Google Chrome now mutes annoying videos that autoplay with sound

There’s good news for Google Chrome users, the latest version of the world’s most popular web browser has arrived with a new feature that prevents websites from automatically playing sound. That means that pre-loaded videos, and other content that involves sound, won’t blare out unless you specifically choose to enable it to.

Aside from being a major annoyance, autoplay videos consume more data and can slow down the general browsing experience, which is particularly important when on a mobile device.

The update is due to ship to users in the coming days. The feature has been in development for Chrome since last year, but there are some exceptions.

Autoplay will only be allowed when the media itself doesn’t include sound, or when the user has indicated that they are interested in the media. In that latter case, interest is determined by a number of factors. Those include if the user has frequently played the media on the site before when visiting from a desktop browser, if they’ve tapped or clicked on the screen during the browsing session, or if they’ve added the site to their home screen on mobile.

VentureBeat, which first reported the arrival of the latest version of Chrome, found that results on YouTube were mixed — with some videos appearing to autoplay — but that does seem like the point of navigating to the world’s largest video website.

Nonetheless, Chrome also includes more granular controls that allow a user to permanently block autoplay videos on a particular website domain. So anyone could prevent YouTube.com or any other website from playing audio on launch if they wish to.

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How to Set Custom Icons for Apps on Android

Russia’s Telegram ban that knocked out 15M Google, Amazon IP addresses had a precedent in Zello

Russia blocking access to Telegram after the messaging app refused to give it access to encrypted messages has picked up an unintended casualty: we’re now up to over 15 million IP addresses from Amazon and Google getting shut down by the regulators in the process, taking various other (non-Telegram) services down with it.

Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov earlier today said that its reach in the country has yet to see an impact from the ban 24 hours on, with VPNs, proxies and third-party cloud services stepping in to pick up the slack for its roughly 14 million users in the country, and third parties refusing to buckle under requests from Roskomnadzor, the regulator, to remove the app from its stores and servers.

“Thank you for your support and loyalty, Russian users of Telegram. Thank you, Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft — for not taking part in political censorship,” Durov noted.

But Telegram’s Russia crisis is not the first time that an app banned by the Russian government has had to rely on third-party support to navigate its position with users. A recent precedent involving a much smaller communications app sheds some light on how all of this works. And ironically, its own run-in may have been the reason for why the government moved so quickly to block so many IP addresses around Telegram’s, affecting more than just the app itself.

A little over a year ago, the walkie-talkie app Zello received a notice from the Russian regulator Roskomnadzor. Zello was informed that it would be banned unless it started to host records of the conversations that were taking place on the app on Russian servers — in compliance with a hosting requirement that Russia put in place for ISPs back in 2014 as part of its efforts to tighten its control of digital information in the name of national security.

You might remember the name Zello from its bump of attention when a wave of people hit by Hurricane Harvey in Texas used it to communicate with each other when voice services went down or became too clumsy to use, but mobile internet connections stayed up. “Voice is how we most naturally communicate, and push-to-talk and radio-style communication is instant, no dialling or waiting,” said Zello CEO Bill Moore. “It can be with one person or large groups and build relationships and to solve problems.”

The startup itself is based out of Austin, Texas and has around 120 million registered users, with around four million monthly active users.

Moore — who had in the past also founded and run another Texas startup, TuneIn — said in an interview this week that Zello’s run-in with Russia started about a year ago, when the regulator started to block the application in Spring 2017, after Zello refused to cooperate with the hosting requirement, both on grounds of cost and principle.

(Cost: because it’s a small startup. And principle: because Zello is built in a way where messages are stored locally, both for direct messages and those sent in more widely-distributed channels, the feature that Moore believes might have been “why Zello annoyed Russia,” because protestors used these channels to coordinate activities.”)

Instead of buckling and leaving Russia, Zello decided to use to some software it had written years before, when the app had been issued with a block in Venezuela after it ran afoul of the government there — software “that let us change IP addresses for our service,” as Moore describes it. The change in IP addresses essentially meant that as Zello was shut down in one place, it was able to hop to another, using services from either AWS or Google Cloud.

Moore said that Zello — which originally hosted its service on IBM’s cloud before the ban — used its IP hopping tactic for nearly a year, moving first across IP addresses on Amazon and then hopping to Google Cloud when Amazon got too hot. By the time Zello started using Google Cloud, the government was well on to Zello’s ways, and it took only about 10 days before Google asked Zello to stop, Zello’s CTO and founder Alexey Gavrilov added.

“About a month ago, the press in Russia began to report that Roskomnadzor was threatening to block millions of addresses if that’s what it took to get Zello [to retreat]. That was when Amazon said, ‘you need to stop changing IP addresses,'” Gavrilov said. “We tried to get Amazon to reconsider, making the case that by asking us to stop, it is are really acting the same way that ISPs do that are controlled by Russia. Zello is not damaging, but Russia is by blocking. It’s not wise to go along with that threat.”

His argument echoes what Durov has been saying in defense of Telegram, although it didn’t appear to wash for the smaller app. “We lost that debate,” Gavrilov said.

Moore and Gavrilov say they believe Telegram may be using a similar kind of approach to move around Amazon- and Google-based IP addresses (I’ve tried to contact Durov to ask about this but have not had a reply; Google and Amazon also have not replied to my emails). However, now, with the Russian authorities well aware of the tactic, it simply decided to block large swathes of IPs to act more quickly, rather than negotiate with cloud companies to pick out which IP addresses were actually being used.

Partly because of the size of the service in question, and partly because of the blanket blocking, the difference between the IP addresses being blocked varied from just over 2,000 for Zello to more than 15 million by the time Telegram attempted its own IP hops.

Zello still believes that it was not in the wrong in its own encounters with the Russian government, although its appeals to Amazon and Google, and eventually Apple and others who host the app on their stores, ultimately didn’t wash.

“We believe that Zello doesn’t violate Russian law because originally the hosting requirement was written for ISPs, and Zello is not an ISP,” Moore said. “We cooperate with law enforcement on a consistent basis and do what we can under the law.” But like Telegram, Zello takes the view that the medium should not be attacked because of how it is used. “Terrorists drink water, but I don’t think we should outlaw water, either,” is how Moore describes his stance.

Since about two weeks ago, the only way that people in Russia can use Zello is by way of VPN proxies. Zello has a fairly even distribution of its several millon monthly active users across several countries, including the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, and Hong Kong. Russia had been one of its top markets until this happened, but the cost to Zello has been about half of its active users in the country, which now stand at 200,000.

“We don’t like to think about how we’ve lost half our users there,” Gavrilov said. “We like to think about how many we’ve managed to keep.”

Zello has always been ad-free and free to use by regular consumers. Moore said that the company is profitable, making its revenues through a premium tier for businesses to have their own private channels. So far, Zello is completely bootstrapped, although Moore said that it is likely it will want to raise money eventually to grow its consumer business.

Neither CTO nor CEO think that Russian bans impact the company’s wider business.

“In my opinion, incidents like these only help companies like Telegram and Zello on the global market,” Gavrilov (a native of Russia) said. “Realistically, Russia is a small share of the Telegram user base, and standing up to the demands in Russia just communicates to everyone else that you can trust these people. That only makes it more valuable.”

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A flaw-by-flaw guide to Facebook’s new GDPR privacy changes

Facebook is about to start pushing European users to speed through giving consent for its new GDPR privacy law compliance changes. It will ask people to review how Facebook applies data from web to target them with ads, and surface the sensitive profile info they share. Facebook will also allow European and Canadian users to turn on facial recognition after six years of the feature being blocked there. But with a design that encourages rapidly hitting the “Agree” button, a lack of granular controls, a laughably cheatable parental consent request for teens, and an aesthetic overhaul of Download Your Information that doesn’t make it any easier to switch social networks, Facebook shows it’s still hungry for your data.

The new privacy change and terms of service consent flow will appear starting this week to European users, though they’ll be able to dismiss it for now, though the May 25th GDPR compliance deadline Facebook vowed to uphold in Europe is looming. Meanwhile, Facebook says it will roll out the changes and consent flow globally over the coming weeks and months with some slight regional differences. And finally, all teens worldwide that share sensitive info will have to go through the weak new parental consent flow.

Facebook brought a group of reporters to the new Building 23 at its Menlo Park headquarters to preview the changes today. But feedback was heavily critical as journalists grilled Facebook’s deputy chief privacy officer Rob Sherman. Questions centered around how Facebook makes accepting the updates much easier than reviewing or changing them, but Sherman stuck to talking points about how important it was to give users choice and information.

“Trust is really important and it’s clear that we have a lot of work to do to regain the trust of people on our service” he said, giving us deja vu about Mark Zuckerberg’s testimonies before congress. “We know that people won’t be comfortable using facebook if they don’t feel that their information is protected.”

Trouble At Each Step Of Facebook’s Privacy Consent Flow

There are a ton of small changes so we’ll lay out each with our criticisms.

Facebook’s consent flow starts well enough with the screen above offering a solid overview of why it’s making changes for GDPR and what you’ll be reviewing. But with just an ‘X’ up top to back out, it’s already training users to speed through by hitting that big blue button at the bottom.

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Sensitive Info

First up is control of your sensitive profile information, specifically your sexual preference, religious views, and political views. As you’ll see at each step, you can hit the pretty blue “Accept And Continue” button regardless of whether you’ve scrolled through the information. If you hit the ugly grey “Manage Settings” button, you have to go through an interstitial where Facebook makes it’s argument trying to deter you from removing the info before letting you make and save your choice. It feels obviously designed to get users to breeze through it by offering no resistance to continue, but friction if you want to make changes.

Facebook doesn’t let advertisers target you based on this sensitive info, which is good. The only exception is that in the US, political views alongside political Pages and Events you interact with impact your overarching personality categories that can be targeted with ads. You can opt out of being targeted by those too. But your only option here is either to remove any info you’ve shared in these categories so friends can’t see it, or allow Facebook to use it to personalize the site. There’s no option to keep this stuff on your profile but not let Facebook use it.

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Facial Recognition

Facebook is bringing facial recognition back to Europe and Canada. The Irish Data Protection commissioner who oversees the EU banned it there in 2012. Users in these countries will get a chance to turn it on, which is the default if they speed through. It’s a useful feature that can make sure people know about the photos of them floating around. But here the lack of granularity is concerning. Users might want to see warnings about possible impersonators using their face in their profile pics, but not be suggested as someone to tag in their friends’ photos. Unfortunately, it’s all or nothing. While Facebook is right to make it simple to turn on or off completely, granular controls that unfold for those that want them would be much more empowering.

[Update: This article has been update to reflect that Facebook indeed can offer facial recognition in Europe and Canada.]

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Data Collection Across The Web

A major concern that’s arisen in the wake of Zuckerberg’s testimonies is how Facebook uses data collected about you from around the web to target users with ads and optimize its service. While Sherman echoed Zuckerberg in saying that users tell the company they prefer relevant ads, and that this data can help thwart hackers and scrapers, many users are unsettled by the offsite collection practices. Here, Facebook lets you block it from targeting you with ads based on data about your browsing behavior on sites that show its Like and share buttons, conversion Pixel, or Audience Network ads. The issue is that there’s no way to stop Facebook from using that data from personalizing your News Feed or optimizing other parts of its service.

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New Terms Of Service

Facebook recently rewrote its Terms Of Service and Data Use Policy to be more explicit and easy to read. It didn’t make any significant changes other than noting the policy now applies to its subsidiaries like Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus. That’s all clearly explained here, which is nice.

But the fact that the button to reject the new Terms Of Service isn’t even a button, it’s a tiny ‘see your options’ hyperlink shows how badly Facebook wants to avoid you closing your account. When Facebook’s product designer for the GDPR flow was asked if she thought this hyperlink was the best way to present the alternative to the big ‘I Accept’ button, she disingenuously said yes, eliciting scoffs from the room of reporters. It seems obvious that Facebook is trying to minimize the visibility of the path to account deletion rather than making it an obvious course of action if you don’t agree to its terms.

I requested Facebook actually show us what was on the other side of that tiny ‘see my options’ link and this is what we got. First, Facebook doesn’t mention its temporary deactivation option, just the scary permanent delete option. Facebook recommends downloading your data before deleting your account, which you should. But the fact that you’ll have to wait (often a few hours) before you can download your data could push users to delay deletion and perhaps never resume. And only if you keep scrolling do you get to another tiny “I’m ready to delete my account” hyperlink instead of a real button.

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Parental Consent

GDPR also implements new regulation about how teens are treated, specifically users between the ages of 13 (the minimum age required to sign up for Facebook) and 15. If users in this age range have shared their religious views, political views, or sexual preference, Facebook requires them to either remove it or get parental consent to keep it. They also need permission to be targeted with ads based on data from Facebook’s partners. Without that permission, they’ll see a less personalized version of Facebook. But the system for attaining and verifying that parental consent is a joke.

Users merely select one of their Facebook friends or enter an email address, and that person is asked to give consent for their ‘child’ to share sensitive info. But Facebook blindly trusts that they’ve actually selected their parent or guardian, even though it has a feature for users to designate who their family is, and the kid could put anyone in the email field, including an alternate address they control. Sherman says Facebook is “not seeking to collect additional information” to verify parental consent, so it seems Facebook is happy to let teens easily bypass the checkup.

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Privacy Shortcuts

To keep all users abreast of their privacy settings, Facebook has redesigned its Privacy Shortcuts in a colorful format that sticks out from the rest of the site. No complaints here.

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Download Your Information

Facebook has completely redesigned its Download Your Information tool after keeping it basically the same for the past 8 years. You can now view your content and data in different categories without downloading it, which alongside the new privacy shortcuts is perhaps the only unequivocally positive and unproblematic change amidst today’s announcements.

And Facebook now lets you select certain categories of data, date ranges, JSON or HTML format, and image quality to download. That could make it quicker and easier if you just need a copy of a certain type of content but don’t need to export all your photos and videos for example. Thankfully, Facebook says you’ll now be able to download your media in a higher resolution than the old tool allowed.

But the big problem here was the subject of my feature piece this week about Facebook’s lack of data portability. The Download Your Information tool is supposed to let you take your data and go to a different social network. But it only exports your social graph aka your friends as a text list of names. There are no links, usernames, or other unique identifiers unless friends opt into let you export their email or phone number (only 4% of my friends do), so good luck finding the right John Smith on another app. The new version of Download Your Information exports the same old list of names, rather than offering any interoperable format that would let you find your friends elsewhere.

A Higher Standard

Overall, it seems like Facebook is complying with the letter of GDPR law, but with questionable spirit. Sure, privacy is boring to a lot of people. Too little info and they feel confused and scared. Too many choices and screens and they feel overwhelmed and annoyed. Facebook struck the right balance in some places here. But the subtly pushy designs seem intended to steer people away from changing their defaults in ways that could hamper Facebook’s mission and business.

Making the choices equal in visible weight, rather than burying the ways to make changes in grayed-out buttons and tiny links, would have been more fair. And it would have shown that Facebook has faith in the value it provides, such that users would stick around and leave features enabled if they truly wanted to.

When questioned about this, Sherman pointed the finger at other tech companies, saying he thought Facebook was more upfront with users. Asked to clarify if he thought Facebook’s approach was “better”, he said “I think that’s right”. But Facebook isn’t being judged by the industry standard because it’s not a standard company. It’s built its purpose and its business on top of our private data, and touted itself as a boon to the world. But when asked to clear a higher bar for privacy, Facebook delved into design tricks to keep from losing our data.

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50 Mini-Steps to Landing a Job and Advancing in Your Career

Do thoughts about your career path keep you awake at night? Maybe you are feeling suffocated in a dead-end job, or looking for a career change? You already have access to many job search tools to help with that, but let’s look at another tool that you may find helpful.

50 Ways to Get a Job is a website and a career planner (also a book) rolled into one. The logic behind the site is to make you take a non-linear approach to your job hunt. The end goal is that it will help you take the next step when you are unsure about the foothold.

The website greets you with colorful tiles that stand for different stages in any career. You could be a beginner in the job market or someone who is stuck in a career limbo. Click the right tile and see the steps you can take to boost your situation.

For instance, right now I am at a stage where Learning New Skills is important to sharpen the ax. The wizard gives me five options to try out:

1. Make a List of Your Skills
2. Make a List of What You Want to Learn
3. Create a Course Pack
4. Take a Course Outside School
5. Talk to a Company You Do Not Know

Click on any of the respective tiles and it will open up a page with the action steps you can take to push forward. You can mark the step as done or set a reminder with the help of the box at the bottom. Or share the suggestions with a friend.

The 50 Ways to Get a Job steps are a bundle of ideas. Each of them will prompt you to ask questions about yourself. Treat them as exercises or experiments and break the mold of a normal (and boring) job hunt.

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Amazon Launches an International Shopping Experience

While American readers will be used to ordering whatever they want from Amazon and getting it delivered quickly, things are slightly different outside of the United States. Some countries have their own local Amazon site, and others don’t even have that.

This can make it impossible to order items from Amazon. It’s either literally not possible, or the shipping costs and hoops you need to jump through mean it’s not worth your while. Which is why Amazon has launched the International Shopping Experience…

Amazon’s International Shopping Experience

The International Shopping Experience is a feature exclusive to the Amazon Shopping App on Android and iOS. It essentially lets customers from countries outside of the U.S. shop on the U.S. version of Amazon without worrying about the costs involved.

There are millions of items on Amazon that can be shipped to countries such as Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Peru, Thailand, and Uruguay. The problem is working out the costs involved.

Amazon’s International Shopping Experience lets you see what items are eligible to be shipped to your location, and displays clear pricing, shipping costs, and an estimate of import duties. And you can choose from five languages and 25 different currencies.

In a press release, Samir Kumar, VP of Amazon Exports and Expansion, said:

“We are always innovating on behalf of our customers, and with today’s launch, we are making the shopping experience on mobile devices even better and more convenient for our customers who live outside the US. Customers have been asking for a way to easily find and shop only for products available to be shipped to them. The International Shopping experience solves this customer need and makes it simple to browse, shop and ship more than 45 million products to over a hundred countries around the world.”

Anyone downloading the Amazon Shopping App from one of the aforementioned countries will automatically see the International Shopping Experience. Everyone else will need to go to the settings, find Country & Language, and choose International Shopping.

Making Life Easier for Shoppers

This makes absolute sense for everyone involved. Amazon is likely to add new customers from different countries, and those customers get to shop on Amazon without having to worry about unexpected costs being added on afterwards.

If you’ve got all the way through this article before realizing it doesn’t apply to you, don’t worry, as MakeUseOf has you covered. Perhaps our ultimate guide to shopping on Amazon will be of use. Alternatively, there are better ways to shop on Amazon.

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The Best Free GoPro Video Editing Software

Suppose you’ve just got home after a week of skiing in the French Alps. You recorded your adventures on a GoPro, and now you want to share your gnarly jumps and less-than-impressive crashes with the world.

However, before you upload your footage, you probably want to edit your GoPro footage. But which app should you use? Since GoPro Studio ceased to exist at the end of 2017, the decision has become more difficult.

In this article, we detail seven of the best free apps for editing GoPro videos.

1. GoPro Quik

Available on: Windows, Mac

GoPro Studio might not exist anymore, but GoPro Quik is alive and well.

The company has designed the app to be accessible to people who aren’t necessarily experienced video editors—though you’ll still find it useful even if you’ve worked with videos for a long time.

To start, the app will automatically import content from your device as soon as you plug it into your computer. Once your GoPro footage is on your hard drive, you can use Quik to create time-lapses, add panning effects, add sound, and a whole lot more.

If you’re an adrenaline junkie, Quik is also a great tool. It lets you add graphs, charts, and speedometers to show viewers how far, high, or fast you went.

Lastly, because it’s an official GoPro app, Quik makes it easy to update your GoPro devices with the latest firmware.

Download: GoPro Quik

2. VSDC

Available on: Windows

VSDC is targeted at intermediate users. It’s widely considered to be one of the best free video editing apps for Windows users.

The editor is non-linear. For those who don’t know, this means you can place any object in any position on the timeline, then make it any size.

The app’s most important features include:

• Five categories of visual effects (color correction, object transformation, object filters, transition effects, and special effects)
• Color blending
• Masking (to hide, blur, or highlight certain elements of a video)
• A way to upload your videos straight to YouTube and social networks

In a nod to beginners, the app also offers one-click Instagram-esque filters.

Download: VSDC

3. Avidemux

Available on: Windows, Mac, Linux

Avidemux is another beginner-friendly tool. It has fewer features, making it easier to use, even if you don’t have any video editing experience.

The app’s three core features are cutting, filtering, and encoding. The encoding is surprisingly full-featured; the app has a vast number of export options, thus giving you complete control over the encoding process. The app also offers sharpening and de-noising filters.

On the downside, Avidemux does not include any transitions or special effects, and it does not use a timeline.

As such, Avidemux is excellent for small edits and creating quick cuts of your GoPro videos. If you want to undertake a larger project, you should look elsewhere.

Download: Avidemux

4. Lightworks

Available on: Windows, Mac, Linux

Lightworks is arguably the most powerful app on this list. However, it’s also one of the most difficult for beginners to get to grips with.

In truth, it’s somewhat remarkable that Lightworks is free. The app boasts professional-quality tools that—if used correctly—can make your GoPro video look like something that’s come out of a Hollywood film studio. If you think we’re joking, keep in mind that both The King’s Speech and Road to Perdition used the Pro version of Lightworks.

Features that’ll appeal to GoPro users include quick export to MPEG4/H.264 format for uploading to the web, background importing, rendering, and exporting, high precision trimming, text effects, and the ability to add voiceovers.

Download: Lightworks

5. WeVideo

Available on: Web

WeVideo is a bit different from the four pieces of software we’ve discussed so far. Instead of being a downloadable desktop app, WeVideo is one of the many free online video editors available.

There are several paid tiers which introduce additional features. However, if you just want to do some quick on-the-go editing before you upload your GoPro creation to the web, you won’t need all the extra bells and whistles.

The free version of the app includes 1 GB of cloud storage and the ability to download your edited videos back onto your computer.

6. VideoPad

Available on: Windows, Mac

If you’re one of the many people who lamented the demise of Windows Movie Maker, VideoPad is one of the solid alternatives to Windows Movie Maker. The interface will be familiar to anyone who spent time using Microsoft’s program.

As our VideoPad tutorial shows, using VideoPad is easy. Just load your GoPro video and any image and sound files you want to include, then take advantage of VideoPad’s seemingly endless selection of transitional effects and filters to personalize your creation.

Even if you’re a skilled editor, you’ll find plenty of tools to play around with, including brightness, saturation, and color.

When you’ve finished editing, you can burn your video onto a DVD, save it on your hard drive, or upload it directly to Facebook and YouTube.

Download: VideoPad

7. Hitfilm Express

Available on: Windows, Mac

We’ll end with another option for experienced editors: Hitfilm Express.

Like Lightworks, Hitfilm Express is a professional-grade app. If you’re not already familiar with video editing basics, you might find its interface to be too confusing.

The editor includes cutting tools, audio filters, video filters, layers, masking, compositing options, and 3D video support. It can even create green screen effects.

If you want to do more, you can buy one of the developer’s many add-ons to extend the app’s functionality.

It’s worth mentioning that Hitfilm Express has unusually high system requirements. The developers recommend 8 GB of RAM, at least 2 GB of video memory (if you want to work in 4K UHD), and a graphics card that was released no earlier than 2012.

Download: Hitfilm Express

Get Even More Out of Your GoPro

GoPro’s position as the market-leading action cam is increasingly under threat from low-cost, high-quality alternatives. However, it is still the best action camera out there, and it also boasts by far the largest community.

If you have an old GoPro gathering dust on your shelf, perhaps it’s time to dust it off and hit the great outdoors. You don’t have to do anything extreme with your GoPro—you could try getting creative with your GoPro instead.

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15 Ways to Voice Control Your Life With Google Assistant

Using voice control in your life isn’t science fiction. If you know the right “OK Google” voice commands to say to Google Assistant, it can make your life better in ways you’ve never imagined.

In this article, we’re going to take a walk through the typical day of a Google Assistant power user. You’ll see how Google Assistant can streamline your whole day. You’ll learn how it can remove daily annoyances from your life, and how it can even improve your relationships.

1. “Tell me the weather”

As you wake up in the morning, you’re not sure what to wear for the workday. Will it be cold or warm? Will it rain or not? You roll over toward your phone and say, “OK Google, tell me the weather.”

Google assistant tells you (out loud) the day’s weather, and what the forecast looks like for the week.

Using what you learn from Google Assistant, you choose your attire accordingly. Cold but sunny means a good sweater, jeans, and sunglasses.

2. “Play news on TV”

As you sit down on the sofa with your morning coffee, all you have to do is say “OK Google, play the news on my TV.”

Google Assistant casts the latest news from your preferred news sources to the TV you’ve set up in your Google Home app, like a Chromecast device.

You do need to configure your Chromecast TV with Google Assistant one time, by going to Settings and Home Control. If you’ve configured your Chromecast with the Google Home app, then Google Assistant will display the TV here.

Once this is set up, you can tell Google Assistant to cast anything you like to that screen. This could be the morning news from YouTube, Spotify music, or anything else from any Chromecast-enabled app on your phone.

If you own a Chromecast, you can explore many other ways to use Google Assistant to control your Chromecast. And if you just bought one, we can help you set up your new Chromecast.

3. “Play Eminem on Spotify”

You love listening to music during your drive to work. But turning knobs and pressing buttons is so old school. As you pull out of the driveway, you say “OK Google, play Eminem on Spotify”.

In order for this to work right, you do need to set up your preferred music service. Go to Settings and then Music.

Once this is set up, you just have to ask Google Assistant to play whatever you like. This also keeps your hands free to drive and focus on the road. That’s one of the safety benefits of adding voice control to your life.

If you don’t use Spotify, it’s very easy to change your default music player if you want to.

4. “Remind me to put out the trash”

You’re halfway to work, and you realize that you forgot to put the trash by the curb. You just have to say, “OK Google, remind me to put out the trash at 8 tonight.”

Google Assistant will confirm via voice and then add the reminder to your Google Calendar.

Throughout the day, any time you have something you need to remember later, all you have to do is ask Google Assistant to remind you later. It will!

5. “Remember Where I Parked”

When you arrive at work, you discover that the parking lot is completely full, and you need to park at the very edge of the lot. You know you’ll never find your car again after work, so you say to Google Assistant, “OK Google, Remember where I parked.”

Whenever you issue the command to save your parking location, Google Assistant stores a map image of your current location. When you need to see that location, just ask, “OK Google, where did I park?”

6. Take Advice from a Virtual Nurse

Once you get to work and settle in for the day, one of your work colleagues comes up to you and mentions they have a pretty severe migraine. They ask for your advice.

Since you’re not a doctor, you don’t want to give them a bad tip. So once again, you turn to Google Assistant.

Google Assistant is integrated with a number of useful online services. One of them is a Virtual Nurse who will answer any of your medical questions. So, just say, “OK Google, ask virtual nurse how to cure a migraine.”

You share the Virtual Nurse’s advice with your colleague and help them to cure their migraine. You’re a good friend!

7. Calculate a Tip

Once lunchtime rolls around, a few of your colleagues want to head over to your favorite lunch restaurant. It’s a great meal, but the part that you enjoy the least arrives. You get your bill and have to calculate the tip.

No worries, because Google Assistant has you covered there as well. You ask Google Assistant, “What’s 15 percent of 25?”

The answer arrives in less than a couple of seconds.

You add a healthy 15 percent tip to your receipt and you’re ready to leave before all of your colleagues have figured out their own tips!

8. Friendly Fortune Teller

On the walk back to the office, you decide to show off Google Assistant to your colleagues by asking the Friendly Fortune Teller for your future.

The Friendly Fortune Teller is another “assistant”, just like the Virtual Nurse, embedded into Google Assistant.

After getting a good laugh from your silly fortune, one of the ladies in the group claims she knows how to rap.

9. Drop a Beat

Isn’t it convenient that Google Assistant can help with that? You say, “OK Google, drop a beat.”

Google Assistant calls up the help of an expert beatboxer who starts laying down a beat from your phone speakers.

After your work colleague proves her awesome freestyle skills, you all return to the office to finish off your afternoon at work.

10. Ask to Print

Once you’ve returned home to your family (and after Google Assistant reminded you to put out the trash!), you decide to spend some time coloring with your kids.

There’s no need to run to the store for a coloring book, because you know all you have to do is say to Google Assistant, “Hey Google, ask HP Printer to print a coloring page.”

The first time you want to try this, you’ll have to set it up with your own HP Printer. The printer also needs to be web-enabled. So, configure your printer to work with Google Cloud Print. Next, you’ll need to issue the command to Google Assistant and tap the link to set up your printer for the first time.

Once you’ve got your HP printer connected to the cloud and enabled with the Google Assistant “HP Action”, you can issue any printer commands you like by voice.

If your printer isn’t a web-enabled model, you’ll see the warning showed above that it isn’t a web-enabled model but the voice commands will still work.

11. “Play a Recipe”

After coloring with the kids, you decide to cook dinner with your spouse. After popping open a bottle of wine, you say, “OK Google, play lasagna recipe from Food Network.”

Google Assistant shows you several recipes to choose from. To pick the one you want, just click to send it to your Google Home speaker.

This feature is available for any recipes on Bon Appetit or Food Network. No need to fumble around with cookbooks or recipe cards anymore, now that Google Assistant can read the recipe aloud while you focus on cooking.

If you don’t have a Google Home speaker yet, it can really enhance your use of Google Assistant. Read our review of Google Home and decide if it’s right for you.

12. Settle Your Debates

Sitting down to dinner with the family, you all start to get into one of your silly family debates. This time it’s about why cats always land on their feet. Everyone has a different answer and no one knows who’s right! You once again turn to Google Assistant for help.

“OK Google, why do cats land on their feet?”

The answer arrives in seconds, spoken aloud in a digital voice for all to hear.

With that settled, dinner is done! Everyone rinses off their plates, and the you and your spouse settle in for an evening of Netflix.

13. Play Stranger Things on TV

One of the nicest things about having Google Assistant connected with Netflix and Chromecast is the ability to say, “OK Google, Play Stranger Things on TV” and Google Assistant takes care of the rest.

There are few things that will make you feel more like you’re living in a futuristic dream world. You can cuddle up with your spouse on the couch, and without lifting a remote control, issue a voice command to Google Assistant to launch the evening’s entertainment.

It doesn’t get much cooler than that.

14. Set Your Alarm

After a bit of TV watching, both you and your spouse are ready for bed. After brushing your teeth, you realize you’re exhausted. Thanks to Google Assistant, you don’t really have to put much effort into getting ready for bed.

You plop down onto your pillow, lean over to your phone, and say, “OK Google, set alarm for 5:30am tomorrow.”

With that done, you look over at the desk lamp in the corner of the room. You realize you forgot to turn it off.

15. Turn Off Lights

No worries. Thanks to Google Assistant, you don’t have to get out of bed. You close your eyes and utter the last words of the day, “OK Google, turn off desk lamp.”

As the bedroom is cast into darkness, you smile. Your day was just made a whole lot better thanks to Google Assistant.

If you own Philips Hue lights, you should know that Google Assistant can control those too. It’s just one addition to the many automation opportunities that Philips Hue lights offer.

Google Assistant Can Improve Your Life

What sets Google Assistant apart from other productivity apps is that instead of wasting time with menial tasks like flipping light switches, searching for information, or playing music and movies—Google Assistant gives you that time back. Spend that with your kids or your spouse, or doing activities that are more important to you.

These daily actions are a few of the many commands you can make. Use the Google Assistant Action Directory to browse the other commands. There are over one million of them. That’s one million ways to make your life easier.

If you’re just getting started with it, make sure to read our introduction to Google Assistant and start automating your life today.

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7 Essential Amazon Music Unlimited Tips to Help Get You Started

So you’ve looked into Amazon Music Unlimited, you know it’s not the same as Amazon Prime Music, and you think it’s better than Spotify and Apple Music.

If you’ve gone ahead and activated a 30-day free trial for Amazon Music Unlimited but aren’t quite sure what to do next, don’t feel bad. Amazon Music’s interface is far from intuitive, and Music Unlimited’s best features can be hard to find.

To help you get more out of your Amazon Music Unlimited subscription, there are a number of tips and tricks you should start making use of straight away…

1. Download Songs for Offline Playback

Like all of the best music streaming services, Amazon Music Unlimited does allow you to download songs for offline playback—but only when using the Android or iOS apps. This means offline playback isn’t available on the Windows, Mac, or Web apps.

There’s no limit to how many songs you can download this way. However, downloaded songs are protected and can only be played through Amazon Music, meaning they can’t be exported to external storage or transferred to any other devices.

To download for offline playback, just go to any song, album, or playlist and open its “More Options” menu (the three dots), then select Download.

To see all of your downloaded music, go to My Music > Offline Music on Android or go to Settings > Offline Music Mode on iOS. On either platform, you can also go to Recents > Downloaded to see only recently downloaded songs.

2. Change Bitrate to Reduce Data Usage

No matter which platform you’re using to play Amazon music, you can alter the streaming quality and reduce the amount of data used by the service. This is a crucial tip to know when you’re listening on 4G LTE, or if your ISP enforces a monthly data cap.

In the web player, click your account name at the bottom left, then click Streaming audio quality. By default it’s set to Auto, but we recommend setting it to Low when you need to conserve data and High when you don’t.

In the desktop app, click your account name at the top-right, then click Preferences > Advanced > Audio Quality. In the mobile apps, tap the gear icon in the top-left, then select Streaming Quality. Again, choose between High or Low depending on whether you need to conserve data or not.

If you want to get technical, we’re talking about High and Low bitrates. You can learn more about this in our article detailing how audio files are compressed and optimized.

3. Discover New Music

The search box will be your most used feature in Amazon Music Unlimited, but searches can be limiting when it comes to discovering new music because you can’t exactly search for something you aren’t aware of, right?

Fortunately, Music Unlimited can help you with that in a few ways:

• More Like This: On the web player, go to any album, click the more button, and select Customers also listened to to get recommendations for similar music that others like. You can also go to any artist page and scroll down to the bottom for Related Artists, which works on any platform, not just the web player.
• New Releases: Go to Browse > Home > New Releases. Here you’ll find all newly released songs, albums, and playlists, which you can filter by genre. Check this once a day to never miss interesting new music.
• Top Charts: Go to Browse > Home > Charts. Here you’ll find the most popular songs, albums, and playlists being played on Amazon Music, which you can filter by genre.
• Recommended: Go to Browse > Recommended. Based entirely on your recent listening patterns, Amazon Music will suggest songs, albums, playlists, and stations that you may enjoy.
• Stations and Playlists: Stations and Playlists are the best music discovery tools, which you can access by going to Browse > Stations and Browse > Playlists. Scroll all the way to the bottom to explore by genres. Or you can start an artist-based station by going to any artist page, clicking the more button, then selecting Start [artist name] station.

4. Control Playback With Echo Voice Commands

All Echo devices have dozens of music-related voice commands, but here are the most useful ones compatible with Amazon Music Unlimited and worth keeping in mind:

• “Alexa, play [song title or artist name or album name].”
• “Alexa, play [emotion or genre or holiday] music.”
• “Alexa, play brand new music.”
• “Alexa, play the song that goes [lyrics].”
• “Alexa, play [station name].”
• “Alexa, play new [genre].”
• “Alexa, play some music.” (Anything from your library)
• “Alexa, play a playlist.” (Any playlist in your library)
• “Alexa, play the song of the day.”
• “Alexa, what’s playing right now?”
• “Alexa, who sings this song?”
• “Alexa, skip this song.”
• “Alexa, I’m tired of this song.”

5. Save Money With a Special Plan

Amazon Music Unlimited costs $9.99/mo for regular users and $7.99/mo for Prime members—and to be frank, it’s hard to recommend Music Unlimited at full price. You can get much more for the same price with Spotify or Google Play Music.

But you may be eligible for some steep discounts, in which case Music Unlimited could very well be worth the price tag:

• The Family plan is the cheapest way to get Music Unlimited, but requires finding five others who are willing to split the bill. If you can do that, you’ll only have to pay $2.50/mo (or $2.00/mo if registered for by a Prime member).
• The Echo plan is for users who only want to access Music Unlimited with a single Echo device, which is available for a highly discounted $3.99/mo.
• The Student plan is a special discount for students who can prove enrollment at an eligible educational institution, available for $4.99/mo. Sign up for the Amazon Music Unlimited student discount.
• The Annual plan is a discount for Prime members who pay for one year up front, which comes out to about $6.58/mo.

6. Migrate Your Music Between Countries

If you ever move to another country and need to start using the local version of Amazon (e.g. Amazon.de), then you may run into a snag: all of the music you saved is stored on your Amazon.com account.

Here’s how to re-associate your account and migrate your music:

1. Open the web player for Amazon Music.
2. In the left sidebar, click your account name at the bottom, then select Your Amazon Music settings.
3. In the new page that opens, scroll all the way to the bottom under the “Your Country Settings” section and click on View music library country settings.
4. It’ll tell you which country your account is currently associated with, and allow you to change it by clicking Change.

As of this writing, transfers are only supported to the U.K., Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Spain.

7. Share Links to Songs, Albums, Playlists, Stations

With a single click or tap, Amazon will generate URLs that you can use to share links to specific songs, albums, or playlists that you want to bring to someone else’s attention.

In the web and desktop players, just click the Share icon, then click Copy Link. In the mobile apps, tap the More button at the top right, then tap Share Song, Share Album, Share Playlist, or Share Station (depending on the context), then Copy to clipboard.

You can also select </> Embed to embed a special Amazon Music player on your website, allowing others to hear a sample of the song(s) you’ve embedded.

Note that the recipient needs to be an active Prime Music or Amazon Music Unlimited subscriber in order to listen to anything you share, but they can still see everything even if they aren’t a subscriber, including full track listings, track details, album art, etc.

If you don’t have Amazon Music Unlimited (your questions, answered) yet, you can get a risk-free taste by signing up for a 30-day free trial. If you find the service unsatisfactory, you can cancel your subscription before it ends to avoid being charged when it renews.

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Google Maps Now Uses Landmarks for Directions

Google is testing changing the way Google Maps gives out directions. The idea is to make Google Maps sound more human, and employ similar clues as a real person would when asked for directions to a particular location. Which essentially means pointing landmarks.

Thanks to sat navs and smartphones, it has probably been a while since anyone pulled over and asked you for directions. However, when that was a common occurrence, the chances are you would have used memorable landmarks to help drivers remember.

Google Maps Loves Fast Food Chains

Google Maps and other GPS platforms currently don’t do that. Instead, they use a combination of distances and street names. This works, but can lead to you overshooting a turn, especially if you get distracted. So Google is testing a different way of doing things.

Some users have noticed that Google Maps has started naming places of interest when giving directions. These places of interest include fast food restaurants such as Burger King and White Castle. But we have to assume there’s no favoritism here.

So @googlemaps instructed me to “turn right after Burger King” … I think this is the best update yet. #mindblown

— Deemah MS (@iamdeemah) April 14, 2018

This feature hasn’t been advertised, and isn’t listed in the most recent update. And that’s probably because this is just being tested right now. Google told Engadget that this is just one of a number of methods being tested to “make guidance better”.

If other methods are being tested, no one has yet reported hearing them. Still, it seems clear that Google is exploring ways of making Google Maps give directions in ways closer to how humans would. Which utilizes buildings and businesses as visual clues.

Following Machines From A to B

This could obviously help drivers get to where they want to go. However, it could also help us become less reliant on navigation tools. Right now we blindly follow a machine from A to B. But this could make us take notice of our surroundings once again.

As these Google Maps alternatives show, this isn’t the only navigation app worth using. However, it does have some features you may not be aware of. Google Maps can now find you a parking space, track friends in real-time, and even explore the solar system.

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10 Tips to Edit Videos Faster in Adobe Premiere Pro

Video editing is hard work. It’s a very creative process, and can take hours and hours no matter how good you are—and that’s assuming you have a computer that’s up to the job.

Whether you’re building a YouTube studio, or want to make your video footage more cinematic, these 10 tips are sure to speed up your workflow. From performance tricks to workflow improvements, there’s something here for everyone!

1. Playback Resolution

This first tip is a simple one. Rather than previewing your edit in its highest quality, it’s possible to reduce the quality up to 1/2 or 1/4 for HD footage, or 1/8 or 1/16 for 4K and above footage.

This reduces the burden on your system, and has no impact on the final video quality.

On the bottom right of your Program Monitor, choose the Select Playback Resolution box. These options will reduce the preview quality accordingly. If you’re editing 1080p footage, you won’t be able to select any setting lower than 1/4.

2. Playback Zoom Level

Premiere Pro provides a huge number of playback zoom levels and clip scale settings, but sometimes these can actually reduce performance.

On the bottom left of the Program Monitor is a Playback Zoom Level control. This adjusts the size of your playback monitor. You can set this to 100 percent, or a larger or smaller percentage. You may want this larger if you’re working on a small screen, but if you have the resolution to spare, setting this to a smaller percentage results in a marginal performance increase.

Another feature you can adjust is Scale. If you’re working with a 4K clip on a 1080p timeline, then you’ll need to scale or “zoom out” the clip to ensure it is all visible. While there’s nothing wrong with this, it does require more processing power, so consider shooting everything in 1080p to begin with, or transcode your footage, as shown below in the “Transcode Footage” section.

The Scale control can be found in the Effect Controls panel, underneath Motion.

If you don’t see the Effect Controls panel, you can enable it by going to Window > Effect Controls.

3. Use Proxies

Proxies are a great way to squeeze more performance out of your system. Proxies in Premiere Pro are simply a different set of files for editing and the final render.

If you’ve shot a film in 4K or higher, but your computer cannot edit 4K smoothly, you can work with reduced quality, 1080p or less proxies, which then get “swapped” out by Premiere for the final render.

To create proxies, right click on a clip in your project browser, and choose Proxy > Create Proxies.

From the Create Proxies menu, you’ll be able to choose a file format and proxy location. Choose something like GoPro Cineform or Apple ProRes, and then hit OK. This will open the Adobe Media Encoder, which will automatically render all of your selected clips into easy-to-edit proxy files.

Finally, you can add a button to toggle proxies on or off into your Program Monitor Toolbar (the buttons underneath your video preview).

Start by choosing the Button Editor button on the bottom right of your preview window.

Drag the Toggle Proxies button onto your toolbar and exit the button editor. Now, whenever your press the proxy button, it will turn blue, and proxies will be used. Press it again to use your original media. However, Premiere Pro will automatically use your original media when rendering, so don’t worry about losing quality.

4. Transcode Footage

Most video recorded on a DSLR or mirrorless camera is stored in a highly compressed format, usually H.264. While our guide to codecs has more information, put simply, codecs like H.264 are very good at reducing file size, but are incredibly tough for your computer to work with.

Edit ready formats such as Apple ProRes produce larger file sizes, but are less taxing for your system to edit.

If you convert all of your shots to an easy-to-edit format, you’ll find that your computer is less taxed, and you can continue to squeeze performance out of it.

The Adobe Media Encoder is able to quickly and easily convert multiple files, and this excellent tutorial from YouTube channel AdobeMasters covers everything you need to know:

As mentioned above, if you’re working with 4K footage, but only need to deliver in 1080p, you can use the Media Encoder to render these shots out to 1080p. You’ll still retain some of the benefits of 4K, but your computer won’t have to work with so many pixels!

If you’re still not convinced about 4K, then take a look at our reasons to shoot in 4K guide.

5. Upgrade Your Computer

If you’ve tried all of the performance tips so far, and your machine still isn’t up to the task, it may be time to upgrade. We have a budget 4K editing computer guide, but your choice of computer does depend on your video requirements and budget.

For example, the 2011 Macbook Pro can just about handle basic 1080p video editing, but really struggles with any kind of effects, or anything more complex than simple cuts. The 2017 5K iMac can handle nearly anything consumer level, but this machine will also struggle with the kinds of cameras used to shoot movies, or the high-end cameras used by YouTubers such as Marques Brownlee or Jonathan Morrison, who both film on expensive Red cameras.

Whatever your needs, be prepared to splash out on premium components—video editing really is that demanding. If you’re building your own system, then take a look at our guide to building your own PC.

Once you’ve got your ultimate editing computer, and got your settings fine tuned, you can begin to focus on ways to increase your efficiency. These next five tips will help you to become an editing ninja in no time!

6. Set In and Out Points

When previewing your shots in the Source Monitor, it’s possible to mark In and Out points. These simply tell Premiere when your clip should start and end. No footage gets deleted, however.

In and Out points save you lots of time. Rather than having to drag a clip onto your timeline, scrub to the part you like, and then trim the start and end, Premiere automatically chops your clips based on the In/Out points.

You can bring up the Source Monitor by double-clicking on a clip in your Project Browser. Press Spacebar, or use the controls at the bottom to start playing and scrubbing through your clip. Once you find a section you like, press the I key to mark the In point, and then press the O key once you reach the Out point. You can also use the Mark In and Mark Out buttons found in the controls beneath this clip.

Once you’ve marked your points, you’ll see a “mini timeline” appear under your clip. This shows roughly where your marked section appears in relation to the whole shot. You can also click and drag the curly braces to adjust your points, or simply resume playback and tap I and O again as many times as you like.

7. Learn the Shortcuts

Shortcuts make a world of difference in getting that edit finished fast. Once you learn the shortcuts, you’ll be able to fly through the timeline, making cuts, applying effects, and more. If you use shortcuts combined with setting In and Out points as shown above, then your film practically edits itself.

Go to Premiere Pro CC and then Keyboard Shortcuts to bring up the Premiere keyboard shortcuts menu. Here you can see all of the currently assigned shortcuts, which is great for learning them. Alternatively, you can re-assign as many as you like, which is where you can really speed up your workflow.

YouTube legend Peter McKinnon has an unbelievable trick you can use to build your edits, and all it takes is a few shortcut presses:

8. Ripple Edit

Have you ever been frustrated trimming clips in Premiere Pro? Yes, setting In/Out points helps a lot, but what if you want to chop one second off the start or end of a clip which is already in your timeline? The whole process can be time consuming. You have to select the Razor tool (using the keyboard shortcut C), cut your clip, delete the bad section, and then subsequently shuffle all the following clips to fill in the gap.

Well, by using the Ripple Edit Tool (shortcut B), you can drag to expand or reduce a clip, and premiere will automatically move all of the other clips to fill in the gap.

This quick tutorial from YouTuber Richard Rho shows you how to use the ripple edit tool in less than three minutes:

9. Use Adjustment Layers

Adjustment layers are an incredibly powerful tool, and they are very easy to learn.

Any change or effect you make to an adjustment layer is applied to all the clips below. This is especially useful during color correction. You can make dramatic changes to your adjustment layer, and have it impact tens or hundreds of clips underneath it. This saves you a lot of time, and prevents you having to make common changes to several different clips.

If you decide to make another change, simply go and change your adjustment layer, and not the multiple individual clips.

Create a new layer by choosing New Item > Adjustment Layer from the Project Browser.

From the Adjustment Layer Settings panel which appears, leave all the options at their default and then choose OK. Your new adjustment layer will appear alongside your footage, and can be treated exactly like a clip. Drag it onto your timeline, and then get creative applying any effects you like to it. Any footage underneath this adjustment layer will have the effects applied to it.

10. Use Workspaces

Premiere Pro contains the ability to save different workspaces. These workspaces present different options, tools, and panels, to make different tasks easier for you. Premiere Pro comes with several different workspaces by default, but it’s also possible to create your own. This allows you to save your favorite tools and layout, ready to restore at a moment’s notice.

At the top of Premiere Pro is the Workspaces Panel. Here you can see all of the default workspaces, along with any custom ones you have created.

To create your own workspace, use an existing one as a starting point. You can click and drag any panel to anywhere, to arrange your perfect setup. If there’s an extra toolset you need, you can enable this through the Window menu.

Once done, you can save this layout as a custom workspace. Choose Window > Workspaces and then Save as new Workspace.

Give your workspace an appropriate name, and the choose OK.

Now your custom workspace is all set up and ready to go. There are two additional workspace options which you may find helpful. Both can be accessed through the Window > Workspaces menu.

If you decide you’d like to re-arrange your workspace, you can do this without a problem. Once you close Premiere Pro, however, you’ll lose all your changes. You need to save your changes to your workspace. Choose Save Changes to this Workspace, and your custom workspace will be updated.

If you’ve gone too far and would like to restore your workspace to its former glory, simply select Reset to Saved Layout, and you’ll be back where you started.

Speed Up Video Editing in Adobe Premiere Pro

These tricks show that little changes here and there can add up to big gains over a whole edit. From transcoding to keyboard shortcuts and everything in between, these tips are surefire ways to increase your edit speed in Adobe Premiere Pro!

Once you’ve learned these basics, why not move onto these tips for editing video like a pro and learn how to master time remapping in Premiere Pro.

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