06 December 2017

15 Funny Questions You Can Ask Your Google Home


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Smart speakers can be as entertaining as they are useful. If you need a break after the work of setting up your Google Home, why not try out some of the hilarious phrases built right in? Just like Alexa’s goofy responses, the following are all phrases you can say to your Google Home for a funny or weird answer. And if you don’t have a Google Home, these all work with the Google Assistant on Android too! Download: Google Assistant for Android | iOS (Free) 1. “Hey Google, Sing Me a Song” You might think Google Home’s talents don’t include taking...

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Lyft’s self-driving pilot with nuTonomy begins rolling out in Boston


 Lyft is beginning its self-driving car pilot with self-driving car company nuTonomy in Boston as it looks to ramp up its self-driving efforts, and is now matching its riders with self-driving vehicles in parts of Boston, nuTonomy said today. Lyft announced its partnership with nuTonomy in June this year, indicating that the pilots would begin in the coming months. It looks like the project… Read More

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You Can Now Use Amazon Prime Video on Apple TV


After years of being a no-show, Amazon Prime Video is finally available on Apple TV. In a nutshell this means Amazon Prime subscribers can now watch Prime Video content on their Apple TV. Just in time for the new season of The Grand Tour, which should cut down on the levels of piracy. For reasons only the two companies know, Prime Video has never been available on Apple TV. It has been possible to play Prime Video on your Apple TV using AirPlay, but users were crying out for a dedicated app. And now, after years of waiting, there’s a...

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Latest Google Sheets release helps automate pivot table creation


 The spreadsheet gurus in your organization know how to use pivot tables to pull meaningful insight out of a morass of numbers. It has been what separated those folks from the rest of us, but Google is out to democratize the pivot table in the latest version of Google Sheets announced today. Google is achieving this by adding some artificial intelligence under the hood. The new features build… Read More
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How to Configure a RAID HDD Array in Linux


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Got spare hard disk drives that you want to use more efficiently with your Linux computer? RAID can provide a performance boost, or add redundancy, depending on how it’s configured. Let’s take a quick dive into the multi-disk world. RAID 101 A Redundant Array of Inexpensive (or Independent) Disks (RAID) is a collection of drives working cohesively to provide benefit to a system. These benefits can either be performance, redundancy or both. The usual configurations you will come across are RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, and RAID 10. We’ve summarized them below. Other configurations exist, but these...

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Here’s the Secret to Focus and Productivity You’re Missing


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The multitasking myth is pervasive. No matter how much multitasking research we see, we continue to tell ourselves that most people can’t multitask, but we can. Time and time again, research shows that when we think we’re multitasking, we’re not actually doing more than a thing at once. We’re switching back and forth between activities, and that a phenomenon known as “switching cost” makes us less efficient (and may put us in danger). Image Credit: Daxiao_Productions/DepositPhotos But… There is one particular type of multitasking that could be more efficient. Maybe not as efficient as focusing on a single task. But...

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Oath and Mozilla are suing each other after Firefox switches back to Google search


 Firefox’s default search engine has become the subject of a hotly contested legal battle, a few weeks after Mozilla announced it would be moving from Yahoo to Google. Yahoo’s new parent Oath filed a complaint against Mozilla in a California court on December 1, alleging a breach of contract. Now Mozilla has filed a counter complaint, stating that the switch back was in line with a… Read More
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Lytro’s ‘living pictures’ cease to live


 As part of its move away from consumer gear towards professional cinema hardware, Lytro has killed off the site that once hosted “living pictures,” still photos taken with its cameras that could be refocused after the fact. This will turn a handful of those pictures, where they had been embedded on the web over the past few years, into empty frames. Read More

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Gomer is a soft robot that can bother your cat


 If there’s any sort of trend in robotics this year it’s soft hands. Robots with soft pinchers are quite useful in picking up – and not breaking – objects and now you can enjoy a soft-handed robot at home. The robot is called Gomer and it’s available now on Indiegogo. The little robot had an expressive face and a big claw on top. You can play games with Gomer… Read More

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Google Play Family Library: Share Your Paid Apps, Movies, and More on Android


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It isn’t uncommon for families to want to use the same apps, play the same games, and watch the same movies. But you don’t want to have to pay for them all multiple times. Google’s Family Library solves the problem. It lets you share much your Play Store purchases with the rest of your family, including movies, books, and games. It also makes it easy to set up a family calendar, maintain collaborative lists, and share photos. Let’s take a look at what you need to know about Family Library, and how to get started. How Google Play Family Library...

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Try Google Voice Typing for These 5 Practical Reasons Today


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We’ve shown you how to do voice dictation on Android and voice dictation on iOS, but Google Docs Voice Typing is in a class of its own. It isn’t just a dictation tool — it has all the ingredients you need to create and edit a full-formatted document. If you aren’t acquainted with it yet, check out our starter guide to using Voice Typing in Google Docs. You’ll learn everything you need to know to start dictating like a pro. Once you’re comfortable, here are some interesting use cases for Voice Typing in your life. 1. Writing a Novel or...

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Amazon Prime Video finally lands on Apple TV


 Tim Cook said six months ago Amazon Prime Video was coming to Apple TV sometime before the end of the year. And here it is: the long-awaited app is finally available on Apple TV and the iOS flavor was updated to support the iPhone X. The native tvOS versions is compatible with Apple TV 3rd generation devices or later. If the app isn’t visible yet, try searching for Amazon Prime Video on… Read More

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What Is WSAPPX and Why Does It Cause High Disk and CPU Usage in Windows 10?


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If you’ve ever scrolled through the list of processes running in the Task Manager, you might have come across an entry named WSAPPX. It’s notable for two reasons: its strange name can raise suspicion, and it often uses a lot of CPU and disk resources. We’re here to explain what the WSAPPX process is, what it’s for, and how you can deal with its high disk and CPU usage. What Is WSAPPX? WSAPPX is a process that handles the new Universal apps and the Microsoft Store (formerly Windows Store) in Windows 8 and 10. Since these Modern/Universal apps didn’t exist...

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How to Outline Text in Photoshop


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Outline any text in Adobe Photoshop to make it stand out. The best part is, it’s quick to do and easy to learn even if you’re a Photoshop beginner. And this is just one of the many type effects you can learn in Photoshop. But be subtle. Subtlety is important because you can create beautiful effects with just the right font combination, otherwise outlined text can look overdone. How to Outline Text in Photoshop This method uses Layer Styles to create the stroke. It also allows the type layer to remain editable. You can also use the steps below to add a stroke...

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Google’s New Android App Can Help You Save Data


Unless you have an unlimited plan (which is expensive), using less data is a concern for many Android users. Most of the enjoyable tasks you do with your phone all suck up data and can cost you dearly if you’re not careful. To this end, Google has just released a new Android app called Datally. It’s a user-friendly tool for controlling your data usage, and everyone on limited data plans can benefit from it. Start by downloading the app from Google Play, then pop it open. Accept the terms of service, then you’ll have to give the app permission to...

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Google launches a data-friendly search app for users in emerging markets


 Google is continuing its push to make its services accessible for people with lower-end mobile devices or slow internet connections after it introduced Google Go, a data-friendly search app. The app was first spotted in beta in August — when it was known as Search Lite — and now it has been released for select Android devices (here). At just 5MB the app won’t take up huge… Read More
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How to Share Google Calendar With Others


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For millions of people, Google Calendar is the diary and task management app of choice. Given so many people have a Gmail address and a Google Account, it’s an easy and fast solution. And thanks to the app’s recent redesign, it now looks better than ever. Of course, the app is packed with fancy features and hidden tricks, but today, we’re going back to basics: how to share a Google Calendar with friends, family, or colleagues. You have two sharing possibilities. You can either make the calendar public so everyone can see it, or you can share it with a...

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This Spotify Playlist Is Your Soundtrack for 2017


Spotify is clearly keen to bring 2017 to an early close, and to hurry proceedings up the streaming service has launched Your 2017 Wrapped. This is Spotify’s look back at your listening habits over the past 12 months, with statistics to peruse and a 100-song playlist full of your favorites. It would be a boring world if we all liked the same music. Thankfully, this isn’t the case, and while one person can happily rock out to metal all night, someone else will prefer to chill out to jazz. Music is a personal thing, and that’s what makes Spotify’s Your...

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The Snapdragon 845 is Qualcomm’s next flagship processor


 It was a busy day in Maui as Qualcomm kicked off this year’s Snapdragon Tech Summit. The San Diego chipmaker announced a two-in-one PC form factor powered by the Snapdragon 835 that has some big name hardware partners like Asus and HP behind it. The company also used the opportunity to tease its latest flagship processor, the Snapdragon 845. Details are still pretty scarce, but the… Read More

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Foursquare VP of business development Mike Harkey has left for Google


 Foursquare’s VP of business development Mike Harkey, who has been with the company for more than 5 years, has left to join Google as its director of global product partnerships. His LinkedIn page shows that he joined Google this month after serving a lengthy tenure at Foursquare, which has seen a significant shift from an early darling as a check-in product to one with a robust… Read More
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Foursquare VP of business development Mike Harkey has left for Google


 Foursquare’s VP of business development Mike Harkey, who has been with the company for more than 5 years, has left to join Google as its director of global product partnerships. His LinkedIn page shows that he joined Google this month after serving a lengthy tenure at Foursquare, which has seen a significant shift from an early darling as a check-in product to one with a robust… Read More

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As tbh popularity wanes, Facebook launches ‘Did You Know’ social questionnaire


 Facebook wants you to share a bit more about yourself on your profile, so today it’s launching a new feature to web and mobile users called “Did You Know,” where you can answer questions about yourself to clue friends into your secrets, dreams, goals and feelings. Read More
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Google Launches Android Go for Budget Smartphones


Google has launched Android Oreo (Go Edition), or Android Go for short. This is a pared-down version of Android Oreo designed for budget smartphones, and it comes with lightweight versions of core apps such as Chrome, Google Play, Google Maps, Google Assistant, and the new Files Go. While iOS set the early pace when it came to smartphones, Android has since taken the lead. And having captured one billion users, Google is now going after “the next billion” users. These users will primarily live in developing countries, which is why Google is launching Android Go. A Pared-Down Version of Android...

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Apple introduces a new pay-per-install ad product called Search Ads Basic


 Apple today is introducing a new way for app developers to acquire users for their apps: it’s launching a pay-per-install advertising product called Search Ads Basic. The “basic” branding signals that this product is being aimed at smaller developers compared with the existing Search Ads product, which is now being renamed to Search Ads Advanced. Launched last year, Search… Read More

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