01 May 2019

Blue Origin lofts NASA and student experiments in New Shepard tomorrow morning


The 11th mission for Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle is slated for takeoff Tuesday morning. The craft will be carrying 38 (!) experimental payloads from NASA, students, and research organizations around the world. You’ll be able to watch the launch live tomorrow at about 6 AM Pacific time.

New Shepard, though a very different beast from the Falcon 9 and Heavy launch vehicles created by its rival SpaceX, is arguably a better platform for short-duration experiments that need to be exposed to launch stresses and microgravity. Launching satellites — that’s a job for Falcons and Deltas, or perhaps Blue Origin’s impending New Glenn, and they’re welcome to it. But researchers around the country are clamoring for spots on suborbital flights and Blue Origin is happy to provide them.

Tomorrow’s launch will be carrying several dozen, some of which will have been waiting years for their chance to board a rocket. Here are a few examples of what will be tested during the short flight:

  • Evolved Medical Microgravity Suction Device: As more people go into space, we have to be prepared for more and graver injuries. Lots of standard medical tools won’t work properly in microgravity, so it’s necessary to redesign and test them under those conditions. This one is about providing suction, as you might guess, which can be used for lung injuries, drawing blood, and other situations that call for negative air pressure.

This little guy will be doing microgravity test prints using metal.

  • 3D printing with metal in microgravity: Simply everyone knows we can 3D print stuff in space. But just as on Earth, you can’t always make your spare parts out of thermoplastic. Down here we use metal-based 3D printers, and this experiment aims to find out if a modified design will allow for metal printing in space as well.
  • Suborbital centrifuge: It sounds like something the Enterprise would deploy in Star Trek, but it’s just a test bed for a new type of centrifuge that could help simulate other gravities, such as that of the Moon or Mars, for purposes of experiments. They do this on the ISS already but this would make it more compact and easier to automate, saving time and space aboard any craft it flies on.

The suborbital centrifuge, looking as cool as it sounds.

  • BioChip SubOrbitalLab: The largest ever study of space-based health and the effects of microgravity on the human body was just concluded, but there’s much, much more to know. Part of that requires monitoring cells in real time — which like most things is easier to do on the surface. This lab-on-a-chip will test out a new technique for containing individual cells or masses and tracking changes to them in a microgravity environment.

It’s all made possible through NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, which is specifically all about putting small experiments aboard commercial spacecraft. The rest of the many gadgets and experiments awaiting launch are listed here.

The launch itself should be very similar to previous New Shepards, just like one commercial jet takeoff is like another. The booster fires up and ascends to just short of the Karman line at 100 kilometers, which (somewhat arbitrarily) marks the start of “space.”

At that point the capsule will detach and fly upwards with its own momentum, exposing the payloads within to several minutes of microgravity; after it tops out, it will descend and deploy its parachutes, after which it will drift leisurely to the ground. Meanwhile the rocket will have descended as well and made a soft landing on its deployable struts.

The launch is scheduled for 6:30 AM Pacific time — 8:30 AM Central in Texas, at Blue Origin’s launch site. You’ll be able to watch it live at the company’s site.


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Twitter grilled on policy approach that reinforces misogyny


Twitter has faced a barrage of awkward questions from the U.K. parliament over its ongoing failure to tackle violent abuse targeted at women. 

Katy Minshall, the social media platform’s head of U.K. government public policy, admitted it needs to do more to safeguard women users — but claimed the company is “acutely aware” of the problems women experience on Twitter, saying it’s in the process of reviewing how it applies its policies to fix its long-running misogyny problem. 

“We are acutely aware of the unique experience women have on Twitter and changes we may have to make in our policies to get that right,” she told the human rights committee session on free speech and democracy this afternoon. “We are very much aware of the real issue that women experience on our platform.”

Parliamentarians raised the issue of how unequally Twitter applies policies on hateful conduct depending on the sex being targeted, with MP Joanna Cherry accusing the company of displaying a pattern of relaxed tolerance to tweets containing violent attacks on women.

She contrasted that with examples of alacritous intolerance to tweets that raised the issue of male violence — citing examples of users who had had their Twitter accounts temporarily suspended for making factual, gender-based observations with a male flavor — such as that, on aggregate, men kill more than women.

Or tweets citing English law — which states that only a man can commit rape.

“There seem to be a number of mistakes here. And they seem to be mistakes that are failing to protect women. Do you accept that?” asked Cherry.

“There is clearly a number of steps that we want to take, we need to take, but we are in a different place to where we were even this time last year,” said Minshall initially, before simplifying her response to “clearly there’s an issue here for us to look at” later in the Q&A session.

She was asked to look at several examples of violent tweets which had been directed at women, including tweets whose recipients had reported them to Twitter — only to be told they did not violate its hateful conduct policy.

Only later, after feminist campaigners, journalists and Cherry herself had tweeted about Twitter’s decision not to take down some of these misogynistic tweets did it reverse course and remove them.

Minshall admitted that one of the abusive tweets had been removed last night, after Cherry had tweeted to draw attention to it.

One tweet cited during the session depicted a cartoon figure with a photo of a real hand holding a gun pointed at the viewer, atop the caption “shut the fuck up terf” — ‘terf’ being a term of abuse which Cherry pointed out tends to be applied to women; another showed a video game clip of a man repeatedly chopping a woman in the neck which had been attached to a tweet saying “what I do to terfs”; a third was what Cherry dubbed “a very unpleasant representation of a male flaying a woman alive” — that she said had been sent to one of the women after they had complained on Twitter about receiving one of the other violent tweets.

Minshall said she believed all the tweets Cherry raised as examples violated Twitter’s policies and should have been removed if they hadn’t already. Though said she doesn’t work in the safety team, caveating her response with: “I’m not the expert.”

She also said that trying to moderate a public discussion about transgender rights can be “difficult” — leading Cherry to point out that none of the counter examples she had raised were in any way abusive towards transgender people.

“What I’m trying to understand is why, initially, the first tweet — the chopping in the neck — was ruled alright by Twitter. And why it took the intervention of a leading journalist, a leading feminist commentator and a member of parliament for it to be ruled not alright,” she went on.

“We need to understand who is actually carrying out these decisions. Who is carrying out the mediation at Twitter. Is it done in the UK, is it done in America, who is done by. Is there any attempt at gender balance within the teams of people looking at these tweets.”

Minshall said she could not answer the gender breakdown question there and then — saying she would write to the committee with an answer.

Cherry also made the point that sex is a protected characteristic in UK law, and pressed Minshall several times on why Twitter’s hateful conduct policy only applies to gender.

“Can you tell us why Twitter has chosen to exclude sex from their hateful conduct policy as a protected characteristic?” she asked. “I’m wondering if that’s what could be going wrong here? That the training is not covering the fact that sexist, misogynistic, demeaning behavior should be treated as seriously as abuse of, for example, trans people.”

Minshall said Twitter’s hateful conduct policy is based upon United Nations definitions, arguing the current policy that protects gender should also protect against misogyny — while admitting there’s still an asymmetrical burden on women users of Twitter to report abuse.

She agreed to follow up with the committee to explain why Twitter’s policy does not include sex as a protected characteristic too.

“There’s a lot that we want to do to reduce the burden on reporters,” she said. “We have rules in place where it would be a breach to target someone based on the fact that they’re a woman — where we need to do far more is to be proactive in reducing the burden on victims to report that to us.”

At another point during the session she said Twitter is also reviewing its policy on harassment — saying it’s concerned about the risk of women being stalked via the platform by ex-partners.

“There is an issue specific to women, typically ex-partners, stalking them on Twitter in ways that have traditionally been difficult to detect in our rules — and we want to do better on that,” she added.


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Google launches CallJoy, a virtual customer service phone agent for small businesses


Google is combining several technologies including virtual phone numbers, audio transcriptions, automated reporting and analytics, in a new effort to help small business owners better manage their inbound phone calls. The company’s latest project from its in-house incubator is CallJoy, launching today.  Aimed at the U.S.’s 30.2 million small business owners, the system offers a low-cost customer service agent that helps block spam calls, provide callers with basic business information, and redirect customers to complete their requests — like appointment booking or placing a to-go order — over SMS.

Any other calls or questions would be directed to the main business phone number.

Typically, customer service phone agents like this are out of reach for small business owners, but CallJoy is priced at a flat monthly fee of $39 to make the technology affordable.

Like other virtual customer service systems, CallJoy can greet the caller and offer basic information like the business hours or address, for example. It also frees up the business owner from having to deal with the ever-increasing number of spam calls which waste their time, and can move customers off of phone lines to complete tasks online, where appropropriate.

To do so, CallJoy’s virtual agent can send a customer who opts in an SMS text message that includes an URL where the task — like appointment booking or online orders, for example — can be completed.

For example, the agent may ask the customer “Can I send you our food ordering link?” If the customer says “yes,” the text is sent immediately. In addition, the feature can be customized for sharing other types of information — like the company’s email or where to find an online contact form.

If the customer is calling from a landline, however, this textback feature will be disabled and they’ll be directed to the business line instead.

Like other customer service software which alerts callers that calls “will be recorded for quality assurance purposes,” CallJoy records the incoming calls (which is also disclosed). This can help cut down on spam calls because once spammers know the call is recorded, they usually hang up.

The recorded calls are also encrypted and transcribed, and these transcripts then become searchable in the CallJoy dashboard.

Here, call information — including the phone number, audio, and transcript — is stored. The business owner can also go back and tag the calls in order to run reports that help them gain insight into their business. For example, if a salon got a lot of inbound calls about “wedding hairstyles” they may then decide it would make sense to include this information on their website; or a restaurant may want to track how many calls it gets per night for reservations.

Other insights are available, too, like call volume, peak call times, and new vs. returning callers. These are displayed in the online dashboard and sent out in a daily email.

The service works today with existing landlines, mobile phones, Google Voice lines, or other cloud providers by routing calls to the business phone number.

But phone numbers are not ported to CallJoy. Instead, similar to Google Voice, the business would select their virtual CallJoy number with their local area code.

To start receiving call there, they’d have to update all their business information with this new number — including the website, business cards, online listings, ads, social media, and anywhere else the number appears.

CallJoy is also tied to only one location and one phone number. Additional locations with their own lines can be added within the CallJoy dashboard, but businesses are charged per line.

At launch, CallJoy is available on an invite-only basis. Businesses have to request a spot on the waitlist from the CallJoy homepage. More invites will be shared every day, and eventually, the system will open to all.


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iPhone hard hit as global smartphone shipments continue nosedive


The smartphone industry is in rough shape. Sundar Pichai used the word “headwinds” to discuss the company’s difficulties moving Pixel 3 units, but Canalys’ latest report is far more blunt, describing the situation as a “freefall.”

Things are pretty ugly in the Q1 report, as smartphone shipments declined for the sixth quarter in a row. The combined global units hit 313.9 million, marking their lowest point in almost half a decade, according to the firm.

Of the big players, Apple seems to be particularly hard hit, falling 23.2% year on year. Once again, China played a big role here, but as usual, the full story is much more complex.

“This is the largest single-quarter decline in the history of the iPhone,” said analyst Ben Stanton in a release tied to the news. “Apple’s second largest market, China, again proved tough. But this was far from its only problem. Shipments fell in the US as trade-in initiatives failed to offset longer consumer refresh cycles. In markets such as Europe, Apple is increasingly using discounts to prop up demand, but this is causing additional complexity for distributors, and blurring the value proposition of these ‘premium’ devices in the eyes of consumers.”

A lot to unpack there, but what we’re looking at are some larger issues within the industry, including global economic issues and slowed upgrade cycles for users. The XS was also notably much less dramatic of an upgrade than its predecessor. Stanton did add that the iPhone, “show[ed] signs of recovery towards the back-end of the quarter,” which is promising for Q2.

It also remains to be seen what this year will hold in terms of iPhone upgrades, though most signs point to 2020 as the year the company makes the jump to 5G. Tim Cook was noncommittal on the topic during the company’s earnings call last night, instead pointing to positive numbers on the iPad side and, of course, Apple’s continued push into services.

Analysts are somewhat bullish about the potential of innovations like 5G and even foldables in shaking up the stagnant market, but big players like Apple are clearly hedging their bets, should the free-falling headwinds continue.

Huawei, meanwhile, continues to be a bright spot, with a 50.2% year over year growth and an 18.8% global market share, according to the firm. That growth could be hampered, however, by increased competition from Samsung and fellow Chinese handset companies like Xiaomi and Oppo.


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Google’s Wear OS gets tiles


Google announced an interesting new Wear OS feature today that makes a number of highly used features more easily available. Google calls this feature ’tiles’ and it makes both information like the local weather forecast, headlines, your next calendar event, goals and your heart rate, as well as tools like the Wear OS built-in timer available with just a few swipes to the left.

In the most recent version of Wear OS, tiles also existed in some form, but the only available tile was Google Fit, which opened with a single swipe. Now, you’ll be able to swipe further and bring up these new tiles, too.

There is a default order to these tiles, but you’ll be able to customize them, too. All you have to do is touch and hold a given tile and then drag it to the left or right. Over time, Google will also add more tiles to this list.

The new tiles will start rolling out to all Wear OS smartwatches over the course of the next months. Some features may not be available on all devices, though (if your watch doesn’t have a heart rate monitor, you obviously won’t see that tile, for example).

Overall, this looks like a smart update to the Wear OS platform, which now features four clearly delineated quadrants. Swiping down brings up settings, swiping up brings up your notifications, swiping right brings up the Google Assistant and swiping left shows tiles. Using the left swipe only for Google Fit always felt oddly limited, but with this update, that decision makes more sense.


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Google’s Wear OS gets tiles


Google announced an interesting new Wear OS feature today that makes a number of highly used features more easily available. Google calls this feature ’tiles’ and it makes both information like the local weather forecast, headlines, your next calendar event, goals and your heart rate, as well as tools like the Wear OS built-in timer available with just a few swipes to the left.

In the most recent version of Wear OS, tiles also existed in some form, but the only available tile was Google Fit, which opened with a single swipe. Now, you’ll be able to swipe further and bring up these new tiles, too.

There is a default order to these tiles, but you’ll be able to customize them, too. All you have to do is touch and hold a given tile and then drag it to the left or right. Over time, Google will also add more tiles to this list.

The new tiles will start rolling out to all Wear OS smartwatches over the course of the next months. Some features may not be available on all devices, though (if your watch doesn’t have a heart rate monitor, you obviously won’t see that tile, for example).

Overall, this looks like a smart update to the Wear OS platform, which now features four clearly delineated quadrants. Swiping down brings up settings, swiping up brings up your notifications, swiping right brings up the Google Assistant and swiping left shows tiles. Using the left swipe only for Google Fit always felt oddly limited, but with this update, that decision makes more sense.


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Adjusting a Chair


Adjusting a Chair

SeatGeek names former Tumblr and NYT exec Brian Murphy as CTO


Ticketing startup SeatGeek has a new CTO.

Brian Murphy previously held the same position at Tumblr (which, like TechCrunch, is owned by Verizon Media) and has also served as vice president of engineering at The New York Times and senior director of technology at Condé Nast.

“Brian is an incredible leader and team-builder who has overseen engineering teams for some remarkable companies,” said SeatGeek co-founder and CEO Jack Groetzinger in a statement. “He is a perfect fit for this role at SeatGeek and embodies the values we hold – he loves building great products, is humble yet aggressive in how he approaches opportunities, and is focused on creating experiences live event fans will love.”

Murphy told me that his career started out in consulting, but he’s been attracted to technology roles in media companies because he was “drawn to all the smart creative folks who want to use their technology in that medium.”

As for SeatGeek, Murphy described it as a “very consumer-oriented, very mobile-focused” company that’s now moving into the enterprise business by working with teams and venues to sell tickets. He also said he’ll be working on international expansion and on helping SeatGeek build a broader live event experience.

“You’ve sort of started to see it with partnerships with Lyft and Snapchat and Spotify,” he said.”There’s definitely an opportunity how we bring our Starbucks-esque experience to the stadium.”

Murphy added that he’ll be “very, very busy with recruiting.”

Meanwhile, SeatGeek’s outgoing CTO Eric Waller isn’t leaving the company — instead, he’s becoming chief product officer.


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Sean Parker’s Brigade/Causes acquired by govtech app Countable


Causes grew to a jawdropping 186 million users as one of the first ten Facebook platform apps. Started by Facebook co-founder Sean Parker, it was meant to turn a generation into activists and philanthropists. Causes acquired Votizen to augment shallow clicktivism with a way to remind friends to vote. But after Facebook went mobile and the web platform waned, Parker arranged Causes’ sale to his newer civic tech effort Brigade, for which he’d led a $9.3 million Series A and later fed more money. Brigade’s ballot guide was used by 250,000 people in the 2016 election leading to 5 million Get Out The Vote messages sent, but the startup’s apps for connecting with campaigns or debating political issues never went viral like Causes.

Now both Causes’ and Brigade’s stories are coming to an end. In February, we caught wind of Brigade selling off its high-grade engineering team to Pinterest in an acquihire while it sought a home for its IP. Today, Brigade announces its technology and data have been acquired by politician tracking service Countable. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but it’s unlikely that Brigade’s Series A investors earned a return.

“While we didn’t reach the ultimate mountaintop, I think we moved the entire civic tech space forward” Brigade CEO Matt Mahan tells me. “Countable offers a unique opportunity to bring greater scale to some of our best ideas, and our previous work will in turn accelerate their already impressive progress.”

Brigade’s features

Brigade CEO Matt Mahan

Countable lets people view summaries of upcoming legislation, contact their representatives about their opinion, and then track the officials’ votes. “Brigade was founded with the non-partisan mission to reinvent how Americans participate in politics. When they decided to bring their journey to a close, Matt and Brigade’s leadership team sought out a mission-aligned company to acquire their technology, and a responsible place to point any members of their community who were eager to remain civically active and engaged” says Countable CEO Bart Myers. “They approached Countable–an obvious fit for our commitment to lowering barriers to civic entry and empowering meaningful action, and we’re excited to provide a home for their technology moving forward.”

To further their contribution to the democracy innovation community, Countable has agreed to open source Brigade’s voter matching software. This allows apps to tie a user to their official voting record to offer personalized features like reminders of upcoming elections, petitions for local issues, and ways to contact their elected officials. Seth Flaxman, the CEO of civic tech software developer Democracy Works that built TurboVote, says “This is extremely difficult technology to build and can help TurboVote determine which of our 6 million users needs more help registering to vote. They are passing the baton, making it possible for nonprofits like ours to build off their progress.”

But there was one more loose end to tie up. Causes had sucked in a ton of Facebook user data in the early days of the platform before restrictions were put in place (too late to stop Cambridge Analytica). So Mahan tells me “Brigade proactively reached out to Facebook and worked with them and a third-party consultant to conduct a comprehensive review to identify and delete user data that was not essential for providing the existing app experience. In all, we deleted billions of rows of data that ethically we felt should not be transferred.”

Countable

We’ll have more analysis shortly


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Sean Parker’s Brigade/Causes acquired by govtech app Countable


Causes grew to a jawdropping 186 million users as one of the first ten Facebook platform apps. Started by Facebook co-founder Sean Parker, it was meant to turn a generation into activists and philanthropists. Causes acquired Votizen to augment shallow clicktivism with a way to remind friends to vote. But after Facebook went mobile and the web platform waned, Parker arranged Causes’ sale to his newer civic tech effort Brigade, for which he’d led a $9.3 million Series A and later fed more money. Brigade’s ballot guide was used by 250,000 people in the 2016 election leading to 5 million Get Out The Vote messages sent, but the startup’s apps for connecting with campaigns or debating political issues never went viral like Causes.

Now both Causes’ and Brigade’s stories are coming to an end. In February, we caught wind of Brigade selling off its high-grade engineering team to Pinterest in an acquihire while it sought a home for its IP. Today, Brigade announces its technology and data have been acquired by politician tracking service Countable. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but it’s unlikely that Brigade’s Series A investors earned a return.

“While we didn’t reach the ultimate mountaintop, I think we moved the entire civic tech space forward” Brigade CEO Matt Mahan tells me. “Countable offers a unique opportunity to bring greater scale to some of our best ideas, and our previous work will in turn accelerate their already impressive progress.”

Brigade’s features

Brigade CEO Matt Mahan

Countable lets people view summaries of upcoming legislation, contact their representatives about their opinion, and then track the officials’ votes. “Brigade was founded with the non-partisan mission to reinvent how Americans participate in politics. When they decided to bring their journey to a close, Matt and Brigade’s leadership team sought out a mission-aligned company to acquire their technology, and a responsible place to point any members of their community who were eager to remain civically active and engaged” says Countable CEO Bart Myers. “They approached Countable–an obvious fit for our commitment to lowering barriers to civic entry and empowering meaningful action, and we’re excited to provide a home for their technology moving forward.”

To further their contribution to the democracy innovation community, Countable has agreed to open source Brigade’s voter matching software. This allows apps to tie a user to their official voting record to offer personalized features like reminders of upcoming elections, petitions for local issues, and ways to contact their elected officials. Seth Flaxman, the CEO of civic tech software developer Democracy Works that built TurboVote, says “This is extremely difficult technology to build and can help TurboVote determine which of our 6 million users needs more help registering to vote. They are passing the baton, making it possible for nonprofits like ours to build off their progress.”

But there was one more loose end to tie up. Causes had sucked in a ton of Facebook user data in the early days of the platform before restrictions were put in place (too late to stop Cambridge Analytica). So Mahan tells me “Brigade proactively reached out to Facebook and worked with them and a third-party consultant to conduct a comprehensive review to identify and delete user data that was not essential for providing the existing app experience. In all, we deleted billions of rows of data that ethically we felt should not be transferred.”

Countable

We’ll have more analysis shortly


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How to Block Popup Ads on Android

How to Solve the Windows Could Not Automatically Detect Network Proxy Settings Error


fix-network-proxy-issues

Sometimes you’ll see that frustrating yellow exclamation point icon over your network connection icon in Windows. The OS offers to troubleshoot it for you, but after running through the automatic tool, you see this message:

Windows could not automatically detect this network’s proxy settings.

What does this mean, and how do you fix it? Let’s take a look at Windows’ proxy settings and the steps to repair this.

1. Reboot Your Computer and Router

Before you launch into advanced troubleshooting, it’s always a good idea to restart your equipment first. There’s a chance that this will clear up your issue in a few moments.

Because this error is usually related to misconfigured settings on one computer, restarting your router likely won’t have an effect. But it’s still worth a try whenever you run into network problems of any kind.

If you reboot your computer and router and the problem hasn’t fixed itself, continue on with the more detailed steps.

2. Review Proxy Settings in Windows

Windows 10 Proxy Settings

Because this issue is related to your Windows proxy settings, that’s a sensible first place to check. To access proxy settings in Windows 10, open Settings, select the Network & Internet category, and switch to the Proxy tab from the left sidebar.

Here you’ll see a list of options related to proxy servers. If you don’t use a proxy (as is the case for most home users), make sure the Use a proxy server slider is turned off. Leave Automatically detect settings on if it is already.

For users who do connect with a proxy, such as in a work or education environment, you might want to check with your system administrator to make sure you have the correct proxy details.

After this, try reconnecting to the network again. If you still get the error, try turning off Automatically detect settings in the proxy options and try once more.

What’s a Proxy Server?

We don’t want to bore you with the details while you try to fix this issue but wanted to provide a brief explanation of what a proxy actually is and why Windows can run into problems with it.

Essentially, a proxy server acts as a middleman between your computer and the internet. Instead of you connecting directly to the internet, you connect to the server, which grabs information from the internet for you.

These are most common in business and school use, where system administrators use them for security and efficiency. It’s very unlikely that you would use a proxy server on your home network unless you specifically set one up. This is why you should clear any proxy settings that might exist when you run into this issue.

See our full explanation of proxy servers for more information.

3. Run the Network Adapter Troubleshooter

When you right-click on the network connection icon and choose to troubleshoot, it runs the Internet Connections troubleshooter, resulting in the “Windows could not detect proxy settings” error. But there’s another network troubleshooter you can run that might provide more help.

Open Settings again and visit Update & Security > Troubleshoot. Find Network Adapter in the list and walk through the troubleshooter for this. As seasoned Windows users know, this tool doesn’t always fix your problem, but it’s worth a try.

4. Auto-Obtain IP Address and DNS

Windows IP Settings

As it turns out, there aren’t many troubleshooting steps specific to proxy servers. We’ll share more tips below, but bear in mind that the troubleshooting looks similar to fixing the “No Internet Access” Windows error from this point on.

While they’re not technically related to your proxy settings, misconfigured IP address or DNS settings can cause this error too. To check them, browse to Settings > Network & Internet > Status. Click the Change adapter options button in the list to see all your network connections, then double-click on the one you’re using.

Here, click the Properties button and double-click Internet Protocol Version 4 in the list. Make sure you have both Obtain an IP address automatically and Obtain DNS server address automatically selected. Misconfigured settings here will prevent you from getting online.

5. Update or Roll Back Your Network Driver

Windows 10 Device Manager Update Roll Back

An outdated network driver may lead to connection problems. Similarly, perhaps you’ve recently installed a botched update for your network driver. In either case, replacing it might clear up the trouble.

Right-click on the Start Button and choose Device Manager to open this utility. Expand the Network adapters section and double-click on the connection you use.

On the Driver tab, you can choose Roll Back Driver to uninstall the latest update and return to the previous one. Use this if you started experiencing this issue after updating.

Choose Update Driver and you can check for new updates over the internet. This likely won’t find anything though, so you’ll need to manually download the latest driver from your machine’s manufacturer. See our guide to updating Windows drivers for help.

6. Reset Network Configuration Via the Command Prompt

Windows offers many network troubleshooting tools through the Command Prompt. A few quick commands can clear up your issue in moments. If you’re still having trouble at this point, right-click the Start Button again and open a Command Prompt (or PowerShell) as Administrator.

Then run the following commands, one at a time. They will reset various network functions of your computer:

netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /flushdns

7. Review Firewall, VPN, and Antivirus Software

Windows Defender Firewall

You should next make sure you don’t have a firewall, VPN, or security suite interfering with your network connection. Perhaps your chosen software had an update that changed some settings you weren’t aware of, or you just installed a new app.

Try disabling your firewall, VPN, and antivirus software one at a time, then see if the error goes away. If it does, the issue lies with one of those apps. You’ll need to configure them to avoid interfering with regular network activity.

8. Scan for Malware

Some malware has been known to continually mess with your proxy settings to prevent you from getting online. If you run into the “Windows could not detect this network’s proxy settings” message every time you reboot, you may be a victim of this.

You should thus run a scan with a trusted anti-malware app, such as Malwarebytes. This will detect any viruses or other malware running on your system and get rid of them. If the scan finds any infections, take the recommended action and see if your connection works as normal again.

9. Utilize a Restore Point

Windows 10 Restore Point

The System Restore feature in Windows lets you return to a previous point when your computer was working normally. If your issues started recently, you should try this to see if you can go back in time.

Search for Control Panel in the Start Menu to open it. If Category is selected in the top-right, switch to Small or Large icons and choose the System entry.

Next, click System protection on the left sidebar. In the resulting dialog box, click System Restore to open a new window. Windows will walk you through choosing a restore point and confirming the operation. Of course, if your computer hasn’t created any restore points, you can’t use this feature.

Note that using a restore point will remove any programs and drivers you installed since making that restore point. You can click Scan for affected programs on a restore point to see what effect it will have. A System Restore won’t affect any of your personal information.

10. Reset Your Network Settings

Windows 10 Network Reset

After trying everything above, you should resort to a full reset of your network options. You’ve already spent a lot of time working on this, and a reset should clear whatever persistent problem is blocking your connection.

Thankfully, Windows 10 makes it easy to reset your whole configuration. Open Settings > Network & Internet. On the Status tab, find Network reset at the bottom and click this.

Be aware that this will remove all network information from your computer, so you’ll need to reconnect to saved networks again. If you’re OK with this, click Reset now. Your computer will perform the reset, then restart.

More on Network Troubleshooting

Now you know what to do when Windows cannot detect proxy settings. All network errors are frustrating, but you should be able to clear this one up without much work. It’s most important to make sure that you have a proxy turned off (if you don’t use one) or configured properly (if you do use one).

Otherwise, some standard network troubleshooting should have you all patched up. We have an extensive guide to Windows network troubleshooting if you need more help.

Read the full article: How to Solve the Windows Could Not Automatically Detect Network Proxy Settings Error


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5 Must-Have Firefox Extensions for Kodi Users


firefox-extensions-kodi

Kodi is a great way to organize and view your video and audio files. But Kodi gets even better when you take advantage of its flexibility and adapt it to meet your particular needs.

There are a number of Firefox extensions you can use to enhance your Kodi experience. In this article we’ll show you some of our favorite Firefox extensions for Kodi users.

These must-have Firefox extensions allow you to send files from your browser to Kodi, act as a built-in remote control, and more. All of which will be invaluable to Kodi users.

1. Play to Kodi

Kodi extensions Firefox - Play to Kodi

Imagine you’re perusing YouTube or another video site and spot a video you want to watch. However, you don’t want to watch the video in your browser, as you would rather send it to Kodi.

The Play to Kodi extension allows you to do just that. This extension adds an option to the context menu which appears when you right-click on the link to a video in your browser. You can choose to Play Now, Add to Queue, or Play Next. If the video has a thumbnail you can even Show Image in Kodi if you want.

This works with sites like YouTube, CollegeHumor, eBaumsWorld, LiveLeak, Twitch.tv, Khan Academy, Lynda.com, Hulu, and SoundCloud.

To set up the Play to Kodi extension, click on the icon of a TV. Then click the Cogs icon in the bottom left of the popup. Enter your details like URL, port, username, and password into the Kodi host(s) section and hit Save.

2. Kassi Control

Kodi extensions Firefox - Kassi Control

Another task you might want to perform is controlling your Kodi system from your browser. This is handy in combination with the Play to Kodi extension above, as once you have sent a video from your browser to Kodi, you can hit pause, change the volume, or enable subtitles.

Kassi Control gives you a full-featured Kodi remote right in your browser. Just hit the icon and you can perform tasks like pausing and playing the current media, browsing using the four-way buttons, sending text to Kodi, or bringing up context menus.

To set up Kassi Control, click on the icon of a green X. This will bring up a Settings panel. Here you can enter a Display name (where you can name your Kodi system), the IP address for your Kodi system, and your TCP port. Remember, your TCP port is different from your HTTP port. Your TCP port is 9090 by default.

Enter your settings and hit Connect to start using the remote.

This is just one way to use a remote control for Kodi. To see even more ways to achieve this, check out the best ways to control Kodi from your couch.

3. Kassi Share

Kodi extensions Firefox - Kassi Share

Kassi Share works in a similar way to Play to Kodi, letting you send videos from your browser to Kodi. Sometimes you’ll find file types which aren’t supported by Play to Kodi but are supported by Kassi Share, so it’s useful to install both extensions.

Kassi Share supports sites like Facebook, Twitch.tv, Vimeo, and YouTube. When you right-click on a link to a video you’ll have options to Play or Add to Queue.

To set up Kassi Share, click on the paw print icon and then choose Settings. This opens up a new tab where you can add information like the Display Name for your Kodi installation, your Host or IP address, the HTTP port (it should be 8080 by default) and your username and password.

4. Cast Kodi

Kodi extensions Firefox - Cast Kodi

If you like the sound of Play to Kodi and Kassi Share but want an extension that works for music as well as video, then you should try Cast Kodi. This is useful for sending direct links of video or audio files to Kodi, as well as supporting other sites like YouTube, Twitch, Vimeo, Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, and SoundCloud.

Another nice feature of Cast Kodi is that it automatically detects video or audio content from the page you are browsing. While browsing, you just hit the blue soundwave icon. This brings up a panel from which you can add the content from your current page to your Kodi queue or play it immediately. You can also paste links and use the extension as a basic remote with play/pause, forward/back, and volume options.

To configure Cast Kodi, hit the Cogs icon and the extensions page will open. Here you can add your Port, Username, Password, and IP address as well as changing some additional settings.

5. TraktToKodi

Kodi extensions Firefox - TrakttoKodi

Finally, Trakt users will want to check out TraktToKodi. Trakt lets you track the movies and TV shows you watch, creating a log of everything you’ve watched.

When you’re browsing the Trakt website, you can use the TraktToKodi extension to play an item in Kodi as long as you have a compatible add-on installed.

To use the extension, hit the Play Button icon. This brings up a Kodi connection panel where you can enter your IP/Host, your Port, and the Add-on ID of the add-on you want to use. Then you can use the extension to watch content as you browse the Trakt website.

How to Connect Firefox Extensions to Kodi

In order to use these Firefox extensions for Kodi, you need to change some settings.

Open up Kodi and go to Settings. Then go to Services. Look under the Control tab. Now make sure that the checkbox for Allow remote control via HTTP is set to On. Port should be set to 8080 by default and you can leave that as is.

It’s a good idea to set a Username and Password here as well for the best security.

Now scroll down and make sure the checkboxes for Allow remote control from applications on this system and Allow remote control from applications on other systems are both set to On.

This will allow you to use Firefox extensions to control Kodi remotely. If you’re having problems or want to see further details, read our article detailing how to set up a Kodi remote control.

Get the Most Out of Kodi Firefox Extensions

Using these Firefox extensions means you can control Kodi remotely, play videos from your browser in Kodi, or add videos to your queue. They are handy for when you’d rather browse for videos on your desktop or laptop but still want to watch them on your Kodi device.

These are great for watching videos from channels like YouTube, Vimeo, or Trakt.tv. But for even more content to watch, here’s how to watch movies on Kodi.

Read the full article: 5 Must-Have Firefox Extensions for Kodi Users


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How to Use the Microsoft Windows Update Catalog for Windows Updates


windows-update-catalogue

Modern versions of Windows take the hassle out of checking for system updates. Now Windows makes sure all important updates install in the background, so you probably don’t need to intervene aside from an occasional manual check for updates.

However, did you know that Microsoft provides another tool for system managers and advanced users to download Windows Updates? It’s called the Microsoft Update Catalog, and it’s free to use if you need it. Let’s take a look.

What Is the Microsoft Update Catalog?

Microsoft Update Catalog Home

The Microsoft Update Catalog, also known as the Windows Update Catalog, is a huge repository of Windows Updates. You can search it to find all kinds of updates for Windows 10 and older versions manually.

This Windows catalog used to require ActiveX controls, which meant you could only use it in Internet Explorer. ActiveX is Internet Explorer’s system for plugins, infamous for its security problems. However, Microsoft announced in October 2016 that the service now works in all browsers thanks to the removal of ActiveX from the site.

Wow, the Microsoft Catalog Is Old!

Windows XP Windows Update

When you open the Microsoft Update Catalog, its dated design will probably bring back memories of using Windows XP. The simple blue background and globe icon definitely match the era, as it hasn’t seen a refresh in at least a decade.

Indeed, the system of checking for updates on a website hearkens back to the olden days of Windows. Initially, Windows Update worked as a web app that you visited to download and install new updates. Later, Windows started including automatic checks for updates so you didn’t have to do this.

Even as late as Windows XP, clicking the Windows Update option in the Start Menu would open the web app and prompt you to check for updates. You could choose Express to get only important updates, or Custom to see optional updates too. The site then let you pick and choose what updates to install to your PC.

Why Download Updates Manually?

Windows Update Up to Date

Despite the old-school aesthetic, the Windows Update Catalog features current updates for Windows 10. But you might wonder why it exists when you can just click Check for updates in the Settings app.

As it turns out, the Update Catalog is mainly intended for business use. It includes tools that system admins can use to deploy updates in a Windows domain corporate environment.

Home users probably don’t care exactly what updates are installed on their systems. But in a business, IT professionals have to be more discerning. They might decide to pick and choose what updates to install on mission-critical systems. Or they may have to roll back a glitchy update and manually reinstall just that patch later.

Manual Updates for Home Users

However, this doesn’t mean that the site is useless outside of enterprise use. Advanced home users can still use the Update Catalog to install individual updates when needed.

Perhaps you have a specific problem with your computer that a particular update solves, but Windows Update won’t deliver that patch to your PC. Or maybe you want to install an update on an older machine that doesn’t have access to the internet. In both of these cases, downloading from the Windows Update Catalog is a solution.

Notably, Microsoft claims on its Download Center homepage that it now only offers Windows Updates for download on the Update Catalog. It once offered individual downloads on the main Microsoft website but has discontinued this in favor of keeping everything in one place. You’ll still find some older updates there, though.

How to Use the Microsoft Update Catalog

Open the Microsoft Update Catalog in any browser to get started. Use the search bar at the top-right of the screen. You can search for general terms like Windows Vista or Security here, but those will likely bring up thousands of results.

The most useful way to search the Update Catalog is by KB number. Every Windows Update has a number associated with it, such as KB4346087. Searching for this will bring up far fewer results.

Windows Update Catalog Search

Click an update title in the list to see details about it. This will show the last modification date, size of the update, and more. On the Package Details tab, you can see which updates it replaces.

The service also has an RSS option to notify you when new updates arrive matching your criteria. However, this only worked in Internet Explorer in our testing.

Windows Update Catalog Details Screen

Pay close attention to the operating system and version for the updates. Know if you’re on 64-bit or 32-bit Windows; remember that x64 updates are for 64-bit systems and x86 is for 32-bit. Some patches with identical numbers are available for more than one Windows version. And for Windows 10, you must make sure that your version number matches the one in the update.

Visit Settings > System > About on Windows 10 to check this information.

Downloading an Update from the Update Catalog

Once you’ve decided on an update, click the Download button on the right side. This will spawn a new window with a link to download the update. Just click this text and choose a place to save it on your PC as you normally would.

Files ending in MSU are simple installers. Double-click one to open it, then follow the prompts to install it on your system.

If your file ends in CAB, which is often the case for drivers, it’s in an archive format and you’ll need to extract it before using it. Check out the best file extraction software if you don’t have a tool like this installed yet.

After extracting a driver, you may need to manually update it through the Device Manager. Right-click the Start Button and choose Device Manager to open it, then find the driver you want to update and double-click it. On the Driver tab, click Update Driver > Browse my computer for driver software.

Device Manager Update Driver Manually

Once the update completes, you may need to restart your system to apply it.

Do You Need the Microsoft Update Catalog?

We’ve reviewed what the Windows Update Catalog is for and how it works. Now that you know how to find and install updates from it, do you really need it?

Most regular users will never need to hunt down updates from the Microsoft Update Catalog. There’s no reason to go looking around for updates in normal cases, as Windows Update does the work of finding what you need and delivering it to you.

However, if you’re having a problem and someone recommends that you install a specific KB update to solve it, you may have to do so through the Update Catalog if you don’t already have that patch installed on your system. Just make sure you install the right update for your machine.

Next time you have an issue with Windows Update, don’t think you have to start installing them all manually. Have a look at our Windows Update troubleshooting guide for help.

Read the full article: How to Use the Microsoft Windows Update Catalog for Windows Updates


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Interview With an Escape Room Designer: An Inside Look at Escape Room Design


This article was originally published on our sister site, WhatNerd.

Recently, we ran through a fantastic escape room called “Fractured: Remember Me” in Melbourne. After escaping, we had a chance to sit down with Owen Spear, the designer of the room, to learn a bit more about his background, how he designs his escape room puzzles, and plenty of other escape room tidbits.

WhatNerd: How did you get into designing escape rooms?

Owen Spear, Escape Room Melbourne: I went to Budapest with my ex-partner about six years ago when they had just begun (they started in 2011) and we heard about these escape rooms, and I finally got around to doing one. I thought it would be like a couple of Sudokus in a room and you know, like, some brain teaser or something.

I think it was kind of an average room, but it was incredible and as soon as we finished we’re like super excited. We were like, “Let’s build one in Australia.” We looked it up and there were none here yet, so we started designing it and we came back to Australia and managed to be the first, which was cool!

WN: What were you doing before you got into escape rooms?

OS: I was just finishing my Master’s to be a clinical psychologist so I just started building escape rooms and working as a psych at the same time, which is a coincidence.

WN: How do you feel about where escape rooms are right now? Do you see them as a long-term trend or do you see them as a fad?

OS: Escape rooms aren’t showing any signs of slowing yet, and it’s been eight years now.

I think they’re gonna keep being popular because if you think about corporate team-building and how incredibly boring most corporate team-building is, you can send someone to an escape room and it’s genuinely fun and genuinely builds bonds between people. I think that will end up being the bread and butter of escape rooms.

I think they’re going to have to advance. There are people either going on the tech side or they’re going down the acting/interesting phenomenon side of things.

WN: I heard of the one [down in Melbourne] that’s “The Legend of Zelda meets escape room” where you have these different masks that you wear with unique abilities.

OS: I haven’t done it yet but I’ve heard that it’s a bit less puzzly, but the story is very immersive. I think escape rooms are going to eventually have to keep doing different things. They can’t be the classic open-the-locks-and-find-the-thing.

“Fractured” kind of walks the line with a little bit of a narrative while having the puzzles. Our first room has something like 12 locks in it whereas Fractured has three or four. That’s where escape rooms are trying to head. A little bit is away from this unlock-the-box/find-the-item/use-the-item/unlock-another-box. I think they’re going to keep going.

WN: The biggest issue that I’ve seen with escape rooms, compared to other entertainment activities, is that it’s hard to get repeat customers. What do you think is the solution to that?

OS: When the next Flemington room opens, we’ll have seven rooms that people can use. That’s a lot of repeating.

You can just keep building rooms and it’s rare that someone will do them all. We have Escape Room Melbourne “groupies” who will do every single one of our rooms; as soon as we open one, they’ll do it. They’re sort of dedicated to our company, but it’s rare that you’ll get somebody who does all seven of your rooms.

There are other alternatives I’ve never bothered with, but some people will have rooms in two parts. Usually you can’t finish in the first try so you have to go back a second time to finish it off. The other alternative I’ve heard of is, you make decisions along the way that fundamentally change how the room unfolds. You’ll open a different area which means you’ve got to have a separate area, but it’s sort of like using the same space for a different thing. We were going to use the old Flemington room, but then change it so that it had gone through an apocalypse after the original setting.

But you’re right, you can’t replay it like you can laser tag or Mario Kart or whatever, I guess that’s true. But it doesn’t seem to matter too much, and they’re pretty successful. There are nearly 30 [escape room] companies now in Melbourne.

WN: Can you give us a quick overview of your process from starting a puzzle to finishing a puzzle?

OS: I would come up with an interesting mechanism for an item. So I’m walking around a shop or a market somewhere and I see a little old billiard set, like a tiny one, and I’m like, “This is cool. I want that item in my room. How can I make it into a puzzle?” I think about the properties of it. It involves balls that move. Then I would think the balls could roll around. In the place where they roll, what if they left an imaginary line and that was how it worked? If someone got instructions on how a billiards game went and then you think of an output, a number is the easiest. That’s why everyone uses locks. It’s so easy to come up with a number answer.

I’ll think about what would be interesting. I think about what information it holds or what information you could glean from that thing, and then make a prototype, test it, see how people find it, refine it, and then repeat over and over and over again until it’s refined.

WN: Let’s say you have a puzzle that you’ve designed, sticking with the billiards table as an example, would you already have a room theme for that or do you go the other way and come up with the puzzle first?

OS: No, I always have a room theme. I start with a room theme, and then I’d wander up to shops. I’d start with the theme idea, and then I’d look for items for it. I’d find something cool and think, “How can I turn that into a puzzle?” For example, I want a projector, that would be cool. When you stand in front of the projector, you create a silhouette. Okay, that could make the person use their own body to form shapes. Then you just run with that and work it, work really hard over and over. Each puzzle will see around 50 changes.

WN: What would you say are the most frustrating and most rewarding parts of watching somebody work on one of your rooms?

OS: Rewarding? Teams where they get it, and I appreciate that.

Most frustrating is the opposite of that, where teams just don’t get it. I find it uncomfortable when a team can’t solve puzzles. I feel like I’ve made it too hard. There are puzzles I’ve refined for literally 80 hours and they didn’t make [the cut as a puzzle in the room]. Some I’ve worked on for 30, 40, or 50 hours that don’t make it in a room and I just have to be like, “Oh well.”

WN: Do you hang onto those for use in another room or do you just scrap the idea?

OS: I’ve tried to reinsert them in other rooms and they end up getting kicked out again. Like the first puzzle I ever made I thought was really cool. I thought it was really fun, but it just pissed everyone off. It’s not working when you’re making all these changes to make it easier and easier. I thought it would be really good, but it turned out it wasn’t and I just had to dumb it down over and over.

WN: What are your favorite types of puzzles?

OS: I find the best puzzles you can design are multi-stage procedural puzzles. A lot of rooms draw on these quick fix puzzles, which is like one person gets to go, “Ahh! The thing goes there!” I like multi-stage procedural puzzles where about ten logic leaps are required, which means everyone can get involved.

If I can make a puzzle that has many steps involving many people, that’s the hardest to come up with but my favorite kind.

WN: Do you have any specific stories or instances of players where you just had to sit back and laugh?

OS: When you finish the first room, we have you find this elixir, this potion that’s like tonic water with glow-in-the-dark pink stuff in it. It glows from UV light. You find it and go, “Cool, we found it.” [One person’s] team thought it was a spirit to drink, so they drink this glow-in-the-dark liquid that’s from those glow-in-the-dark sticks.

The worst I’ve ever seen was a group of seven twenty-year-old women who were led by this really bossy, really stupid woman. Any time one of them would say the right answer, she would push them out of line. They required 36 hints and took 2 hours and 10 minutes. I ended up just saying, “Hey, that girl there actually had the right idea, run with her.” I was laughing by the end. They were the last team of the day so there was no rush, and I just kept it running for the story.

WN: Was there a conscious decision to not put a timer in “Fractured” so the players aren’t distracted by it?

OS: A lot of escape rooms boast about having lower success rates. I think a lower success rate just means you made clunky, unintuitive puzzles. I don’t think they should be about winning and losing. I think they should be about using your brain in interesting ways and connecting with your friends to work together.

But the timer thing, I’m not really against it. I mean, people use it in other rooms to check how they’re going. I find there’s a real tension between gamifying something and making it feel authentic. If you have a timer in the room, every time you look at it you fee like you’re in a game. Did you know you’re in a game? I suppose you could make it part of the narrative.

WN: If budget wasn’t a concern, do you have a dream escape room that you would like to design?

OS: You know Melbourne housing prices are so ridiculous, it is a fantasy to imagine opening an escape room in a house—but [my dream would be] a whole-house escape room, rather than just a room in an existing house.

I would love to be able to build in something that existed. I’d love an old mill or an old bakery. Just something that was already kind of creepy and odd, where I just add the puzzles. With unlimited money, they do this already in China. If public liability didn’t matter, I’d do rooms that filled with water and you literally had water slowly filling in.

I’d love to have one in a truck so you were driven around and you didn’t know where it would end up. It could potentially stop at different spots and you could jump out to grab stuff.

Another one I would like to do is buy a place where you would do a holiday escape room, so you solve a mystery over an entire weekend. It would have stuff that would get you to explore the area. A little bit like geocaching combined with escape rooms.

WN: Do you see virtual reality working its way into escape rooms?

OS: Someone will do it and I don’t like it. For me personally, I like escape rooms because it’s getting you off your couch into the real world. The only way virtual reality would work in a room is if you developed a sci-fi theme where virtual reality made sense.

Check Out Escape Room Melbourne

If you find yourself in Melbourne, you should definitely give Escape Room Melbourne a shot. Just check out our review of “Fractured: Remember Me” to see what we thought of their latest room.

Read the full article: Interview With an Escape Room Designer: An Inside Look at Escape Room Design


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Portal Cord is a Charger Cable With a Power Bank Hiding Inside


Power banks are an incredible invention. They make it so we can keep our devices running for substantially longer than their built-in batteries.

They’re not without flaws, though. Part of the reason a device like a smartphone is so useful is that it’s easy to carry around. It fits right into your pocket. Most power banks, however, aren’t so portable.

Portal Cord is setting out to solve that problem by tucking the power bank right inside of the cord.

Portal Cord Features

The way the Portal Cord is able to contain the power within the cord is by having multiple batteries lining the length of the device. While a traditional power bank features one large battery, this one uses a bunch of smaller ones.

Obviously, even by having multiple batteries along the cable, there’s just no way to fit a huge amount of juice. As such, the Portal Cord features 1,800 mAh of charging power. To put that into perspective, an iPhone XS Max features a 3,174 mAh battery, while a Pixel 3 features a 2900 mAh battery. Basically, you won’t get a full charge for your devices out of this power bank, but thanks to Quick Charge technology, you’ll get a decent amount of juice rather quickly.

The Portal Cord is available in USB-C, Lightning, and micro USB, so it’ll work with a wide range of devices including newer iPhones and most Android devices.

For length, the Portal Cord measures three feet, which is pretty standard for power cables. Not going with an incredibly long cable allows the device to remain portable. The cable and attached batteries are pretty light, coming with a weight of only 4.24 ounces.

Portal Cord Availability

Portal Power is seeking funding for Portal Cord on Kickstarter right now. The project is tracking to meet is $20,000 funding goal with around $15K as of this writing. Backers who would like to order a device can do so for $55 while the early special lasts. After that, the price goes up by $10. The company plans to ship the power banks to backers in October 2019.

Make sure you understand the risks of backing a crowdfunding project before you jump in though. Read our guide featuring things you need to know before backing a Kickstarter.

Read the full article: Portal Cord is a Charger Cable With a Power Bank Hiding Inside


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Facebook Is Getting a New Redesign for 2019


Facebook is currently hosting F8, its annual conference for developers. The first day of F8 was filled with announcements covering Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus. And the headline has to be Facebook’s new redesign for 2019.

Facebook Changes Things Up for 2019

Facebook has redesigned the Facebook website and app. Visually, Facebook is being bleached, with the blue almost all gone, and a simpler, cleaner, and very white palette used instead. This makeover makes Facebook look more like Instagram.

Content-wise, the new Facebook is being built around two core components: Groups and Events. Groups is at the heart of the new Facebook, and represents Facebook trying to move away from the News Feed and make Facebook more about communities.

Facebook Wants You to Join New Groups

On the Facebook Newsroom, Facebook explains that while people use “Facebook to connect with friends and family […] it’s also a place to connect with people who share your interests and passions.” Which is why it’s putting Groups first.

There’s also a privacy element involved. While many people make their Facebook posts viewable to all and sundry, groups are more private. And with Mark Zuckerberg claiming Facebook is becoming a “more privacy-focused social platform” this is a crucial move.

facebook redesign 2019

Facebook is launching a redesigned Groups tab to help you find new groups. It will also plant group recommendations across other parts of the app. And introduce new features for specific types of group such as Job groups and Health Support groups.

Events is getting a new tab too. This will let you “see what’s happening around you, get recommendations, discover local businesses, and coordinate with friends to make plans to get together.” Which Facebook sees as another way of fostering communities.

Facebook Wants You to Meet New Friends

Facebook is also testing a new feature called Meet New Friends. This will “help people start friendships with new people from their shared communities like a school, workplace or city.” Meet New Friends is opt-in only and still a work in progress.

Facebook is rolling out the redesigned app for Android and iOS right now. The new desktop site will follow “in the next few months”. Which gives you time to check out the top social media apps you could (and probably should) be using instead of Facebook.

Image Credit: Marco Verch/Flickr

Read the full article: Facebook Is Getting a New Redesign for 2019


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