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Facebook adds A.I. to Marketplace for categorization, price suggestions and soon, visual search

Facebook is celebrating the two-year anniversary of its Craigslist competitor, Facebook Marketplace, with the launch of new features powered by A.I. Specifically, the social network says it’s adding price range suggestions and auto-categorization features to make selling easier, and it says it’s testing camera features that would use A.I. to make product recommendations.

Automating price suggestions and categorization, however, is not unique to Facebook – eBay earlier this year introduced a feature in its mobile app that will fill out your listings for you, using technologies like structured data and predictive analytics. Letgo can also make generalized price suggestions.

In Facebook’s case, the company says it will be able to categorize items based on the photo and description, then suggest a price range (e.g. $50-$75) for sellers to choose from. According to the company, when this autosuggest feature is enabled, sellers are less likely to abandon their listings, it has learned. (9% of sellers abandoned listings before the feature was enabled, it noted.)

AI in Marketplace

Posted by Facebook on Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Facebook also highlighted some of the other ways it uses A.I. – to automatically enhance the lighting of images uploaded by sellers, for instance, and for detecting and removing inappropriate content.

And while not A.I.-based, the company additionally noted its new buyer and seller ratings where people can rate their experience and leave feedback.

Further down the road, things may get more interesting. Facebook lightly teases its plans to turn Marketplace into more of a discovery tool for finding things you want to buy using your smartphone camera. For example, the company writes in a blog post, you could point your camera at something you like – such as your friend’s cool headphones – snap a photo, and then Marketplace would search across its listings for similar items.

This sort of visual search tech is also common among competitors, including eBay again, plus Pinterest and even Google. Facebook, then, is playing a bit of catch-up for the time being.

Further down the road, Facebook’s plans for Marketplace put it more directly up against Pinterest. It says it envisions using A.I. in the future to help people with home design – like, by uploading a photo of their living room, then getting suggestions about furniture to buy. Home design and inspiration, of course, is the bread-and-butter of sites like Pinterest, Houzz and others, including newcomer Hutch.

That said, even if it’s lacking in some features today, Facebook Marketplace is not one to be counted out. Thanks to Facebook’s size and scale (and the annoying way it continuously red badged the Marketplace icon, forcing users to keep tapping it), the company says its buy-and-sell platform has grown to be used by more than one out of every three people in the U.S. on a monthly basis.

 

 

 

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Why Are Some Browsers Faster Than Others?

Do you have a favorite browser? If so, what makes it so appealing? For some people, it might be the availability of plugins and extensions; others might like to use a browser that guarantees their privacy.

For a lot of users, however, the most important aspect is speed.

But what makes one browser faster than another? You can break it down into technical aspects and user-controlled aspects. Keep reading to find out more.

The Technical Aspects

Every browser is coded differently by its developers. The different approaches to coding can affect how long it takes a web page to load.

There are two key features to be aware of: the browser engine and JavaScript engine.

Browser Engine

The browser engine is a key component of every browser. It is responsible for lots of tasks, including parsing the HTML and CSS code, displaying it on your computer screen, and enforcing security policy.

At the very least, the browser engine can display HTML and XML documents and images, and establish font, color, and text size. Depending on the browser you’re using, it might also be able to display PDFs and other documents.

Common Browser Engines

Several browser engines exist, but there are four commonly used ones that you’re likely to encounter: Blink, EdgeHTML, Gecko, and WebKit.

Blink is a cross-platform engine developed by Google, Opera, Adobe, Intel, and Samsung. You will find it in both Chrome and Opera. It started life as a fork of WebKit, which itself was a fork of KDE’s KHTML and KJS libraries. It has a free-to-use GNU LGPL license.

EdgeHTML is Microsoft’s proprietary browser engine. It’s specifically made for use in the company’s Edge browser. EdgeHTML replaced Trident (found in Internet Explorer) in 2015. Theoretically, it is fully compatible with Blink and WebKit.

Gecko is Mozilla’s offering. You’ll find it in the Firefox, Thunderbird, and several lesser-known browsers. (Check our list of tips for speeding up Firefox if it’s your browser of choice.)

Finally, WebKit is Apple’s browser engine. It is used in Safari, the Amazon Kindle browser, Tizen smart TVs, and Blackberry OS. Until 2013, it was also Chrome’s browser engine.

Other browser engines you might stumble across include Goanna (a fork of Gecko) and Servo (an experimental Mozilla engine).

Diminishing Importance

In the 2000s, the browser engine was arguably the most critical factor when determining whether one browser could load pages faster than its competitors.

However, as the technology becomes more sophisticated, the importance of browser engines is diminishing. It is no longer the most important technical aspect regarding performance.

Instead, you need to pay attention to the JavaScript engine.

JavaScript Engine

Each browser also uses a JavaScript engine. It has the most significant influence on how quickly a browser can load a web page.

In case you’re not aware, JavaScript is a programming language found on the internet. It’s generally behind user experience features like interactive objects and animations.

The JavaScript engine is responsible for converting a site’s JavaScript code into an optimized output that the browser can interpret in as little time as possible. Once again, there are different JavaScript engines in each of the main browsers.

V8

V8 is Google’s JavaScript engine. You’ll find it in Chrome browser; it’s been around since Chrome first launched in 2008.

It has two code compilers: Full-codegen (a fast compiler that creates unoptimized code) and Crankshaft (a slower compiler that produces optimized code). Code runs though Full-codegen first. If Crankshaft decides it needs optimizing, it steps in.

JavaScriptCore

JavaScriptCore—branded as Nitro—underpins Apple’s Safari browser. It’s the second mainstream JavaScript engine.

It works differently from V8. Instead of using two compilers, it runs all the JavaScript through a lexical analysis to create tokens. The tokens are converted into bytecode using a parser; then four “Just-in-time” processes execute the bytecode.

(For ways to speed up Safari, check out our guide.)

SpiderMonkey

SpiderMonkey was the original JavaScript engine. Netscape created it back in the 1990s. After Netscape’s demise, it became open source. Today, Mozilla maintains it and it’s found in Firefox.

The only other common JavaScript engine is Chakra. It is part of Microsoft Edge.

Which JavaScript Engine Is the Fastest?

There’s no definitive answer to which JavaScript engine is the fastest. One piece of JavaScript code might run faster in Safari; another might run more quickly in Chrome.

Much of the difference is determined by how the underlying JavaScript is written and how nicely it plays with the various engines’ compilers. Some browsers also use loading and caching algorithms to further improve speed on a site-by-site basis.

The User-Controlled Aspects

Some aspects of why one browser seems faster than another one fall under the user’s control. Here are three of the most common issues that you can address right now.

1. Updates

We’ve mentioned this before: you should ensure you’re always running the most up-to-date version of your browser.

Aside from extra features and security enhancements, the under-the-hood technical aspects continually improve. If you haven’t updated in a while, you might see some substantial speed gains by merely hitting the update button.

2. Extensions and Add-Ons

Plugins, extensions, and add-ons can make your browser far more functional. But they can also be a significant drag on its resources; they chew through the available CPU power and RAM.

We know it’s tempting to keep adding more, but you shouldn’t run more extensions that absolutely necessary.

3. Browsing Data

Browsers collect an enormous amount of data about your usage patterns. That includes your browsing history, cookies, download logs, and more. It also creates an increasingly large cache.

Cleaning out all that data could result in a notable improvement in speed; the browser has to spend less time digging through files in the background to find what it’s looking for.

We wrote about all these issues and more when we covered little-known factors that could affect your browser speed.

Other Ways to Speed Up Your Internet Experience

The browser is just one part of a fast internet experience. Aspects such as your router, Wi-Fi network, ISP, and geographical location can all play a role too.

Some of those are under your control. Check out our guides about Wi-Fi mistakes to avoid and changing your DNS settings to learn more about internet connection speed.

Read the full article: Why Are Some Browsers Faster Than Others?

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The 6 Best Mac Markdown Editors for Everyone

Markdown is a lightweight markup language that makes it easy to format and present content for the web. It uses plain text and simple syntax to keep everything straightforward—we have a handy Markdown cheat sheet you can print for reference.

While any plain text editor will work for Markdown, there are also dedicated Markdown editors for displaying and converting your writing into beautiful HTML, PDF, and beyond. Some of these are free, others are cheap, and some work with other tools to make Markdown more appealing.

Here are six of the best Markdown editors and tools for Mac users.

1. MacDown

MacDown is a free and open source Markdown editor based on Mou. It surfaced when Mou’s developer ceased work on the project, sparking the idea to create a free editor that mimicked much of Mou’s features and functionality. The two projects are separate ventures, with MacDown steaming ahead in terms of development.

This is a Markdown editor that isn’t so much focused on code as it is writing. It uses a simple two-pane code view and rendered Markdown view to display changes in real-time. There’s the usual syntax highlighting you’d expect from an editor of its kind, and the editor offers a surprisingly good amount of customization.

This includes changes to the core functionality, allowing you to toggle non-standard Markdown extensions like tables, strikethroughs, and fenced code blocks. There are a ton of light and dark themes to choose from. Plus it has the ability to tweak editor appearance including line spacing and base font.

You can also change rendering style by picking from the included CSS or installing your own stylesheets. Rendering options are limited to HTML and PDF, with a handy Copy HTML feature for pasting directly into your projects.

Download: MacDown (Free)

2. Typora

If you’re not keen on the two-pane approach of most Markdown editors, check out Typora. It’s an editor that makes working with Markdown more visually appealing, using a seamless live preview rather than a separate window. Syntax converts into formatted text as you type, so what you see is what you get.

Typora supports basic Markdown, GitHub Flavored Markdown, and some interesting additional elements like sequence, flowchart, and mermaid diagrams. You can configure your choice of syntax via the preferences menu, which provides plenty of opportunity to tweak the editor to your liking.

There’s very little on-screen while you’re composing your masterpiece. That makes this ideal for those who enjoy distraction-free writing experiences. Building on this there’s also a typewriter mode (which always keeps the cursor in the middle of the screen) and focus mode (which dims paragraphs you’re currently not working on).

Choose from six included styles, or add your own by copying the relevant stylesheets into the themes folder. In addition to the usual HTML and PDF export, Typora can also convert to Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, RTF, ePub, LaTeX, and image formats (among others).

There’s no online sync, so if you use multiple platforms you’ll need to provide your own cloud solution. Typora is currently free while in beta, and it’s available for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Download: Typora (Free)

3. Atom

Atom is GitHub’s own plain text editor for scripting, coding, and writing GitHub Flavored Markdown. It’s a fairly simple app with Markdown support out of the box, albeit a little barebones for writers. It takes the standard two-pane preview window approach, with a Markdown Preview option found under the Packages menu.

Out of the box you’d be forgiven for discounting Atom, but there’s a lot more potential when you pair it with the right add-ons. A quick search of the package repository yields a healthy number of extensions that make Atom a force to be reckoned with when working with Markdown.

These include conversion tools to HTML, PDF, and image formats. You’ll also find support for other flavors beyond GitHub Flavored Markdown, toolbar plugins, table of contents generators, better image support, and tools for improved tables.

It’s a great solution if you already use Atom, or are looking for a plaintext editor you can also use for scripting or other programming purposes. Atom also enjoys great theme support, so you can get your editor looking just the way you like it. Just search for and install themes within the editor.

Atom is completely free as part of GitHub’s efforts to provide a tool that makes coding accessible to all. It might not be the most user-friendly approach, but it’s a robust and powerful tool in the right hands. Visual Studio Code is another great free alternative to Atom that’s also worth checking out.

Download: Atom (Free)

4. Caret

Caret is another minimal Markdown editor, with a clean interface and emphasis on productivity. It uses tabs to keep all relevant documents close at hand, with a main editor that displays both the syntax and the resulting formatted text. It’s a great way to learn Markdown, since your syntax is always visible, but you can also enable a preview pane if you want.

Caret officially supports GitHub Flavored Markdown, including tables, math blocks, and indented code blocks. It also packs a few unique features, like the thematic break accessible with three spaces and three identical dashes or asterisks.

The sidebar displays a folder’s contents, with your active documents appearing along the top edge of the editor. There’s a macOS Spotlight-like Go To tool for quickly jumping to a file or section of your document, a dark mode, and typewriter mode too.

Caret’s developers built it with speed in mind. It features assistance for building tables, auto-completion of file paths, emoji, and HTML. You also get spelling correction and multiple cursors—a feature normally reserved for powerful text editors.

Caret exports to HTML and PDF, and the beta version is free (though it’s not clear what the limitations to this version are). You can buy a license for $29 to continue to use Caret and support development efforts.

Download: Caret (Free trial, $29)

5. Ulysses

Ulysses is a full-fat writing app, with some seriously powerful features. It’s the sort of app you’ll want to use if writing is your livelihood, with its distraction-free and minimal approach to producing prose. It uses Markdown in a bid to make writers more productive, removing the need to take your eyes off the text to apply formatting or create headers.

Like Caret, Ulysses takes a hybrid approach to markup. Your syntax is still visible while writing, but so too is the formatting that this markup applies to your text. Links appear in-line, and bold and italics are both emphasized. You have the ability to customize how these elements appear in the app’s preferences.

For working with Markdown, you can choose from regular Markdown and what Ulysses calls Markdown XL. This adds additional syntax for elements like videos, annotations, comments, block quotes, and more. Some themes let you change how the editor displays your elements, plus you have the opportunity to create your own themes.

Ulysses really comes into its own when it comes to exporting your writing. There are themes available for exporting beautiful HTML and PDF documents, but also support for ePub and Microsoft Word. Cloud support via iCloud or Dropbox means you can work on the same documents using different devices (including iOS devices). Versioning support ensures you can revert to a backup if needed.

As a pure writing and publishing tool, Ulysses has the most to offer of all apps featured here. However, you might not need everything Ulysses offers, so a free option might suit you just as well. Ulysses uses a subscription model with a 14-day free trial, then $5 per month. You can also get Ulysses as part of the Mac app subscription service Setapp.

Download: Ulysses (Free trial, $5 monthly/$40 yearly)

6. Marked 2

Marked 2 isn’t actually an editor, but a Markdown preview tool. That means you won’t use Marked to create documents, but it can turn just about any other text editor into a Markdown editor. The preview the app generates updates every time you save your file, or you can use it as a proofreading tool for files you’ve already created.

The app includes a wide array of processing and rendering options for getting the look you want. You can customize Marked with your own CSS to match your blog, so you know how your articles will look as you write them. You can also use the built-in readability, spellcheck, and link validation tools to make sure your work is up to scratch.

Marked also includes a table of contents panel for working with especially long documents, generated using your headings. The app is compliant with Markdown, GitHub Flavored Markdown, and even includes support for custom processors so coders can use the app with their own syntax.

Export options are extensive, with support for nine built-in themes (with the option of adding your own). Formats include PDF, RTF, Microsoft Word, and OpenOffice. You can try Marked for free before you buy, then pay $14 for the full version. It’s also available on Setapp.

Download: Marked 2 (Free trial, $14)

Don’t Forget Your Favorite Mac Text Editors

You don’t need a fancy Markdown editor to work with Markdown. A plain text editor works too. Your favorite editor will do, whether it’s Sublime Text, Visual Studio Code, or Vim. Check out our favorite plaintext editors for Mac if you’re looking for inspiration.

Read the full article: The 6 Best Mac Markdown Editors for Everyone

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4 Reasons Steam Link for Android Isn’t Worth Using

Steam is the standard way of playing games on your PC, but the company offers ways to play elsewhere too. Notably, the Steam Link device lets you stream games from your PC to your TV.

As another option, Valve introduced a Steam Link app for Android in 2018. While having the ability to play PC games on your smartphone sounds exciting, we don’t think it’s as great as it sounds. Here’s why.

What Is Steam Link?

The Steam Link is a physical device that Valve sells for $50. It connects to your TV via HDMI and your home network via Ethernet or Wi-Fi, then streams Steam games from your PC to a TV. It’s handy if you want to play games from the comfort of your couch; we’ve previously shown you how to set up the Steam Link if you have one.

The Steam Link App performs basically the same function, except it’s free. All you need is a PC running Steam, a compatible Android phone, and an internet connection. Notably, the app is not available for iOS due to Apple’s guidelines.

But is setting up the Steam Link Android app worth your time? Not when you consider these four factors:

1. Small Screens Aren’t Great for Gaming

Presumably, you have a monitor that’s at least 20 inches for your desktop. And if you play on a laptop, you might have a 13-inch or 15-inch display. With the Steam Link, you’ll get to experience the same games on a tiny 6-inch (or smaller) phone screen. That doesn’t sound like fun.

The best Android games take advantage of the smaller displays of phones, but playing PC games on your phone doesn’t give you this luxury. While most games should look decent, there’s a fair graphical downgrade involved here. It’s a bit like watching a movie on a tiny airplane seat screen; it’s doable, but not the ideal way to enjoy a movie.

This isn’t an issue with the proper Steam Link, as that connects to your 40-inch-plus TV. You could use the Steam Link app on an Android tablet for a larger display, of course. But tablets aren’t as popular as they once were, so that’s a several-hundred dollar expense just to play games on another device if you don’t already own a tablet.

2. You Lose Keyboard and Mouse Controls

Playing Battle Royale games on PS4 makes me REALLY miss keyboard and mouse controls

— Nathan (@NathanAvie) September 15, 2018

Most PC gamers swear by keyboard and mouse controls. They’re objectively better for first-person shooters, and also make sense for a lot of other genres. However, the Steam Link app doesn’t have support the keyboard and mouse combo.

When you walk through setup, you can choose between the Steam Controller, another Bluetooth controller, or touch controls (more on that soon). You’re welcome to try connecting a keyboard to your Android phone, but that involves buying a clunky adapter.

Plus, even if you got a keyboard and mouse connected to your phone, there’s still the issue of latency. Most games demand a high level of precision from your mouse, which won’t happen when you’re streaming games over a network.

Plenty of games have controller support, so you should stick to those if you plan to use the Steam Link app. For some people, this will severely limit their library and the usefulness of the app.

3. Internet Connection Issues

With something as precise as video games, it’s no surprise that the Steam Link app has a few requirements for your network connection. Your phone and PC must be on the same network, so there’s no playing on-the-go.

Steam also recommends a wired connection, which isn’t possible on an Android phone or tablet. For wireless use, it recommends using a 5GHz network. While this has less congestion than a 2.4GHz network, it also has shorter range. This limits how far away from your router you can play games.

If your PC isn’t already hard-wired into your network, you can basically forget about using this app. Perhaps you have a laptop with no Ethernet port or have to use Wi-Fi on your desktop due to your house’s setup. In either case, Steam Link will be near-unplayable due to lag.

This will obviously vary based on your setup. But several potential issues mean that many people will find Steam Link unusable or unsatisfactory due to network concerns. Steam even says that powerline adapters (a common solution to Wi-Fi issues) can have issues with interference.

4. Touch Controls Are Garbage

We mentioned earlier that a lack of keyboard and mouse controls will likely sour the experience for many. Without these, your options are connecting a Bluetooth controller or using touch controls.

If you already have the Steam controller or another Bluetooth-compatible controller, that’s great. (We’ve shown how to connect a PS3 controller to Android if not). But if you don’t have one of these controllers, you’ll have to either spend some money on one or put up with touch controls.

In case you’ve never tried them before, touch controls are terrible. They’re passable for slow-moving RPGs like Pokemon, but little else. Any game that uses more than a few buttons, or requires precise movement, will quickly grow old on touch controls. Plus, they clutter up the screen.

What Do You Think of the Steam Link App?

We don’t mean to dismiss the Steam Link app entirely here. It’s certainly a neat tool, and Valve making it available for free is awesome. However, it requires you to jump through several hoops to achieve gameplay that’s actually enjoyable, making it more trouble than it’s worth for most people.

If you don’t have any extra peripherals and use a wireless connection, out of the box the Steam Link app provides a laggy gameplay experience on a small screen with bad controls. You’ll need to spend time and money to resolve this situation, at which point you’ll wonder if it was even worth it.

Why not just play your games on your PC as they’re meant to be enjoyed? There you have a larger screen, proper controls, and lag-free gameplay.

If you don’t like Steam Link, it might still be worth taking a look at these other ways to stream games from your PC to your TV.

Read the full article: 4 Reasons Steam Link for Android Isn’t Worth Using

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Google’s cyber unit Jigsaw introduces Intra, a new security app dedicated to busting censorship

Jigsaw, the division owned by Google parent Alphabet, has revealed Intra, a new app aimed at protecting users from state-sponsored censorship.

Intra is a new app that aims to prevent DNS manipulation attacks. Whenever you visit a website, the easy-to-remember web address is converted to a less-than-memorable IP address — often over an unsecured connection. That makes it easy for oppressive governments — like Turkey, which has used this technique before — to intercept web addresses requests and either kill them in their tracks to stop sites from loading, or redirect to a fake site.

By passing all your browsing queries and app traffic through an encrypted connection to a trusted Domain Name Server, Intra says it ensures you can use your app without meddling or get to the right site without interference.

“Intra is dead simple to use. Just download the app and turn it on,” Jigsaw said. “That’s it.”

Jigsaw has already seen some successes in parts of the world where internet access is restricted or monitored. The government in Venezuela reportedly used DNS manipulation to prevent citizens from accessing news sites and social networks.

The app uses Google’s own trusted DNS server by default, but users can also funnel their browsing requests through Cloudflare, which also hosts its own publicly accessible secure DNS server, or any other secure DNS server.

Admittedly, that requires a bit of trust for Google and Cloudflare — or any third party. A Jigsaw spokesperson told TechCrunch that Intra’s use of Google’s DNS is covered by its privacy policy, and Cloudflare also has its own.

Jigsaw said it will bake the app into Android Pie, which already allows already allows encrypted DNS connections. But Jigsaw is also making the app available for users in parts of the world with weaker economies that make upgrading from older devices near-impossible so they can benefit from the security features.

It’s the latest piece in the security and privacy puzzle that Jigsaw is trying to solve.

The little-known Alphabet division is focused on preventing censorship, threats of online harassment and countering violent extremism. The incubator focuses on empowering free speech and expression by providing tools and services that make online safer for higher-risk targets.

Jigsaw has also invested its time on several other anti-censorship apps, including Project Shield, which protects sites against distributed denial-of-service attacks, as well as Outline, which gives reporters and activists a virtual private network that funnels data through a secure channel.

Google’s Think Tank Changes Its Name To Jigsaw And Becomes A Tech Incubator

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6 Reasons Why Python Is the Programming Language of the Future

Europe is drawing fresh battle lines around the ethics of big data

It’s been just over four months since Europe’s tough new privacy framework came into force. You might believe that little of substance has changed for big tech’s data-hungry smooth operators since then — beyond firing out a wave of privacy policy update spam, and putting up a fresh cluster of consent pop-ups that are just as aggressively keen for your data.

But don’t be fooled. This is the calm before the storm, according to the European Union’s data protection supervisor, Giovanni Buttarelli, who says the law is being systematically flouted on a number of fronts right now — and that enforcement is coming.

“I’m expecting, before the end of the year, concrete results,” he tells TechCrunch, sounding angry on every consumer’s behalf.

Though he chalks up some early wins for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) too, suggesting its 72 hour breach notification requirement is already bearing fruit.

He also points to geopolitical pull, with privacy regulation rising up the political agenda outside Europe — describing, for example, California’s recently passed privacy law, which is not at all popular with tech giants, as having “a lot of similarities to GDPR”; as well as noting “a new appetite for a federal law” in the U.S.

Yet he’s also already looking beyond GDPR — to the wider question of how European regulation needs to keep evolving to respond to platform power and its impacts on people.

Next May, on the anniversary of GDPR coming into force, Buttarelli says he will publish a manifesto for a next-generation framework that envisages active collaboration between Europe’s privacy overseers and antitrust regulators. Which will probably send a shiver down the tech giant spine.

Notably, the Commission’s antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager — who has shown an appetite to take on big tech, and has so far fined Google twice ($2.7BN for Google Shopping and staggering $5BN for Android), and who is continuing to probe its business on a number of fronts while simultaneously eyeing other platforms’ use of data — is scheduled to give a keynote at an annual privacy commissioners’ conference that Buttarelli is co-hosting in Brussels later this month.

Her presence hints at the potential of joint-working across historically separate regulatory silos that have nonetheless been showing increasingly overlapping concerns of late.

See, for example, Germany’s Federal Cartel Office accusing Facebook of using its size to strong-arm users into handing over data. And the French Competition Authority probing the online ad market — aka Facebook and Google — and identifying a raft of problematic behaviors. Last year the Italian Competition Authority also opened a sector inquiry into big data.

Traditional competition law theories of harm would need to be reworked to accommodate data-based anticompetitive conduct — essentially the idea that data holdings can bestow an unfair competitive advantage if they cannot be matched. Which clearly isn’t the easiest stinging jellyfish to nail to the wall. But Europe’s antitrust regulators are paying increasing mind to big data; looking actively at whether and even how data advantages are exclusionary or exploitative.

In recent years, Vestager has been very public with her concerns about dominant tech platforms and the big data they accrue as a consequence, saying, for example in 2016, that: “If a company’s use of data is so bad for competition that it outweighs the benefits, we may have to step in to restore a level playing field.”

Buttarelli’s belief is that EU privacy regulators will be co-opted into that wider antitrust fight by “supporting and feeding” competition investigations in the future. A future that can be glimpsed right now, with the EC’s antitrust lens swinging around to zoom in on what Amazon is doing with merchant data.

“Europe would like to speak with one voice, not only within data protection but by approaching this issue of digital dividend, monopolies in a better way — not per sectors,” Buttarelli tells TechCrunch. 

“Monopolies are quite recent. And therefore once again, as it was the case with social networks, we have been surprised,” he adds, when asked whether the law can hope to keep pace. “And therefore the legal framework has been implemented in a way to do our best but it’s not in my view robust enough to consider all the relevant implications… So there is space for different solutions. But first joint enforcement and better co-operation is key.”

From a regulatory point of view, competition law is hampered by the length of time investigations take. A characteristic of the careful work required to probe and prove out competitive harms that’s nonetheless especially problematic set against the blistering pace of technological innovation and disruption. The law here is very much the polar opposite of ‘move fast and break things’.

But on the privacy front at least, there will be no 12 year wait for the first GDPR enforcements, as Buttarelli notes was the case when Europe’s competition rules were originally set down in 1957’s Treaty of Rome.

He says the newly formed European Data Protection Board (EDPB), which is in charge of applying GDPR consistently across the bloc, is fixed on delivering results “much more quickly”. And so the first enforcements are penciled in for around half a year after GDPR ‘Day 1’.

“I think that people are right to feel more impassioned about enforcement,” he says. “We see awareness and major problems with how the data is treated — which are systemic. There is also a question with regard to the business model, not only compliance culture.

“I’m expecting concrete first results, in terms of implementation, before the end of this year.”

“No blackmailing”

Tens of thousands of consumers have already filed complaints under Europe’s new privacy regime. The GDPR updates the bloc’s longstanding data protection rules, bringing proper enforcement for the first time in the form of much larger fines for violations — to prevent privacy being the bit of the law companies felt they could safely ignore.

The EDPB tells us that more than 42,230 complaints have been lodged across the bloc since the regulation began applying, on May 25. The board is made up of the heads of EU Member State’s national data protection agencies, with Buttarelli serving as its current secretariat.

“I did not appreciate the tsunami of legalistic notices landing on the account of millions of users, written in an obscure language, and many of them were entirely useless, and in a borderline even with spamming, to ask for unnecessary agreements with a new privacy policy,” he tells us. “Which, in a few cases, appear to be in full breach of the GDPR — not only in terms of spirit.”

He also professes himself “not surprised” about Facebook’s latest security debacle — describing the massive new data breach the company revealed on Friday as “business as usual” for the tech giant. And indeed for “all the tech giants” — none of whom he believes are making adequate investments in security.

“In terms of security there are much less investments than expected,” he also says of Facebook specifically. “Lot of investments about profiling people, about creating clusters, but much less in preserving the [security] of communications. GDPR is a driver for a change — even with regard to security.”

Asked what systematic violations of the framework he’s seen so far, from his pan-EU oversight position, Buttarelli highlights instances where service operators are relying on consent as their legal basis to collect user data — saying this must allow for a free choice.

Or “no blackmailing”, as he puts it.

Facebook, for example, does not offer any of its users, even its users in Europe, the option to opt out of targeted advertising. Yet it leans on user consent, gathered via dark pattern consent flows of its own design, to sanction its harvesting of personal data — claiming people can just stop using its service if they don’t agree to its ads.

It also claims to be GDPR compliant.

It’s pretty easy to see the disconnect between those two positions.

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 11: Facebook co-founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg prepares to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill April 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. This is the second day of testimony before Congress by Zuckerberg, 33, after it was reported that 87 million Facebook users had their personal information harvested by Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm linked to the Trump campaign. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“In cases in which it is indispensable to build on consent it should be much more than in the past based on exhaustive information; much more details, written in a comprehensive and simple language, accessible to an average user, and it should be really freely given — so no blackmailing,” says Buttarelli, not mentioning any specific tech firms by name as he reels off this list. “It should be really freely revoked, and without expecting that the contract is terminated because of this.

“This is not respectful of at least the spirit of the GDPR and, in a few cases, even of the legal framework.”

His remarks — which chime with what we’ve heard before from privacy experts — suggest the first wave of complaints filed by veteran European data protection campaigner and lawyer, Max Schrems, via his consumer focused data protection non-profit noyb, will bear fruit. And could force tech giants to offer a genuine opt-out of profiling.

The first noyb complaints target so-called ‘forced consent‘, arguing that Facebook; Facebook-owned Instagram; Facebook-owned WhatsApp; and Google’s Android are operating non-compliant consent flows in order to keep processing Europeans’ personal data because they do not offer the aforementioned free choice opt out of data collection.

Schrems also contends that this behavior is additionally problematic because dominant tech giants are gaining an unfair advantage over small businesses — which simply cannot throw their weight around in the same way to get what they want. So that’s another spark being thrown in on the competition front.

Discussing GDPR enforcement generally, Buttarelli confirms he expects to see fines specifically before the year is out — so once DPAs have worked through the first phase of implementation (and got on top of their rising case loads).

Of course it will be up to local data protection agencies to issue any fines. But the EDPB and Buttarelli are the glue between Europe’s (currently) 28 national data protection agencies — playing a highly influential co-ordinating and steering role to ensure the regulation gets consistently applied.

He doesn’t say exactly where be thinks the first penalties will fall but notes a smorgasbord of issues that are being commonly complained about, saying: “Now we have an obvious trend and even a peak, in terms of complaints; different violations focusing particularly, but not only, on social media; big data breaches; rights like right of access to information held; right to erasure.”

He illustrates his conviction of incoming fines by pointing to the recent example of the ICO’s interim report into Cambridge Analytica’s misuse of Facebook data, in July — when the UK agency said it intended to fine Facebook the maximum possible (just £500k, because the breach took place before GDPR).

A similarly concluded data misuse investigation under GDPR would almost certainly result in much larger fines because the regulation allows for penalties of up to 4% of a company’s annual global turnover. (So in Facebook’s case the maximum suddenly balloons into the billions.)

The GDPR’s article 83 sets out general conditions for calculating fines — saying penalties should be “effective, proportionate and dissuasive”; and they must take into account factors such as whether an infringement was intentional or negligent; the categories of personal data affected; and how co-operative the data controller is as the data supervisor investigates.

For the security breach Facebook disclosed last week the EU’s regulatory oversight process will involve an assessment of how negligent the company was; what response steps it took when it discovered the breach, including how it communicated with data protection authorities and users; and how comprehensively it co-operatives with the DPC’s investigation. (In a not-so-great sign for Facebook the Irish DPC has already criticized its breach notification for lacking detail).

As well as evaluating a data controller’s security measures against GDPR standards, EU regulators can “prescribe additional safeguards”, as Buttarelli puts it. Which means enforcement is much more than just a financial penalty; organizations can be required to change their processes and priorities too.

And that’s why Schrems’ forced consent complaints are so interesting.

Because a fine, even a large one, can be viewed by a company as revenue-heavy as Facebook as just another business cost to suck up as it keeps on truckin’. But GDPR’s follow on enforcement prescriptions could force privacy law breakers to actively reshape their business practices to continue doing business in Europe.

And if the privacy problem with Facebook is that it’s forcing people-tracking ads on everyone, the solution is surely be a version of Facebook that does not require users to accept privacy intrusive ads to use it.

So GDPR could force the social network behemoth to revise its entire business model.

Which would make even a $1.63BN fine the company could face as a result of Friday’s security breach pale into insignificance.

Accelerating ethics

There’s a wrinkle here though. Buttarelli does not sound convinced that GDPR alone will be remedy enough to fix all privacy hostile business models that EU regulators are seeing. Hence his comment about a “question with regard to the business model”.

And also why he’s looking ahead and talking about the need to evolve the regulatory landscape — to enable joint working between traditionally discrete areas of law. 

“We need structural remedies to make the digital market fairer for people,” he says. “And therefore this is we’ve been successful in persuading our colleagues of the Board to adopt a position on the intersection of consumer protection, competition rules and data protection. None of the independent regulators’ three areas, not speaking about audio-visual deltas, can succeed in their sort of old fashioned approach.

“We need more interaction, we need more synergies, we need to look to the future of these sectoral legislations.”

People are targeted with content to make them behave in a certain way. To predict but also to react. This is not the kind of democracy we deserve. Giovanni Buttarelli, European Data Protection Supervisor

The challenge posed by the web’s currently dominant privacy-hostile business models is also why, in a parallel track, Europe’s data protection supervisor is actively pushing to accelerate innovation and debate around data ethics — to support efforts to steer markets and business models in, well, a more humanitarian direction.

When we talk he highlights that Sir Tim Berners-Lee will be keynoting at the same European privacy conference where Vestager will appear at — which has an overarching discussion frame of “Debating Ethics: Dignity and Respect in Data Driven Life” as its theme.

Accelerating innovation to support the development of more ethical business models is also clearly the Commission’s underlying hope and aim.

Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, has been increasingly strident in his criticism of how commercial interests have come to dominate the Internet by exploiting people’s personal data, including warning earlier this year that platform power is crushing the web as a force for good.

He has also just left his academic day job to focus on commercializing the pro-privacy, decentralized web platform he’s been building at MIT for years — via a new startup, called Inrupt.

Doubtless he’ll be telling the conference all about that.

“We are focusing on the solutions for the future,” says Buttarelli on ethics. “There is a lot of discussion about people becoming owners of their data, and ‘personal data’, and we call that personal because there’s something to be respected, not traded. And on the contrary we see a lot of inequality in the tech world, and we believe that the legal framework can be of an help. But will not give all the relevant answers to identify what is legally and technically feasible but morally untenable.”

Also just announced as another keynote speaker at the same conference later this month: Apple’s CEO Tim Cook.

In a statement on Cook’s addition to the line-up, Buttarelli writes: “We are delighted that Tim has agreed to speak at the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners. Tim has been a strong voice in the debate around privacy, as the leader of a company which has taken a clear privacy position, we look forward to hearing his perspective. He joins an already superb line up of keynote speakers and panellists who want to be part of a discussion about technology serving humankind.”

So Europe’s big fight to rule the damaging impacts of big data just got another big gun behind it.

Apple CEO Tim Cook looks on during a visit of the shopfitting company Dula that delivers tables for Apple stores worldwide in Vreden, western Germany, on February 7, 2017. (Photo: BERND THISSEN/AFP/Getty Images)

 

“Question is [how do] we go beyond the simple requirements of confidentiality, security, of data,” Buttarelli continues. “Europe after such a successful step [with GDPR] is now going beyond the lawful and fair accumulation of personal data — we are identifying a new way of assessing market power when the services delivered to individuals are not mediated by a binary. And although competition law is still a powerful instrument for regulation — it was invented to stop companies getting so big — but I think together with our efforts on ethics we would like now Europe to talk about the future of the current dominant business models.

“I’m… concerned about how these companies, in compliance with GDPR in a few cases, may collect as much data as they can. In a few cases openly, in other secretly. They can constantly monitor what people are doing online. They categorize excessively people. They profile them in a way which cannot be contested. So we have in our democracies a lot of national laws in an anti-discrimination mode but now people are to be discriminated depending on how they behave online. So people are targeted with content to make them behave in a certain way. To predict but also to react. This is not the kind of democracy we deserve. This is not our idea.”

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3 macOS Dock Apps for a Better App Launcher

Your Mac’s Dock is quite customizable, but it’s not as powerful as some of the third-party dock apps available.

If complete control over app launching is what you’re looking for, you’re sure to find these three Dock replacement apps highly useful.

1. SuperTab

SuperTab behaves more like an app switcher replacement than a Dock replacement. It doesn’t sit at the bottom of the screen like the Dock does, but shows up when you hit the shortcut Option + Tab. Having said that, SuperTab does function like the Dock in that it allows you to launch apps and other content.

The app sets you up with multiple docks. Each dock (or “tab row,” as the app calls it) gives you a special set of items such as your recent applications, active apps, and recent documents.

That’s not all; you can also throw in custom elements like website links, folders and subfolders, screenshots, and calendar items. It’s especially handy that you can create a tab row of items belonging to one or more Finder tags, which make it easy to find your files faster.

Adding tab rows, deleting them, and moving them around is easy; the universal icons for these actions lead the way. You also get full control over the number of tab rows you want on display and over their appearance.

Given SuperTab’s versatility, you can keep pretty much any macOS element handy in a tab row. Spotlight searches, Dropbox data, settings panes, clipboards, bookmarks—you can add them all!

SuperTab also doubles up as a text expander thanks to its AutoTypes feature, which can also select menu items for you. To top it all off, SuperTab lets you trigger dock items with hotkeys and even with your voice.

You’ll be happy to know that support for the app goes all the way up to the latest macOS version, Mojave. However, we must warn you that it will take a bit of effort not only to set up SuperTab, but also to keep it from getting cluttered and unusable. But the effort will be worth it.

Download: SuperTab ($20, 30-day trial version available)

2. ActiveDock

If you want a Dock replacement that’s more “Dock-like” than SuperTab, ActiveDock is the perfect solution. Once you install it, you can choose to disable the default Dock from ActiveDock’s settings. These are accessible via the Start Menu (look for the rocket icon at the far left in the dock).

Yes, there’s a Windows-like Start menu that gives you quick access to your Home folder contents and System Preferences.

What does ActiveDock do that the default Dock doesn’t? For starters, it gives you window previews that make it easy to identify open apps while switching between them. But it doesn’t stop there. It allows you to resize windows to different preset sizes right from an app’s preview.

The Show/Hide Desktop dock icon is also a nice touch, and a pretty useful one too!

ActiveDock allows you to group disparate items into a single view. This comes in handy when you want to, say, keep all the resources relevant to a particular project accessible from the dock. You can add apps, files, folders, and photos—any item works as long as it’s accessible via Finder. (If you want to group non-Finder resources, consider apps that let you create unified workspaces.)

You can’t create such groups with the macOS Dock easily. You’ll first have to move/copy individual Finder items out of their original location to a separate folder. Then you’ll have to drag that folder out to the Dock. That’s not convenient at all.

The app gives you quite a few options to customize the look and feel of the dock as well as its contents. Notably, you can switch to a different theme for the dock and add custom icons for applications. You also get to select new icons for Start Menu, Trash, and Show Desktop from one of the available presets.

On the whole, with ActiveDock you get a versatile launcher that’s easy to set up and use.

Download: ActiveDock ($20 standard license, trial version available)

3. TabLauncher

TabLauncher sticks a Dock-like panel to the right edge of your Mac’s screen. (You can move the panel to any edge of the screen by dragging and dropping it into the right location.)

The icons are not visible directly, but are hidden behind different tabs such as Tools, Net, and Main. These tabs or icon groups make it easier to keep the dock from getting cluttered.

You’re free to create more tabs for better organization—unless you’re using the lite version of the app, in which case you’ll have to stick with three tabs only. But you can rename the default tabs and customize their contents.

TabLauncher comes with window previews for active apps. It also gives you fine control over the appearance and function of the tabs as well as their icons.

You should have no trouble getting the hang of TabLauncher, especially after you move it to the bottom of the screen, where you’re used to seeing the Dock.

The Special Tabs feature can prove quite useful. It lets you place specific folders, active windows, recently modified files, and so on within individual tabs. With the Music tab, you can keep a mini music player and internet radio in the dock.

You get to decide if you want the TabLauncher dock to show up all the time or only when you mouse over the edge of the screen. You can also choose to have it display all the time when you click on the edge. Or autohide it if you prefer.

Download: TabLauncher ($4, free lite version available)

Is It Time to Get a Better Mac Dock? We Think So!

If you want to keep your setup simple, you might want to stick to the default macOS Dock and try these five shortcuts to make the Dock more useful. If you want to replace the Dock with an more flexible alternative, get one of the apps we have listed above.

Also, how about trying a few Dock apps with a twist? After all, there’s no quicker way to personalize your Mac desktop than sprucing up the Dock.

Read the full article: 3 macOS Dock Apps for a Better App Launcher

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Go-Jek is close to launching a ride-hailing service in Singapore

Indonesia’s ride-sharing startup Go-Jek plans to land in Singapore, its arch-rival Grab’s HQ, as soon as this month as its regional expansion program gains speed, TechCrunch has come to understand.

Go-Jek has grown to become a $5 billion business that’s backed by the likes of Google and Tencent without venturing out of Indonesia, where it original motorbike taxi-hailing app has fanned out to cover cars, on-demand services, payments and more. But it decided to expand in Southeast Asia following Uber’s exit from the region in March, landing first in Vietnam and then Thailand, where it has recruited drivers and is close to commencing its service.

Singapore — a far smaller market but one that’s hugely symbolic — is on its radar and Go-Jek plans to introduce a service in the country before the end of October, a source with knowledge of the plans told TechCrunch.

Exactly what that’ll look like isn’t clear. Unlike Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand, Singapore doesn’t allow motorbike taxis so the company will be launching cars right off the bat. Go-Jek remains in discussions with ComfortDelGro, Singapore’s largest taxi operator which previously had an agreement with Uber, but it may also launch its own private car service to rival Grab directly.

Go-Jek is currently in discussions with investors with a view to raising $2 billion to finance the next stage of its expansion.

Grab was founded in Malaysia but it has since moved its headquarters to Singapore where it is registered as a business. The company was recently valued at $11 billion following the completion of a $2 billion financing round.

Consumers have complained about a lack of options following Uber’s exit and Singapore’s regulators fined Uber and Grab over its “anti-competitive” merger deal, but Grab co-founder Hooi Ling Tan has maintained there’s plenty of competition. Certainly, her statement will ring truer when Go-Jek cars are driving around on Grab’s front lawn.

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The 6 Best Cheap Tablets for Budget Gifts

How to Play Google’s Secret Text Adventure Game

Google is well known for hiding Easter eggs in its products, and the company always excels itself on April Fools’ Day. It turns out there’s a full text adventure game lurking within the Google Search developer console… if you know how to find it.

Play Google’s Hidden Text Adventure Game

To play Google’s secret text adventure, you just need to know where to look. Which is, unsurprisingly, Google Search. This works on Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge, although it looks a bit wonky on Edge because it’s Edge.

Go to Google.com, and search for “text adventure”. Then open the developer console by right-clicking on the page and selecting Inspect. You can also use Ctrl + Shift + I on Windows, and Cmd + Option + I on macOS. Either way, the result should be the same.

Click Console, and you should see a prompt asking, “Would you like to play a game?” Type “Yes”, and Google’s hidden text adventure game will reveal itself. You’ll see the opening lines, a set of possible commands, and the possible exits.

For those of you who have never played a text adventure before, the premise is simple. You read the scene, and then type a command to move the story forwards. Which in this case is you as the big blue G of Google searching for your friends.

Take a Nostalgic Trip Down Memory Lane

Google’s secret text adventure (discovered on Reddit) is a fantastic diversion that should keep you busy for an hour. And for anyone over a certain age it’s also a nostalgic trip into the past when playing a text adventure was considered entertainment.

This text adventure game is far from the only gem hidden within Google products. There are these Google Easter eggs you might have missed. And for the gamers amongst you there are a handful of awesome games to play on Google Search.

Read the full article: How to Play Google’s Secret Text Adventure Game

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Google launches voice assistant app to help people with limited mobility use their phones

Google just introduced a new Android app to better enable people with limited mobility to use their phones. Called Voice Access, the app is offers people a hands-free way to use apps, write and edit text and, of course, talk to the Google Assistant.

It’s designed to make it easier to control specific functions like clicking a button, and scrolling and navigating app screens. Currently, the app is only available in English, but Google is working on additional languages.

Google created the app in service of people with Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and spinal cord injuries, but recognizes that the tool can also be helpful for people whose hands are tied with other tasks.

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How to Fix Windows Update Error 80072EE2

Windows 10 updates are a contentious issue. Some users love the automation; others detest the overbearing approach. Whatever your take, there is always a potential for an error. Namely, Windows 10 error code 80072EE2.

Windows 10 errors are always frustrating, that’s for sure. But they don’t have to keep your system offline for long. Check out the following six fixes for a Windows 10 80072EE2 error.

What Is a Windows 10 80072EE2 Error?

The Windows 10 80072EE2 error means “ERROR_INTERNET_TIMEOUT” and usually accompanies an issue with Windows Update. Within Windows Update, you might see an error message along the lines of “Windows Update encountered an unknown error,” or “Windows could not search for new updates.”

There are a few different quick fixes you can try to eradicate the 80072EE2 internet timeout error.

1. Restart Your System

First thing: restart your system. If you haven’t rebooted in a while, a quick restart can sometimes fix the 80072EE2 error. Reboots fix all sorts of Windows issues and is always a basic troubleshooting step.

2. Run Windows 10 Update Troubleshooter

Windows 10 has loads of integrated troubleshooters. There’s one for Windows Update; you just need to know where to find it.

Head to Control Panel > Troubleshooting > System and Security. Then, select Windows Update from the list.

When the troubleshooting panel appears, select Next. If there are any fixes available, hit Apply this fix. Otherwise, move to the next section.

3. Manually Edit Windows Update Registry Entry

The Windows Registry is a database of system setting. Most of the time, you should steer clear of registry items because you can make unintended catastrophic changes. However, at times, it is the easiest way to fix certain problems. Making random changes to the registry is never a good idea, but specific guided changes can make the difference.

Before continuing, check out how to back up your Windows Registry. It is worth doing, just in case.

Windows Services

Hit Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog. Type services.msc and select OK. Scroll down to Windows Update, right-click, and select Stop.

Next up, open Windows Explorer, then copy and paste C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution into the address bar:

Delete all the contents of this folder.

Head back to the Services panel and restart the Windows Update service. (Find the service, right-click, and select Start.)

Windows Registry

Now, hit Windows Key + R, type regedit, and press OK. When the Registry Editor opens, press CTRL + F, then search for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate. If it doesn’t find the registry entry, try and locate it manually. Sometimes the Registry Editor search loses its way, but the entry is there.

In the right-hand panel, check for the WUServer and WUStatusServer registry keys. If they are there, delete them.

Head back to Windows Services and check that Windows Update is running. If not, start the service manually.

4. Run SFC

If your Windows Update is still throwing up an 80072EE2 error code, you need to move onto other fixes. System File Check is another Windows system tool that checks for missing and corrupt Windows system files. Sounds like CHKDSK, right? Well, SFC checks for Windows system files specifically, while CHKDSK scans your entire drive for errors.

But before running the SFC command, it is best to double-check that it is completely functional.

DISM stands for Deployment Image Servicing and Management. DISM is an integrated Windows utility with a vast range of functions. In this case, the DISM Restorehealth command ensures that our next fix will work properly. Work through the following steps.

1. Type Command Prompt (Admin) in the Start menu search bar, then right-click and select Run as administrator to open an elevated Command Prompt.
2. Type the following command and press Enter: DISM /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
3. Wait for the command to complete. The process can take up to 20 minutes depending on your system health. The process seems stuck at certain times, but wait for it to complete.
4. When the process completes, type sfc /scannow and press Enter.

5. Run CHKDSK

Next up, try running Windows Check Disk from the Command Prompt. CHKDSK is a Windows system tool that verifies the file system and with certain settings, fixes issues as it runs.

Type command prompt in your Start menu search bar, then right-click the best match and select Run as administrator. (Alternatively, press Windows key + X, then select Command Prompt (Admin) from the menu.)

Next, type chkdsk /r and press Enter. The command will scan your system for errors and fix any issues along the way.

6. The Final Straw: Reset Windows 10

If nothing else works, you can use Windows 10’s Reset function to refresh your system files. Windows 10 Reset replaces your system files with a completely fresh set of files and theoretically clears lingering issues relating to your SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION error while keeping the majority of your important files intact.

Head to Settings > Update and Security > Recovery, then under Reset this PC select Get started. Your system restarts as soon as you hit the button, so make sure you to back up any important files beforehand. Your system will restart, then you may select Keep my files or Remove everything.

Windows 10 Error 80072EE2 Fixed

One of these fixes will resolve Windows Update 80072EE2 error code. Windows Update error codes are among the most frustrating because Microsoft has grabbed control over updates. You cannot always choose when they land and if Windows Update fails, it leaves you with some extra work to take of before it works.

Another handy bluescreen error code tool is Nirsoft’s BlueScreenView. It helps you better understand the error codes so you can isolate issues much faster!

Read the full article: How to Fix Windows Update Error 80072EE2

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The 6 Best Free Online Markdown Editors and Converters

Have you been scouring the web in search of an easy-to-use, free online Markdown editor? There are plenty of good options, but also many inferior ones as well. The problem is, you don’t know which is which until you spend the time to find out.

Need a tool that lets you write in Markdown or gives you the ability to convert a document into Markdown? Here is a list of the best Markdown editors for doing both.

The Best Free Markdown Editors for Writing

These free online Markdown editors let you either paste in your text from another location or write it directly in the editors.

1. StackEdit

What makes StackEdit such a standout editor is that it’s ideal for those just learning how to write in Markdown.

As you type your text on the left side of the editor, you can apply the formatting with a toolbar similar to what you would see in Microsoft Word. You can use simple buttons for font formatting, lists, blockquotes, and links. The Markdown side of the editor on the right changes it to the correct syntax automatically.

Notable features for StackEdit include:

• Folder organization, focused writing, and reader mode along with word, line, byte, character, and paragraph counts.
• Importing of Markdown and HTML files as well as exporting to Markdown, HTML, PDF, and Pandoc. Note that small fees may apply for certain types of file exports.
• Syncing with Google Drive, Dropbox, and GitHub along with linking to WordPress, Blogger, and Zendesk for publishing.
• Accessible file history and properties, templates, and a handy Markdown cheat sheet.

For a free online Markdown editor with a great set of features, give StackEdit a try.

2. Dillinger

Dillinger is another really nice Markdown editing option. This tool is perfect for those already familiar with writing in Markdown because there isn’t a toolbar; just a full editor.

Type your text on the left and see it display in rich text on the right. You can switch to an HTML view instead of rich text with a click of a button. The editor also lets you work in a distraction-free, full browser screen mode.

Notable features for Dillinger include:

• Document and session saving.
• Linking, saving, and importing from services like Dropbox, Bitbucket, GitHub, Google Drive, OneDrive, and more.
• Previews and exports in HTML, styled HTML, Markdown, and PDF.
• Auto-save, word and character count, and scroll sync for the editor.

If you’re familiar with Markdown and want a clean, free online editor, Dillinger is a winner.

3. Editor.md

Another Markdown editor, similar to StackEdit, is Editor.md. This open source tool also gives you an easy-to-use toolbar, with even more formatting options that are helpful for Markdown beginners.

You can format everything from fonts to headers to lists. You can also quickly insert links, images, code blocks, tables, emojis, and special characters. Use the online editor or download the application if you prefer. When using it online, you’ll simply copy and paste the rich text version you produce into your desired location.

Notable features for Editor.md include:

• A list of helpful keyboard shortcuts by hitting the Help
• HTML previews with a click.
• Full screen, focused writing without distractions.
• A search tool and a go-to line option.

For a simple Markdown editor that offers a more robust toolbar, check out Editor.md for free.

The Best Free Markdown Editors for Converting

With these free Markdown tools, you can paste in your rich text or upload your document. Then in a snap, convert it to Markdown.

4. Draft

With Draft, you can easily convert documents written in rich text to Markdown that include headers, lists, links, and other items.

Import a document from locations like Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, Box, or your computer. Drag and drop or browse to import your file. Then, just wait a few minutes and your converted Markdown document will display.

Notable features for Draft include:

• Share your document with a link that lets others help you edit it.
• Create folders to organize your documents.
• Publish to sites like WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and others.
• Adjust settings for font style, size, and color along with background color.

You can create an account with Draft for free and receive email notifications for when your documents have been converted and are ready for you. For a good Markdown tool with extra features, head to the site and try out Draft.

5. Paste to Markdown

Paste to Markdown is one of the simplest sites for converting documents to Markdown. You won’t find any extras or fancy features with this tool. But it’s quick, easy, and works.

Convert your document with Paste to Markdown:

• Copy the text from your document or another website.
• Paste the text directly onto the main page of Paste to Markdown.
• You’ll see your document in Markdown and can then copy it and paste it where you need to.

That’s it! You don’t have to click any buttons, hit any keys, or move your mouse. Once you paste the text onto the page it’s converted for you to copy and go. It doesn’t get any easier than Paste to Markdown.

6. Word to Markdown Converter

One final online Markdown tool to try is Word to Markdown Converter. As the name implies, the site currently only works with Microsoft Word documents. However, it does it well.

Convert your document with Word to Markdown Converter:

• Use the Browse button to locate your document or drag and drop it into the bottom section.
• When the new tab opens, you will see both your original and new Markdown text.
• Then, copy the Markdown text and paste it where you need it.

The simplicity of Word to Markdown Converter is like that of Paste to Markdown. There are no bonus features or actions you need to take other than grabbing your document. The only difference is that this free online tool only works with Word. So, if Word is your writing application of choice; this is your tool.

Markdown Made Easy With the Right Editor

Whether you write in it regularly or are just learning Markdown, these free online tools deliver. And if you’re interested in finding out more about what Markdown is and why you should learn it, we’ve got you covered there too.

Read the full article: The 6 Best Free Online Markdown Editors and Converters

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