What a nun can teach a scientist about ecology | Victoria Gill

What a nun can teach a scientist about ecology | Victoria Gill

To save the achoque -- an exotic (and adorable) salamander found in a lake in northern Mexico -- scientists teamed up with an unexpected research partner: a group of nuns called the Sisters of the Immaculate Health. In this delightful talk, science journalist Victoria Gill shares the story of how this unusual collaboration saved the achoque from extinction -- and demonstrates how local and indigenous people could hold the secret to saving our planet's weird, wonderful and most threatened species.

Click the above link to download the TED talk.

WhatsApp hits 2 billion users, up from 1.5 billion 2 years ago

WhatsApp, the most popular messaging app, revealed today just how big it has become. The Facebook-owned app said it has amassed two billion users, up from 1.5 billion it revealed two years ago. It also remains free of ads and does not charge its users any fee.

The announcement today makes WhatsApp the only second app from Facebook to join the two-billion-users club. (Facebook’s marquee app has 2.5 billion users.) In an earnings call late January, Facebook also noted that that there were 2.26 billion users that opened either Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, or WhatsApp each day, up from 2.2 billion last quarter. The family of apps sees 2.89 billion total monthly users, up 9% year-over-year.

WhatsApp, founded 11 years ago and sold to Facebook for $19 billion six years ago, took the opportunity today to reiterate that it is committed to providing end-to-end encryption to its customers all over the globe — a crucial feature lauded by security experts everywhere but something that many governments are increasingly trying to contest.

“Strong encryption acts like an unbreakable digital lock that keeps the information you send over WhatsApp secure, helping protect you from hackers and criminals. Messages are only kept on your phone, and no one in between can read your messages or listen to your calls, not even us. Your private conversations stay between you,” WhatsApp wrote in a blog post.

Among the governments that are attempting to force WhatsApp into dropping encryption is India, which happens to be WhatsApp’s largest market with 400 million users, Australia, and the U.S.

Will Cathcart, the chief executive of WhatsApp, has said in the past that the messaging platform will fight for the privacy of its users. This was on display late October, when WhatsApp filed a suit in federal court accusing Israeli mobile surveillance maker NSO Group of creating an exploit that was used hundreds of times to hack into targets’ phone.

“Strong encryption is a necessity in modern life. We will not compromise on security because that would make people less safe. For even more protection, we work with top security experts, employ industry leading technology to stop misuse as well as provide controls and ways to report issues — without sacrificing privacy,” the company said today.

The two-billion milestone is a big feat for WhatsApp, which gained immense popularity without any marketing in developing markets such as India where calls and texts were fairly expensive for most people. There is no app in India today that has a greater penetration than WhatsApp, for instance.

But even as WhatsApp has amassed all the users in the world, it is still struggling to make any substantial contribution to Facebook’s bottom line. In recent years, WhatsApp has introduced tools for businesses to connect with their customers. But something even more interesting has happened in the meantime.

Scores of startups in developing markets today are building businesses around WhatsApp. Vahan, a Y Combinator-backed startup, uses WhatsApp to help delivery startups find blue-collar workers. Digi-Prex, a Hyderabad-based startup, runs an eponymous online subscription pharmacy to serve patients with chronic diseases. Patients share their prescription with Digi-Prex through WhatsApp and the startup’s workers then deliver the medication to them on a recurring cycle.

I think the next justdial will be built on top of @whatsapp … especially for India (or other markets where WhatsApp is big)

anyone working on this?

— miten sampat (@miten) February 11, 2020

But this immense popularity has also created other challenges for WhatsApp. The platform has been used to spread false information that has resulted in gruesome fatalities in real world. WhatsApp has rushed to make product changes and run campaigns to educate users, but it’s a long battle.

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Ever Loved’s funeral marketplace undercuts undertakers

Fifty percent of families are scared they can’t cover the cost of a funeral. They end up overpaying because no one wants to comparison shop amidst a tragedy. That’s why ex-Googler Alison Johnston’s startup Ever Loved built a free funeral crowdfunding tool. Now it’s addressing one of the most expensive parts of saying goodbye: burial. Today Ever Loved launches its online marketplace for caskets, urns, headstones and memorial jewelry.

By sidestepping the overhead of a physical funeral home, Ever Loved can offer better prices while still earning a 10% margin. Its caskets cost 50% less than the average sold at a mortuary, according to the National Funeral Directors Association.

When I called a local San Francisco funeral home, the high markups came into focus. They quoted me $2,795 for a casket sold for $1,200 on Ever Loved.

“Most people don’t think to — or don’t want to — plan funerals in advance, which means that when someone passes away, the family is often scrambling,” Johnston tells me. “When this rush to make decisions is paired with extreme grief, many people don’t do anywhere close to the same amount of research as they would with another several-thousand-dollar purchase. When combined with the fact that most funeral homes don’t publish their prices online, it’s easy for families to spend much more than they need to.”

Johnston co-founded Ever Loved in late 2017 after a family member was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She discovered how few resources there were available for helping people plan and pay for funerals. She’d previously worked at Q&A app Aardvark through its acquisition by Google, then started online tutoring startup InstaEDU that eventually sold to Chegg. The consumer website building and e-commerce tools she’d grown used to weren’t available in the funeral industry, so she set out to build them. Ever Loved has raised seed funding from Social Capital and gone through Y Combinator.

Ever Loved co-founder and CEO Alison Johnston

“Tech too often merely makes life and work easier for those who already have it good,” she told me last year. “Tech that tempers tragedy is a welcome evolution for Silicon Valley.”

Ever Loved’s first focus was its funeral crowdfunding tool that let families ask the decedent’s loved ones to help contribute to offset the costs. Donors could leave a tip for Ever Loved, but otherwise it charged nothing beyond credit card processing fees. The tool was paired with a memorial website builder that families could use for distributing invites and collecting memories. Now Ever Loved is helping people plan thousands of funerals per month with revenue up nearly 20X year-over-year.

Now that it’s helping families raise money for remembrance services, Ever Loved wants to make sure they don’t get ripped off. The fact that there’s such low pricing transparency at funeral homes should clue you in that they try to pass off steep markups since customers might not have the energy to keep looking. “The average funeral home only helps with a funeral once every three days, meaning that many funeral homes need to charge high prices in order to cover their own fixed costs,” Johnston explains.

Remove the overhead costs and assist customers across geographies and there’s room for a strong business with more affordable prices. For example, a Stanford Blue Casket costs $990 on Ever Loved while one LA funeral home charges $1,600. The Last Supper Pieta Casket is $1,500 on Ever Loved but $6,580 from the funeral home. That funeral home had both of these listed under different names, further hindering the ability of customers to find a fair price.

Ever Loved can also more quickly adapt to the diversification of burial options. Between concerns about costs, land use, environmental impact and connection to family and nature, many are looking beyond caskets. Cremation became more popular than burial in the U.S. in 2017. Liquid cremation is now legal in 18 states, and Washington just began allowing body composting.

“We’re seeing a lot of independent providers popping up to do everything from turning your loved one’s ashes into a diamond ring to shooting their ashes into space to planting them under a tree in the forest,” says Johnston. Any single funeral home is unlikely to offer the breadth customers are looking for. “Our goal is to make all of your options available to you in an easily digestible format.”

Ever Loved’s business is protected by the FTC’s Funeral Rule that bars mortuaries from refusing or charging extra to handle a casket or urn purchased elsewhere. That means Ever Loved customers can combine shopping online with in-person memorial services from a local funeral home. Still, it’s a tough business. Startups like HaloLife, Clarity and After I Go have all shut down. Most others merely offer memorial sites, or funeral home search engines.

That means Ever Loved’s biggest competitors, beyond the standard just accepting the local mortuary’s prices, are Google and Amazon. Often they surface the same prices as Ever Loved with comparable shipping, though Google could sometimes find a slight discount by buying straight from the manufacturer, while Amazon was missing some top brands. Costco and Walmart sell funeral products too. But Johnston says “many people don’t feel like generic, mass-market stores are the appropriate place to purchase funeral products.” I agree it might feel disrespectful buying an urn from the same place you get toilet paper.

“We also put a huge focus on customer service, which you don’t get at Walmart, Costco or Amazon,” Johnston tells me. “When you’re grieving and spending thousands of dollars, we’ve found that this is very important.”

As the demographic planning funerals gets more tech-savvy over time and want personalized farewells rather than cookie-cutter conclusions, there’s a chance to change the status quo. Discussing death is becoming less taboo. Being smart about paying for it should too.

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Google’s Gboard introduces Emoji Kitchen, a tool to mash up emojis to use as stickers

If you’re ever felt like there just weren’t enough emoji options to express how you’re feeling, a new addition to Google’s Gboard keyboard, launching today, aims to help. Gboard for Android is introducing a feature called “Emoji Kitchen” which allows users to mash up different emoji then use them as stickers when messaging.

The stickers will work across apps, including Gmail, Messages by Google, Messenger, Snapchat, Telegram, WhatsApp, and others.

For example, you could add glasses to the various smiley emoji, add a cowboy hat to a ghost, have a robot cry tears, put a monkey face on a cactus (idk either), make the happy poop emoji express love with a heart, and so on.

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To be clear, you can’t just mash up any of the thousands of emoji with any other one — it only works with those Google supports, which are mainly variations on the smileys. That’s because the emoji aren’t being mashed up in real-time through some sort of A.I. system. Instead, Google designers have created this set of mashups for Gboard, specifically.

To use the option, you first tap on any smiley emoji and Emoji Kitchen will show which mashups are available to you.

Google’s Gboard has long been an experimental app for trying out new ideas in self-expression, including with launches like its own set of personalized emoji, called Emoji Minis, as well as with features like doodling, Morse code input, emoji suggestions and GIFs, and others in years past.

The app has been well-received by Android users, as a result — despite being years old, it’s still in a top 50 app in the Tools category and has over a billion downloads worldwide to date. It’s also now the default keyboard on some Android devices, like Google’s Pixel smartphones.

However, Google’s larger goal with Gboard is to make it compelling enough for users to keep it installed, giving the company a way to bring Google’s properties, like Search, directly to the end-user. That’s more important than ever at a time when mobile search has become bigger than desktop. Unfortunately for Google, mobile search has been much more expensive,  as the company now relies on deals with mobile device makers, like Apple, to make its search engine the default.

Gboard gives Google another way to hedge its bets — by skipping the need to use a browser app to get to Google. Users can just use their keyboard instead.

Google says Emoji Kitchen rolls out today to Android users.

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UK names its pick for social media ‘harms’ watchdog

The UK government has taken the next step in its grand policymaking challenge to tame the worst excesses of social media by regulating a broad range of online harms — naming the existing communications watchdog, Ofcom, as its preferred pick for enforcing rules around ‘harmful speech’ on platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat and TikTok in future.

Last April the previous Conservative-led government laid out populist but controversial proposals to legislate to lay a duty of care on Internet platforms — responding to growing public concern about the types of content kids are being exposed to online.

Its white paper covers a broad range of online content — from terrorism, violence and hate speech, to child exploitation, self-harm/suicide, cyber bullying, disinformation and age-inappropriate material — with the government setting out a plan to require platforms to take “reasonable” steps to protect their users from a range of harms.

However digital and civil rights campaigners warn the plan will have a huge impact on online speech and privacy, arguing it will put a legal requirement on platforms to closely monitor all users and apply speech-chilling filtering technologies on uploads in order to comply with very broadly defined concepts of harm — dubbing it state censorship. Legal experts are also critical.

Further, it requires social media companies to *prevent* ‘harmful’ (undefined) speech going online in the first place; & prevent ‘inappropriate’ (undefined) content recommendations.

So expect state-sponsored upload filters, recommendation systems & mass surveillance.

— Big Brother Watch (@BigBrotherWatch) February 12, 2020

The (now) Conservative majority government has nonetheless said it remains committed to the legislation.

Today it responded to some of the concerns being raised about the plan’s impact on freedom of expression, publishing a partial response to the public consultation on the Online Harms White Paper, although a draft bill remains pending, with no timeline confirmed.

“Safeguards for freedom of expression have been built in throughout the framework,” the government writes in an executive summary. “Rather than requiring the removal of specific pieces of legal content, regulation will focus on the wider systems and processes that platforms have in place to deal with online harms, while maintaining a proportionate and risk-based approach.”

It says it’s planning to set a different bar for content deemed illegal vs content that has “potential to cause harm”, with the heaviest content removal requirements being planned for terrorist and child sexual exploitation content. Whereas companies will not be forced to remove “specific pieces of legal content”, as the government puts it.

Ofcom, as the online harms regulator, will also not be investigating or adjudicating on “individual complaints”.

“The new regulatory framework will instead require companies, where relevant, to explicitly state what content and behaviour they deem to be acceptable on their sites and enforce this consistently and transparently. All companies in scope will need to ensure a higher level of protection for children, and take reasonable steps to protect them from inappropriate or harmful content,” it writes.

“Companies will be able to decide what type of legal content or behaviour is acceptable on their services, but must take reasonable steps to protect children from harm. They will need to set this out in clear and accessible terms and conditions and enforce these effectively, consistently and transparently. The proposed approach will improve transparency for users about which content is and is not acceptable on different platforms, and will enhance users’ ability to challenge removal of content where this occurs.”

Another requirement will be that companies have “effective and proportionate user redress mechanisms” — enabling users to report harmful content and challenge content takedown “where necessary”.

“This will give users clearer, more effective and more accessible avenues to question content takedown, which is an important safeguard for the right to freedom of expression,” the government suggests, adding that: “These processes will need to be transparent, in line with terms and conditions, and consistently applied.”

Ministers say they have not yet made a decision on what kind of liability senior management of covered businesses may face under the planned law, nor on additional business disruption measures — with the government saying it will set out its final policy position in the Spring.

“We recognise the importance of the regulator having a range of enforcement powers that it uses in a fair, proportionate and transparent way. It is equally essential that company executives are sufficiently incentivised to take online safety seriously and that the regulator can take action when they fail to do so,” it writes.

It’s also not clear how businesses will be assessed as being in (or out of) scope of the regulation.

“Just because a business has a social media page that does not bring it in scope of regulation,” the government response notes. “To be in scope, a business would have to operate its own website with the functionality to enable sharing of user-generated content, or user interactions. We will introduce this legislation proportionately, minimising the regulatory burden on small businesses. Most small businesses where there is a lower risk of harm occurring will not have to make disproportionately burdensome changes to their service to be compliant with the proposed regulation.”

The government is clear in the response that Online harms remains “a key legislative priority”.

“We have a comprehensive programme of work planned to ensure that we keep momentum until legislation is introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows,” it writes, describing today’s response report “an iterative step as we consider how best to approach this complex and important issue” — and adding: “We will continue to engage closely with industry and civil society as we finalise the remaining policy.”

Incoming in the meanwhile the government says it’s working on a package of measures “to ensure progress now on online safety” — including interim codes of practice, including guidance for companies on tackling terrorist and child sexual abuse and exploitation content online; an annual government transparency report, which it says it will publish “in the next few months”; and a media literacy strategy, to support public awareness of online security and privacy.

It adds that it expects social media platforms to “take action now to tackle harmful content or activity on their services” — ahead of the more formal requirements coming in.

Facebook-owned Instagram has come in for high level pressure from ministers over how it handles content promoting self-harm and suicide after the media picked up on a campaign by the family of a schoolgirl who killed herself after been exposed to Instagram content encouraging self-harm.

Instagram subsequently announced changes to its policies for handling content that encourages or depicts self harm/suicide — saying it would limit how it could be accessed. This later morphed into a ban on some of this content.

The government said today that companies offering online services that involve user generated content or user interactions are expected to make use of what it dubs “a proportionate range of tools” — including age assurance, and age verification technologies — to prevent kids from accessing age-inappropriate content and “protect them from other harms”.

This is also the piece of the planned legislation intended to pick up the baton of the Digital Economy Act’s porn block proposals — which the government dropped last year, saying it would bake equivalent measures into the forthcoming Online Harms legislation.

The Home Office has been consulting with social media companies on devising robust age verification technologies for many months.

In its own response statement today, Ofcom — which would be responsible for policy detail under the current proposals — said it will work with the government to ensure “any regulation provides effective protection for people online”, and, pending appointment, “consider what we can do before legislation is passed”.

Ofcom responds to the Government’s announcement on online harms regulation: https://t.co/DTfMJkgIVU pic.twitter.com/Qgop0xcIcw

— Ofcom (@Ofcom) February 12, 2020

The Online Harms plan is not the online Internet-related work ongoing in Whitehall, with ministers noting that: “Work on electoral integrity and related online transparency issues is being taken forward as part of the Defending Democracy programme together with the Cabinet Office.”

Back in 2018 a UK parliamentary committee called for a levy on social media platforms to fund digital literacy programs to combat online disinformation and defend democratic processes, during an enquiry into the use of social media for digital campaigning. However the UK government has been slower to act on this front.

The former chair of the DCMS committee, Damian Collins, called today for any future social media regulator to have “real powers in law” — including the ability to “investigate and apply sanctions to companies which fail to meet their obligations”.

In the DCMS committee’s final report parliamentarians called for Facebook’s business to be investigated, raising competition and privacy concerns.

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Facebook will pay Reuters to fact-check Deepfakes and more

Eye-witness photos and videos distributed by news wire Reuters already go through an exhaustive media verification process. Now the publisher will bring that expertise to the fight against misinformation on Facebook. Today it launches the new Reuters Fact Check business unit and blog, announcing that it will become one of the third-party partners tasked with debunking lies spread on the social network.

The four-person team from Reuters will review user generated video and photos as well as news headlines and other content in English and Spanish submitted by Facebook or flagged by the wider Reuters editorial team. They’ll then publish their findings on the new Reuters Fact Check blog, listing the core claim and why it’s false, partially false, or true. Facebook will then use those conclusions to label misinformation posts as false and downrank them in the News Feed algorithm to limit their spread.

“I can’t disclose any more about the terms of the financial agreement but I can confirm that they do pay for this service” Reuter’s Director of Global Partnerships Jessica April tells me of the deal with Facebook. Reuters joins the list of US fact-checking partners that include The Associated Press, PolitiFact, Factcheck.org, and four others. Facebook offers fact-checking in over 60 countries, though often with just one partner like Agence France-Presse’s local branches.

Reuters will have two fact-checking staffers in Washington D.C. and two in Mexico City. For reference, Reuters has over 25,000 employees. Reuters’ Global Head of UGC Newsgathering Hazel Baker said the fact-checking team could grow over time, as it plans to partner with Facebook through the 2020 election and beyond. The fact checkers will operate separately from, though with learnings gleaned from, the 12-person media verification team.

Reuters Fact Check will review content across the spectrum of misinformation formats. “We have a scale. On one end is content that is not manipulated but has lost context — old and recycled videos” Baker tells me, referencing lessons from the course she co-authored on spotting misinfo. Next up the scale are simplistically edited photos and videos that might be slowed down, sped up, spliced, or filtered. Then there’s staged media that’s been acted out or forged, like an audio clip recorded and maliciously attributed to a politician. Next is computer-generated imagery that can concoct content or ad fake things to a real video. “And finally there is synthetic or Deepfake video” which Baker said takes the most work to produce.

Baker acknowledged criticism of how slow Facebook is to direct hoaxes and misinformation to fact-checkers. While Facebook claims it can reduce the further spread of this content by 80% using downranking once content is deemed false, that doesn’t account for all the views it gets before its submitted and fact-checkers reach it amongst deep queues of suspicious posts for them to moderate. “One thing we have as an advantage of Reuters is an understanding of the importance of speed” Baker insists. That’s partly why the team will review content Reuters chooses, not just what Facebook has submitted.

Unfortunately, one thing they won’t be addressing is the widespread criticism over Facebook’s policy of refusing to fact-check political ads, even if they combine sensational and defamatory misinformation paired with calls to donate to a campaign. “We wouldn’t comment on that Facebook policy. That’s ultimately up to them” Baker tells TechCrunch. We’ve called on Facebook to ban political ads, fact-check them or at least those from presidential candidates, limit microtargeting, and/or only allow campaign ads using standardized formats without room for making potentially misleading claims.

Facebook staff demand Zuckerberg limit lies in political ads

The problem of misinformation looms large as we enter the primaries ahead of the 2020 election. Rather than just being financially motivated, anyone from individual trolls to shady campaigns to foreign intelligence operatives can find political incentives for mucking with democracy. Ideally, an organization with the experience and legitimacy of Reuters would have the funding to put more than four staffers to work protecting hundreds of millions of Facebook users.

Unfortunately, Facebook is straining its bottom line to make up for years of neglect around safety. Big expenditures on content moderators, security engineers, and policy improvements depressed its net income growth from 61% year-over-year at the end of 2018 to just 7% as of last quarter. That’s a quantified commitment to improvement. Yet clearly the troubles remain.

Facebook spent years crushing its earnings reports with rapid gains in user count, revenue, and profits. But it turns out that what looked like incredible software-powered margins were propped up by an absence on spending on safeguards. The sudden awakening to the price of protecting users has hit other tech companies like Airbnb, which the Wall Street Journal reports fells from from a $200 million in yearly profit in late 2018 to a loss of $332 million a year later as it combats theft, vandalism, and discrimination.

Paying Reuters to help is another step in the right direction for Facebook that’s now two years into its fact-checking foray. It’s just too bad it started so far behind.

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10 Windows 7 End of Life Alternatives

After a long run of over 10 years, Windows 7’s time in the spotlight has come to a close. The Windows 7 end of life date has hit, meaning that Microsoft no longer supports the fan-favorite operating system.

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Let’s review what the Windows 7 EOL means for users still on that platform and look at your best options for jumping ship from the aging OS.

What Is Windows 7 EOL?

EOL, or end of life, refers to the final date that Microsoft supports one of its products. After this time, Windows does not receive any updates to fix bugs or resolve security issues.

The Windows 7 EOL date was January 14, 2020. After this point, Microsoft considers Windows 7 a legacy operating system and has dropped support so it can focus on current offerings. Read our Windows 7 end of life FAQ for more information on this.

Of course, Windows 7 still works after the end of support. However, if you’re using Windows 7 today, you should make plans to move to a different platform soon so you can stay secure.

Let’s look at all the options available to you after the Windows 7 end of life. Not all of them are viable, but we’ll list as many as possible so you know your options.

1. Buy a New Computer With Windows 10 Installed

For most people who are happy with Windows, this is the best option. Chances are that your Windows 7 machine is pretty out of date, making this a perfect time to jump to Windows 10 on a fresh computer.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a suitable computer. Take a look on Amazon for a laptop or desktop that suits your needs—we’ve rounded up some affordable but high-quality laptops for students that might work for you.

Nearly every off-the-shelf computer you see today will have Windows 10, so it’s just a matter of finding one that fits your budget and needs.

2. Build Your Own Windows 10 Desktop

If you can’t find a computer in the store that works for you, why not take this opportunity to build your own machine? It’s not too difficult to build your own PC, and you can decide exactly how much you want to spend on it.

Start by picking the right components for your PC build, then follow our guide to building your own PC once you’re ready to start.

Keep in mind that with this option, you’ll need to obtain a license for Windows 10 yourself. While you can buy this straight from Microsoft, it’s also possible to use other methods to get a cheap and legal Windows license. Those with a valid Windows 7 or Windows 8 key can still use that to activate Windows 10.

3. Install Windows 10 on Your Current PC

While the requirements to run Windows 10 aren’t too demanding, we still don’t recommend upgrading your current system from Windows 7 in most cases. If you’ve had your PC for a long time, chances are that it’s underpowered and won’t run Windows 10 well.

You’re better off moving to a new system that will run Windows 10 more smoothly. However, if your computer is newer or was top-of-the-line when you built it, you may be able to use Windows 10 on it for a while. This will depend on your system.

4. Upgrade to Windows 8.1

Windows 8 never had the popularity of either Windows 7 or Windows 10, but it’s still around. The end of support for Windows 8.1 isn’t until January 2023, so you can use it as a Windows 7 alternative.

However, we would avoid this as well. Windows 8.1 doesn’t offer as many features as Windows 10, and the touch-centric interface was a hassle for many during its heyday. Finding a genuine Windows 8.1 license isn’t as easy as getting one for Windows 10, and it’s difficult to find a PC with Windows 8.1 preinstalled.

Additionally, if you move to Windows 8.1, you’ll have to upgrade again in just a few years when its EOL date comes. Moving to Windows 10 will save you time down the road.

5. Buy a Chromebook

The above four options all involve sticking with Windows. However, if you’d like to try something different after leaving Windows 7, you have many other possibilities.

A Chromebook provides an easy-to-use alternative to a Windows laptop. Chromebooks offer automatic updates, built-in virus protection, great battery life, and even the ability to run Android apps.

They don’t have a lot of local storage or powerful hardware, so they aren’t great for tasks like gaming or video editing. However, for light use, they offer great value. Take a look at some of the best Chromebooks for a few ideas.

6. Use CloudReady on Your Current PC

Don’t have the money for a Chromebook? A company called Neverware provides a free open source alternative to Chrome OS titled CloudReady. This allows you to repurpose old computers as makeshift Chromebooks at no cost.

Since Chrome OS is light compared to Windows, it will almost certainly run better on aging hardware. Give it a look if you want to get another year or two out of your current computer before buying a new one.

7. Give Linux a Try

Linux is a family of open source operating systems that you can install on nearly any PC. If a Chromebook is too limiting, but you don’t want to pay a lot of money for an upgrade, Linux is a great option.

You might consider installing Linux on your current computer if it’s not too outdated. Otherwise, you could purchase a cheap used computer online and install Linux on that. If you want to go all-in, you can buy a ready-made computer with Linux preinstalled.

We’ve recommended Robolinux as one of the best Linux distros for Windows users, so take a look at that if you don’t know where to start.

8. Move to a Mac

On the other end of the spectrum, you might consider switching to a MacBook or iMac. Apple’s computers, while expensive, are known for their high quality. In addition to the premium build quality, Macs are powered by macOS, which Apple fans swear by.

A Mac will last you many years compared to a cheap Windows computer. If you’re considering the move, take a look at how to save money when buying a MacBook so you get the best deal.

9. Pay Microsoft for More Windows 7 Patches

You might be surprised to learn that Microsoft actually offers Windows 7 updates past the end of support date, for a fee. This is mainly for businesses that need to keep using Windows 7 for backward compatibility or similar reasons.

Microsoft’s Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESUs) are available on a per-computer basis, and the price goes up every year. You can only take advantage of this for Windows 7 Pro or Enterprise systems and must have purchased them through a volume licensing agreement.

Because of this, home users almost certainly can’t take advantage of the paid updates. Even if you did, it doesn’t make sense to pay so much when you could put that towards a new computer. See Microsoft’s Windows 7 ESU FAQ if you’re interested, but this is not really an option for 99% of home users.

10. Do Nothing

Of course, you can take no action for now, though we don’t recommend it. Windows 7 will continue to work for a while, but over time, the platform will become increasingly insecure. As we saw with Windows XP, major software will start to drop support for Windows 7 before long.

You should make a plan to follow one of the above options as soon as you can. If you don’t have the budget for an upgrade, installing CloudReady or Linux on your current computer is a suitable option until you can get a new machine.

How Will You Respond to Windows 7’s End of Life?

We’ve looked at all the major alternatives for Windows 7 users. Since the Windows 7 EOL date has already come and gone, you should make plans to migrate as soon as possible. This is a great time to buy/build a new computer or try a new operating system, so we’re sure you’ll find a suitable option.

For more on this, find out why people still love Windows 7 so much.

Read the full article: 10 Windows 7 End of Life Alternatives

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How to Set Up Miracast to Cast From Android to Your TV

Miracast isn’t perfect. But if you don’t own a Chromecast and want a quick way to cast from your Android device to your TV screen, Miracast is the best solution.

But what is Miracast? And how does Miracast work? How can you use Miracast? And do you need the Miracast app? Keep reading to find out…

What Is Miracast?

Miracast is a wireless display standard. The Wi-Fi Alliance announced it at CES 2013 in Las Vegas, and it was part of both Android 4.2 and Windows 8.1.

Although Miracast is still part of Windows, not all of today’s Android devices support it. Google has tried to force more manufacturers towards only offering Chromecast connectivity. The technology is also not available on macOS or iOS devices.

Miracast is built on Wi-Fi Direct technology. Wi-Fi Direct allows users to create ad-hoc privacy networks for file sharing. As a result, Miracast does not need a Wi-Fi signal to work. Instead, like Wi-Fi Direct, it creates its own network.

Sadly, Miracast is still waiting to enjoy widespread acceptance as a preferred way of casting. Even though it supports both 4K and HD streaming, H.264, and 5.1 surround sound audio, it is losing users to other technologies.

Today, we’re going to try and convince you to give Miracast a second chance. It might be the Android to TV casting solution you’ve been looking for.

Miracast vs. Chromecast: The Differences

Our sharper-eyed readers will soon notice that the process for pairing Miracast devices with your Android phone/tablet is almost identical to the process for casting to a Chromecast device. Indeed, if you have Chromecast dongles on your home network, you will see them listed right alongside your Miracast devices in the list of possible connections.

You might be forgiven, therefore, for assuming Chromecast and Miracast are the same thing. That’s not the case; there are lots of differences between Chromecast and Miracast.

Most notably, Chromecast only relies on your device for the initial setup. Thereafter, the dongle does all of the heavy lifting. You can put your phone to sleep or use it for other tasks without affecting playback.

In contrast, Miracast will simply cast whatever is on your screen; your phone is doing the processing. On the one hand, that’s terrible news for your battery life. On the other hand, you can enjoy more flexibility. For example, you don’t need to worry about an app having Chromecast support or DRM content being blocked.

How to Use Miracast for Android to TV Casting

Now you understand what Miracast is, let’s take a look at the casting process in a little more detail.

What You’ll Need to Use Miracast

• An Android device that supports Miracast or a Miracast app.
• A TV that supports Miracast or a Miracast dongle.

You’ll only need a dongle if your TV does not support Miracast natively.

Miracast dongles come in many forms. For example, you can buy an Actiontec Screenbeam Mini2, or you can invest in a set-top box which has Miracast built-in, such as a Roku or Amazon Fire TV Stick. Microsoft also makes a dongle which supports Miracast.

Prepare Your TV for Casting

If your TV has Miracast built-in, you shouldn’t need to do anything. It might be worth making sure you’ve enabled any appropriate settings in the various menus.

If you’re using a dongle to turn your TV into a Miracast-compatible device you will first need to make sure your TV input is pointed at the right HDMI source. You may also need to press a physical button on your dongle to power it up.

Use Native Miracast for Android to TV Casting

You should now be ready to begin the Miracast pairing process on your Android device.

If your Android phone or tablet has native Miracast, the process is easy. Just follow the step-by-step instructions below:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap on Connected Devices to open the menu.
3. Select Connection Preferences from the list of options.
4. Tap on Cast.
5. Scroll through the options until you find either your TV or your Miracast dongle.
6. Tap on the device you want to pair with.
7. You may need to enter a security code to complete the process.

Once you have worked your way through the above steps, you should see your Android screen cast on your TV display.

Use a Third-Party Miracast App for Android to TV Casting

If your Android device does not support Miracast, don’t worry. You are not out of luck. There are several apps in the Google Play Store that support the Miracast standard.

Here are our three favorite Miracast apps:

1. LetsView

LetsView supports both Miracast and Apple’s AirPlay. It lets you mirror your phone screen to a PC, Mac, TV, or any other screen which supports one of the two protocols.

You can make connections via Wi-Fi, QR code, or PIN code.

Download: LetsView (Free)

2. EZMira

EZMirror has one-click screen mirroring and supports DLNA. You can connect your devices over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or QR code.

Unlike LetsView, EZMira is not iOS compatible. If you have a lot of different operating systems in your home, it might not be the best solution.

Download: EZMira (Free)

3. EZCast

EZCast lets you cast your Android screen to any TV or projector, as long as it supports Miracast. Like the other apps, it supports setup via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and QR code.

The app also supports casting via Chromecast.

Download: EZCast (Free)

Troubleshooting Miracast on Android

The biggest issue you’re likely to encounter is over-scan. It is the process where your TV chops off the top, bottom, and edges of your casted display.

This is a TV issue rather a phone/tablet issue. To fix it, you will need to dig around in your TV’s options menu. You will often find the option in the HDMI inputs sub-section.

Is Miracast on Android Worth Using?

Since Google removed guaranteed native Miracast support on Android, it almost feels like the company is trying to kill off the standard. And that’s a shame.

Sure, it isn’t most reliable or easy-to-use form of screencasting, but Miracast still has its place. It might be able to get you out of a tight spot in a meeting or presentation if you know how to use it.

If you would like to learn more about Miracast, check out our article explaining how to use Miracast for wireless media streaming.

Image Credit: marianstock/Depositphotos

Read the full article: How to Set Up Miracast to Cast From Android to Your TV

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Steam Link for iPhone! Speed Up Mobile Data! Why Are Kids Using Facebook Messenger?

Need to understand the difference between a router and modem? Looking for ways to make your mobile data faster? And how can you play PC and Mac games on your iPhone?

Unlock the "Chrome OS Keyboard Shortcuts" cheat sheet now!

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This week’s Really Useful Podcast brings you the answers to all of this and more.

Really Useful Podcast Season 5 Episode 2 Shownotes

This week, Christian Cawley and Megan Ellis bring you news of:

• Steam Link for iOS
• YouTube Originals Unlocked
• Messenger Kids Parental Control

They also have a pair of excellent recommendations for you to follow:

• Peter McKinnon’s YouTube Channel
• Glad You Asked on YouTube

You should also check out this week’s tips and tricks to make your tech work better for you:

• Improve Your Mobile Data Speed
• What’s the Difference Between a Modem and a Router?
• Choosing a Chromebook vs Tablets

Meanwhile, these MakeUseOf giveaways are still running:

• Insta360 One R action cam
• Doogee S95 Pro modular phone

Help us help more people by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. It only takes a minute and with a bigger audience and higher rating we can expand our reach and scope. And so you don’t miss a show, remember to subscribe for notifications:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify
• Transistor.fm
• Player.FM
• Google Podcasts
• Stitcher.com
• YouTube

See you next week!

Read the full article: Steam Link for iPhone! Speed Up Mobile Data! Why Are Kids Using Facebook Messenger?

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Nokia pulls out of MWC over coronavirus concerns

More big names are stepping away from the biggest phone and telecom trade show event this year.

Nokia, one of the omnipresent firms at major tech trade conferences, won’t be attending this year’s Mobile World Congress, it said Wednesday citing health and safety concerns over coronavirus outbreak. Electronics giant HMD, which sells smartphones under Nokia brand, cited similar reasoning for its withdrawal, too.

The iconic Finnish firm, one of the cornerstone companies at MWC, and HMD have become the latest to back out of it. In recent days, scores of firms including Ericsson, Amazon, Vivo, Facebook, and Sony have withdrawn their participation from the world’s biggest smartphones-focused trade show.

MWC attracts more than 100,000 attendees, thousands of companies, and contributes to the bottom line of Barcelona city, where the trade show is held.

Like Samsung, Huawei and Ericsson, Nokia occupies swathes of exhibition space which will now be empty. But also, it's arguably one of the whole reasons for MWC existing in the first place.

— Ingrid (@ingridlunden) February 12, 2020

“While the health and safety of our employees is our absolute priority, we also recognize that we have a responsibility to the industry and our customers. In view of this, we have taken the necessary time to evaluate a fast-moving situation, engage with the GSMA and other stakeholders, regularly consult external experts and authorities, and plan to manage risks based on a wide range of scenarios. The conclusion of that process is that we believe the prudent decision is to cancel our participation at Mobile World Congress,” Nokia said in a statement.

The announcement today should put more pressure on GSMA, the body that organizes the event, to cancel this year’s edition of the trade show. On Tuesday, Spanish publication El Pais reported that the GSMA executives would meet on Friday and consider their next steps, which could include suspending this year’s event. A spokesperson declined comment to TechCrunch.

Reuters reported on Wednesday that German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom, another big name at MWC, will be backing out this year.

More to follow…

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How to Generate a Report of Bounced Email Addresses in Gmail

Some email messages you have sent through your Gmail account may not get delivered at all. There could be a problem with the recipient’s email address, like a typo, their mailbox could be full or maybe the mail server could be specifically blocking your emails due to the content of the message.

When an email message sent via Gmail is bounced or rejected, you get an automated bounce-back notice from mailer-daemon@gmail.com and it will always contain the exact reason for the delivery failure along with the SMTP error code. For instance, an error code 550 indicates that the email address doesn’t exist while a 554 indicates that your email was classified as spam by the recipient’s mail server.

How to Get a List of Email Addresses that Bounced

It is important to keep track of your bounced messages and remove all undelivered email addresses from your future mailings as they may affect your sending reputation.

Mail Merge for Gmail keeps track of all your bounced messages in Gmail but if you are not using mail merge yet, here’s an open-source Google Script that will prepare a list of all email addresses that have bounced inside a Google Spreadsheet.

Gmail Bounce Report - Getting Started

Here’s how you can get started:

1. Click here to make a copy of the Google Spreadsheet.
2. Open the Bounced Emails menu in your Google Sheet and then select the Run Report option.
3. Authorize the Google Script so it can scan your Gmail account for bounced emails and write them to the Google Sheet. The script runs entirely in your Google account, no data is stored or shared anywhere.
4. Watch as the Google Sheet is populated with rejected and bounced email addresses.

The email bounce report includes the email address that bounced, the reason why that email failed to deliver and the date when the bounce occurred. The spreadsheet will also have a direct link to the bounced message received from mailer-daemon.

Technical Details - How the Script Works

The script uses the Gmail API to fetch a list of all bounced emails in your mailbox.

const findBouncedEmails = () => {
  const { messages = [] } = Gmail.Users.Messages.list('me', {
    q: 'from:mailer-daemon',
    maxResults: 200
  });
  for (let m = 0; m < messages.length; m += 1) {
    const bounceData = parseGmailMessage(messages[m].id);
    if (bounceData) {
      SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet().appendRow(bounceData);
    }
  }
};

Next, the script parses the headers of bounced email messages with regex and writes the bounced information to the Google Sheet.

const parseGmailMessage = messageId => {
  const message = GmailApp.getMessageById(messageId);
  const body = message.getPlainBody();
  const [, failAction] = body.match(/^Action:\s*(.+)/m) || [];

  /* If failAction is "delayed", igore message since Gmail will retry it */
  if (failAction === 'failed') {
    /* The X-Failed-Recipients header in Gmail contains the recipient's address */
    const emailAddress = message.getHeader('X-Failed-Recipients');
    /* Get the SMTP error code
       The first sub-field indicates whether the delivery attempt was successful
       (2= success, 4 = persistent temporary failure, 5 = permanent failure). */
    const [, errorStatus] = body.match(/^Status:\s*([.\d]+)/m) || [];
    /* The Diagnostic-Code DSN field contains the actual diagnostic code
       Some mail systems supply no additional information beyond that
       which is returned in the 'action' and 'status' fields. */
    const [, , bounceReason] =
      body.match(/^Diagnostic-Code:\s*(.+)\s*;\s*(.+)/m) || [];
    return [
      message.getDate(),
      emailAddress,
      errorStatus,
      bounceReason.replace(/\s*(Please|Learn|See).+$/, ''),
      `=HYPERLINK("${message.getThread().getPermalink()}";"View")`
    ];
  }
  return false;
};

Inside your Google Sheet, go to the Tools menu and choose Script Editor to view the full source code of the Google Script. You are welcome to reuse / modify the code.

Also see: Automatically Unsubscribe from Email Newsletters

After VCs spend millions Nigeria restricts ride-hail motorbike taxis

Nigeria’s commercial hub of Lagos has shaken up its transportation order.

At the center are the West African country’s motorcycle taxis — referred to locally as okadas — which face newly enforced regulatory restrictions on their movement.

That’s creating speedbumps for Nigeria’s two-wheel ride-hail startups, operating in Africa’s most populous nation with the continent’s largest economy.

Ventures Max.ng, ORide, and Gokada have received millions from American, Japanese, and Chinese investors to shift the continent’s motorcycle-taxi markets to on-demand mobility.

The three startups have been in a race for capital and market share — with the streets of Lagos serving as a competition course for developing platforms that can scale in Africa.

Gokada raised $5.3 million in May. Max.ng raised a $7 million Series A round in June 2019, with Yamaha on board, to pilot renewable energy powered e-motos in Africa.

MAX.ng raises $7M round backed by Yamaha and pilots EVs in Nigeria

Motorcycle-taxi business ORide rattled competitors in Nigeria in 2019 when its Chinese owned parent — Opera — rallied $170 million in VC for Opera’s digital service verticals in Nigeria, including ORide.

Fueled by fresh capital, the bright colored helmets of these ride-hail startups buzzing through Lagos traffic have become a backdrop in the city of 21 million.

That flow of motorcycle taxis (and traffic at large) slowed on February 1, when the municipality that governs Lagos — Lagos State — began enforcement of its 2018 Transit Sector Reform Law.

Source: Google Maps

The legislation is actually meant to improve multiple facets of transportation in Lagos, which is notorious for gridlock, but may have done the inverse — particularly around okadas.

TechCrunch reached out to Lagos State Government for clarification on the Transit Sector Reform Law, but hasn’t heard back.

The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, invoked safety and security concerns as a reason for the okada restrictions at an event to launch more water-boat taxis in Lagos on February 5.

In a statement via email, ORide’s Senior Director of Operations, Olalere Ridwan, said the rules entail “a ban on commercial motorcycles…in the city’s core commercial and residential areas, including Victoria Island and Lagos Island.”

ORide posted a map of the restrictions on Twitter, with an explanation the company was complying with the rules and would cease operations in the designated areas. Reps from Max.ng and Gokada also confirmed they had followed suit.

Per local news, and Nigerian reporting on Twitter, the motorcycle taxi limitations have thrown off some inherent order in Lagos’s disorderly transit grid — overloading other mobility modes(such as mini-buses) and forcing more people to pound pavement and red-dirt to get to work.

For the country’s ride-hail startups, the regulatory constraints are weighing on operations and revenues, according to Max.ng CTO Guy-Bertrand Njoya.

“Are we highly concerned? Yes, we are,” he told TechCrunch on a call from Lagos.

“We haven’t shut down operations, but because the drivers can’t operate in the main commercial areas, their income generation ability is significantly reduced…and our business depends on the success of our drivers,” said Bertrand.

Gokada CEO Fahim Saleh confirmed the company is still operating passenger services, but may transition its business away from ride-hailing, depending on the outcome of the regulatory process.

“If the transport option is no longer available to our drivers, we’ll go full on to logistics,” he said, noting shifting to more goods delivery has always been a part of Gokada’s long-term strategy.

Saleh recognized the concerns Lagos State regulators have for motorbike-taxi safety. “To the government’s credit, the informal sector is pretty risky with their habits and there’s no oversight,” he said.

But Gokada’s CEO underscored ride-hail startups — with mandatory driver training, new motorcycles, helmet requirements and an ability to track data — are making motorcycle passenger taxis safer in Nigeria.

“The government has good intentions, but they need the private sector to really bring in innovative ideas and technology to this market,” Saleh said.

The sudden regulatory enforcement and downturn in business has forced some unity among the Nigeria’s ride-hail competitors. Max.NG, ORide, and Gokada have formed an industry association to engage Lagos State on motorcycle-taxi regulations.

“We are hopeful that government remains supportive of companies like ours in a manner that addresses their key policy focus, while supporting entrepreneurs,” said Max.ng CFO Guy-Bertrand Njoya.

The situation between the Lagos State Government and motorcycle-taxis could have ramifications for Nigeria’s tech sector beyond Lagos’s ride-hail sector and transit grid.

The affair could serve as a test for startups in the country on engaging government effectively toward their interests. It could also demonstrate the ability (or inability) of regulators in Nigeria to support fledgling digital markets.

It’s worth noting that Lagos State is Nigeria’s largest commercial region, responsible for roughly a third of the country’s GDP. A greater share of Nigeria’s economy is being driven by tech-related industries — with much of the country’s startup activity occurring in Lagos — and Nigeria becoming Africa’s unofficial tech capital.

Even with the recent upswing in VC to Nigeria’s startups, founders still speak of the tough sell they face convincing global investors to back them.

If Lagos State — viewed as the most tech friendly region in Nigeria — squashes the country’s well-funded okada ride-hail sector, VC pitches for the country’s founders could become more difficult.

Nigeria is becoming Africa’s unofficial tech capital

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