TechByter Worldwide 2020-09-04: Check Out Version 1.8 of Affinity Photo, Designer, and Publisher. Short Circuits. Spare Parts.

Serif's Affinity division has released updated versions of Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, and Affinity Publisher. Despite the low prices of these applications, they pack surprisingly robust feature sets. In Short Circuits: Scammers stay up to date on news, and COVID-19 has been profitable for them. So profitable that Medicare and the Centers for Disease Control have launched a campaign to explain how contact tracing works and, just as important, how to spot a fake. • Has Microsoft set your default browser to Edge, or has something changed your preferred search engine? If so, it's an easy fix and I'll explain how for the three major browsers. In Spare Parts (only on the website): Adobe's free Photoshop Camera app for Android and IOS devices keeps getting better with the addition of free lenses that modify images taken with the app. • Acronis TrueImage 2021 doubles down on security measures with tools that scan for viruses, watch for malware, and use artificial intelligence to identify attacks before they can do damage. • Twenty years ago: A 19-inch monitor seemed gigantic, but flat-panel monitors were prohibitively expensive and those big cathode-ray tube screens left little space on the desk.