Duck.com now points to DuckDuckGo, not Google

Non-tracking search engine, DuckDuckGo, is now a little easier to find online after the company acquired the premium generic domain name  duck.com — thereby shaving a few letters off its usual URL.

This means browsing to duck.com now automatically redirects to DuckDuckGo.com.

The twist in this tale is that duck.com’s prior owner was Google. And DDG had accused the search giant of anti-competitive behavior — by pointing duck.com to its own search engine, Google.com, and thus “consistently” confusing DDG users (duck.co having long pointed to the DDG community page.)…

Google also owns https://t.co/ud1YyoqbZ5 and points it directly at Google search, which consistently confuses DuckDuckGo users.

— DuckDuckGo (@DuckDuckGo) July 18, 2018

The domain name transfer was spotted earlier by namePros which got confirmation from DDG founder Gabriel Weinberg.

“We’re pleased Google has chosen to transfer ownership of Duck.com to DuckDuckGo. Having Duck.com will make it easier for people to use DuckDuckGo,” he told it.

We reached out to DDG and to Google with questions — because, well, we have a few.

Google did not engage with the substance of our questions. Instead it emailed a statement, attributed to a spokesperson, in which it confirmed the transfer of the duck.com domain and rights — writing:

Google has agreed with DuckDuckGo, Inc. to transfer ownership and rights of the duck.com domain to DuckDuckGo.

DDG also would not comment beyond Weinberg’s earlier statement.

But in an interview with the TNW back in 2012, Weinberg said he first enquired about trying to buy duck.com on 11/4/09 — only to be told shortly afterwards that “management” didn’t want to sell.

He also made the point then that while the URL of the company Google had acquired the duck.com domain from (On2) pointed to a Google explanation page about that acquisition, http://duck.com/ pointed “directly to Google search”.

So, well, … 

The timing of the transfer certainly looks interesting, with Google CEO Sundar Pichai only yesterday facing some competition-flavored questions from policymakers in Congress. (Though it’s not clear exactly when the duck.com domain name was transferred.)

In recent years Google has faced some major antitrust scrutiny and enforcement internationally, including in the European Union — where it has had to make changes to how it displays search results for products after a 2017 Commission decision that found it had abused its dominance in general Internet search to give itself an illegal advantage.

This summer the EC also found Google’s Android OS to be in breach of its competition rules, leading to further regional tweaks — in that case to licensing terms.

Google is appealing both antitrust decisions.

But the Commission has another competition probe (into Google AdSense) ongoing, and continues to eye other Google product verticals with concerns.

Meanwhile, calls for antitrust scrutiny of tech giants have been rising in the US. And Google’s dominant position in Internet search and smartphone platforms, along with its pincer grip (along with Facebook) on the online ad market, position it for some special attention on that front.

So the company quietly passing off duck.com now — after using it to redirect to Google.com for close to a decade — to a pro-privacy search rival smacks of concern over competition optics, at the very least.

Additionally, yesterday an even more sustained line of questioning from Congress to Google’s CEO was around privacy, with Pichai fielding questions such as whether Google’s own settings are clear enough for users to understand.

You can imagine some awkward questions could also have been asked by lawmakers about why Google.com was squatting on a domain name containing the word “duck”.

A word that not only means a waterfowl or to crouch down to avoid something but which has been intrinsic to the branding of its non-tracking rival, DuckDuckGo, since that company was founded all the way back in 2008.

So, well, if it walks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck… 

 

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Google’s year in search 2018: the World Cup, Fortnite GIFs and Bitcoin

Google’s annual Year in Search is more than a digital record of the events, stories and phenomena that captured our attention over 12 months. It’s a reckoning, or computation, on what mattered to society in any given year — and sometimes even signal where it’s headed. And 2018 showed a world transfixed on one sporting event, one wedding, celebrity deaths, natural disasters and politics.

In 2018, the global community was locked in on the World Cup. The final match was between France and Croatia; we’ll let you Google who won. The world was also transfixed on high-profile deaths of musicians, scientists and artists. Seven of the 10 top Google searches globally were of people who died in 2018, including theoretical physicist and author Stephen Hawking, rapper Mac Miller, the DJ Avicii, comic book creator and icon Stan Lee, celebrity chef, author and TV personality Anthony Bourdain, and fashion designer Kate Spade.

One movie, Black Panther, made the top 10 global list, as well Meghan Markle, the former actress who became  Duchess of Sussex when she married Prince Henry.

In the U.S., the top overall searches followed a similar pattern, with a few other disruptive moments thrown in the mix, including the elections results, Hurricane Florence and Mega Millions results.

A scan of other search categories that Google tracked reveals that U.S. users were obsessed with eyelashes in 2018, 1980s fashion, how to vote and how to register to vote, Unicorn cake and the Keto diet. Our top news search in the U.S. was led by the World Cup, followed by Hurricane Florence, Mega Millions, election results and Hurricane Michael. The Kavanaugh confirmation was the sixth most searched news story in 2018. The Florida shooting, the Royal Wedding, Olympic medal count and government shutdown rounded out the top 10 news searches in the U.S., according to Google.

One of the more insightful metrics that Google tracks is the “What is ___ ?” list. In the U.S., people typing in that “what is” question into Google search asked most often about Bitcoin, racketeering, DACA (the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), government shutdown and Good Friday. U.S. Google users also wanted explanations for Fortnite, the “Yanny or Laurel” auditory illusion and what a nationalist is.

Speaking of Fortnite, it was the most searched video game, according to Google’s annual Year in Search. The video game Fortnite was also the most searched GIF followed by “Default Dance,” “Dilly Dilly” and “Orange Justice” and “Black Panther.”

Other top searched video games included Red Dead Redemption 2, Fallout 76, Far Cry 5 and God of War.

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After losing half its value, Nvidia faces reckoning

Nvidia is a company that has reached the highest highs and the lowest lows, all in the span of a couple of weeks.

TechCrunch is experimenting with new content forms. This is a rough draft of something new – provide your feedback directly to the author (Danny at danny@techcrunch.com) if you like or hate something here.

Over the past two months, Nvidia’s stock has dropped from a closing price of $289.36 on Oct. 1 to today’s opening of $148.42, a decline of 48.8%.

It takes a lot for a company to lose nearly half its value in such a short period of time, but Nvidia is proving that an otherwise strong technology business can disappear in a blink of an eye. The company faces an almost perfect barrage of headwinds to its core products that is stalling its plans for long-term chip domination.

To step back a bit first though, Nvidia has traditionally made graphical processing units (GPUs) that are excellent at the kinds of parallel computation required for gaming and applications like computer-assisted design (CAD). It’s a durable and repeatable business, and one that Nvidia has a commanding market share in.

Yet, these markets are also fairly narrow, and so Nvidia has endeavored over the past few years to expand its product offerings to encompass new applications like artificial intelligence / machine learning, autonomous automotive, and crypto hashing. These applications all need strong parallelized processing, which Nvidia specializes in.

At least part of that story has worked well. Nvidia’s chips were extremely popular in the crypto run-up over the past few years, causing widespread shortages of the chips (and annoying its core gaming fans in the process).

This was huge for Nvidia. The company had revenues of $1.05 billion for the quarter ending Oct 31, 2013, and $1.31 billion two years later in 2015 — a fairly slow rate of growth as would be expected for a dominant player in a mature market. As the company expanded its horizons though, Nvidia engorged on growth in new applications like crypto, growing to $3.2 billion in revenue in its last reported quarter. As can be expected, the stock soared.

Now, Nvidia’s growth story is being hammered on multiple fronts. First and foremost, the huge sales of its chips into the crypto space have dried up as crypto prices have crashed in recent months. This is a pattern we are seeing with other companies, namely Bitmain, which has made specialized crypto chips a major part of its business but has lost an enormous amount of its momentum in the crypto bust. It announced it was shuttering its Israel office this week.

That bust is obvious in Nvidia’s revenues this year: they are essentially flat for three quarters now, hovering between $3.1 and $3.2 billion. Some have called this Nvidia’s “crypto hangover.” But crypto is just one facet of the challenges that Nvidia faces.

When it comes to owning next-generation application workflows, Nvidia is facing robust competition from startups and established players who want access to this potentially gigantic market. Even its potential customers are competing with it. Facebook is reportedly designing its own chips, Apple has been doing so for years, Google has been in the game a while, and Amazon is getting into the game fast. Nvidia has the know-how to compete, but these companies also understand the nuances of their applications really, really well. It’s a tough market position to be in.

If the challenges around applications weren’t enough, geopolitical tensions are also causing Nvidia serious harm. As Dan Strumpf and Wenxin Fan wrote in the Wall Street Journal two weeks ago in a deep dive, the company is emblematic of the challenge Silicon Valley firms face in the US / China trade standoff:

Nvidia executives are watching the trade fight with growing unease over whether it will curb its access to Chinese customers, according to a person familiar with the matter. Almost 20% of Nvidia’s $9.7 billion in revenue last year came from China. Many of its chips are used there for assembly into other products, and it has invested heavily to tap China’s burgeoning AI industries.

The company also is concerned that deteriorating relations between the world’s two biggest economies are causing Beijing to double down on efforts to reduce reliance on U.S. suppliers of key hardware such as chips by nurturing homegrown competitors, eating into Nvidia’s long-term business.

Crypto, customers, and China. That’s how you lose half your company’s value in two months.

Quick Bites

Hạ Long Bay, Vietnam. Photo by Andrea Schaffer via Flickr used under Creative Commons.

Google ‘studying steps’ to open headquarters in Vietnam in accordance with cybersecurity laws Following the testimony yesterday from Sundar Pichai on Capitol Hill, it’s interesting to see Google reportedly attempting to open this office in Vietnam, where it faces many of the same challenges as its expansion into China. Vietnam, like many other nations around the world, has recently passed a data sovereignty law that requires that local data be stored locally, forcing Google’s hand. China may be the bogeyman du jour, but the market access challenges posed by China are hardly unique.

Japan’s top 3 telcos to exclude Huawei, ZTE network equipment, according to Japanese news reports – Huawei’s bad news continues, this time with Japanese telcos supposedly vowing not to use the company’s equipment. This is something of a major development if it pans out — so far, the blocks on Huawei equipment have originated from the group of five nations known as the Five Eyes, who share intelligence information. Japan is not a member of that network, and could set the tone for other nations in Asia.

Baidu among 80 plus companies found faking corporate information – Baidu was censured for erroneous information in its Chinese corporate filings. That’s bad news for Baidu, which has hit rock bottom in its share price in the past few days, declining from a 52-week high of $284.22 to today’s opening of $180.50.

What’s next

Arman and I are still investigating the next-generation silicon space. Some good conversations the past few days with investors and supply-chain folks to learn more about this space. Nvidia’s analysis above is the tip of the iceberg. Have thoughts? Give me a ring: danny@techcrunch.com.

This newsletter is written with the assistance of Arman Tabatabai from New York

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Nielsen: the second screen is booming as 45% often or always use devices while watching TV

Americans are regularly checking a second screen while watching TV, according to a new report from Nielsen which examined the media consumption habits of U.S. adults in the second quarter of 2018. Today, 28 percent of adults say they “sometimes” use a digital device, like a phone or tablet, when watching TV. A much larger 45 percent report they use a second screen “very often” or “always.”

The figures go to show how addicted U.S. consumers are to their smartphones – we don’t even put them down when tuning in to a favorite show or to watch a movie.

In fact, very few people – only 12 percent – reported they “never” use another device while watching TV.

Of course, there are other reasons why some people want to actively use their smartphone while watching television, beyond the need to scroll through Instagram during the commercial breaks.

Sometimes, people may want to actively engage with other fans or participate in an online conversation if they’re watching a TV program or other event live. For instance, they may want to tweet out their support for their team during a football game, or may want to react in real-time to a shocking turn of events on “Game of Thrones.”

Nielsen’s report noted this, as well. It said digital devices have actually impacted how we consume and interact with media today. That is, we’re using the second screen to augment the overall TV viewing experience, not detract from it.

In fact, most of the activities that take place on our devices while watching TV are related to the content.

For example, 71 percent said they use their device to look up something related to the TV content, while 41 percent said they text, email or message someone about the content. 35 percent said they shop for a product or service being advertised and 28 percent write or read social media posts about the content they’re viewing.

15 percent even use the device to direct them to a new program – meaning, they’ve tuned to different content after seeing something posted online.

Digital devices aren’t the only ways people simultaneous consume media. Surprisingly, a small handful of people listen to audio while watching TV, the report also found.

But this is a much smaller group, for obvious reasons – it can be difficult to process two different sources of information at the same time. Still, 6 percent said they often watch and listen to different content simultaneously – which is arguably an impressive, if very odd, skill to possess. But over half said they would never use TV and audio at the same time.

The report also looked at how people consume media – which hasn’t changed as much as you would think, despite the increased use of digital devices.

Instead, “prime time” is still a popular time of time for watching TV, including live and time-shifted programming as well as TV-connected devices like media players and game consoles.

In Q2 2018, U.S. adults spent 38 out of a possible 60 minutes on media consumption from 9 PM to 10 PM, including live and time-shifted TV, TV-connected devices, radio and digital devices (computer, smartphone, tablet).

9 PM was also the peak TV hour, with over half of consumers watching linear TV or interacting with TV connected devices like game consoles or streaming content through Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast or Fire TV.

 

 

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Algoriddim updates djay for iOS with subscription model

If you’ve been browsing the App Store for long enough, chances are you’ve seen djay at some point. Algoriddim, the company behind djay, currently has eight different apps in the App Store. Today, the company is releasing a brand new version that is going to replace all previous apps at once.

The reason why this new app is going to take center stage is because Algoriddim is switching to a freemium model. You can download the app for free on your iPhone and iPad, and you can buy a subscription to unlock all features on both platforms.

In other words, djay is following the subscription trend of the App Store. Previous independent apps, such as Ulysses, Bear and Carrot Weather have switched to subscriptions.

The app truly shines on the new iPad Pro. You can plug a display using a USB-C cable and project video loops on the display. You can also plug a supported MIDI controller directly to your iPad using USB-C.

Just like in the previous version, Spotify Premium users can access their Spotify library from the app. This turns your iPad into a comfortable device to set up cue points. You can load a song, scroll, find the right moment and put a cue point. Everything is synchronized with the Mac version of djay.

Subscriptions provide many advantages. Developers can expect predictable revenue and can release new updates more regularly — there’s no need to wait for 12 new features in order to package them all in a paid update.

Users can access apps on multiple platforms with a single subscription. They also always get the most recent version of the apps as they don’t have to consider upgrading to the next major version or keeping the previous version.

This model works quite well for very active users. For instance, I use Ulysses every day so it makes sense that I’d pay a few dollars per month for it. But some people may only use djay a few times a year. So you’ll have to consider whether subscribing is worth it for you.

Let’s look at this new version of djay more specifically. After a free trial of the pro version, you can access basic features for free forever. Those features include access to your iTunes and Spotify libraries, the basic two-deck screen, Automix AI and limited hardware controller support.

The pro version includes smart playlists, two-deck and four-deck screens, the ability to set cues, video mixing, better hardware support as well as a new looper feature. Interestingly, you can now download and play with all samples and loops in the integrated store — there’s no need to pay for additional content.

Existing apps are going to be unlisted from the store. Algoriddim will still release updates for the time being, but it’s clear that the new version represents the future of djay. Pro subscriptions cost $40 per year. Existing djay users will pay $10 for the first year.

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Facebook redesigns Life Events feature with animated photos, videos and more

Facebook today announced a redesign of its “Life Events” feature, which allows people to share significant milestones in their life, like an engagement, graduation, a new job, a move to a new city, and more. The feature has existed since the launch of Timeline, but has to date offered a fairly nondescript type of post. Today, that’s changing, Facebook says. Now, users will be able to add animated photos or videos, photos from the people or Page you’ve tagged (like those of your partner or your new workplace), or you you can pick an image from Facebook’s own art collection, if you don’t have your own.

The photos and videos you post will also have subtle animations, like slowly zooming in, to give the post more attention. And you can still pick an icon to represent the life event, as before.

The idea behind the redesign is to give these sorts of posts a better way to stand out from other posts, the company explains

 

Of course, Facebook likely wants to increase the feature’s adoption, too, as it’s a straightforward way to collect profile data on an individual that they may not have otherwise filled out – like where they live, where they work, or their alma mater, for example.

Facebook will also now alert your friends directly when you’ve shared some life events, it says.

For certain types of life events – like changes in your current city, work, education, and relationship status – your friends may receive a notification to let them know about the news. This ensures they won’t miss the update if they were just casually scrolling their News Feed. And it’s a way to make sure the event gets seen by your broader network of Facebook friends – including those acquaintances whose updates don’t regularly show in your News Feed, as Facebook’s algorithms have determined you aren’t close.

In addition, when you react to a life event someone else posted with a like, wow, heart, etc., Facebook now shows all the other reactions from friends alongside your own.

Perhaps most importantly, is that Facebook is finally giving life events a place of importance on users’ profiles.

While the feature for years has been touted as a way to remember significant events, it’s actually been fairly difficult to relocate your older life event posts from years ago. With the update, however, life events will have their own dedicated section on user profiles. (You can opt to hide a life event here by tapping the “…” button then selecting “Hide from Timeline,” if you choose).

This will give people visiting your profile for the first time a way to get to know you, by way of the most important moments you’ve shared through this feature. That may not be something everyone is comfortable with, though, so you’ll want to check to see if there are any older life event posts you need to hide or delete.

The updated life events are rolling out worldwide on iOS, Android and desktop beginning today, and completing in the days ahead.

Facebook Life Events

Posted by Facebook on Tuesday, December 11, 2018

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Review: Nomad leather AirPod Rugged Case

In my never-ending quest to wrap everything in brown leather, I’m pleased with this AirPod case from Nomad. It’s simple: just a plastic case covered with brown (or black) leather. But I like it.

This will be short.

The Nomad AirPod Rugged Case adds a little character to the sterile AirPod housing. Instead of medical-grade white, the case covers the AirPods in pleasant leather.

The case does two things. One, it makes your AirPod case stand out from the rest, ensuring a friend doesn’t mistake your AirPods for their AirPods. Two, the leather adds nice texture to the case making it a bit easier to grasp.

That’s it. Short. For $29.99, the Nomad AirPod Rugged Case is a lovely upgrade for the AirPods.

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FDR

FDR

Let’s talk hardware in Vegas

Hello, Las Vegas! We are all heading to LV for CES next month and instead of spending all our cash on a booth we’ll be wandering the halls and want to meet you as far away from the Convention Center as possible without ending up in the Grand Canyon.

And we need your help.

While I have some ideas, I’d love it if someone could recommend a nice place to host about 150 people with drinks, food, and other goodies. We’ll have beer, exhibitors, and some good times.

If you have any ideas or would like to take part as a sponsor or exhibitor, please drop me a line at john@techcrunch.com. I’m thinking something nice out in Old Las Vegas or somewhere off the strip where we don’t have to push through crowds of people in lanyards. This event will be open to all of you so get your blue suede dancing shoes ready.

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Apple could end up manufacturing iPhones in another country due to tariffs

According to a new report from Bloomberg, Apple is thinking about multiple scenarios when it comes to tariffs and iPhone production. Right now, iPhones are not affected directly by the trade war between China and the U.S.

But if U.S. President Donald Trump decides to raise tariffs on smartphones, it could be a big deal for the company. Apple manufactures most of its iPhones in China right now and works with Foxconn for the final assembly of those devices.

In some countries with high tariffs, Apple has worked with suppliers outside of China. For instance, Taiwanese manufacturer Wistron has built an assembly facility in Bengaluru, India. At first, the plan was to manufacture iPhone SE devices in India.

Similarly, Foxconn opened a facility in Brazil back in 2011. But results have been disappointing as devices were still much more expensive in Brazil than in the U.S.

But the U.S. is such a key market for Apple that tariffs on U.S. imports could have significant consequences. According to Bloomberg, Apple would keep the same supply chain even if the U.S. decides on a 10 percent tariff on smartphones. If might move production away from China with a 25 percent tariff.

It’s unclear if all production would move to another country or just production for the U.S. But nothing is changing for now. It’s just executives playing a little game of “what if.”

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7 Lesser-Known Trello Tips for Managing Your Cards

Did you know that you can cut, copy, and paste Trello cards much like you manipulate text? That’s just one of the Trello tricks and shortcuts hidden in plain sight. The app seems to have quite a few of those, and we’ll explore seven of them below.

Let’s keep lists and boards aside for now and focus on tips that will help you manage your Trello cards.

1. Insert New Cards Anywhere

Usually, you click on the Add another card button at the end of a list to insert a new card.

If you want the card to show up in a different position instead of the bottom of the list, you have to move it there after you create it. That’s not ideal when you have too many cards to create in random positions across a Trello board.

Why not try this simple time-saving trick instead? Double-click in the blank space between two cards to add a card right there. For example, if you want to insert a card at #4 on a list, you have to double-click in the space between cards #3 and #5.

2. Reposition Cards While Creating Them

When a list has too many cards, you might not want to scroll up and down to insert cards in specific positions. Thanks to this next Trello trick, you don’t have to. It lets you move cards quickly while creating them.

While adding a card, type in the caret symbol (^) followed by the position where you want the card to appear on the list and hit Enter. For example, if you want to move the new card to the third position on the current list, your text should look like this: CardName ^3. You’ll get an autocomplete menu to help you along.

You can move the card to a different list on the same board by typing in the list name after the caret symbol. It will move into the same position as the current one, but on your chosen list. Also, you can move the card to the top or bottom of the current list by appending ^top or ^bottom to the card name.

Mind you, this caret symbol trick works only when you’re creating a card and not when you’re editing it.

3. Filter Cards by Label

If you’re searching for Trello cards with a specific label, say, Mac, you can use the search operator label to do so. Your query has to read label:mac. You can also use the query label:green, where green is the color of the label mac.

These search queries are perfect if you want to retrieve all cards matching a specific label across all your Trello boards. But at the board level, there’s a better way to find all cards with the label in question.

All you have to do is click on Show Menu > Filter Cards and select the correct label from the list displayed. (Feel free to select multiple labels.) This hides all cards from that board except the ones matching your chosen label. Since they appear in their regular positions on the board, they’re easier to scan.

Cannot find the Show Menu button? It shows up right below your gravatar at the top right on a Trello board.

4. Display Card Count

If you want to display the number of cards per list, you need a Trello browser extension like Ultimello. Or do you?

Let’s see how you can reveal the card count temporarily without installing an extension. From any board, click on Show Menu > Filter Cards or simply press the F key.

Next, in the search box that appears in the fly-out sidebar, type in any one of these symbols: !, $, ^, &, *, (, ), ?, /. You’ll then see the card count for each list appear below the list name.

Actually, the card count appears no matter what you type in the search field and also when you filter cards by label as we discussed above. But in some cases, the cards disappear temporarily. They reappear as soon as you clear the search box.

5. Get Card Updates

Want to get updates whenever any of your Trello team members make changes to specific cards? You can keep an eye on those cards with the Watch button. You’ll find it in the Actions list on the card back.

When you’re “watching” a card, Trello will notify you when there’s a new comment on the card or when someone moves or archives the card. You’ll also receive notifications about card due dates and such.

6. Drag and Drop Items

You can use the drag and drop action to move quite a few items around on your Trello boards.

For starters, you can drop URLs onto cards to attach them. The same works for file attachments; you can drag and drop any number of them in bulk onto cards.

On a card back, you can reorder checklists as well as checklist items by dragging and dropping them into place.

You can even update the due dates for cards by dropping the cards onto the relevant dates in the calendar view. This feature comes in handy if you manage your life with a Trello calendar.

To access the calendar view, you’ll need to enable the Calendar Power-Up via Show Menu > Power-Ups. It’s one of the best Power-Ups to add to your Trello workflow.

After you’ve enabled the Power-Up, you’ll see a Calendar button to the left of the Show Menu button. Clicking on the former reveals the calendar view, which is where the drag-and-drop trick works. Of course, only those cards with due dates assigned to them show up in this view.

7. Connect Cards

Did you know that you can interlink relevant cards to avoid switching back and forth between them? Let’s see how this works.

First, click on any card to open it and on the card back, click on Attachment in the sidebar. In the Attach a link field, paste in the URL of the Trello card you’d like to attach to the current one and hit the Attach button.

The attached card then shows up under Trello Attachments in the current card. It displays important information such as the card name, the list it belongs to, the card label, the due date, etc.

You can even jump to the attached card by clicking on it in the attachment. If you click on the Connect cards link below the attachment, you can ask Trello to “relate” or reverse link the two cards. This links the current card as an attachment in the other card. Click on the Relate Both Cards button to proceed.

New Trello Shortcuts Are Always Around the Corner

Once you lose the beginner label, you’ll want to learn about Trello tips for a faster workflow. And as we saw above, there are plenty of those for you to discover!

Read the full article: 7 Lesser-Known Trello Tips for Managing Your Cards

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7 WhatsApp Desktop Tips to Chat More Efficiently

For more than a billion users across the globe, WhatsApp is the preferred way to communicate. It’s used for everything from communicating with loved ones to conducting business. And if you’re constantly on WhatsApp, you may want to use a bigger screen.

This is where WhatsApp Desktop comes in. WhatsApp Desktop is similar to WhatsApp Web, but it works natively as an app on your PC or Mac. It’s more reliable, faster, and much better than using WhatsApp in a browser.

So, if you’re using WhatsApp Desktop, here are some tips to help you along the way.

1. Customize Notifications

By default, WhatsApp will bug you with audio-visual notifications every time you get a message. But thankfully, there’s a way to customize notifications.

Click on the drop-down button next to your profile icon and select Settings. Here, choose Notifications.

The first thing you should do is disable the Sounds option. If you don’t want the message content visible on your Mac (especially useful if you’re in a shared working space), uncheck the Show Previews option. To disable the alerts altogether, uncheck the Desktop Alerts option.

You can also mute WhatsApp Desktop for an hour or a day using the drop-down option at the bottom of the page.

2. Use Emoji Commands

If you’re a serial emoji user, WhatsApp Desktop is a must have. When you’ve selected a chat, press the Shift + Tab keyboard shortcut to highlight the emoji picker and press Enter to open it (this is also where you’ll find GIFs and Stickers).

But you don’t even need to do that. WhatsApp Desktop supports Slack-like emoji autocomplete.

Say you want to enter a laughing emoji. You start out with a colon (:) followed by the emoji name. By the time you’ve written “:laugh” you’ll see all five laughter related emojis. Use the arrow keys to move between the options and press Enter to add it to the message.

3. Navigate Faster Using the Tab Key

WhatsApp Desktop is designed with the keyboard ninja in mind. And it’s all hinged on the Tab key.

After launching the app, the first Tab press highlights the Search area. The next one highlights the current chat on the list. The one after that highlights the emoji picker and the one after that, the message box. The last Tab press is redundant, as pressing the Enter key from the list view directly highlights the message box.

It’s the first two Tab presses which are the most useful. Whenever you want to jump to a new conversation, just press the Tab button, start typing the name, select it from the list by pressing Enter, and just start typing the message.

Anytime you’re navigating a section, or a top-level element, you can use the Tab key. For instance, after selecting the emoji picker, you can use the Tab key to quickly move over to the GIF section or the Stickers section.

4. Convert Emoticons to Emojis

WhatsApp Desktop supports old-school emoticons and automatically converts them into emojis. So if you’re stuck in the golden days of AOL chat, you can still hold a conversation in emojis on WhatsApp.

Just enter the emoticon like you normally would. All the popular options like :-), :-(, :-p. <3, and so on are supported. When you press the Enter key, they’ll show up as an emoji in the chat.

5. Use Text Formatting

In 2017, WhatsApp added support for text formatting. This means you can now use Markdown-style modifiers to convert text into bold, italics, strikethrough, and underline. Yes, finally a real reason to learn Markdown.

You can use the same modifiers here. In fact, it’s so much easier to do on WhatsApp Desktop because modifiers like asterisks and tilde are easier to reach on a full sized keyboard.

To turn text bold, wrap it in asterisks. For italics, use underscores. To strikethrough a message, use tilde keys on both ends. To change the font so it looks like a monospace font, add three backticks on both ends.

6. Shortcuts for WhatsApp Desktop

WhatsApp Desktop is designed to be used with a keyboard most of the time. And there’s a lot that you can do with just keyboard shortcuts. There’s no need to go looking around in menus.

• Control/Command + N: Start a new chat.
• Control/Command + Shift + N: Create a new group.
• Control/Command + Shift + [/]: Move between chats.
• Control/Command + E: Archive a chat.
• Control/Command + Shift + M: Mute a chat.
• Control/Command + Shift + U: Change the read status of the chat.
• Control/Command + Backspace/Delete: Delete a chat.
• Control/Command + P: Open your profile.

If you’re using a Mac, use the Command key instead of Control.

7. Try ChatMate for WhatsApp (Mac)

If you’re using a Mac, you should try ChatMate for WhatsApp. It’s a third party app that brings a better WhatsApp experience customized for the Mac.

For instance, it has a dark mode that goes well with the new Dark theme in macOS Mojave (one of the many new features in macOS Mojave). Plus, it has a Do Not Disturb mode, Touch Bar support, and you can lock up ChatMate as well.

Download: ChatMate for WhatsApp ($2.99)

Everything Else Works as Expected

The rest of the WhatsApp experience works pretty much the same on Desktop as on mobile. You can still use broadcast lists, send voice notes, view WhatsApp Status from your contacts, and more. It’s actually easier to attach photos and documents, as you can just drag and drop any media directly to a WhatsApp conversation.

However, you can’t make voice or video calls, or upload to your WhatsApp Status from WhatsApp Desktop.

Download: WhatsApp Desktop (Free)

Getting the Most Out of WhatsApp

If you’re using WhatsApp Desktop, you can use the above features on your Mac or PC to increase your WhatsApp productivity. And the desktop app could even make it easier to locate and use new WhatsApp features.

WhatsApp is constantly adding new features, and to help you find them all, we’ve published a list of new WhatsApp features you might have missed.

Read the full article: 7 WhatsApp Desktop Tips to Chat More Efficiently

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The 7 Best Online Shops for Ugly Christmas Sweaters

When Christmas time rolls around, there is plenty to do. You have decorating, baking, wrapping, and of course, shopping for ugly Christmas sweaters!

This trend has become and remained popular for years. There’s even a National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day on December 21 each year. So, whether you’re buying for yourself or the whole family, you need to know where to go.

Here are the best online shops for ugly Christmas sweaters to help you find the craziest, silliest, or most obnoxious sweater you can.

1. Ugly Christmas Sweater.com

With ugly Christmas sweaters this common at this time of year, you shouldn’t be surprised that there’s a website dedicated to them. Ugly Christmas Sweater.com is your one-stop shop for sweaters that bring the “ha, ha, ha” to “ho, ho, ho.”

You can browse by categories like men’s, women’s, or new sweaters. But you can also go all out this year with a naughty or 3D sweater. That’s right, 3D sweaters bring even more holiday cheer because they pop when you walk in as well as when you leave. These hilarious wearables offer stuffed characters like a moose, dinosaur, unicorn, or Santa in a chimney.

Ugly Christmas Sweater.com offers items for kids, pajama jumpsuits, ugly socks, adult humor sweaters, and much more. So, if you’ve been searching for a light-up sweater with the leg lamp from A Christmas Story, this is your shop.

2. Tipsy Elves

Who better to come up with an ugly Christmas sweater than elves who’ve had a little too much eggnog. Tipsy Elves offers a great variety of sweaters for the entire family from the adults to the kids to the pooches.

You can browse by category and filter by gender, size, and type to narrow down your options. Are you ready for an interactive sweater with a stocking for your wine bottle? Or, maybe Santa Claus wearing a thong is more your speed? How about decorating yourself instead of a tree with garland and ornaments? Tipsy Elves has all of these options and more.

Tipsy Elves has more than just ugly Christmas sweaters. You can check out products for Hanukkah, clever Christmas gifts, ski suits, and items for holidays like Thanksgiving and St. Patrick’s Day too. If you’re looking for something nice, naughty, or even in between to wear this Christmas, the Tipsy Elves have it.

3. Ragstock

Ragstock has an interesting selection of ugly Christmas sweaters that range from new to vintage. So, if you’re looking for something a little different this year, this online shop is worth a look.

With a drunken Santa or a mug shot of Rudolph, the new sweaters have a good amount of humor. If you decide to go the vintage route, you can wear a Santa holding a Pepsi-Cola or just don some good old-fashioned snowflake patterns.

Ragstock also offers accessories, jackets, pajamas, hats, and other products you can wear year-round. And for a really cool stocking stuffer for your pal, pick up the Ragstock Christmas Sweater Coloring Book when you shop (proceeds go to Toys for Tots, a charity for children).

4. Amazon

Now, if you happen to be doing some Christmas shopping on Amazon, then head to the Ugly Christmas Sweaters section and pick out something for yourself.

While the options may be a bit cleaner in humor than other sites, you can still grab that sweater with a dog peeing on a snowman if that’s your style. You can make yourself look like an elf or have a cat in a Santa hat leaning on a shelf. And yes, Amazon does have some light-up sweaters to brighten up your holiday.

There may not be endless possibilities of ugly Christmas sweaters on Amazon. But if you’re already there shopping, take a peek because you never know when that perfect sweater may pop up.

5. Kohl’s

Kohl’s is another great spot to check for ugly Christmas sweaters if you’re already buying holiday gifts there.

Browse through men’s, women’s, juniors, and kid’s apparel. You can get the Budweiser Christmas sweater for him, Santa Claus riding a bike for her, and Mickey Mouse or Mario at Christmas time for the kids.

Along with ugly Christmas sweaters, there are short- and long-sleeved T-shirts for those in warmer locations and pajamas for those staying in this holiday season. Kohl’s may not have the ugliest Christmas sweaters you can find, but they get the job done in a tasteful way.

6. Macy’s

One more spot you might already be shopping at is Macy’s. Their ugly Christmas sweater collection is definitely worth a look.

There are about a dozen options for men and over 50 for women, so just filter the sweaters by gender. Then, take a look at holiday-decorated spaceships, dinosaurs, sheep, and Darth Vader for your tasteful but ugly sweater this Christmas.

If you want Santa on a skateboard, wearing sunglasses, or hanging out on a beach chair, you’ll find your ugly Christmas sweater at Macy’s.

7. Party City

Get the supplies for your ugly Christmas sweater party and what you’re going to wear at the same time at Party City. You’ll find a cool collection of sweaters for men, women, and kids tucked into its own section.

Many sweaters are complete with pictures and words, which makes for a jollier time. Show everyone your spirit with a cat and “Meowy Christmas,” let the party know you’re “Too Lit to Quit,” or pretend you’re Cousin Eddy from the movie Christmas Vacation with a “That There’s an RV” sweater.

Party City also has decorations for your noggin like tinsel headbands or garland glasses. You’ll even find hats, scarves, skirts, ponchos, and T-shirts with the same ugly Christmas sweater themes. So, get that partially eaten gingerbread on your sweater with your head as the cookie over at Party City.

Go Get Ugly With a Fun New Sweater!

If you’re ready to get downright ugly this Christmas season, then these online shops are just the Santa’s little helpers you need! And remember, check out the shipping options and order soon so that you don’t miss out this Christmas.

Read the full article: The 7 Best Online Shops for Ugly Christmas Sweaters

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