some massive holes in his game and mindset.He sat here and said that he doesnt give a s###, Dillashaw added. Are you going to be a champion if you dont care? No. Hes talking about bringing training partners in and going home and smoking weed. Just sitting here and listening to him talk, he doesnt have the mindset for it, hes just happy being on TV. I think its too much work for him.Holland took to social media following the fight and acknowledged he has some work to do to improve.At some point, Holland is going to need to put some victories together, or the UFC will step in and stop his longevity goal with a release. I also agreed with Felder and Degidio. Both men credited Rampages maturity and poise during the interview.I left the situation with more respect for the legend than before.

Samsung Galaxy S25 UltraEwan SpenceFollowing a successful Galaxy Unpacked, which saw the launch of the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25+ and Galaxy S25 Ultra smartphones (alongside a one more thing preview of the Galaxy S25 Edge), Samsung has confirmed its special offers for customers who order one of the new Galaxy handsets directly from Samsung.Those placing a pre-order on Samsung can look forward to more storage, more colors and more trade-in value.Galaxy S25 Ultra Storage OfferSamsung has continued its traditional offer of doubling the storage. That means for the retail price of the 128 GB Galaxy S25, youll get the 256 GB model. Thats true throughout the range, so at the very top of the range, the price of the Galaxy S25 Ultra 512 GB model now matches that of the 1 TB model.Its worth noting that in previous years, some of the lowest-tier models shipped with 8 GB of memory compared to 12 GB at the high end. Samsung has unified the memory across the range, and every handset ships with 12 GB; no doubt to ensure Galaxy AI runs smoothly on every model.Galaxy S25 Ultra Trade-In OffersIf you choose to trade a handset at the same time as the pre-order, Samsung is offering you up to $900 credit for the trade-in and an additional $300 of Samsung Credit that is split between a discount on the qualifying product and a discount on an additional peripheral.MORE FOR YOUNot every trade-in will reach that high level. Youll need to trade in last years Galaxy S24 Ultra with 1 TB of storage to get top dollar. Theres a sliding scale on products from Samsung and its closest competitors, Apple and Google.The reservation period, which closed on Jan 21, also offered a $50 Samsung Credit, which sweetens the offer with just a little more sugar.Galaxy S25 Ultra Exclusive ColorsSamsung is also supporting pre-orders through the Samsung website with exclusive online colors, the key color here being the Titanium Jetblack option for those looking for a classic shade.Titanium Jadegreen and Titanium pinkgold are also on offer for the S25 Ultra, with the S25 and S25+ models offering Blueblack, Coralred and Pinkgold as their exclusive colors.Galaxy S25 Ultra And Google Gemini AdvancedThe final offer is open to every Galaxy S25 order, but its worth noting that Google is offering a free six-month subscription to its Gemini Advanced suite of AI tools. This top tier of Googles AI suite includes 2 TB of Google storage. Its also not limited to the Galaxy S25 handsets; it will be available across all your devices that use Google services on mobile, tablet, laptop or desktop.Now look at AT&Ts Galaxy S25 Ultra offers available for its customers...

Editor's take: After years of half-filled promises and underwhelming realities, it looks like Samsung has finally succeeded in bringing the kind of seamless experience that we all hoped AI, digital assistants, and agents would or could bring to our mobile devices. Well, to be fair, it's Samsung in conjunction with Google (along with some help from Qualcomm) that's making the magic happen inside the just-launched Galaxy S25. From the outside, Samsung's new S25 mobile phone is simply the latest iteration of the company's long-running line of premium Android smartphones powered by Qualcomm's latest generation Snapdragon processor. It's also got a pleasant, rounded-edge design, better cameras, a fresh set of color options, and a few cool new features all the things you'd expect from a next-generation device.But what really stands out on the Galaxy S25 based on some of the demos and brief hands-on time we've had with the device is the fact that it has digital assistant capabilities that actually work. Plus, it offers options for learning individual preferences that go well beyond what's been available on other devices.In other words, it brings the remarkable breadth, impressive accuracy, and highly individualized personalization promises of modern LLM-enabled AI to life in an always-on, always-connected, always-with-us mobile device.Part of this is due to the new level of partnership between Samsung and Google that suggests a deeper level of cooperation and co-design than has existed before. For example, in the past, it often felt like Samsung tried to replicate the software functionality that Google already offered in Android. With the Galaxy S25, however, the companies are working to bring the best of both worlds together to enable the best possible user experience.The most notable example is the default action of automatically launching Google's Gemini personal assistant with a long push on the S25. Yes, you can enable that option on Google's latest Pixel phones, but it's not on by default, and Samsung sells a significantly larger number of phones than Google. That means most people will experience this for the first time on a new S25 or previous generations of Galaxy smartphones when Samsung provides upgrades to them.Our experience with Gemini both voice-based and text input-based so far has been extremely impressive, offering a huge range of options for requesting information, getting suggestions, and even participating in long conversations on virtually any topic imaginable via Gemini Live. In addition, Google announced that future extensions of Gemini Screen Share and Live Video, which add new multimodal intelligence capabilities that can understand what's currently on your phone's screen and what the phone's camera is seeing will be coming to S25 first.But it's not just the Gemini integration that makes the S25 impressive. Samsung has also integrated Bixby as well as several other custom AI models it created for on-device data personalization options. Samsung smartly recognized that Gemini can offer a much more comprehensive set of cloud-based personal assistant features than Bixby, but Bixby has the advantage of running directly on the device and having access to both the actions we perform on devices as well as things like device settings. // Related StoriesAs a result, Bixby and these other on-device models can start to learn the types of actions we regularly perform, data we search for, etc., and it can store all that information securely on the device through the use of Samsung's Knox device security framework.Best of all, Gemini and Samsung's onboard models can work together in some pretty compelling ways. For example, we can ask Gemini for information about an upcoming event and have it put on our personal calendar.This public information to private calendar integration is possible because Samsung worked with Google to allow data to be passed from Gemini to several of Samsung's own apps, which have access to the data stored on the phone. While this might seem like a small step, it's hugely important because it's one of the first times the ability to combine these two "data worlds" has been enabled. More importantly, it means the experience is as completely seamless and intuitive as it needs to be for regular people to actually use these kinds of capabilities.At present, these integrations are limited to Samsung native apps, Google's suite of apps, as well as Spotify and WhatsApp, but apparently, a number of integrations with popular third-party apps are in the works.In addition, eventually, we'll be able to do things like push the side button to call up Gemini, request a change to the phone's settings, and have Bixby perform the operation. In the meantime, the two can work side-by-side, and we can launch either of them by voice using the appropriate keyword if we don't want to use the hardware button. Regardless, hiding the workings of multiple models behind a simple, unified user interface of Samsung's OneUI 7 is exactly what makes the combined design efforts on the S25 so intriguing.One of the other important advantages of having Bixby run on the device with help from the NPU on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile Platform is the ability to discover and store information about our personal preferences and routines on the phone. The new Snapdragon SoC, by the way, will now be built into every S25 worldwide the sign of increased collaboration between Samsung and Qualcomm as well and instead of just offering slightly higher speeds, includes new custom circuitry to help with the camera processing and other AI features on the S25.Leveraging what Samsung is calling the Personal Data Engine, the onboard Samsung models are able to see what activities occur on our phone screen regardless of the app we're running and then train the onboard model to learn the kinds of information we're requesting, the types of activities we do on a regular basis, etc.From that, using what the company referred to as knowledge graph technology, it can eventually start to make recommendations or automatically program routines and perform them on our behalf (all with our permission, that is). Importantly, all of this knowledge graph data stays on the device and never goes to the cloud. The Personal Data Engine (PDE) is also what powers the new Now Brief and Now Bar functions, which serve up information based on our preferences and the information gleaned from the knowledge graph.It's this level of customization that has the potential to turn on-device AI into something that evolves from a clever parlor trick into an indispensable personal digital assistant. Of course, it also has the potential to create an incredible privacy and security nightmare. Data of this type could provide the most detailed dossier about what any individual does online that we've probably ever seen a huge magnet ("honeypot") for the bad guys.Thankfully, Samsung recognized that and embedded the PDE data into its hardware-based, on-device Knox Vault security solution, which has now been upgraded to offer post-quantum levels of cryptography. Because of these potential security concerns, Samsung allows us, of course, to turn off the data tracking features if we don't want to leverage them. It's an issue that any kind of AI-powered personalization device or service is going to face.Collectively, Samsung is calling all of these various AI-related capabilities Galaxy AI a phrase that has expanded to cover the company's own AI models, the extensions that integrate Gemini with Bixby, the AI features built into several of its apps, and the personalization enabled by the Personal Data Engine. Trying to make sense of it all isn't particularly easy, nor is it anything that the vast majority of consumers will ever really care to understand. But it's the combination of these Galaxy AI features along with the clean integration of Google's Gemini in the S25 that makes this such a compelling offering.To be clear, there's still a great deal more work to be done at a model integration and app ecosystem level, but at last, it seems the promise of AI on devices is finally coming to life.Bob O'Donnell is the founder and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research, LLC a technology consulting firm that provides strategic consulting and market research services to the technology industry and professional financial community. You can follow him on Twitter @bobodtech

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsWhat is a VPN meant to do?How to test if your VPN worksAlternatives to BrowserLeaksWhat to do if your VPN isnt workingOnce youve picked up the best VPN for your home, its likely you also want to check that its working well for your needs. Its a sensible idea to check whether VPN is working correctly. No one wants to pay for something that theyre not actually using, plus if it turns out its not working, your data and browsing activity isnt as safe as you thought it was. Fortunately, there are a few different ways of doing this. With different methods available, read on while we guide you through how to see if your VPN is working and what to look for. Dont worry its fairly simple stuff once you know how.The Surfshark extension is running in the Edge browser on a PC monitor. Digital TrendsKnowing what a VPN is used for is always a good starting point when it comes to understanding why you need it to be working properly. To cut to the chase, you really need one to stay secure online, especially if you travel frequently and use public Wi-Fi.Recommended VideosA VPN protects your privacy by hiding your IP address. IP stands for Internet Protocol and websites need an address to know where to send the web content you want to view. When you use a VPN, the IP address of the server you choose is supplied instead of yours. The VPN service then encrypts and relays that content to you, keeping your activity private.RelatedIts important to use a VPN at home and while away connecting to a public Wi-Fi network. There are many benefits so you want to make sure its working properly.BrowserLeaks is free, open-source software thats available for online privacy tests. BrowserLeaksYou might be tempted to use the tests your VPN provides, but the fact youre testing implies you have some skepticism about its effectiveness.We recommend using the tests on BrowserLeak, a free, open-source tool with no ads that you can use online to identify vulnerabilities your VPN might overlook. There are several tests, some valuable for testing a VPN and others that test your browser.The most basic test is to check your IP address. Run the test without the VPN and note the IP address and location. The city shown could be nearby or quite distant, depending on your ISP ( internet service provider). Then connect the VPN and make sure the IP address is different. The location should match your chosen VPN server region. Top VPNs like Proton VPN and NordVPN have thousands of worldwide servers to select from, allowing you to browse like a local.Your VPN should supply an IP address that matches the chosen country, so international websites and streaming services will work as expected. Your location is hidden from hackers, spammers, and unscrupulous advertisers who could be seeking information to build a profile for targeting you with malware or intrusive ads.BrowserLeaks also has a DNS Leak Test near the bottom of the page. BrowserLeaksIf your VPN passed the IP address test, run BrowserLeaks WebRTC leak test, which checks that your data remains private when using WebRTC, a feature that helps web apps handle video chat and file transfer. Your VPN should be able to support those features securely. If you see a WebRTC leak, your VPN isnt fully protecting you.Finally, scroll to the bottom of BrowserLeaks and select the DNS Leak Test. Your VPN app could be sending domain name lookup requests to your ISPs DNS, potentially revealing your approximate location and browsing activity. You should see the IP address and location of the VPN server you selected, not your own.If BrowserLeaks is down or you just want to use another third-party service, there are several ad-free alternatives that work just as well. Here are our top picks:IPadr.is provides a free online tool that reports the public IP address that websites see when you visit. Its a quick, single-purpose website thats as simple as possible, showing an IP address and nothing else.VoidSec.com offers a free IP address checker and WebRTC leak test that runs as soon as the page loads. If any IP addresses match your actual location, your VPN isnt working correctly.DNS leak test is a free online tool that checks for leaks during domain name lookups. You can run a short or extended test.If your VPN failed any of the tests above, make sure its connected. If your VPN lacks a kill switch or if you have that feature switched off, your VPN connection could have dropped without your knowledge. If it is connected, contact your VPNs support to report the problem and ask for assistance.If you dont get a satisfactory answer, it might be time for a switch. There are plenty of great VPN services to choose from.If your VPN has a temporary problem, a free VPN can help protect your privacy until the issue is resolved. The best free VPNs offer good speeds without ads and few restrictions.Editors Recommendations

Lenovo often has some great desktop computer deals, but this one is a little special its on a mini PC. Designed to pack as much as possible into a tiny amount of space, its perfect if your work space is super limited but you still need a competent PC. Right now, you can buy the Lenovo ThinkCentre M90q for $1,086 at Lenovo. According to Lenovos overly optimistic estimated value system, the PC normally costs $2,129, which means youre saving 49% off the original price. In reality, the estimated value system can be a little unrealistic, but what we do know is that $1,086 is a good price for this setup. Heres all you need to know about it.Buying one of the best desktop computers is great if you have plenty of space, but what do you do if youre lacking the room? Thats where the best mini PCs are essential. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M90q isnt on that list, but it has the essentials youll love.That includes a 14th-generation Intel Core i7-14700vPro CPU teamed up with 16GB of DDR5 RAM and 256GB of SSD storage. You may end up needing more storage in the long run, but its simple enough to add on one of the best external hard drives if it comes to that.RelatedImpressively, the PC comes with a basic USB mouse and keyboard, so youre all set from the moment it arrives. Just hook it up to your existing monitor or TV, or opt to snap up one of the best monitors. Dont worry about anything too high-end, as this PC wont be a gaming PC so you dont need anything higher than full HD or 1080p.The tiny PC is reminiscent of many external hard drives from over the years, but it offers a hub of ports so you can easily connect it via VGA, DisplayPort, or HDMI. It also has Ethernet and USB-C, so youre all set with all your plans. It supports up to four displays, so its ideal for multitasking needs.Normally $2,129 according to Lenovos estimated value system, the Lenovo ThinkCentre M90q is now down to $1,086 for a limited time. The 49% discount wont be around for very long, so if youre keen to grab a mini PC for much less than usual, buy now before you miss out.Editors Recommendations