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Specializing in Computer Repair, Networking, Internet Solutions, Web Designing, Hybrid App Designing and Windows Operating systems.
Saturday, March 14, 2020
Geek Trivia: The New Horizons Spacecraft Has Quarters From Which Two U.S. States Onboard?
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Profile of Guy "Dr Disrespect" Beahm as he renews his exclusive streaming contract with Twitch for two years (Bijan Stephen/The Verge)
Bijan Stephen / The Verge:
Profile of Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm as he renews his exclusive streaming contract with Twitch for two years — Guy ‘Dr Disrespect’ Beahm opens up about his Twitch alter ego — Violence becomes him. Stalking through the wild grass and brutalist concrete wilderness of Tarkov …
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Google says it is working with the US government to develop a nationwide COVID-19 website on symptoms, risks, and testing info, in addition to other measures (Diane Bartz/Reuters)
Diane Bartz / Reuters:
Google says it is working with the US government to develop a nationwide COVID-19 website on symptoms, risks, and testing info, in addition to other measures — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O) said on Saturday that it was working with the U.S. government to develop …
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An independent audit of mobile voting app Voatz, which has been used in elections in four US states, details many critical vulnerabilities and recommends fixes (Dan Guido/Trail of Bits Blog)
Dan Guido / Trail of Bits Blog:
An independent audit of mobile voting app Voatz, which has been used in elections in four US states, details many critical vulnerabilities and recommends fixes — Voatz allows voters to cast their ballots from any geographic location on supported mobile devices.
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Broadcom sues Netflix for infringement of eight patents dealing with video playback and data transmission, claims cord-cutting reduced demand for Broadcom chips (Gene Maddaus/Variety)
Gene Maddaus / Variety:
Broadcom sues Netflix for infringement of eight patents dealing with video playback and data transmission, claims cord-cutting reduced demand for Broadcom chips — Broadcom, a leading manufacturer of semiconductor chips for cable set-top boxes, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Netflix on Friday.
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How big tech is taking on COVID-19
Over the past week, one thing has become painfully clear for U.S. residents: COVID-19 is going to permeate every aspect of our lives for a long time to come. Those of us in and around tech have been noticing this for months now. First through the impact on our friends and colleagues in Asia, who have been facing fallout from the pandemic head-on for some time, and then through the domino effect on tech conferences.
First there was MWC, then Facebook’s F8, E3, WWDC. The list goes on and on. Yesterday, TechCrunch announced that we would be postponing a pair of our own events. It was the right thing to do, and increasingly not really a choice, to be honest, as more and more cities have banned large gatherings.
Tech has been keenly aware of COVID-19’s impact for a while now because being a tech company is being a global company almost by default. Now, however, the virus’s threat has come to nearly everyone’s back door. If you don’t yet know someone who has been infected with the virus, odds are good you will soon. This is our reality, for now, at least.
If there’s hope to be mustered from this event, it’s in the prospect of people helping people. Coming together, separately, at a safe social distance. The response of the current administration leaves much to be desired at the moment. As yesterday’s press conference involved praise of the “private sector” and a parade of high profile executives, the reality is that many of us may have to rely on corporates and execs to help fill in the gaps of gutted government departments.
There will be plenty of time to call out the inevitable opportunism of corporate America (and it looks like I’m going to have a lot more free time on my hands in the coming months to do exactly that), but for now, let’s note some of the folks who are pitching in by donating supplies or easing some of the burden on a strained and uncertain population.
Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma today released a statement noting plans to donate 500,000 test kits and one million face masks. The donation follows similar ones to Japan and Europe, following the devastating impact on his own country.
“Drawing from my own country’s experience, speedy and accurate testing and adequate personal protective equipment for medical professionals are most effective in preventing the spread of the virus,” Ma said in a statement. “We hope that our donation can help Americans fight against the pandemic!”
Yesterday, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan announced that his video conferencing platform would be available for free to K-12 schools in Japan, Italy and the U.S. The move comes as the service is seeing a massive spike in downloads as many businesses and schools are attempting to adapt to working and learning remotely.
Earlier this week, Bill Gates, who recently left his position on Microsoft’s board, announced the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was teaming up with Wellcome and Mastercard to fund treatments to the tune of $125 million. Yesterday, Facebook announced it was committing $20 million in donations to support relief efforts. Apple announced a similar $15 million in donations, along with letting customers skip the March payment on their Apple Cards without risking interest payments. IPS like AT&T, Charter, CenturyLink, Comcast, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint and Cox, meanwhile, have promised not to overcharge, charge late fees or terminate service, in an attempt to keep people connected.
Likely we’ll continue to see more such announcements in the coming weeks and months as companies struggle with impact to their workforces and bottom lines. Some will no doubt be more crass that others, but there’s little doubt that such gestures will be a big part of our ability to emerge from one of the scariest and most surreal moments in recent memory.
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Apple is closing all of its stores outside of China until March 27
Apple will be closing all of its stores outside of China until March 27th.
In a statement on the company’s website attributed to Tim Cook, the company attributed the decision to lessons it had learned from its response to the outbreak in China, where the disease was first identified.
“What we’ve learned together has helped us all develop the best practices that are assisting enormously in our global response,” Cook wrote. “One of those lessons is that the most effective way to minimize risk of the virus’s transmission is to reduce density and maximize social distance. As rates of new infections continue to grow in other places, we’re taking additional steps to protect our team members and customers.”
The company committed to paying all of its hourly workers as if the stores were remaining open. The company also said it would expand its leave policies to accommodate personal or family health circumstances caused by COVID-19 — including recovering from illness, caring for someone infected, mandatory quarantining or childcare challenges due to school closures.
The company also said it had reached $15 million in donations to COVID-19 response efforts and will be matching employee donations two-to-one to support response efforts, locally, nationally, and internationally.
ations to the global COVID-19 response — both to help treat those who are sick and to help lessen the economic and community impacts of the pandemic — today reached $15 million worldwide.
We’re also announcing that we are matching our employee donations two-to-one to support COVID-19 response efforts locally, nationally and internationally.
“The global spread of COVID-19 is affecting every one of us,” Cook wrote. “At Apple, we are people first and we do what we do with the belief that technology can change lives and hope that it can be a valuable tool in moments like this.”
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What Is Microsoft Planner and How to Use It
Microsoft Planner is a to-do app that comes with Office 365. It’s used for personal and teamwork planning, with a simple card-based interface that’s similar to Trello. Here’s a quick look at how to use it.
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Future-Proof Your Career With This FREE Ebook (Worth $16)
A lifelong career doesn’t exist anymore. In fact, “People entering the workforce today will have an estimated 17 employers and five careers in their lifetimes—and already many existing roles are being automated away, with many more to follow”.
These trends mean that more and more people will enter the freelancing world or the gig-work economy. This comes with certain freedoms. But it also brings its own challenges.
Given that no profession or industry is immune to these trends, how can you future-proof your own career?
In this free copy of Career Leap, worth $16, Michelle Gibbings answers these questions, showing you “what you need to know, how you need to change and how you can prepare for the inevitable tides of change.”
Download Career Leap for Free
The 10-step framework set out in this book will help you reinvent your career for the 21st Century. Inside, you will learn how to:
- Future-proof your career with the new laws for success.
- Undertake a health check of your career and make deliberate career choices.
- Design, build, and execute your influence and career strategy.
- Be equipped to take control and leap ahead with your career.
Want to download your free copy? Simply click here to download Career Leap from TradePub. You will have to complete a short form to access the ebook, but it’s well worth it!
Note: This free offer expires 24 March 2020.
Read the full article: Future-Proof Your Career With This FREE Ebook (Worth $16)
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5 Free and Modern Online Image Editors to Replace Clunky Programs & Apps
You don’t need to download software like Photoshop for basic photo editing. Everything you need can be found in your browser with these five free online image editors.
There are a few cool one-click photo enhancement websites, but sometimes, you need to do more. Whether you need to edit images in large batches, remove backgrounds from GIFs, or just add filters and stickers, there’s a simple and excellent online image editor for that.
Oh, and let’s also revisit a new version of one of the most popular photo editors ever.
1. Photostack (Web, Android): Batch Resize Images, Add Watermarks
Photostack would be a truly useful tool for bloggers, influencers, social media marketers, and anyone else who works with many images online regularly. This app does a few things and does it perfectly.
You can upload images through your hard drive, through Dropbox, or add links. Once the image batch is set, there are three things the app lets you do:
- Resize by width: You don’t need to worry about the height of the image. Simply put the width you want it to be, and Photostack will resize and scale.
- Add a watermark: You’ll need to upload the watermark to Photostack, where you can choose the position as well as set the size and opacity.
- File format and name: You can export all these images in JPEG, PNG, or WebP. You can also set a file name, and Photostack will add numbers with space in between the name and number.
You can download the images in a zip file or as separate files. Photostack also lets you remove EXIF data in the editing process. The app also works offline once you’ve opened it, and has a mobile version too.
Download: Photostack for Android (Free)
2. Doka Photo (Web): Easy, Free, Fast Image Editor with Filters and Markup
There are a lot of free online photo editors to make an image look exactly like you want it to. I find myself going back to Doka photo editor often because it’s free, easy, and fast while offering most of the features I need.
It feels like a lot of the tools you are accustomed to using with apps like Instagram. Once you upload an image to Doka, you can crop, rotate, flip, and resize it. You can alter its colors (brightness, contrast, exposure, and saturation). You can add different filters. And you can markup the image with arrows, text, squares, circles, or by drawing on it.
The controls are easy, as is customization for each element. For example, if you draw an arrow, you can change it to double-headed, change its thickness, and so on. Doka doesn’t do anything fancy, but it does the basics really well.
3. Unscreen (Web): Remove Backgrounds from GIFs and Videos
It’s shocking what artificial intelligence can do these days. A short while ago, removing backgrounds from a simple photo required a good designer. Now Unscreen uses AI to remove backgrounds from GIFs and videos with astonishing ease.
You can upload a video or a GIF, or copy-paste links directly. Unscreen even has an easy option to search Giphy for the right GIF. Once you select or upload what you want, the AI goes to work. It’ll identify one foreground element and remove all background elements. You can’t choose what it sees as foreground and background though.
After removing the background, you’re ready to alter the GIF or video. You can keep the background transparent, add a solid color, or add a different image or moving video from the gallery. You can’t upload a custom background yet.
Unscreen works only on animated images and videos, so you can’t work with photos on it. But you don’t need Photoshop for that, there are several other easy ways to remove backgrounds from images.
4. Pixi Worker (Web): Easily Add Text, Stickers, Shapes to Photos
If you want to make alterations to images like adding stickers, speech bubbles, and so on, Pixi Worker is an excellent online photo editor. It is much easier to operate than others and has more customization too.
Apart from drawing on the image, you can add text, shapes, stickers, and frames. The number of options in each is remarkable. For example, you can choose from a large collection of fonts that you won’t find in other apps. When you’re adding stickers, you can choose between emoticons, speech bubbles, doodles, landmarks, and other elements.
With such a large variety, you can get more creative with how you markup images. Along with that, Pixi Worker has all the usual image editing tools you would expect. You can crop images, resize them, change colors, and so on. The only markup tool Pixi Worker misses is watermarking.
5. Pixlr X and Pixlr E (Web): All-New Versions of Popular Image Editor
For the longest time, Pixlr was the gold standard of online image editors. But then it was bought by Autodesk and the web dumped Adobe Flash, making it obsolete. Well, now the original developer is back in charge and has rewritten the photo editor in Canvas/WebGL to make it leaner, faster, and better than ever before.
It now comes in two avatars: Pixlr X and Pixlr E. Both versions work in any modern browser and have many of the same tools. They look modern and have all the features that any image editor should have. In both versions, you can search Unsplash for stock images or upload your own pictures from the hard drive or a URL.
Pixlr X is better suited for regular users who want basic tools and a lot of help, like a handy “auto-fix” button for optimal lighting of the photo. It has a sparse toolbar too. Pixlr E adds a few more tools, like layers, lasso and brush tool, a history pane, cloning, and so on. Try both the tools and see which one you like more, they’re free anyway.
Also, both Pixlr X and Pixlr E work perfectly in mobile browsers, in case you need a robust image editing app on your smartphone.
Replace Photoshop With Web Apps
These aren’t the only image editing web apps, and in fact, there are several we have covered already. Pixlr E comes close as a great alternative for Adobe Photoshop, but there are perhaps even better tools for it.
So, go ahead and try these free online replacements for Photoshop, especially Photopea.
Read the full article: 5 Free and Modern Online Image Editors to Replace Clunky Programs & Apps
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How to Secure Your WhatsApp Account
For some people, WhatsApp is the primary way they communicate with friends and family. But how can you protect an app you use so often? Here’s how to secure your WhatsApp account.
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5 Easygoing Video Games to Help You Relax in Stressful Times
Between pandemics, politics, and other people, it can often feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. These are the times when avoiding notifications and social media for a while is a good idea. Luckily, video games can provide the escapism you need.
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The 4 Best Password Managers of 2020
Using “password” as your password has never been a good idea. If you’re having trouble remembering your passwords (or coming up with good ones to begin with), a password manager can take care of that for you.
Read This Article on Review Geek ›
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An interview with Lu Zhihui, founder of MMC whose drones have been used during COVID-19 outbreak in China to disinfect public areas, control traffic, and more (Song Jingli/KrASIA)
Song Jingli / KrASIA:
An interview with Lu Zhihui, founder of MMC whose drones have been used during COVID-19 outbreak in China to disinfect public areas, control traffic, and more — If you Google for the keywords “talking drones,” a lot of news and videos will show up about how China started to deploy flying drones …
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Apple says it is closing all of its retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27 due to the continuing spread of COVID-19 (Juli Clover/MacRumors)
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple says it is closing all of its retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27 due to the continuing spread of COVID-19 — Apple today announced that it is closing all of its retail locations outside of Greater China until March 27 due to the continuing spread of the coronavirus …
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Friday, March 13, 2020
Geek Trivia: The First Artist To Have Every Song On An Entire Album Licensed Was?
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Uncensored Library, a Reporters Without Borders project in Minecraft, lets people anywhere read articles from censored journalists and get info on press freedom (Adele Peters/Fast Company)
Adele Peters / Fast Company:
Uncensored Library, a Reporters Without Borders project in Minecraft, lets people anywhere read articles from censored journalists and get info on press freedom — In countries where censorship is standard practice—such as China, where articles and social media posts about COVID-19 …
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Niantic has temporarily updated various Pokémon Go mechanics to limit the need for extended travel during gameplay due to "the current global health situation" (Patricia Hernandez/Polygon)
Patricia Hernandez / Polygon:
Niantic has temporarily updated various Pokémon Go mechanics to limit the need for extended travel during gameplay due to “the current global health situation” — Monster collecting will be slightly easier now — As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the world …
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White House and House Democrats agree to funding package for paid sick leave, funding for tests
Late Friday night, after nearly two full days of negotiations, the House of Representatives is finally set to pass a bipartisan plan to provide sweeping new benefits to workers and businesses affected by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the U.S.
The new bill will offer paid sick leave, stronger unemployment benefits, free virus testing and more money for food assistance and Medicaid and was approved only after 13 phone calls between the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, according to a report in The New York Times.
After its approval this evening, the Senate will have to vote to approve the measure early next week before it can be signed into law by President Trump.
While stocks rose sharply after the President’s address, delaying the bill could cause further economic uncertainty and continue what has been a wild couple of months for financial markets beset by barrage of bad news and stopgap measures designed to boost the economy, but failing to address the actual pressures impacting global markets (driving people to invest in stock markets doesn’t solve the financial shock that stems from an economy grinding to a halt in response to a national epidemic).
As cities and states encourage (or in some cases mandate) social distancing and self-quarantines as a response to limit the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, huge swaths of America’s service sectors will be affected.
That applies to startups like the retail chains b8ta and Neighborhood Goods, the beauty brand, Glossier, the Los Angeles-based arcade chain for the new millennium, Two Bit Circus; and the most celebrated of the direct to consumer startups, Warby Parker.
It’s also a factor for gig and sharing economy companies like Postmates, Instacart, Lyft, Uber, Airbnb and others — companies which were venture capital darlings for their novel approach to excess resources (be it cars, spare time, or space).
These companies have already faced criticism from lawmakers on Capitol Hill over their compensation practices for workers who may be affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
Hitting pause on America’s shopping and dining in malls and restaurants, entertainment in bars, theaters, concerts, and at plays, and the closure of public spaces, along with work-from-home policies that reduce foot traffic to local businesses or retail chains in business districts will hit low-income workers and hospitality staff, who don’t have paid-time-off or at risk of losing their jobs as business slows.
Those social distancing measures are also one of the best chances cities have to slow the spread of the virus, according to most experts. And paid time off has been shown to reduce the spread of disease, according to the New York Times report on the bill’s passage.
“Today, we will pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act after reaching an agreement with the Administration,” Speaker Pelosi wrote on Twitter. “This legislation builds on the action that House Democrats took last week to put #FamiliesFirst with our strong, bipartisan $8.3 billion emergency funding package.”
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