Facebook now lets most users opt-in to dark mode & desktop redesign

Facebook today officially rolled out its sweeping desktop redesign that offers dark mode, tabbed homescreen, and a cleaner profile. Facebook tells TechCrunch that “starting today, the majority of people on Facebook will have access to the new desktop design” which it announced at last year’s F8 conference. Users can opt-in to turn on the redesign before it becomes the default for everyone later this year.

To activate the Facebook.com redesign, go to the Settings Menu -> “See New Facebook”. To disable it, users can return and hit “Switch to Classic Facebook”.

Facebook first began testing the rollout publicly in October, and it seems positive feedback led it to today’s rollout. It comes just weeks after Facebook launched a sweeping redesign of Messenger that removed its Discover tab, demoting the visibility of businesses and chatbots. The company has spent the last two years promising to simplify its apps after a decade of making them more visually complex.

The desktop redesign offers streamlined navigation through tabs for Groups, Marketplace, Watch and more atop the home screen. The home page and transitions also load more quickly. Larger fonts and more sensible layouts make getting around easier on the eyes.

Facebok is also making it faster to create Events, Pages, Groups, and ads. You’ll actually be able to see a preview of what these things look like on mobile before you share them.

Most noticibly, Facebook’s new design brings dark mode, which can be toggled on and off through a switch in the Settings drop-down menu. It’s designed to minimize screen glare while maintaining contrast so you don’t blast your eyes with a white background while in a dim room.

Facebook is in the challenging position of actually still being popular 16 years after its launch. That means the desktop site has built up a ton of cruft as the company ships features that appeal to only subsets of its users. While on mobile, most of that extra stuff is shoved in a navigation drawer, on desktop it’s all laid out and can overwhelm our senses. While most Facebooking happens on mobile now, keeping the hardcore desktop users who create tons of content for the social network happy is critical to its longevity and its ad views.

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Daily Crunch: Facebook and Twitter fight coronavirus misinformation

The big social networks take steps to ensure that they’re providing accurate information for public health, Charter refuses to allow employees to work from home and Microsoft Teams sees a big spike in popularity. Here’s your Daily Crunch for March 19, 2020.

1. Facebook will put a new coronavirus info center on top of the News Feed

In an effort to disseminate trustworthy health information on COVID-19, Facebook will roll out its own coronavirus information center — a central hub where the company will collect information from sources like the CDC and WHO.

Meanwhile, Twitter updated its safety policy to prohibit tweets that “could place people at a higher risk of transmitting COVID-19.” The new policy bans tweets denying expert guidance on the virus, encouraging “fake or ineffective treatments, preventions and diagnostic techniques,” as well as tweets that mislead users by pretending to be from health authorities or experts.

2. Charter staff told to report to offices despite positive coronavirus tests

The phone and internet giant, which owns the Spectrum brand, has doubled down in the past week on its policy of disallowing its 15,000 office-based employees to work from home, prompting one engineer to quit over fears he would contract the illness. Dozens of other Charter employees have contacted TechCrunch in the past few days with concerns about their current working conditions.

3. Microsoft Teams jets to 44M DAUs, announces new features as remote work booms

Microsoft’s Team product is a Slack competitor and a likely beneficiary of the COVID-19 remote work boom. The new figure represents a huge gain on the number Microsoft shared in November 2019, when the product had 20 million DAUs.

4. Home diagnostics startup Everlywell is launching an at-home coronavirus test sample kit

Everlywell’s test kit includes swab-based collection equipment, as well as shipping materials that ensure safe transport of a person’s sample, which is then tested by labs certified for COVID-19 testing under the FDA Emergency Use Authorization.

5. The 20 best startups from Y Combinator’s W20 Demo Day

With world events overtaking the tech industry’s preference for coffee meetings and in-person events, Y Combinator skipped its famous two-day live Demo Day and went for a radical experiment: no demos at all, but instead a long list of the nearly 200 startups in its Winter 2020 batch, with links to their sites and one-page slides. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

6. Ada raises $44M Series B to improve its chatbot customer service platform

“Although AI gets thrown around a lot in the enterprise, we are focused on companies offering solutions that are driving real business value, and Ada is doing exactly that,” said Accel partner Ben Fletcher. “Ada is breaking through the crowded market of chatbots to define a new category of automated customer experience that can manage far greater customer inquiry volumes while delivering some of the strongest customer satisfaction scores we’ve seen.”

7. COVID-19 updates

While the Daily Crunch has been packed with headlines about the global pandemic, there’s still plenty of news that I’m leaving out. So if you want to stay fully up-to-date, visit our hub for COVID-19 coverage.

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

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Conan O’Brien will return to TV with shows shot on iPhone and over video chat

Apple’s promise of high-quality video “shot on iPhone” is getting another real-world stress test, as late-night TV host Conan O’Brien announced on Wednesday he will return to doing full shows that will be shot using Apple’s mobile device. On Monday, March 30, new episodes of O’Brien’s show “Conan” will air on TBS, with production staff working from home, video that’s shot on iPhone, and interviews filmed over video chat.

The news was first reported by Variety and confirmed by O’Brien in the form of a tweet, where he jokes the experience “will not be pretty.”

I am going back on the air Monday, March 30th. All my staff will work from home, I will shoot at home using an iPhone, and my guests will Skype. This will not be pretty, but feel free to laugh at our attempt. Stay safe.

— Conan O'Brien (@ConanOBrien) March 19, 2020

The move to shot shows remotely is an interesting attempt at restarting daily TV production at a time when everyone’s been ordered to work from home.

Typically, late-night shows are put on with a sizable crew of writers and producers and filmed in front of a live audience. With the CDC advising people to stay at home and gather in groups of no more than ten due to the threat of the coronavirus outbreak, TV production industry-wide is being shut down.

Until now, that also included all major late-night productions, like Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and James Corden.

O’Brien’s team consists of 75 people and, like others, it went on hiatus in order to protect staff safety. But during the shut down, O’Brien continued to film short videos, which led the team to this idea of doing a full show, but in a different format.

“Conan” isn’t the only show trying to work around the shutdown. Jimmy Fallon has been filming YouTube videos that are incorporated into the evening’s rerun of the “Tonight Show.” Colbert has been filming a new monologue for “The Late Show” reruns. And Kimmel has been sharing his own “#minilogue” on social media.

However, “Conan” is promising full episodes, not just new segments.

“The quality of my work will not go down because technically that’s not possible,” O’Brien said in a statement shared by Variety.

Image credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for WarnerMedia

 

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Female-led Robin Games raises $7 million to combine lifestyle content with fantasy gaming

As a former Jam City executive, Jill Wilson led teams behind some of the top-grossing gaming franchises, like Cookie Jam and Panda Pop. Now she’s running her own startup, Robin Games, where a team of mostly women is working to create a new niche in mobile entertainment they’re calling “lifestyle gaming.” As the name implies, the idea is to create a mobile gaming experience — in this case, fantasy gaming — that’s more like the sophisticated and stylish lifestyle content that’s popular today.

Robin Games is backed by $7 million in seed funding, the company announced on Thursday, as it made its public debut. The round was led by early-stage fund LVP, which has invested in other to game companies including Supercell, Playfish, and NaturalMotion. Additional investors in the oversubscribed round include 1Up Ventures, Alpha Edison, Everblue Management, firstminute Capital, Greycroft Tracker Fund, Hearst Ventures, and Third Kind Venture Capital.

“Traditionally in gaming, when you say ‘fantasy,’ you mean dragons and other mythical creatures, disproportionately built women, armies and battles and explosions and glory,” explained Wilson, Robin Games’ sole founder and CEO. “As a lifelong gamer, I love (most) of these themes, but traditional gamers are no longer in the majority. Thanks to the smartphone, everyone now has access to a gaming console in their pockets. We are expanding the definition of ‘fantasy’ for this modern wave of gamers, whose fantasies are just as diverse as they are,” she added.

Wilson clarified that she’s not meaning to stereotype women as not enjoying fantasy games about things like warriors and dragons. Instead, Robin Games aims to expand the types of fantasies being explored through gaming — including those mobile gaming has yet to include.

While the company isn’t yet announcing its first titles or specific details, like launch dates, the games are said to cover content you’d typically find in a lifestyle magazine, on an Instagram influencer’s profile, or on a lifestyle blog, for example.

“We are focused on developing games that are deeply sophisticated under the hood, with an elevated, real-world, approachable style that reflects more of the lifestyle content you’d previously see outside of gaming,” Wilson told TechCrunch.

All this will be wrapped up in the free-to-play business model that powers most top-grossing games. In addition, Robin Games’ strategy will allow it to expand to include a partnership strategy, which will diversify its revenue streams further down the road.

 

Wilson said the idea for Robin Games was something she had in mind for some time, as she was personally looking for games to like this to play herself — only to find they didn’t exist.

“I’ve always designed products for myself first and foremost, which allows me to deeply connect with what the end-user really wants — since the end-user is me,” said Wilson. “Recently, I realized that not only did we have a unique answer to a pretty major gap in the market, but also that the timing was right and, most importantly, that we could pull together the exact right team to execute this vision.”

The startup is currently a team of nine based in Venice Beach. Management is 80% women and everyone had worked together to make hit games in years prior. In terms of hiring, the company is focused on building out a diverse team in order to better realize its vision, Wilson said, and, more broadly, change the face of the gaming industry as it stands today.

“Our mission goes beyond filling a gap in the market. We’re really looking to shake up the games industry, not only redefining what a modern game team looks like, but also changing the definition itself of what it means to be a gamer,” noted Wilson.

In previous studies, female players have been shown to prefer match-3 and social farming games, among others, with fantasy and MMOs further down the list, and sports and shooting games last. But the types of games Robin Games is proposing don’t really fit into any one category that exists today, so it’s still unknown how female gamers will respond.

However, it makes sense to target this underserved market, given that women account for 46% of all U.S. game enthusiasts.  

“Jill Wilson and her incredible team are already further along than most developers starting out,” added Are Mack Growen, partner at LVP and member of Robin Games’ Board of Directors, about the firm’s investment. “This team has developed and operated some of the world’s most successful games for a decade, and now they have assembled to bring premium experiences to the massively underserved audience of women. In addition to their industry expertise, they fundamentally understand their audience and the ingredients for powerful entertainment. We are proud to have led their seed round and look forward to helping them redefine what it means to be a gamer.”

 

 

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How repaying loans with social service transforms communities | Angie Murimirwa

How repaying loans with social service transforms communities | Angie Murimirwa

What if you could repay loans through volunteering and mentorship instead of money? Activist Angie Murimirwa shares how a game-changing economic tool known as "social interest" is reinvigorating sub-Saharan communities once trapped in cycles of poverty. Join her as she explains how this approach to lending is creating opportunities for thousands of African women and girls -- and shows why this model can be replicated anywhere with lasting effects.

Click the above link to download the TED talk.

Open-source project spins up 3D-printed ventilator validation prototype in just one week

In a great example of what can happen when smart, technically-oriented people come together in a time of need, an open-source hardware project started by a group including Irish entrepreneur Colin Keogh and Breeze Automation CEO and co-founder Gui Calavanti has produced a prototype ventilator using 3D-printed parts and readily available, inexpensive material. The ventilator prototype was designed and produced in just seven days, after the project spun up on Facebook and attracted participation from over 300 engineers, medical professionals and researchers.

The prototype will now enter into a validation process by the Irish Health Services Executive (HSE), the country’s health regulatory body. This will technically only validate it for use in Ireland, which ironically looks relatively well-stocked for ventilator hardware, but it will be a key stamp of approval that could pave the way for its deployment across countries where there are shortages, including low-income nations.

Ventilator hardware in the U.S. is also likely to encounter shortages, depending on the progress of coronavirus spread in the country. On Wednesday, the White House enacted the Defense Production Act, which provides broad powers to the President for redirecting materials and private company production capacity to building much-needed supplies and equipment in a time of crisis.

During Wednesday’s White House briefing on the current COVID-19 situation, U.S. VP Mike Pence said that there are only 10,000 ventilators in the country’s strategic reserve, which, while it doesn’t take into account the stock of equipment in hospitals or healthcare facilities around the country, likely won’t address the overall needs of medical professionals in case some of the more serious projections about the infection come true.

The project could be one way to help address the shortfall, along with commitments by automakers including GM, Ford and Tesla to produce ventilator equipment should the need arise.

The group behind the ventilator also recently changed the focus of their Facebook community, renaming the group from the Open Source Ventilator Project to the Open Source COVID19 Medical Supplies community. They’re looking at expanding their focus to finding ways to cheaply and effectively build and validate other needed equipment, including protective gear like masks, sanitizer and protective face guards for front-line healthcare workers.

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CleanMyMac X Is a Highly-Rated Junk Cleaner That Restores Your Mac or PC to Top Speed

As time goes by, you may notice your computer slowing down. This drop in performance is usually caused by junk filling up your hard drive and apps pulling on your CPU. Trying to restore your machine to its original condition can be a challenge. But with CleanMyMac X, you can clear the clutter and remove malware with minimal effort. Right now, you can pick up this award-winning software for $67.99, or get the Windows version for the same price at MakeUseOf Deals.

Spring Cleaning

How often do you clear the cache of every app you use? What about old application updates and mail attachments — ever thought about removing them?

CleanMyMac X helps you track down and delete these unwanted files, giving your computer an instant performance boost.

The software scans your hard drive to produce a junk list. You can then delete whatever you want with a click. The software targets caches, broken downloads, logs, localizations, and temporary memory, along with large media files.

But that’s not all. CleanMyMac X can find malware lurking on your system, and help you to install app updates without creating more clutter.

Now 24% off

CleanMyMac X and CleanMyPC are usually priced at $89.95, but you can get either app now for just $67.99.

Read the full article: CleanMyMac X Is a Highly-Rated Junk Cleaner That Restores Your Mac or PC to Top Speed

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Twitter broadly bans any COVID-19 tweets that could help the virus spread

You don’t have to go far to find someone online downplaying the severity of a global pandemic that’s shut down entire economies and ground everyday life to a halt. Knowing that, Twitter will take extra steps to remove tweets that put people at risk of contracting the novel coronavirus as it rapidly sweeps through communities around the globe.

On Wednesday, Twitter updated its safety policy to prohibit tweets that “could place people at a higher risk of transmitting COVID-19.” The new policy bans tweets denying expert guidance on the virus, encouraging “fake or ineffective treatments, preventions and diagnostic techniques” as well as tweets that mislead users by pretending to be from health authorities or experts.

Content that increases the chance that someone contracts or transmits the virus, including:
– Denial of expert guidance
– Encouragement to use fake or ineffective treatments, preventions, and diagnostic techniques
– Misleading content purporting to be from experts or authorities

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) March 18, 2020

In its blog post, Twitter says that it will “require people to remove Tweets” in these cases and we’ve asked the company for more clarification on what that looks like.

Given the new guidelines Twitter has outlined, the platform is going to have its work cut out for it. Under the ruleset, a tweet that claims “social distancing is not effective” would be subject to removal. Twitter will also require users to delete tweets telling followers to do ineffective or dangerous things like drinking bleach, even if the tweet is “made in jest” because that content can prove harmful when taken out of context.

Twitter has also banned tweets that make calls to action encouraging other users to behave in a way counter to what health authorities recommend, with the example tweet of “coronavirus is a fraud and not real – go out and patronize your local bar!!” Some political figures have faced criticism for similar statements in recent days, including Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) who encouraged Fox Business viewers “to just go out… go to your local pub.”

The rules will also ban tweets in which people play armchair doctor and make claims like “if you have a wet cough, it’s not coronavirus – but a dry cough is.” Users will also not be allowed to make coronavirus claims that single out groups of people based on race or nationality, like discouraging followers to eat at Chinese restaurants. Other race-based claims like John McAfee’s tweet that “Coronavirus cannot attack black people” won’t fly either.

Facebook, Reddit, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube issue joint statement on misinformation

Twitter’s new set of coronavirus-related misinformation rules is as thorough as it will be difficult to enforce. Many, many tweets would appear to fall under the deepened policy designed to prevent health misinformation from spreading on the social network.

To meet the unique challenge posed by the pandemic, Twitter said it has put a “content severity triage system” in place so that the most potentially damaging tweets can be identified and removed, with less emphasis on users flagging the tweets themselves. The company previously announced that it would be relying more heavily on automation and machine learning to act on content that violates platform rules, which Twitter admits may lead to mistakes in some cases.

In an effort to rise to the gravity of the situation, Twitter’s policies lay out an aggressive and fluid approach that we don’t always see from social networks. We’ll be following along to see how the platform experiment goes in the coming days and if Twitter can help stem the flow of potentially lethal misinformation as the world wakes up to the global threat of COVID-19.

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Sony Unveils PlayStation 5 Technical Hardware Specifications

The spread of a global pandemic has been an unsettling time for people around the world. Amid the chaos, the tech industry has been disrupted, too, with announcements delayed and hardware releases postponed.

Fortunately, we now have something to look forward to. Using an online presentation, Sony has given us the first technical details of the upcoming PlayStation 5.

PlayStation 5: What We Know

Sony opted for a deep-dive into the PlayStation 5’s technical specifications with lead system architect Mark Cerny. While you can watch the entire 50-minute presentation using the video above, here’s a rundown of what we know so far.

The console will be powered by an AMD Ryzen Zen 2 CPU, with eight cores and 16 threads. It’ll come with 16GB of RAM, alongside 825GB of SSD storage. The disk can read at 5.5GB/s and is combined with a custom I/O system. The result of this ultra-high-speed setup is the reduction of loading times and removal of loading screens.

There’ll also be a high power Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) designed specifically for the PS5. This will enable the system’s 4K output, as well as ray tracing support. Your games will be even more realistic thanks to this combination of high-resolution graphics and life-like visuals.

On top of this visual performance, there are audio upgrades, too. The PS5 will come with Tempest 3D AudioTech for a more immersive experience. This’ll enhance your gameplay experience, and lead to a greater sense of location within the game.

Fortunately, the PlayStation 5 will be backward compatible to a degree. Sony has analyzed the top 100 PS4 games and confirmed those would be playable at launch.

The Next Generation of Games Consoles

The PlayStation 5 is a huge step forward for gamers around the world. Crucially, though, the hardware is primed for the future. While Sony has given us the most in-depth presentation so far, they aren’t the only ones prepping a next-generation console.

Microsoft has also got their eyes set on the future with the powerful Xbox Series X. Although initially slated for release in late 2020, as with the PS5, this date will likely change over the coming months.

Read the full article: Sony Unveils PlayStation 5 Technical Hardware Specifications

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Transcribe Speech in Real Time With Google Translate

You can now transcribe speech in real time using the Google Translate app. Google Translate’s transcription feature allows you to have anything said within earshot to be translated and transcribed in an instant. And all using your humble smartphone.

Google Translate Now Offers Real-Time Transcription

Google announced Translate’s new ability to transcribe speech in real time in a post on The Keyword. The company explains that “you can use the Google Translate Android app to transcribe foreign language speech as it’s happening.”

The feature works with any combination of English, French, German, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Thai. So, if you’re an English speaker listening to someone tell a story in Russian, Google Translate can transcribe it for you. And vice versa.

How to Transcribe Speech Using Google Translate

To get Google Translate to transcribe speech in real time, first, update the Google Translate app on Android. Then, open the app, and click the Transcribe button on the home screen. Finally, select the source and target languages from the dropdown menu.

Starting today, you can use the Google Translate app on @Android to transcribe speech as it’s being spoken, for any combination of eight languages
? https://t.co/HKaGNkwN1m pic.twitter.com/jCgcUq5Aym

— Google (@Google) March 17, 2020

Google Translate will then listen to what is being said in the source language, translate it into the target language, and transcribe it onto your smartphone screen in real time. Enabling you to read what is being said as it’s being said.

If something goes wrong, you can pause or restart the transcription by pressing the microphone icon. Or, if you head into the Settings menu, you can see the original transcription, change the size of the text, and/or choose a dark theme.

Download: Google Translate on Android | iOS

Google Is Getting Better at Translating Languages

Google Translate’s new transcription feature is currently only available on Android. It also only supports the eight languages mentioned above. However, Google is working on bringing the feature to iOS in the future, and is bound to add more languages over time.

Google is rapidly ramping up its translation efforts across all of its apps. Google Assistant now offers real-time translations, allowing you to use it as a translator. And Google Maps can now translate place names, helping you to pronounce place names correctly.

Read the full article: Transcribe Speech in Real Time With Google Translate

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The Best Student Discounts on Laptops, Smartphones, Tablets, and More

You can buy almost everything online at a discount. However, certain groups of people can get even steeper price cuts. Out of everyone, students and educators receive the deepest discounts.

That’s why it’s important to know where and how to get student discounts on laptops, tablets, and other electronics. The following sites offer some fantastic student discounts that you won’t want to miss out on.

When to Buy a Laptop

The best time to buy a laptop varies depending on the season. From roughly July to September, you’ll find loads of back-to-school deals. Then, from November to December, holiday deals begin. In the Spring, around February to April, retailers again slash prices. These are all worthy times to purchase a laptop.

For students, the best deals usually arrive from July through September, during the back to school frenzy. Still, don’t pass up a solid deal simply based on the season! Discounts run year-round. Once you pick out a laptop, don’t forget to get one of the best anti-theft laptop bags to keep your new rig secure.

Where Can You Get Student Discounts?

Don’t pay full price! Snag some sweet laptop discounts for students from these excellent providers.

Student Discount: Apple’s Education Program

Mac devices are increasingly popular for a variety of purposes. Notably, Apple laptops appear in droves on campuses. Not to be outdone by its Windows counterparts, you can also get student laptop discounts for Apple products. Savings target both current and new college students and their parents.

Apple opens this to faculty and staff, helping educators as well as the educated. Moreover, its education pricing is available for home-school teachers of any grade level. Apple generously includes most of its hardware in the Apple Education Pricing program. If these discounted laptops still aren’t in your budget, you should look into the best places to find a refurbished Mac laptop.

Best Buy Student Discount: Best Buy Student Deals

Tech retailing giant Best Buy offers a lot of student discounts. While these vary by department, Best Buy does include discounts on its laptops. To take advantage of its student discounts, you’ll need to create or sign in to your Best Buy account, and sign up for Student Deals. After signing up, you’ll receive email coupon codes redeemable both online and in-store. You’ll be able to sort items by student deals, then use your coupons appropriately.

Dell Student Discount: Dell University

PC manufacturer Dell offers student discounts through Dell University. Among the advantages, there’s a price match guarantee for students. Plus, students may earn as high as six percent back with the Dell Rewards loyalty program. Bonus benefits include free expedited shipping, and exclusive offers. For its student laptops, you’ll find top-of-the-line hardware for a discounted price.

Microsoft Student Discount: Microsoft Education

In general, Microsoft’s student, military, and parent discount program slashes 10 percent off the top of their products. That includes the Microsoft Surface Pro, Surface Laptop, and the Surface Book. Don’t forget to take advantage of Microsoft’s deal on Office 365—simply enter your student email address, and you can get Office 365 for free.

Student Discount Amazon: Amazon Prime Student

Amazon remains at the forefront of e-commerce, technology, and deals. With Amazon Prime Student, university students can sign up for an Amazon Prime account, and receive special discounts from partners that are exclusive to the Prime Student program. While this does require payment for a Prime membership, Amazon offers a free trial for six months, plus a discounted subscription price.

Prime Student offers exclusive deals on items that all students need, and that includes laptops, phones, tablets, and other electronics. Not to mention that Amazon Prime is packed with even more perks, such as free one and two-day shipping, as well as Amazon Prime Video.

Lenovo Student Discount: Academic Purchase

Similarly, Lenovo drops prices for university students as well as educators. The five percent discount can help you save on the ThinkPad, IdeaPad, Yoga, and more. Once you add a device to your cart and verify your student status with ID.me, you’ll receive the discount. Just keep in mind that you can’t combine this discount with any other featured coupons on the site.

Acer Student Discount: Acer Online Discount

Acer gives students a 10 percent discount plus free shipping. To get the discount code, Acer will redirect you to Student Beans, where you’ll verify that you’re a student. Unfortunately, there are some conditions to this discount—you can’t apply it to warranties, recovery hardware, Chromebooks, orders totaling over $5,000, or any pre-orders. The free shipping also isn’t available anywhere outside of the United States.

HP Student Discount: Unidays HP Student Store Discount

While you can no longer get a student discount directly from HP’s website, you can still use Unidays to get a deal on an HP device. Unidays is a great site for students looking to get exclusive discounts on a variety of popular brands, and HP is one of them. By signing up for Unidays and verifying your student status, you’ll instantly gain access to the latest HP deals. These deals tend to change over time, so you’ll want to keep an eye out.

Laptop Student Discounts: Third-Party Sites

On top of student-specific discount programs, tools like the Honey browser extension (which automatically seeks and applies coupon codes) can drop prices even further. Honey includes discounts that aren’t specific to students, so pretty much anyone can use it.

The CamelCamelCamel Amazon price tracker is free to use and helps find discounts on Amazon products. You can set up price-drop alerts, and there’s a nifty browser add-on. Website Dealnews is another awesome resource for students looking to save. Dealnews carefully and quickly curates the best deals from around the web in several categories, including laptops.

The Best Student Discounts on Laptops

Ultimately, getting the right student discount on laptops requires knowing what you need, where to look, and when to buy. Whether you prefer a Windows or Mac laptop, you’ve got plenty of choices from retailers like Amazon and Best Buy to specific manufacturers such as Lenovo, Apple, HP, and Acer.

Want to save even more? Check out the amazing discounts that you can get with your EDU email.

Read the full article: The Best Student Discounts on Laptops, Smartphones, Tablets, and More

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10 Great Audiobooks to Listen to During Your Free Audible Trial

If you’re thinking of getting into audiobooks, you probably already know that they’re not cheap. An Audible subscription costs $14.95/month, and you only get one free audiobook every 30 days.

Thankfully, if you’re still not sure if audiobooks are right for you, you can sign up for a 30-day Audible trial—and get a free audiobook (along with two Audible Originals) to try before you buy.

You can pick your two free audiobooks from Audible’s list of bestsellers or the New York Times bestsellers list. Or you can heed our recommendations of the best books to listen to on Audible, all of which are available to listen to for free during your trial.

1. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

Narrated by the late Carrie Fisher herself, The Princess Diarist is a fascinating and intimate look behind-the-scenes on the set of Star Wars. Even if you have a preference for reading the written word, hearing Fisher narrate her memoir adds an added level of intimacy and honesty to the book.

Based on the diaries she kept while filming A New Hope in 1977, it offers a raw look into what it’s like to be a woman in a boy’s club. Billie Lourd steps in as a narrator, reading the passages that are in the voice of a young Carrie Fisher.

2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Looking for classic books to listen on Audible? There are several versions of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre available on the platform. We’d recommend the one narrated by Thandie Newton. Her voice lends itself perfectly to this coming of age story. And she brings to life the voices of a young and older Jane.

Newton narrates Jane’s life from childhood as an orphan to the complexities of a relationship with her employer, Mr. Rochester. Jane Eyre is the ultimate story of pushing against the restrictive confines of what it meant to be a woman in 19th century England.

The story itself needs no introduction, but Newton’s performance brings each of the characters to life in a striking way. Each character’s tone and cadence are unique, and the narration is a pleasure to listen to.

3. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling needs no introduction. This is a companion book to the Harry Potter series—one that any true Potter fan will want to own. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is pegged as a textbook that Harry Potter himself read while at Hogwarts. Now all Potterheads can find out all there is to know about the magical creatures of Harry Potter’s world.

This book lends itself to the printed format with handwritten notes in the margins and illustrations. That said, if you want to take Fantastic Beasts along with you on your commute, this is a great place to start.

If you’re a Harry Potter fanatic, here are the best Harry Potter apps for Android and iOS.

4. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

For a bit of self-improvement magic, Marie Kondo’s bestselling The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is a great listen. It’s another of the best Audible books you can listen to. After about five hours, you will have all of Kondo’s advice on how to declutter your home for a more zen living environment.

Kondo’s advice (which isn’t for everyone) comes down to working through your house by type of possession rather than by room and finding the items you no longer need. Some people might find the method a little odd: hold the item to sense if it brings you joy. If it doesn’t, get rid of it; either giving it away or throwing it out.

The book is narrated by Emily Woo Zeller, whose body of work runs the gamut from Disney’s Inside Out to Mary Roach’s Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal.

5. It by Stephen King

Stephen King’s It is available on Audible in English and French. With two English copies to choose from, both narrated by Steven Weber, you should choose the Hodder and Stoughton version if you can, as reviews show complaints about the editing of the Simon and Schuster version.

King’s masterpiece is just as scary today as it was when it was originally released, as the eponymous monster takes on the form of a clown to terrorize the children of the novel. The book is definitely not for the faint of heart. Weber’s narration has earned itself high praise for perfect line delivery throughout.

Note: If you love horror, you should read our list of the best horror movies to watch on Netflix.

6. Anna Kareninax by Leo Tolstoy

For another classic, Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina also makes for a great listen. The recommended version, released in 2016, is narrated by actress Maggie Gyllenhaal as she brings over 800 pages to life in 35 hours.

With subtle changes in tone of voice, the actress is able to distinguish between the various characters, in a narration that does Tolstoy justice. If you found yourself unable to read the book, intimidated by its length, the audiobook may be the perfect alternative.

7. Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

If you’re going to listen to the stories of Sherlock Holmes written by Arthur Conan Doyle, there’s only one way you’re going to want to hear them: narrated by British author Stephen Fry. It’s one of the best Audible books available.

A childhood fan of Holmes himself, Fry not only brings the stories to life beautifully, but he has also recorded a series of exclusive personal introductions for each title in the collection.

Stories included in the collection are A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Valley of Fear, and His Last Bow.

8. Elon Musk: Tesla, Space X and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance

If you’re in the mood for something biographical, Ashlee Vance’s authorized biography gives a great deal of insight into the entrepreneur behind PayPal, who is now better known for his futuristic car company, Tesla.

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future is a biography, but Vance inserts himself in the story in a way that gives insight into Musk’s personality through their interactions.

The biography reveals a childhood where Musk was the target of bullying in his hometown of Pretoria, South Africa. It also gives insight into his education at the University of Pennsylvania (and the innovative ways he found to pay his tuition). It goes on to his journey founding PayPal (which he later sold for $1.5 billion). And, of course, the founding of Tesla.

9. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

The audiobook of Jodi Picoult’s popular novel Small Great Things is a great place to start if you’re not sure about audiobooks. The story is told from the perspective of three different characters, and the audiobook is narrated by three different actors.

Ruth is an African-American delivery nurse who finds herself told she can’t treat a baby born to a white supremacist family. When the baby goes into cardiac arrest, she treats it, going against the wishes of the family, but tragically, the baby dies.

Turk is the white supremacist father who accuses Ruth of murder and she is subsequently charged. And Kennedy is the white public defender who takes on Ruth’s case.

10. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

It’s hard to say which Neil Gaiman novel you should listen to as an audiobook. There are a lot to choose from on Audible and they’re all narrated by the author himself. One of the most recommended titles by Gaiman fans for newbies is his very first novel: Neverwhere.

Neverwhere is one of NPR’s Top 100 science-fiction and fantasy books of all time, and for good reason.

It tells the story of Richard Mayhew, who, after stopping on the streets of London to help a young woman who is bleeding, finds himself drawn into a fantastical world. His interaction with the woman leads to Richard becoming invisible, as he enters into a bizarre journey into the world of London Below to recover his life as he knew it.

What Are the Must-Read Books on Audible?

Do you agree with our list of books to listen to on Audible? If not, be sure to let us know which audiobooks you recommend in the comments below. You should also read our article detailing the best Audible insider tips to get more out of Audible.

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How to Check Which Movies Are Available to Stream

Streaming media is one of the coolest technological innovations of recent years. Allowing you to watch movies and television episodes from wherever you are over the internet.

However, with so many streaming services, it’s hard to find out where your favorite movies and TV shows are available to stream. Fortunately, you have various tools at your disposal.

Search These Sites to Find Where to Stream Movies

If you know what movie you want to watch, the fastest way to find out where you can stream it is to search on one of the sites below. Each of them scans dozens of streaming services and digital stores to let you know exactly where you can watch what you’re looking for.

JustWatch: Search Streaming Services Across the Globe

JustWatch is the most popular site to find out where movies and TV shows are streaming. It returns fast results with a crystal clear UI that tells you where you can stream a movie or, if not, how much it will cost to buy it from various stores.

With JustWatch, you can check for movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Now, YouTube, and many other streaming services with a single search. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a streaming service that doesn’t come up on JustWatch.

You can even tap or click the service you want to use from the search results and JustWatch automatically opens a new tab for that particular movie. Another great feature of this site is that it has many filters so you can sort through content by genre, price, release date, and more.

You can access JustWatch through the website or download the app for Android or iOS.

Download: JustWatch for Android | iOS (Free)

Reelgood: Find Movies to Stream From Multiple Services

Similar to JustWatch above, Reelgood scans the content from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and over 60 other streaming services so you can find whatever movie you want to watch. Simply type the movie you want in the search bar, then select it from the results page to see all the places it’s available to stream.

Unlike JustWatch, which lets you choose your part of the world, Reelgood only checks availability for streaming in the US.

You get plenty of information about a movie from the search results to help you decide if you want to watch it. This information includes a plot summary, IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes scores, age ratings, runtime, tags, and more.

Follow the Stream Movie, Rent, or Buy links to jump straight to that movie on a streaming service or digital store.

Outside of the website, you can download the free Reelgood app for iOS, but there’s no Android equivalent.

Download: Reelgood for iOS (Free)

If You Only Watch a Couple of Streaming Services

Both JustWatch and Reelgood search their entire library of streaming services when you’re trying to find out where to watch a movie or TV show. But that isn’t particularly useful to you if you only subscribe to a couple of services.

For instance, it’s no good finding out that The Godfather is available to stream on Hulu if you only subscribe to Netflix and Disney+.

Luckily, both services allow you to filter your results by the services you subscribe to. You can even create a free account to save your preferences, so you don’t need to add them again every time you perform a search.

From the JustWatch website, click the services you use from the top of the search results page. This filters your results to only the movies and TV shows available on those platforms.

Reelgood invites you to Add Your Services from the homepage. Follow that link and choose a selection of services to save to your account. When you are ready to search for a movie, Reelgood only shows the ones available to you.

Search on Apple TV, Fire Stick, and Other Hardware

There’s a good chance you’ve got some kind of streaming hardware connected to your TV. This might be an Apple TV, an Amazon Fire TV Stick, or a Roku device. You can use any of these devices to search across a range of streaming services when you’re trying to find a particular movie or TV show.

Even without a physical streaming device, you might find that the search feature on a Smart TV works in a similar fashion.

All you need to do on most of these devices is to use the search function built into the operating system. You can even speak to Siri or Alexa to perform a voice search for movies instead.

None of these devices are quite as comprehensive as JustWatch or Reelgood. They seem to favor the streaming services available to watch with that particular device. But it’s a very convenient place to start your search if the remote is already in your hand.

If You Have No Idea What You Want to Watch

The sheer number of choices on streaming services means some people spend more time deciding what to watch than actually enjoying movies and TV shows. If you can relate, the websites we showed you above might not actually help you speed up the decision-making on movie night.

Have no fear, there are plenty of other resources at your disposal. Take a look at these film recommendation sites for help deciding what kind of flick you’re in the mood for tonight.

Once you know that, jump back to JustWatch or Reelgood to find out where you can start streaming that movie.

How to Find Movies to Stream for Free

Using these websites and apps makes it easier than ever to find out where a specific movie is available for streaming. But just because you know where you can stream a movie, doesn’t mean you already subscribe to that service.

There are far too many services these days to subscribe to them all. But if you’re tired of everything on your current services, don’t jump the gun and pay for another just yet. There are lots of ways to stream movies online for free, and they’re all completely legal.

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How to Extract ISO Files With Linux

You’ve probably downloaded an image file before, and there’s a good chance it used the popular ISO file extension. These (usually quite large) files are essentially digital versions of optical media discs. All files contained on that disc are inside the ISO archive.

Like Apple macOS and newer versions of Microsoft Windows, Linux has built-in support for mounting image files. This means you don’t necessarily need third party software in order to access ISO archives and the files within.

There are in fact a couple of ways of going about this, so you can choose a method which suits you.

What Is an ISO File?

Image Credit: Dewang Gupta/Unsplash

The image file format has been a popular way of distributing software online since broadband speeds allowed us to do so. If you’ve already installed a Linux distribution, chances are you did so using an ISO file. If you haven’t installed a version of Linux, looking for an ISO file to download will likely be your first step.

The ISO file format is a digital archive of the contents of an optical media disc. You can make an ISO image from any optical media format, such as CD, DVD, and Blu-ray.

There is one notable exception. You cannot use the ISO file format to create an image of an audio CD as these do not use a computer file system. In these cases, consider the BIN/CUE image combinations instead.

ISO files use the ISO 9660 file system. It is also possible for these images to use the UDF (Universal Disc Format) file system in some cases. The data within the archive is uncompressed.

Why Create an ISO?

ISO images enable you to burn your own Linux installation disc to use on your own computer or give to someone else. With Linux being free and open source software, no one’s threatening to sue you for spreading the software around.

These days, many ISO images are too large for a CD. While you can opt for a DVD, oftentimes instructions recommend a USB flash drive instead. Plus there are plenty of uses for a live CD or USB stick aside from installing Linux.

ISO files are not used exclusively for Linux. The format is a good way to create exact backups of optical discs or to distribute other types of large programs.

Opening an ISO File

Quite frankly, this job may be a lot simpler than you think. Many distributions come with the ability to extract ISO images via the right-click menu. Find your ISO image in the file manager, right click, and look for the Extract Here option. You might just be pleasantly surprised!

If that isn’t the case, there are ISO-reading apps available either pre-installed or in your distro’s chosen app store.

Extracting an ISO Using GNOME Archive Manager

If you don’t want to extract all of the files at once, you don’t have to. Instead, open whichever program your Linux distro uses to manage compressed archives such as those in the ZIP and TAR formats. GNOME Archive Manager (also known as File Roller) is the default in many distros, including Ubuntu and Fedora, so we’ll use that as our example.

First, select Menu > Open and navigate to the ISO you wish to open (the button with three horizontal lines is the Menu button). The files and folders contained within should now appear, just like if you were opening a ZIP archive. You can now proceed to select which bits you wish to extract and where on your computer you want these files to go.

Don’t Use GNOME?

No problem. Opening ISO files is a standard part of many Linux archive managing apps. On KDE Plasma, for example, you can open ISO files using the Ark archiving tool instead. Engrampa is an archive manager built for the MATE desktop environment that can also open ISO files.

If you want an approach that works regardless of which distro or desktop environment you prefer and on machines without a graphical interface, then you may want to use the command line method instead.

Extracting an ISO Using the Command Line

First you will need to create a folder in which to mount the image. To do so, open your command line editor and enter:

sudo mkdir /mnt/iso

Enter you password when asked. Now we can mount the file by typing:

sudo mount -o loop <image>.iso /mnt/iso

Replace <image> with the location of your ISO file. For example:

sudo mount -o loop /home/user/Downloads/image1.iso /mnt/iso

Now you can navigate to the folder you created and access the files within the ISO. At this point, you’re welcome to close the terminal. You can use your file manager to browse the ISO and choose which files you want.

But if you want to extract the entire ISO via the command line, you can copy the contents of the folder by typing:

sudo cp -r /mnt/iso /home/user/Documents

This command would copy the whole lot to a separate “iso” folder in your Documents folder. The -r option instructs the operation to copy recursively, meaning you want to also copy the contents of the folder and not merely the folder itself.

Note: If the earlier command fails to mount your ISO, you might want to also try:

mount -o loop -t iso9660 <image>.iso /mnt/iso

Is Extracting an ISO File Really That Simple?

Yes, the process really is that straightforward. More often than not, there’s no need to download any additional software.

But if you do want a full-blown app dedicated to this one job, check out AcetoneISO. It’s a free and open source alternative to DAEMON Tools, an app for managing ISOs that’s available for Windows and macOS. It may feel familiar if you’re already accustomed to that way of getting the job done or want the additional set of features.

Or if you really want to get your hands dirty, you can try combining multiple ISO files together using a script.

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Should You Use AES or TKIP for a Faster Wi-Fi Network?

Poor router security puts your network at risk. While we know that running a tight ship starts with router security, what you may not know is some security settings may slow down your entire network.

The primary choices for router-based encryption are WPA2-AES and WPA2-TKIP. Let’s look at which security protocol is more secure, and which option allows a faster connection.

What Is WPA Wi-Fi Security?

WPA—or Wi-Fi Protected Access—was the Wi-Fi Alliance’s response to the security vulnerabilities that riddled the WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) protocol. It’s important to note that this was never intended to be a full-on solution, but rather an interim choice that allowed users to use their existing routers while upgrading from the terrible WEP protocol and its notable security flaws.

While better than WEP, WPA had some security concerns of its own. The attacks generally weren’t a breach of the TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) algorithm itself, which features 256-bit encryption. Instead, breaches came through a supplementary system bundled with the protocol called WPS, or Wi-Fi Protected Setup.

Wi-Fi Protected Setup was designed for easy device connectivity. But it released with enough security flaws that it fell out of favor and began to fade into oblivion, taking WPA with it.

Currently, both WPA and WEP are retired. So, we’re going instead to talk about the newer version of the protocol, WPA2, and the successor to that, WPA3.

Why Is WPA2 Better Than WPA?

In 2006, WPA became a deprecated protocol, and WPA2 replaced it.

The notable drop of TKIP encryption in favor of the newer and more secure AES encryption (Advanced Encryption Standard) led to faster and more secure Wi-Fi networks. AES encryption is much stronger in comparison to the stopgap alternative that was TKIP.

Put simply, WPA-TKIP was merely an interim choice while they worked out a better solution in the three years between the release of WPA-TKIP and WPA2-AES.

AES, you see, is a real encryption algorithm, and not the type used solely for Wi-Fi networks. It’s a serious worldwide standard that has been used by government and many others to protect data from prying eyes. That the same standard is used to protect your home network is a real bonus, but one that required an update in router hardware.

Is WPA3 Better Than WPA2?

WPA3 is the long-awaited update to the WPA Wi-Fi security protocol. The upgraded security protocol includes important features for modern Wi-Fi connectivity, including:

• Brute Force Protection. WPA3 will protect users, even with weaker passwords, from brute-force dictionary attacks (attacks that attempt to guess passwords over and over again).
• Public Network Privacy. WPA3 adds “individualized data encryption,” theoretically encrypting your connection to a wireless access point regardless of password.
• Securing the Internet of Things. WPA3 arrives at a time when Internet of Things device developers are under enormous pressure to improve baseline security.
• Stronger Encryption. WPA3 adds much stronger 192-bit encryption to the standard, drastically improving the level of security.

Support for WPA3 is still in the very early stages. Widespread WPA3 won’t occur for a little while. Still, you will find routers on the market advertising support for WPA3 when the security protocol rolls out to consumers properly.

AES vs. TKIP: What Is the Best Wi-Fi Security Mode?

Despite AES being the more secure encryption method for Wi-Fi security, many people still opt for TKIP. That’s because of the conception that a Wi-Fi connection is faster when it uses TKIP instead of AES, or that AES has other connectivity issues.

The reality is that WPA2-AES is the stronger and usually faster Wi-Fi connection. Here’s why.

Is AES or TKIP More Secure?

TKIP is essentially a patch for WEP that resolved the problem of attackers uncovering your key after observing a relatively small amount of router traffic. To address the problem, TKIP fixed this issue by issuing a new key every few minutes, which, in theory, wouldn’t give a hacker enough data to break the key or the RC4 stream cipher that the algorithm relies on.

While TKIP offered a significant security upgrade at the time, it has since become a deprecated technology that is no longer considered secure enough to protect your network from hackers. Its biggest (but not its only) vulnerability is known as the chop-chop attack, which is an attack that predates the release of the encryption method itself.

The chop-chop attack allows hackers who know how to intercept and analyze streamed data the network generates to decipher the key and thus display the data in plaintext as opposed to ciphertext.

If you’re unsure about the difference between plaintext and ciphertext, check out these basic encryption terms.

AES: Superior and Separate

AES is a totally separate encryption algorithm. It is far superior to any security offered by TKIP. The algorithm is a 128-bit, 192-bit, or 256-bit block cipher that doesn’t feature any of the same vulnerabilities that TKIP had.

To explain the algorithm in simple terms, it takes plaintext, and converts it to ciphertext. Ciphertext looks like a random string of characters to an observer that doesn’t have the encryption key.

The device or person on the other end of the transmission has a key, which unlocks (or decrypts) the data for easier viewing. In this case, the router has the first key and encrypts the data before broadcasting. The computer has the second key, which decrypts the transmission for viewing on your screen.

The encryption level (128, 192, or 256-bit) determines the amount of data “scrambling,” and thus, the potential number of combinations possible should you attempt to break it.

Even the smallest level of AES encryption, 128-bit, is theoretically unbreakable as current computing power would take over 100 billion billion years to find the correct solution to the encryption algorithm.

Is AES or TKIP Faster?

TKIP is a deprecated encryption method, and apart from security concerns, it’s known to slow down systems that still run it.

Most newer routers (anything 802.11n or newer) default to WPA2-AES encryption, but if you have an older device, or for some reason selected WPA-TKIP encryption, chances are, you’re losing a significant amount of speed.

Any 802.11n router or newer slows down to 54Mbps if you enable WPA or TKIP in the security options. This is to ensure that the security protocol works properly with older devices.

802.11ac with WPA2-AES encryption offers theoretical maximum speeds of 3.46Gbps under optimum (read: never going to happen) conditions. Theoretical maximums aside, WPA2 and AES are much faster alternatives to TKIP.

AES Is More Secure and Faster Than TKIP

AES and TKIP aren’t even worth the comparison—AES is, hands-down, the better technology in every sense of the word. Faster router speeds, insanely secure browsing and an algorithm that even major world governments rely on make it a must-use in terms of offered options on new or existing Wi-Fi networks.

If you want a faster internet connection, check out the top tips on speeding up your router.

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