Google today announced that it sold “tens of millions of Google devices for the home” over the course of the last year and that it sold “more than one Google Home device every second since Google Home Mini started shipping in October.” Read More
Global app revenue climbed 35 percent in 2017 to reach nearly $60 billion, according to a new report today from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower, which measured paid apps, subscriptions, and in-app purchases across both Apple’s App Store and Google Play. However, Apple is the one pulling n the most revenue, the report found – at nearly double that of Google Play. Specifically,… Read More
There are all sorts of niche social networks. There are networks for gamers. Networks for beer drinkers. Even networks for academics. But possibly the best social network that you haven’t joined yet is Nextdoor. Nextdoor is a free, private, local social network for people that live in a neighborhood. That might not sound like such a cool thing, but hear me out. It’s a fantastically useful tool. You can buy and sell things more reliably than on Craigslist and get locally-relevant news — even get help with projects. It’s time to join the Nextdoor social network. Let’s check it out....
Read the full article: Why You Need to Be on Nextdoor, the Local Social Network
Global app revenue climbed 35 percent in 2017 to reach nearly $60 billion, according to a new report today from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower, which measured paid apps, subscriptions, and in-app purchases across both Apple’s App Store and Google Play. However, Apple is the one pulling n the most revenue, the report found – at nearly double that of Google Play. Specifically,… Read More
Whether you work online for someone else or for yourself, getting tedious tasks done quickly is essential. If you use Google Chrome, you can use business extensions that help you work faster and with less effort. The tools can assist you with meetings, screen sharing, documents, and more. 1. Meetingbird When you need to schedule a meeting, it can be difficult when many participants are involved. Finding availability for each person can be daunting. Meetingbird is a Chrome extension that can help you plan and book that meeting in no time. Meetingbird works with Gmail and Google Inbox, letting you...
Read the full article: 7 Chrome Extensions for a Productive New Business Year
HP is recalling a number of laptop batteries due to serious safety concerns. Essentially, HP is responding to reports that some batteries on some models can overheat, and recalling all those which may be affected. Which is appreciated, as it’s always better to be safe than sorry. This seems to be something of an annual tradition for HP. In 2016, the company recalled 41,000 laptop batteries after reports of overheating. Then, in 2017, HP recalled 101,000 batteries for the same reason. This year the number of laptop batteries being recalled is around 50,000. Potentially Hazardous to Your Health According to...
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A new year is upon us. For many, this is a time of change and reflection. This isn’t just a matter of adjusting what we do, but what we use. What we use just so happens to impact what we do. That’s why it’s great to be a Linux user as we go into 2018. Whether you’re looking at using Linux in new ways or spreading the free and open source values to other aspects of your life, there are many reasons to have a FOSS-y new year. 1. Consume Less We call the holiday season a season of giving,...
Read the full article: 8 Ways Linux Can Improve Your New Year
2017 was a bad year for online security. The rise of ransomware dominated the early part of the year, while data breaches (including the infamous Equifax hack) continued unabated. Toward the tail end of the year, rumors started spreading of a huge security flaw with Intel CPUs. Just as the sun rose on 2018, researchers unleashed a flood of information on two new exploits: Meltdown and Spectre. Both affect the CPU. Meltdown primarily affects Intel processors and is (relatively) easy to patch. To add fuel to the fire, Intel’s response to the flaw has drawn sharp criticism from the security...
Read the full article: Meltdown and Spectre Leave Every CPU Vulnerable to Attack
GIFs are everywhere. The once-humble animated image is now the unofficial language of the web. GIFs are the quickest way to express an emotion on Twitter, and you can waste hours watching them on Reddit and Facebook. There are loads of places to find GIFs, including specialist services like Giphy, and you can even get iOS keyboards and Android keyboards that search for them as you type. But nothing beats making your own. You can create an animated GIF in Photoshop by converting videos or using a series of static images. Let’s take a look at how to do both....
Read the full article: How to Make an Animated GIF in Photoshop
Download an app, create a profile, swipe right when you like what you’re seeing, left when you don’t. Using Tinder isn’t rocket science. However, if online dating was that simple, we would all have switched to apps like Tinder by now. What’s Wrong With Tinder? When Tinder just started, we all thought that was it — the find-your-love-in-pajamas digital utopia that meant never having to go through awkward bar conversations with strangers or hear the horrible sexual harassment stories from your friend’s night out again. And it does seem like Tinder made dating easier for some people. At the same...
Read the full article: Tinder Privacy: 8 Things You’re Doing Wrong
When you find a game you love, it’s a bummer when it ends. Even if you’ve spent hundreds of hours playing an expansive RPG, you just can’t wait to get back into something that gives you the same feeling of adventure. Or maybe you’re just super addicted to match-three games and you want to find another game like Candy Crush. No matter what your favorite games are, there are great alternatives out there. We’ve put together some of those alternatives for your favorite games here. Read through the whole list, or skip to your favorite game right away! Games Like...
Read the full article: Games Like Skyrim, Candy Crush, League of Legends, and 8 Other Favorites
Kodi’s development team regularly releases new versions of the app with a near-constant stream of updates, new features, and security patches. But for all of Kodi’s incredible features, one glaring omission remains: the app does not automatically update itself. Yes, you can configure add-ons to auto-update, but the core app requires user input. Thankfully, it’s not as confusing or as long-winded as it sounds. You can easily grab the latest version of Kodi and perform the update in moments. You just need to know what to do and where to look. If you want to learn how to update Kodi, keep...
Read the full article: How Do I Update Kodi?
Netflix introduced offline viewing for its users a while back, but until now, it remains a feature available only in its mobile and tablet apps, and you can’t download just any show or movie. If you want to download movies or shows to watch while traveling, commuting, or just when you’re out of range of a Wi-Fi signal, you’ll have to use an app on the following platforms: iOS 9.0 or later (phone or tablet) Android 4.4.2 or later (phone or tablet) Windows 10 Version 1607 or later (tablet or PC) If you watch Netflix on your TV or in a browser, this...
Read the full article: How to Download Movies and TV Shows on Netflix
Have the Narrator stuck on your Xbox One and can’t figure out how to turn it off? This accessibility feature is designed to help people with visual impairments use the console, but if you accidentally turn it on and don’t need it, it can quickly get annoying. How to Turn Off the Narrator on Xbox One Press and hold the Xbox button on your controller until it vibrates and you see power options. Press the Menu button (on the right side of your controller) to turn off the Narrator. This shortcut is likely how you mistakenly enabled the Narrator in...
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Google has added Chinese mobile game livestreaming platform Chushou to its list of investments in Asia. The Beijing-based startup announced today that it has closed a Series D round, which Google joined as a new investor, that brings its total funding so far to over $120 million. Chushou’s previous investors Qiming Venture, Shunwei Capital and Alpha X Capital, also returned for this round. Read More
GoPro is in the process of laying off around 200-300 employees this week, TechCrunch has learned from sources close to the company. The hits to the company were largely concentrated in its aerial division, the segment of the company responsible for its Karma drone. In a letter to impacted employees GoPro explained these cuts are part of a larger restructuring “to better align our… Read More
Apple isn’t immune to Meltdown and Spectre, the major bugs in basic computing architecture that were announced yesterday to widespread amazement and horror. In an announcement, the company said that “all Mac systems and iOS devices are affected,” which sounds right, but that mitigations are either already in place or on the way. Read More
For as much as its users love to hate on their platform of choice, Twitter occasionally really comes through with a deep dive on a hot topic that provides actual, meaningful insight. Such an event is almost enough to remind us why we all fritter our lives away on there to begin with. Remember when we used to blog? Like, we issued thoughts in sentences and paragraphs instead of a series of… Read More
The Nintendo Switch is now the fastest-selling games console of all time in the United States. In the 10 months since the Switch was launched on March 3, 2017, Nintendo has sold 4.8 million units in the U.S. alone. That’s 800,000 more units than the Wii managed in the same timeframe. The aforementioned Wii is the previous record-holder, so the latest Nintendo console has beaten the last-but-one Nintendo console into second place. Which tells us that a) Nintendo fans don’t waste any time, and b) if it can beat the Wii for sales the Switch must be doing well. Wii...
Read the full article: The Nintendo Switch Is the Fastest Selling Console Ever
The week after Christmas is a lazy one, but the App Store was working overtime. Apple triumphantly announced today that the late holiday season brought in more than a billion dollars in purchases on its mobile marketplace. Read More
The week after Christmas is a lazy one, but the App Store was working overtime. Apple triumphantly announced today that the late holiday season brought in more than a billion dollars in purchases on its mobile marketplace. Read More
Every year, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes on a personal challenge. Previous examples include learning Mandarin, reading more books, and meeting people in all 50 of the United States of America. And for 2018, Mark Zuckerberg has promised to fix Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg has, for better or worse, become the public face of the internet. Partly because Facebook is so ubiquitous, and partly because he seems to enjoy spending time in the public eye. Unfortunately, Facebook didn’t have the best 2017, so for 2018 Zuckerberg is focusing on work. Mark Zuckerberg Wants to Fix Facebook Zuckerberg outlines his...
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Mapbox, the Softbank-backed developer of mapping applications that competes with Google Maps TomTom and Here, has acquired the intellectual property and developers behind MapZen’s Valhalla project in a bid to strengthen its navigation toolkits. The acquisition, made as Mapzen was winding down, brings the Valhalla development team in-house for a bargain price that Mapbox chief executive… Read More
Letters and numbers were once about plastic blocks and glossy books. Interactive games were something you found only on the playground. But today’s classroom can be the real estate of a digital screen. As a parent, you have to duel with kids and their short attention spans. But new teaching tools have arrived that make it easier to teach the alphabet and numbers to hyperactive little people. Worry not. Today’s child is born for the interactive screen. As a parent, you can try to limit their screen time but it can be a losing battle. The gentler option is to nudge them towards apps and tools which support...
Read the full article: 10 Interactive Games to Teach Your Kids Letters & Numbers
Do you love streaming movies and TV shows occasionally, but not enough to justify subscribing to Netflix, Hulu, or one of the other streaming services? If so, you’re not alone. People’s streaming habits are as varied as the content they prefer to watch. Maybe your friend spends her entire weekend binge-watching a TV show. However, you typically only view a movie or a few episodes of a show each week. Or maybe you don’t like the thought of paying subscription costs because your usage varies on a monthly basis. Plus, for people on modest budgets, reccurring subscriptions are not always...
Read the full article: Vudu: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started
Buying event tickets online isn’t a great experience. Sites like Ticketmaster are the default, but are difficult to use and expensive. A startup called Lea wants to offer a more modern experience by combining event search, discovery, seat selection and payment all in a single application that works right in Facebook Messenger. Yes, that’s right – Lea is a chatbot. And while… Read More
Buying event tickets online isn’t a great experience. Sites like Ticketmaster are the default, but are difficult to use and expensive. A startup called Lea wants to offer a more modern experience by combining event search, discovery, seat selection and payment all in a single application that works right in Facebook Messenger. Yes, that’s right – Lea is a chatbot. And while… Read More
If you’re in the mood to give your mind a little exercise, online riddles are a great place to do just that. One popular genre of online riddle games consists of multiple levels, with clues found in the source code, photos, and just about everywhere you can look. One part riddle, and one part detective work, the games listed here will give you an immense sense of satisfaction as you crack each level. 1. NotPron NotPron is a challenging riddle game. According to its creator, it’s the hardest riddle game on the internet. But it’s not the only game on this list to make that...
Read the full article: 7 Online Riddle Games to Keep You Glued to Your Computer
