Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson

Ripples of excitement met the Surface Book when it was announced, but it's a device that has divided opinions. The price is enough to make many people balk, and the looks are not to everyone's taste, but it's the performance that Microsoft is pushing -- even if it is unwilling to back up its claims with benchmarks.

There are, however, lots of reports of problems, some of which are shared by the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4. Even before launch there was a firmware update prepared, but if you were hoping that it would fix problems with a flickering screen, freezing caused by the video driver, and problems with charging after re-attaching the keyboard, you'll be disappointed. Not that you know there was any disappointment out there thanks to the cherry-picking of positive reviews Microsoft has indulged in...

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Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg took part in a Q&A session at the Indian Institute of Technology in Dehli, responding to queries ranging from the Internet.org project to Candy Crush notifications. Not for the first time, he found himself jumping to the defence of the program which aims to connect millions of people to the internet. He denied that the walled-garden of Internet.org went against the idea of net neutrality, but conceded that people had to "follow the basic rules of what Internet.org is".

He pointed out that existing net neutrality laws made exceptions for free services, but these loopholes have been described by critics as 'fatal'. In a wide-ranging talk, Zuckerberg also announced plans to kill one of the biggest irritants of the social network -- game invites for the likes of FarmVille and Candy Crush.

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The emergence of online reviews has changed the way we choose products and services. But while the opportunity to read about other people's experiences and thoughts is helpful, online reviews are open to abuse. Fake reviews are a serious problem and it is important to know what to look out for.

Amazon is taking steps to clamp down on fakers, and #noreceiptnoreview campaign exists to help try to clean up TripAdvisor. Feefo is a feedback engine and closed review platform, and company CEO, Andrew Mabbutt knows that fake reviews are a serious problem. He has a number of tips to help consumers spot the fakes.

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If you're a fan of information overload, Twitter has some great news for you. It is now possible to follow up to 5,000 accounts, up from the previous limit of 2,000.

There are still no limits on the number of followers you can amass, but putting a cap on users' ability to follow others helps to "alleviate some of the strain on the invisible part of Twitter". But what if you have a genuine need, or desire, to follow more than 5,000 accounts? It is actually possible...

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Facebook is pretty much all about communication, so the existence of the Other Inbox has always seemed a bit weird. Receive a message from someone you don't know, and it will disappear to this message dungeon, most likely never to be seen again. The lack of notifications meant that such messages would tend to go unnoticed for months.

Now Facebook is addressing the problem. The Other Inbox is now dead, replaced by Message Requests. Now if you are contacted by someone you are not already friends with, rather than vanishing into the void, the message will generate an alert on the Messages tab on the web, and in Messenger on mobile devices.

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Bigger is usually regarded as better, but with PCs there has been a recent trend towards miniaturization. We've seen all manner of stick PCs in the last year or so, and MagicStick is the latest contender to throw its hat into the ring. Rather than just being a run-of-the-mill clone of the competition, the MagicStick proudly proclaims itself to be the "fastest pocket computer based on Intel's latest 14nm Cherry Trail processor".

The HDMI stick can be plugged directly into a television, monitor, or projector, and managed to smash its Indiegogo target in just four days. The specs are certainly impressive, rivalling many laptop and desktop systems and -- unlike other similar portables -- there are numerous configurations available. Oh, and it's IoT-ready.

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The rollout of Windows 10 continues apace, and next on the list of devices to get the operating system is the Xbox One. What this means is that the console will gain what has been dubbed the "new Xbox One experience" (or NXOE) that Preview Program members already have access to.

Microsoft's Phil Spencer has revealed that the update will be made available to Xbox One users on 12 November, so there's just over a fortnight to wait. NXOE brings not just a new look and Cortana (eventually), but also backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games.

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Android and iOS users are about to find that Facebook is much more useful. A new update that is rolling out across the US brings personalized notifications to the app that extend far beyond details of status updates and birthdays.

To help you keep on top of your schedule, Facebook now also displays information about friends' life events, reminders about TV shows, details about events you've joined, and sports scores. There are also a number of optional components that are tailored to where you are.

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Consumer opinion about wearable devices is somewhat divided, accordingly to a new survey by Juniper Research. The company found that the wearables market is dominated by Apple and Samsung, but it is Apple that manages to take the 'coolest brand' crown.

Microsoft will be disappointed to find itself ranked in 13th place, but the survey shows that it is the familiar technology companies that remain the most popular. Fashion and designer brands like Nike, Rolex, and Ralph Lauren account for a tiny percentage of sales. The research also found that there is a limit to what people are willing to pay for a wearable.

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A lawsuit brought against the NSA by Wikimedia and eight other plaintiffs has been dismissed by a federal judge. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the case on behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation alleging that the NSA had engaged in mass surveillance of Wikipedia users.

Joined by the likes of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International USA, Wikimedia complained about the NSA's upstream surveillance as revealed by Edward Snowden. The ACLU suggested that the sheer volume of traffic Wikipedia receives means that the US government's surveillance must have included spying on the activities of Wikipedia users. Judge T.S. Ellis disagreed, saying that the plaintiffs did not have plausibility -- or size -- on their side.

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The Wi-Fi Assist feature found in iOS 9 has caught some people unawares, and many have complained that they have been landed with large bills due to increased data usage. Two individuals have filed a class action lawsuit in California against Apple, alleging that the company failed to properly explain how Wi-Fi Assist works.

While Wi-Fi Assist can be disabled, the plaintiffs say that Apple should reimburse anyone who found they were pushed over their data usage limits. The company now needs to defend itself against charges of violating Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, and negligent misrepresentation. Apple is also accused of downplaying the risk of exceeding data limits.

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TripAdvisor quickly became one of the most useful websites, and subsequently the most useful apps, to have been developed in recent times. But it also has a dark side. Like any site that allows users to leave reviews, TripAdvisor suffers with the problem of fakes. A new Twitter campaign hopes to help cut down the number of fraudulent reviews.

Fake reviews are not a problem that is specific to TripAdvisor -- Amazon has gone as far as suing people it believes to be fabricating reviews -- but a group of people have joined forces to try to do something about it. Concerned that there are a huge number of reviews written by people who have not actually visited the establishment they are reviewing, the #noreceiptnoreview campaign proposes that people should only be permitted to share their reviews upon the production of receipt.

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Mozilla is starting an open source-supporting award program with an initial allocation of $1 million. The company has long been a proponent of open source software, and now wants to give something back to the community on which it so heavily relies.

The Mozilla Open Source Support (MOSS) is described as a way of both giving back to the community, but also giving forward to up and coming projects that could benefit others. A key feature of the program is a focus on improving the security of open source software, and Mozilla is looking to identify up to ten projects to help fund by the middle of December.

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The release of iOS 9 meant a lot of things to a lot a people. For Tor it means that the privacy-focused browser will finally be able to make its way to iPhones around the world. No particular timetable has been set out, but an iOS version of the anonymizing browser is on the cards.

In fact, it is more than just the Tor browser that's on the way -- "there are a bunch of pieces in the works", according to developer Nathan Freitas. Bringing Tor tools to iOS 9 will bring Apple's mobile devices in line with Android, and it's all thanks to new capabilities in the latest version of the operating system.

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Facebook and privacy are not words you tend to find together in the same sentence -- at least not in a positive sense. Just a few days ago, the social network announced that all public posts were to be made searchable -- although it wasn't really billed as such.

You might not be entirely happy with this. While you may now be careful that you only share posts with your friends, a huge number of historic posts have now been made searchable. If you'd prefer to keep your content private, now is the time to act.

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