Facebook Stories reveals 150M daily viewers and tests first ads

After 14 months of silence since launching, Facebook Stories has finally announced a 150 million daily active user count for its Snapchat Stories clone. And now it’s time to earn some money off it. Facebook Stories will start testing its first ads today in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil.

They’re 5- to 15-second video ads users can skip, and while there’s no click-through or call to action now, Facebook plans to add that in the coming months. Advertisers can easily extend their Instagram Stories ads to this new surface, or have Facebook automatically reformat their News Feed ads with color-matched borders and text at the bottom. Facebook also plans to give businesses more metrics on their Stories performance to convince them the feature is worth their ad dollars.

Advertisers can extend their Instagram Stories ads to Facebook Stories (left), or have Facebook reformat their News Feed ads with color-matched image borders and ad copy text shown at the bottom

Facebook has to nail Stories ads to preserve its business, as CPO Chris Cox said this month that Stories sometime next year will surpass feed posts as the top way to share. CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned that Facebook must ensure “that ads are as good in Stories as they are in feeds. If we don’t do this well, then as more sharing shifts to Stories, that could hurt our business.” Despite criticism that the feature is obtrusive and redundant with Instagram Stories, Facebook is proving there’s no retreating from the ephemeral slideshow format. And Snapchat could see ad spend slip over to Facebook, especially since the big blue social network has so much targeting data on us.

The race for storytellers

Facebook is defining a daily user for Stories as anyone who watches one. That’s useful, because it means it’s not counting users who simply cross-post their Stories from Instagram or Messenger to Facebook, which would inflate the number.

For context, here’s a breakdown of Stories daily user counts and total monthly user counts across the top players, ranked by size:

1. WhatsApp Status: 450 million daily out of 1.5 billion monthly as of May 2018
2. Instagram Stories: 300 million daily out of 800 million monthly as of November 2017
3. Snapchat (whole app): 191 million daily as of May 2018, launched
4. Facebook Stories: 150 million daily out of 2.2 billion monthly as of May 2018
5. Messenger Day/Stories: 70 million daily out of 1.3 billion monthly as of September 2017

Instagram Stories also started showing ads when it hit 150 million users, though that was just five months after launch, while it’s taken Facebook Stories 14 months to get there.

The real opportunity for Facebook’s future engagement growth is bringing the Stories format to the international market that Snapchat has largely neglected for four years and only recently got serious about by re-engineering its Android app. WhatsApp capitalized on Snap’s focus on U.S. teens by surging to become the top Stories product thanks to youth across the globe. And now Facebook is specifically building Stories features for countries like India, such as the new audio posts to help users with non-native language keyboards, and cloud storage so you can privately save photos and videos to Facebook for those without room on their phones.

Facebook Stories lets you shoot 360 photos without a 360 camera with this cool “paint with the lens” interface

Since testing in January 2017 and then launching in March 2017, Facebook has been rapidly iterating on its version of Stories in hopes of making it more unique and apt to its audience. That includes adding cross-posting from its other apps and a desktop interface, advanced shutter formats like Boomerang and new augmented reality features like 3D doodling and real-world QR and image triggers that anchor AR to a location.

Oh, and there’s one bonus unannounced feature we’ve spotted. Facebook Stories can now shoot 360 photos without a 360 camera. It uses a cool interface that shows you where to “paint” your camera over your surroundings, so unlike a panorama where you only get one shot, you can go back and fill in missed spots.

Snap’s beaten; time to monetize

All of Facebook’s efforts seem to be paying off. Snapchat sunk to its slowest daily user growth rate ever, a paltry 2.13 percent last quarter, while the much more saturated Facebook grew a strong 3.42 percent. Snapchat actually shrank in user count during March.

That might have been the signal Facebook needed to start putting ads in its Stories. It’s effectively beaten Snapchat into submission. Without as strong of a competitor, Facebook has more leeway to pollute the Stories user experience with ads. And that comes just as Snapchat is desperate to ramp up ad sales after missing revenue estimates in Q1 and mounting losses of $385 million.

“Ads in stories have added a lot of value for businesses on Instagram, and we believe we can do the same on Facebook,” Facebook product manager Zoheb Hajiyani tells me. “Ensuring that this is a good experience for people using the product will be our top priority.” Facebook has lined up a number of ad test partners it’s not disclosing, but also will be running its own ads for Oculus inside Stories.

With existing Facebook and Instagram advertisers able to easily port their ads over to Facebook Stories, and much greater total reach, they might not go to the trouble of advertising on Snap unless they seek young teens. Stories could in fact be the answer to Facebook’s issue with running out of ad space in the News Feed while it shuts down its sidebar units. Stories could generate the ad inventory needed to keep pushing more marketing into the social network.

Stories were inevitable. First launched by Snapchat in October 2013, it took almost three years for Facebook to wake up to the format as an existential threat to the company. But with the quick success of Instagram’s clone, Facebook has wisely swallowed its pride and pivoted its apps toward this style of visual communication. It was another moment, like the shift to mobile, where Facebook could have faltered. But willingness to admit its mistakes and ruthlessly compete may have won another epoch of social dominance.

For more on Stories, check out our feature piece:

Stories are about to surpass feed sharing. Now what?

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How to Recover Your PC Using an Android Device

Snapchat Spectacles tests non-circular landscape exports

The worst thing about Spectacles is how closely tied they are to Snapchat. The proprietary circular photo and video format looks great inside Snapchat where you can tip your phone around while always staying full screen, but it gets reduced to a small circle with a big white border when you export it to your phone for sharing elsewhere.

Luckily, Snapchat has started beta testing new export formats for Spectacles through the beta version of its app. This lets you choose a black border instead of a white one, but importantly, also a horizontal 16:9 rectangular format that would fit well on YouTube and other traditional video players. The test was first spotted by Eric Johnson, and when asked, a Snapchat spokesperson told TechCrunch “I can confirm we’re testing it, yes.”

Allowing Spectacles to be more compatible with other services could make the v2 of its $150 photo and video-recording sunglasses much more convenient and popular. I actually ran into the Snapchat Spectacles team this weekend at the FORM Arcosanti music festival in Arizona where they were testing out the new Specs and looking for ideas for their next camera. I suggested open sourcing the circular format or partnering so other apps could show it natively with the swivel effect, and Snap declined to comment about that. But now it looks like they’re embracing compatability by just letting you ditch the proprietary format.

Breaking away from purely vertical or circular formats is also a bit of a coup for Snapchat, which has touted vertical as the media orientation of the future since that’s how we hold our phones. Many other apps, including Facebook’s Snapchat clones, adopted this idea. But with Snapchat’s growth slipping to its lowest rate ever, it may need to think about new ways to gain exposure elsewhere.

Seeing Spectacles content on other apps without ugly borders could draw attention back to Snapchat, or at least help Spectacles sell better than v1 which only sold 220,000 pairs and had to write-off hundreds of thousands more that were gathering dust in warehouses. While it makes sense why Snap might have wanted to keep the best Spectacles content viewing experience on its own app, without user growth, that’s proven a software limitation for what’s supposed to be a camera company.

Snapchat launches Spectacles V2, camera glasses you’ll actually wear

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Snapchat Spectacles tests non-circular landscape exports

The worst thing about Spectacles is how closely tied they are to Snapchat. The proprietary circular photo and video format looks great inside Snapchat where you can tip your phone around while always staying full screen, but it gets reduced to a small circle with a big white border when you export it to your phone for sharing elsewhere.

Luckily, Snapchat has started beta testing new export formats for Spectacles through the beta version of its app. This lets you choose a black border instead of a white one, but importantly, also a horizontal 16:9 rectangular format that would fit well on YouTube and other traditional video players. The test was first spotted by Eric Johnson, and when asked, a Snapchat spokesperson told TechCrunch “I can confirm we’re testing it, yes.”

Allowing Spectacles to be more compatible with other services could make the v2 of its $150 photo and video-recording sunglasses much more convenient and popular. I actually ran into the Snapchat Spectacles team this weekend at the FORM Arcosanti music festival in Arizona where they were testing out the new Specs and looking for ideas for their next camera. I suggested open sourcing the circular format or partnering so other apps could show it natively with the swivel effect, and Snap declined to comment about that. But now it looks like they’re embracing compatability by just letting you ditch the proprietary format.

Breaking away from purely vertical or circular formats is also a bit of a coup for Snapchat, which has touted vertical as the media orientation of the future since that’s how we hold our phones. Many other apps, including Facebook’s Snapchat clones, adopted this idea. But with Snapchat’s growth slipping to its lowest rate ever, it may need to think about new ways to gain exposure elsewhere.

Seeing Spectacles content on other apps without ugly borders could draw attention back to Snapchat, or at least help Spectacles sell better than v1 which only sold 220,000 pairs and had to write-off hundreds of thousands more that were gathering dust in warehouses. While it makes sense why Snap might have wanted to keep the best Spectacles content viewing experience on its own app, without user growth, that’s proven a software limitation for what’s supposed to be a camera company.

Snapchat launches Spectacles V2, camera glasses you’ll actually wear

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3 Easy Ways to Convert Webpages Into PDFs

Most people know how to save print-friendly versions of webpages for easier reading. They often exclude many of the images and advertisements to save printing time and ink. But what about converting a webpage into a PDF?

By doing that, you could read any webpage offline in no-internet zones, making it easy to read articles and other pages offline. Here are several ways to turn webpages into PDFs.

1. Convert to PDF via Print Page in Browser

Some browsers allow saving a webpage as a PDF. You only need to go through some of the steps typically necessary to print what you see on the screen.

If you are using Google Chrome, open the website you want to convert. Then, click Chrome’s menu button. It’s on the top right corner of the browser window and looks like three horizontal lines.

Next, click the Print option. Doing that changes the screen to a print dialog box. Below the blue Print button and the Cancel option, look for the Destination section. It’s probably currently set to send the document to a connected printer.

Click the Change button in the Destination section. You’ll then see a list of options. Look for the Local Destinations menu, which includes a Save as PDF option. Choose that one, making the Destination change as a result.

Before clicking the blue Save button, check out the options underneath. They determine the page range of the saved PDF and the document layout, among other specifics. Paying attention to the settings there prevents unintentionally only saving one page worth of a large website.

Once you click the Save button, you’ll choose where your browser saves the PDF. Sending the file to your desktop might make it easiest to find. If your desktop isn’t very organized and has lots of icons, create a new desktop folder. Then, put the PDF in it.

On a Mac, the options are a bit different.

Click the Print option from your browser’s file menu first.

When it opens, look for the Pages and Layout settings near the middle of the box. Even more importantly, notice the PDF drop-down menu in the bottom left of the box that appears when you click the Print using system dialog option.

Clicking it gives you various options related to PDFs. The Save As PDF option is the most straightforward choice. However, you can also select Open in Preview. That option lets you make sure everything looks correct regarding the saved file. Once you verify it does, save the PDF to your Mac with Preview’s file menu.

2. Use the Share Function on iOS Devices

You can use an Apple mobile device to save webpages as PDFs, too. Do it with the Share button in Safari on the top of your toolbar. It looks like a box with an arrow coming out of it. Tap it, then swipe through the available options.

One of them is Save PDF to iBooks. Choosing that one lets you launch the webpage in iBooks and view it as a PDF.

Alternatively, you may see a Create PDF option if using the Files app in iOS 11. Tap it, then choose Done in the upper right to start the conversion process. Next, pick Save PDF To. You can send the file to your device or a cloud service.

To change the file name first, press and hold on the PDF file’s icon. Then, look for the Rename option and tap it. When the keyboard appears on your screen, use it to change the file name.

3. Try Online Tools, Apps, and Browser Extensions

Besides relying on options built into your devices, you may want to depend on third-party solutions. Let’s look at some online options first. They don’t require downloading anything new.

Webpage to PDF

Webpage to PDF only requires copy-pasting the URL into a box and clicking Convert. However, if you click the arrow button to the right of the URL area, it gives you more options.

For example, you can do a low-quality conversion, remove background images, or select a grayscale option.

Web2PDF

Web2PDF functions similarly but offers numerous other options when you click the wrench icon to open Settings. Both of these sites are free to use. Plus, they work in any browser.

Convert Web to PDF (Android)

Android users can fall back on Convert Web to PDF. One handy thing is that the app reads PDFs as well as converts webpages for you. Additionally, the app has a feature that removes images to make the PDF file size smaller. It’s convenient when dealing with free space constraints on your phone.

Download: Convert Web to PDF for Android (Free)

InstaWeb (iOS)

If you use an iOS device, consider the InstaWeb app. It offers a “clutter remover” feature that gets rid of all unnecessary content on a webpage. That function makes the PDF easier to read.

Organizing your PDFs is simple, too, because InstaWeb offers folders. Create them by topic, a day of the week, or any other method that makes sense.

After downloading and installing InstaWeb on your iOS device, the app appears on the Share menu mentioned earlier. So, instead of choosing an option to create a PDF through Apple’s Files tool, you can send a webpage directly to InstaWeb.

Download: InstaWeb (Free, In-App Purchase)

Web2PDF (Windows)

Are you still on a Windows device? Think about installing the Web2PDF application. It works on Windows phones or any gadget using the Windows 10 Mobile platform.

After downloading the app, you have several options for working with webpages to turn them into PDFs. First, you can save any webpage as a PDF to your device. If lack of space is a concern, use the app’s function that sends the PDF to your inbox.

Or use the arguably simplest possibility and enter a URL into the form field to convert it. Finally, you can use your device’s browser to navigate to the webpage and start the conversion there.

Then, what about browser extensions? If you work on a desktop or laptop computer often, they might be more appropriate than apps.

Save as PDF Add-On (Chrome, Firefox)

The Save as PDF extension is available from PDFcrowd and allows saving webpages as PDFs with one click. Begin by opening the webpage to convert in your browser. Then, click the PDFcrowd toolbar icon. When it becomes animated, that indicates a conversion in progress.

If you see a red rectangle instead of the converted file, something went wrong. Hover your cursor over the shape to get details about the problem.

There are some webpages this extension does not support. They include those protected by passwords, websites with Flash, and frameset sites.

Want to customize a PDF or remove the PDFcrowd branding from the document? Doing those things requires purchasing an annual subscription to the paid version.

Print Friendly & PDF (Chrome)

The Print Friendly & PDF Chrome extension is another useful possibility. It allows clicking any webpage content to delete it before printing or saving as a PDF. Furthermore, you can change the webpage’s text size. All PDFs you save through this extension feature clickable links, too. They include the source URL for easy reference as well, which is helpful if compiling research.

Keep These Webpage-to-PDF Converters on Hand

No matter how often you convert websites to PDFs or if you need extra features, possibilities exist. This list gets you off to a good start. Many of the options work with the browsers or devices you know and aren’t expensive.

If you enjoyed learning how to convert webpages to PDFs, take it a step further by converting your PDF files to a Powerpoint presentation!

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Instagram officially launches re-sharing of posts to Stories

No, it’s not a “regram” option. Sorry!  But today, Instagram is officially launching a new feature that will allow users to re-share someone’s Instagram post with their friends via Instagram Stories – something it confirmed was in testing earlier this year. The idea with the new re-sharing option is to give users a way to add their own commentary or react to a post, without repurposing it as their own – the way a regram (reposting to feed) feature would have permitted.

For example, you can now re-share something you saw posted by a brand or influencer on Instagram that you like, or add your own comments on top of a funny meme, or even tag a friend on a post you want them to see.

In fact, tagging friends through Instagram comments had become so common on the social network over the years, that it rolled out a way to send posts via Direct Messaging as an alternative. The new re-sharing option now gives users a third way to get their friends’ attention.

Re-sharing can only be done from public Instagram accounts, Instagram says. If you want to run a public account, but don’t want people re-sharing your posts, you can opt to turn off the new feature in the app’s settings.

To share an Instagram feed post to your Story, you first tap the paper airplane icon – the same as you tap today to send a post through direct messaging. However, you’ll now see a new option to create a Story as well. Tap this to see the feed post appear as a sticker of sorts with a customized background, reading for re-sharing.

You can also rotate, scale or move the sticker around, and tap on it to explore other styles. Of course, you can add your own commentary, scribbles and other decorations on top of this “sticker,” as you can today when sharing a photo to an Instagram Story.

When posted, the Story will display the original poster’s username, which others can tap on to head back to the original post.

That potential source of traffic may encourage some Instagram users to create posts specifically designed for this new sharing format, given it could increase their account’s exposure to a wider audience.

The company may not be done rolling out new features for Stories yet – continual improvement of this popular product is one way Instagram (and parent Facebook) is able to challenge Snapchat, which first popularized the Story format.

As Twitter users Jane Manchun Wong spotted, Instagram is also testing a floating Story Tray that will minimize when you scroll. That would give Stories more prominence on the network – though not everyone is thrilled with their takeover.

Instagram is testing floating Story Tray that minimizes when scrolling pic.twitter.com/toW6o5TYO1

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) May 17, 2018

Instagram says the feature is live today on Android and will roll out to iOS in the coming week.

* Yes, I’m confused about this example image Instagram sent, too. 

 

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What to Know About Amazon FreeTime Unlimited for Parents and Kids

5 Free Security Tools You Likely Haven’t Heard Of (But Should Install)

You probably know that your online security is important. But are you using the right tools? Various online attacks target computers every minute of the day, and while standard antivirus tools are good, they’re not designed to cover every base.

The following free security tools will help you to improve your system and network security. You’ve probably never heard of them, but they’re vital to your ongoing online security.

Why Haven’t I Heard of These Tools?

You’re probably thinking, “I have an online security suite installed already, why do I need these tools?”

The answer is simple: online security suites can’t look after every single element of your computer’s security. Sure, they can deal with viruses, malware, firewalls, sometimes even ransomware, but overall, these tools are jacks of all trades, and master of none.

Whether you use an all-encompassing online security suite or nothing at all, it’s worth installing these tools and seeing how they can help you:

• InSpectre: Checks your PC for the Spectre bug.
• Angry IP Scanner: Checks your network for unauthorized access and bandwidth hogs.
• Cybereason RansomFree: Scans your PC for ransomware activity.
• Disconnect: Monitors incoming connections to your browser.
• Malwarebytes Anti-Rootkit: Removes dangerous rootkits, and repairs the damage they cause.

Here’s what you need to know about each of these important tools and why you should be using them in addition to whatever security tools you’re already using.

1. InSpectre

You may have already heard about the Spectre and Meltdown bugs, which are CPU-level vulnerabilities with exploits that currently remain theoretical. Not many computers are immune to these bugs, and patches and updates for your operating system can only cause things to slow down.

In short, it’s a mess. While Microsoft has released its own tool for checking Spectre/Meltdown vulnerabilities, it’s a bit of a pain to use. That’s where InSpectre comes in, which was “designed to clarify every system’s current situation so that appropriate measures can be taken to update the system’s hardware and software for maximum security and performance.”

InSpectre is simple to use, and will tell you straight away if your CPU is vulnerable to either of the CPU bugs. Additionally, InSpectre informs you if the problem has been patched, or if an update is available. You can even disable protection, although that would seem to be unwise unless your system is suffering from particular performance issues. If disabling helps, it’s probably time to upgrade your hardware.

Download: InSpectre

2. Angry IP Scanner

With over 23 million downloads and available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Angry IP Scanner is a must-have tool if you have a router in your home.

Free and open source, Angry IP Scanner will scan local networks, using an IP range that you specify. IP addresses are then pinged, and data gathered about each responding device. The results of a scan can be output to a text file (as well as XML and CSV), which may prove useful later.

For instance, it will tell you what devices are on your network. If you suspect a neighbor of “wardriving“, you’ll have the evidence. After all, it isn’t too difficult for a neighbor to pop around and sneak a look at your network key…

Note that Angry IP Scanner runs on Java, so make sure your installation of Java is up-to-date if you’re going to run this tool regularly. Java has its own security issues, which only regular updates can deal with.

Download: Angry IP Scanner

3. Cybereason RansomFree

You’ve heard of ransomware, right? It’s a nasty type of malware that locks your system, encrypts your data, and forces you to pay money if you want access to it again. This puts everything on your computer (and perhaps your cloud storage data too) out of your reach. It can be potentially disastrous, particularly for anyone who has important documents or photos on their computer.

In many cases, paying the ransom will actually unlock your data as promised, but scammers don’t always play fair. While some ransomware strains have been defeated with ransomware removal tools, not all of them have—so it’s vital to stay ahead of the game.

RansomFree from Cybereason “protects against 99 percent of ransomware strains,” according to the website. These include Bad Rabbit, NotPetya, and WannaCry. Available for Windows 7 and later, RansomFree creates “canary” files which detect ransomware behavior. These are placed in areas where ransomware usually starts, and blocks ransomware from encrypting your data. Happily, it is designed to work alongside other security software.

Download: RansomFree

4. Disconnect

When you’re browsing the web, it isn’t only the sites you visit that attempt to communicate with your browser. Adverts, analytics, social networks, and more are also tracking you. With the Disconnect browser add-on, you can find out what is tracking you, and act upon it.

By visualizing and blocking sites that track you, Disconnect can make your browser 44 percent faster. More importantly, it can help you become more secure online. While we wouldn’t encourage that you block any adverts, Disconnect can block invisible trackers that aren’t affiliated with ad networks or social networks. These are the ones you need to beware of.

Disconnect features a graphical whitelisting option to ensure the content you want to see can still be downloaded. The same screen lets you block social network, and anonymous trackers.

Download: Disconnect for Chrome | Firefox | Opera | Safari (Free)

5. Malwarebytes Anti-Rootkit

Rootkits can be extremely dangerous: powerful malware that can close antivirus software, give an attacker admin privileges and complete control of your system, rootkits work at the hardware level.

This means that they can take control of your system BIOS, as well as the operating system. Few solutions are available to deal with rootkits, but of those that can help, you should always start with Malwarebytes Anti-Rootkit (MBAR). After installation, MBAR will scan your computer and find threats. The Cleanup button will instruct the tool to deal with any threats, which will take place while the computer reboots.

Currently listed as beta software, Malwarebytes Anti-Rootkit isn’t yet fully supported by the developers. However, if you’re concerned about rootkits, this is the place to start.

Download: Malwarebytes Anti-Rootkit

Now That You Know of These Tools, Use Them!

Are you truly as secure as you think you are? Your home network has vulnerabilities you don’t know about. The Spectre bug could hit your devices unexpectedly. And online activity always comes with a risk of contracting malware. It’s overwhelming!

These tools are free, straightforward to use, and can save you a lot of trouble. Install them alongside an effective VPN (such as ExpressVPN or CyberGhost) and a high-quality security suite (such as Bitdefender Internet Security) to really maximize your online security.

Image Credit: olly18/Depositphotos

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Advances in Semantic Textual Similarity

Posted by Yinfei Yang, Software Engineer and Chris Tar, Engineering Manager, Google AI

The recent rapid progress of neural network-based natural language understanding research, especially on learning semantic text representations, can enable truly novel products such as Smart Compose and Talk to Books. It can also help improve performance on a variety of natural language tasks which have limited amounts of training data, such as building strong text classifiers from as few as 100 labeled examples.

Below, we discuss two papers reporting recent progress on semantic representation research at Google, as well as two new models available for download on TensorFlow Hub that we hope developers will use to build new and exciting applications.

Semantic Textual Similarity
In “Learning Semantic Textual Similarity from Conversations”, we introduce a new way to learn sentence representations for semantic textual similarity. The intuition is that sentences are semantically similar if they have a similar distribution of responses. For example, “How old are you?” and “What is your age?” are both questions about age, which can be answered by similar responses such as “I am 20 years old”. In contrast, while “How are you?” and “How old are you?” contain almost identical words, they have very different meanings and lead to different responses.

Sentences are semantically similar if they can be answered by the same responses. Otherwise, they are semantically different.

In this work, we aim to learn semantic similarity by way of a response classification task: given a conversational input, we wish to classify the correct response from a batch of randomly selected responses. But, the ultimate goal is to learn a model that can return encodings representing a variety of natural language relationships, including similarity and relatedness. By adding another prediction task (In this case, the SNLI entailment dataset) and forcing both through shared encoding layers, we get even better performance on similarity measures such as the STSBenchmark (a sentence similarity benchmark) and CQA task B (a question/question similarity task). This is because logical entailment is quite different from simple equivalence and provides more signal for learning complex semantic representations.

For a given input, classification is considered a ranking problem against potential candidates.

Universal Sentence Encoder
In “Universal Sentence Encoder”, we introduce a model that extends the multitask training described above by adding more tasks, jointly training them with a skip-thought-like model that predicts sentences surrounding a given selection of text. However, instead of the encoder-decoder architecture in the original skip-thought model, we make use of an encode-only architecture by way of a shared encoder to drive the prediction tasks. In this way, training time is greatly reduced while preserving the performance on a variety of transfer tasks including sentiment and semantic similarity classification. The aim is to provide a single encoder that can support as wide a variety of applications as possible, including paraphrase detection, relatedness, clustering and custom text classification.

Pairwise semantic similarity comparison via outputs from TensorFlow Hub Universal Sentence Encoder.

As described in our paper, one version of the Universal Sentence Encoder model uses a deep average network (DAN) encoder, while a second version uses a more complicated self attended network architecture, Transformer.

Multi-task training as described in “Universal Sentence Encoder”. A variety of tasks and task structures are joined by shared encoder layers/parameters (grey boxes).

With the more complicated architecture, the model performs better than the simpler DAN model on a variety of sentiment and similarity classification tasks, and for short sentences is only moderately slower. However, compute time for the model using Transformer increases noticeably as sentence length increases, whereas the compute time for the DAN model stays nearly constant as sentence length is increased.

New Models
In addition to the Universal Sentence Encoder model described above, we are also sharing two new models on TensorFlow Hub: the Universal Sentence Encoder - Large and Universal Sentence Encoder - Lite. These are pretrained Tensorflow models that return a semantic encoding for variable-length text inputs. The encodings can be used for semantic similarity measurement, relatedness, classification, or clustering of natural language text.

• The Large model is trained with the Transformer encoder described in our second paper. It targets scenarios requiring high precision semantic representations and the best model performance at the cost of speed & size.
• The Lite model is trained on a Sentence Piece vocabulary instead of words in order to significantly reduce the vocabulary size, which is a major contributor of model size. It targets scenarios where resources like memory and CPU are limited, such as on-device or browser based implementations.

We're excited to share this research, and these models, with the community. We believe that what we're showing here is just the beginning, and that there remain important research problems to be addressed, such as extending the techniques to more languages (the models discussed above currently support English). We also hope to further develop this technology so it can understand text at the paragraph or even document level. In achieving these tasks, it may be possible to make an encoder that is truly “universal”.

Acknowledgements
Daniel Cer, Mario Guajardo-Cespedes, Sheng-Yi Kong, Noah Constant for training the models, Nan Hua, Nicole Limtiaco, Rhomni St. John for transferring tasks, Steve Yuan, Yunhsuan Sung, Brian Strope, Ray Kurzweil for discussion of the model architecture. Special thanks to Sheng-Yi Kong and Noah Constant for training the Lite model.

AT&T will carry RED’s crazy ‘holographic’ handset

RED’s Hydrogen One handset is one of those devices we’ll believe when we actually see. The company’s been promising up the $1,200 smartphone for a while now, only to be hit with delays and outright admit, “We have no idea whatsoever what we are doing.”

Consider this some small vote of confidence, however. AT&T announced today that it will be carrying the 5.7-inch “holographic display device.” That, of course, shouldn’t be taken as a tacit approval of the device, so much as a confirmation of the fact that it does, in fact, exist.

Though in a press release tied to the announcement, a market SVP says, “This revolutionary smartphone will provide you with significant advancements in the way you create and view content on the leading network for entertainment.” So, take that as you will. Personally, I’m holding off any sort of judgement until I can hold the thing in my hands. 

The carrier mentions “later this summer” in the press release, which lines up with RED’s most recent mention of an August launch date. As for price, your guess is as good as ours. We reached out to AT&T to see whether the company will be subsidizing the product on contract, or simply offering up the $1,200 phone as is through its retail channel. The carrier won’t comment on that, yet, though its Next subsidy plan might make sense, cushioning the cost by stretching it out over a longer period.

The Hydrogen One is, by all accounts, about as far as you can get from a mainstream piece of mobile hardware. At the moment, it feels more like a fun consumer electronics thought experiment, but at least it’s one that’s real — and coming to the second largest mobile carrier in the U.S. at some point this summer. 

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A Quick Guide to the New Reddit Redesign

As regular Reddit users will know by now, there’s a new Reddit design rolling out. And to be honest, this revamp is well overdue. Reddit’s old layout looks more like a website from the late 2000s.

Along with the visual overhaul, Reddit has introduced a range of new features. And new features means learning where everything is and what it does. So, if you’re feeling a bit lost in the new Reddit, don’t worry, as we’re here to help you find your way around the new-look Reddit.

Why Did Reddit Redesign the Site?

For a site that consistently ranks in the web’s Top 10 most-popular domains on Alexa.com and which boasts more than 540 million monthly visitors, Reddit was curiously underdeveloped.

Profile pages were almost non-existent, offensive subreddits were allowed to run amok, and company-level oversight of the message boards was kept to a minimum.

In many ways, the old site had been left behind. Indeed, before this April 2018’s redesign, not much has changed over the past decade. The site was no longer fit for purpose, neither for users (as a social medium) nor the company (as a data-collecting money maker).

The situation was so bad that Reddit’s CEO, Steve Huffman, called the site a “dystopian Craigslist.” Something clearly had to change.

What’s New in the Reddit Redesign?

Before we delve into the changes which affect you personally, let’s quickly summarize what’s changed from a design standpoint.

Underpinning the entire redesign is ease-of-use. For new users, Reddit’s previous interface was a confusing minefield. The complexity prompted us to write an article recommending the best Reddit apps and sites for newbies. The new version of Reddit is much more accessible.

The old navigation bar is gone; the new design replaces it with a smaller menu in the upper left-hand corner. The menu provides links to your feed, subreddits, and user profiles.

You can now choose between three different ways to display posts on-screen: Classic, Cards (Facebook-esque), and Compact.

Reddit also now uses two different fonts for links. These help users to distinguish whether a link is internal or points outside Reddit. Even Snoo—the Reddit mascot—has been overhauled. It’s rendered in 3D and is shown hopping between planets.

Your New Reddit Profile Page

You will find the most significant changes in the Profile section.

In the old design, user profiles felt like an afterthought. They weren’t customizable and offered barely any information about the people behind them.

Not anymore. User profiles have been transformed into an important part of the Reddit experience. One can assume their importance will continue to grow as Reddit continues to transform into a more “typical” social network.

Navigating Your Profile Page

When you load your Reddit profile for the first time, you’ll see your bio—along with a profile picture and cover image—in the top right-hand corner.

Below the bio box is a More Options link. This is where you set up and customize your profile. More on that shortly.

Further down still you’ll find any Reddit badges you’ve earned.

Lastly, at the top of the window are three new tabs: Overview, Posts, and Comments. The other items which used to be along the top of the old profile page (such as Hidden and Gilded) are in the drop-down menu behind the three horizontal dots.

So, given the increased importance of the new Reddit profiles, it’s worth spending a bit of time to set yours up correctly.

Customizing Your New Reddit Profile

Not all users can yet see the More Options link under their bio which allows them to access the new profile features.

If you cannot see it, don’t worry. Just follow this link (replace your username as appropriate): reddit.com/user/[USERNAME]/about/edit. You will have to agree to the terms of the new page before proceeding.

The profile editing page has three links at the top. The first link, Customize Profile, is self-explanatory. You can optionally set a display name that’s different to your username, add your bio, and upload a profile picture and cover image. To finish the setup process, confirm whether your profile is suitable for under-18s.

The second tab covers privacy and safety. There are two sections which require your attention. The first is Content Visibility. If you want your profile to show up in r/all and be discoverable in /users, tick the checkbox.

Secondly, you can decide if you want the communities you’re most active in to show up on your profile page.

The final tab is Profile Moderation. It’s part of a new feature which allows people to post directly onto your profile page, much like people can on Facebook. The feature became available in mid-2017, though it’s unclear whether it is yet available to all users.

The tab includes some analytics tools, as well as an auto-moderator, a moderation queue, and various display options. Work through the different options to get your page working precisely the way you want it to.

Note: To post to your own profile, choose My Profile in the Post To section when creating a new submission.

Pinning Posts to Your Reddit Profile

There is one other change which you need to know about: the option to “pin” posts to the top of your profile page.

To pin a post, head to your new profile page and click on the Posts tab. Hover your mouse over the submission you want to showcase, and a pin icon should appear in the upper right-hand corner of the card.

What Didn’t Reddit Changed?

At the time of writing, the Reddit Preferences menu still uses the old design. It’s unlikely to be the case for much longer.

When the Preferences menu does eventually receive an upgrade, will we finally be able to kiss goodbye to the Reddit Enhancement Suite? If we’re really lucky, we might even be treated to a better way to search for old posts.

Will You Keep Using the Old Version of Reddit?

Most Redditors appear to be in favor of the changes. On the post announcing the redesign, many of the top comments were positive. Reddit’s board will be hoping the positive sentiment continues; memories of Digg’s redesign and subsequent decline are still fresh in the minds of many users.

Nonetheless, if you’re one of the people who like the old version of the site, you can continue to access it using old.reddit.com. At least for now. It’s unclear for how long the previous design will remain operational.

And, as a last resort, you could always abandon Reddit completely. There are plenty of awesome Reddit alternatives.

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How to Use Windows Focus Assist (Formerly Quiet Hours)

There are plenty of new features to experiment with added to Windows 10 as part of the April 2018 update. Some are these features may be simple but have long been missing from Windows 10, like the ability to selectively turn off notifications at specific times. This is a feature that is now available with Focus Assist.

What Is Windows Focus Assist?

Focus Assist is the new name for the Windows feature called Quiet Hours, which gives you the ability to turn off notifications on your computer. Whether you’re giving a presentation or simply need to focus, turning off notifications is essential. But in Windows 10, users could not customize when to turn on Quiet Hours, with the feature defaulting from midnight to 6am.

Now with Focus Assist, Windows 10 users will have much more control over when they can turn off all notifications, and to automate the process if they prefer.

How to Enable Windows Focus Assist

There are two ways you can turn on Focus Assist. The first method:

1. Go to Settings > System > Focus Assist.
2. Here you can choose from three options to choose from: Off; Priority only, where you can selectively allow certain notifications through; or Alarms Only, where you can hide all notifications except alarms.

The second way is more accessible, and is a handy way to turn Focus Assist on once you have it set up the way you want:

1. Right click the notifications icon in the System Tray.
2. Hover over Focus Assist in the menu that pops up.
3. You can select from the same three options listed above.

How to Customize Windows Focus Assist

There are two ways you can customize Focus Assist.

The first is with the automatic rules. You can choose to automatically turn on Focus Assist at certain times of day, to turn it on when you’re playing a DirectX game, when you’re duplicating your display which is particularly useful when giving a presentation, and if you share your home address with Cortana, when you’re at home.

You can set the specific hours for the automatic rules, and set it to repeat daily, on weekends only, or on weekdays only.

The second way you can customize Focus Assist is with your priority list. If you choose to turn Focus Assist on using the Priority Only setting, you can selectively choose which notifications will come through anyway.

Click Customize your priority list and you can make exceptions for notifications for calls, texts, and reminders from certain apps. You’ll need the Cortana app installed on your phone, and this feature is not available for iOS users.

You can add specific people or apps to your exception list.

If you still find yourself getting distracted even with your notifications turned off, you may also want to consider controlling the noise around you with a white noise app, so that absolutely nothing gets through.

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