Everyday home gear made smart

Makula Dunbar Contributor

Makula Dunbar is a writer with Wirecutter.

More posts by this contributor

• Wireless headphones and earbuds to fit your budget
• Back-to-college tech for minimalists and the over-prepared

Editor’s note: This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and TechCrunch may earn affiliate commissions.

If you only have one smart home device, it’s likely something simple and fun like a voice-controlled speaker or color-changing LED light bulb. As you expand your smart home setup, you can begin to swap out gear that isn’t as flashy but you still use everyday.

Switching to connected locks, power outlets and smoke alarms are all simple installs that can improve your safety and comfort in your own home. We’ve pulled together some of our favorite essentials made smart for anyone looking to upgrade.

Smart lock: Kwikset Kevo Smart Lock 2nd Gen

The Kwikset Kevo Smart Lock 2nd Gen is the most versatile smart lock that we’ve tested. Whether you prefer to use a wireless fob, smartphone app or key, you’ll be able to control the lock with all of them. When we compared it to similar models, the Kevo’s Bluetooth-activated tap-to-unlock mechanism was the easiest to use.

The second generation of the Kevo improved on security and has all-metal internal components for better protection against forced break-in attempts. With the optional Kevo Plus upgrade, you’ll add the ability to control the lock remotely and receive status-monitoring updates.

Photo: Liam McCabe

Robot Vacuum: iRobot Roomba 960

If cleaning is neither your forte or preferred pastime, a robot vacuum will come in handy. Our upgrade pick, the iRobot Roomba 960, is one of the most powerful models that we tested. It can be controlled through the iRobot Home app and uses a bump-and-track navigation system that helps vacuum an entire floor without missing spots.

If its battery is running low during a session, it’ll return to its dock to power up before finishing the job. It’s easy to disassemble for maintenance and is equipped with repairable parts that make it worth its price over some of our less serviceable picks.

Photo: Rachel Cericola

Plug-in Smart Outlet: Belkin Wemo Mini

We tested 26 smart outlet models over more than 45 hours and chose the Belkin Wemo Mini Wi-Fi plug as our top pick. If you’ve ever thought it’d be nice to remotely turn on or off home essentials such as lamps, air conditioners and fans from your smartphone, plugging them into a smart outlet makes it possible.

The Wemo Mini has proven to be reliable throughout long-term testing, it doesn’t block other outlets on the same wall plate and it’s compatible with iOS and Android devices and assistants, including HomeKit/Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant. The interface of the Wemo app is intuitive and easy to use. You can view all of your connected devices on one screen, set powering timers and from anywhere power on or off a device plugged into the Wemo outlet.

Photo: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy

Smart Thermostat: Nest Thermostat E

For a smart thermostat that’s affordable and doesn’t require extensive programming, we recommend the Nest Thermostat E. After about a week, it creates a schedule after learning cooling and heating preferences that you’ve set. It isn’t compatible with as many HVAC systems as similar Nest models, but it’s easy to install and doesn’t lack any features we expect.

It does come with Eco Mode — an energy-saving geofencing feature that detects when your home is empty (or when your smartphone is nowhere near your house). The Nest app uses the same technology to set the thermostat to a preferred temperature when it senses you’re on your way home. If you don’t have your smartphone on hand, you can still operate the Thermostat E by turning its outer ring and pressing selections on its touchscreen.

Photo: Michael Hession

Smart Smoke Alarm: Nest Protect

A smoke alarm is one of the most relied-upon safety devices in every home. Nonetheless, it’s easy to forget to do routine checks to ensure it’s in tip-top shape and functioning properly. With a smart smoke alarm like the Nest Protect, we found that its simple app, self-tests, monthly sound checks and consistent alerts are enough to keep fire safety worries at bay.

It isn’t difficult to install, has a sleek design and integrates with other smart home devices like the Nest Cam (which can record video of a fire) and the Nest Learning Thermostat (which shuts down HVAC systems that may be the cause of a fire). It’s sensitive to fast- and slow-burning fires, plus it monitors homes for both smoke and carbon monoxide.

These picks may have been updated by Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and TechCrunch may earn affiliate commissions.

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Everyday home gear made smart

Makula Dunbar Contributor

Makula Dunbar is a writer with Wirecutter.

More posts by this contributor

• Wireless headphones and earbuds to fit your budget
• Back-to-college tech for minimalists and the over-prepared

Editor’s note: This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and TechCrunch may earn affiliate commissions.

If you only have one smart home device, it’s likely something simple and fun like a voice-controlled speaker or color-changing LED light bulb. As you expand your smart home setup, you can begin to swap out gear that isn’t as flashy but you still use everyday.

Switching to connected locks, power outlets and smoke alarms are all simple installs that can improve your safety and comfort in your own home. We’ve pulled together some of our favorite essentials made smart for anyone looking to upgrade.

Smart lock: Kwikset Kevo Smart Lock 2nd Gen

The Kwikset Kevo Smart Lock 2nd Gen is the most versatile smart lock that we’ve tested. Whether you prefer to use a wireless fob, smartphone app or key, you’ll be able to control the lock with all of them. When we compared it to similar models, the Kevo’s Bluetooth-activated tap-to-unlock mechanism was the easiest to use.

The second generation of the Kevo improved on security and has all-metal internal components for better protection against forced break-in attempts. With the optional Kevo Plus upgrade, you’ll add the ability to control the lock remotely and receive status-monitoring updates.

Photo: Liam McCabe

Robot Vacuum: iRobot Roomba 960

If cleaning is neither your forte or preferred pastime, a robot vacuum will come in handy. Our upgrade pick, the iRobot Roomba 960, is one of the most powerful models that we tested. It can be controlled through the iRobot Home app and uses a bump-and-track navigation system that helps vacuum an entire floor without missing spots.

If its battery is running low during a session, it’ll return to its dock to power up before finishing the job. It’s easy to disassemble for maintenance and is equipped with repairable parts that make it worth its price over some of our less serviceable picks.

Photo: Rachel Cericola

Plug-in Smart Outlet: Belkin Wemo Mini

We tested 26 smart outlet models over more than 45 hours and chose the Belkin Wemo Mini Wi-Fi plug as our top pick. If you’ve ever thought it’d be nice to remotely turn on or off home essentials such as lamps, air conditioners and fans from your smartphone, plugging them into a smart outlet makes it possible.

The Wemo Mini has proven to be reliable throughout long-term testing, it doesn’t block other outlets on the same wall plate and it’s compatible with iOS and Android devices and assistants, including HomeKit/Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant. The interface of the Wemo app is intuitive and easy to use. You can view all of your connected devices on one screen, set powering timers and from anywhere power on or off a device plugged into the Wemo outlet.

Photo: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy

Smart Thermostat: Nest Thermostat E

For a smart thermostat that’s affordable and doesn’t require extensive programming, we recommend the Nest Thermostat E. After about a week, it creates a schedule after learning cooling and heating preferences that you’ve set. It isn’t compatible with as many HVAC systems as similar Nest models, but it’s easy to install and doesn’t lack any features we expect.

It does come with Eco Mode — an energy-saving geofencing feature that detects when your home is empty (or when your smartphone is nowhere near your house). The Nest app uses the same technology to set the thermostat to a preferred temperature when it senses you’re on your way home. If you don’t have your smartphone on hand, you can still operate the Thermostat E by turning its outer ring and pressing selections on its touchscreen.

Photo: Michael Hession

Smart Smoke Alarm: Nest Protect

A smoke alarm is one of the most relied-upon safety devices in every home. Nonetheless, it’s easy to forget to do routine checks to ensure it’s in tip-top shape and functioning properly. With a smart smoke alarm like the Nest Protect, we found that its simple app, self-tests, monthly sound checks and consistent alerts are enough to keep fire safety worries at bay.

It isn’t difficult to install, has a sleek design and integrates with other smart home devices like the Nest Cam (which can record video of a fire) and the Nest Learning Thermostat (which shuts down HVAC systems that may be the cause of a fire). It’s sensitive to fast- and slow-burning fires, plus it monitors homes for both smoke and carbon monoxide.

These picks may have been updated by Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and TechCrunch may earn affiliate commissions.

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The 10 Best Sites for Free Tattoo Designs and Ideas

Not so long ago, society frowned on tattoos. Today, we accept and welcome them as part of our culture. We use them to tell stories, memorialize events, and turn our bodies into living works of art. Over the years, the internet has unleashed a torrent of creativity and tattoo designs. Many are even available for free if you know where to look.

Here are sites for free tattoo designs and new ideas you should look into.

1. Tattoo.com

Since 1998, Tattoo.com has been one of the web’s most popular destinations for all things tattoo. The site runs regular tattoo-related news articles and interviews, artist spotlights, and a section for user-submitted tattoo pics.

Creating an account allows you access to the site’s community features where you can save your favorite designs, leave reviews, and upload your own photos. Their regularly updated YouTube channel features interviews with musicians and other notable tattoo aficionados about their ink.

2. Tattooton

This blog highlights some of the best tattoo designs and tattoo templates. Themes like heart, elephant, or mandala tattoos abound, and every post also provides a bit of background to the tattoo type. Their best-of lists highlight some of the most intricate and outstanding tattoos by year.

You can filter the designs by male, female, amazing, and unique tattoos. The site hasn’t been updated since mid-2017 but is still an excellent resource for anyone interested in designing their own tattoo.

3. Instagram

The last few years have seen Instagram evolve from a photo sharing site, dominated by millennial selfies and brunch photos, to one of the most significant visual media platforms. In 2017, Instagram added the ability to follow hashtags, putting your interests right into the main feed. The photo-sharing social network has since become one of the best places to discover new artists and tattoo shops.

Established and up-and-coming artists post photos of their work, and users regularly tag their favorite artists after going under the needle. Instagram isn’t just limited to #ink photos though, with designers frequently posting art and tattoo designs. They also make it easy to save your favorite images into collections, readily accessible from your profile page.

Download: Instagram for Android (Free)| iOS (Free)

4. Tattoodo

Tattoodo is a social network designed exclusively for tattoo lovers. Co-founded by Ami James of Miami Ink fame, Tattoodo is one of the most visited tattoo sites in the world. The site, along with accompanying mobile apps, boasts an impressive 30 million users. Having found international acclaim through his TV work, James set out to develop the complete tattoo resource where users can upload and browse ink pics, find and follow artists, view tattoo-related videos, and read interviews and guides.

Tattoodo is also a booking platform for reputable tattoo studios around the world. Studios are listed by location, and consultations can be booked directly through the website or mobile app. This feature also makes it easier to find safe and well-respected studios for your next inking session away from home.

Download: Tattoodo for Android (Free)| iOS (Free)

5. Custom Tattoo Design

For many people, tattoos are personal works of body art, so an off-the-shelf approach doesn’t work for everyone. If you want to create your own tattoo, but aren’t an artist yourself, then Custom Tattoo Design may be what you need. Starting with a brief description of your design their team provides an estimate of the cost. After agreeing on the estimate, you go onto select an artist to work on your design.

Custom Tattoo Design (CTD) go out of their way to make sure you are happy with the end result. Before you receive the final design, the artist sends you a rough sketch to approve. If you aren’t satisfied with their design, CTD will give you a full refund of your deposit. The final design comes with a certificate of authenticity releasing the copyright from the artist so you can get your custom tattoo inked.

6. Tattoo Ideas

Tattoo Ideas doesn’t feature interviews with tattooed celebrities. It doesn’t produce videos and hasn’t got affiliations with big-name artists. Instead, they keep things simple and focus on the tattoos themselves. The site is a gallery of user-submitted tattoo designs, body ink pics, and some of the best tattoo ideas.

You can either browse the full gallery, or filter by section. The sections are reasonably specific too; there are areas for the sleeve, shoulder, geometric, and even funny tattoos. Like many inking sites, they also offer a bit of guidance on what to consider when designing your own tattoo.

7. /r/tattoos

Reddit is one of the most visited websites in the world, with over 234 million monthly active users. While some of the site’s subreddits have been the source of controversy, they are also some of the best online communities. This is also true of the tattooing community, with /r/tattoos among the most active on the site.

This subreddit is strictly moderated to ensure high-quality photos and posts. Users can post their tattoos, so long as they credit the artist and studio. If you’re an artist hoping to showcase your work, you can become verified with the moderators.

You may want to discuss all things tattoo instead, in which case you’d find yourself at home on /r/tattoo. Likewise, if you’re interested in tattoo drawing ideas and the best tattoo designs, then you may also want to check out /r/TattooDesigns.

Download: Reddit for Android (Free)| iOS (Free)

8. Ink Generator

The team behind the tattoo website Ink Trend created Ink Generator. Using the options on the left-hand pane, you can enter text, change fonts and colors to produce a digital mock-up of your tattoo and there is even the option to view the design on a man’s back for a rough idea of how the tattoo would look.

Although this tool is a little simplistic, it is a reasonably easy way to check out the feasibility of a worded tattoo.

9. Vecteezy

Although tattoo photos are easy to come across, high-quality digital designs are more elusive. However, the vector graphics website Vecteezy has an extensive collection of free and premium tattoo templates. You can search the site for anything that piques your interest, although ‘tattoo’ returns over two thousands results.

Filter the images by license type. Standard licenses are submitted by the community and are free to use. You can also purchase premium images by using credits or download them for free as part of a recurring Vecteezy subscription.

10. Inkbox

You’ve probably heard tattoo horror stories of ink gone wrong or someone’s deep regret. You can be put off by this fear of getting it wrong because tattoos are permanent. Inkbox provides an alternative with their temporary tattoos. Traditional temporary tattoos are stickers that often fade immediately or refuse to correctly apply to your skin.

Inkbox temporary tattoos cause the ink to enter the epidermis, but not as deep as regular tattoos. As the skin regenerates, the Inkbox tattoo will fade. With an estimated lifetime of between 8 and 18 days, they are the perfect workaround for anyone nervous of the long-term commitment of a tattoo.

Are You Ready for Your New Tattoo?

Tattoos are rapidly becoming a widely-accepted part of our mainstream culture. From celebrities and musicians, all the way to your co-workers, people are expressing themselves through their ink. Of course, as tattoos are a permanent addition to your body, it’s important to take time settling on your favorite design.

That’s only one part of the journey though, as you still need to know what to expect and how best to prepare. Fortunately, you can check these sites for everything you need to know before your first tattoo.

Read the full article: The 10 Best Sites for Free Tattoo Designs and Ideas

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7 Completely Free VPN Services to Protect Your Privacy

Free VPNs often don’t stick around for ever. Some previously free offerings change to a subscription model, some switch to a freemium model, and some seem to actively compromise your privacy.

But are there any free VPNs that will simultaneously protect your privacy in a reliable way?

Absolutely. Keep reading to find out more.

Note: Remember, there is no substitute for a paid service like ExpressVPN. Sign up now and receive three months free!

1. Speedify

Speedify is a unique service. If you live in an area with a poor internet connection, it’s definitely the VPN for you. It can combine all the incoming connections in your home (including cell and Wi-Fi signals) into a single, stable, faster, and more secure access point.

This combination works well to offset some of the loss of speed that all VPN users have to endure.

The company’s Starter Plan is entirely free to use. It gives you an allowance of 5GB of data per month. All your traffic is encrypted using ChaCha or AES (depending on the device), and the company does not keep logs.

Other security features include packet loss and error correction protection, and an automatic failover.

Speedify will also never sell your data.

2. CyberGhost for Chrome

CyberGhost has been at the forefront of the VPN industry for many years. It offers various premium models, but the free ad-supported version is adequate for most casual users.

The free version is only available on Chrome and is bandwidth-restricted. It’s not as useful if you watch a lot of Netflix or you’re thinking about cutting the cord.

Most of its servers are in Europe, but there are plenty of US-based ones available too.

Interestingly, the app runs on the Ethereum blockchain. It protects against privacy, censorship, fraud, and third-party interference.

3. VPNBook

VPNBook is entirely free, there are no bandwidth caps or service limitations, and there is no premium service.

That said, it’s not suitable for beginners. There is no installer, no software, and little guidance. You’re simply given a list of servers, and the rest is up to you.

You have a choice of PPTP VPN or OpenVPN. PPTP VPN is supported on almost all platforms, but it’s easier for governments and content providers to block. OpenVPN is more secure but requires you to download an OpenVPN client along with VPNBook’s configuration and certificate bundles.

The company has servers in the United States, U.K., and mainland Europe.

4. Windscribe

Windscribe offers a Chrome browser version and a Windows desktop version.

Obviously, the main feature is the VPN network, but from a privacy standpoint, it offers some great additional tools. They include a firewall to prevent exposure of your IP address in case you lose your connection, an ad and tracker blocker, and a Secure link generator. The free package includes all of them.

The free version has a restricted download limit and only offers servers in the United States, the U.K., Canada, Hong Kong, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The $7.50 per month pro version adds a further 40 countries.

5. Hide.me

Hide.me is a proxy service based in Malaysia and offers free servers in Canada, the Netherlands, and Singapore. The free service supports PPTP, L2TP, IPsec (IKEv1 and IKEv2), OpenVPN, SoftEther, SSTP, and SOCKS.

In mid-2015, the company made the decision not to keep any logs. From a privacy perspective, this is a massive plus point; if there are no logs, there is nothing for unscrupulous authorities to seize if they are trying to track you.

Interestingly, the company also publishes a transparency report—it lists all the authorities that have requested information from them.

6. Opera VPN

Opera VPN is part of the Opera browser. It’s entirely free; there are no data limits or obtrusive ads.

It comes with three main features:

• Hidden IP Address: The software replaces your actual IP address with a virtual IP address, making it harder for sites to track you.
• Unblock Firewalls and Websites: If administrators have blocked certain sites or types of content in your office or school, the Opera VPN will circumnavigate the restrictions.
• Public Wi-Fi Security: The VPN will stop sniffers on public networks from accessing your data.

To turn on the service, go to Menu > Settings > Privacy and Security > Free VPN.

Note: Since April 2018, the Opera VPN app on Android and iOS is no longer available.

7. Hotspot Shield

AnchorFree’s Hotspot Shield has been around for many years. It is still one of the most popular free VPN services among users.

It’s not suitable for users who want to unlock geo-restricted content as well as improving their privacy. The free version only offers U.S.-based servers, and access to services like Netflix, Hulu, and BBC iPlayer are only available to premium users.

However, from a privacy perspective, it’s great. AnchorFree advertises itself as “the world’s largest internet freedom and privacy platform”. They offer lots of privacy tools in addition to the VPN, so you know you’re in safe hands.

Which Free VPN Do You Use?

We hope these seven services have given you a starting point in your quest to find the perfect privacy-based VPN provider.

Of course, there are many more to choose from. Which free VPN service do you turn to when you want to protect your privacy? Let us know.

And if you’re looking for mobile VPNs, we’ve compiled the best VPNs for Android and the best VPNs for iPhone. For your local network, it might even be easier to set up a VPN on your router.

Read the full article: 7 Completely Free VPN Services to Protect Your Privacy

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5 New and Different Tab Management Extensions for Chrome and Firefox

Sigh, web browsers and tab management, it’s a never-ending saga and none of the browser-makers seems to be able to fix it. While they try to come up with solutions, your best bet in the meanwhile is to download a useful extension to manage tabs.

We’ve already talked about some of the best tab management extensions for Chrome, or other tricks to handle tabs on Firefox. But the reason browser-makers struggle with this problem is that what works for one person may not be the solution for someone else. And so you have third-party developers making new extensions, with their own spin on how to deal with tab overload.

Over the past few months, there have been a few innovative add-ons addressing these issues. Check out these hand-picked five, one of them might change how you browse forever.

Workona (Chrome): Create Workspaces That Remember Tabs

Workona takes a new approach to tab management by assuming that your open tabs belong to a task you’re doing. Each task is a “workspace”, and the tabs in any workspace will stay only there.

For example, let’s say you have two workspaces, “travel” (with tabs about your upcoming trip) and office (with tabs about your work). Workona basically treats them both as different windows with multiple tabs, but you can switch between them in the same window itself. It’s seamless and fast and has a refreshing sense of de-cluttering your visual field.

In the dashboard, Workona can also save any tabs so that you don’t have to worry about bookmarking and organizing them. And all those saved tabs can be opened in a click.

There’s a lot more to Workona but start with the spaces and the tab-saving. Once you fall in love, you’ll discover its other nifty features.

Download: Workona for Chrome (Free)

Infinite Tabs Manager (Chrome, Firefox): Group All Tabs From One Website

Do you often have many tabs from one site clogging up the whole browser? You know you need them later, but you also don’t need them right now. With Infinite Tabs Manager, you can group and dismiss all tabs from one site in a single click.

It works as advertised. Click the extension’s icon in your toolbar, choose the website whose tabs you want to group, and you’re done. Head to the Infinite Tabs Manager dashboard at any point to see all the grouped links. The dashboard also makes it easy to re-open all those links or remove them all without ever checking again.

Infinite Tabs Manager has one trick up its sleeve that makes it more valuable than OneTab, one of the best productivity extensions for Chrome. It doesn’t close sites playing songs or videos, like YouTube or Spotify. It’s a persistent problem for OneTab users, and it’s nice to see someone else address it.

Of course, like OneTab, you can group all open tabs and close them. It’s an instant way to clean up the tabs bar, while still retaining all those tabs.

Download: Infinite Tabs Manager for Chrome | Firefox (Free)

Tabp.in (Chrome, Firefox): Must-Have for Pinned Tab Users

Pinning tabs is one of those power tips to improve browsing that everyone should be using, but very few people do. Pinned tabs stay open till you close the browser, making them semi-permanent. But when you close the browser, they disappear and you need to do it all over again the next time. Tabp.in fixes that.

The extension is basically a session manager that automatically pins the tabs after opening them. You’ll need to create an account for Tabp.in, which remembers the group of sites you want to open and pin. It works on both Firefox and Chrome, which is nice if you like to use multiple browsers.

Unfortunately, the extension limits you to one group in the free version. That’s not particularly useful. It would be better if you could make separate “Home” and “Work” groups, or other such groups. Tabp.in lets you do that for a price, starting at £1 per month. I’m not sure it’s worth paying for, but try it out, you might like it enough to buy it.

Download: Tabp.in for Chrome | Firefox (Free)

Snooze Tabby (Chrome, Firefox): Snooze Tabs for Later

Inbox by Gmail lets you snooze emails to have them resurface later. Why not do that with tabs which you know you don’t need right now, but might want to look at later?

Snooze Tabby is really simple to operate. When you’re on any tab, click the extension’s icon in the toolbar and select how long you want to snooze it for from the default options. Defaults start from “later today”, increase in time, and eventually let you pick a custom date. A handy “custom timings” setting lets you add new default options as well. You can check your snoozed list at any time, as well as the history of snoozed-and-opened tabs.

Why do you need Snooze Tabby? As the developers put it, it’s a way to keep your tabs clear without adding useless links to your bookmarks folder. Once they get unwieldy, bookmarks need organizing eventually, as do Pocket articles. By snoozing a tab, you can remove it from your tabs right now, but go back to it a little later, without it cluttering up your bookmarks.

This isn’t the first “snooze tabs for later” extension we’ve seen, but the other popular ones don’t seem to be working anymore, or have some bugs. Since this works well, Snooze Tabby is an easy recommendation.

Download: Snooze Tabby for Chrome | Firefox (Free)

xTab (Chrome): Limit Maximum Number of Tabs

Well this is a novel way to solve the problem of tab overload. The extension xTab simply disallows Chrome from open more tabs than a number you set.

For example, if you limited xTab to 20 tabs, it will always keep only 20 tabs open, no more. If you try to open the 21st tab, xTab will close an existing tab. You can choose what that tab is: the oldest one, the least recently used, or the least accessed.

It’s not an over-zealous extension though, and there are some smart failsafes. For example, xTab will never close a tab that you opened in the background but never visited. It also won’t close pinned tabs, since those are assumed to be important.

If you want to be strict though, you can also tell xTab to prevent Chrome from opening more tabs when you reach the limit. The onus of closing tabs is now upon you, not on the app.

Download: xTab for Chrome (Free)

Don’t Forget About Built-In Features

Extensions are awesome at adding functionality that you didn’t know you needed, but they also consume extra resources. Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to see if your browser can already do what an extension is offering. Browsers have so many features, it’s easy to miss them.

For example, did you know you can bookmark all open tabs in one go? Tricks like that will make it much easier. So here, learn how to master tab management in Chrome with built-in features.

Read the full article: 5 New and Different Tab Management Extensions for Chrome and Firefox

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What Are the Differences Between Bitcoin and Ethereum?

Over the course of 2017, the price of 1 BTC shot up from $963 to $19,694. Similarly, the price of 1 ETH rocketed from $8 to $747. Since that time, the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum has dropped significantly, but at the time would-be investors and enthusiasts were going crazy for crypto.

But aren’t cryptocurrencies just virtual money? What’s the difference between these two? And why is there still so much interest even after the massive price drops? This article will answer all of those questions and more.

How Bitcoin Works

Bitcoin is a digital currency that aims to be:

• Decentralized (no organization controls the creation or flow of the currency)
• Anonymous (one’s ability to make transactions isn’t tied to identity)
• Transparent (all transactions can be viewed by anyone at any time)

All of this is possible through the blockchain and peer-to-peer networking.

The Bitcoin blockchain is just a file that keeps tracks of all valid Bitcoin transactions ever made. Every 10 minutes, all new transactions are recorded together in a block and then added to the end of the file. Hence, blockchain.

This means some database value doesn’t determine your current Bitcoin balance. Instead, your current balance is simply the tracing of all past transactions to the present time. Currency never actually trades hands.

Bitcoin doesn’t reside on a single server or cluster of servers. Rather, it’s distributed across thousands and thousands of computers around the world (called nodes) and anyone can join that network whenever they want.

Whenever a transaction is made, it gets distributed to all the nodes on the Bitcoin network, and each node exists to verify that the transaction is valid. This is what Bitcoin mining is: you dedicate your machine’s computational power to help keep the blockchain validated and in return, you can earn some Bitcoins.

To send or receive transactions, you need a Bitcoin wallet. A wallet is just a public key (the address that others use to send you Bitcoins) and a private key (basically a signature that authenticates transactions made from your wallet). Anyone can create a new wallet at any time, which is what makes Bitcoin an anonymous currency.

Since the blockchain is distributed across all nodes, it’s entirely public and transparent. Anyone can view the entire blockchain and see every single transaction ever made.

How Ethereum Works

Ethereum is a massive worldwide network that’s distributed across thousands of computers around the world in peer-to-peer fashion. The Ethereum platform incorporates blockchain technology in much the same way that Bitcoin does, but expands upon it in several ways.

The key component of Ethereum is the smart contract.

The Ethereum platform comes with its own special programming language—called Solidity—that allows people to write Ethereum scripts, and these scripts are called smart contracts. Smart contracts are distributed to the network and, when requested, are executed on all Ethereum nodes.

Ethereum also involves a digital currency called Ether. Since executing smart contracts costs computational resources, node owners are compensated with Ether. The more computation-heavy the smart contract, the more it costs to execute. If it costs too much, it won’t be allowed to complete. This encourages the creation of efficient smart contracts.

The Ethereum blockchain is similar to Bitcoin’s blockchain, but instead of only containing Ether transactions, it also contains the results of executed smart contracts.

Every node on the Ethereum network maintains a copy of the blockchain just like Bitcoin does, and the process of verification is similarly called Ethereum mining. Miners spend computational resources to verify that every Ether transaction and smart contract result is valid. In return for their efforts, they earn Ether.

You can also directly send and receive Ether from wallet to wallet.

Ethereum is proof that the blockchain concept is expandable to areas outside of financial technology. Because of this, Ethereum is often called “programmable money.” Yes, it is a digital currency, but money that can execute code.

Bitcoin vs. Ethereum in a Nutshell

In short: whereas Bitcoin is just a digital currency, Ethereum is far more than that. Bitcoin and Ethereum have fundamental differences in their long-term aims, as well as differences in their underlying technology that influences their value and perceived use in the wider world. For instance:

• Bitcoin’s average block time is 10 minutes, whereas Ethereum’s average block time is 15 seconds. Ethereum transactions can be confirmed much faster.
• The amount of Bitcoin earnable as a mining reward is cut in half every four years. The total number of minable Bitcoin is set at 21 million. When miners reach that number, mining for new Bitcoin will cease. The amount of Ether earnable through mining is capped at 18 million per year, so there is always new Ether entering circulation.
• Bitcoin is best mined using ASICs, dedicated hardware that is vastly superior to regular hardware. The need for specialized hardware pushes miners into large mining pools that consolidate mining power, while simultaneously consolidating Bitcoin mining rewards to “mining cartels” that dominate the market. Ethereum, however, is best mined using GPUs, which are more readily available and arguably more equal, even with the rises to GPU prices because of Ethereum mining.
• Bitcoin is often referred to as “digital gold” because it has a holding value and many other cryptocurrencies are “pegged” to the Bitcoin price. Ethereum is more often seen as “digital currency” because it has a spending value and lower entry point.

However, the main difference between the two cryptocurrencies is the ease of making programmable smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. Initially, the Bitcoin network was unable to process smart contracts. As Bitcoin and its blockchain evolved, support for smart contracts was added, though Bitcoin continues to play second-fiddle to Ethereum in this regard.

Ethereum advocates point to this ease of use as one of the main reasons Ethereum is the future of cryptocurrency. Also, Bitcoin has traditionally been slow to implement new changes and, in many people’s eyes, is only still around because it was the first cryptocurrency.

While the cryptocurrency industry is still in its infancy, there’s no doubt that blockchain technology is slowly transforming the world. There are hundreds more cryptocurrencies, too, each attempting to decentralize and disrupt the status quo within their given industry (like a completely decentralized internet).

But remember: not all cryptocurrencies are what they seem. Many are straight-up scams, as evidenced on multiple occasions. Need help deciding? Check out our article on avoiding cryptocurrency scams—it’s a great starting point.

Read the full article: What Are the Differences Between Bitcoin and Ethereum?

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The 7 Best Free VPNs for Google Chrome

Virtual private networks (VPNs) are becoming increasingly popular. They have hundreds of uses, from companies or organizations that want to provide functionality to their work-from-home employees, to regular internet users who want to circumnavigate geo-blocking restrictions.

Here are six of the best free Chrome VPNs for you to check out.

Note: If you are using these VPNs with the hope of accessing Netflix or BBC iPlayer, be aware that these services and many others are now trying to block access for VPN-based IP addresses.

Free vs. Premium VPNs

With all VPNs, you get what you pay for. Yes, free VPNs are good, but they’re not comparable to a premium VPN service in terms of quality, speed, or security.

For example, many free VPN services only offer the PPTP protocol. This is not as robust as other VPN protocols such as L2TP/IPSEC, OpenVPN, SSTP, or SSH—most of which are offered by the leading paid services.

You also need to consider browsing speed. VPN servers are very expensive to run and manage. If you’re on a free service, it’s probably already overloaded with other users. In contrast, premium providers reinvest a lot of their income on servers and bandwidth.

There are also intangibles to think about. Can you expect reliable support from a free provider? Is the uptime close to 100 percent?

Lastly, ask yourself this: why is it free? In the best case scenario, it’s because the service is riddled with ads. At worst, the provider is stealing your connection and using your bandwidth for other users.

Bottom line: A free VPN is better than no VPN. But if you have the money and value your security, invest in a top paid subscription.

One of the best premium VPNs is ExpressVPN (save up to 49% off using this link). It supports OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec, SSTP, PPTP, includes unlimited speed and bandwidth, has servers in 94 countries, and allows up to three simultaneous connections.

1. DotVPN

DotVPN has been around since 2014 and is now starting to gain serious traction. It has more than 800,000 users according to the Chrome Web Store and has an average review score of 4 stars (from almost 10,000 reviews).

Some of its best features include:

• Unlimited bandwidth.
• 12 virtual locations (Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom).
• Unlimited switches between locations.

The developers are also keen to underline the security benefits. DotVPN uses 4096-bit key encryption—that’s two times greater than modern banking standards.

The premium version costs $2.99 per month.

2. ZenMate VPN

ZenMate VPN brands itself as a “cybersecurity solution”. They have a worldwide network of highly secure proxy servers which encrypt your information and protect you from malicious websites.

The ZenMate VPN service can be broken down into three parts: internet privacy, Wi-Fi security, and unrestricted internet access.

With regards to privacy, the service will block ad trackers, third-party analytics tools, and social media pixels following you around the web. From a Wi-Fi perspective it will add an extra line of defense when you’re on unsecured public networks, and from an unrestricted internet standpoint, it will help you overcome geo-blocking.

ZenMate VPN also offers a premium service which improves the speed, adds extra locations, and offers 24/7 support. It’s available from $7.99 per month.

3. Hotspot Shield

Before we discuss Hotspot Shield’s features, it is important to note that the service is operated by Anchor Free.

Anchor is widely considered to be one of the most reliable companies in the industry; it’s more than 10 years old, has seen in excess of 400 million downloads across its different apps, and currently has 20 million active users in 190 countries.

In terms of the service, it’s both free and unlimited and has versions available for iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows.

Like ZenMate, there is also a premium version of Hotspot Shield. It starts at $2.08 per month, depending on your subscription length.

4. Browsec VPN

Browsec VPN claims to be “an advanced analog of ZenMate, Stealthy, Hola, and friGate”.

The app’s main benefits are letting its users access any sites from anywhere, enhancing user privacy online, and protecting user data from sniffers and trackers.

It makes a big push on the geo-blocking, but rather than focus on opening up content from different countries’ stores on Netflix or BBC, Browsec VPN instead mentions services like Spotify, Pandora, and SoundCloud—some of which are completely blocked in certain regions.

Browsec VPN also advertises its service as a way to access sites that are blocked on office or school computers, such as Facebook, Reddit, and YouTube.

5. TunnelBear VPN

Of all the services we’ve discussed in this list, TunnelBear has the best reviews—an unprecedented five stars from almost 10,500 individual ratings at the time of writing. Rather than being a true VPN, this service is actually an encrypted proxy.

Readers who’ve been working with VPNs for a long time will be well aware of the brand name; TunnelBear has been around for many years and has published very successful desktop-based products for both Windows and Mac.

There is one key difference between this Chrome extension and the desktop offerings, and it’s an important one to understand—TunnelBear for Chrome only encrypts your browser traffic, whereas TunnelBear VPN for desktop encrypts 100 percent of your data.

TunnelBear boasts some of the fastest speeds of all the VPNs on this list and has servers available in 20 countries worldwide.

6. Betternet

Betternet offers an unlimited free VPN. You don’t need to pay a cent or even create an account.

The app also doesn’t include ads and doesn’t collect logs, which will put the minds of privacy-conscious users at rest. And don’t worry; you are not the product. Betternet makes money by showing sponsored apps and videos.

The VPN itself can be turned on and off with the click of a button. Indeed, that single button is the entire extent of the user interface; it’s super easy to use even for people who don’t have any prior experience of using a VPN.

7. Gom VPN

Our final recommendation is Gom VPN.

The app specializes in letting you access geo-blocked content. The developers specifically name-drop Netflix, Pandora, and Amazon in their description.

Gom offers users 1000Mbit servers and proxies, one tap activation, and an easy-to-configure user interface. It’s also secure, whenever you’re using Gom, all your traffic is encrypted using HTTP2 SSL.

Lastly, Gom does not keep any logs of your activity, thus protecting you agains prying governments and ISPs.

Why Use a VPN?

VPNs have many benefits for end users. It can be something simple like improving your privacy, but it could also be allowing you to navigate to sites such as The Pirate Bay which certain browsers have intentionally deemed to be malicious.

Of course, you also need to be alert as to how these services operate. Despite their best claims, if something is free, it often means you are the product. The reality is that if you want 100 percent peace of mind, you should invest in a paid service.

To learn more about using VPNs, check out our articles on the best VPNs you will find and the best VPN according to Reddit.

Read the full article: The 7 Best Free VPNs for Google Chrome

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How to Set Up HTTPS on Your Site: A Simple Guide

As of July 2018, Google started marking your website as “not secure” for anyone visiting it using Google Chrome. If you don’t want to lose traffic, it’s a good idea to make sure SSL is set up on your site so people can visit it via HTTPS protocol.

Now is the time to set that up; here’s what you need to do.

Note: You may still see your site as “Not secure” after “successfully” installing an SSL certificate. See our troubleshooting tips at the end of this article for that.

Step 1: Grab Your SSL Certificate

According to the Google Developers blog, enabling HTTPS on your website doesn’t only protect the integrity of your data. HTTPS is also a requirement for many new browser features. Not only that, but it makes your visitors feel more secure whenever they visit your site. These are important reasons your site needs an SSL certificate.

Recently, if you open your website using a Chrome browser, you’ve probably seen that big, ugly “Not Secure” message in front of your URL.

That’s not a pleasant thing to see when you’ve invested so much of your time and effort into developing a great website for your visitors.

Before you run out and look for an SSL certificate to buy, make sure you already know where you stand with your current web host.

SSL is fairly simple to set up, but you need to follow the right procedure for your situation. If your web host already offers a free SSL solution, then don’t waste money buying a certificate.

You might also consider reconsidering your choice of web hosts.

These are typically the SSL certificate options you have to choose from.

• Free SSL certificate from your existing web host.
• Get a free SSL certificate from services like Let’s Encrypt, Comodo, or Cloudflare.
• Purchase an SSL certificate from services like DigiCert, Namecheap, or GoDaddy.

SSL services that offer free SSL certificates often also offer paid ones.

The difference is that most free certificates need to be manually renewed. You can do this via a cron job, but that’s beyond the scope of this article.

Some web hosts actually offer free management of those cron jobs if you use a service like Let’s Encrypt. SiteGround is one host that does this.

Whichever option you go with, when you order a certificate you’ll see a page like the one below. Both the certificate and the key are a part of the package.

Copy both blocks of encrypted text and save them to a safe place.

Step 2: Install Your SSL Certificate

Most guides that describe how to install an SSL certificate will tell you that you have to have a dedicated IP. This means purchasing a more expensive dedicated hosting plan.

If you have such a plan, and you go into your account you’ll see that you have a dedicated IP associated with it.

If you have a shared hosting plan, where multiple websites share the same server, then you don’t have a dedicated IP that goes with your URL.

Does that mean you can’t install an SSL certificate without a dedicated hosting plan? No. Thanks to a technology called Server Name Indicator (SNI), you can still install an SSL certificate for your site.

If you have a shared hosting plan, ask your web host whether they support SNI for SSL encryption.

To install your certificate, you’ll need to go into cPanel and click on SSL/TLS Manager.

You should see various options for managing SSL certificates.

To install your initial SSL certificate for HTTPS, choose the Install option.

You’ll see the option to choose the domain you’d like to install the certificate onto. Choose the correct domain from the dropdown box.

Next, paste the long encrypted certificate text that you copied when you purchased the certificate.

Then, scroll down and also paste the encrypted text for the Private Key that you copied when you bought the certificate.

Once you save, make sure to go into WordPress and refresh all caching. Also clear your browser cache (press Ctrl + F5).

View your site again by typing the site URL with “https://” in front of it. If all is well, you’ll see the “Secure” status in front of your site URL.

Congratulations! You now have a functioning SSL certificate, and your site can be accessed via HTTPS.

But, you’re not done. If people type in the old URL of your site into their browser, they’ll still see the unsecure version. You need to force all traffic through HTTPS.

How to Enforce HTTPS on Your Site

Your host may actually have a management area set up for you to handle required SSL changes.

For example, Siteground embeds Let’s Encrypt into cPanel. There, HTTPS Settings allow you to turn on HTTP Enforce and External Links Rewrite.

• HTTPS Enforce redirects traffic (like people who only type in the site URL without “https” in front of it, to HTTPS.
• External Links Rewrite modifies external links that start with “http” to “https” so a “Mixed Content” warning doesn’t show up in the browser for your site.

If you don’t have this automated feature with your web host, then you have to do it the manual way.

Browse to the .htaccess file in the root of your web server. Edit it to include the following lines of code.

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} yoursitedomain\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} 80
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.yoursitedomain.com/$1 [R,L]

Once you’ve saved this change, anyone who accesses your site via HTTP will be redirected to HTTPS.

Problem 1: CDN Images

You’d think at this point that you’re home free. Well think again.

In many cases, your site may come up, but many of the images will appear broken.

This can happen if you’re using a CDN service for your images. This is because all of your images are provided via the unsecured CDN links. Since your traffic is all redirected to use HTTPS, those images can’t load.

There are two methods of fixing this. The easiest is to modify your SSL certificate to use a wildcard. For example if you use Let’s Encrypt, you’ll see the option to use a wildcard in the SSL management page.

A wildcard lets you use your SSL certificate on any subdomain of your site.

Enable this, and obtain the certificate, private key, and CA bundle encrypted texts from the SSL details.

Go into your CDN service. In the example below, I use MaxCDN. You should find an SSL option in the area where you can manage the Zone for your site.

In here, you’ll see fields where you can paste the SSL Certificate and the Private Key.

Use the same encrypted text that you pasted into cPanel previously.

Once you save this, the images should all load properly on your site.

If the SSL service you use doesn’t offer the wildcard option, you’ll actually need to purchase a second SSL certificate for your CDN image assets, and install it using the steps above.

Problem 2: Insecure Links

If you haven’t done anything else to your site except enabled your SSL Certificate and enforced HTTPS, you may still see the “Not Secure” error.

This will even show up when your site loads through HTTPS. The most common cause of this problem is that you still have a bunch of insecure links on your site. This is usually due to links in your sidebar, header, or footer.

Go into WordPress and look through all of your header and footer code, as well as your sidebar widgets. Look for links to services like Gravatar, Facebook, or others.

Change those links to use “https” rather than “http”.

Once you’re finished, clear all caches and reload your site. All issues should be resolved at this point and your site is now fully secure!

Protecting Your Visitors With HTTPS Is Smart

Even though your motivation for doing this may be to boost your SEO, the reality is that you’re also protecting your visitors from any packet sniffing hackers.

This is especially valuable if you ask your visitors for information about themselves like names, addresses, phone numbers, or credit card info.

For a personal website, that’s important enough. But if you’re running a business, you should understand why website security is so important to your business success.

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