The 10 Best Online Translators You Can Use in the Real World

Where do you go when you need a quick translation to another language? A friend or a foreign language dictionary? You can use a handy browser extension if you need to translate words often. But, you might not want to install one or your company may not allow it.

These free online translators are perfect for fast word or sentence swapping to another language. And some offer extra features that make them even better. When you find the one you like best, don’t forget to bookmark it so that it’s always close at hand.

1. Google Translate

One of the most popular translation services is offered by Google. And if you search Google for translators, its own handy tool will pop right up above your search results. This means you do not have to open another website.

But if you have a lengthy amount of text to translate, the Google Translate site is your spot. You have more space for your text and can choose your input method from handwriting or keyboard options. Other features you might like include saving, listening to, sharing, or copying the translated text.

In addition, you can suggest an edit if you believe the translation is incorrect. Google Translate provides over 100 languages.

2. Bing Translator

Another big name in translators is Bing which uses Microsoft Translator. You can select your input language or have the site automatically detect it as you type. If you have your microphone enabled, you can speak the text you want to be translated which is convenient.

After you receive the translation, you have options to hear it aloud in a male or female voice, share it, or search Bing with it. And, you can give the translation a thumbs-up or thumbs-down if you would like to provide a little feedback. This translator offers over 60 languages.

3. Translatedict

On Translatedict, you can choose from over 50 languages and use auto-detect for your own dialect. Just enter your word, phrase, or a large amount of text, pick the translation language, and hit the Translate button. You’ll see the written translation and can click the sound button to hear it out loud.

If you’re using the translation in a written communication, you’ll see helpful word and character counts at the bottom. This is great for texts or social media posts where you have limited space.

Translatedict also provides areas solely for the voice translator and text-to-speech feature. Plus, you can request help with professional translations and receive quote by filling out the online form.

4. Translate.com

A good translator that uses Microsoft’s service, but offers over 90 languages is Translate.com. You can use your voice or keyboard to enter the text, then read or listen to the translation.

If you believe the translation should be reviewed, you can obtain a human translation with the first 100 words free. Just click the contact icon and sign in or create an account.

5. DeepL Translator

The DeepL Translator is a really cool tool with its definitions and automatic sentence completion options. You can choose from nine languages and when you receive the translation, just double-click a word for more details.

When you select that word in the translation, you will see a dropdown box with more options. You can also take a look at the word definition that pops up at the bottom of the page at the same time. Plus, you will see examples of the word being used in both the input and output languages. This is great if you are trying to learn the language you are translating into.

6. Babylon Online Translator

While Babylon does offer software that you can download for translations, you can also check out their online option. With over 75 languages and a simple swap option, the site may not have the bells and whistles as others but is reported to be quite accurate.

If your business situation could benefit from a professional translator, Babylon offers that service as well. Just click the Human Translation button on the online translator page and you will be directed to that section of the site for the details.

7. PROMT Online Translator

PROMT Online Translator does not offer as many languages as other translators. The list is limited to about 20 languages so far. But it does have other nice features. Use automatic language detection and even choose a topic for the translation.

You can then copy, paste, check the spelling, or access a dictionary. There is also a virtual keyboard so if you are using the site on a tablet, for example, popping in your words or sentences is simple. PROMT also offers translation software that you can purchase and download. Plus, you can order a human translation directly from OneHourTranslation.

8. Collins Dictionary Translator

If you use the Collins Dictionary website for looking up definitions or synonyms, then take a look at the translator. You can input text and translate it to and from over 60 languages.

While this translator has minimal features, the translations come from Microsoft and there is a convenient copy button for the text you receive. If you are in the market for a basic translator on a site with a dictionary, thesaurus, and grammar tools, Collins Dictionary is the one for you.

9. ImTranslator

ImTranslator is a great site for translations and comparisons at the same time. You can get a simple translation, back translation, and comparison between PROMT, Google, and Microsoft translators. The site offers tons of languages as it links to the other important translation services like Google too.

As extras, there are a bunch of helpful tools like the Back Translation tool which automatically translates the target text back to the original — this helps you compare for accuracy.

Take advantage of the automatic language detection, dictionary, spelling, and decoder feature with checkmarks. Or use the buttons to copy, paste, use text-to-speech, or share the translation via email. ImTranslator also provides special accent characters that include currency, math, and company symbols.

10. SpanishDict

If your main translation needs are English to Spanish, the SpanishDict is ideal. Right on the main page, you can pop in the text you need translating. But what’s nice about this Spanish translator is that it includes a special character set too.

When you see the translation box, just click the arrow to expand it with accent buttons. If you have received text in Spanish and need to translate it to English, those characters come in handy. And, of course, you can translate the opposite way as well. Other good features are the definitions and examples you receive with your translation.

For more, check out the best apps for learning Spanish.

Communicating Is Easier With Online Translators

Each of these online translators gets the job done. And since they each offer something a little different or extra, try more than one to see which you like best.

For other tools, you can check out some handy mobile translation apps. Or if you need to translate a whole webpage, these browser translation extensions can help.

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5 Free April Fools Pranks to Play on Friends

When it comes to April Fools’ Day, preparation is the key. An ill-planned prank can go awry, so you should plan in advance. With that in mind, here are some April Fools’ pranks for your friends.

Whether you want to make your friends’ hearts race with a scary computer prank or leave them puzzled, here are the best April Fools’ prank ideas for you to test out on your friends.

Mess With Your Friend’s Desktop

A good April Fools’ prank idea is to affect your friend’s desktop computer in some way. The only problem is the need to wait until they leave their PC unattended and unlocked. When that happens, here are some ideas of what to do.

1. Disorient Them by Rotating Their Desktop Screen

One of the simplest and quickest April Fools’ pranks to trick your friends with involves rotating their computer screen. As a non-OS specific prank, you can bring about a little screen chaos anywhere, anytime.

For macOS:

1. Open System Preferences.
2. Hold down the Command and Option keys.
3. Click Displays.
4. Under the Display tab, a new pull-down menu will have appeared titled Rotation.
5. Choose between 90º, 180º, and 270º to rotate their screen.
6. Close the window.

For Windows:

1. Try pressing Ctrl + Alt + Down, Ctrl + Alt + Right, or Ctrl + Alt + Left to rotate their screen (these won’t work on all set-ups).
2. If that doesn’t work, navigate to their desktop.
3. Right-click on their desktop.
4. Select Display Settings from the menu.
5. Scroll down to Display Orientation under Scale and Layout.
6. Change from Landscape to Portrait, Landscape (flipped) or Portrait (flipped).
7. Close the window.

If not pressed for time, rearrange their icons to add a little additional confusion to this prank.

2. Make Their Desktop Icons Unclickable

If flipping their screen upside down or sideways doesn’t suffice, how about a different confusion-inducing prank? By taking a screenshot of their desktop, you can leave your friends desperately trying to figure out why clicking on anything doesn’t work.

Depending on your system, there are multiple ways to do this prank, so your method will change based on your favored keyboard shortcuts. Here are two of the quickest routes that you can use:

For macOS:

1. Go to their desktop.
2. Press Command + Shift + 3.
3. Wait a moment and the screenshot will appear on the desktop.
4. Open the screenshot in Preview.
5. Press Control + Command + F to bring up a full-screen photo replica of their desktop.
6. Leave Preview to be their new desktop.

For Windows:

1. Go to their desktop.
2. Press the Windows logo key + Shift + S.
3. Click Full-screen Snip.
4. Double-click the preview image to open Snip and Sketch.
5. Hit the Save Icon.
6. Save the screenshot to a folder (not on the desktop).
7. Close the window and return to the desktop.
8. Right-click and select Personalize.
9. Make sure to select Picture from the Background pull-down menu.
10. Click Browse, locate your screenshot, and select Choose picture.
11. Close the window.
12. Right-click on your desktop again to select View.
13. Scroll over and down to Show desktop icons and unselect it.
14. See how long it takes for them to realize they can’t click on anything.

3. Black Out Their Desktop Screen

The fake Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) prank remains ever-popular along with other fake virus pranks to freak out your friends. However, it’s infamy means your friends may cotton on quickly. As an alternative, try using BlackScreen to catch your friends off-guard and give them a scary computer prank.

BlackScreen turns the entire screen black. No cursors, no icons, and no desktop. Upon approach, even the savviest user might miss whether their monitor got unplugged or another serious issue occurred.

Before any accidental harm or data loss occurs, close the application by pressing Alt + F4 or by using Ctrl + Alt + Del to access the task manager. After opening the Task Manager, end the BlackScreen (32 bit) process.

Sadly though, only Windows users can take advantage of this prank.

Download: BlackScreen (Free)

4. Mess With Their Web Browser

While you can easily go with alarm-inducing pranks here, you could also choose to induce curiosity instead. With the GeekPrank website, you can turn any web browser into an assortment of visual pranks: a fake Windows XP simulator, a hacking program, assorted broken update processes, or other humorous ploys.

Once you have launched the web browser, you just have to do the following:

1. Go to Geekprank.com.
2. Click the prank you want to open (as if it was your desktop) or close out the window to interact with the fake Windows XP.
3. Make sure your browser is full-screen by pressing F11 (Windows) or Control + Command + F (macOS).
4. Watch the prank unfold.

5. Give Them a Prank Call

In the past, prank calls required a lot more planning from your computer. You’d have to source some kind of voice modulator software, make sure it had exactly the right kind of voice, and hope the software recognized your microphone. You’d also have to figure out what to say.

You can still go the more creative route. However, if you don’t have a lot of time then you can just use your browser.

PrankDial US allows you to pick from an expansive library of prank call templates. From the homepage, you can screen each prospective prank as well as look for customizable ones for added personalization.

After finding your prank, you simply enter your friend’s phone number and the phone number you want the call to appear as coming from. For almost any call, you can choose to record the call (outside of certain states). By default, the site also adds a prank call reveal at the end, but you can disable that as well.

For non-customized pranks, it should take less than a minute to start the phone call. You can also use it as a distraction for another prank if you’re feeling extra mischievous. If you’re also looking for some prank call ideas to play on family, the ability to send these out rather rapidly makes it a great option for family gatherings.

Play April Fools’ Pranks on Your Friends Responsibly

As numerous April Fools’ pranks exist, these are just a few of the best prank ideas we could think of. If you want more ways to prank your friends, try these web apps to play geeky pranks on your friends.

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7 Things to Do With Old RAM Modules

If you’ve ever upgraded your PC or laptop, there’s a very good chance that the process involved inserting some more RAM. Boosting hardware performance with extra or faster memory is always a smart option.

But when you upgrade, there might be something left over: old RAM.

So, what can you do with your old RAM modules? Can they be reused? Or recycled? Should they be thrown in the bin? Here are seven ways you can find a new purpose for old PC memory.

Recycle Your Old RAM Chips

Upgrading your computer’s RAM is a great way to improve performance, typically with a choice of faster RAM or more RAM.

It’s unusual to gain such boosts without having something left over. Often, you’ll find that one or more RAM modules had to be removed for the new ones to be installed. Memory modules are usually fitted in pairs, both with the same size memory, speed, and from the same manufacturer.

After all, your system can only be as fast as your slowest RAM module. This physical necessity means that there can be quite a bit of RAM wastage.

1. Use Old Ram to Upgrade Old Computers

Image Credit: Edmund Tse via Flickr

In most cases, RAM that is removed from a PC or laptop can be reused in an old machine. If you take the time to check compatibility with the target device, this should be straightforward. You’ll need to take the same anti-static precautions when replacing RAM.

But what sort of RAM are you using? And how can you find out if the target machine will accept the modules?

There are various types of RAM—DDRAM and SDRAM (including several types of DDR RAM)—each with different speeds. You’ve also got several form factors to deal with: SIMM, DIMM, SODIMM. Our quick and dirty guide to RAM explains in further detail.

Several tools are available online to help you out. You can use the Crucial Advisor Tool to select the target computer’s motherboard and CPU combination. The tool will then advise on the correct RAM modules to install.

You could also use the Crucial System Scanner, an automated version of the above. It’s best to run this on both computers and look for an overlap in RAM module compatibility.

If you have friends or relatives with an old PC or laptop that desperately needs replacing, expanding the RAM is a great way to give it a quick speed boost. You should consider a lightweight Linux operating system too.

2. Donate to a Local School or Makerspace

Image Credit: CSM Library via Flickr

It isn’t just technology-phobic relatives who might need the benefits of your old RAM modules, however. Budget cutbacks mean that local institutions (e.g. schools, churches, community centers) need any hardware they can get their hands on.

Naturally, there are processes to follow when donating hardware. In the case of RAM modules, this should be straightforward as they are volatile. This means that any data stored on them is lost when power is removed, unlike hard disk drives. (Disk drives need a thorough clean and deletion before being sold or donated.)

Hobby spaces (aka “makerspaces”) are also great targets for RAM. There are many ways to reuse RAM modules, from teaching PC building basics, to repurposing the modules completely.

3. Connect Old RAM to an Arduino

True to the DIY or makerspace ethos, why not connect RAM modules to an Arduino hobbyist board for extra storage?

Using solder, wires, a breadboard, and code, 1980s RAM modules have been successfully adapted to provide storage for an Arduino.

Admittedly, the 16MB modules in the clip can only offer 256KB to the attached Arduino UNO, due to hardware limitations. As such, this is not a great long-term project, but is an area where exciting developments could be made.

It might require some specialist knowledge, but if you can team up with others, it’s a project that’s worth following. Our Arduino beginner’s guide should help you get started.

4. Build a RAM Disk

Image Credit: AndreasCA via Wikimedia Commons

Another way to repurpose one or more RAM modules is to build a RAM disk. This is essentially a device that you can plug old RAM modules into. Several have been produced over the years with varying degrees of success.

Such an example is the Gigabyte i-RAM (and its alternatives) a solid-state storage device. All you need to do is insert compatible memory modules into the device, and power it up. As RAM modules are volatile, such devices feature a battery to safely store data while the PC is switched off.

Most such RAM disk devices resemble the PCI card above. If you can get hold of one, it’s worth trying out, but may be expensive as they’re no longer produced. The technology hit a dead end with the development of SSDs, so physical RAM disks remain something of a curio, but a great destination for old RAM modules!

5. Make Your Own Computer Chip Keychains

This is a lot simpler than it might sound. All you need are some keyrings (you can buy these in bulk from eBay) and a handheld rotary tool. You’ll also need a protective dust mask and safety goggles.

Desktop RAM modules are too long to be used as a keychain, so you will probably need to cut them through the middle. Old laptop RAM should be fine as is.

Where you make the cut depends on two things: how many keychains you want to get from each RAM module, and where the holes are.

Almost without fail, RAM modules ship with tiny holes in them, perfectly sized for slipping keyrings through. This means you don’t have to worry about any drilling—just cutting, smoothing the edges, and attaching to your keys.

There’s a whole market on sites like Etsy for these, so look at what’s available and see how you can improve on them.

If you’ve got some spare motherboard available, meanwhile, you might consider making some place mats or notebook covers.

Whatever you do, however, make sure you wear a mask and goggles! The dust that results in cutting through RAM modules is dangerous if inhaled, and shards can cause blindness.

6. Freecycle Old RAM Modules

Image Credit: William Hook via Flickr

Another simpler option would be to simply give the modules away. Perhaps you could use Facebook or Freecycle [https://freecycle.org/] to tell the world you have some RAM? Just be sure to let them know the type, and what devices it would make a suitable expansion for.

Alternatively, you could simply drop the modules off at a local thrift store or church shop. If they can’t make use of the modules themselves, they could sell them for a few dollars.

Having difficulty finding interest? A quick eBay listing with a minimum price point (perhaps with free postage) is likely to pique someone’s interest.

7. Don’t Recycle RAM Without Paying

Of all the suggestions here, this is the most important: recycling safely is paramount. You don’t want hardware to end up in a landfill, where chemicals can leak over time and cause environmental issues.

This means, if you’re opting to simply dispose of the RAM modules, that you do so via a reputable organization. A quick online search will reveal local companies that you can pay a small fee to for safe disposal.

Don’t be fooled by “free” recycling services. These essentially strip down old hardware for any serviceable/reusable parts, then dump what’s left in a landfill. Free recyclers may take your old RAM modules away and use them, but there’s no guarantee.

You Recycled Your RAM: Now What?

With seven different ways to recycle your old RAM modules, you have no excuse not to ensure their safe reuse.

Here are the seven ways you can recycle or reuse your RAM:

• Upgrade an old PC
• Donate to a local school or makerspace
• Boost your Arduino’s storage
• Build a RAM disk
• DIY computer chip keychains
• Freecycle old RAM
• Recycle with an approved disposer

Of course, you may know of some other uses for old RAM modules.

But you probably have some other old tech cluttering up your home. So, here are some ideas on what to do with that old router.

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How to Access Region-Blocked Media on Android

Have you ever wanted to access media on your Android device, but see an error message saying it’s not available in your country when you try to view it? You might find music, videos, or manga that are available for others to view online, but aren’t accessible from your region.

In many cases, you can unblock this content. We’ll show you how to access content that’s blocked in your country while using your Android device.

How Region-Blocking Media Works

Whether you’re trying to access webpages or app content via your Android device, you’ll sometimes find that the content is not available in your country. If you live in Germany, for example, you’ll find that much of the free music hosted on YouTube is blocked and you can’t access it.

Other specialist services can have limited availability in different countries too. Services like Manga Rock and Webtoon are popular in Japan and South Korea, but you might find they’re not available in your region.

If you want to unblock this content, it helps to understand how media blocking works. Whenever you connect to the internet, your device receives a number called an IP address. This unique number identifies your device to make sure that the content you request, such as the contents of a webpage you visit, goes to your device and not someone else’s.

The problem is that your IP address contains information about your location, so it indicates what country you’re in. If you live in the US, for example, your IP address will show that clearly to all websites. This means services can block people from accessing content based on their region.

These restrictions are often based on regional laws. For instance, some music videos might be available on YouTube in the UK, but not in Germany due to licensing issues. YouTube, like all websites, will see your German IP address and know it isn’t supposed to show you the video. So instead of seeing the video, you’ll get an error message like the shown above.

This is how sites and apps can region-block media on Android and other platforms.

Unblock Media With a VPN

Image Credit: vaeenma/Depositphotos

Fortunately, there are ways to get around region blocking on Android. The most popular method is to use a VPN. To do so, you first pick a provider and set up an account. We have advice on the best VPNs for Android if you’re wondering where to start.

Once you have an account, you install the VPN provider’s app onto your Android device. When you open the app and sign in, you’ll see a list of servers that are available in different countries. Simply tap on a server name to connect to it. You’ll then see a message that you are connected.

Now, whenever your device sends data over the internet, it will first routed via that server. So if you are based in Germany and connect to a VPN server in the UK, your web traffic will travel from Germany, then to the UK, and then on to its destination. This works for both apps and internet browsing.

This means that you can get around regional blocks. For example, using a VPN to connect to a server in the UK, you can access YouTube music videos that are blocked in Germany. Or you can connect to a server in Japan or South Korea to unblock apps and services like Manga Rock or Webtoon.

Unblock Media With a Proxy Browser

Image Credit: Funtap/Depositphotos

A proxy browser is another way to unblock regional content. You can download a variety of internet browsers from the Google Play Store with proxy features built-in, including the popular Opera browser.

A proxy works as a “middle man” between your device and the website you’re visiting, passing information between the two. With the proxy set to a certain location, you can access blocked content as if you were actually there.

With one of these browsers installed on your Android device, you start by enabling the proxy. In Opera, for example, you can open the VPN section in the app’s settings menu. From here, choose which region you want to browse from. Once you’ve select the region in your settings, your proxy connection is established.

Now, when you use that browser to load a web page, the browser routes your traffic via the location you chose. Thus, you can access region-blocked content via the browser. You can’t use this method to access region-blocked content in apps, however.

Is a VPN or a Proxy Better for Your Android Device?

With these two options on the table, you might wonder what the difference is between a VPN and a proxy, and which you should use on Android.

The biggest difference between the two is whether your data is encrypted. A VPN lets you unblock content by creating a “tunnel” through which your data flows. This tunnel is protected by encryption, which means no one else can see into it.

When you use a VPN, it’s extremely difficult for any outsider, such as your ISP, to see your online activities. This is better for both security and privacy, as a VPN will stop others from spying on you when you use the internet.

A proxy doesn’t have encryption. So while you can use a proxy to spoof your location and unblock content, outsiders like your ISP will be able to see your online activity. This raises some security and privacy issues. If you are accessing content that’s illegal or otherwise blocked in your region, it’s possible you could get in trouble with your ISP.

The upside of utilizing a browser with a proxy is that it’s simple to use. Typically, you install the browser into your phone and you’re ready to go. However, setting up a VPN is also pretty simple. You just need to install an app on your computer or device and use it connect to a server. Then you can unblock content.

Browsers with proxies are often free to download. But for a VPN, you should opt for paid service as free VPN services have hidden costs. We recommend getting a quality paid VPN like ExpressVPN to unblock content, as these offer more features than a proxy.

Access Region-Blocked Media on Your Android Phone

There are a few ways to unblock content on your Android device that’s not available in your region. You can use a VPN or a browser with proxy features. Either of these will make your device appear like it’s in a different location. Then you can access content from that region, even if it’s blocked in your country.

While each has its advantages, in most cases we recommend using a paid VPN service to unblock content. This will improve your security as well as letting you get around regional blocks.

If you have problems with blocked content on your computer as well as your mobile device, see our advice on ways to unblock websites from behind a firewall.

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These new data sources are creating high-impact tools for investors

David Teten Contributor

David Teten is an advisor to emerging investment managers and a Venture Partner with HOF Capital. He was previously a partner for 8 years with HOF Capital and ff Venture Capital. David writes regularly at teten.com and @dteten.

More posts by this contributor

• These new data sources are creating high-impact tools for investors
• Finding free money for your social impact startup

Venture capitalists tout themselves as frontier technology investors, but most of us are using the same infrastructure tools we’ve used for the past 20+ years — Excel and recent college grads searching Google.

We’ve seen some modest progress in people upgrading from Excel to Google Sheets, along with the use of CRM and cloud-based storage services, but according to Sebastian Soler, who oversees data science at Lux Capital, less than 5% of American VCs have a full-time team member who’s focused on technology.

“While the arguments for adopting the latest technology are now too compelling to ignore, finding the required budget for specialized tools can often prove to be a major challenge, especially for smaller managers,” said Tim Friedman, founder of PEStack. “Comprehensive market data can cost upwards of $25k for a leading service, portfolio monitoring can be double that, add in front office tools and you’re quickly into six-figure sums. My advice is: there are now more products than ever which focus on quick implementation and offer a lot of functionality at a fraction of the cost of some of the larger legacy providers.

TotemVC* is one example of a high-quality solution that offers a powerful platform with a transparent, affordable monthly rate. One piece of advice would be to use a service like [PEStack’s] free Vendor Profiles platform to identify viable providers and build up a shortlist. We also track sample clients so that our users can see what their peers are using. I would always advise managers to talk to other professionals to get the real inside scoop on which products work well, how painful the implementation was, and how good the ongoing support is.”

Progressive VCs and private equity are using tech and analytics to revolutionize investing

Jonathan Balkin, founder of Lionpoint Group, observed that the highest-impact technology initiative for a new PE/VC fund is typically to configure and enforce usage of a CRM system. The next most impactful initiative is usually to create an easy-to-use LP portal.

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Daily Crunch: Google’s founders step back

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.

1. Google CEO Sundar Pichai is taking over as CEO of Alphabet

Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced that Google CEO Sundar Pichai will be replacing Page as the CEO of parent company Alphabet. In addition, Brin is stepping down from his role as Alphabet’s president.

Rather than framing this as a departure, the pair suggested that they’ve “never been ones to hold on to management roles when we think there’s a better way to run the company” and that they remain “deeply committed to Google and Alphabet for the long term, and will remain actively involved as Board members, shareholders and co-founders.”

2. Plex launches a free, ad-supported streaming service in over 200 countries

Although there are plenty of similar offerings on the market, what makes Plex’s new streaming service unique is its broad availability — unlike many competitors, Plex has structured its deals in order to stream content outside the United States.

3. Toyota leads $50M investment in autonomous shuttle startup May Mobility

May Mobility has 25 autonomous low-speed shuttles spread out between Detroit; Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Providence, Rhode Island. As part of the deal, Toyota has picked the startup as one of its “autonomous driving providers for future open platforms.”

4. Progressive VCs and private equity are using tech and analytics to revolutionize investing

HOF Capital’s David Teten says private equity and venture capital investors are copying their counterparts in the hedge fund world by trying to automate more of their jobs. (Extra Crunch membership required.)

5. Kustomer raises $60M for its omnichannel-based CRM platform

The New York-based company has been on a growth tear and has raised more than $161 million in the last 18 months. CEO Brad Birnbaum said the valuation is now “definitely above $500 million,” but he declined to be more specific.

6. Instagram still doesn’t age-check kids. That must change.

Josh Constine argues that user growth at all costs is no longer acceptable: It’s time for Instagram to step up and assume responsibility for protecting children, even if that means excluding them. (In fact, after this post was published, Instagram announced that it would in fact require birth dates from all new users.)

7. Reddit’s monthly active user base grew 30% to reach 430M in 2019

The most-upvoted post this year referenced Reddit’s fundraise from China’s Tencent, which led Reddit’s $300 million Series D. Users were concerned at the time the investment would lead to Chinese censorship, leading them to flood the site with images that would be forbidden in China.

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Instagram finally launches 13+ age checkups

Instagram is done playing dumb about users’ ages. After nine years, Instagram is finally embracing more responsibility to protect underage kids from the problems with social media. It will now ask new users to input their birth date and bar users younger than 13 from joining. However, it won’t be asking existing users their age, so Instagram will turn a blind eye to any underage kids already amongst its 1 billion members.

Instagram will later start using age info to offer education about settings and new privacy controls for younger users. It’s also adding the option to only allow people you follow to message you, add you to a group or reply to your Story.

Yesterday we published an opinion piece noting that “Instagram still doesn’t age-check kids. That must change.” after receiving no-comments from Instagram after mobile researcher Jane Manchun Wong spotted Instagram prototyping an age-check feature. As the code she found indicated, Instagram will keep your birthday and date private, and sync it with your Facebook profile if you link your accounts.

Instagram still doesn’t age-check kids. That must change.

Instagram had fallen far behind in protecting underage users. It’s relied on ignorance about users’ ages to avoid a $40,000 fine per violation of the Child Online Privacy Protection Act that bans services from collecting personal info from children younger than 13. “Asking for this information will help prevent underage people from joining Instagram, help us keep young people safer and enable more age-appropriate experiences overall,” Instagram notes.

Facebook, Snapchat and TikTok already require users to enter their birth date as soon as they start the signup process. TikTok built a whole separate section of its app where kids can watch videos but not post or comment, after it was fined $5.7 million by the FTC for violating COPPA.

As for why it took so long, an Instagram spokesperson tells TechCrunch, “Historically, we didn’t require people to tell us their age because we wanted Instagram to be a place where everyone can express themselves fully — irrespective of their identity.” That seems like a pretty thin excuse.

Adding the age check is a good first step for Instagram. But it should consider how it can do more to verify the ages users enter and keep out those who don’t belong exposed to strangers across the app. Moving in line with industry standards is attaining minimum viable responsibility. But an app so appealing to younger users and that deals in such sensitive data should be leading on safety, not just following the herd.

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Reddit’s monthly active user base grew 30% to reach 430M in 2019

In a year-end retrospective released this morning, Reddit says its user base grew 30% this year to reach 430 million monthly active users, as of the end of October. Its users also contributed 199 million posts, 1.7 billion comments and 32 billion upvotes, the company says.

Last year, Reddit reported 330 million monthly active users — bigger than Twitter.

Monthly comments and monthly views were also up on an annual basis in 2019, with increases of 37% and 54%, respectively.

The most-upvoted post this year referenced Reddit’s fundraise led by China’s Tencent, which in February led Reddit’s $300 million Series D, valuing the site at $3 billion. Users were concerned at the time the investment would lead to Chinese censorship, which led them to flood the site with images that would be forbidden in China. One of these, a photo of “tank man” at Tienanmen Square, then became the most-upvoted post, with 228,000 upvotes.

Meanwhile, the most upvoted AMA (Ask Me Anything) post on the site was with Bill Gates, which received 110,000 upvotes.

Reddit also noted a number of trends across its more than 100,000 active communities, including sizable increases in its top 50 beauty and style communities, which grew 63+% and 52%+ year-over-year, respectively. To some extent, these increases were driven by the blogger beauty feuds — for example, the r/beautyguruchatter community jumped up by 87% year-over-year. The r/skincareaddiction community was the most popular beauty community, reaching over 1 million subscribers, Reddit says.

Wedding-focused Reddit communities also grew, with r/weddingsunder10k up by 109% and r/bridezillas up by 852%, year-over-year. Family and parenting communities grew by 87% year-over-year.

The top 50 food communities grew 35% year-over-year, and several spirits-focused communities grew — like r/tequila (+99%), r/whiskey (+52%), r/vodka (+44%), r/bourbon (+27%) and r/winemaking (+16%). The top 50 fitness/wellness communities grew by 30%.

News was also a big focus on Reddit this year, with the top 50 news communities growing by 17% year-over-year. The company in 2018 first introduced its “news” tab to drive more traffic to timely articles. This appears to have worked, given the increases. This year, top stories included Robert Mueller’s hearings, the current impeachment inquiry, the Hong Kong protests, climate change and more; r/politics remained the top news community.

Elsewhere on the site, the top 50 entertainment communities grew by 27%, the top 50 sports communities grew 34%, and the top 50 gaming communities grew 42%.

The full report has even more data and details.

One thing Reddit’s year-end review didn’t delve into, however, was its hard numbers around page views or revenue. Reddit was said to be on track to reach $119 million in U.S. ad revenues this year, according to a forecast from eMarketer, which would give it a 0.1% share of the U.S. digital ad market. By 2021, the analysts estimated it would more than double those revenues, to $261.7 million, to claim a 0.2% share. Mobile is expected to account for 57% of revenues in 2019.

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Finally, an official Craigslist app

Fancy websites and services come and go, but Craigslist endures. And now one of its main shortcomings is fixed: there’s an official app. Currently available for iOS and in beta for Android, the app provides a true-to-form Craigslist experience: useful, unfussy, and anonymous.

There isn’t much to say about the app beyond that it faithfully replicates the website, down to the color scheme. All categories of posts are available to browse or search; you can favorite things, save searches, and change the way results look. Different categories have their pertinent settings, so when you look for a car you’ll get odometer, model year and so on the way you do on the site.

No account is required at all to browse listings or contact sellers, and conveniently all their contact info pops up easily, letting you email, text, or call as desired.

Obviously the web app is still perfectly serviceable, and some may even prefer it. But it’s nice to have a native app, if only to deter the imitation Craigslist apps that piggyback on the popularity of the original no-frills listings.

The app was released yesterday and is already climbing the charts. Grab it today and start looking for free furniture!

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AI Hiring Algorithm

AI Hiring Algorithm

Instagram finally launches 13+ age checkups

Instagram is done playing dumb about users’ ages. After 9 years, Instagram is finally embracing more responsibility to protect underage kids from the problems with social media. It will now ask new users to input their birthdate and bar users under 13 from joining. However, it won’t be asking existing users their age, so Instagram will turn a blind eye to any underage kids already amongst its 1 billion members.

Instagram will later start using age info to offer education about settings and new privacy controls for younger users. It’s also adding the option to only allow people you follow to message you, add you to a group, or reply to your Story.

Yesterday we published an opinion piece noting that “Instagram still doesn’t age-check kids. That must change” after receiving no-comments from Instagram after mobile researcher Jane Manchun Wong spotted Instagram prototyping an age check feature. As the code she found indicated, Instagram will keep your birthday and date private, and sync it with your Facebook profile if you link your accounts together.

Instagram still doesn’t age-check kids. That must change.

Instagram had fallen far behind in protecting underage users. It’s relied on ignorance about users’ ages to avoid a $40,000 fine per violation of the Child Online Privacy Protection Act that bans services from collecting personal info from children under 13. “Asking for this information will help prevent underage people from joining Instagram, help us keep young people safer and enable more age-appropriate experiences overall” Instagram notes.

Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok already require users to enter their birthdate as soon as they start the signup process. TikTok built a whole seperate section of its app where kids can watch videos but not post or comment after it was fined $5.7 million by the FTC for violating COPPA.

This is a good first step for Instagram. But it should consider how it can do more to verify the ages users enter and keep out those who don’t belong exposed to strangers across the app. Moving in line with industry standards is attaining minimum viable responsibility. But an app so appealing to younger users and that deals in such sensitive data should be leading on safety, not just following the herd.

Read Full Article

The problem of light pollution -- and 5 ridiculously easy ways to fix it | Kelsey Johnson

The problem of light pollution -- and 5 ridiculously easy ways to fix it | Kelsey Johnson

Ever gaze up at the starry night sky? This stunning view is at risk of disappearing -- unless we act now, says astrophysicist Kelsey Johnson. In this fascinating, unexpectedly funny talk, she explains how light pollution affects almost every species on earth (including us) and shares five "stupidly simple" things you can do to help solve the problem.

Click the above link to download the TED talk.

Lessons from M-Pesa for Africa’s new VC-rich fintech startups

In African fintech, the fourth quarter of 2019 brought big money to new entrants.

Chinese investors put $220 million into OPay and PalmPay — two fledgling startups with plans to scale in Nigeria and the broader continent. Several sources told me the big bucks had created anxiety for more than few payments ventures in Nigeria with similar strategies and smaller coffers. They may not need to fret just yet, however: lessons from Africa’s most successful mobile-money case study, M-Pesa, suggest that VC alone won’t buy scale in digital finance.

Startups and fintech in Africa

Over the last decade, Africa has been in the midst of a startup boom accompanied by big growth in VC and improvements in internet and mobile penetration.

Some definitive country centers for company formation, tech hubs and investment have emerged; Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya lead the continent in numbers for all those categories. Additional strong and emerging points for innovation and startups across Africa’s 54 countries and 1.2 billion people include Ghana, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Senegal.

 

 

 

The continent surpassed $1 billion in VC to startups in 2018 and per research done by Partech and WeeTracker, fintech is the focus of the bulk of capital and deal-flow.

By several estimates,  Africa is home to the largest share of the world’s unbanked and underbanked population.

This runs parallel to the region’s off-the-grid SME’s and economic activity — on display and in commercial motion through the street traders, roadside kiosks and open-air markets common from Nairobi to Lagos.

IMF estimates have pegged Africa’s informal economy as one of the largest in the world. Thousands of fintech startups have descended onto this large pool of unbanked and underbranked citizens and SMEs looking to grow digital finance products and market share.

In this race, the West African nation of Nigeria — home to Africa’s largest economy and population — is becoming an epicenter for VC. Many fintech-related companies are adopting a strategy of scaling there first before expanding outward.

Enter PalmPay and OPay

That includes new entrants OPay and PalmPay, which raised so much capital in fourth quarter 2019. It’s notable that both were founded in 2019 and largely incubated by Chinese actors.

PalmPay, a consumer-oriented payments product, went live in November with a $40 million seed-round (one of the largest in Africa in 2019) led by Africa’s biggest mobile-phones seller — China’s Transsion. The startup was upfront about its ambitions, stating its goals to become “Africa’s largest financial services platform,” in a company statement.

To that end, PalmPay conveniently entered a strategic partnership with its lead investor. The startup’s payment app will come pre-installed on Transsion’s mobile device brands, such as Tecno, in Africa — for an estimated reach of 20 million phones in 2020.

PalmPay also launched in Ghana in November and its U.K. and Africa-based CEO, Greg Reeve, confirmed plans to expand to additional African countries in 2020.

If PalmPay’s $40 million seed round got founders’ attention, OPay’s $120 million Series B created shock-waves, coming just months after the mobile-based fintech venture raised $50 million — making OPay’s $170 million capital haul equivalent to roughly a fifth of all VC raised in Africa in 2018.

Opera’s Africa fintech startup OPay gains $120M from Chinese investors

Founded by Chinese owned consumer internet company Opera — and backed by 9 Chinese investors — OPay is the payment utility for a suite of Opera-developed internet based commercial products in Nigeria that include ride-hail apps ORide and OCar and food delivery service OFood.

With its latest Series A, OPay announced it would expand in Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana.

In Nigeria, OPay’s $170 million Series A and B announced in the span of months dwarfs just about anything raised by new and existing fintech players, with the exception of Interswitch.

The homegrown payments processing company — which pioneered much of Nigeria’s digital finance infrastructure — reached unicorn status in November when Visa took a reported $200 million minority stake in the venture.

A sampling of more common funding amounts for payments ventures in Nigeria includes established fintech company Paga’s $10 million Series B. Recent market entrant Chipper Cash’s May 2019 seed-round was $2.4 million.

There is a large disparity between fintech startups in Nigeria with capital raises in ones and tens of millions vs. OPay and PalmPay’s $40 and $120 million rounds. Conventional wisdom could be that the big-capital, big spending firms have an unmistakable advantage in scaling digital payments in Nigeria and other markets.

A look at Kenya’s M-Pesa may prove otherwise.

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Android’s ‘Focus Mode’ exits beta, adds new scheduling features

Google is expanding its suite of “Digital Wellbeing” tools for Android devices with a new feature, Focus Mode, launching today. This feature allows users to turn off distractions — like social media updates or email notifications — for a period of time, so you can get things done without interruption. Focus Mode was first announced at Google’s I/O developer conference this May, and has been in beta testing until now, Google says.

Unlike Do Not Disturb, which can mute sounds, stop vibrations and block visual disturbances, Focus Mode is only about silencing specific apps.

Within the Digital Wellbeing settings, users select which apps they find most distracting — like Facebook, YouTube, Gmail, games or anything else that tends to steal their attention. These apps can be paused temporarily, which stops those apps’ notifications. Plus, if you try to open the app, Focus Mode reminds you they’re paused.

During beta testing, Google said tester feedback led to the creation of a new enhancement for Focus Mode: the ability to set a schedule for your app breaks. This allows you to continually block app notifications for the days and times you choose — like your 9 AM to 5 PM working hours, for example.

There’s also a new option to take a break from Focus Mode, which allows you to use to use the blocked apps for a time, then return to Focus Mode without entirely disabling it to do so. In addition, if you finish your work or other tasks early one day, you can now turn off Focus Mode for that day without breaking its ongoing weekly schedule.

The Focus Mode feature is one of now many investments Google has made into its comprehensive Digital Wellbeing feature set, which was originally introduced at Google I/O 2018 but initially only on Pixel devices. Since then, Google has expanded access to Digital Wellbeing features and further integrated its features — including parent control app Family Link — into the Android OS.

It has also developed digital wellbeing apps outside of its core Digital Wellbeing product, with October’s launch of a handful of wellbeing experiments. This set of apps included a notification mailbox, unlock clock, and even an easy way to printout important information from your phone so you don’t have to keep checking your device throughout the day, among other things.

Elsewhere across Google’s product line it has developed settings and controls devoted to wellbeing, like YouTube’s reminders to “take a break,” automations for Gmail, downtime settings for Google Home, and more.

Google says the new version of Focus Mode exits beta testing today and is rolling out to all devices that support Digital Wellbeing and parental controls, including Android 9 and 10 phones.

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Android’s ‘Focus Mode’ exits beta, adds new scheduling features

Google is expanding its suite of “Digital Wellbeing” tools for Android devices with a new feature, Focus Mode, launching today. This feature allows users to turn off distractions — like social media updates or email notifications — for a period of time, so you can get things done without interruption. Focus Mode was first announced at Google’s I/O developer conference this May, and has been in beta testing until now, Google says.

Unlike Do Not Disturb, which can mute sounds, stop vibrations and block visual disturbances, Focus Mode is only about silencing specific apps.

Within the Digital Wellbeing settings, users select which apps they find most distracting — like Facebook, YouTube, Gmail, games or anything else that tends to steal their attention. These apps can be paused temporarily, which stops those apps’ notifications. Plus, if you try to open the app, Focus Mode reminds you they’re paused.

During beta testing, Google said tester feedback led to the creation of a new enhancement for Focus Mode: the ability to set a schedule for your app breaks. This allows you to continually block app notifications for the days and times you choose — like your 9 AM to 5 PM working hours, for example.

There’s also a new option to take a break from Focus Mode, which allows you to use to use the blocked apps for a time, then return to Focus Mode without entirely disabling it to do so. In addition, if you finish your work or other tasks early one day, you can now turn off Focus Mode for that day without breaking its ongoing weekly schedule.

The Focus Mode feature is one of now many investments Google has made into its comprehensive Digital Wellbeing feature set, which was originally introduced at Google I/O 2018 but initially only on Pixel devices. Since then, Google has expanded access to Digital Wellbeing features and further integrated its features — including parent control app Family Link — into the Android OS.

It has also developed digital wellbeing apps outside of its core Digital Wellbeing product, with October’s launch of a handful of wellbeing experiments. This set of apps included a notification mailbox, unlock clock, and even an easy way to printout important information from your phone so you don’t have to keep checking your device throughout the day, among other things.

Elsewhere across Google’s product line it has developed settings and controls devoted to wellbeing, like YouTube’s reminders to “take a break,” automations for Gmail, downtime settings for Google Home, and more.

Google says the new version of Focus Mode exits beta testing today and is rolling out to all devices that support Digital Wellbeing and parental controls, including Android 9 and 10 phones.

Read Full Article