How to Fix Your Touchscreen in Windows 10

Windows 10 is great for touch screens, especially thanks to the special touch-designed apps part of the Windows Ink Workspace. But is your touchscreen not working? Sometimes it can break for seemingly no reason, so we’re here to show you how to fix your touchscreen in Windows 10.

The majority of the problems are caused by driver incompatibility. This is even more likely if the touchscreen has stopped working between your upgrade from a previous operating system to Windows 10. We’ll cover this, along with many other troubleshooting tips.

1. Run Troubleshooting

The Windows troubleshooting tool could be the quick and easy fix to any problem with your touchscreen.

Do a system search for troubleshooting and select the relevant result. In the new window, click View all from the left-hand menu. From the list that appears, click Hardware and Devices.

Click Next and run the wizard through. The tool will automatically detect issues and then repair them. However, it’s by no means comprehensive and you may need to carry on reading.

2. Calibrate the Touchscreen

When your touchscreen is slow to respond or records your touch gestures inaccurately, a re-calibration might be all it takes to bring it up to speed. Here’s how to perform a touchscreen calibration.

Do a system search for calibrate and select Calibrate the screen for pen or touch. A new window will open containing tablet PC settings.

On the Display tab, use the Setup… and the Calibrate… buttons in turn to see if this resolves the issue.

3. Disable and Re-enable the Touchscreen

The closest fix to rebooting the entire computer, which should have been your very first step, is turning the touchscreen off and back on.

Press CTRL + X and select Device Manager. Double click on Human Interface Devices to open the dropdown. Right click the listing for HID-compliant touch screen and select Disable. You’ll be asked to confirm this, so click Yes.

You now need right click the listing again, but this time select Enable. This is one of the simplest solutions, but it doesn’t always work. In fact, you may find that the issue still continues after a system restart. If that’s the case, please read on.

4. Change Power Management Settings

Windows 10 will do its best to converse power, but sometimes the settings can be overzealous and turn off your touchscreen after a period of activity.

While the touchscreen should automatically enable itself again when it detects input, this isn’t always the case. As such, you can disable the power saving of your touchscreen to see if this fixes the problem.

To begin, press Windows key + X and click Device Manager. Next, double click on Human Interface Devices, then double click the listing for HID-compliant touch screen.

This will open a new window. Switch to the Power Management tab. Untick Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power. Click OK, then restart your system.

5. Update the Drivers

A driver is a piece of software that helps your hardware. For example, your touchscreen communicates with your computer’s processor. Thus touchscreen malfunctions could be due to a faulty driver.

Following on from the instructions above, with Device Manager still open, right click the HID-compliant touch screen and select Update Driver Software….

You’ll want to Search automatically for updated driver software. This will scan Microsoft’s database for any updates available for your touchscreen device. Follow the wizard through as necessary, then restart and see if your problem is resolved.

If not, you should try going directly to the manufacturer’s website, look for their drivers page, select your device number, and download the latest driver.

With this driver downloaded, you may be able to extract it and install it automatically. However, you can select Update Driver Software… again, but this time click Browse my computer for driver software. Use Browse… to locate it, then follow the wizard through.

For more information on updating drivers, check out our guide on how to find and replace outdated drivers.

6. Rollback the Drivers

In Windows 10, the Windows Update also updates your hardware drivers. Unfortunately, not all driver versions work equally well. If it’s actually driver updates that are causing the problems, you should try rolling back to the default.

For this, again in Device Manager, right click the HID-compliant touch screen and then select Properties. Then switch to the Driver tab and select Roll Back Driver.

You know that there’s a specific older driver version that will work but aren’t able to get to it through a rollback. Within the Driver tab select Uninstall instead and then follow the method outlined in step four above.

Windows 10 has automatic updates and you might find that the system keeps pushing the latest drivers onto you—which may very well be the ones causing the problem. For details on how to overcome this, check out our guide on how to take back control over driver updates.

7. Uninstall Recent Programs

For whatever reason, some programs cause touchscreen problems. If your touchscreen has only recently broken, you should uninstall any recently added programs.

To do this, press Windows key + I to open Settings. Click Apps. Use the Sort by dropdown and select Installation date.

Look for the date when the touchscreen problem started. Working up, click each app in turn and Uninstall it. Restart your computer each time and see if it fixes the touchscreen.

8. Move to Another Room

This one sounds weird but bear with me. Other nearby electronic devices can interfere with the touchscreen. It could be caused by something you’ve got plugged into the same power bank or because you’ve got lots of computers in close proximity.

It’s simple to diagnose this, though. Take your touchscreen device somewhere else and try it. If it works, electromagnetic interference is the culprit.

To resolve, go back to the original room and turn off everything else. Then turn them back on one by one to see what causes the problem. If none of them seems to be at fault, check nearby areas for powerful equipment that could be the cause.

9. Contact the Manufacturer

Have you tried all of these tips and your touchscreen is still broken? If so, you should probably contact your system manufacturer to get them to investigate.

It’s likely that the problem is a hardware fault, rather than a system one, and they will have the expertise to fix it. You may find that you’re still covered by warranty, depending on what caused the damage.

Touch Problems Resolved

Hopefully, our advice above has resolved any problems that you were having with your touchscreen.

For related touch content, if you’re having problems with your tablet’s screen, check out our guide on how to resolve your tablet’s touchscreen issues. Or if your touchscreen is now working great, check our guide to essential touchscreen gestures to make the most of it.

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How to Download Anything on the Web for Free: 12 Tips and Tools

6 GIMP Background Tweaks and Tips to Customize Your Images

GIMP is a very powerful image editing tool that offers lots of different ways to remove the background of an image. But which is the right one to use, and how do they work?

In this guide we’ll take a look at six tweaks to help you get started. They’ll enable you to take a picture and make the background transparent, to erase the background so you can blend it with other images, and much more. Please make sure you update to GIMP 2.10 before you begin.

1. Make the Background Transparent in GIMP

When you open a flat image in GIMP it doesn’t support transparency by default. If you want to make the background transparent, there are two simple tricks to enable it to happen.

1. Right click on the layer in the Layers dock and select Add Alpha Channel, or go to Layer > Transparency > Add Alpha Channel.
2. Alternatively, duplicate the background layer by pressing Shift + Ctrl + D on Windows or Linux, or Shift + Cmd + D on Mac. Now delete the original background layer.

In either case you can now make a selection then hit delete to make the selected area transparent.

We’ll now take a look at the various ways GIMP lets you select the background to make it transparent.

2. Change Background With Foreground Select Tool

When your image has reasonably clear separation between the foreground and background, GIMP has an excellent tool that enables you to select one or the other. It’s called the Foreground Select Tool, and you can use it to remove the background in GIMP then slot in a new one.

With Foreground Select, you simply highlight the area which contains the foreground object and GIMP takes care of the rest.

Open your image, right click on the layer, and select Add Alpha Channel.

Pick the Foreground Select Tool. Draw a rough outline around the foreground object. You can trace a single line, or click to add a series of connected points. You don’t need to get too close, but the closer the better. Hit Enter when done.

GIMP now selects the brush tool for the next step. Set an appropriate brush size for your image, then paint over the foreground object in a single line. Don’t color it all in, just make a line that crosses over all the image’s different colors and tones. Then hit Enter again.

After a few seconds, GIMP will analyze the image and create a selection containing only the background. Fine-tune the selection by picking the Free Select Tool. Set the Mode to Add to the Current Selection or Subtract from the Current Selection, then draw round the areas you need to add or remove.

Press Ctrl + I or Cmd + I to invert the selection so that the foreground is now selected. Hit Delete and you’ll remove the background.

Paste in your new background on a new layer, and position it beneath your original image to complete the job.

3. More Tools to Delete the Background in GIMP

GIMP has three other tools you can use to select and then delete the background of an image. Which you should use depends on how well separated the foreground and background are, or whether you’re using one of these graphics tablets with a pen, or a mouse.

Fuzzy Select

This tool selects connected parts of an image containing the same color.

1. Simply click on the area of the image you want to select, and GIMP will do the rest.
2. Set the Threshold to a higher value to include a greater range of similar colors in your selection, or lower to be more precise.

This tools works well where an image has large areas of flat color. It’s better for icons and logos than photos.

Scissors Select

The Scissors Select Tool enables you to semi-automatically select and isolate the foreground object, so that you can then erase the background.

1. Add an Alpha Channel to the image.
2. Pick the Scissors Select Tool. Then, in Tool Options, select Interactive boundary.
3. Click and release on the edge of the foreground object you want to select. This drops an anchor point onto the image.
4. Move the cursor a little way along the edge of the object, then click and hold. A line will appear, connected to the previous anchor point, showing the edge of your selection. If this line tightly follows the edge of the object you’re trying to cut out, release the mouse button to create a new anchor point.
5. If the line deviates from the edge of your object, drag backwards or sideways until it lines up properly. Shorter gaps between the anchor points usually work better.
6. Now repeat until you’ve selected the entire object. Hit Enter to complete the selection.
7. Finally, press Ctrl + I or Cmd + I to select the background, then hit Delete.

Pen Tool

Like Scissors Select, the Pen Tool also allows you to make a selection by drawing a line between a series of anchor points. However, this time the line does not magnetically attach to the object you’re selecting.

1. Add an Alpha Channel to your image.
2. Select the Pen Tool and click on the edge of the object you want to select. This places the first anchor point.
3. Now move the cursor a little way along the edge of the object and click again to drop a new anchor point. Click and release to connect to the previous anchor point with a straight line; click and drag to connect with a curved line. The direction in which you drag will determine the depth and angle of the curve.
4. Repeat this until you’ve selected the whole foreground object. When you’re finished, hit Enter.
5. Press Ctrl + I or Cmd + I to invert the selection, then hit Delete to remove the background.

No matter which tool you use, it’s usually easier to create your selection from whichever is the smaller of the foreground or background, so there’s less work to do.

4. Remove a White Background in GIMP

GIMP has a specialist tool that enables you to remove a white background. It’s particularly good for graphics elements like logos and icons, where the background is a flat, solid white.

1. With your image open, go to Layer > Transparency > Add Alpha Channel.
2. Select Colors > Color to Alpha. This will open a new dialog box.
3. Click the dropper icon next to Color, then click the white background in your image. This will make the white area transparent, and may be enough.
4. To fine tune the selection, select the dropper next to Transparency Threshold then click the darkest area of the background you’d like to remove. You can use this to pick up areas of slight shadow, such as in portrait photos.
5. Select the dropper next to Opacity Threshold then click the lightest area of the foreground object. This will ensure you don’t accidentally remove parts of the foreground.
6. Click OK to finish.

5. Change the Background Color in GIMP

To change the background color in GIMP, use the same process we’ve explained to remove a white background.

Now add one extra step.

Create a new layer, and use the Bucket Fill Tool to fill it with the color you need. In the Layers dock, drag the new layer below the original one to set it as the background.

6. Erase the Background in GIMP With Masks

Finally, if you’re blending multiple images together, you may need to erase the background of one of the top layers in order to reveal what’s underneath. You can do this very quickly using Masks.

1. Open your two images on separate layers in the same file.
2. Select the top layer and click the Masks button at the bottom of the Layers dock. Click Add to add the mask.
3. Select the Brush tool and set the color to black.
4. Now start painting onto the top layer. Where you paint black, the top layer will be erased and the bottom layer will become visible.
5. If you make a mistake, change the brush color to white. Now paint over the black areas of the mask and that will make the top layer visible once again.

More GIMP Tips and Tricks

Being able to remove the background from an image is one of the most important things to master. If you have recently switched from Photoshop to GIMP, it’s especially important as the techniques are different in Photoshop.

Once you’ve got your head around these tweaks, there’s a whole lot more for you to learn, too. Take a look at our guide to using GIMP for photo editing, where you’ll master everything from color correction to removing unwanted objects from your shots.

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How to Use Screen Sharing on a Mac

Getting support for a computer issue is much easier when you can share your screen. Compared to describing your issue over the phone, the difference is night and day.

Your Mac already comes with the software required to make this happen between two users on Apple computers. You can also share your screens across your own Macs, thanks to iCloud.

And if you happen to need support from someone running Windows or Linux, we’ve got that covered too.

Use iMessage for Screen Sharing on a Mac

The easiest way to share your screen, or request to view another user’s screen, is to use Apple’s iMessage chat. Through the Messages app on macOS, you can share your screen with another party provided they are using a Mac and are signed into iMessage with an Apple ID.

While sharing your screen, the other party will have the opportunity to control your computer by requesting access. This requires you explicitly provide permission via a popup dialog box. You should never relinquish control of your Mac to someone you do not know or trust absolutely.

To get started, launch the Messages app and make sure you’re logged in to your Apple ID under Messages > Preferences. To share, or request a screen share:

1. Start a new chat with the person you want to share with.
2. Click Details next to their name in the top-right corner of the window.
3. Click the screen sharing button (it looks like two overlapping rectangles).
4. Choose Invite to share my screen to share your own screen, or Ask to share screen to request to see the other person’s screen.

The other party will need to agree to your request. Once they’ve confirmed it, a FaceTime audio call will begin alongside screen sharing. You can then chat with the other party and discuss the problem (or whatever it is you’re sharing).

You can allow the other party to control your screen via the screen sharing app icon in the menu bar. Look in the top-right corner of your Mac’s screen for the two overlapping rectangles. Click it, then choose Allow [contact] to control my screen.

To undo your decision but still keep screen sharing active, click the screen sharing menu bar icon again and uncheck this option. We’ve covered more on sharing your Mac’s screen via FaceTime if you need additional info.

Access Other Apple Computers With Back to My Mac

You might also want to share a screen with yourself. This is particularly handy if you have more than one Mac in your house, or if you’re at work and you need to access something on a home computer.

This feature uses an iCloud tool called Back to My Mac. You’ll need to enable the feature on any computers you want to access and control before you can use it. Here’s how you set up Back to My Mac on a computer you want to control:

1. Make sure you’re logged in to iCloud under System Preferences > iCloud.
2. On the same screen, make sure Back to My Mac is enabled by checking it in the list of iCloud services.
3. Now head to System Preferences > Sharing and enable Screen Sharing.

Any computer you wish to access must be powered on, but not necessarily logged in. You can log in with Back to My Mac as if you were using the computer directly.

To access a computer you have set up with Back to My Mac, launch Finder and look for the computer in the sidebar under the Shared heading.

If you’ve disabled the Finder sidebar, use View > Show Sidebar to enable it. If you can’t see the Shared section, head to Finder > Preferences. Click Sidebar and enable Back to My Mac under the Shared heading.

Once your computer appears in the Finder sidebar, click on it. You should now see the Share Screen button at the top of the window. Click on this and wait.

You’ll soon see your computer’s screen show up in a new window on your desktop. As soon as the connection establishes, you can control this computer.

Mac Screen Sharing With Third-Party Apps

If you want to share your screen with someone who doesn’t use iMessage or someone who hasn’t got a Mac, you’ll need to rely on third-party apps to do so. Check out our roundup of easy screen sharing and remote access tools for a comprehensive list.

By far one of the easiest third-party tools to use is TeamViewer. You don’t need an account to use it—just download the Team Viewer remote control app to get started. This is all you need to receive support or offer support to others using the service.

Once you’ve got the remote control application, you’ll have a user ID and a password. Give your user ID and password to someone else and they’ll be able to view your screen and control your Mac. The usual advice rings true as always: be careful who you trust!

Get Support and Work Remotely on a Mac

The easiest way to get help with a Mac computer problem is to use iMessage and its built-in Screen Sharing function. For working remotely, enable Back to My Mac on your home or work computers and get access whenever you need it, no matter where you are.

And if you’re really stuck, you can always get computer support from a Windows user via TeamViewer. If you can’t get anyone to take a look at your computer, consider consulting the web’s best support forums and websites to enlist the help of a complete stranger.

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7 Ways to Make Your Website or Blog Load Faster for Visitors

Slow page loading speed is one of the main reasons why your website is not getting the hits it deserves.

As audience attention is at an all-time low, here are some top tips to speed up your site to make sure your visitors stick around.

1. Decrease the Actual Size of Your Website

If your website loads slower than three seconds, people are likely to abandon it even before the homepage loads. Using the wrong format for your images can easily bloat your website, and ruin an otherwise great browsing experience.

Over 70% of mobile web pages are over 1MB, and 12% are over 4MB! Keep in mind that it takes seven seconds to download 1.5MB on a good 3G connection. The best practice is to keep each page under 0.5MB.

Learn the difference between JPG, PNG, and GIF, and make sure you’re using the resolution that you need.

According to GlobalStats, these are the most used screen resolutions for 2018:

• 22.55% use a resolution of 360 x 640 (mobile)
• 11.73% use a resolution of 1366 x 768
• 8.26% use a resolution of 1920 x 1080
• 4.91% use a resolution of 375 x 667 (mobile)
• 2.94% use a resolution of 1440 x 900

This is over 50% of all users, so consider this when you add photos to your website.

2. Design Your Website for Mobile

According to research done by Google last year on mobile page speed:

The average time it takes to fully load a mobile landing page is 22 seconds, according to a new analysis. Yet 53% of mobile site visitors leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load. That’s a big problem.

Over 75% of mobile sites take 10 seconds or more to load over 3G. Well over half of all traffic is via mobile devices, and this is not likely to go down. So keep a small website footprint to make mobile internet users happy, and make sure they stick around!

If you use a CMS like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal, there are plugins to help make your website more mobile-friendly.

Alternatively, you can use tools like bMobilized or Duda Mobile to convert your desktop website to mobile. That said, it’s often best to design a separate website to ensure the best experience for your mobile users.

You should also consider offering a simplified version of your website using the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project. Using AMP pages will improve the page loading speed on mobile. There are strict guidelines for JavaScript and CSS, but the benefits are measurable.

Whichever route you decide to go down, make sure your mobile website is a lightweight option.And try to keep under the 0.5MB recommendation per page.

3. Make Sure Your Website Is Minified

If you’re writing your own website from scratch, edit it regularly. As your project develops, you’re likely learning more efficient ways of doing things, so make sure you go back through your code as you improve.

Minify and combine your CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. If you use a CDN like Cloudflare for example, there is a specific tab for speed improvements, where the first option is Auto Minify. If you use a website builder (like Squarespace or Weebly) this is likely done for you by default.

Make sure you test your website after enabling anything that combines or minifies your website’s resources. Experiment with the different options to see what’s best for your website, as some features can break with Minify enabled.

4. Avoid Loading Scripts When Not Needed

Having to load several JavaScript files before they are needed will slow down the speed of the entire page unnecessarily. Avoid loading scripts from third-party servers if you can.

Requesting these will slow down your loading speed, further and can potentially pose a security risk. Keep them on your website’s server when possible.

You can use defer or async to delay the loading of specific JavaScript files to reduce the strain on visitor’s devices and improve the load speed of your pages. Alternatively, for small scripts, you can inline the JavaScript directly into the HTML document.

Async will tell the browser to continue parsing the HTML at the same time as the JavaScript files are being downloaded. The pause will then happen after the file is fully downloaded.

Meanwhile, defer will tell the browser to execute JavaScript files after the browser has finished parsing the entire HTML document.

A browser will by default pause parsing HTML files while any JavaScript files are fetched and executed.

Inlining JavaScript in the HTML document will help by reducing the number of files a browser has to download before displaying a page. You can inline JavaScript by adding the content of any external JavaScript file between script tags.

You can safely use defer and async on Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and other analytics and error reporting tools without affecting the functionality of the page.

Lastly, consider whether the tracking codes, analytics, extra features, and ads you have running on your website are necessary. Use more lightweight options when possible, and scrap them if they don’t add anything of value to you or your visitors.

5. Use Caching and a CDN

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) will copy your site onto servers worldwide and reduce the data’s travel time by connecting visitors to a server geographically closer to them. Static content will also be cached and delivered by the CDN’s servers.

Cloudflare is likely the CDN you know best, but Akamai and Amazon CloudFront are well-established alternatives.

Make sure you also leverage browser caching to improve the loading speed of your website for repeat visitors. Browser caching works by downloading these files from the server onto the user’s device.

On further page views or visits, these files will load locally from the user’s device instead of requesting them from the external server (depending on the expiry date of the files).

6. Get Rid of Non-Essential Plugins

Plugins should only be used when necessary. This is true whether you use Wix, Weebly, WordPress, or Squarespace or anything else. Any features you can do by adding simple CSS rather than a plugin, you should. Use Code Injection on Squarespace, use the CSS Customizer in WordPress , and Custom CSS on Wix.

Plugins can cause a high CPU or memory strain on your server, and this can slow down or even stop your website from loading.

If you use WordPress, it’s likely that you’re not using all of its built-in features. Disable these with a plugin like Clearfy.

Always consider the plugins you are using. If you’re using few features in plugins like JetPack, consider removing them altogether, and replace them with more lightweight plugins that do the same job.

7. Server Settings to Speed Up Your Website

Server delay will have a big negative impact on your page load speed and your PageRank.

Google recommends that the Time to First Byte (TTFB) is 1.3 seconds or less. This is the longest delay before a device starts downloading a page after initially contacting the server. That said, the average page has a TTFB of over 2 seconds, well above their recommendation.

Shared hosts are usually the reason for this, but there are some settings you can configure to improve your server response time.

• Use the latest version of PHP that your website is compatible with. The latest version (PHP 7.2)  has massive speed improvements.
• Switch on “Keep-Alive”
• Enable HTTP/2
• Take advantage of HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)
• Set your backups to complete at night

If your website is made in WordPress, make sure you use a host that specializes in WordPress hosting, like Bluehost. This will make sure that the server settings are configured specifically for WordPress performance.

Finished Tweaking? Now Test Your Site

Now that you know the ideal page load time, size, and Time to First Byte (TTFB) that you should be aiming for, how do you know what yours is?

Here are some of our favorite online tools to test your site:

• varvy.com: these tools will test your desktop and mobile page speed and performance, and give you valuable guides on how to improve your website
• Google PageSpeed Insight: recently updated, the Google PageSpeed tool will test your speed and give you improvement suggestions
• GTmetrix: a great tool with actionable advice
• WebPageTest: test your website on different devices, operating systems, and locations
• Pingdom: a very popular tool, similar to WebPageTest with a nicer interface

You can test your mobile site with the links above, and also the ThinkWithGoogle Mobile Test (powered by WebPageTest). The results will give you specific tips on what you can improve, with an estimated loading time reduction if you follow the tips.

The recommended best practices are constantly changing, so keep checking your page speed regularly as you make improvements.

For even more valuable insight into how your website is performing, remember to verify your domain on Google and Bing.

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Facebook must police Today In, its local news digest launching in 400 cities

Facebook has a new area of its app it will have to police for fake news and biased sensationalism. Facebook is launching “Today In”, its local news aggregator it began testing in January, in 400 small to medium-sized US cities. It’s also now testing it in its first overseas spot in Australia. iOS and Android users can open the Today In bookmark or opt in to getting digests of its local news in their feed. The feature includes previews that link out to news sites about top headlines, current discussions, school announcements and more.

“We have a number of misinformation filters in place to ensure that fake news and clickbait does not surface on Today In. We also provide people the ability to report suspicious content on Facebook and within Today In specifically” a Facebook spokesperson tells me. “The misinformation filters are the same across Facebook that we’ve previously talked about – downranking clickbait, ratings from third-party fact checkers” they said. However, “the content in the surface is pulled by algorithm”, so there’s always a chance that problematic content slips through. For now, there will be no ads in Today In.

 

 

Facebook is also now testing Local Alerts with 100 local government and first responder Pages that can be issued to inform citizens about urgent issues or emergencies, such as where to take shelter from a hurricane. The Local Alerts are delivered via News Feed, Today In, and Pages can also target users with notifications about them. Again, while Facebook may be vetting which Pages get access to the Local Alerts feature, it must closely monitor to make sure they’re using it to provide vital info to their communities rather than just grab traffic at sensitive moments.

Facebook is hoping to fill a void after surveys found 50 percent of users wanted more local news through Facebook. It previously tested Today In with New Orleans, La.; Little Rock, Ark.; Billings, Mont.; Peoria, Ill.; Olympia, Wash.; and Binghamton, N.Y. The feature could give local outlets a referral traffic boost that could help offset the fact that Facebook has drained ad dollars from journalism into its own News Feed ads. And to make sure “news deserts” without enough local outlets still have robust Today In sections, Facebook will collect headlines from surrounding areas.

But the launch also opens up a new vector for policy issues, and it’s curious that Facebook would push forward on this given all its policy troubles as of late. It will have to ensure that Today In only aggregates content from reliable and fact-focused local outlets and doesn’t end up peddling fake news. But that in turn could open it to criticism suggesting it’s biased against fringe political outlets that believe their clickbait is the real story.

Users who want to check if they have access to Today In can visit this interactive map. The list includes Facebook’s hometown of Menlo Park and nearby Oakland, but not San Francisco. It’s also skipping big cities like New York and Washington, D.C. in favor of places like Mobile, Alabama; and Provo, Utah.

To find the mobile-only feature in Facebook (there’s no desktop version), users will hit the three-line “More” hamburger button and scroll down looking for “Today In [their city]”. Otherwise, they may stumble across one of its digests showing the headlines, thumbnail images, and publications for three of the biggest local news stories.

After tapping through or opening the Today In bookmark, they’ll be able to horizontally swipe through different sections like In The News that features recent stories and can be toggled to display sports. As per usual, Facebook isn’t above promoting its own content, like user and Page News Feed posts discussing local topics, Groups you could join, or Events you could RSVP to. Once you hit the end of a daily edition, you’ll see a “You’re all caught up” notice, similar to Instagram’s feature designed to keep you from over-scrolling.

Today In: Facebook’s local news and information section

Posted by Facebook on Friday, September 21, 2018

Facebook infamously turned away from news in favor of content from friends at the start of 2018, precipitating a significant decline in News Feed reach and referral traffic for links to articles. That left a lot of outlets feeling burned, as many had staffed up thanks to the that flow of traffic and the ad dollars it generated. Now some are having to lay off journalists, especially those making video content that Facebook also dialed down.

By resurfacing local news, Facebook could help strengthen ties in local communities as part of its new mission statement to “bring the world closer together”. But if that news contains heavy partisan bias or hypes up nothingburgers, it could lead to more polarization. Facebook already has trouble finding enough third-party fact checkers to verify viral news stories. Now it may expose itself to even more liability to be the arbiter of truth now that it’s fragmented the news space into hundreds of distinct digests.

This conundrum will play out again and again. Facebook wants to keep pushing forward with product launches it thinks can help society, but it in turn takes on even greater responsibility to protect us that it hasn’t proven it deserves.

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Facebook must police Today In, its local news digest launching in 400 cities

Facebook has a new area of its app it will have to police for fake news and biased sensationalism. Facebook is launching “Today In”, its local news aggregator it began testing in January, in 400 small to medium-sized US cities. It’s also now testing it in its first overseas spot in Australia. iOS and Android users can open the Today In bookmark or opt in to getting digests of its local news in their feed. The feature includes previews that link out to news sites about top headlines, current discussions, school announcements and more.

“We have a number of misinformation filters in place to ensure that fake news and clickbait does not surface on Today In. We also provide people the ability to report suspicious content on Facebook and within Today In specifically” a Facebook spokesperson tells me. “The misinformation filters are the same across Facebook that we’ve previously talked about – downranking clickbait, ratings from third-party fact checkers” they said. However, “the content in the surface is pulled by algorithm”, so there’s always a chance that problematic content slips through. For now, there will be no ads in Today In.

 

 

Facebook is also now testing Local Alerts with 100 local government and first responder Pages that can be issued to inform citizens about urgent issues or emergencies, such as where to take shelter from a hurricane. The Local Alerts are delivered via News Feed, Today In, and Pages can also target users with notifications about them. Again, while Facebook may be vetting which Pages get access to the Local Alerts feature, it must closely monitor to make sure they’re using it to provide vital info to their communities rather than just grab traffic at sensitive moments.

Facebook is hoping to fill a void after surveys found 50 percent of users wanted more local news through Facebook. It previously tested Today In with New Orleans, La.; Little Rock, Ark.; Billings, Mont.; Peoria, Ill.; Olympia, Wash.; and Binghamton, N.Y. The feature could give local outlets a referral traffic boost that could help offset the fact that Facebook has drained ad dollars from journalism into its own News Feed ads. And to make sure “news deserts” without enough local outlets still have robust Today In sections, Facebook will collect headlines from surrounding areas.

But the launch also opens up a new vector for policy issues, and it’s curious that Facebook would push forward on this given all its policy troubles as of late. It will have to ensure that Today In only aggregates content from reliable and fact-focused local outlets and doesn’t end up peddling fake news. But that in turn could open it to criticism suggesting it’s biased against fringe political outlets that believe their clickbait is the real story.

Users who want to check if they have access to Today In can visit this interactive map. The list includes Facebook’s hometown of Menlo Park and nearby Oakland, but not San Francisco. It’s also skipping big cities like New York and Washington, D.C. in favor of places like Mobile, Alabama; and Provo, Utah.

To find the mobile-only feature in Facebook (there’s no desktop version), users will hit the three-line “More” hamburger button and scroll down looking for “Today In [their city]”. Otherwise, they may stumble across one of its digests showing the headlines, thumbnail images, and publications for three of the biggest local news stories.

After tapping through or opening the Today In bookmark, they’ll be able to horizontally swipe through different sections like In The News that features recent stories and can be toggled to display sports. As per usual, Facebook isn’t above promoting its own content, like user and Page News Feed posts discussing local topics, Groups you could join, or Events you could RSVP to. Once you hit the end of a daily edition, you’ll see a “You’re all caught up” notice, similar to Instagram’s feature designed to keep you from over-scrolling.

Today In: Facebook’s local news and information section

Posted by Facebook on Friday, September 21, 2018

Facebook infamously turned away from news in favor of content from friends at the start of 2018, precipitating a significant decline in News Feed reach and referral traffic for links to articles. That left a lot of outlets feeling burned, as many had staffed up thanks to the that flow of traffic and the ad dollars it generated. Now some are having to lay off journalists, especially those making video content that Facebook also dialed down.

By resurfacing local news, Facebook could help strengthen ties in local communities as part of its new mission statement to “bring the world closer together”. But if that news contains heavy partisan bias or hypes up nothingburgers, it could lead to more polarization. Facebook already has trouble finding enough third-party fact checkers to verify viral news stories. Now it may expose itself to even more liability to be the arbiter of truth now that it’s fragmented the news space into hundreds of distinct digests.

This conundrum will play out again and again. Facebook wants to keep pushing forward with product launches it thinks can help society, but it in turn takes on even greater responsibility to protect us that it hasn’t proven it deserves.

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Google Fi now officially supports most Android devices and iPhones

Google is making a major move to expand the availability of its Fi wireless service.

It’s been a few years since Google launched Project Fi with the promise of doing things a bit differently than the large carriers. Because it could switch between the cell networks of multiple providers to give you the best signal, the service only ever officially supported a select number of handsets. You could always trick it by activating the service on a supported phone and then moving your SIM card to another (including an iPhone), but that was never supported.

That’s changing today, though. The company is opening up Fi — and renaming it to Google Fi — and officially expanding device support to most popular Android phones, as well as iPhones. Supported Android phones include devices from Samsung, LG, Motorola and OnePlus. iPhone support is currently in beta, and there are a few extra steps to set it up, but the Fi iOS app should now be available in the App Store.

One thing you might not get with many of the now-supported phones is the full Fi experience, with network switching and access to Google’s enhanced network features, including Google’s VPN network. For that, you’ll still need a Pixel phone, the Moto G6 or any other device that you can buy directly in the Fi store.

Fi on all phones comes with the usual features, like bill protection, free high-speed international roaming and support for group plans.

To sweeten the deal, Google is also launching a somewhat extraordinary promotion today: If you open a new Fi account — or if are an existing user — you can buy any phone in the Fi shop today and get your money back in the form of a travel gift card that you can use for a flight with Delta or Southwest, or lodging with Airbnb and Hotels.com. There’s some fine print, of course (you need to keep your account active for a few months, etc.), but if you were looking at getting Fi anyway, like to travel and want to get a Pixel 3 XL, that’s not a bad deal at all.

The fine print is below:

Travel on Fi with Any Device Purchase Promotion Terms (Google Fi)

Limited time, 24-hour offer applies to any qualifying device purchased from fi.google.com from 11/28/18 12:00 AM PT through 11/28/18 11:59 PM PT, or while supplies last. When you purchase a qualifying device on fi.google.com, you can redeem a travel gift card in the amount you paid for the device, excluding taxes (details below).

To qualify for this promotion, a device must be activated within 15 days of device shipment and remain active for 60 consecutive days within 75 days of device shipment. The device must be activated within the same plan that was used to purchase the device. Activation must be for full service (i.e., activation does not apply to a data-only SIM).

This offer is available for new Google Fi customers as of 11/28/18 12:00 AM PT and existing, active Google Fi customers. If the customer is new to Google Fi, the customer must transfer (port-in) their current personal number over to Google Fi during sign up. The number being transferred must be currently active and have been active with the previous carrier and the customer since 8/28/18 12:00 AM PT.

After the terms have been satisfied, the customer will receive an email from Google Fi (around 75 – 90 days after device activation) with instructions on how to obtain a gift card from Tango subject to Tango’s terms and conditions. The user can redeem gift card amounts with select travel partners: Airbnb, Delta Airlines, Hotels.com, and Southwest Airlines. Gift cards may also be subject to the terms of the travel partners.

If Fi service is paused for more than 7 days or cancelled within 120 days of activation, the value of the gift card will be charged to your Google Payments account to match the purchased price of the device. Limit one per person. This offer is only available for U.S. residents ages 18 and older, and requires Google Payments and Google Fi accounts. Unless otherwise stated, this offer cannot be combined with other offers. Offer and gift card redemption are not transferable, and are not valid for cash or cash equivalent. Void where prohibited.

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Google Fi now officially supports most Android devices and iPhones

Google is making a major move to expand the availability of its Fi wireless service.

It’s been a few years since Google launched Project Fi with the promise of doing things a bit differently than the large carriers. Because it could switch between the cell networks of multiple providers to give you the best signal, the service only ever officially supported a select number of handsets. You could always trick it by activating the service on a supported phone and then moving your SIM card to another (including an iPhone), but that was never supported.

That’s changing today, though. The company is opening up Fi — and renaming it to Google Fi — and officially expanding device support to most popular Android phones, as well as iPhones. Supported Android phones include devices from Samsung, LG, Motorola and OnePlus. iPhone support is currently in beta, and there are a few extra steps to set it up, but the Fi iOS app should now be available in the App Store.

One thing you might not get with many of the now-supported phones is the full Fi experience, with network switching and access to Google’s enhanced network features, including Google’s VPN network. For that, you’ll still need a Pixel phone, the Moto G6 or any other device that you can buy directly in the Fi store.

Fi on all phones comes with the usual features, like bill protection, free high-speed international roaming and support for group plans.

To sweeten the deal, Google is also launching a somewhat extraordinary promotion today: If you open a new Fi account — or if are an existing user — you can buy any phone in the Fi shop today and get your money back in the form of a travel gift card that you can use for a flight with Delta or Southwest, or lodging with Airbnb and Hotels.com. There’s some fine print, of course (you need to keep your account active for a few months, etc.), but if you were looking at getting Fi anyway, like to travel and want to get a Pixel 3 XL, that’s not a bad deal at all.

The fine print is below:

Travel on Fi with Any Device Purchase Promotion Terms (Google Fi)

Limited time, 24-hour offer applies to any qualifying device purchased from fi.google.com from 11/28/18 12:00 AM PT through 11/28/18 11:59 PM PT, or while supplies last. When you purchase a qualifying device on fi.google.com, you can redeem a travel gift card in the amount you paid for the device, excluding taxes (details below).

To qualify for this promotion, a device must be activated within 15 days of device shipment and remain active for 60 consecutive days within 75 days of device shipment. The device must be activated within the same plan that was used to purchase the device. Activation must be for full service (i.e., activation does not apply to a data-only SIM).

This offer is available for new Google Fi customers as of 11/28/18 12:00 AM PT and existing, active Google Fi customers. If the customer is new to Google Fi, the customer must transfer (port-in) their current personal number over to Google Fi during sign up. The number being transferred must be currently active and have been active with the previous carrier and the customer since 8/28/18 12:00 AM PT.

After the terms have been satisfied, the customer will receive an email from Google Fi (around 75 – 90 days after device activation) with instructions on how to obtain a gift card from Tango subject to Tango’s terms and conditions. The user can redeem gift card amounts with select travel partners: Airbnb, Delta Airlines, Hotels.com, and Southwest Airlines. Gift cards may also be subject to the terms of the travel partners.

If Fi service is paused for more than 7 days or cancelled within 120 days of activation, the value of the gift card will be charged to your Google Payments account to match the purchased price of the device. Limit one per person. This offer is only available for U.S. residents ages 18 and older, and requires Google Payments and Google Fi accounts. Unless otherwise stated, this offer cannot be combined with other offers. Offer and gift card redemption are not transferable, and are not valid for cash or cash equivalent. Void where prohibited.

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YouBionic adds creepy hands to SpotMini, the creepy robot dog

If you’ve ever wanted to add creepy, 3D-printed hands to your creepy robot dog, YouBionic has you covered. This odd company is offering an entirely 3D-printed arm solution for the Boston Dynamics SpotMini, the doglike robot that already has an arm of its own. YouBionic is selling the $179 3D models for the product that you can print and assemble yourself.

This solution is very skimpy on the details but as you can see it essentially turns the SpotMini into a robotic centaur, regal and majestic as those mythical creatures are. There isn’t much description of how the system will work in practice – the STLs include the structural parts but not the electronics. That said, it’s a fascinating concept and could mean the beginning of a truly component-based robotics solution.

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Popper

Popper

It turns out some Google staff do believe in controversial plan to re-enter China

Google’s controversial plan to launch products custom made for China has been panned by politicians, free speech advocates, ex-staff and many others, but there appears to be some support within Google from employees who actually favor the strategy.

Under a project code-named “Dragonfly,” Google is reportedly planning to introduce a censored search product and a news app in what would mark a remarkable return to China after the firm left in 2010.

The services have triggered a wave of controversy since word of them was first reported in August. Just this week, a public memo written by current Google staff urged that Dragonfly should be dropped because it “aids the powerful in oppressing the vulnerable.” The internal backlash has been fairly well covered, but there is also support inside the search giant. A pro-Dragonfly letter that has been in circulation for a number of weeks has picked up 500 signatures in an effort to stop the project from being dropped.

The letter — which was provided to TechCrunch by a source within Google — principally argues that China is part of Google’s wider mission of connecting people with information.

Here’s a core excerpt:

Dragonfly is well aligned with Google’s mission. China has the largest number of Internet users of all countries in the world, and yet, most of Google’s services are unavailable in China. This situation heavily contradicts our mission, “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. While there are some prior success, Google should keep the effort in finding out how to bring more of our products and services, including Search, to the Chinese users.

That’s a pretty simplistic take on the situation but, in fairness, the letter does concede that Dragonfly is a “challenging product” that could “end up doing more harm than good.” Simply dumping it, the employees argue, would miss out on a chance to “learn how different approaches may work out in China.”

The letter is unsigned — unlike yesterday’s anti-Dragonfly memo, which is on Medium — and it is tempting to cast it as some artificial, management-led response to the situation; particularly since Google CEO Sundar Pichai is due to face Congress next week. However, TechCrunch understands that it was submitted anonymously by an employee using an internal system.

It is not surprising to see some at Google argue in favor of entering China — there are over 85,000 people working for Google, that’s a lot of opinions and viewpoints as we’ve seen before — but it is difficult to present a credible argument that the move is anything but financially-driven. And again, Google is an absolutely massive company. Somewhere else, 500 people might be a statistically significant number but at Google the letter represents barely half of one percent of the company. The same criticism can be leveraged at other letters of this kind that collect signatures and attract attention to issues — it’s important to remember that they don’t necessarily represent prevailing sentiment.

Search still makes up the bulk of Google’s revenues and, with China’s the largest market in the world for smartphone users, app spending and more, the company is leaving money off the table by opting out of the country.

Unlike many hot button issues in Silicon Valley, controversy over Google’s Dragonfly project doesn’t break down along domestic political party lines. It’s rare to find an issue that Vice President Mike Pence and left-leaning free speech advocates agree on — a fact that makes the apparent internal support for Dragonfly even more puzzling.

For better or worse, it’s usually easier to understand positions motivated specifically by partisan animus. We’re likely to hear American politicians on both sides of the aisle take a swing at Google on the issue next week when Google CEO Sundar Pichai appears before the House Judiciary Committee.

There may be a legion of principled engineers with good intentions who live and work far from China, but the real question is what the strategy of those leading Dragonfly and other initiatives is. And, on that question, there is a lot of uncertainty.

Former Googlers in Asia have told TechCrunch that they don’t believe Google’s management grasps the significance of re-entry into China. It’s a tough question and this memo, despite gaining some popularity, doesn’t really offer a particularly compelling or different answer. It does show, however, that some people in Google still believe that the company is focused on doing good. That’s something — both with respect to Google’s peers in the tech industry (Yes, that’s you, Facebook), and in light of Google’s own assorted recent ethical crises.

Here’s the pro-Dragonfly letter in full:

Dragonfly is Google’s Mission, Too

Dear Googlers,

Project Dragonfly, which aims at bringing Search back to China, has been a source of controversy since revealed. Some expect Dragonfly to bring benefits to the Chinese users and support it; others have concerns of adhering to censorship and surveillance requirements by the Chinese government and oppose it. Some are comparing it to Maven and have even resigned to call for cancellation.

We understand that Googlers are diverse: Googlers vary in their backgrounds and values, and hence, may focus on different aspects of Dragonfly and have different expectations. Nonetheless, we believe that continuing work on Dragonfly is needed, and will be helpful to all Googlers regardless of their backgrounds and expectations.

Dragonfly is well aligned with Google’s mission. China has the largest number of Internet users of all countries in the world, and yet, most of Google’s services are unavailable in China. This situation heavily contradicts our mission, “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. While there are some prior success, Google should keep the effort in finding out how to bring more of our products and services, including Search, to the Chinese users.

Dragonfly still faces many difficulties and uncertainties, which can only be resolved by continuing efforts. The regulation requirements set by the Chinese government (like censorship) makes Dragonfly a challenging project. If we are not careful enough, the project can end up doing more harm than good. In any case, only with continuing efforts on Dragonfly can we learn how different approaches may work out in China, and find out if there is a way that is good for both the Chinese users and Google. Even if we fail, the findings can still be useful for bringing other services to China.

Given the good motivation and the challenging nature of the project, we believe that Google should continue on Dragonfly, which benefits both Google and the massive user base in China.

We hereby request you to sign and support Project Dragonfly to be continued and fully explored.

Signed

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The Alexa-enabled Big Mouth Billy Bass is real and now for sale

In September, Amazon launched its Alexa Gadgets Toolkit into beta, allowing hardware makers to build accessories that pair with Amazon Echo over Bluetooth. Today, one of the most memorable (and quite ridiculous) examples of that technology is going live. Yes, I’m talking about the Alexa-enabled Big Mouth Billy Bass, of course. You know, the talking fish that hangs on the wall, and has now been updated to respond to Alexa voice commands?

Amazon first showed off this technology over a year ago at an event at its Seattle headquarters, then this fall confirmed the talking fish would be among the debut products to use its new Alexa Gadgets Toolkit.

The toolkit lets developers build Alexa-connected devices that use things like lights, sound chips or even motors, in order to work with Alexa interfaces like notifications, timers, reminders, text-to-speech, and wake word detection.

The talking fish can actually do much of that.

According to the company’s announcement, Big Mouth Billy Bass can react to timers, notifications, and alarms, and can play Amazon Music. It can also lip sync to Alexa spoken responses when asked for information about the weather, news, or random facts.

And it will sing an original song, “Fishin’ Time.”

When the gadget is plugged in and turned on, it responds: “Woo-hoo, that feels good!”

(Oh my god, who is getting this for me for Christmas?)

“This is not your father’s Big Mouth Billy Bass,” said Vice President of Product Development at Gemmy Industries, Steven Harris, in a statement about the product’s launch. “Our new high-tech version uses the latest technology from Amazon to deliver a hilarious and interactive gadget that takes everyday activities to a fun new level.”

The fish can be wall-mounted on displayed using an included tabletop easel, the company also says.

The pop culture gag gift was first sold back in 1999, and is now updating is brand for the Alexa era.

Obviously, Big Mouth Billy Bass is not a product that was ever designed to be taken seriously – but it should be interesting to see if the updated, “high-tech version” has any impact on this item’s sales.

The idea to integrate Alexa into the talking fish actually began in 2016, when an enterprising developer hacked the fish to work with Alexa much to the internet’s delight. His Facebook post showcasing his work attracted 1.8 million views.

The Alexa-connected fish is $39.99 on Amazon.com.

(h/t Business Insider)

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Google’s Sundar Pichai will reportedly face Congress next week

Google may have dodged a raised right hand moment on the Hill this year as top executives from Twitter and Facebook faced Congress, but the company will now have its own time in the hot seat.

According to the Washington Post, Google CEO Sundar Pichai will appear before the House Judiciary Committee on December 5, just one week from today. While there are any number of reasons that Congress might want to hear from Google, Pichai’s appearance will reportedly serve as a response to unsubstantiated claims that Google has an anti-conservative bias.

Pichai agreed to testify some time this year back in September at the request of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, one vocal critic who has accused the company of algorithmic bias. While that issue might still be at the forefront for some committee Republicans, getting the company’s chief executive on the stand will open the entire can of worms on Google’s recent controversies.

For Google, a lot has happened since September. For one, the company is still dealing with internal and external criticism about its plans to build a search engine tailored to meet China’s censorship specifications. In October Google also revealed that it was aware of a bug in Google+ that exposed user data dating all the way back to 2015. As recently as this month, Google has been dealing with walkouts and a widespread backlash against its handling of sexual harassment cases within the company. And that’s just to name a few.

Needless to say, Pichai will have plenty to answer for in his time on the witness stand. Assuming the plan goes forward as reported, we can expect House Republicans and Democrats alike to come out swinging on their pet issues in a likely lengthy and wide-ranging testimony.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai will reportedly meet with Republican lawmakers this week

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