21 August 2017

How to Try the Newly Redesigned Skype on Windows and Mac


Skype is a curious app. It took VOIP telephone calls to the masses for the first time, and in the pre-WhatsApp era, it was the king of internet chat. Fast-forward to today and a lot has changed. It no longer enjoys an unrivaled hegemony over its rivals. Even apps like Instagram and Snapchat have started to eat into its user base. As such, Microsoft sensibly decided it was time to give the aging app a refresh. The preview version of the update can now be downloaded by anyone to try out. What’s New in Skype? As the tech world moved...

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How to Get Free Loot Boxes in Overwatch With Amazon Prime


While many games let you buy items outright, Overwatch only offers items through Loot Boxes. You earn one each time you level up, but can also purchase them with real money if you want a certain item and need to speed up the process. But if you’re an Amazon Prime member, there’s a special gift waiting for you: anyone who’s part of the Twitch Prime service can grab five Loot Boxes for free. This offer is only available until September 10 — after that, another free set will appear in October. Start by visiting the Twitch Prime Overwatch page. If you’re not...

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19 August 2017

Wiredrive - Dropbox Alternatives For Agencies

For nearly a decade, Dropbox has helped media companies and creative agencies collaborate on their projects with greater efficiency. While many have embraced the benefits the service offers, enough time has passed for teams to realize that Dropbox is not tailored to everyone’s needs. Specifically, agencies that work extensively with video have found that slow upload speeds, poor playback quality, and limited branding options make Dropbox an imperfect tool for their projects. As video becomes a more ubiquitous component of the digital landscape, the demand for an alternative option has grown.

The collaboration app Wiredrive is one such option. Built specifically for teams who work heavily with video, Wiredrive streamlines the digital media management process and optimizes team collaboration. Offering fast upload and download speeds, as well as enhanced branding, presentation, and organization tools, it’s a Dropbox alternative designed to address the particular needs of creative and interactive agencies.



Finding a new, reliable option is only half the battle, though. Most groups have already been using their current collaboration app for several months or years, and migrating to a new file hosting service can seem like an intimidating task for agencies. The prospect of moving all your media assets from one cloud over to another can appear overwhelming, and if members of your team have grown accustomed to the interface and function of one service, the idea that they may need to learn to work with a new digital media management product could discourage you from making the switch. While you may appreciate and understand the benefits of another option, you might not feel prepared to actually start using it.

Fortunately, Wiredrive offers a solution to this problem. By allowing users to upload files from their current Dropbox accounts, Wiredrive smoothes the transition process. If you’re already using Dropbox, you can continue to do so, knowing that nothing you work with there will be lost as you begin to explore the usefulness of a new collaboration app. Should you plan to phase out Dropbox use at your agency, you can do so gradually. Rather than making a sudden shift, team members can acquaint themselves with the features and tools offered by a new service. Products that boost the efficiency of team collaboration tend to be most effective when groups embrace them naturally, instead of feeling that they’ve been forced to learn something new.

For creative agencies, Wiredrive also has the added benefit of integrating with popular Adobe software, including Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects. Team members can work on their projects and sync them directly via the Wiredrive panel, significantly reducing the learning curve and allowing them to focus on the creative work.

Dropbox made an impression, but for creative agencies, it’s not the ideal collaboration app. Boasting features that allow for more efficient digital media management, as well as tools which make the transition period much simpler for teams, Wiredrive is an option more fitting those in the creative fields

Sarahah and Other Yik Yak Alternatives for Honest Anonymous Feedback


yik-yak-alternatives

Anonymity is one of the internet’s greatest offerings. You can easily mask your identity online, while still getting to do and say what you want to. This anonymity lends itself to more honesty, since there aren’t repercussions. A new social network has gone viral, which promises to let you get honest feedback. Now that anonymous app Yik Yak has shut down, this is a void that needs to be filled. Apps like Sarahah and some other alternatives can do just that. Keep in mind, if you choose to use these apps, you are inviting people to comment about you. These...

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10 Free Ringtones That Sound Like Real Phones


Changing your ringtone is one of the best ways to personalize your phone, but many people don’t bother to swap out the default ringtone on their devices. How many times have you heard this in public and mistakenly thought it was yours? Thankfully, you have thousands of possibilities for a better ringtone. We’ve previously shown you sites that let you download all sorts of ringtones, but today we’re going to focus on ringtones that sound like actual phones. Whether you’re going for a vintage effect or want to mimic a ringtone from TV, these will do the job. 1. Universal Hollywood...

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Microsoft Claims “Bing Is Bigger Than You Think”


Do you use Bing? Do you know anyone else who uses Bing? We’re guessing the answer to both of those questions is “No”. However, it turns out, according to market share statistics released by Microsoft, that plenty of people actually do use Bing. Which means some of you are lying to us. Bing has been with us since 2009. Over the course of those eight years, the latest incarnation of Microsoft’s search engine has blossomed into something beautiful. And yet it still never seems to get the same level of attention as Google. Perhaps we all just need a reminder...

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Coding Boot Camp for Beginners: Should You Take One?


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Programming offers a bevy of career opportunities. From web development to app development and even DevOps, coding is a useful skill. With the rise in popularity of coding, boot camps spawned as a quick means to learn programming fundamentals. These comprehensive courses provide an entry into the coding space. Find out what a coding boot camp is, what you’ll learn, and discover if it’s the right fit for your programming journey! What Is a Coding Boot Camp? Image Credit: skeeze via Pixabay A coding boot camp is similar to an exercise boot camp. Well, sans the physical exertion. Instead, it’s...

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How to Sideload Apps Onto Your Amazon Fire TV Stick


sideload-apps-amazon-fire-stick

With its compact size and ultra-affordable price, the Fire TV Stick is one of the best Amazon devices you can buy. It comes with a small app store of entertainment and news apps, plus a few casual games. But you can add more too. The Fire Stick runs Android, so in theory, you can sideload almost any Android APK file, just as you can on your phone or tablet. This means you can run Kodi, a web browser, a podcast player, or a VPN on your Fire Stick. In this guide, we’ll take a look at the best ways to...

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18 August 2017

Smart Lighting Showdown: Bluetooth Smart vs. Wi-Fi vs. ZigBee


smart-lighting-showdown

It seems everyone is selling smart lighting products — from big box and specialty stores to local food markets. And that’s to say nothing about the many online stores out there! With so many vendors selling these products, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that more manufacturers are getting in on the fun. In doing so, however, it becomes increasingly harder to tell the differences between one smart lighting solution and another. Thankfully, we’ve done the research for you. In this article, you’ll learn the differences between the three most popular smart home lighting standards and see some examples of...

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10 Apps You Didn’t Know Were in the Windows Store


windows-store-apps

Finally. Almost a decade after Apple launched its App Store and more than five years after the Windows Store first became available to the public in February 2012, Microsoft has, at last, managed to forge an app store worth spending time in. Maybe I’m being harsh. The horror of the Windows 8 version, which was cluttered with fake apps and security issues, is a distant memory. The Windows Store has been on solid footing for almost two years. But in the last few months, it’s taken another giant leap forward. We knew it was going to happen: Microsoft said we...

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You Can Now Upload Videos Directly to Reddit


Reddit now supports native video. This means you no longer have to upload your video to a third-party service (such as YouTube) and then post the link into Reddit. Instead, you can just upload the video directly to Reddit. This is a win-win for both Reddit and its legion of loyal users. Love it or hate it, Reddit is one of the most important websites on the internet. It’s popular too, with hundreds of millions of users racking up billions of pageviews. However, until recently, Reddit has been reliant on third-party services, which has somewhat inhibited its ambitions. Reddit Now...

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The Ultimate Mobile Internet Showdown: Hotspots, Routers, Dongles, and Tethering


mobile-internet-showdown

The internet is rapidly changing how we interact with the world. At the same time, how we interact with the internet is also changing. Gone are the days when most of us connected via phone lines. Gone, too, are the days when a Ethernet cable was necessary to achieve high speeds. Not only can we get online wirelessly, but we’re no longer limited by the range of our routers. We can get online anywhere with a strong connection to a cellular tower. There are multiple ways to go about doing so. Do you connect everything via a portable wireless hotspot,...

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9 Podcasts to Increase Your Online Security Awareness


podcasts-online-security

Digital security can sometimes feel like a minefield of jargon, technical content, and time consuming tasks. Online security courses and YouTube videos are a great way to learn more about the field, but it can be difficult to carve out the time to sit down and watch large chunks of content. The answer to the conundrum is security podcasts. The podcast is currently experiencing something of a golden era, with shows for almost every interest and hobby readily available on a multitude of platforms. The best part? Most podcasts are completely free. Being security-minded you may wonder why you should...

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How to Get the Best Support on Linux Forums


linux-forums

Linux isn’t just a kernel — the people around it are just as crucial. They provide support where it’s needed most: for those just starting their foray into Linux. It’s a community that expects you to slowly become part of them, learning as you go. And it’s why there are numbers of websites out there ready and willing to help out with any troubles you find along the way. That being said, it’s important to approach support in a certain way. This is doubly the case when asking questions from something like an internet forum. It’s easy to forget that...

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The Perfect Meeting Blueprint (Templates Included)


meeting-blueprint

Have you ever received a meeting request at work and simply scratched your head? You wonder what exactly the meeting is about, what will be discussed, and maybe even why you were invited. You look at the other invitees hoping for a hint, but are still clueless. Some say if you receive a vague meeting invitation, you should just decline it. Now, whether you agree with that or not, if you are the coordinator, is it worth the risk that head-scratchers will decline just because they are baffled? With a little forethought and the right tools, you can make sure...

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Tamagotchis Are Back! Here’s How to Keep Them Alive


tamagotchi-back

Did you grow up in the 90s? If so, then you probably remember those Tamagotchi virtual pet toys from Bandai that debuted in 1996 for Japan and 1997 for the rest of the world. Well, they’re back just in time for their 20th anniversary. Read on to find out how you can enjoy training a virtual pet with no internet connection required, and the best tips for keeping your Tama healthy. How Do I Get a Tamagotchi? Bandai has brought back the original Japanese Tamagotchi toys, just like the ones you remember from your childhood. Unfortunately, these re-releases are only available...

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You Can Still Upgrade to Windows 10 for Free!


No, Windows 10 is not worse than XP. No, it’s not slower than Windows 7. And no, it’s not buggier than Windows 8. Windows 10 is the cleanest, fastest, and most advanced Windows operating system of its line. Anybody who tells you otherwise is either lying, in denial, or wearing rose-tinted glasses. Also can't wait to get home so I can work with a faster computer. I swear it moves slower after the upgrade to Windows 10 from XP — Tori Gwathney (@danniebear87) August 17, 2017 Is it perfect? Of course not. But it’s a significant improvement on everything that’s...

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The Best Interactive Introduction to Ruby for Newbies


There’s a battle royale going on between Ruby and Python. The two great rivals have big communities behind them, and both remain popular for web development even as mobile languages move into the limelight. Let’s just say that both object-oriented languages are efficient at solving a vast array of problems. Both are easy programming languages for beginners. But maybe you’re a bit confused about which language to pick up first. If you’re leaning toward Ruby, here’s a great baby step you can take. A Gentle Introduction to Ruby Try Ruby is a simple interactive code sandbox from CodeSchool that can help...

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How to Create Professional Reports and Documents in Microsoft Word


ms-word-templates-business

If Microsoft Office had been a country, it would have been the third most populous country in the world. 1.2 billion people using a single suite of apps is mind-boggling. And, they “speak” 107 languages! But right now, you and I are speaking in English and we are going to talk about the most popular tool in the Microsoft Office arsenal — Microsoft Word 2016. This document editor is used for writing a variety of documents. From a simple application to the necessary resume. From a plain bucket list to an office memo. We think we can work with Word. But...

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Learn About Locations With Google Maps Q&As


Google has added a Questions and Answers feature to Google Maps. This means you can ask businesses questions (and hopefully receive answers) before you visit them. You can also see questions other people have asked, and learn more about different locations as a result. Result! As shocking as it may sound to younger generations, there was a time in the not-too-distant past when the internet wasn’t a thing. This made it a lot harder to know where you were going and what you were going to do once you got there. But now Google Maps does the hard work for...

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