08 April 2020

Lacking eyeballs, Facebook’s ad review system fails to spot coronavirus harm


Facebook’s ad review system is failing to prevent coronavirus misinformation from being targeted at its users, according to an investigation by Consumer Reports.

The not-for-profit consumer advocacy organization set out to test Facebook’s system by setting up a page for a made-up organization, called the Self Preservation Society, and creating ads that contained false or deliberately misleading information about the coronavirus — including messaging that claimed (incorrectly) that people under 30 are “safe”, or that coronavirus is a “HOAX”.

Another of the bogus ads urged people to “stay healthy with SMALL daily doses” of bleach, per the report.

The upshot of the experiment? Facebook’s system waived all the ads through, apparently failing to spot any problems or potential harms. “Facebook approved them all,” writes Consumer Reports. “The advertisements remained scheduled for publication for more than a week without being flagged by Facebook.”

Of course the organization pulled the ads before they were published, saying it made certain no Facebook users were exposed to the false or misleading claims. But the test appears to expose how few barriers there are within Facebook’s current ad review system for picking up and preventing harmful ads targeting the coronavirus pandemic.

The only ad in the experiment Facebook rejected was flagged because of its image, per Consumer Reports — which says it had used a stock shot of a respirator-style face mask. After swapping the image for a “similar alternative” it says Facebook approved that too.

Last month, as part of its own business response to the threat posed by COVID-19, Facebook announced it was sending home all global content reviewers “until further notice” — saying it would be relying on more automated review as a consequence of this decision.

“As we rely more on our automated systems, we may make mistakes,” it wrote then.

Consumer Reports’ investigation highlights how serious those mistakes can be, as a result of Facebook’s decision to lean so heavily on AI moderation — given the company is waiving through clearly harmful messages that urge users to ignore public health advice to stay home and socially distance themselves, or even drink a harmful substance to stay “safe”.

In response to the Consumer Reports investigation Facebook defended itself — saying it has removed “millions” of listings for policy violations related to the coronavirus. Though it also conceded its enforcement around COVID-19 misinformation is far from perfect.

“While we’ve removed millions of ads and commerce listings for violating our policies related to COVID-19, we’re always working to improve our enforcement systems to prevent harmful misinformation related to this emergency from spreading on our services,” a Facebook spokesperson, Devon Kearns, told Consumer Reports.

A Facebook spokeswoman declined to specify how many humans it has working on ad review during the coronavirus crisis when we asked. Though the company told Consumer Reports it has a “few thousand” reviewers now able to work from home.

Back in 2018 Facebook reported having some 15,000 people employed doing content review.

It’s never been clear what proportion of those are focused on (user) content review vs ad review. But a “few thousand” vs 15k suggests there has likely been a very considerable drop in the number of eyeballs checking ads. (Pre-COVID, Facebook also liked to refer to having a safety and security team of over 35,000 people globally — with the 15k reviewers sitting within that.)

Facebook’s content review team has clearly shrunk considerably as a result of coronavirus-related disruption to its business. Though the company is refusing to come clean on exactly how many (few) people it has doing content review right now.

It’s also clear that the risk of harm from tools like Facebook’s ad platform — that can be used to easily and cheaply amplify damaging online disinformation — could hardly be higher than during a pandemic, when there is a pressing need for governments and health authorities to be able to communicate facts, official guidance and best practice to their populations to keep them safe.

Facebook’s platform becoming a conduit for false and/or maliciously misleading messaging risks undermining public health at a critical time.

Last month the company was also revealed to have blocked links to legitimate news and other websites that were sharing coronavirus-related content — following its switch to AI-led moderation.

While, in recent weeks, the company has faced criticism for failing to live up to a pledge to take down ads for coronavirus masks.

At the same time, Facebook’s platform remains a hotbed of user generated coronavirus-related misinformation — with individuals widely reported sharing posts that claim bogus home remedies such as gargling with salt water to kill the virus (it doesn’t) or playing down the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic by claiming it’s ‘just the flu’ (it’s not).


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Google makes Stadia Pro free for two months


Google’s game-streaming service Stadia will be free to access for the next two months, the company announced today. Assuming you’ve got a compatible device and controller — and good internet in one of the 14 supported countries — you can sign up right now and get the “Pro” edition with a handful of built-in games for no cost.

Until today, Stadia was only available via a $129 “Premiere Edition.” In a blog post, the company explained that the intense pressures of the pandemic led them to open up the service.

“We’re facing some of the most challenging times in recent memory. Video games can be a valuable way to socialize with friends and family when you’re stuck at home, so we’re giving gamers in 14 countries free access to Stadia for two months,” writes Stadia VP and GM Phil Harrison.

Not mentioned is the fact that a free version of Stadia has been promised for some months and has failed to appear. It seems that this two month Pro membership is being offered in lieu of a permanent free option for now, and I’ve asked Google for more information on this.

Existing subscribers, who have been vocally critical of the barebones offering they paid a premium to access, will not be charged for the next two months. Also, in order to cope with what will no doubt be a flood of demand, Stadia will be defaulting everyone’s streams to 1080p, though you’ll be able to change that in your preferences. That’s interesting considering YouTube just downgraded its quality worldwide to lower overall bandwidth usage.

YouTube defaults to SD quality worldwide to tame bandwidth surge

For now, though, it won’t do to look a gift horse in the mouth. Stadia is a solid way to play games on a PC, or TV that would normally not be able to do so — an underpowered laptop, for instance. Streaming to your phone or tablet is also an option.

On supported iOS and Android devices, you’ll need to download the app; on computers, you’ll need Chrome; and for a TV you need a Chromecast Ultra — the regular one won’t cut it.

You have to provide your own controller; a list of compatible ones is available here, and while Google’s own Stadia controller is the only one that works with Chromecast, the controllers for the other major consoles generally work for Chrome and Android phones.

As for games, well, that’s a bit confusing. You’ll be getting access to the Stadia Pro tier of membership, which gets a free game every month to keep, like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus. Right now, though, that only amounts to 9 games, though some are pretty great — Destiny 2, SteamWorld Dig 2, Metro Exodus, GRID, and a few more.

If you want to play something like Borderlands 3 or Rise of the Tomb Raider, you’ll have to buy the games on the Stadia marketplace. But the games are then only available to stream through Stadia, and if you ever left the service you would lose access to them.

The fact is Stadia hasn’t yet proven itself to be worth the money for everyone, but a free trial will help potential subscribers decide if the service is for them. You can sign up for your free trial via the main Stadia site here.


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Twine aims to end social isolation with its video chat app for deep conversations


A new startup called twine wants to help people feel less isolated and alone. Though the project has been in the works for around six months, it’s launching at a time when people are struggling with being cut off from family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and others due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting government lockdowns and self-quarantines. Described simply as a “Zoom for meeting new people,” twine is a group video chat experience where people are encouraged to have meaningful discussions that spark new friendships.

In twine, users are matched with four other partners who they’ll then have 1-to-1 conversations with for 8 minutes apiece. The full gathering lasts for a total of 40 minutes, including the virtual guide portion where the ground rules are set.

Participants choose from a library of over 250 “deep” questions, then get matched with partners who want to explore the same topics. They then RSVP for twine’s digital gatherings in their time zone and check in when it’s time to start.

The overall experience is meant to help people find connections by skipping the small talk and going straight to what matters. But the focus is on friendships, not dating. Afterward, users are encouraged to set reminders to get back in touch and meet again in future gatherings.

There’s a hint of Chatroulette to this idea, given that users could be matched to people who are only there to disrupt the experience, in theory at least. But the company aims to reduce the potential for this sort of shock trolling by permanently banning members who are flagged for making others uncomfortable in any sort of way. We also noticed the app asks for your email, phone and zip code during its onboarding process, so it’s not entirely an anonymous experience.

In addition, twine requires users rate each conversation when it ends and members have to pre-approved before joining a chat. The company says it’s looking to move towards “real ID only” in the future to further reduce the potential for trolling.

That said, there’s still a bit of a risk in chatting openly with strangers about highly personal topics. Twine’s guidelines say that conversations are not to be discussed with others, but this is not a doctor-patient relationship with legal protections for confidentiality. It’s just a group chat app with people who may or may not be there to follow the rules.

That said, the internet is currently experiencing a rebirth of sorts, due to COVID-19. People are coming online to look for connections. Social media is actually becoming social. This is an ideal environment to test something as optimistic as twine, which at its core believes people are largely good and will use the technology appropriately.

The idea for twine comes from serial entrepreneurs Lawrence Coburn and Diane Rau. Coburn previously spent the last nine years as founder and CEO of mobile events technology provider DoubleDutch, which was acquired by Cvent in 2019. Rau, meanwhile, was co-founder at CEO of Veterati, a digital mentoring platform for Veterans that had also leveraged 1-to-1 conversations as part of its community-building experience.

The founders already knew each other from the Georgetown entrepreneurship ecosystem. And Coburn was an advisor to Veterati, and Rau had worked at DoubeDutch, as well.

Coburn describes his vision for twine as something in between a new social network and a substitute for those who are spiritual, but not religious, in terms helping people who want to “be better humans.” Rau says she wanted to work on twine to help end loneliness by giving people a place to explore humanity on a one-on-one basis.

The app was originally intended to connect people who would meet up in real-life gatherings, but the coronavirus outbreak shifted those plans and accelerated launch plans.

“Launching a new company during the best of times is really, really hard. During a global pandemic? Yikes!,” wrote Coburn, in a blog post about the launch. “But as the new reality settles in, it has become clear to me that the world needs twine or something like it more than ever. The macro forces that inspired Diana and I to start twine – loneliness, polarization, isolation – will only be exacerbated by social distancing. A societal loneliness that was already classified as an epidemic pre coronavirus, is about to get way, way worse,” he added.

The startup is backed by $1.4 million in seed funding, closed on March 12, led by DoubleDutch investor, Hinge Capital. Other investors from DoubleDutch have also returned to fund twine, including FJ Labs, Brand Foundry, and Bragiel Brothers. Angels in the round include April Underwood (Slack), Jay Hoffmann (Rocketmiles), Scott Heiferman (Meetup), and Vishal Kapur (Screenhero).

In the future, twine aims to be subscription-based and launch real-life gatherings, as originally planned, when it’s safe to do so.

The app is currently in private beta on iOS and web. Currently, it has a waitlist of around 1,000 users mainly from New York City and San Francisco, but twine will be available worldwide.


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How health workers are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic | Esther Choo

How health workers are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic | Esther Choo

The coronavirus pandemic is unlike anything we've ever seen in health care, says emergency physician Esther Choo. Sharing insights into how health workers are responding to the outbreak, she explains what makes this public health emergency different from others -- and provides a few simple things you can do to help. Watch to the end to hear about Choo's work deploying mobile ICUs across the United States as hospitals start to reach capacity. (This virtual conversation is part of the TED Connects series, hosted by current affairs curator Whitney Pennington Rodgers and head of curation Helen Walters. Recorded April 7, 2020)

Click the above link to download the TED talk.
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Do More With Your iPhone: 70+ Tips and Tricks You Should Know


delete-multiple-contacts-iphone

Whether you’re a new convert or a veteran user, whether you have the latest iPhone or one that’s much older, you’ll want to check out our tips and tricks for iPhone users!

iPhones are super straightforward to use. That is, after all, one of the main selling points of an iPhone over Android alternatives—at least that’s what iPhone fans like to say.

But we bet there’s a lot more your iPhone could be doing that you may not be aware of. And when you run into iPhone issues, troubleshooting a problem isn’t always as clear-cut as using the device itself. Well, we can help!

Before we dive in: don’t have an iPhone but looking to get one? Read these first:

Understanding Your iPhone

useful-iphone-control-center-widgets

Confused about a certain iPhone feature? You aren’t alone! Here are our explanations of the various iPhone features and how you can make the best use of them:

Basic iPhone Tips and Tricks

Apple EarPods plugged into Lightning port on iPhone

If you want to do more than just check emails, take photos, and send messages, you may want to check out these foundational tips and tricks for iPhone users:

For settings and maintenance tweaks:

For learning how to do useful things:

Advanced iPhone Tips and Tricks

transfer-contacts-iphone

Want to distinguish yourself from other iPhone users? Learn how to take the best care of your device and do all kinds of cool stuff that many people aren’t even aware are possible:

More useful maintenance tips you should know:

More cool stuff you can do with an iPhone:

Useful Apps for iPhone Users

screen-sharing-android-iphone

We’ve scoured the iOS App Store and found all the coolest and most useful apps—because who has the time to do that? Here are our favorites and recommendations for whatever you want to do:

Practical Apps

Entertainment Apps

Troubleshooting iPhone Issues

sync-iphone-contacts

Is your iPhone acting up? Something broke and you don’t know why? Or how to fix it? Here are our most useful articles on how to resolve errors and issues on a faulty iPhone:

Check here first, in case your issue is a common one:

If the problem is with the actual iPhone device:

If the problem is related to operating the iPhone:

Read the full article: Do More With Your iPhone: 70+ Tips and Tricks You Should Know


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The 12 Best Calming Apps to Relax, Destress, and Clear Your Mind


At some point in all of our lives, it can feel like the world is going a million miles a minute and you’re left in the dust. Whether work is dragging you down and causing fatigue or something else in your personal life is bringing stress, you’re not alone.

And the good news is that there are a number of calming apps—on both iOS and Android—that can help you de-stress and clear your mind.

We’re highlighting some of the best relaxation and calming apps to sooth you. They run the gamut of different options, from mind mapping to guided meditation and more.

1. MindMeister

At any one time, there are probably a host of different thoughts swirling around in your mind. Mind mapping can help you by allowing you to brainstorm your thoughts without a particular order or structure in a visual form.

A great mind mapping app option to try is MindMeister. Along with an online interface, the mind mapping service is also available on mobile devices.

Using the app, you can quickly and easily organize, prioritize, and generate new thoughts. There are a number of tools to create a map including different themes, styles, colors, and icons. It’s also possible to collaborate with others to create a mind map in real-time.

With a subscription, you can also export maps in PDF and PNG format, create and edit unlimited maps, and add files and images to topics.

Download: MindMeister for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)

2. Dark Noise

Ambient noise is a perfect way to help you get to sleep or focus on the daily task at hand. Dark Noise is an easy-to-use and powerful way to use sound.

There are more than 30 different noises to select from—everything from simple white noise to more unique sounds like a spaceship engine or a cat purring. Once you select a noise, it’s easy to set a timer to end the sound after a specific duration or time.

And there’s no need to open the app to start a specific noise. You can start one using a Siri Shortcut or pick a selection from a Today Extension widget.

Download: Dark Noise for iOS ($3.99)

3. Calm

Although ambient noise helps some people relax, it can annoy others. If you’re looking for something different, try the relaxation app Calm.

While it’s a great meditation app for beginners, there are also a number of options for more advanced users. The guided meditations sessions are available in different lengths from three to 25 minutes. Some of the different topics include managing stress, happiness, gratitude, self-esteem, forgiveness, and many others.

You can also select from an open-ended and unguided, timed meditation. Breathing exercises will also help you relax. Every day, a new 10-minute program is designed to help ease you into the day or unwind.

Download: Calm for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)

4. Headspace

Headspace is one of the most popular tools for both guided meditations and mindfulness techniques.

You can try the free Basics course that teaches the fundamentals. And if you want to learn more, a subscription is available to unlock all of the app’s content, including the full meditation library. There are a wide variety of different topics to explore like sleep, focus, and exercise.

For a quick break, the app also offers two to three-minute meditation sessions. There are specific sessions for moments of panic, anxiety, and stress. You can even add friends to help motivate and meditate with as well.

Special animations teach new skills and help answer questions about mindfulness.

Download: Headspace for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)

5. Insight Timer

Insight Timer features more than 30,000 meditations and music tracks you can access for free. Some of the most popular topics you can find include dealing with anxiety and stress, leadership, better relationships, and sleeping deeply. As a nice touch, you can select a meditation by time when on the go to better integrate the app with your daily routine. The app’s namesake meditation timer offers a number of different sound options.

To better understand the app, there are many different community features and discussion groups with other users from around the world. You can also view stats and milestones to get a better sense of accomplishment.

A Member Plus subscription brings several of additional options. Along with unlocking all the courses, you can also use it to download the entire library of meditations to listen to offline. Have a look at the Daily Insight mindfulness practice, too.

Download: Insight Timer for iOS | Android (Free, in-app purchases available)

6. Day One

A daily journal is a great way to organize your thoughts and keep a clear mind. Day One offers a beautiful interface and other features to help make daily journaling a habit you’ll want to keep.

The interface is free of distractions, which helps you focus on specific thoughts. Journal entries support the powerful Markdown language. Entries are easy to organize and you can browse through them by calendar, timeline, maps, or photos.

Metadata from your iPhone can also bring more to each entry with other information like temperature, weather, and music playing on a certain day. Your thoughts are kept safe with passcode and Face/Touch ID support.

With an available subscription, you can take advantage of unlimited journals and photo storage. Your information also syncs with other versions of the app.

Download: Day One Journal for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)

7. Simple Habit

Simple Habit wants to show that you’re never too busy to start meditation. The app is known for its huge number of five-minute meditations tackling subjects like stress relief and managing depression. There are also longer sessions when you have more time.

The great on-the-go feature allows you to select from different scenarios, like a tough day, and pick how much free time you have. It will then provide a session to help.

A premium subscription allows you to download sessions for listening offline, plus unlimited access to exclusive series.

Download: Simple Habit for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)

8. Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock

Sleepcycle

Having a calm and relaxing day often starts the night before, when you go to bed. Getting a good night’s sleep has a wide variety of benefits for your health. But for many of us, that’s easier said than done. When it’s difficult to fall asleep, we wake up too sluggish to tackle the day ahead.

Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock brings a number of features to help you track your sleep and wake up at the most opportune time in the morning. At night, the app uses special sound technology to track your different sleep phases. If it detects snoring during the night, Apple Watch wearers will feel a slight vibration that could help you change sleep positions and stop snoring.

Before going to bed, you can set a custom 30-minute period in the morning that ends at a set alarm time. The app will then wake you up in a light sleep phase during that time period.

The available subscription offers more features like long-term sleep trends, Philips Hue smart light support, and how the weather affects your sleep.

Download: Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)

9. Colorfy

Coloring books are no longer just for children. The activity of coloring has been shown to relax and calm even adults. And there are a number of different digital coloring apps for smartphones and the larger screens of tablets.

One of the best is Colorfy. The app features more than 1,000 different pictures to color, which includes animals, cats, gardens, famous paintings, and more. Users can even add their own drawings to paint. Coloring is easy: just select a color palette and then tap to color. The app provides several brush types for different effects.

It’s available to use without an internet connection and allows you to share your drawings on social networks. And a unique augmented reality virtual gallery lets you visualize your creations in the real world.

Download: Colorfy for iOS | Android (Free, in-app purchases available)

10. UCLA Mindful

A simple and completely free choice, UCLA Mindful is a great way to step into the world of mindfulness meditation.

You can take advantage of basic meditations in both English and Spanish. There are also wellness meditations for people suffering from health conditions. To help beginners, there are plenty of videos that touch on how to begin, meditation postures, and the science of how meditation can help your overall physical health.

The app also includes a weekly searchable podcast exploring different themes. A timer feature lets you meditate at any time.

Download: UCLA Mindful for iOS | Android (Free)

11. Smiling Mind

One of the most interesting free relaxation apps available is Smiling Mind. The completely free app is made to assist children as well as adults.

There are specific programs for children of different ages and adults that focus on dealing with the pressure, stress, and tough challenges of everyday life. Sessions also cover mindfulness in the classroom and the workplace.

There are a wide variety of meditation lengths to select from, and you can even check in with yourself at the beginning and end of a session to quantify your stress level.

Download: Smiling Mind for iOS | Android (Free)

12. Alto’s Odyssey

You don’t need to find relaxation apps to help you get rid of stress and anxiety. Games that can de-stress you are all the rage on mobile platforms, and you can choose from a myriad of different titles to help calm you.

While the puzzle genre is known for relaxing titles, Alto’s Odyssey offers a different type of de-stressing game.

As the follow-up to the hugely popular iOS game Alto’s Adventure, the new title sees the titular Alto—along with his friends—set off an endless sandboarding adventure. Thanks to a simple one-touch control system, almost anyone can learn the basics and set off in no time. You can search for an enormous amount of secrets and learn all sorts of tricks along the way.

Along with the beautiful scenery, the original musical score for the game is easily worth the price of admission. Put on your headphones and melt away into the beautiful environment. The special Zen mode features its own unique soundtrack and allows you to enjoy the game without a score, coins, or power-ups.

Download: Alto’s Odyssey for iOS ($4.99) | Android (Free, in-app purchases available)

The Best Mobile Apps for Rest and Relaxation

While life can sometimes overwhelm you, there’s no reason to get down. Hopefully, using some of these great relaxation apps, you can better take on the daily grind and stay calm and relaxed.

For an alternative method to lower your stress levels, try playing binaural beats with an app. You might also want to take a look at positivity apps for managing mental health.

Read the full article: The 12 Best Calming Apps to Relax, Destress, and Clear Your Mind


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How to Use GarageBand and Free Music Loops to Create Your Own Tracks


record-track-garageband

You don’t need a whole lot of instrumental talent to make music with GarageBand. Especially with the wealth of free music loops available in the app and online. It’s easy to whip up a track in a few minutes or spend hours losing yourself creating a new song.

And since there are so many free music loops available, you don’t need to spend a cent. Here’s how to get started making music with GarageBand using loops and samples…

Get Some Loops

GarageBand comes packed with thousands of free music loops. Just open the loop library by clicking on the Loop button in the top-right corner or pressing O on your keyboard.

Loops button in GarageBand

You’ll find loops for all sorts of instruments: drum kits, synthesizers, guitars, vocals, and more. Use the Instrument, Genre, and Descriptors buttons at the top of the library to filter the collection and find the loops you’re looking for.

If the title of a loop is grayed out, click the download arrow to the right to download it. In addition to the one you clicked on, GarageBand may download other loops from the same set as well.

download apple loops garageband

To preview a loop, just click it. Click it again to pause the playback.

Check the box to the right of each loop to mark it as a favorite. You can then click the Heart icon in the top-right of the loops library to view all your favorite loops together.

Download Loops From Elsewhere

If you can’t find what you want in GarageBand’s loops library—or if you want to try something different—there are tons of places you can download free music loops online. Our other article lists where to find royalty-free music, so start there and see how you get on.

After that, use a search engine to look online for “free [instrument or genre] GarageBand loops”. A lot of the results you get from these searches aren’t actually free, but if you dig around a little, you should find the ones that are.

Macloops gives you a handful of free downloads, so that’s a good place to check. Looperman is another solid option as well.

If you download loops or samples from elsewhere, just drag and drop them into GarageBand to import them into your project.

Start Making Music

By now, you’ve spent a little bit of time exploring the free music loops available in GarageBand or online. So it’s time to create your GarageBand project.

Open GarageBand and choose to create an Empty Project. When GarageBand asks you to choose a track type, create a Software Instrument track. It doesn’t matter what instrument the is, since you’ll drag each loop into its own new track anyway.

add drummer garageband

Now it’s time to start making music. You can follow the steps below in any order you like.

Start With an Interesting Loop

It’s often easiest to start making music around a particularly interesting loop. This loop serves as the basis of your track, inspiring all the other instruments around it.

Spend some time looking through the loop library to find something that catches your attention. You might find a cool riff, a chilled chord progression, or a heavy-hitting drum beat.

Learning how to loop music in GarageBand couldn’t be simpler. When you find a loop you like, simply drag it into the main editor. Then click and drag from the top-right edge to repeat it.

garageband extend loop

Now you can start adding other elements to the track.

Add a Drummer

GarageBand includes a number of drum loops, but you can get a little more versatility out of your drums if you use the Drummer feature.

Go to Tracks > New Track and select Drummer from the track options.

A Drummer panel appears on the left side of the window. From here, you can select from a range of GarageBand drummers, each with their own style and musical flavor. You may have to try a few different drummers to hear the differences.

max drummer garageband

Once you’ve chosen a drummer, play around with the settings in the bottom panel.

Going through each of the options here would take an entirely separate article, but you can start by messing around with the settings. Choose different Beat Presets from the menu on the left, then drag the dot between Simple and Complex or Loud and Soft areas to adjust the beat style.

You can also select different parts of the kit to include in the beat. Then use the associated sliders to alter how much the drummer uses them.

Add Other Instruments

It’s time to add more instruments to spice things up. This is where GarageBand’s massive library of free music loops really comes in handy. For your first few tracks, you may just want to experiment with guitar and bass. But with thousands of options, you can spend hours trying new things out.

The best advice here is to play around with as many different options as possible to find what fits your style. Try adding both low- and high-pitched loops to give your track depth. Mix instruments from different genres or descriptors (using the loop library to search by both). And try different combinations of instruments to fill out the sound.

You could even learn the basics of music theory to bring your loops to the next level.

Play around with the volume and pan of each track as you add new loops to your song to keep them balanced. You can do this using the volume sliders and pan knobs to the left of the main window.

garageband loop volume

Give It Some Structure

It’s important that you add variety and structure to your songs, so that they don’t sound too monotonous. There are lots of ways to do this. For a start, make your loops drop in and out at different points or have them gradually build up one at a time.

Change over to related loops for the chorus or bridge sections and try to include different combinations of instruments playing at the same time. You can even cut loops down by clicking and dragging from the bottom-right to make them drop out in the middle of a bar.

cut down loop garageband

Give the Drums Some Variety

It’s easy to add variety to the drums if you use loops created by the GarageBand Drummer. Just click the + icon at the end of each drum loop to create a new Drummer region, then make changes to the Drummer settings for that new region.

add drummer region garageband

Experiment with different drum kits, vary the speed, or choose a different complexity and volume for the style. You can even drop the drums out altogether, or only include the kick drum and hi-hat for a bit.

Apple’s drummers don’t just do beats, either. They also throw in fills for added variety. You can tell them how often to add fills by turning the Fill knob: turn it up for more fills, or turn it down for fewer fills.

fill knob garageband

Add an Accent Loop

Once you have a decent sounding track on your hands, it’s time to add some extra spice. Find a particularly flavorful loop and add short sections of it throughout your track.

It might be a good idea to use it before going into each chorus or to have it play once every few bars throughout the song. Anything to make your music a little less predictable.

accent loop garageband

As with any kind of art, this is a stylistic choice. You might prefer the ambiance and trance-like sound of simple repetition without these accents. And that’s fine.

Play Around and Make Music With Loops

Making music is all about experimentation. And with thousands of loops available for free directly in GarageBand (plus any of the others you can find online), you’ve got enough material to experiment with for a very long time. Start developing a style, build up a few tracks, and then share your music with the world!

GarageBand lets you export directly to the Music app or to SoundCloud from the Share menu. You can use the same menu to export your song to your hard drive. Upload it to YouTube, play it on your website, or find another way to get it out there.

You don’t even need to use a computer to keep making music with loops. There are plenty of great iPhone apps for making music that you can use to create new songs even when you’re on the go.

Read the full article: How to Use GarageBand and Free Music Loops to Create Your Own Tracks


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PINE64 Launches the Linux-based PinePhone UBports Community Edition


For the most part, if you’re looking for a smartphone, you have two choices; Android or iOS. The iPhone is a single device tightly controlled by Apple. Google’s Android platform offers greater selection and a wider range of prices.

However, PINE64, a manufacturer of Linux-based hardware, produce the PinePhone. The device is already available in a range of mobile Linux editions. Now, there’s a new addition to the lineup; the PinePhone UBports Community Edition.

What Is the PinePhone UBports Community Edition?

PINE64 PinePhone UBports Community Edition smartphone

The physical device looks similar to a mid-range Android device. The body of the phone is black plastic, with only the UBports logo on the rear. This is where you’ll also find the 5MP primary camera. There’s a 2MP front-facing lens, as well.

A small bezel surrounds the 5.95-inch HD display, and the phone weighs 185g. The phone is powered by the ARM Cortex A-53 CPU and supported with 2GB of SDRAM.

While there’s only 16GB of onboard storage, it can be expanded via microSD up to an astounding 2TB. The 3,000mAh battery is removable, too.

The PinePhone UBports Community Edition charges via USB-C, includes a GPS sensor, and comes equipped with Bluetooth 4.0 support.

The hardware may be entry-level, but the exciting thing about this phone—aside from the $150 price tag—is the software.

What Is UBports?

In the years since the launch of the original iPhone, there have been many attempts to develop an alternative smartphone operating system. So far, the only viable option has been Google’s Android.

However, neither platform fully caters to the passionate contingent of Linux supporters. Apple’s closed-source environment sits in direct opposition to Linux’s foundations. Android’s dependence on Google services is also a source of contention.

UBports is a community of developers contributing to the Ubuntu Touch software, a mobile-friendly port of Ubuntu. The platform inevitably suffers some of the same pitfalls as other alternatives, like the lack of a fully-stocked app store. However, it’s integration with the main Linux distro is a crucial feature.

For instance, UBports is working on Convergence—the ability to plug your phone into any monitor and expand into desktop mode. To satisfy the Linux faithful, you’ll find a full Ubuntu Terminal available on the phone, along with a host of other open-source apps preinstalled.

Of course, one of the main draws here is that the UBports Ubuntu Touch is genuinely open-source, rather than the restrictive semi open-source nature of Android. There’s also OpenStore, an app store for third-party developers.

Where Can You Buy the PinePhone UBports Community Edition?

The PinePhone UBports Community Edition is available to pre-order on the Pine64 Store for $150 and is expected to ship in late May 2020.

If you want to experiment with a Linux-based smartphone, but don’t want to buy a new device, there are options. When you feel ready to make the switch from Android, check out these Linux smartphone operating systems for inspiration.

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How Does a Drive-By NFC Hack Work?


nfc-android

Maybe you’ve noticed a feature on your phone called NFC, and wondered what it is. Or maybe you’re using NFC for contactless payments from your Android or other device, and you’re concerned about how secure it is.

NFC is a common feature on phones, but something that many people aren’t aware of is that there are security risks associated with using it. Here we’ll explain more about NFC and how NFC hacking works.

What Is NFC (And Why Is It on My Phone)?

NFC Hack - what is NFC

NFC stands for near-field communication. It is a way for devices to communicate with each other when they are physically nearby. The most common place you’ll find NFC is on your smartphone. If your phone is NFC-enabled, as most are these days, you can use NFC for tasks like quickly pairing headphones with your phone, or bumping your phone against someone else’s to transfer contact data.

NFC typically works over a distance of a few centimeters. So to use it, you need to bring the two devices which are communicating very close together. Today, it’s also used for phone-based payments systems. When you tap your phone onto a reader to pay for your coffee order, that’s using NFC.

What’s the Difference Between NFC and RFID?

A similar technology to NFC that you might have heard of is RFID. You’ll find RFID chips in contactless cards, such as pre-paid cards you use to travel on some public transportation systems. And you might see items like wallets or card holders advertised as “RFID blocking.”

So what is RFID, and what does it have to do with NFC?

RFID stands for radio frequency identification. It is a term for a system of a small radio transponder and a receiver and transmitter. You’ll also see these referred to as tags, readers, and antennas. The technology is used in everything from clothing tags in retail shops to access control such as identification cards used by employers. It can also be used for things like “chipping” pets or monitoring cars going in and out of parking garages.

RFID is not necessarily a secure technology, as it does not use encryption. There exist tools called RFID skimmers which allow hackers to read RFID data from nearby objects like cards. Hackers could use this technology to steal information from RFID items.

That’s why NFC exists. NFC is a sub-type of RFID, which is somewhat more secure. It uses encryption to keep data safe. Applications used for payment from your phone, such as Apple Pay, use NFC.

NFC Isn’t Perfectly Secure

NFC Hack - NFC security

So does that mean you don’t have to worry about your NFC devices being hacked?

Unfortunately not. NFC is more secure than other types of RFID, but it’s not perfect. It was designed to be a connection of convenience, not security. NFC requires you to bump, tap, or swipe an NFC-capable device like your phone against an NFC-capable reader like another phone. As long as both devices are NFC-capable and that they are within the NFC wireless range, the connection is valid.

As far as the NFC protocol is concerned, the close distance is all that’s necessary for a valid transfer.

Can you see the weakness? No password or credential requirements! NFC connections are established automatically and do not require any form of login or password entry in the way that Wi-Fi does. This has the potential for some real problems since anyone can establish an NFC connection with your device as long as they get close enough.

Imagine if you bumped up against a virus-infected NFC device? It would only take one bump for you to catch it.

NFC can be made secure at the application layer by implementing secure channels or by requiring credentials, but NFC as a protocol itself is not secure at all. And despite the close-proximity requirements for an NFC connection to trigger, unwanted bumps do occur. Sometimes, even a well-intentioned bump (such as when paying with Google Wallet) can result in a disaster.

Basics of An NFC Hack

NFC Hack - how NFC hacking works

What is an NFC hack, anyway? Why is this particular form of wireless connection so vulnerable?

It has to do with the way that NFC is implemented on particular devices. Because NFC is a connection based on convenience, and because there aren’t many security checks in place, a bump could end up uploading a virus or malware or some other malicious file to the bumped device. And if the NFC implementation is insecure, that file could be automatically opened by the device.

Imagine if your computer automatically opened any file that it downloaded off the Internet. All it would take is one mistaken click on a bad link for your computer to auto-install malware. The concept is similar for NFC.

With these malicious apps running in the background, your phone could be secretly forwarding bank PINs and credit card numbers to an unauthorized person somewhere across the world. A virus might open up other vulnerabilities, allowing the malicious user full privileges to your device to read your email, texts, photos, and third-party app data.

The crux of the issue is that NFC transfers can be executed without the user even knowing a transfer is in progress. If someone could figure out a way to hide NFC tags in inconspicuous places where phones are likely to bump up against, they could upload malicious data onto NFC-enabled devices without people even realizing it. Hacker group, Wall of Sheep, proved this with NFC-tagged posters and buttons.

How to Protect Yourself Against NFC Hacks

NFC Hack - protect yoruself

The most effective way to secure against NFC vulnerabilities is simply not to use NFC at all. However, if you want to use functions like contactless payments, then there are steps you can take to make it more secure.

Compartmentalize your sensitive accounts. If you use your NFC device for, say, quickly making payments through Google Wallet, then one way to stay safe is to have a separate account just for NFC. That way, if your phone is ever compromised and your Google Wallet information is stolen, it will be the dummy account that’s stolen rather than your main account.

Turn off NFC when you aren’t using it. This prevents accidental bumps from delivering unwanted programs and malware to your device. You may not think your phone gets within bump-range of many devices throughout the day. But you’d be surprised, especially if you find yourself in crowds a lot.

Routinely check your device for malware, especially after you’ve used NFC. It may or may not be possible to fully prevent NFC hacks. But if you catch them before they do much damage, that will be better than not catching them at all. If you find anything suspicious, change your important passwords and security credentials right away.

Be Aware of Security Risks From Using NFC

NFC is a useful technology for certain functions. But it’s not without its security risks. Because it lacks password protection, it’s possible for hackers to access NFC data. They can even do this without you being aware of it.

It might seem like newly adopted technologies like NFC on phones only makes them more vulnerable. However, on balance, phones now are more secure than ever before. To learn more, see our list of reasons that smartphones are more secure than dumb phones.

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How to Fix a Slow or Unstable Wi-Fi Connection


wifi-fix-issues

Unstable Wi-Fi is often caused by wireless congestion. Congestion problems are common in apartment complexes or densely packed neighborhoods. The more people using the internet, the greater the instability.

When many people in the same area are working from home, connectivity suffers. For those of you wondering how to fix Wi-Fi that sucks or is unstable, this article is for you.

Unstable Wi-Fi Is Caused by Congestion

Imagine an old car radio. Rotating the station dial sometimes plays a static combination of two different radio stations.  That’s because two radio towers can be on the same frequency channel. The same is true for Wi-Fi routers: when two or more routers transmit on the same channel, they slow each other down and cause unstable connections.

The problem is magnified in dense living spaces. In apartment complexes, dozens of routers can transmit on the same channel. Even modern wireless technology can’t cope with that level of interference.

Just like radio, Wi-Fi is broken up into frequencies on the gigahertz (GHz) spectrum of 2.4GHz and 5GHz. These are much higher frequencies than those radio has access to. Each frequency is broken up into smaller increments called channels.

The 2.4GHz frequency suffers from congestion the most because of its limited number of channels and long range. It has eleven channels but only three of these are non-overlapping. That means speed and connection quality suffer when there are more routers in the same area.

5GHz, on the other hand, offers 23 non-overlapping channels—and its shorter range means fewer overlapping radio signals. It’s a lot like AM and FM radio where the longer range AM has poorer audio fidelity and FM sounds great but it comes at the expense of range.

unstable wifi is caused by too many overlapping frequencies
Image Credit: Wireless Networking in the Developing World/Wikipedia

Fortunately you can change your router’s channel the same way you can change a radio dial. It works like this: identify which channels aren’t congested and switch your device over to it. If that doesn’t work, think about changing your router to a 5GHz model (why dual-band routers work.)

How to Fix Your Unstable Wi-Fi Connection

Download and Install a Wi-Fi Analysis App

On Windows, lots of free apps can analyze the quality of wireless channels. One of the best options is available on the Microsoft Store: Wi-Fi Analyzer.

If you’ve got Windows, but don’t have access to the Microsoft Store, we recommend NirSoft’s WifiInfoView. For those without Windows, search your respective operating system’s app store for “Wi-Fi Analyzer” and you should see dozens of options.

Download: Wi-Fi Analyzer (Free)

Detect Unstable Wi-Fi

Using Wi-Fi Analyzer is dead simple. Just install and run the app. After installation, you can launch it by going to Windows Search (Windows key + Q) > Wi-Fi Analyzer.

The tool should detect your Wi-Fi signal strength, which ranges from zero to -100 decibel milliwatt (dBm), the lower the better. If you have a 5GHz network, there is a toggle in the app that allows you to switch between detecting 2.4GHz and 5GHz. It’s at the bottom of the interface.

To analyze your wireless router’s signal quality, take the following actions:

Click on Analyze in the top menu bar.

Wifi analyzer app analyze menu

Wi-Fi Analyzer then displays a visualization of the Wi-Fi networks in your vicinity. If two networks broadcast on the same channel, you’ll notice overlap. Each channel is a number between one and 161 on the 5GHz frequency and one through 11 on the 2.4GHz frequency.

Here’s what it looks like when two networks overlap:

wifi analyzer can examine nearby networks for signal quality

The X-plane axis represents the channels available on the 2.4GHz spectrum. As you can see, channels four to seven are unoccupied. Channels five and six have no competition whatsoever. Given the app’s analysis, I should change my router’s 2.4GHz channel to either five or six.

But how do you change your router’s channel?

How to Change Your Router’s Channel

Accessing your router’s settings requires a browser, like Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Accessing its settings, unfortunately, varies between different models of router, but some general rules apply.

Note: Most routers use “admin” as the login and “password” as the password. The login details may also be printed on the back of the router or in the instruction manual that came with it. If you cannot access your router, try searching the internet for your individual router’s access method.

For my own Telus router, changing the Wi-Fi channel is easy. I navigated to the router login address and entered my login and password. Changing the channel is usually located under Wireless Settings > Advanced Settings.

fix unstable wifi by changing the router's channel

I then changed the network channel to the option which offered good connection, saved the settings, and then restarted the router by power cycling it (turning it off and on again). Afterward, it stopped randomly disconnecting.

One thing to mention: most modern routers include a feature that combines 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies onto a single network name, or SSID. This feature is notoriously unreliable and if you’re having network problems, I suggest disabling it as a precautionary step. On my Telus router, it’s referred to as SmartSteering. Other brands have completely different names.

How to Fix Unstable Wi-Fi? Decongest It!

If your Wi-Fi sucks, using a Wi-Fi analysis app is the best way to find out your router’s ideal network settings. If after changing your router’s channel, you still get unreliable internet, consider optimizing your network for speed instead. Sometimes ironing out the kinks in your home internet might fix reliability issues.

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