HQ Trivia and Vine co-founder Colin Kroll found dead of suspected overdose

Colin Kroll, the 35-year-old co-founder and CEO of the HQ Trivia app, has been found dead of an apparent drug overdose in his apartment, TechCrunch has confirmed.

A spokesman for the NYPD told us that a female called 911 for a wellness check on Kroll’s apartment and he was found dead inside at 08:00 hours today.

The police department said the investigation is ongoing but added that the cause of death is “allegedly a drug overdose”.

“We’re still waiting on the ME’s report to confirm that,” he added.

The story was reported earlier by TMZ — which cites a police source saying cocaine and heroin were believed to be involved.

We reached out to HQ for comment but the company has declined to make a statement at this time.

Kroll was only named CEO of the HQ Trivia mobile game show app three months ago, replacing fellow co-founder Rus Yusupov who moved over to serve as chief creative officer.

Prior to taking the CEO role Kroll served as HQ’s CTO. He co-founded the startup in 2015, a few months after moving on from Vine — the Twitter-owned short video format startup which got closed down in 2017.

It’s not clear who will take over the CEO role for HQ Trivia at this stage but Yusupov looks a likely candidate, at least in the interim.

In recent months the startup has been beta testing a follow up mobile game show, called HQ Words. Its original trivia format show airs twice per day and awards winners as much as $100,000 for successfully answering 12 questions.

The app debuted last August and was a viral success. But the question hanging over HQ Trivia and its co-founders has increasingly been how to sustain an early winning streak, once the novelty of the original show ran its course.

As we reported previously, HQ Trivia’s ranking in the app store has been steadily decreasing in recent months.

Kroll started his career as a software engineer at Right Media, which went on to be acquired by Yahoo in 2006. From then until 2011, he led the engineering team in Yahoo’s search and advertising tech group before joining luxury travel site Jetsetter as VP of Product — where he went on to be promoted to CTO.

In 2012 he left to start Vine with co-founders Dominik Hofmann and Yusopov.

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3D-printed heads let hackers – and cops – unlock your phone

There’s a lot you can make with a 3D printer: from prosthetics, corneas, and firearms — even an Olympic-standard luge.

You can even 3D print a life-size replica of a human head — and not just for Hollywood. Forbes reporter Thomas Brewster commissioned a 3D printed model of his own head to test the face unlocking systems on a range of phones — four Android models and an iPhone X.

Bad news if you’re an Android user: all four phones unlocked with the 3D printed head.

Gone, it seems, are the days of the trusty passcode, which many still find cumbersome, fiddly, and inconvenient — especially when you unlock your phone dozens of times a day. Phone makers are taking to the more convenient unlock methods. Even if Google’s latest Pixel 3 shunned facial recognition, many Android models — including popular Samsung devices — are relying more on your facial biometrics. In its latest models, Apple effectively killed its fingerprint-reading Touch ID in favor of its newer Face ID.

But that poses a problem for your data if a mere 3D-printed model can trick your phone into giving up your secrets. That makes life much easier for hackers, who have no rulebook to go from. But what about the police or the feds, who do?

It’s no secret that biometrics — your fingerprints and your face — aren’t protected under the Fifth Amendment. That means police can’t compel you to give up your passcode, but they can forcibly depress your fingerprint to unlock your phone, or hold it to your face while you’re looking at it. And the police know it — it happens more often than you might realize.

But there’s also little in the way of stopping police from 3D printing or replicating a set of biometrics to break into a phone.

“Legally, it’s no different from using fingerprints to unlock a device,” said Orin Kerr, professor at USC Gould School of Law, in an email. “The government needs to get the biometric unlocking information somehow,” by either the finger pattern shape or the head shape, he said.

Although a warrant “wouldn’t necessarily be a requirement” to get the biometric data, one would be needed to use the data to unlock a device, he said.

Jake Laperruque, senior counsel at the Project On Government Oversight, said it was doable but isn’t the most practical or cost-effective way for cops to get access to phone data.

“A situation where you couldn’t get the actual person but could use a 3D print model may exist,” he said. “I think the big threat is that a system where anyone — cops or criminals — can get into your phone by holding your face up to it is a system with serious security limits.”

The FBI alone has thousands of devices in its custody — even after admitting the number of encrypted devices is far lower than first reported. With the ubiquitous nature of surveillance, now even more powerful with high-resolution cameras and facial recognition software, it’s easier than ever for police to obtain our biometric data as we go about our everyday lives.

Those cheering on the “death of the password” might want to think again. They’re still the only thing that’s keeping your data safe from the law.

FBI reportedly overestimated inaccessible encrypted phones by thousands

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Facebook Bug Exposes Users’ Photos

A Facebook bug has exposed the private photos of up to 6.8 million users. The bug means thousands of third-party apps had potential access to photos they didn’t have permission to view. The worst thing is the amount of time Facebook took to disclose the incident.

Facebook’s Very Bad Year

It’s fair to say Facebook hasn’t had a good 2018. There was the Cambridge Analytica scandal everyone should be familiar with by now. And over a backdrop of people deleting Facebook, the social network has had ongoing issues maintaining people’s trust.

The issues run deep, with Facebook battling the spread of fake news, advertising campaigns with the potential to influence elections, and a seemingly lax attitude to users’ data and privacy. And now we get the news that private photos were exposed to apps.

Facebook Discloses New Bug

Facebook disclosed the incident in a Facebook for Developers Blog post. The social network explains that this bug affected “people who used Facebook Login and granted permission to third-party apps to access their photos”.

If you want to check if you're affected by Facebook's latest bug involving photo sharing, here's the link: https://t.co/yQDopYtQhy pic.twitter.com/QNMWErLOU9

— Zack Whittaker (@zackwhittaker) December 14, 2018

Users sometimes give apps permission to access photos they share on their timeline. However, this bug meant that for 12 days developers could also access other photos shared on Facebook, and even photos people uploaded but then decided not to post.

The bug in question was live between September 13 and September 25, 2018. Facebook discovered and duly fixed the bug on the 25th. However, it has taken almost three months for Facebook to notify the developers affected and, by extension, the users affected.

Facebook is “sorry this happened,” and is rolling out tools to help developers “determine which people using their app might be impacted by this bug.” Those people will then be notified, and directed to a Help Center link explaining the issue in more detail.

Fingers Crossed for 2019

This tops off an annus horribilis for Facebook, and we really hope 2019 brings better fortune. Not for Facebook’s sake, but for the sake of its users. Otherwise Facebook et al might find that everyone collectively decides to quit social media altogether.

Image Credit: Marco Verch/Flickr

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The limits of coworking

It feels like there’s a WeWork on every street nowadays. Take a walk through midtown Manhattan (please don’t actually) and it might even seem like there are more WeWorks than office buildings.

Consider this an ongoing discussion about Urban Tech, its intersection with regulation, issues of public service, and other complexities that people have full PHDs on. I’m just a bitter, born-and-bred New Yorker trying to figure out why I’ve been stuck in between subway stops for the last 15 minutes, so please reach out with your take on any of these thoughts: @Arman.Tabatabai@techcrunch.com.

Co-working has permeated cities around the world at an astronomical rate. The rise has been so remarkable that even the headline-dominating SoftBank seems willing to bet the success of its colossal Vision Fund on the shift continuing, having poured billions into WeWork – including a recent $4.4 billion top-up that saw the co-working king’s valuation spike to $45 billion.

And there are no signs of the trend slowing down. With growing frequency, new startups are popping up across cities looking to turn under-utilized brick-and-mortar or commercial space into low-cost co-working options.

It’s a strategy spreading through every type of business from retail – where companies like Workbar have helped retailers offer up portions of their stores – to more niche verticals like parking lots – where companies like Campsyte are transforming empty lots into spaces for outdoor co-working and corporate off-sites. Restaurants and bars might even prove most popular for co-working, with startups like Spacious and KettleSpace turning restaurants that are closed during the day into private co-working space during their off-hours.

Before you know it, a startup will be strapping an Aeron chair to the top of a telephone pole and calling it “WirelessWorking”.

But is there a limit to how far co-working can go? Are all of the storefronts, restaurants and open spaces that line city streets going to be filled with MacBooks, cappuccinos and Moleskine notebooks? That might be too tall a task, even for the movement taking over skyscrapers.

The co-working of everything…

Photo: Vasyl Dolmatov / iStock via Getty Images

So why is everyone trying to turn your favorite neighborhood dinner spot into a part-time WeWork in the first place? Co-working offers a particularly compelling use case for under-utilized space.

First, co-working falls under the same general commercial zoning categories as most independent businesses and very little additional infrastructure – outside of a few extra power outlets and some decent WiFi – is required to turn a space into an effective replacement for the often crowded and distracting coffee shops used by price-sensitive, lean, remote, or nomadic workers that make up a growing portion of the workforce.

Thus, businesses can list their space at little-to-no cost, without having to deal with structural layout changes that are more likely to arise when dealing with pop-up solutions or event rentals.

On the supply side, these co-working networks don’t have to purchase leases or make capital improvements to convert each space, and so they’re able to offer more square footage per member at a much lower rate than traditional co-working spaces. Spacious, for example, charges a monthly membership fee of $99-$129 dollars for access to its network of vetted restaurants, which is cheap compared to a WeWork desk, which can cost anywhere from $300-$800 per month in New York City.

Customers realize more affordable co-working alternatives, while tight-margin businesses facing increasing rents for under-utilized property are able to pool resources into a network and access a completely new revenue stream at very little cost. The value proposition is proving to be seriously convincing in initial cities – Spacious told the New York Times, that so many restaurants were applying to join the network on their own volition that only five percent of total applicants were ultimately getting accepted.

Basically, the business model here checks a lot of the boxes for successful marketplaces: Acquisition and transaction friction is low for both customers and suppliers, with both seeing real value that didn’t exist previously. Unit economics seem strong, and vetting on both sides of the market creates trust and community. Finally, there’s an observable network effect whereby suppliers benefit from higher occupancy as more customers join the network, while customers benefit from added flexibility as more locations join the network.

… Or just the co-working of some things…

Photo: Caiaimage / Robert Daly via Getty Images

So is this the way of the future? The strategy is really compelling, with a creative solution that offers tremendous value to businesses and workers in major cities. But concerns around the scalability of demand make it difficult to picture this phenomenon becoming ubiquitous across cities or something that reaches the scale of a WeWork or large conventional co-working player.

All these companies seem to be competing for a similar demographic, not only with one another, but also with coffee shops, free workspaces, and other flexible co-working options like Croissant, which provides members with access to unused desks and offices in traditional co-working spaces. Like Spacious and KettleSpace, the spaces on Croissant own the property leases and are already built for co-working, so Croissant can still offer comparatively attractive rates.

The offer seems most compelling for someone that is able to work without a stable location and without the amenities offered in traditional co-working or office spaces, and is also price sensitive enough where they would trade those benefits for a lower price. Yet at the same time, they can’t be too price sensitive, where they would prefer working out of free – or close to free – coffee shops instead of paying a monthly membership fee to avoid the frictions that can come with them.

And it seems unclear whether the problem or solution is as poignant outside of high-density cities – let alone outside of high-density areas of high-density cities.

Without density, is the competition for space or traffic in coffee shops and free workspaces still high enough where it’s worth paying a membership fee for? Would the desire for a private working environment, or for a working community, be enough to incentivize membership alone? And in less-dense and more-sprawl oriented cities, members could also face the risk of having to travel significant distances if space isn’t available in nearby locations.

While the emerging workforce is trending towards more remote, agile and nomadic workers that can do more with less, it’s less certain how many will actually fit the profile that opts out of both more costly but stable traditional workspaces, as well as potentially frustrating but free alternatives. And if the lack of density does prove to be an issue, how many of those workers will live in hyper-dense areas, especially if they are price-sensitive and can work and live anywhere?

To be clear, I’m not saying the companies won’t see significant growth – in fact, I think they will. But will the trend of monetizing unused space through co-working come to permeate cities everywhere and do so with meaningful occupancy? Maybe not. That said, there is still a sizable and growing demographic that need these solutions and the value proposition is significant in many major urban areas.

The companies are creating real value, creating more efficient use of wasted space, and fixing a supply-demand issue. And the cultural value of even modestly helping independent businesses keep the lights on seems to outweigh the cultural “damage” some may fear in turning them into part-time co-working spaces.

And lastly, some reading while in transit:

• The Grim Future of Urban Warfare – The Atlantic, Darran Anderson
• New York’s New Wage Law for Uber Drivers is a Lesson for Cities Around the World – MIT Technology Review, Erin Winick
• Can New Home Building Tech Help Solve the Affordability Crisis? – FastCompany, Adele Peters
• Homelessness Rises More Quickly Where Rent Exceeds a Third of Income – Zillow Research, Chris Glynn & Alexander Casey
• Vote on Temescal to Test Core Values – StreetsblogSF, Roger Rudick
• L.A. Approves New Rules for Airbnb-Type Rentals After Years of Debate – Los Angeles Times, Emily Alpert Reyes
• Can France Revive its Industrial Heartland? – FT, Harriet Agnew
• Why Communities Across America Are Pushing to Close Waste Incinerators – CityLab, Rebecca Stoner

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5 Instagram Apps You Didn’t Know You Needed

The Worst Passwords of 2018, Revealed

We now know the worst passwords of 2018. These are the passwords you should never use, and that you shouldn’t let any friends or family members use either. Because not only are they very common, they’re so weak that even a six-year-old could crack them.

The Top 10 Worst Passwords of 2018

1. 123456
2. password
3. 123456789
4. 12345678
5. 12345
6. 111111
7. 1234567
8. sunshine
9. qwerty
10. iloveyou

A lot of these terrible passwords will be familiar from previous lists. Obvious words such as “password” and “qwerty” plus the the easy-to-remember number sequences such as “123456” and “111111” make it into the top 10 worst passwords year after year.

This means there are people out there who have failed to change their passwords despite being shamed for their choices every year. But then someone using the same number six times in a row probably isn’t the brightest of individuals. Eh, Kanye.

Donald Trump Inspires a Bad Password

The more interesting passwords appear further down the list. At #67 we have “maverick” (as in Top Gun), at #60 we have “starwars” (as in Star Wars), at #45 we have “solo” (as in Han), at #39 we have “harley” (as in Harley Quinn), and at #23 we have “donald”.

We have to assume “donald” is a reference to Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States of America. But then it could also refer to Donald Duck, Donald Glover, or Donald Sutherland. None of which are quite as newsworthy as Trump right now.

Learn More About Password Managers

This list of bad passwords comes courtesy of SplashData, the company behind password manager, SplashID. The passwords are the most commonly found passwords from recent data breaches, which is testament to both their popularity and their uselessness.

Whether or not you use a password manager, it’s worth learning more about them. We have previously compared the biggest password managers, explained how password managers keep you safe, and discussed some password manager security mistakes.

Image Credit: Maxx-Studio via Shutterstock.com

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10 Christmas Decorations You Can Make From Recycled Materials

Christmas is approaching fast, and as well as choosing gifts for your loved ones, it is time to think about decorating for the festive season. While it can be tempting to buy new decorations each year, these purchases can all add up.

Making your own decorations not only saves money and cuts out pointless waste, but is a great way to do something creative. Here are 10 ideas for DIY decorations to brighten up your home this Christmas.

1. Recycled Christmas Card Bunting

Every year after Christmas, many houses are left with a huge wealth of Christmas cards. While they were perfect to display around the home during the season, most of these cards end up in the bin shortly after festivities end.

This project from Emily Peckenham on inhabitat.com requires nothing more than some string and a stack of old cards, the more colorful the better! They are so quick and easy to make that it could be easy to go crazy and cover your whole house, your pets, and your children with recycled card bunting.

2. Mason Jar Snow Globes

The much underappreciated snow globe is a great decoration for your home. The inside of your snow globe can comprise of anything, old Christmas decorations, tree branches, holly from the garden—the possibilities are endless.

As well as looking great, these snow globes provide an interactive child distraction system which can be a much needed commodity during this season.

3. Origami Ornaments

This fascinating design consists of only two pieces of paper, and ends up with an incredibly professional looking decoration you can hang from your tree. This design by Instructables user sebnibo is made out of paper, and there is nothing to stop you using any kind of paper you would otherwise throw out.

Just make sure it isn’t too flimsy or you may end up with some rather limp stars!

If you are feeling like adding a tech aspect to the build, why not follow sebnibo’s other Instructable to add lights to your origami stars?

4. Cork Wreath

Depending on your poison, you may end up with a surplus of wine corks around Christmas or any other day of the year. Instead of chucking them out, collect them for a while and make something out of them!

This is a great thrifty project requiring only a pre-made ring and some glue. For an extra splash of color you can paint the corks first, or bribe younger family members to do it for you with cookies. The choice is yours.

Why not make it flashy by adding our Motion Activated LED Matrix project to the center of it?

5. Five in One Decorations

Since this is Christmas time, it seems fitting to give a gift. Number 5 on this list is five simple projects you can create yourself using basic materials. All of these builds are simple and suitable to do with children under supervision.

All of these projects use things you’ll likely have around the house except from the Styrofoam balls. That does of course depend on your house, owners of a dedicated Styrofoam ball room will be at an advantage here.

6. DIY BB-8

So far we have covered some traditional Christmas decorations, but we all know that the festive season is truly about Star Wars! What better way to adorn your Endorian Soul Tree than with a DIY BB-8 droid?

The above video is taken from an Instructable by inspiretomake, and shows the surprisingly straightforward process required to put it all together. Comprising of just a few baubles and printed templates, the droid can be built in minutes.

7. Star Wars Snowflakes

Snow Wars! Star Flakes? Lets just call them War Flarks. Either way, for the past few years designer Anthony Herrera has been offering templates for Star Wars themed snow flakes on his website. The templates are free to download as PDF files, and are utterly stunning.

There really is a wealth of designs to choose from, encompassing every major character and vehicle in the series, along with a few less obvious choices which will cause any true Star Wars fan to make involuntary noises.

8. 8-Bit Baubles

With our eighth idea we are going 8-bit! These baubles bring Christmas down to a level of pixelation we understand, and look fantastic too. They are the creation of Kat and Cam of the ourNERDhome blog, and the design they have come up with is as eye catching as it is colorful.

These retro gaming inspired decorations are made out of foam board and painted with simple hobby craft paint—though a similar effect can be achieved painting on scrap cardboard to make this truly a recycled DIY project.

The real kicker in this project is the optional use of a finishing coat on the baubles to make them shine.

9. Mario Star Christmas Tree Topper

Christmas is a great time to enjoy the important people in your life, like Mario. This DIY Mario Star is easy to make, and will give the top of your Christmas tree that feeling of invincibility it deserves!

This crafty project is the brain child of Instructables user scoochmaroo, and gives a great effect using simple materials. You could easily switch out the vinyl for scrap material, and you should find you have most of the bits you need to make this around the house.

It’s worth adding a 100-300 ohm resistor to the LED circuit if you want your LED to last more than a day or so!

10. Mario Coin Goodie Boxes

Sticking with the Mario theme, our final project is the ubiquitous Coin Box from the Mario series.

Templates for the box design can be found in the video description, and the finished boxes are really impressive. This project uses foam core, but if you do not have any to hand you can use card from packing boxes to the same effect.

The finished product in this video has a slot in the top for placing items in the boxes.

A great alternative would be to stash tasty edible goodies inside the boxes and hang them from the tree for your family and guests to break open and eat. Tiny Mario box pinatas? Yes please!

Getting Into the Spirit

These few ideas are a great start to giving you a DIY Christmas—with an emphasis on recycling where possible. This list is just a tiny glimpse of the hundreds of fantastic projects out there.

As well as getting the perfect gift for your tech savvy family members, give your home the creative treatment this Christmas.

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Is Amazon Prime Pantry Worth It? 5 Things You Need to Know

Allow me to start with two important remarks.

One, I’m a huge fan of Amazon Prime and I recommend it to pretty much everyone who has regular internet access. Two, even though I don’t personally use Prime Pantry, that doesn’t mean I think it’s a bad service. It’s actually one of the lesser-known benefits of Amazon Prime that can be great under the right circumstances.

But is Prime Pantry right for you? You’ll need to consider a handful of details that will inform your decision. If you decide that it won’t benefit you, that’s fine. If you think it will, even better. I have no stake in this—I just want to help you come to the best decision according to your needs.

Here’s everything you need to know about Prime Pantry.

1. How Does Prime Pantry Work?

As the name implies, you’ll need an Amazon Prime membership to take advantage of Prime Pantry, which means committing to $129/year. Is Amazon Prime worth it? I think so. The two-day shipping alone is fantastic, but you also get Prime Video, Prime Music, and more.

As an Amazon Prime member, you have three ways to shop Prime Pantry:

1. On Prime Pantry orders that total under $35, shipping costs a flat $5.99.
2. On Prime Pantry orders that total $35 or more, shipping is free.
3. With a Prime Pantry supplemental subscription, orders that total $10 or more have free shipping. The supplemental Prime Pantry subscription costs $4.99/month on top of the regular Amazon Prime membership.

Only Prime Pantry-eligible items count towards Prime Pantry orders. The easiest way to shop Prime Pantry is to visit the Prime Pantry Store page. However, you can also browse Amazon normally as long as you look for the Prime Pantry label, which you can see on the items below:

When Prime Pantry-eligible items are added to your Cart, they’ll display separately from normal Amazon items. In your Cart, you’ll see a Prime Pantry item that has a bunch of sub-items below it, along with how much each item costs and the total cost of the box. You can also see any eligible coupons (more on this later in the article):

Note: If you’re a student with an active .EDU email, you can actually get Amazon Prime for 50% off through the Prime for Students program. This discount applies every year for up to four years or until you graduate, whichever comes first. This makes Prime Pantry a much better deal for students!

2. Prime Pantry Shipping Restrictions

As far as shipping restrictions go, you’ll need to know three major details.

Only in the Continental US

If you live in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Canada, or any other country in the world, you can forget about Prime Pantry. Since its debut, the service has only been available to users in the 48 states that make up the continental US. (There are ways to get around this but may violate the terms of Amazon Prime. Do so at your own risk!)

Only Shipped by Ground Shipping

Amazon Prime has spoiled me with its two-day shipping policy, so now anything longer than that feels like an eternity. Unfortunately, Prime Pantry isn’t included in the two-day shipping policy that makes Amazon so convenient. All Prime Pantry orders are shipped using ground shipping, which takes an average of four days.

Note: If you have non-Prime Pantry items in your Cart when checking out, they’ll ship separately.

Only for Residential or Business Addresses

For the most part, Amazon Prime can ship anywhere—including PO boxes, Amazon Lockers, and even APO, FPO, and DPO addresses. One major downside to Prime Pantry is that those exceptional address types are excluded: no PO boxes, no Amazon Lockers, no APO/FPO/DPO addresses.

3. Prime Pantry Is Mainly Non-Perishable Items

This point isn’t so much a downside as it is an observation: 99% of the items you’ll find in the Prime Pantry catalog are non-perishable household goods. You probably could’ve surmised that from the name itself (“things you’d put in your pantry”), but I just wanted to be extra clear on that. And by non-perishable, we mean “it might eventually perish, but it’s shelf stable for quite some time.”

Common Prime Pantry-eligible item types include:

• Snacks, like cookies.
• Canned and bottled beverages, like soda.
• Cleaning supplies, like bathroom sprays.
• General supplies, like paper towels.
• Laundry supplies, like detergent.
• Food storage, like containers.
• Hygiene products, like soap and makeup.
• Healthcare products, like vitamins.
• Medication and first aid products.
• Pet care products, like litter.

As you can see, Prime Pantry covers many categories—along with several others that aren’t mentioned above. However, you will not find any fresh produce or groceries in the Prime Pantry catalog. For that, you should look to Amazon Fresh instead.

4. Prime Pantry Lacks Generic and Luxury Brands

Here’s another detail that might seem unremarkable at first but could end up being quite the deal breaker: Prime Pantry is only stocked with “regular” brands.

I personally don’t care about brands all that much—I prefer to shop using value-to-price ratios—but I know a lot of people who are picky about this sort of thing. If that’s you, nothing wrong with that. I’m not here to judge.

Just know that some of your preferred brands won’t be available through Prime Pantry, especially if your tastes lean toward the more expensive end of the spectrum. Then again, if you’re a bargain hunter and always opt for generic brands, you’ll also be sorely disappointed in the Prime Pantry selection.

5. Save Money With Prime Pantry Coupons

Did you know that Amazon has a Coupons program for Amazon Prime members? I had no idea this existed until I dove a little deeper into Amazon as research for this article. In short, you can browse Amazon’s catalog of coupons and click Clip Coupon to get an instant discount on that item at checkout.

As it turns out, a lot of Prime Pantry items are also eligible for these digital coupons. Individually these discounts may seem worthless, but when you have an entire Cart worth of stuff and all of it is discounted to some degree, the savings add up. If you have the time to clip coupons regularly, you might even save enough to negate the shipping fee.

Note: Each coupon is only available for a limited time and is only applicable up to a certain quantity.

Is Prime Pantry Right for You?

After looking at all of these facts about Prime Pantry, a couple things become very clear.

Convenience is the main reason to use Prime Pantry. You don’t have to leave your house, you can shop at your own leisure, and everything gets dropped off right at your doorstep. It’s a great value for students (who get discounted Prime for Students memberships) and supremely useful for those who don’t have cars and don’t want to walk back from the supermarket with heavy bags of groceries.

Prime Pantry is NOT a way to save money on groceries. It’s convenient, but that convenience comes at a cost—namely, flat-rate shipping and the lack of generic brands. The four-day shipping is also a bit disappointing, but not a deal-breaker.

Get started with a free 30-day trial of Prime Pantry, only for current Amazon Prime members. Not an Amazon Prime member yet? Get started with a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime instead!

If Prime Pantry isn’t for you, Amazon Prime is still worth getting for other reasons. Perhaps the benefits of Amazon Prime Day will convince you to become a member.

Read the full article: Is Amazon Prime Pantry Worth It? 5 Things You Need to Know

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How to Build a Home Theater on the Cheap

Propel raises $12.8M for its free app to manage government benefits

Propel, maker of the Fresh EBT app for managing food stamps and other benefits, announced today that it has raised $12.8 million in Series A funding.

Fresh EBT (the EBT stands for the Electronics Transfer Benefit card, which is how food stamp participants receive their benefits) allows users to check their food stamp/SNAP balance and find stores that accept food stamps. Users can also track their spending. The app is free for consumers and government agencies — the company makes money through digital coupons and a job board.

Propel says Fresh EBT is now used by more than 1.5 million Americans each month, and that more than 30,000 people have applied for jobs this year that they discovered through the app. For example, the announcement quotes one user, Tracy B. from Fairland, Virginia — she described Fresh EBT as her “personal financial adviser,” and also said she used it to find discount zoo tickets, and even her current job.

When Propel raised its $4 million seed round last year, founder and CEO Jimmy Chen described his mission as building “a more user-friendly safety net.” He argued that there’s no conflict between Propel’s social mission and its structure as a for-profit business, a position he reiterated in today’s announcement.

“Our investors are world-class experts in their respective fields,” he said. “They share an understanding of the challenges of low-income Americans and a belief that Propel can build a massive business by fighting poverty.”

Those investors include Nyca Partners, which led the round. Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Omidyar Network, Alexa von Tobel and Kevin Durant’s Thirty Five Ventures also participated.

“It’s not hard to see the huge opportunity in building better financial services for low-income people,” said Nyca Managing Partner Hans Morris in a statement. “We just haven’t seen many companies in this space that have an opportunity to have such a large impact at massive scale. That’s why we’re so excited to invest in Propel.”

Propel raises $4M to make the social safety net more tech savvy and user friendly

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Amazon Echo speakers now play friendly with Apple Music

Amazon recently said Apple Music would find its way onto Amazon Echo devices sometime soon — and sure enough, it appears to be rolling out now.

To make Alexa work with Apple’s streaming service, you should just have to jump into the newly updated iOS/Android Alexa app and link up your account. You can find the option under Settings > Music.

Once done, commands like “Alexa, play music by Halsey on Apple Music” should work. Or, if you don’t want to have to say the “… on Apple Music” bit every time, you can just set Apple Music as the default service. If you don’t have a specific artist in mind, you an also request playlists or genres.

One catch: as 9to5mac points out, it appears this currently only works with Amazon Echo speakers, and not yet with third-party speakers (like the Sonos ONE or Polk’s Audio Command sounder) that happen to have Alexa-support built in.

Not a fan of Apple’s offering? Alexa also works with Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, Deezer and Amazon’s own Music service.

Using Google devices, rather than Amazon’s? Alas, still no word on if/when proper Apple Music support might come to Google Home.

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Google agrees not to sell facial recognition tech, citing abuse potential

In recent months, pressure has been mounting for major tech firms to develop strong policies regarding facial recognition. Microsoft has helped lead the way on that front, promising to put in place stricter policies, calling for greater regulation and asking fellow companies to follow suit.

Hidden toward the end of a blog post about using artificial intelligence to benefit health clinics in Asia, Google SVP Kent Walker affirmed the company’s commitment not to sell facial recognition APIs. The executive cites concerns over how the technology could be abused.

“[F]acial recognition technology has benefits in areas like new assistive technologies and tools to help find missing persons, with more promising applications on the horizon,” Walker writes. “However, like many technologies with multiple uses, facial recognition merits careful consideration to ensure its use is aligned with our principles and values, and avoids abuse and harmful outcomes. We continue to work with many organizations to identify and address these challenges, and unlike some other companies, Google Cloud has chosen not to offer general-purpose facial recognition APIs before working through important technology and policy questions.”

In an interview this week, CEO Sundar Pichai address similar growing concerns around AI ethics. “I think tech has to realize it just can’t build it and then fix it,” he told The Washington Post. “I think that doesn’t work,” adding that artifical intelligence could ultimately prove “far more dangerous than nukes.”

The ACLU, which has offered sharp criticism over privacy and racial profiling concerns, lauded the statement. In the next paragraph, however, the company promised to continue to apply pressure on these large orgs.

“We will continue to put Google’s feet to the fire to make sure it doesn’t build or sell a face surveillance product that violates civil and human rights,” ACLU tech director Nicole Ozer said in a statement. “We also renew our call on Amazon and Microsoft to not provide dangerous face surveillance to the government. Companies have a responsibility to make sure their products can’t be used to attack communities and harm civil rights and liberties — it’s past time all companies own up to that responsibility.”

The organization has offered particularly sharp criticism against Amazon for its Rekognition software. This week, it also called out the company’s patent application for a smart doorbell that uses facial recognition to identify “suspicious” visitors.

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7 Useful Ways to Reuse an Old Router: Don’t Throw It Away!

If your ISP has sent you a new router, or you simply fancy upgrading your current router, you’ll run into a problem.

What should you do with the old router?

In the case of switching your ISP, you’ll often be asked to return the older device. But if you have a spare router kicking around the place, here are several ways you can reuse it.

1. Build a Wireless Repeater

What if your Wi-Fi network doesn’t extend across the full range of your home? Although you might opt for powerline Ethernet adapters, adding a second router into the mix is a good alternative.

This means connecting the old router to your new wireless network, using the Wi-Fi signal. It can then share access to the Wi-Fi network, giving greater coverage. Although there may be some latency issues, overall this is a quick and easy way to extend your wireless network.

It has various uses, from giving better Wi-Fi access to a remote part of the house, to letting you stream video to your tablet while you’re in the garden.

Our guide to extending the range of your home network explains how a wireless repeater works, and its benefits.

2. Guest Wi-Fi Connection

If you have people regularly dropping in and using your wireless internet, why not give them their own network?

This is like the wireless repeater project, but with a twist. The router connects to your existing, password-protected network, but gives password-free access to new devices. This will use the guest network feature of your old router, which will by default prevent guests accessing other devices on your network.

If this level of security isn’t enough, check the firewall settings on the main router to adjust.

3. Cheap Internet Radio Streamer

Want to enjoy your favorite radio stations on the internet? Some routers can be configured to play internet radio, if you’re prepared to install the OpenWrt or DD-WRT custom router firmware.

Some other software is also required, and you’ll need a USB soundcard to output audio.

While this isn’t an easy build, and plenty of other internet radio options are available, this is still a great project. It gives you an insight into the power of custom firmware, as well as an appreciation of how music is streamed across the internet.

However, if you want to do this without the fuss, our Raspberry Pi smart streaming speaker project is a good option.

4. Use the Router as a Cheap Network Switch

Most routers don’t have more than six Ethernet ports. With the increase in wireless technology around the home, this figure might even be as low as four. But with a clear need for devices to be connected over Ethernet, you might run out of ports.

For example, home appliance monitoring devices, TV decoders with smart TV functionality, games consoles, and more might have no wireless networking. They need a physical connection to your network, and that means Ethernet.

If you run out of Ethernet ports, you can add more with a network switch. This is basically the Ethernet version of a mains power bar, with the additional ports plugged into one port on the router.

Your old router typically has four or more ports, so connecting will instantly increase the number of ports available. Remember to power up the old router. You should also disable wireless networking on the old router, to avoid conflicts.

5. Turn Your Router Into a Wireless Bridge

What if your new router is wireless only? Perhaps the ISP doesn’t offer a router with Ethernet ports, or maybe you use a 4G internet provider. Either way, if you need to connect Ethernet devices to your home network, a wireless bridge is the answer.

While inexpensive, an old router can be repurposed as a wireless bridge.

This works a little like a wireless repeater, but rather than share the Wi-Fi connection, the wireless bridge offers Ethernet. The old router is connected to an existing Wi-Fi network, and its Ethernet ports used to connect devices to.

See our guide to using a router as a wireless bridge for a full explanation.

6. Build a Smart Home Hub

Some routers ship with some useful additional ports. In some cases, this might be a USB port, which makes flashing OpenWRT or DD-WRT router firmware easy.

Other devices might come with a serial port, and these routers can be repurposed as a home automation server.

Basically, the router runs a web server that you connect to with your browser. This might be on a PC, or for convenience, through your smartphone. This Instructables explains how to use this with an Arduino hooked up to the router, and some RF-controlled power switches, to create a basic smart home setup.

While easier options are available, you might use this to get a better understanding of home automation.

7. Convert Your Router Into a NAS Drive

Looking for a way to store your data on a single storage device and access it from anywhere in your home? You need Network Attached Storage (NAS), which is basically a hard disk drive that is attached to your network.

While NAS devices are affordable enough, with an old router hanging around, you can save money. Note that this is limited to routers that can run custom firmware (like DD-WRT) and a spare USB port, and routers that let you browse the contents of any connected USB devices.

Without USB, there’s no way to attach the hard disk drive or USB flash storage.

Once set up, your custom-built NAS should give you instant access to your important data from anywhere in the house, using any device.

Your Old Router Isn’t So Old After All!

Don’t let that old router clutter up your drawer any longer. We’ve identified seven ways you can reuse it:

1. Guest Wi-Fi connection
2. Wireless repeater
3. Cheap internet radio
4. Use the router as a network switch
5. Adapt it as a wireless bridge
6. Build a smart home hub
7. Convert your router into a NAS

These are all great ways to repurpose an old router, and even if your router is really old and misses some key modern wireless networking features, you can still use it as a switch, or even a guest network.

If none of this works, however, it might be time to consider selling or recycling the device. See our tips for reusing old hardware for more.

Read the full article: 7 Useful Ways to Reuse an Old Router: Don’t Throw It Away!

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6 Changes Windows Users Need to Accept to When Switching to Linux

Making the jump from Windows to Linux isn’t always a walk in the park for long-time Windows users. That isn’t the say the experience isn’t a great one. It’s just that there are certain things you take for granted in Windows that are quite different in Linux.

Some major differences include the need to become comfortable with the command line, a different approach to handling peripherals, and the need to switch to a new family of applications.

The following are six of the most common things Windows users struggle with when they switch over to using a Linux distribution.

1. Using the Command Line

Most Windows users are able to get by very easily without using the Windows command prompt for nearly everything they do. Installing software, adding new devices, and even configuring the Windows OS itself can be accomplished through pointing and clicking.

In many cases, like adding new devices, the experience is plug-and-play, and the user doesn’t even have to do anything.

Meanwhile, in most Linux distros users might need to learn the command line interface (CLI), but doing so is much easier than you might think.

Linux distros also offer a useful package manager that lets you install an impressive assortment of powerful applications. This experience is largely like the Windows experience where you just click on the app you want and it’ll be installed automatically for you.

However, on Windows, if you can’t find the application you need, you have to go to the store (or online) and buy it.

In the case of Linux, you just research the app you need online, find the installation name of the app, and just run a simple “sudo apt install” command to find and install that software (for free).

Other typical uses for the CLI in Linux include:

• Quickly checking system information and statistics
• Reconfiguring the system (changing things like display refresh rate)
• Scheduling system commands or tasks
• Creating, searching, or manipulating files and folders
• Network management
• Installing peripheral drivers and software

Solution: Becoming comfortable with commands available in the Linux CLI isn’t a steep learning curve, and it can greatly enhance your Linux experience.

If you want to dive in and start learning common Linux commands, have a read through these most-used Linux commands.

2. Configuring Peripherals

Another area where long-time Windows users often find a stumbling block is when it’s time to install new hardware or configuring printer connections.

This is because at times the Linux approach to setting up drivers enters into the “manual” realm where you’re running CLI commands to troubleshoot and set things up.

In Windows, setting up a printer is extremely simple. It’s usually just a matter of going through a wizard that uses default Windows drivers included with the OS.

The problem in Windows is that when a printer driver fails, you’re left trying to find which Control Panel area shows you the right port or device error to troubleshoot your printer problems.

Solution: In Linux, while the existing printer drivers that come with a distro may not work with your printer, troubleshooting problems is much easier. Several Linux commands allow you to easily connect to the printer and configure communications manually.

Again, learning CLI commands can make your Linux experience much more flexible and easier to troubleshoot than Windows.Run into trouble? Check our guide to setting up a printer in Linux.

3. Configuring Internal Components

In addition to configuring new peripherals, installing new hardware inside your Linux computer follows the same approach as with printers.

In Windows, when a new graphics or network card doesn’t work, troubleshooting the problem can turn into a nightmare. Finding the right hardware so you can see the error, and then figuring out how to fix it, is almost impossible for a regular user.

Solution: In Linux, things in this area are getting easier, as new Linux distros (or updated ones) come prepackaged with support for many more internal components.

And when things go wrong, Linux provides you with a lot more power to set things right.

For example, to configuring a new network card in Linux, you have the power (with simple CLI commands) to:

• Add entries to /etc/network/interfaces to configure the card address and netmask.
• Set up DNS configuration in etc/resolv.conf.
• Test the interfaces with ip or ifconfig commands.
• Set up firewall rules to allow traffic.

This all may sound complicated, but the commands are very simple to learn and let you fix problems with your devices a lot faster than hunting and clicking through countless settings in Windows.

4. Windows Software Is Not Available

Even though Linux desktop distros are becoming more popular than ever before, it’s still a Windows world. That means that the vast majority of software out there is written to work on Windows, and there aren’t always versions available for Linux.

A classic example of this are Microsoft Office products like Word or Excel.

Solution: It may not be quite the “Windows world” as one might think. Windows software is costly. With Linux, there are almost always free replacement applications that are as good or better.

One example of this is LibreOffice as a replacement for Microsoft Office. Meanwhile, anyone who has used GIMP knows that the Linux alternatives certainly give Photoshop a run for its money.

The key, if you’re a long-time Windows user switching to Linux, is to do your research. Windows software isn’t always the best just because there’s a price tag attached. In the Linux world, you’ll quickly discover that open source alternatives are pretty impressive.

But if you’re dead set on using those Windows apps, a powerful Linux tool called Wine is available to make many Windows applications work just fine on a Linux distro. That means Linux gives you everything you need from your Windows experience, plus a whole lot more.

5. “Limited” Gaming Options

A long-running assumption for years has been that there are many more popular games available for Windows than for Linux. The fear of this limitation makes Windows-based gamers wary about making the big leap over into the Linux world.

These days, that fear is completely unfounded.

Solution: You can now run Steam on Linux, so just about any game you can buy to play on Windows, you can play on your Linux workstation. If you install PlayOnLinux, you can even install and run games that are designed to run only on Windows.

This fact alone should make most gamers sprint to use Linux immediately.

Why? Because Linux distros consume far less resources than Windows. This leaves more resources available for an exciting, fast-paced gaming experience!

6. Customizing Desktop Themes

Customizing your desktop theme in Windows is as simple as opening up Themes in System Settings, and tweaking things like the desktop background, color settings, the mouse cursor, or applying purchased themes from the Windows store.

Many Windows users think that customizing Linux distro themes are more complicated, or impossible.

Solution: Customizing themes on Linux distros is getting much easier. Most distros now incorporate easy GUIs to customize everything you can tweak in Windows.

Even better, you can go beyond those basic settings by learning some simple theme-based CLI commands. These let you manually change the appearance of individual items like icons, fonts, window settings, and much more.

There are actually a lot of things you can customize in many Linux distros that you can’t customize in Windows.

And in most cases, Linux distros come with an existing theme that’s already more aesthetically pleasing than Windows.

Switching to Linux Isn’t Painful

Even just a few years ago, making the transition to Linux distro for daily computer use was not enjoyable. It was tricky persuading hardware to work properly, and connecting to your home network would require endless of patience.

Thankfully, the developers of most popular Linux distros have made tremendous strides in making their OS handle a much larger family of peripherals and system components.

There are now GUIs available for easily configuring network interfaces. And with the growing collection of Linux-based applications that easily rival some of the best that Windows offers—the transition is nowhere as painful as it used to be.

In fact, I would say that exploring a modern Linux distro is an adventure that any long-time Windows user should try at least once. And if you’re thinking of getting started today, check our list of the best Linux distros.

Read the full article: 6 Changes Windows Users Need to Accept to When Switching to Linux

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What Is Wi-Fi 6 and Do You Need a New Router?

This drone shrinks to fit

Researchers at the University of Zurich and EPFL have created a robot that shrinks to fit through gaps, a feature that could make it perfect for search and rescue missions. The researchers initially created a drone that could assess man-made gaps and squeeze through in seconds using only one camera. This extra feature – a scissor like system to shrink the drone in flight – makes it even more versatile and allows these drones to react to larger or smaller gaps in nature.

“The idea came up after we worked on quadrotor flight through narrow gaps,” said PhD candidate Davide Falanga. “The goal of our lab is to develop drones which can be in the future used in the aftermath of a disaster, as for example an earthquake, in order to enter building through small cracks or apertures in a collapsed building to look for survivors. Our previous approach required a very aggressive maneuver, therefore we looked into alternative solutions to accomplish a task as passing through a very narrow gap without having to fly at high speed. The solution we came up with is the foldable drone, a quadrotor which can change its shape to adapt to the task.”

The system measures the gap and changes its shape without outside processing, a feat that is quite exciting. All of the processing is done on board and it could be turned into an autonomous system if necessary. The team build the drone with off the shelf and 3D-printed parts.

“The main difference between conventional drones and our foldable drone is in the way the arms are connected to the body: each arm is connected through a servo motor, which can change the relative position between the main body and the arm. This allows the robot to literally fold the arms around the body, which means that potentially any morphology can be obtained. An adaptive controller is aware of the drone’s morphology and adapts to it in order to guarantee stable flight at all times, independently of the configuration,” said Falanga.

The team published a report on their findings in Robotics and Automation Letters. As IEEE notes, this is no flying drone dragon but it is a far simpler, cooler, and more effective product.

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Facebook bug exposed up to 6.8M users’ unposted photos to apps

Reset the “days since the last Facebook privacy scandal” counter, as a Facebook has just revealed a Photo API bug gave app developers too much access to the photos of up to 5.6 million users. The bug allowed apps users had approved to pull their timeline photos to also receive their Facebook Stories, Marketplace photos, and most worryingly, photos they’d uploaded to Facebook but never shared. Facebook says the bug ran for 12 days from September 13th to September 25th.

Facebook initially didn’t disclose when it discovered the bug, but in response to TechCrunch’s inquiry, a spokesperson says that it was discovered and fixed on September 25th. They say it took time for the company to investigate whch apps and people were impacted, and build and translate the warning notification it will send impacted users. The delay could put Facebook at risk of GDPR fines for not promptly disclosing the issue within 72 hours that can go up to 20 million pounds or 4 percent of annual global revenue.

Facebook provided merely a glib “We’re sorry this happened” in terms of an apology. It will provide tools next week for app developers to check if they were impacted and it will work with them to delete photos they shouldn’t have. The company plans to notify people it suspects may have been impacted by the bug via Facebook notification that will direct them to the Help Center where they’ll see if they used any apps impacted by the bug. It’s recommending users log into apps to check if they have wrongful photo access. Here’s a look at a mockup of warning notifcation users will see:

Facebook tells me the bug did not impact photos privately shared through Messenger. The bug wouldn’t have exposed photos users never uploaded to Facebook from their camera roll or computer. But photos users uploaded but either decided not to post, that got interrupted by connectivity issues, or that they otherwise never finished sharing could have winded up with app developers.

The privacy failure will further weaken confidence that Facebook is a reponsible steward for our private data. It follows Facebook’s massive security breach that allowed hackers to scrape 30 million people’s information back in September. There was also November’s bug allowing websites to read users’ Likes, October’s bug that mistakenly deleted people’s Live videos, and May’s bug that changed people’s status update composer privacy settings. It increasingly looks like the social network has gotten too big for the company to secure. Curiously, Facebook discovered the bug on September 25th, the same day as its 30 million user breach. Perhaps it kept a lid on the situation in hopes of not creating an even bigger scandal.

That it keeps photos you partially uploaded but never posted in the first place is creepy, but the fact that these could be exposed to third-party developers is truly unacceptable. And it seems Facebook is so tired of its failings that it couldn’t put forward even a seemingly heartfelt apology is telling. This company’s troubles are not only souring users on Facebook, but employees and the tech industry as large as well. CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Congress earlier this year that “We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can’t then we don’t deserve to serve you.” What does Facebook deserve at this point?

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