Joel Lee

United States

Senior Editor at PCWorld

Editor in Chief @whatnerdcom

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Articles

The 'inetpub' folder in Windows is laughably easy to circumvent

1 day ago | pcworld.com | Laura Pippig |Joel Lee

A few weeks ago, we reported that a mysterious folder called “inetpub” appeared on numerous Windows PCs after one of the April updates was installed on them. The initial impression was that this was a bug, as the folder was empty and apparently served no function. Microsoft later explained that the inetpub folder is important for Windows security because it was created to patch the CVE-2025-21204 vulnerability.
OpenAI's latest AI models can 'think with images' and combine tools

6 days ago | pcworld.com | Viktor Eriksson |Joel Lee

Earlier this week via blog post, OpenAI released their newest AI models: o3 and o4-mini. These models are the company’s “smartest and most capable models to date” and their first reasoning models that can also reason when it comes to images. What does that mean? In short, these AI models can use an image—such as a photograph or a sketch—as part of an analysis. The models can also adjust, zoom in on, and rotate an image during reasoning.
Discord is making some users verify their age using face and ID scans

6 days ago | pcworld.com | Viktor Eriksson |Joel Lee

Discord has started restricting some users from accessing sensitive content on the communication platform until you verify your age, according to a new support page (spotted by The Verge). The verification process involves either scanning your face with a webcam or visiting a QR code with your mobile device and uploading a photo of your ID card. This is a one-time verification, with options to re-verify or undergo a manual review if the process fails.
Over 50 malicious Chrome extensions are secretly spying on you

6 days ago | pcworld.com | Mikael Markander |Joel Lee

Secure Annex cybersecurity researcher John Tuckner has identified 57 malicious Chrome extensions that can be used to track your activities or run malware. Although most of the extensions in question aren’t available on the Chrome Web Store, they’ve still been downloaded over 6 million times, BleepingComputer reports.
Infamous site 4chan taken down by a hacker from rival community

1 week ago | pcworld.com | Mikael Markander |Joel Lee

A few days ago, on April 14, the infamous internet forum known as 4chan.org was subjected to a major hacking attack, which took down the site and made it inaccessible. As of this writing, the site remains down. 4chan has been embroiled in a long series of controversies since its launch in 2003. As an anonymous forum, it has developed its own unique flavor of edgy internet counterculture.
Patreon challenges Twitch with its own 24/7 live streaming feature

1 week ago | pcworld.com | Viktor Eriksson |Joel Lee

Twitch has long been the king of live streaming, unfazed by the likes of YouTube Live, Kick, and Mixer (RIP). But there’s a new challenger on the block in Patreon, which will start allowing its creators to conduct live broadcasts directly on the platform, reports TechCrunch. What’s interesting is that Patreon’s native live streaming feature won’t need any third-party apps. Say goodbye to OBS and Crowdcast, because you’ll be able to broadcast live using the Patreon mobile app or website.
Microsoft confirms plan to kill its legacy PDF reader in Edge soon

1 week ago | pcworld.com | Mikael Markander |Joel Lee

Two years ago, Microsoft replaced the built-in PDF reader in the Edge browser, but the fact is that many users have continued sticking with the old legacy PDF reader to this day. Back in 2023, the PDF engine in Edge was switched over to Adobe’s PDF engine, but the rollout only made it the default engine on consumer devices. Business devices had to opt into the new engine, while consumer devices could switch back by tweaking a browser flag setting.
Windows 11 being offered on business PCs even when admins block it

1 week ago | pcworld.com | Laura Pippig |Joel Lee

The deadline for Windows 10’s end of support is rapidly approaching, but companies and small businesses have good reason not to rush the switch over to Windows 11 just yet. That’s why many use Microsoft Intune, a cloud-based solution that allows administrators to manage multiple devices and define policies for things like updates. However, a bug in Intune is causing devices to upgrade to Windows 11 despite the update being blocked.
Steam has a hidden tool that shows how much you've spent over the years

1 week ago | pcworld.com | Viktor Eriksson |Joel Lee

Some users on Reddit have noticed (and are even horrified) that there’s a hidden tool in Steam that lets you see exactly how much money you’ve spent on the digital PC gaming marketplace platform. You can access this tool yourself by logging into Steam and navigating to Help > Steam Support > My Account > Data Related to Your Steam Account > External Funds Used.
Recent Microsoft Edge optimizations have made it up to 9% faster

1 week ago | pcworld.com | Mikael Markander |Joel Lee

If you use Microsoft Edge as one of your browsers and if you want to get the most out of it, you should update it as soon as possible. According to a recent Microsoft Edge dev blog post, version 134 (released in March) is up to 9 percent faster than previous versions as measured by Speedometer 3.0, which is an open-source benchmark that measures browser performance for real-world scenarios (e.g., the responsiveness of a web app with simulated workloads).