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Improving our lot has been a fixation throughout virtually all of human history, so it shouldn't come as any great surprise that Microsoft couldn't help itself when it became time to update its OS -- an OS that we had all learned to use expertly over the last 20 years or so.   That obsession, along with a need to keep about 100,000 employees occupied, resulted in Windows 8's improvements over Windows 7 -- the strange omission of the Start button and the hiding of the Windows Desktop, that icon-studded screen we used to launch into. Well, if you don't like improvement, are simply a Luddite or just fondly miss the Windows Desktop, you can take matters into your own hands. Here's how to start Windows 8.1 into Desktop mode -- bypassing the new, improved tile-based look -- plus a couple of other tricks. Update Windows 8 to Free Windows 8.1 (If You Haven't Yet)   Step 1: Make a backup of your personal files by swiping in from the ...

Facebook has introduced OpenCellular, an inexpensive, open source wireless access platform. Telecom operators, entrepreneurs, OEMs and researchers will be able to build, implement, deploy and operate wireless infrastructures to serve people living in remote areas. The platform is available in various options,rangingfrom a network in a box to an access point. It supports all existing wireless systems -- everything from 2G to LTE, Facebook said. The platform is available in various options, ranging from a network in a box to an access point. It supports all existing wireless systems -- everything from 2G to LTE, Facebook said. However, it "contains no reference to bands used, as far as I could tell," noted Chris Taylor, a research director at Strategy Analytics . "Having to support 45-plus bands could break the bank, but I suppose they could instead cover the 24 or so most popular bands, as done in the latest iPhone 6s models," he told TechNews...