8 DIY Air Conditioners for Staying Cool This Summer

You’re melting and you need to cool down. Aircon is on the blink, or you don’t have any, and there’s no way to deal with this ridiculous heat.

So, what can you do? The solution is simple: build your own air conditioner! Sounds too complicated? You’re about to find that it’s far easier than you think.

These DIY air conditioner projects demonstrate how easy it is to cool down your home and beat the next heatwave.

1. Homemade Air Conditioner With a Fan and Ice

While there isn’t a great amount of DIY about this, it’s where most DIY aircon projects begin: a fan, and some ice. Rather than blowing air around a room, the fan blows cool air.

Here, the ice is on a tray, in the form of cubes from your freezer. The fan is angled down slightly and the air is cooled as it passes over the ice. But how well does this work?

Having given this a go myself, it has a few flaws. For example, the ice cubes melt far quicker than a larger ice block. Also, a faster fan gives better results than a slower one.

Anyone can make this DIY aircon system. But there’s considerable room for improvement.

2. Easy Plastic Soda Bottle DIY Aircon

Here’s a slightly better alternative. In this video, small soda bottles are strapped to the back of a fan using cable ties.

Inside the bottles, which have been peppered with holes using a soldering iron, is the ice. Air is drawn through the bottles by the fan, and the air cooled by the ice.

This is a great low-budget air conditioning solution, one that you can put together in just a few minutes! Check out the best soldering irons to get started with it.

If you don’t have space to freeze bottles of water, try cool box ice blocks instead. Place them in a plastic net bag and attach this to the back of the fan with cable ties.

3. Portable Air Cooler Milk Carton

If you’re looking for something small and compact to keep you cool, this milk carton has you covered.

Featuring a computer fan and a 12V mains adapter you’ll need a hot glue gun and soldering iron. The fan draws in air, pushes it over ice cubes placed in the carton, then out of the opening. This is a particularly smart build as milk cartons are designed to keep the product cool as long as possible.

Suitable for a desktop, this could be adapted to run a slightly slower fan from your computer’s USB port. Similarly, it’s a good, compact AC solution for your car, with a minor adjustment.

4. Cool Box Air Conditioner

Working with the same basic components (a fan, some ice, and a container), this cool box-based DIY air conditioner features some drainpipe tubing as an outlet.

Here, two circles are cut into the lid of the cool box. One of these is big enough to fit the fan, which is placed face-down into the box. The other is for the outlet pipe. In the box, which would normally store food or drink, is a big block of ice.

When switched on, air is drawn in by the fan, cooled by the ice, and pushed out to chill your room!

5. Ice Chest Air Conditioner

A search of YouTube will reveal several variations on the previous project, all of which are worth checking out. Worth highlighting, however, is this slightly more attractive alternative.

Here, a Styrofoam ice chest is combined with a compact fan and two angled PVC pipe joints. Big enough to hold huge blocks of ice, this DIY air cooler will keep your room chilled during a heatwave.

Just remember to keep a bucket handy to empty it. Also, lifting the ice chest can risk structural issues leading to cracking, so find a position and leave it there to avoid leaks.

6. Portable Ice Bucket Air Conditioner

In some ways this is a combination of the ice chest and cool box DIY aircon builds above. Here, a compact fan is mounted face down into a bucket lid, alongside two short lengths of pipe. The pipes can be secured with hot glue or expanding foam, or even bathroom sealant.

You know the drill: air is drawn into the bucket, across the ice, and out through the pipes.

This time, of course, the homemade air cooler is portable. Just lift the bucket’s handle to transport it around. Be sure to keep it within reach of a power supply, of course, or adapt it to run off a battery and go anywhere.

7. Convert Your Standing Fan Into an Air Conditioner

So far, we’ve only looked at projects requiring a fan and some ice. For a more authentic air-conditioned experience, however, you can adapt your fan with some 1/4-inch copper tubing.

Mounted on the front of the fan cage, the tubing is then pumped with cold water using a fountain pump. The water runs through vinyl tubing first, then into the copper tubing, and back to the pump. Along the way, the water is cooled (perhaps by placing a bag of ice over the pipe).

Although somewhat more complicated than the other projects listed here, it appears the results are good.

8. Pond Pump-Powered Swamp Cooler

Eschewing the need for a fan, this build employs a pond pump and some evaporative cooler pad. Pinned up with a wooden frame, the project builder claims that it can reduce the temperature indoors by over 20F.

Evaporative cooling is the process by which the temperature is reduced via the evaporation of liquid. It’s basically how sweating works, removing heat from the surface of the skin. Also found in industrial cooling systems, this DIY evaporative cooling project should cost under $100.

Admittedly, this is the most complex project listed here, and again requires a source of cool (although not cooled) water.

Other Ways to Stay Cool This Summer

Hot weather makes it tough to do anything, other than lay around watching TV, reading, or topping up your tan. (Plenty of sunblock, please, and only for short periods.)

A DIY air conditioner project should be enough to help you stay cool. While it might not work as a long-term solution, it’s a smart stopgap when your air conditioner is down. If you live in areas where heatwaves are rare, a DIY aircon unit saves you spending big bucks on cooling.

You should also try these additional ways to keep cool:

• Take a cold shower/bath: When things get unbearable, this is always a good option.
• Schedule your windows: Keep them shut when it’s hot during the day, but open at night to let cool air in. When you shut them in the morning, that cool air should be trapped for a few hours.
• Power down unnecessary electrics: TVs, clothes dryers, even computers should be switched off. They all contribute to the amount of heat in your home, which isn’t useful in such hot weather.

Meanwhile, if you’re reading this article because you feel your air conditioner isn’t cooling well enough, be sure to check our post on common air conditioner mistakes to avoid.

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What’s My AOL Mail Login Screen Name?

Lost your America Online (AOL) Mail login or screen name? If you can’t remember your AOL Mail login or screen name, it’s easy to recover them—unless you’ve got an account “deactivation” notification.

But first, let’s start with some definitions.

What an AOL Mail Login or Screen Name Looks Like?

An AOL Mail login, username, and screen name are basically the same thing.

For example, my AOL Mail email address is:

kanoyams@aol.com

My screen name, or AOL username, is all the text just before “aol.com”. For example, my screen name looks like this:

kanoyams

Earlier, AOL users could add up to seven extra usernames to their account. But AOL removed this feature on November 30, 2017. Now you can only have one username.

Now that you have an idea of what a login, email, username, and screen name look like, let’s move onto finding yours.

1. Recover Your Login/Screen Name From AOL

AOL’s official recovery steps for your AOL Mail login or screen name are useless if you haven’t linked a telephone number or alternative email address with your AOL Mail account. If you never used your telephone number or alternative email with AOL Mail, skip this step.

However, if you have registered a phone number or email, it’s easy to recover your login name.

Step One: Go to AOL.com’s Login Page

First, navigate to AOL.com and left-click on Login/Join in the upper-right corner of the screen.

Step Two: Go to AOL’s Recovery Page

Second, left-click on the text-link Forgot username? located beneath the blue Next button. The link takes you to the AOL Mail recovery page.

Step Three: Enter Your Phone Number or Email

On this screen, type in your phone number into the text entry field marked Email address or phone number and click on Continue.

Choose Yes, send me a code in order to receive an eight-digit verification code. Wait up to five minutes for the number to arrive on your cellular device or alternative email. (Landlines are not supported.)

Step Four: Enter Your Recovery Code

Type your eight-character verification code into the text-entry field marked Enter 8 characters code and left-click on Verify.

You should now be able to access your AOL Mail account.

This method only works if you’ve provided AOL with your cellular phone number or alternative email. Unfortunately, many of those who want to recover their account will not have the feature set up.

2. Ask Someone You’ve Sent E-Mails To

If you’ve sent someone you know in real life an email from AOL Mail, that person has a record of your email address and therefore your login and screen name. A great example of an email provider that keeps records on its customers is Gmail.

You can recognize a Gmail email address by the name following the @ symbol. For example:

makeuseof@gmail

You can ask anyone you’ve emailed for your AOL Mail address. But I recommend asking someone with a Gmail account.

3. Find Your Login/Screen on Another Site

If you’ve never sent anyone an email, you’ll need to find some other way of recovering your login/screen name.

Fortunately, most websites, from retail to social media, keep your email address on file. If you can think of any website where you used your AOL Mail account to register, that’s one place to check.

For example, logging into Facebook makes it easy to recover your email address. If you take the following actions:

• Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
• To the right of Contact you should see your email address.

If you see @aol.com at the end of the email address, that means you’ve found your account!

Now (if you’ve found your AOL screen name) you can log into your account with a password. But chances are that if you’ve lost your screen name, you’ve also lost your AOL password.

Recovering Your AOL Password

AOL Mail makes it easy to recover your password, provided you know your login/screen name.

To recover your AOL Mail password, take the following steps:

• Go to the AOL Mail website
• Left click on Login/Join
• Type your AOL Mail email address into Username, email, or mobile and left-click on Next in the blue rectangle
• Left click on Forgot Password?
• Left click on one of the emails or phone numbers
  • If you do not have a recovery email or phone number set up, click on I need more options, located below.

A final possibility is that AOL could also have deleted your account.

AOL Mail Account Deletion

I reached out to the AOL Mail team for clarification on their account deletion policy. The screen above highlights their response.

Unfortunately, your account is gone for good if it has been deactivated for a period of inactivity lasting 12-months or more. AOL also doesn’t allow users to create a new account with the same email address for security purposes, either. So if you used your AOL Mail account to verify your identity on another website, you will have to contact that site in order to assert ownership.

AOL Deleted My Email Address

After recovering your login and password, you may find that AOL has deactivated your account. In other words, they deleted it.

If that’s the case, you would have received the following error message:

“Uh-oh… This Account Has Been Deactivated Due to Inactivity?”

As stated above, AOL’s official policy is to erase accounts that were not logged into within 12 months, destroying all your saved emails. In this case, there isn’t anything that can be done.

In other words: your account cannot be recovered.

While that may sound unreasonable, there’s a good reason: fraudsters and identity thieves may try to steal old email accounts in order to compromise websites you’ve associated with the AOL Mail account. By erasing old emails permanently, AOL patches up a dangerous security hole. The cost, though, is your email account and all its contents.

What’s My AOL Mail Login Screen Name?

We recommend trying the following things to get your AOL Mail screen name (which is the same thing as your AOL email address and login):

1. Use AOL Mail’s official account recover option first.
2. Failing that, try asking a friend you’ve emailed if they know your account name.
3. Finally, try finding your AOL Mail address on a website where you last used that account to register.

But beware: if you haven’t logged into AOL Mail in 12-months or longer, your account will have been deleted. For clarification on AOL’s official account deactivation policy, consider reaching out to them on Twitter or Facebook.

And for more tips on using AOL Mail, find out how to whitelist emails so they don’t get sent to your spam box.

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The Best Interactive Netflix Shows to Watch Right Now

Did you know that Netflix boasts interactive shows and movies? These interactive Netflix shows play out like other titles, except that you’re able to have an impact on the story.

Just watch these specials like normal until you’re asked to pick between different choices. Then select the choice from an on-screen prompt, and see the story progress. Different choices lead to different outcomes, so you’ll want to go back and make different choices to see how the story plays out.

If you’re ready to try, check out our list of the best interactive Netflix shows below.

1. Stretch Armstrong: The Breakout

Stretch Armstrong: The Breakout gives younger fans of the series the chance to lead their own heroes during a crisis. If you haven’t watched the original source, don’t expect an easy transition as it jumps straight into superhero-based action.

Due to the action-centric pacing of the special, choices come quickly. They’re all marked with a distinctive graphic, so it’s easier to determine what action you’ll take. If you mess up, you’re able to restart the mission while still seeing your previous choices.

So, if you’re a fan of the series or looking for some quick superhero action with consequences, Stretch Armstrong: The Breakout is worth checking out.

2. Carmen Sandiego: To Steal or Not to Steal

Carmen Sandiego: To Steal or Not to Steal offers an action-packed special for younger fans of the main series. Like with Stretch Armstrong’s special, it’s very fast-paced. As such, the interactions happen quickly, but you’re able to return to prior ones thanks to them staying on screen.

If you choose incorrectly, the special also sends you back to your previous choices automatically. Certain choices also create a notification at the top of the screen indicating the effect they have on the story. It’s a simple touch, but it’s a nice way to note where divulging choices occur.

While relatively direct in terms of story, it still remains a stylish adventure.

3. Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch introduced many people to Netflix’s interactive content. But if you haven’t yet watched it through, here’s everything you need to know about Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.

As a title aimed strictly at adults, the narrative complexity stays high throughout. Bandersnatch features several endings, so the ability to hop back to your previous choices at any time makes re-navigating the story much easier.

Whether you’re a story completionist or not, Bandersnatch is a must-watch for all fans of Black Mirror.

4. Minecraft: Story Mode

Minecraft: Story Mode gives young Minecraft fans a lengthy-yet-relaxed interactive experience. The Netflix adaptation features five episodes, and each episode runs much longer than other entries on this list.

As far as interactions go, Minecraft: Story Mode offers a unique visual flair by framing every choice with a distinct border. Many of these choices don’t entirely matter, but they’re often quite fun. If they do change the story, you’ll see an on-screen notice stating that your story is changing.

While many of the interactions are subtle, they’re much more frequent and do provide for more engagement. Overall, it’s a welcome attention grabber for fans of Minecraft and those wanting to keep younger audiences engaged.

NB: If this series leaves you craving more Minecraft, you can now play Minecraft for free in your browser.

5. You vs. Wild

You vs. Wild is another multi-episode interactive series. In each episode, you’ll explore the wilderness where you try to help Bear Grylls complete different missions with your help. If you’ve watched other reality adventure or survival shows, you’ll know what you’re in for.

The interactive elements here function like most other specials except You vs. Wild is more visually simplistic. The choices themselves have varying degrees of impact, but your choices staying on-screen makes it easy to go back if you make a mistake. Still, if you pick an especially unwise choice, you can replay a scenario or restart the whole episode.

These moments usually come with some form of explanation, so you won’t feel blindsided. So, if you’re looking to learn whilst engaged, join in on Bear Grylls’ adventure.

6. Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile

Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile is a short special for fans of the Netflix original series. As a short skit special, your choices don’t have any real consequences. So once you finish, it’s easy enough to go back and see the other humorous options.

It’s mostly a silly special for younger fans, so you don’t have to think too hard on this one.

7. Captain Underpants Epic Choice-o-Rama

Like other entries, Captain Underpants Epic Choice-o-Rama mostly exists for younger Netflix fans. If you’ve seen the original, the same style of humor persists with plenty of visual gags. Unlike other cartoon specials on this list, however, it does break from the usual two-choice limit at different intervals.

This means that if you’re a huge fan of the series, you’ll definitely note all of the small details. The multiple endings also make it a worthwhile title to watch through many times. So if you’re looking for a special to keep coming back to, it’s one of the best for fans.

8. Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale

Fans of Netflix’s The Adventures of Puss in Boots will want to check out this title. You’ll enjoy cameos from familiar characters all whilst guiding the fate of Puss of Boots. While aimed at children, it does its best to remain fun for all throughout.

For starters, there are several outright silly options to choose from. Most of these play out rather quickly, and the special automatically resets and plays out the correct choice after. Previous choices are also displayed on the screen, making it easy for younger watchers.

As for the overall interactions, there are two distinct story paths. However, Puss in Book also makes it very clear that there’s one choice you should make. The direct hinting is nice for younger audiences that might otherwise miss out on the true ending.

It’s a fun and short ride that offers a lot of personality along the way.

9. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend rounds out the best interactive Netflix shows with an adult comedy. If you haven’t already watched the series, you’ll enjoy the special more after catching up.

As with Bandersnatch, the special features many different endings to discover. Plus, if you’re the adventurous type there are many mistakes to explore and relish for their comedic outcomes. Because of the wealth of comedic content on offer, your choices all have an impact even when they lead to a do-over reset.

If you’re looking for more comedy to watch, check out the best British comedies on Netflix.

Experiment With the Best Interactive Netflix Shows

With a growing library of interactive content, Netflix continues to increase engagement for viewers of all ages. So, the next time you’re craving more than just a passive viewing session, check out the best interactive Netflix shows.

It should be noted that Netflix didn’t invent this idea though, and here are the interactive YouTube games that still work.

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The 6 Best Fashion Apps for iPhone and Android

There are few experiences more thrilling than finding the perfect piece of clothing to tie into a new outfit. The lost time and stress that comes from an unsuccessful shopping trip is maddening, which is why having all those hours end up in success feels so exciting.

Fortunately, there are also tons of tools that will help you find, coordinate, and buy the perfect outfit in record time. Here’s a list of the best fashion apps for your phone, including one-stop budget shoppers, vintage assistants, and apps that offer you deals on top designer brands.

1. LIKEtoKNOW.it

Do you hate spending hours online looking for the perfect outfit? Have you ever spotted a piece of clothing in a picture, and desperately wanted to know where you could find that item (or a cheaper version of it)?

If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, then you need to download LIKEtoKNOW.it. It’s a fashion app that analyzes the items in a photo so you can find those items for sale online. Then you can buy the look for yourself.

Some additional points you should know about this app:

• Once you join, you can find and follow influencers.
• Hashtags are grouped by price point, style, and product category. If you “like” an item through the app, that item will show up in your My Likes section, so you can shop for it at a later date.
• On your profile page, you can choose who to follow, manage your screenshots, or look into becoming an influencer yourself.

This is one of the most useful fashion apps you can try, with a wide range of styles and price points for a variety of different budgets. Alternatively, if you’re looking for other “style-hunting” shopping assistants, check out some women’s fashion and style apps to help you find the right outfit.

Download: LIKEtoKNOW.it for Android | iOS (Free)

2. Wish

Wish is another easy recommendation in this category. It’s a one-stop-shop for buying nearly everything you can image, including clothes.

Wish is not a fashion-specific app, but you can use it to shop for fashion by going to its Fashion section. The items featured here are usually affordable. In terms of style, the clothing on offer falls into casual or street looks.

Some other aspects to note:

• When you create an account, you can customize your feeds to your interests.
• You can either sign up for Wish right away, or skip signing up to browse as a guest (if you’re still unsure about joining).

Give this app a look if you’re looking for an easy way to buy fast, affordable fashion.

Download: Wish for Android | iOS (Free)

3. Poshmark

Poshmark is another great fashion app that you can use for shopping. Overall, the app’s focus is a combination of steep designer sales and reseller vibes.

Poshmark allows you to buy and sell clothes, but it has an additional angle of being a social media site centered around shopping. When you first sign up, it allows you to enter your shoe and dress size to customize your feed. You can follow brands and brand ambassadors, too.

A few key points to know:

• The news feed resembles a cross between Facebook and Instagram. It contains a collection of comments, offers, likes, share notifications, and account updates.
• In the shopping section of the app, you can shop by brands, likes, different styles of fashion, or different types of fashion.

In all, this app is solid if you’re looking for an all-around shopping assistant that has a social media edge.

Download: Poshmark for Android | iOS (Free)

4. Depop

Do you have a love for vintage clothing or the resale fashion scene? Depop is a nifty app that allows you to shop for sneakers, streetwear, and vintage threads. Essentially, this app allows its users to buy and sell previously owned goods.

Through Depop, you can:

• Follow influencers and friends.
• Message sellers before, during, and after a purchase, or inquire about any item.
• You can also get personalized recommendations by selecting styles and brands to follow.
• Additionally, you can input your size and what kind of clothing you’re looking for (i.e. men’s or women’s) to narrow your feed further.
• Whenever you buy or sell an item, you can also give or receive reviews.

It’s a great little fashion app for anyone who wants to look unique on a budget.

Download: Depop for Android | iOS (Free)

5. Gilt

Gilt is another high-profile fashion app that allows you to shop for top designer brands at “up to 70 percent off.” With a focus on high-end fashion, Gilt allows you to search for more upscale styles, while simultaneously locating deep discounts.

If you have champagne taste but a modest budget, then this app is essential.

Download: Gilt for Android | iOS (Free)

6. Net-a-Porter

Looking for a truly extravagant app to fit with your lifestyle? Then you need to download Net-a-Porter: a fashion app that brings you “new arrivals from the world’s leading brands.”

Net-a-Porter combines this shopping experience with news on the latest looks and fashion advice. Out of all the fashion apps we’ve tried, this one is the most user-friendly, complete with a customer service option. You also have the ability to sign up as a user or browse the app as a guest, which is a feature that few of the other apps offer.

When you first open the app, you’ll see several different pages that you can explore:

• The Home page is a collection of styling advice, app-related updates, and editorials.
• You can shop by designers, clothing type, or occasion.

Additionally:

• When you tap Get the look on any photoshoot in the app, it takes you to a recommendations section with similar items, so you can shop the look yourself.
• Whenever you click on an item you potentially want to buy, each sale page has a ton of information on the sizing and cleaning care of that piece of clothing, to put your mind at ease.

While a joy to use, this app is only suited for shoppers who have the money to match their high-end tastes. The items sold here are not cheap. If you prefer, you can shop through Net-a-Porter’s website, too.

Download: Net-a-Porter for Android | iOS (Free)

Shop for the Next Best Look With These Fashion Apps

Once you download one (or all) of these apps, try them out to hunt for the perfect look. However, finding the perfect clothing is not the only fashion-oriented task you need to worry about—what about shoes?

To complete your look, read up on the best sites to design your own custom shoes online.

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It’s Now Easier to Access Your Twitter DMs Online

If you use Twitter to send and receive private messages, you should find Twitter’s new user interface useful. The new interface makes it a lot easier to access your Twitter DMs, allowing you to read and respond to them without navigating away from your main timeline.

How to Access Your Twitter DMs on the Web

Previously, your Twitter DMs were hidden away in a separate area of the Twitter website. Which meant that if you were browsing your timeline of tweets and wanted to check your DMs you would need to open a new tab. You would then need to do the same to switch back again.

Now, Twitter has rolled out a new interface which lets you slide into your DMs without leaving your timeline. Instead, you access your DMs in a popup window in the bottom-right of your timeline. With both your DMs and your timeline of tweets visible at the same time.

Slide into those DMs without clicking away from your timeline.

Rolling out on web. pic.twitter.com/BdaeYoyPu2

— Twitter (@Twitter) July 15, 2020

Twitter’s new interface is now available on the web for anyone visiting Twitter.com. There’s no word yet on whether this same interface will be available on Twitter’s mobile app. However, given the limited space available on smartphone screens we suspect the current row of tabs will remain in place.

Either way, this new interface mirrors what you’ll find on Facebook and LinkedIn, with Twitter clearly hoping more people will make use of its messaging feature going forward. Unfortunately, that means some people will slide into your DMs without being invited. Which is why you may need to use Twitter block lists occasionally.

The Great Twitter Bitcoin Scam of 2020

Unfortunately for Twitter, it launched its new user interface at the same time as unknown parties were scamming Twitter users out of Bitcoin by tweeting from accounts including @BillGates, @elonmusk, @JeffBezos, and @kanyewest. Which meant this useful little update flew somewhat under the radar.

This should prove useful to anyone who uses Twitter’s messaging feature regularly. But it could also inspire more people to use Twitter DMs to privately message people on the social media site. If that’s you, here’s everything you need to know about Twitter DMs.

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Google Maps Gets New Bike-Sharing Features

With the latest update to Google Maps, Google is making it easier to get around cities by bike.

While offering cycling routes to follow is nothing new for Google Maps (the navigation service first started offering them 10 years ago), Google is now integrating bike-sharing into its routes.

These new bike-sharing features will make it easy for people who don’t actually own a bicycle (and the cool gadgets for cyclists) to get where they’re going on one.

Google Maps Gets New Bike-Sharing Features

Google announced on The Keyword that to start with it is offering bike-sharing stations in 10 major cities around the world. Google has partnered with Ito World and several other bike-sharing partners to bring the new routing options to the following cities:

• Chicago, US
• New York City, US
• Washington, DC, US
• San Francisco Bay Area, US
• London, England
• Mexico City, Mexico
• Montreal, Canada
• Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
• São Paulo, Brazil
• Taipei and New Taipei City, Taiwan

If you live in one of the supported cities and you choose to travel by bike, Google Maps will show docked bike-share information that will help you get where you’re going through a mix of on-foot directions to get to the closest bike-share station, then cycling directions to the station closest to your destination, and more on-foot directions to complete the route.

In addition to the routes, Google also promises that the update will show live bike availability, so you won’t waste a bunch of time walking to a dock only to find all the bikes are unavailable. In some cities, Google has made it so you can even book the bike right from within Google Maps.

For those not in one of the supported cities, Google says, “We’re actively working with additional partners to bring this functionality to more cities in the coming months.” That means you may not have to wait too long to get directions with bike-sharing in your area. Unfortunately, Google hasn’t yet revealed which cities it plans to add the feature to.

How to Use Google Maps’ Bike-Sharing Features

First of all, you need to live in one of the 10 cities listed above. Assuming you can get over that hurdle, all you need to do is make sure your Google Maps app is up-to-date and then ask Google Maps for biking directions. From there, you’ll see the traditional cycling directions and the directions with bike-sharing included.

While this new update is only really useful for cyclists, Google Maps is capable of so much more. You can even create a custom map which you can share with other people. Which is a lot more fun than it sounds.

Read the full article: Google Maps Gets New Bike-Sharing Features

How to Set Up Email Filters in Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Outlook

Setting up email filters, or organizing conversations into folders, is an efficient way to manage your email inbox. For example, you might set up a filter to separate newsletters from more important messages. It’s also a great way to automatically trash or mark certain emails as spam.

We’ll show you how to set up email filters to automatically sort your emails in Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Outlook.

How to Filter Emails in Gmail

When you start editing Gmail filters, you might notice that Gmail doesn’t use actual “folders.” Gmail calls these labels, but aside from the different name, they’re functionally identical.

To get started with creating Gmail filters, open your Gmail inbox, and click on the small arrow icon to the right of the search bar at the top. This opens the advanced search box, allowing you to specify attributes for the filters.

Here’s how these work:

• Enter an email address in the From field to apply the filter to messages from that address.
  • The * character is a wildcard, so you can enter *@domain.com to filter all messages from a specific domain.
• The To field pairs nicely with Gmail aliases. Anywhere that you enter your email address, you can add a plus (+) after it to create unlimited alternate addresses that all go straight to your inbox.
  • For instance, if you signed up for LinkedIn with John+LinkedIn@gmail.com and don’t want any messages from LinkedIn in your inbox, you can filter messages sent to that address.
• The Subject field allows you to filter any message containing certain words in the subject.

• Has the words and Doesn’t have allow you to scan the email for any words you’d like. You can use Gmail’s search operators here, like AND or OR, to look for multiple words.
  • For instance, say you want to create a filter for all messages containing the word unsubscribe, but don’t want to include your bank’s emails. You could enter Unsubscribe in the Has the words field, then Bank of America in Doesn’t have to exclude results that contain these words.
• If you like, specify a size that the message is greater or less than.
• Use Date within to filter by messages received close to a certain date.
• If you want to look only for emails with an attachment, check the Has attachment box. And if you often chat with Hangouts in Gmail, you’ll probably want to check Doesn’t include chats to cut down on the noise from those.
• Finally, leave the Search box on All Mail unless you only want to filter from a certain existing label.

When you’re done, click the Create filter button in the bottom-right corner of the window. If you want to make sure the filter is correct, click Search first to show emails that match it.

Customizing Filter Actions

Next, you’ll need to decide what happens to the email that hits this filter.

If you’re trying to keep a clean inbox, choosing Skip the Inbox (Archive it) is a good first step. Paired with this, you can add a star, attach a label so you know what to do with that message later, or mark it as important.

There are additional options here, which may come in handy depending on the filter you’re setting up. Never send it to Spam is useful if Gmail is sending legitimate messages there.

When you’re done, check Also apply filter to X matching conversations if you want this filter to apply to existing mail as well as future messages. Clicking Create filter will complete the process.

You can review or edit your existing filters at any time. Click the Settings gear icon in the top-right, followed by See all settings. Choose Filters and Blocked Addresses at the top to see them all and delete or make changes if needed. Gmail also provides an export feature, so you can put your filters in a file to share them.

Having trouble thinking of a good filter idea? Gmail can help.

Tick the checkbox next to any message in your inbox, then go to the three-dot menu > Filter messages like these. This will launch the filter window as before, but with some fields pre-filled based on the message you selected.

For more, have a look at annoying email problems you can solve with filters.

How to Set Up Yahoo Mail Filters

To set up filters in Yahoo Mail, open your Yahoo email inbox, then click the gear icon in the top-right and choose More Settings. Select the Filters tab on the left, then select Add new filters to start one.

Yahoo doesn’t offer as much filter functionality as Gmail. There are four fields to customize: From, To/CC, Subject, and Body. You can name filters, which lets you quickly review them on the main Filters tab without having to check the details.

The categories are self-explanatory; for each one, you can choose to filter email that contains, does not contain, begins with, or ends with selected words. You also have the ability to match cases, which could be handy if you’re looking to filter all-caps acronyms.

Once you’ve completed the filter criteria as desired, you can choose which folder to move the matching messages to.

Note that filters are applied in top-to-bottom order. Thus, when reviewing the list, make sure that the most important filter is at the top. That will take priority if a message falls under multiple filters. You can also edit or remove an existing filter from this page.

That’s all you need to know for Yahoo filtering. For more tips, see how to make your Yahoo account secure.

How to Filter Emails in Outlook

If you use Outlook.com for your email, here’s how to filter messages.

Open your Outlook inbox and click the Gear icon at the top-right, followed by All Outlook settings at the bottom of this list. Make sure Mail is selected on the left tab, then choose Rules on the next list. Finally, click Add new rule to make a fresh filter.

You’ll need to give the filter a name. Next, open the box under Add a condition to see the available options.

There are many of them, which Outlook breaks into groups. For example, one category is My name is, in which you can select I’m on the To line, I’m on the CC line, I’m not on the To line, and similar. If you want more than one, click Add another condition below the first box.

There are too many for an exhaustive list here, but some of the most helpful include:

• My name is > I’m not on the To line catches emails in which you were CCed or mass emailed.
• Marked with > Importance or Sensitivity to catch messages using the sensitivity or priority levels specific to Outlook.
• Received > Before or After to filter messages by date.

Once you’ve set your conditions, you’ll need to specify at least one item under Add an action. You can choose to move or copy the message to a folder or delete it. A neat choice is pinning the message, which will keep it at the top of your inbox for review. Marking the message with a certain importance or forwarding it onto another address are other useful actions.

Also, Outlook lets you add exceptions using any of the earlier conditions. Thus, you can set up a filter that excludes messages from a specific person, or messages marked as important.

Check the Stop processing more rules box if you don’t want messages that run through this filter to be affected by others. For example, if one filter pins all important messages, and a second filter deletes all messages with attachments, you would want to check this box so that Outlook doesn’t delete an important message with attachments.

That’s all it takes to create Outlook filters; repeat the above if you need more.

Email Filters Made Easy

Email filters are powerful tools you can use to reduce the flood of messages in your inbox. We’re sure that you can use them to improve your mail workflow—especially in Gmail and Outlook, which offer more options.

For more help, check out additional ways to organize and manage your email inbox.

Read the full article: How to Set Up Email Filters in Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Outlook

What’s My AOL Mail Login Screen Name?

Lost your America Online (AOL) Mail login or screen name? If you can’t remember your AOL Mail login or screen name, it’s easy to recover them—unless you’ve got an account “deactivation” notification.

But first, let’s start with some definitions.

What an AOL Mail Login or Screen Name Looks Like?

An AOL Mail login, username, and screen name are basically the same thing.

For example, my AOL Mail email address is:

kanoyams@aol.com

My screen name, or AOL username, is all the text just before “aol.com”. For example, my screen name looks like this:

kanoyams

Earlier, AOL users could add up to seven extra usernames to their account. But AOL removed this feature on November 30, 2017. Now you can only have one username.

Now that you have an idea of what a login, email, username, and screen name look like, let’s move onto finding yours.

1. Recover Your Login/Screen Name From AOL

AOL’s official recovery steps for your AOL Mail login or screen name are useless if you haven’t linked a telephone number or alternative email address with your AOL Mail account. If you never used your telephone number or alternative email with AOL Mail, skip this step.

However, if you have registered a phone number or email, it’s easy to recover your login name.

Step One: Go to AOL.com’s Login Page

First, navigate to AOL.com and left-click on Login/Join in the upper-right corner of the screen.

Step Two: Go to AOL’s Recovery Page

Second, left-click on the text-link Forgot username? located beneath the blue Next button. The link takes you to the AOL Mail recovery page.

Step Three: Enter Your Phone Number or Email

On this screen, type in your phone number into the text entry field marked Email address or phone number and click on Continue.

Choose Yes, send me a code in order to receive an eight-digit verification code. Wait up to five minutes for the number to arrive on your cellular device or alternative email. (Landlines are not supported.)

Step Four: Enter Your Recovery Code

Type your eight-character verification code into the text-entry field marked Enter 8 characters code and left-click on Verify.

You should now be able to access your AOL Mail account.

This method only works if you’ve provided AOL with your cellular phone number or alternative email. Unfortunately, many of those who want to recover their account will not have the feature set up.

2. Ask Someone You’ve Sent E-Mails To

If you’ve sent someone you know in real life an email from AOL Mail, that person has a record of your email address and therefore your login and screen name. A great example of an email provider that keeps records on its customers is Gmail.

You can recognize a Gmail email address by the name following the @ symbol. For example:

makeuseof@gmail

You can ask anyone you’ve emailed for your AOL Mail address. But I recommend asking someone with a Gmail account.

3. Find Your Login/Screen on Another Site

If you’ve never sent anyone an email, you’ll need to find some other way of recovering your login/screen name.

Fortunately, most websites, from retail to social media, keep your email address on file. If you can think of any website where you used your AOL Mail account to register, that’s one place to check.

For example, logging into Facebook makes it easy to recover your email address. If you take the following actions:

• Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
• To the right of Contact you should see your email address.

If you see @aol.com at the end of the email address, that means you’ve found your account!

Now (if you’ve found your AOL screen name) you can log into your account with a password. But chances are that if you’ve lost your screen name, you’ve also lost your AOL password.

Recovering Your AOL Password

AOL Mail makes it easy to recover your password, provided you know your login/screen name.

To recover your AOL Mail password, take the following steps:

• Go to the AOL Mail website
• Left click on Login/Join
• Type your AOL Mail email address into Username, email, or mobile and left-click on Next in the blue rectangle
• Left click on Forgot Password?
• Left click on one of the emails or phone numbers
  • If you do not have a recovery email or phone number set up, click on I need more options, located below.

A final possibility is that AOL could also have deleted your account.

AOL Mail Account Deletion

I reached out to the AOL Mail team for clarification on their account deletion policy. The screen above highlights their response.

Unfortunately, your account is gone for good if it has been deactivated for a period of inactivity lasting 12-months or more. AOL also doesn’t allow users to create a new account with the same email address for security purposes, either. So if you used your AOL Mail account to verify your identity on another website, you will have to contact that site in order to assert ownership.

AOL Deleted My Email Address

After recovering your login and password, you may find that AOL has deactivated your account. In other words, they deleted it.

If that’s the case, you would have received the following error message:

“Uh-oh… This Account Has Been Deactivated Due to Inactivity?”

As stated above, AOL’s official policy is to erase accounts that were not logged into within 12 months, destroying all your saved emails. In this case, there isn’t anything that can be done.

In other words: your account cannot be recovered.

While that may sound unreasonable, there’s a good reason: fraudsters and identity thieves may try to steal old email accounts in order to compromise websites you’ve associated with the AOL Mail account. By erasing old emails permanently, AOL patches up a dangerous security hole. The cost, though, is your email account and all its contents.

What’s My AOL Mail Login Screen Name?

We recommend trying the following things to get your AOL Mail screen name (which is the same thing as your AOL email address and login):

1. Use AOL Mail’s official account recover option first.
2. Failing that, try asking a friend you’ve emailed if they know your account name.
3. Finally, try finding your AOL Mail address on a website where you last used that account to register.

But beware: if you haven’t logged into AOL Mail in 12-months or longer, your account will have been deleted. For clarification on AOL’s official account deactivation policy, consider reaching out to them on Twitter or Facebook.

And for more tips on using AOL Mail, find out how to whitelist emails so they don’t get sent to your spam box.

Read the full article: What’s My AOL Mail Login Screen Name?

Creating a robust churn-reversal system

Julian Shapiro Contributor

Julian Shapiro is the founder of BellCurve.com, a growth marketing team that trains startups in advanced growth, helps hire senior growth marketers and finds vetted growth agencies. He also writes at Julian.com.

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We’ve aggregated many of the world’s best growth marketers into one community. Twice a month, we ask them to share their most effective growth tactics, and we compile them into this Growth Report.

This is how you stay up-to-date on growth marketing tactics — with advice that’s hard to find elsewhere.

Our community consists of startup founders and heads of growth. You can participate by joining Demand Curve’s marketing training program or its Slack group.

Without further ado, on to our community’s advice.

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Creating a robust churn-reversal system

Insights from Matthew Morley of Savvy

Generally, it’s far more efficient to keep a current client than it is to close a new one. You’ll want a system to help you identify which users are at risk of churning. This way, you can proactively reach out to them before they leave.

Start by identifying your high-value customers at risk of churning:

Who is:

• Spending within the top 10% of time using your app?
• Has a substantial number of seats of your product?
• Or, say, has a company size of at least 50 people — reflecting their upselling potential?

But also:

• Is using the product 30% less in a given month
• Has submitted at least one non-trivial support ticket in the last month
• And has their subscription renew in less than 90 days

And so on.

You can stitch this information together from multiple sources like Stripe, Mixpanel, Crunchbase and Intercom. Then, set up an alert to notify your team once someone falls into these buckets.

Then reach out with something personal to win back their enthusiasm. It can be high leverage to get them on the phone to uncover what’s keeping them around.

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The Rise of Mobile Slot Machines

Slot machine gameplay is so deep-rooted within the culture of gambling that you’d be forgiven for the assumption that slots have been around since the birth of casinos. This isn’t true, however, for slot machines – even the most basic fruit machines – required a certain level of technology that didn’t exist until the end […]

The post The Rise of Mobile Slot Machines appeared first on ALL TECH BUZZ.

A comprehensive, neighborhood-based response to COVID-19 | Kwame Owusu-Kesse

A comprehensive, neighborhood-based response to COVID-19 | Kwame Owusu-Kesse

Crisis interventions often focus on a single aspect of a big, complicated problem, failing to address the broader social and economic context. Kwame Owusu-Kesse describes how the Harlem Children's Zone is taking a more holistic approach to the pandemic, weaving together a network of services to help communities recover and rebuild. Learn more about their comprehensive COVID-19 relief and recovery response focused on five primary areas of need -- and their plans to scale it across the US. (This ambitious plan is a part of the Audacious Project, TED's initiative to inspire and fund global change.)

https://ift.tt/30AYOIP

Click this link to view the TED Talk

Combining social shopping rewards and personal finance apps, ex-Snap product gurus launch Meemo

After Wisam Dakka and André Madeira left Snap in 2018 the two longtime product developers and coders cast about for a new app to build. 

Looking around they realized there was no financial product that spoke to the generation of consumers they’d spent the last bit of their professional lives working to build for, so they decided it would be their next project.

“Our insight is that an individual’s relationship with money is a delicate and an emotional one. Most financial apps are not adopted by the masses because they are strict, lack empathy, and are unconsciously perceived as judgmental, which is why they are often downloaded and then ignored,” said Madeira, in a statement. 

Their solution, launching today, is Meemo.

It’s a combination of a personal financial monitoring, rewards and gifting, and social shopping app all rolled into one.

“One of the things we learned at snap if you want to reach the masses you need to change how you create an app. It has to be effortlessly,” said Madeira. “It has to be automatic and social as well so we want to build an app that is all of that combined.”

Once a user downloads Meemo and connects their main bank account or credit card to the app, Meemo will give that person insights into their spending history and potential rewards.

For most users, the initial experience will be through a gift card. Gifting, it turns out is what Dakka and Madeira think will be the secret sauce for the company’s growth (although getting people to use something if they’re being given money or free stuff is hardly rocket science).

There’s also the social element which the two men think will be a draw as well. Meemo provides recommendations and social validation from friends by harvesting their buying history and sharing it with you.

Once a user downloads Meemo and has the history of their transactions, the app will surface the places where user’s spend the most money. They can then send gift cards to their friends for their favorite restaurants. The goal, eventually, is to get restaurants to subsidize the gifting portion and have their shoppers act as a direct marketing channel.

Image Credits: Meemo (opens in a new window)

Shops won’t be able to see who’s getting the gifts until they come into the store. What Meemo hopes to do is gather a profile of a user’s shopping behavior based on their purchases and offer them discounts to places that they may not frequent as often, but match their consumer profile.

Backing the company are investors including Saama Capital, Greycroft, monashees, and Sierra Ventures along with individual investors Amit Singhal, Hans Tung, and serial entrepreneurs and the co-founders’ colleagues from Google and Snap.

Madeira and Dakka first met working on Google Search and went on to found Snap’s San Francisco office. And the team is rounded out by long-time friends like Robson Araújo and Ranveer Kunal.

“We are very excited to back Dakka and Madeira in their creation of a new age finance app at Meemo that will combine improved financial management with deeper social engagement for today’s generation”, said Ash Lilani, Managing Partner at Saama Capital, in a statement. “With Dakka and Madeira’s past experience of assembling talented teams and building viral products, we believe Meemo has an opportunity to become a leader in this space”. 

The company’s name is taken from a Portuguese word “mimo”, which means an affectionate treat, according to a statement. It’s available to download on iOS and Android.

 

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