14 February 2018

How to Watch the Best Oscar-Nominated Films of 2018


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This year’s Oscar nominees are as varied as always: they include everything from sober documentaries to comic book superheroes; from World War II dramas to Disney musicals. While many of the big nominees are still playing in theaters, there are plenty of titles you can watch right now without taking a trip to the cinema. In this article, we’ll point you towards 16 of the best nominated films on HBO, Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, YouTube, and Google Play. 1. Dunkirk A favorite to win Best Picture, Dunkirk is a historical World War II drama that tells the story of the daring...

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How DuckDuckGo’s New Privacy Apps Keep You Safe Online


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Lots of people know DuckDuckGo as the privacy-focused search engine. Whether you like DuckDuckGo because you’re sick of Google or just love its cool bang feature, there are plenty of reasons to check it out. Now here’s another: DuckDuckGo just launched updated browser extensions and mobile apps to help keep you safe and your data more private online. Let’s take a look at what they offer. DuckDuckGo’s New Browser Extensions DuckDuckGo offered browser extensions prior to this major update, but they were pretty basic. They set your default search engine as DuckDuckGo and allowed you to quickly access the website...

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MIT’s new chip could bring neural nets to battery-powered gadgets


 MIT researchers have developed a chip designed to speed up the hard work of running neural networks, while also reducing the power consumed when doing so dramatically – by up to 95 percent, in fact. The basic concept involves simplifying the chip design so that shuttling of data between different processors on the same chip is taken out of the equation. The big advantage of this new… Read More

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U.S. intelligence agencies are still warning against buying Huawei and ZTE phones


 Things are still looking pretty bleak for Huawei’s plans to conquer the U.S. market. Earlier this week, half a dozen top members of intelligence agencies, including the FBI, CIA and NSA reaffirmed surveillance concerns about the company and fellow Chinese smartphone maker ZTE. All of this is nothing new, of course. The companies’ troubles date back at least as far back as 2012,… Read More

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10 Money Management Windows Apps for Effective Budgeting


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Managing the money you make, cash you spend, and chunks you owe to others can be tedious. But with simple Windows apps, you can see where those dollars go and make a plan to pay off your debts. These free tools take the work out of budgeting and planning. They have just the features you need to make your money work for you. Income and Expense Trackers With any type of budget, keeping track of income and expenses is key. Watch where your money goes and how much you can afford for those little extras with these great Windows apps....

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Facebook’s kid texting app Messenger Kids arrives on Android


 Facebook’s controversial app Messenger Kids, which lets parents control who kids can talk to, is today rolling out to Android devices in the U.S. with its launch on Google Play. The app will also now include a variety of new features for Valentine’s Day, like themed makes, stickers and frames, so kids can send special Valentine messages to their friends and family. Android is the… Read More
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Snapchat finally gives creators analytics


 Snapchat has always been terrible at analytics, only showing daily Story view counts that content creators had to screenshot just before they disappeared every 24 hours in order to prove their worth to sponsors. But starting today, tens of thousands creators who make official Stories or have large followings will start seeing a slew of view count and demographic analytics on their Snapchat… Read More
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Tinder to adopt Bumble’s ‘ladies first’ feature in a future update


 Tinder will make a change to its dating app in an upcoming update that will allow women to message first, according to a report from MarketWatch this morning, which TechCrunch has also confirmed. The new option will allow women to choose when to start a conversation, but it will not be the default setting as it is in Bumble. Instead, women will be able to decide whether or not they want to… Read More
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Snapchat finally gives creators analytics


 Snapchat has always been terrible at analytics, only showing daily Story view counts that content creators had to screenshot just before they disappeared every 24 hours in order to prove their worth to sponsors. But starting today, tens of thousands creators who make official Stories or have large followings will start seeing a slew of view count and demographic analytics on their Snapchat… Read More

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Streaming vs. Downloading Netflix and Co: What Should You Use?


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The last decade has seen the unstoppable rise of apps like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu. They’ve transformed the way we watch TV. Indeed, in the United States, more people now subscribe to Netflix than to cable TV services. But on-demand streaming isn’t right for everyone. If you’re one of the millions of people who have decided to cut the cord, you’ve got a decision to make: should you stream or download your content? Both approaches have pros and cons, and both are suitable for different types of user. There are a lot of variables which can affect your...

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Pinterest will finally let you rearrange your pins


 Good morning and happy Wednesday, everyone! Here is a thing that falls under Today In Very Good Things: Pinterest is going to, finally, finally, let you move pins around on your boards. This seems really small and trivial but, really, this is one of the biggest quality of life improvements to the service that I’ve seen (and probably many others) in many months now. Pinterest has been… Read More

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Overtime gets $9.5M to build a new style of sports network that young people will actually watch


 ESPN may be going from a sure-fire cable bounty to something that needs a little more flexibility in a cord-cutting era — like launching a new streaming service in 2018. But an even more troublesome trend may be emerging among younger sports fans, according to Overtime CEO Dan Porter: they just aren’t getting the content the way they want it. Indeed, a recent study by the NCAA… Read More

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YouTube TV raises pricing, expands with Turner, NBA, MLB additions


 YouTube TV today announced a significant expansion of its channel lineup thanks to new deals with Turner, NBA TV, and MLB Network. A number of Turner-owned networks will be added to YouTube TV’s base package starting now, including TNT, TBS, CNN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, HLN, truTV, and Turner Classic Movies. NBA TV and MLB Network will soon follow. Unfortunately for cord cutters,… Read More
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August’s Smart Locks proved to be the key to my smarthome puzzle


 When smart home tech first started coming out, I was hopeful, but also skeptical. It seemed overly complicated, with too many hoops to jump through and a relative inability to meld old and new for situations like rental apartments and older homes. Now, though, the range and breadth of smart home tech means you can find something to suit just about every need, and I find my entire house is… Read More

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Your Friends Can Track You Through Snapchat: Here’s How to Stop Them


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In mid-2017, Snapchat launched Snap Map, a stalky new feature that lets you see where your friends are, and shows your friends where you are. If it sounds creepy, that’s because it is. And what’s especially worrying is that not many users know much about Snap Map, at all. So, what’s it all about? How does it work? How safe is it? And how can you turn it off? What Is Snap Map? Snap Map is a pretty intuitive world map built into Snapchat that gives you a more detailed look at where people are Snapping from at any given...

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The OneNote FAQ: Answers to Your Note-Taking Questions


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Are you new to OneNote? Maybe you have you recently switched from Evernote to OneNote? Or are you still trying to find the right note-taking app for you? Whatever the case, you probably have some questions about OneNote. We have answers for you. What Is Microsoft OneNote? OneNote is a digital notebook that allows you to create and store notes that can contain anything, like typed text, handwritten text and drawings, images, web links, clipped web pages, audio, video, and more. Information stored in OneNote syncs across your devices, like your computer (Windows and Mac), your iPhone or Android phone,...

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How Chrome’s built-in ad blocker will work when it goes live tomorrow


 Chrome’s built-in ad blocker will go live tomorrow. It’s the first time Google will automatically block some ads in Chrome, but while quite a few online publishers are fretting about this move, as a regular user, you may not even notice it. Read More

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How Chrome’s built-in ad blocker will work when it goes live tomorrow


 Chrome’s built-in ad blocker will go live tomorrow. It’s the first time Google will automatically block some ads in Chrome, but while quite a few online publishers are fretting about this move, as a regular user, you may not even notice it. Read More
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Microsoft Wants to Help You Find Your Next Travel Adventure


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Stuck in a cubicle with a beautiful wallpaper as the closest thing to travel inspiration? In this day, travel is supposed to be easy: pack your bags and book a ticket. But often it’s not. Time is a major hurdle and the time to research the next great travel spot is a procrastination trigger. But why should you let time and laziness get you down when apps can do the heavy lifting? Outings is a neat app from Microsoft that aims to be the next star in the galaxy of travel assistants. For now, it is only available in the US...

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Adikteev raises $12 million for its mobile marketing platform


 French startup Adikteev raised a $12 million funding round led by Ring Capital and BNP Paribas Développement, with existing investors ISAI, Ventech and Laurent Asscher also participating. It’s also worth noting that it represents Ring Capital’s first investment after raising its initial $170 million fund. Adikteev is an adtech startup that previously acquired Motion Lead, a… Read More

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HTC’s smartphone chief and ex-CFO, Chialin Chang, resigns


 HTC’s smartphone and connected devices president and former CFO, Chialin Chang, has resigned. The move, spotted earlier by Engadget, was announced today and is effective immediately. Read More

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Beware: Stop Using Autofill in Your Password Manager


Security experts discourage using autofill and autocomplete features in browsers and password managers, mainly because autofill features can be exploited by hackers. FreeCodeCamp offers a good and simple explanation as to what can happen in Chrome in particular: “A hacker can hide form input fields on a web page, which Chrome will then fill in with your personal information if you opt to use its autocomplete feature.” So how do you turn off autofill? How to Turn Off Autofill in LastPass Click on the LastPass browser icon. Click Preferences. In the browser window that opens, under General make sure that Automatically...

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How to Back Up a Spotify Playlist


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By now, you should know that making backups of your data is an essential part of managing your digital life, but perhaps you’ve never really thought about how those best practices extend to the world of digital entertainment. As a Spotify user, you probably have tens—if not hundreds—of playlists on your account, and those playlists contain thousands of songs. Wouldn’t it be awful to lose it all? You’d never remember all the stuff you’d saved, would you? Well, thankfully, you don’t have to let it get to that point. You can back up your Spotify playlists using a simple third-party web...

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AMP for email is a terrible idea


 Google just announced a plan to “modernize” email, allowing “engaging, interactive, and actionable email experiences.” Does that sound like a terrible idea to anyone else? It sure sounds like a terrible idea to me, and not only that, but an idea borne out of competitive pressure and existing leverage rather than user needs. Not good, Google. Send to trash. Read More
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How to Launch Your Chrome Bookmarks With Keyboard Shortcuts


Most people rely on browser bookmarks for quick navigation. But like most forms of mouse input, working with them is pretty slow. It only takes a second to click on the most-used icons on your bookmarks bar, but fishing through folders is a slog. Thankfully, you have better methods for launching Chrome bookmarks. Let’s take a look at the various ways you can interact with your favorite sites using Chrome keyboard shortcuts. Add Custom Search Engines Did you know that you can search all sorts of websites right through Chrome’s Omnibox? Aside from your default search engine, you can set...

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You Can Play Overwatch for Free This Weekend


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As popular a game as Overwatch already is, there is always room for more players. Which is why Blizzard is offering you and everyone you know the chance to play Overwatch for free this weekend. And that applies whether you’re playing on PC, PlayStation 4, or Xbox One. Overwatch is a team-based first-person shooter released in May 2016. Since then the game has grown into a phenomenon, with millions of fans worldwide. Unfortunately, that popularity means Overwatch has remained expensive to buy, which is why you may want to play for free. The Overwatch Free Weekend This, the latest Overwatch...

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Twitter’s Dorsey downplays acquisition possibilities, sees “strength to our independence”


 If you’re a Twitter shareholder wondering if the company is about to get acquired, co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey doesn’t want you to get that impression. “There’s a lot of strength to our independence,” he said, at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday. Dorsey believes that it’s important for Twitter’s… Read More
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Time Warner will be fine even if the AT&T acquisition doesn’t go through


 Time Warner will be fine even if the government blocks the bid from AT&T to buy the company. That’s the word from John Martin, the free-wheeling chief executive of Time Warner subsidiary, Turner Inc., who was speaking at the Code Media conference in Huntington Beach. For the record, Martin says that the government’s position on the acquisition offer is “stupid” and… Read More
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Particle announces the Mesh board, an easy way to make your DIY talk to itself


 Particle – which used to be called Spark – has released the third generation of their tiny, networked computing boards. Their new product, called Mesh, allows you to connect wither to a Wi-Fi or cellular network but also allows you to create a mesh network between multiple Mesh devices. This lets you create a mesh network similar to popular IoT devices from Nest and Netgear. The… Read More

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