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Microsoft shows off its Fluent Design changes to Windows 10
Microsoft first unveiled its Fluent Design language earlier this year, promising subtle changes to the company’s software in the future. The first part of Fluent Design will appear in the Windows...
Pixel 2 review: Still the best Android phone money can buy
In our review one year ago, VentureBeat called the Pixel “the best Android phone money can buy.” The Pixel 2, unveiled two weeks ago, boasts some marked improvements over its predecessor: among them a better camera, visual searches, and on-the-spot translation of 40 languages. With these updates, Pixel smartphones remain serious contenders among flagship Android smartphones, albeit with limited distribution.
9 Unforgettable Tips for Writing Headlines that Work [Infographic]
When you battle for attention in the noise fest that is the Internet, the most important skill you could possibly possess is headline writing. To help with this, Barry Feldman has created an infographic and cheat sheet you can use to hone your headline writing.
Microsoft’s Surface Book 2 ships on November 16: 13.5-inch for $1,499 and 15-inch for $2,499
Microsoft today unveiled the Surface Book 2, available for the first time in two sizes: a 13.5-inch, like its predecessors, starting at $1,499 and a new 15-inch, the largest Surface laptop yet, starting at $2,499. Both feature up to 17 hours of battery life, a USB-C port, and the latest 8th-generation Intel Quad-Core processors. Surface Book 2 will be available for preorder on November 9 and starts shipping on November 16.
Will Ferrell Is Your Distracted Dad In These Tech Responsibility PSAs | Fast Company
Common Sense Media just wants families to put the damn phone down and spend some quality time together.
Top News
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Why Media Discovery in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update isn't worth your time
Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps include Photos, Videos, Groove Music, and other media apps. Windows 10 users who save a lot of media files to their computers know what a headache organizing libraries can be, and Microsoft made an honest attempt to make it easier in the Fall Creators Update by adding the Media Discovery feature.
2
Essential Phone gets a $200 price drop, existing customers get credit
Essential has an offer that’s honestly very hard to refuse: The price of the Essential Phone (PH-1, going by technical model number), is now $200 cheaper, so $499 off-contract and unlocked. That’s an amazing price for their debut smartphone, which remains my favorite in terms of straight up industrial design (and it has one of the best color-tuned displays in devices right now in my opinion).
3
Google will reportedly share some revenue with news publishers
This comes after Google earlier this month said it would make it easier for paywalled sites like The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, etc. to get more subscribers. Part of that entailed giving publishers the option to place limits on how many articles people can access for free via Google Search. Before, Google required publishers to offer up at least three stories a day for free via Google Search.
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The Best Gaming Laptops of 2017
If you're shopping for a gaming system on a limited budget (in this case, roughly between $800 and $1,200), you're going to need to be OK with some concessions off the bat. Maximizing power while staying within a limited price range is the goal, but you'll have to accept that some of the components won't be comparable to the more expensive laptops you'll see while browsing. The main drop-off will be the graphics, since they're one of the single most expensive components in a machine and the major factor in a computer's gaming prowess. The cheaper systems are equipped with the lower-tier cards like the GTX 1050 Ti or 1060, but these modern budget cards are shockingly effective, and you'll be able to play smoothly in HD, just not at the very highest settings in newer games. Processors are the next biggest difference—you'll likely get a capable Core i5 instead of a faster Core i7—while the other components will be closer to more expensive machines. 1TB of storage and maybe even a small SSD alongside are common in budget laptops, the display will almost certainly be 1080p, and memory will likely be 8GB (while pricier laptops likely include 16GB).
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I have a problem with my MacBook Pro keyboard — and Apple's official fix is absurd
Apple's designs can be beautiful, and its network of stores makes
getting quality service for a computer easy. I certainly don't
have the expertise to fix most problems with Apple products, and
I like how thin my new MacBook Pro is. Still, this is a
frustrating problem because a keyboard is the kind of physical
interface that you would think requires just a small fix.
Keyboards are touched by human fingers all the time.
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Google Pixel 2, Moto X4, Essential Phone, AirPods (MobileTechRoundup #410) | ZDNet
Pixel 2 reviews went live while Huawei revealed the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro. A couple new phones arrived for testing and both hosts bought some more gear.
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After the end of the startup era
Hordes of engineering and business graduates secretly dream of building the new Facebook, the new Uber, the new AirBnB. Almost every big city now boasts one or more startup accelerators, modeled after Paul Graham’s now-legendary Y Combinator. Hordes of technology entrepreneurs are reshaping, “disrupting,” every aspect of our economy. Today’s big businesses are arthritic dinosaurs soon devoured by these nimble, fast-growing mammals with sharp teeth. Right?
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Tesla has reached a deal to build a factory in China
In June, Tesla confirmed that it was in talks to build a factory in Shanghai, ending months of speculation about the company’s plans. At the time, a spokesperson explained that while the company anticipated keeping most of its production in the US, it did “need to establish local factories to ensure affordability for the markets they serve.”
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Tesla reaffirms effort to build cars in China; mum on deal report
(Reuters) - Electric car maker Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ) reaffirmed on Sunday it is talking with the Shanghai municipal government to set up a factory in the region and expects to agree on a plan by the end of the year, but declined to comment on a report that a deal has been reached.
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'Outlander' finally reunited Claire and Jamie, and it feels so good
"I love that episode because it's like, we lose track of Jamie; he's gone through these different permeations of different people. He's obviously Jamie Fraser, then he's an outlaw — the Dunbonnet — then he's Mac Dubh, then he's Mac to Willie. So he becomes these people and finally we find him as Alexander Malcolm, this print maker," he says. "I loved that first scene in episode 6 where he's going about his everyday business at the print shop. I was like, 'Who is he now?' And it was so fun to think about what's been going on in his life since we last saw him. So when [Claire] reappears, it's a blast from the past — a blast from the future. She turns his whole world upside down, which is exactly what happened in Season 1."
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TV Shows to Watch if You Love 'Stranger Things'
One of the many great things about Stranger Things is the show's epic old-school synth soundtrack, composed by Austin band Survive. When the Duffer Brothers pitched the series to Netflix, they even used some of the group's music to sell it. So while USA's twitchy hit Mr. Robot doesn't share too many similarities, from an audio standpoint it's pretty close. Composer Mac Quayle uses retro synth tones to underscore the action, with lots of drones and loops.
Soundtrack aside, Mr. Robot is one of the best new shows of the last few years. Rami Malek stars as a computer hacker with a few wires loose in his brain, and (without spoiling anything for you) things go from bad to worse as he becomes embroiled in a conspiracy to essentially destroy the world's entire financial system. The first season is streaming on Amazon , while season two is available for download.
For more, check out PCMag's chat about the season two finale and our interview with Kor Adana , the show's "technology producer" and a former hacker himself.
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Could Cryptocurrency Mining Kill Online Advertising? - Slashdot
The thing that might turn out nice here is that perhaps it will become a true stepping stone to a micropayment based low-advertising low-tracking world. Right now everyone avoids pay sites cause there's free stuff out there somewhere. But the real reason is I don't really want to limit my self to a few sites, so I can't just subscribe. One could imagine that there might be a way for sites to band together in the millions as collectives. I then pay $100 a year to the collective. The sites then get micropayments from the collective as their use meters. That I'd do.
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Ariel on Twitter
UN ANCIANO METIÓ EL DNI EN LA URNA Y ESTÁ PARADA LA ELECCIÓN HACE 10 MINUTOS
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Why Google's Pixel 2 XL will be my next phone • r/Android
It cannot be understated how uninspiring the phone is. I can’t help but think how much better the Google Pixel could have been; that’s not something a customer should feel (granted, the Pixel was much worse in this regard). The Pixel 2 could have been thinner, or at least fit in a larger battery with the thickness it has. It could have looked better. It could have included 27W-charging. It could have had smaller frames (for both the XL and the 5” variant). It could have been released early in the year, not making us purchase a phone with specs that are 1 year old by the time it comes out (the next-gen SoC are literally right around the corner, by the time the Pixels come in consumers ahdn). And so on and so forth. When you pay $850 for a device, you expect the phone to be the same level as other flagships like the S8. And frankly, the Pixel fails in that regard.
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How to install the OpenVAS vulnerability scanner on Ubuntu 16.04
If you're looking for a single tool to run vulnerability scanning on the systems you administer, OpenVAS might be the security tool you need.
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Tesla reportedly lands deal to build an EV factory in Shanghai
If the deal is in place, it could be the ticket to igniting Tesla's Chinese sales -- and the company as a whole. While the automaker has sold its EVs in China for years, sales have sometimes struggled in a country where it faces an uphill battle between its outsider status and apartment-focused living (you can't buy an EV if there's nowhere to charge it). A Shanghai factory would not only make Tesla's vehicles more palatable, but could help it satisfy demand now that the Chinese EV market is truly heating up . And this is especially important for the Model 3 . It's the cornerstone of Tesla's expansion into the (relative) mainstream, and anything it can do to both lower costs and improve availability should make a significant impact on sales.
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Would you buy a surface phone if it ran android? • r/Android
Microsoft has released lots of Surface products, including Surface RT, Surface Pro, Surface Book, Surface Laptop, Surface Studio, Surface Hub. All is about computer. Surface Pro has been proved to be great products after several years of updates. But when talking about cell phones, Microsoft has a bad performance. From Windows mobile to Windows Phone 7, 7.5, 8, Windows 10 mobile, Microsoft is changing all the time and has driven away lots of developers. At the same time, more and more Windows Phone fans are going away due to terrible applications. Today, Microsoft even decides not to develop new functions for Windows 10 mobile. It means that Windows 10 mobile has been abandoned. Microsoft is constantly bringing its excellent applications and service to Android and iOS, instead of developing its own cell phones. So, I think Microsoft won't release android phones in a short time.
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Google ‘actively investigating’ reports of Pixel 2 XL screen burn-in
The Pixel 2 XL screen has been designed with an advanced POLED technology, including QHD+ resolution, wide color gamut, and high contrast ratio for natural and beautiful colors and renderings. We put all of our products through extensive quality testing before launch and in the manufacturing of every unit. We are actively investigating this report.
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Coral reefs in Florida Keys hit hard this hurricane season, but there are signs of recovery
The Category 4 storm left the Florida Keys bruised and battered in early September, but it's not just the land, and its buildings, roads, and trees, that took a beating. Under the sea, the depleted coral reefs are also worse for wear, along with the underwater nurseries conservationists are growing in hopes of replenishing the Keys' once healthy reefs.
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Halloween Food
Trick out the treats for your next gathering of ghouls with startling desserts, snacks, and drinks. All the instructions are here; read on to find a recipe that will be talk of your crypt this Halloween.
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DIY-IT guide to disaster preparedness: Because it's always something | ZDNet
Between natural disasters and cyberattacks, IT managers have a big job ensuring business continuity. In this guide, we offer ten key strategies to help your organization weather Mother Nature's wrath and cyberattackers' latest weapons.
22
This 17-year-old artist wants you to know his stutter will never hold him back
Working through a stutter, he adds, is a "growth experience" that helps form your view of the world and the various people in it. It's often misunderstood, or people don't know a lot about it. But you learn to own it.
23
TNW on Twitter
Chrome's new security features allow Google to scan what extensions you use http://tnw.me/9tsk1nk pic.twitter.com/1UcIm0lotL
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https://www.ft.com/content/5609bbfe-b4cf-11e7-aa26-bb002965bce8
For 4 weeks receive unlimited Premium digital access to the FT's trusted, award-winning business news
25
Analysis | Parents are exhausting their children. An eighth-grade boy explains how.
When you walk past your parent, they say: “Where do you think you’re going? You still have chores.” Then they will hold up a long, long list of things that you have to do. You move toward cover, so your parents won’t be able to see your hands curl into fists. But nothing is shown on your face, simply a benevolent smile that you hope seems genuine. After an hour, you finish everything, and again you walk past your parents. They greet you, and say: “You know what would be awesome? If you could do this, or that.” You die. Point blank, your excitement to relax just withers, and gasps its final breath. Because at this point by the time you finish this, dinner will arrive, then bed, and you have now spent an entire day wound up like a taut string. The only thing to make you snap is a breath of air. You haven’t even made it to dinner. Quietly, you think that all you have to do is get done with the next hour, and you are finished with this day. Dinner comes and goes, and the next morning the light greets you, telling you that you have to repeat the process five times a week. You then collapse onto your bed with happiness that manifests in a pitiful groan, served extra loud on Mondays.
26
How creepy YouTube videos trick kids into watching violent videos
The Elsa shootout above is incredibly bizarre, even for YouTube. It mimics tropes and trends on YouTube Kids in order to lure young viewers into watching. The video's title is "Bad Kids & Learn Colors Giant Watermelon Finger Family Song Nursery Rhymes | Learning Video For Kids." That may sound like a bunch of nonsense, but if you have a kid who watches YouTube, it's algorithm gold. Bad Kids, Learn Colors, Finger Family, Nursery Rhymes, and Learning Video For Kids are all popular search terms, which YouTube and its Kids app generally reward with prevalent placement.
27
TNW on Twitter
Tackle 22 classes covering digital marketing in all its forms for only $15 http://tnw.me/ipmTmPq pic.twitter.com/0Mcbsg9xG5
29
Twitter outraged for Janet Jackson after Justin Timberlake announced for Super Bowl LII halftime show
Unless Justin Timberlake starts his set by introducing Janet Jackson with an apology and then continues watching quietly while she does 12 minutes of her catalog solo, the Super Bowl can keep this halftime show.
30
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloyd#Sloyd_in_Sweden
In “Educational sloyd,” as devised by Otto Salomon in the 1870s, woodworking projects were designed to build incrementally on the child’s growing skill. This was accomplished by making the projects grow in degree of difficulty over a period of time, through the introduction of complexity of shape and procedures and through the gradual introduction of more difficult woodworking tools. Salomon believed that the teacher should carefully study and know each child. It was said that from the student’s perspective, no project should be any more difficult than the immediately preceding project. Sloyd was taught through the use of series of models, growing in difficulty and complexity that the students were supposed to accurately reproduce without interference from the teacher. Salomon developed "exercises" in the use of various tools leading to proficiency in the making of models. The exercises in the use of various tools were developed through careful study by Salomon, but he also encouraged that model series be adapted and made relevant to the various cultures in which sloyd was taught. The objects in the model series were designed to be useful to the child and his family, thereby building a relationship of good will and mutual support in the child's education.
31
luis montoto on Twitter
Mandé un montón de memes.
Cuál fue el único que likeaste?
El de la boleta del FPV en el orto.
No sé por qué lo preveía.
32
Save Space on Your iPhone By Changing this iOS 11 Camera Setting
With iOS 11, Apple introduced the HEIF format for photos. HEIF stands for “High Efficiency File Format,” and allows the photos you take on your phone to be squished down to the smallest possible size without losing quality. That smaller size means you can take a whole lot more pictures before you run out of space on your iPhone (or the fact that you’re a shutterbug isn’t going to prevent you from downloading an app).
33
A bigger, better Surface Book 2 might be Microsoft's first gaming PC
Of course, both models work with the sold-separately Microsoft Pen stylus, which is getting a very minor update, and the new Fall Creators Update version of Windows 10, which lets you do all kinds of cool augmented reality stuff through the new Mixed Reality Viewer app. You can take a 3D model from Microsoft's Paint 3D program, for example, and drop it into a real-world situation, as captured by the rear-facing camera. (The Surface Book 2 has a 5-megapixel front-facing camera and an 8-megapixel rear-facing one.)
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Facebook open sources concurrent programming debugger | ZDNet
One of the hardest tricks for any programmer to do is to master concurrent programming. Facebook's new tool, RacerD, goes a long way to helping developers spot concurrency errors.
35
How to Avoid a Rotten Jack-O’-Lantern
Your jack-o’-lantern looks so good, bright and orange next to your front door, harbinger of the season, home to a flickering tea light at night. Or does it? Has it started, maybe, to shrivel and shrink? Is it perhaps a tiny bit stinky? Even if it’s still looking good, what assurance do you have that it will make it to Halloween?
36
The advertising industry has been living a lie
What made you think advertising on a few hundred thousand
sites many any sense it the first place? So many big brands
bought into this long tail fantasy they seemed to ditch logic
along the way. And now they seem to be pointing the blame at
everybody but themselves. It's your money guys.
37
iPhone Upgrade Program Customers Can Get a Jump on iPhone X Pre-Orders
The iPhone Upgrade Program is designed to allow customers to upgrade to the new iPhone on a yearly basis, which is a nice option for folks who like to upgrade their device with each new model. There is no denying, though, that this little pre-approval process is also a nice bonus for those customers, effectively giving them a bit of a leg-up in the pre-ordering process.
38
The internet's hunger for weird beauty trends knows no bounds in 2017
The internet ones, by and large, are just done for Instagram. And that's why they can be so weird. Squiggle brows are great for the feed, but not so practical for real life.
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Getting on cancer’s nerves: A surprising way to thwart tumours
But what if the painkilling injections Martinez is getting could do more than just ease his discomfort – even help ward off cancer altogether? New evidence is causing a rethink of the way cancer invades our bodies. It now seems that targeting nerve cells might be an effective way to fight tumours – and even prevent them developing in the first place. Some even think that focussing on nerves may be the missing piece in the fight against the disease. As Gustavo Ayala at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston sees it, “If you don’t take care of the nerves, you’re not going to cure cancer.”
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THE US SMART HOME MARKET REPORT: Systems, apps, and devices leading to home automation
But the newfound popularity of smart home voice control has revolutionized smart home ecosystems across the country, and convinces more consumers to equip their homes with smart devices on a daily basis. The Amazon Echo, released in 2014, has become immensely popular and capable, awakening users to the utility of both voice control and smart home devices. This has prompted companies to rush to release competing devices and integrate voice control into their smart home ecosystems.
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The Best Free Software of 2017
LogMeOnce Password Management Suite Premium LastPass is great, but LogMeOnce Password Management Suite Premium is good enough to earn its own 5-star rating. And don't let that word "premium" fool you, this software for logging in is free, albeit with some paid upgrades available for $1/month. LogMeOnce's claim to fame is to be utterly "passwordless." While you can go with a master password, the selling point is to use your smartphone (or tablet, whatever you always have with you) as an authenticator—primarily by using the fingerprint reader built into most modern smartphones (photo login is a paid feature). It's browser-based so it works the same on all desktop systems. Read our review of LogMeOnce Password Management Suite Premium
42
Lifehacker on Twitter
You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history.
Learn more
43
Ransomware: Security researchers spot emerging new strain of malware | ZDNet
"It is possible that the switch is done by the same actors who previously distributed Cerber. But as well the previous attackers could have given up distribution of the ransomware and sold the distribution toolkit to another actor who does not own Cerber," a malware intelligence analyst at Malwarebytes told ZDNet.
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Samsung's new 360-degree camera has 17 lenses for VR streaming | ZDNet
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You will also receive a complimentary subscription to the ZDNet's Tech Update Today and ZDNet Announcement newsletters. You may unsubscribe from these newsletters at any time.
45
How to add two-factor authentication to your WordPress site
If you opt for the Google Authenticator option, select it, choose the platform you'll be using (Android, iOS, or BlackBerry/Windows), and then, when prompted, scan the QR code with the Google Authenticator app on your device. To do this, open the Authenticator app, tap the + button, and then scan the code. You will be immediately prompted from the miniOrange plugin on your WordPress site to enter a six-digit code, which you'll get in the Google Authenticator app on your mobile device. Enter that code and then click Verify and Save.
46
Stephen King Says THE DARK TOWER TV Series Will Be a Complete Reboot | Nerdist
While speaking with Vulture , King indicated that previous plans to tie The Dark Tower TV series to the films have apparently been abandoned. “The TV series they’re developing now, we’ll see what happens with that,” said King. “It would be like a complete reboot, so we’ll just have to see.”
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Mobile domestic roaming not declared by ACCC | ZDNet
Finding that a declaration of wholesale mobile domestic roaming might actually reduce competition, the ACCC has confirmed its draft decision while also publishing a paper on regional telecommunications issues.
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JPMorgan partners with data start-up to boost fixed-income trading
NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ) has partnered with data analytics start-up Mosaic Smart Data to help its fixed-income sales and trading business become more profitable.
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BodyGuardz Ace Pro case and Pure Arc protector for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8: Hands-on | ZDNet
The Galaxy Note 8 is arguably the best smartphone available today with a price starting at $930. For $40 or less, you can protect your Note 8 with a case or a glass screen protector.
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'The Walking Dead' Season 8 premiere explains that Old Rick time-jump, kind of
"Mercy" also continued the show's tradition of toying with time, seemingly presenting at least three different periods in Rick's life — the present, what seemed to be the near future, and something a few years down the road. Robert Kirkman's comics also featured a time jump after the "All Out War" arc that the show is currently adapting, showing Rick with a bushy beard, buzzcut and cane, all of which we saw in the Season 8 premiere. Judging by Judith's age, the time jump is only a few years, which would seem to align with Kirkman's comics, despite fans predicting a longer gap given how grizzled Rick looks.