Google has added a dark mode in the latest version of its Chrome web browser. That means you’ll need to update to version 74 in order to try out the darkness.
To do that, or to check which version you have, open Chrome and click the three dots in the top-right corner.
Then click on Help > About Google Chrome. This should prompt it to update to the latest version, and will display the current version number.
Once updated, simply close Chrome and launch it again. You probably won’t see any difference because dark mode isn’t yet enabled unless you already run Windows 10 in Dark app mode.
How to turn on Chrome’s dark mode
One way to make Chrome go dark is to enable Windows 10’s Dark app mode. Open the Settings app, type Colour (or Color if you’re in the US) and click on Colour settings which will be top of the list of results.
Scroll down and click on Dark instead of Light. All apps which support Dark mode will immediately switch, including Chrome if it’s open.
Some people won’t be happy with this, and will want to control Chrome’s dark mode independent of Windows and other apps.
Fortunately you can enable the new mode by changing Chrome’s shortcut settings. Right-click on the shortcut to Chrome on your desktop (one is created by default when you install Chrome) and choose Properties.
A window will open and it should display the Shortcut tab. Click in the Target box and – after the final quote mark – add this text:
-force-dark-mode
Click OK and close Chrome if it’s open. Double-click the shortcut and Chrome should now open in dark mode, even if Windows 10 is set to use the Light app mode.
Bear in mind that the black theme only applies to the Chrome interface. When you open a website with a white background, it will still be white.
IT teams today are faced with two equally challenging strategic transformation missions. On the one hand, they’re charged with spearheading digital initiatives that will drive business growth, efficiency and competitive advantage. On the other, they must execute IT modernization projects to keep pace with technology changes that have upended both the infrastructure and the management of the data center. Progress can be slow on both fronts.
Despite the pressure to optimize IT operations in the face of escalating business demands, for example, a recent IDG Research survey commissioned by Insight Enterprises’ Cloud + Data Center division revealed that 44% of organizations planning to undertake digital transformation projects have not yet made process, operational and/or technology modifications to their IT environment.
One-third of those (15% of total respondents) have not even begun discussing strategy. The other two-thirds (29%) have started the conversation but taken no action, leaving organizations stuck at first base in their IT transformation journey.
Roadblocks to IT modernization
The survey of 200 IT executives at companies with a median of 6,250 employees also identified a variety of reasons for the delays in IT modernization. Among the findings:
Legacy infrastructure is a major roadblock. 64% cited outdated/legacy infrastructure, processes or tools among the top five factors hampering IT modernization efforts. 59% named technology silos, another legacy issue. Also ranking in the top five were data privacy/security (60%), budget (54%) and too many competing priorities (53%).
Cloud strategy is difficult to execute. Major hurdles specified by respondents included determining which workloads should move to the cloud (72%), choosing cloud deployment models (70%), the lack of tools to support and monitor cloud applications (70%), and changing the IT mindset to a cloud-centric approach (69%).
Lack of cloud readiness compounds the problem. 63% ranked an absence of cloud-ready processes and practices, a cloud-related staffing/skills shortage, and data governance in the cloud in their list of top stumbling blocks. The survey also revealed that only 42% of applications are optimized to support cloud storage consumption, not to mention for cloud compute, networking, security and cloud-based access.
Stalled and abandoned projects are common. 51% of respondents reported having suspended or dropped one or more initiatives because of unexpected complications. Based on Insight’s experience, the usual culprit is inadequate analysis and planning.
None of these conclusions is surprising for anyone who has had a ringside seat to IT transformation efforts. Even under the best of circumstances, IT modernization is a multi-year undertaking with months required simply to create a roadmap. People, process and technology changes need to be implemented in stages, whether filling skill set gaps, re-platforming applications, or testing new cloud deployments. Many of these changes need to be fine-tuned or even aborted if they don’t pan out as expected.
Still, there’s no need to get stuck. Here are a few rules of thumb to help you grease the skids and keep your IT modernization projects moving forward.
Start small – Half of the IDG survey respondents said the sheer scale of the IT transition confronting them essentially put the brakes on their activities. (“Project scope is too big and we’re stuck or don’t know where to start.”) Breaking the job down into smaller parts will help keep the wheels turning. Start with one business unit or specific need. If you run into obstacles or fail altogether, you’ll learn from your mistakes and limit the damage when you move on to the next project.
Let your business goals shape your strategy – Are you trying to improve customer communications? Change the way they purchase from you? Launch a new product or service? Focus on one mission at a time and let that drive the conversation rather than allowing your IT makeover to be steered by your data center deficiencies or enterprise license agreements.
Don’t assume your legacy infrastructure needs to be put out to pasture – Unless you haven’t invested in your core infrastructure for many years, you should be able to harness your legacy systems to support some of your digital transformation initiatives. You will, however, need to rearchitect portions of your environment based on application dependencies as well as how your business is using each application. Mapping tools can perform the technology analysis, but you will also need to involve the people in your organization to fully understand what’s required.
Go hybrid – Organizations that opt for a hybrid cloud model get farther faster, according to the IDG survey results. 63% of respondents who reported enterprise-wide IT modernization progress utilize a mix of public cloud and on-premises workload deployments. In contrast, only 23% with a cloud-only strategy and 14% with no “cloud first” policy have implemented companywide people, process or technology changes to address modernization needs.
Don’t bite off more cloud than you can chew – If you try to move all workloads to the cloud at once, you will fail. Even if you have adopted a cloud-first mindset, it’s a multi-step, multi-year process that typically requires re-architecting applications, re-skilling IT teams, addressing governance issues, and a try-before-your-buy-everything strategy to avoid runaway costs. Taking a slower, phased-in approach will pay off in the end.
And that’s the fundamental lesson. IT modernization is a marathon, not a sprint. Whether you forge ahead by yourself or use third-party consultants to accelerate the process and dodge the inevitable landmines, keep moving and don’t let avoidable roadblocks slow you down. It may take some time to complete the journey, but you’ll get there eventually, be rewarded as individual projects reap business benefits along the way, and ultimately create the modern IT backbone that will help keep the business engines cranking at full speed.
Juan Orlandini, Chief Architect of cloud and data center transformation at Insight
Before you can edit PDFs, you need to be able to open them in some form of application on your PC or laptop. If you don’t have a PDF editor, you can alternatively convert them to Microsoft Word format. Here are some free options for doing so.
(Of course, not all PDF packages are expensive, and there are some great free options out there.)
Get a free trial of Adobe Acrobat DC
More accomplished than any of the free online options we mention below, is a full-blown PDF editor that thinks nothing of converting your files to Word format.
No, it’s not free, but if this is a one-off PDF you want to convert there is a seven-day free trial.
Having installed the software, open the PDF and click the Export PDF tool in the right pane, then choose Microsoft Word as the Export format. Click Export.
For longer-term free solutions read on.
Convert PDF to Word using Google Drive
Most of us have Google accounts, and if you don’t already have one then it’s free to sign up. Google Drive is part of the suite of free services, offering cloud storage and applications for your text documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
Head to , sign in and click the + New button. Choose File upload.
Browse to the PDF on your machine, then double-click it to import it to Drive.
A pop-up at the bottom right confirms your PDF has been uploaded – tap the file name to open a preview of that file.
At the top of the window is an option to Open with Google Docs – click this.
Once open in Docs you will notice some formatting changes, and the images will likely be stripped out (the other online options listed below are better at dealing with these aspects). But the text should all be present and correct, and editable as you see fit.
You can carry on working on this document within Google Docs, or click the File menu and choose Download As > Microsoft Word.
Convert PDF to Word using free online services
There is a ton of free online service that all promise to achieve the same task: convert your PDF to Word format for free. We’re using here, but you can also try , , or .
Open your browser and head to . Click ‘Select your file’ and browse to the PDF on your machine. Enter your email address below, then click Convert Now.
Wait for the email with a link to download the Word file to land in your inbox – it shouldn’t take long.
It’s almost time for the fifth series of Love Island to arrive on our screens, but with an episode every night for almost two months of the summer, how will you watch it if you’re jetting off on holiday? Here, we explain how to watch Love Island 2019 abroad, and also share when to expect Love Island to start.
When is Love Island 2019 starting?
ITV hasn’t yet announced an official start date for Love Island, but it’s likely to begin in early June. We’d place our bets on Monday 3 June for the first episode, which will air on ITV 2.
Filming has already begun, with host Caroline Flack recently revealing on Instagram that she’s been working with the new cast throughout the end of April.
How to watch Love Island 2019 online
You probably already know that you can watch Love Island on ITV2 on your TV in the UK. But if you can’t get to a TV screen, you can also watch it live on the , via the ITV Hub app (for or ) or on .
If you miss it and want to catch up online, you can do so via the or the .
If you’d like to download an episode to watch offline, perhaps on your commute or on a flight, you can subscribe to , which is available with a seven day free trial followed by a fee of £3.99 per month. Downloads are only available on the iOS app, but additional benefits include ad-free catch up for all users.
How to watch Love Island abroad
The ITV Hub+ app also allows you to catch up on Love Island and other shows when you’re abroad. However, there are limitations, including the exclusion of live TV and a restriction that only allows you to catch up on shows from within EU countries.
There is a way around this, but it’s important to point out that these methods go against ITV’s terms and conditions.
In order to watch Love Island from any country in the world, you’ll need to use a VPN. A VPN changes the location of your IP Address, so you can choose to connect to a server inside the UK to watch Love Island online.
Once you’ve installed and signed in your VPN and selected a UK server, you can head over to TVPlayer.com or ITV’s website or the ITV Player app, and log in to watch Love Island from abroad.
ITV can block VPNs from working at any time so it’s possible that it won’t always work. You should be able to contact your VPN’s support to find out why.
It’s worth first checking that you don’t have Location Access enabled on the ITV Hub app, because this can cause issues with using a VPN too. Navigate to the settings for ITV Hub on your phone or tablet to check.
Most VPNs will work on desktop or mobile, and there are also ways to install and use a VPN on devices such as the Amazon Fire TV Stick and games consoles.
EE is building a 5G network for this year’s Glastonbury Festival, giving attendees the chance to be among the first to experience next-generation network technology.
The mobile operator will erect five temporary masts to complement the permanent 4G sites it built for the festival in 2017. These sites not only provide coverage to festival-goers, but also to the residents of the Somerset village.
With EE unlikely to have made its 5G service available to consumers in time for the festival, which starts on June 28, there will be opportunities to see the network in action.
Glastonbury 5G
But most will benefit from the additional 4G coverage. EE expects data consumption to increase yet again to more than 70TB across the weekend, with Instagram posts and videos likely to cause a surge in demand.
EE will once again offer charging tents and its power bar service at Worthy Farm. Anyone can buy a power bar for £20 in the leadup to the festival and exchange it for a freshly charged one each day. EE has also been involved in the development of the official application.
“Smartphones have become a festival must-have as we’ve seen each year with more and more data being consumed at Glastonbury Festival,” said Pete Jevons, marketing communications director at BT and EE.
“As the long-standing technology partner to this iconic event, we are committed to building a network powerful enough to cope with this huge demand. With the introduction of 5G this year, we are able to trial this new technology at Worthy Farm and make history as the UK’s first 5G-connected festival.”
“We’re extremely pleased to have EE back again, providing the best possible network for our rural site,” added Glastonbury’s Emily Eavis. “And it’s great that we’re going to be one of the first places in the UK to offer 5G.”
EE has been involved with Glastonbury for six years, inheriting the partnership from Orange when it merged with T-Mobile in 2010. Previous initiatives have seen smart tents and Wi-Fi-enabled cows.
One of the UK’s most iconic sporting events has upped its technological standing with a bold new mobile partnership.
The All-England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), the organisation behind the world-famous Wimbledon tennis championships, has today announced a tie-up with Chinese phone maker Oppo, which will become its Official Smartphone Partner.
The five-year deal, starting this year, marks the AELTC’s first-ever smartphone-related partnership, and is also its first with any Asian brand.
“Pursuit of greatness”
Full details on the exact range of the partnership will be revealed soon, but it is likely that Oppo advertising will be seen around the AELTC grounds at this year’s championships, due to be held from July 1st-15th, with the company’s latest Reno device no doubt set to play a starring role.
Yet Oppo says that the deal is, “not your typical supplier relationship”, with the partnership also entailing as-yet undefined content creation and “media amplification” to encourage youth participation in the sport.
Oppo, which has previously signed similar deals with FC Barcelona and the International Cricket Council (ICC), also pledged significant support for the promotion of tennis in its home country of China, which last produced a Grand Slam winner back in 2014 when Li Na won the Australian Open.
Both organisations were keen to express their admiration for one another at the launch event attended by TechRadar Pro held at the iconic grounds.
“Both parties are bound by a spirit of the unrelenting pursuit of greatness,” said Brian Shen, Oppo Vice President
“We are a young company, and our mobile devices are a showcase of our dedication…we are able to provide a remarkable experience to all our consumers.”
“We can use this partnership to bring the beauty of grass court tennis to the world.”
“For every sports rights holder and every content holder, Asia is a very important marketplace,” Mick Desmond, AELTC commercial & media director added.
“We’re determined to build our brand and our fanbase in that territory…we believe that Oppo can help us achieve and fulfill these ambitions.”
Undo Send is one of Gmail’s most useful features for getting you out of a spot of bother, and it works both in the mobile apps and in your desktop browser. Here’s how to recall Gmail messages.
Even if you’ve not yet sent a message you regret, you should check your Gmail settings now: by default Undo Send works for only 5 seconds, though you can increase this to 30 seconds.
Increase Unsend Gmail to 30 seconds
You will need to be using a PC or laptop browser to complete this step, because even when you opt to view the Desktop version of Gmail in a mobile browser you will be shown the old version that does not contain the Undo Send feature.
So on a PC or laptop launch your web browser and open Gmail. Tap the cog icon at the top right and choose Settings. On the General tab look for Undo Send. To the right of this you’ll see ‘Send cancellation period’, by default set to 5 seconds, but you can tap on the drop-down menu to change this to 30 seconds. Now scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Save changes.
Do remember that if you increase this feature to the maximum length of time, no emails will leave your Outbox until 30 seconds have passed. So if people are complaining that the email you just sent them has not yet arrived, this is why.
Unsend Gmail on Android
When you compose an email message in Android and then tap the Send button it will automatically return you to the conversation view.
Watch carefully the bottom of the screen: you’ll see a black bar appear that says ‘Sent’ on the left, with ‘Undo’ on the right.
Quickly tap Undo and you’ll be returned to the message composition screen, where you can delete or edit the email as required.
Unsend Gmail on a PC or laptop
Recalling a Gmail message on a PC or laptop browser works much the same as it does on Android.
After you have hit Send, look to the bottom left of the screen for an option that says ‘Message sent’, with further options to Undo or View message.
Click Unsend and the message will pop up onscreen again, so you can edit or delete as required.
