Technology

The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), a blockchain standards organization and Hyperledger, an open source collaborative under the auspices of The Linux Foundation, today announced they have joined each other's groups.

The two groups said the joint associate membership will lead to an open-source, standards-based, cross-platform collaboration that can accelerate adoption of the distributed ledger technology for business.

When it comes to modern technology, every second counts.

It may sound silly, but it's true: A second is the difference between an interaction on your phone feeling instantaneous and feeling just a touch too slow. And particularly with how frequently we tend to repeat common mobile tech tasks — switching apps, opening menus, firing up our cameras and so on — all of those seconds can add up fast.

The good news: Android has no shortage of hidden shortcuts that can help you save time and get stuff done more efficiently. All you have to do is learn how to use 'em.

Ready

1. Snap between apps

Cut out delays in toggling between apps by putting Android's semi-secret fast-snap function to use. If your device runs Android 7.0 (Nougat) or higher and uses the traditional Back, Home and Overview setup, double-tap the Overview key — the square-shaped icon — and you'll find yourself flipping between your two most recently used apps faster than you can say "fresh Froyo."

Microsoft's tired Internet Explorer (IE) last month slumped below 10% for the first time, dragging down the company's total browser user share to a record low.

According to California analytics vendor Net Applications, IE's user share plummeted by nine-tenths of a percentage point in September, falling to 9.94%. The bulk of that - approximately 83% - was accounted for by IE 11, the final version of the 23-year-old browser. It's IE 11 that is run in Windows 7 and Windows 10; the browser is relegated to legacy status on the latter.

Together, IE and Edge - the default browser for Windows 10 - controlled just 14% of the September global user share, a decline of 1.1 percentage points from the month prior. That 14% figure was a record low for this century.