10 Tech Hacks Any Self-Respecting Geek Should Know

Think you have mastered every tech hack on the internet today?

That’s very unlikely, for even the most effective life hacks are not printed on a stone.

They are born from an undiluted combination of experience and innovative minds.

Luckily, for you, we’ve gathered the very best tech hacks that will give you a proven shortcut, while minimizing some annoyance you experience on a daily basis on the web, or with your computer.

1. Use your phone to check whether your remote control is working

Not sure whether your remote control is working? You can use your phone’s camera to check whether it need fresh batteries in these 3 simple steps:

1. Launch your smartphone’s camera app.

2. Switch to the self-facing (selfie) camera

3. Point the remote at the camera and press any button on the remote.

You should see a flicker of light from the remote pointer (IR blaster). If you don’t see the flicker, you should probably change the batteries.

If you don’t see the light flicker even after changing the batteries, you should consider buying another remote.

2. No internet, no problem. Play a game

When your internet connection is interrupted, and Google Chrome displays the “No internet connection” page, pressing the spacebar will start a T-Rex game.

At least this should keep you busy until you get online again.

3. Download any YouTube video directly without use of a downloader software

YouTube doesn’t have a download button, which makes downloading of videos extremely hard unless you have a third party software such as WinX YouTube downloader.

However, there are some tech hacks you can apply to download videos directly from the site.

Simply add “ss” before the URL of the video you want to download.

For example, https://www.ssyoutube.com/watch?v=M_m5aDMAb2c&t=6262s

4. Convert YouTube video to Gif

Want to convert a YouTube video to Gif, simply add “gif” before “Youtube.com”

For example, https://www.gifyoutube.com/watch?v=DBzli4xSviA

You’ll be directed to a page where you can set the start and end time, as well as add any video effects.

5. Cheap tech hacks to prevent your laptop from overheating

Irritated by your laptop’s overheating problem?

Place two identical forks underneath it.

You can also cool it down fast by placing it on top of an egg carton

6. Display phone notifications on your computer

Tired of switching between devices every time, use pushbullet.com.

This service connects all your devices, making them feel like one, so you can read all your texts, WhatsApp messages, and even see phone calls on your computer.

PushBullet also lets you receive and send texts from your computer.

7. Charge you phone faster by putting it on Airplane mode

Want your phone to charge faster?

Put it in airplane mode.

Airplane mode turns off all radio frequencies on your phone allowing the battery to charge faster in that disengaged state.

8. Use Midomi to get a song title

If you can’t remember the title of a song, and you know the lyrics, you can use Midomi to get the title.

Just launch the app, click the search icon, sing or hum the song for at least 10 seconds and Midomi will get the title for you.

9. Get a quick notepad in your browser

Want to quickly jot down some notes and you don’t have a pen? Do it in your browser.

Type “data:text/html,” in your browsers address bar.

It will open a temporary notepad that you can use to put down some notes. Check also the 11 hidden Chrome features you probably didn’t know about.

10. Use Project Naptha to translate text in images

You have seen a funny meme but you can’t decipher the meaning, Project Naptha can help you with that.

This browser based extension uses computer vision algorithm to select, copy, erase, modify, and translate text in images.

You can even use it to erase and edit text in your own words.

Conclusion

Tech hacks have become so engrained in our digital lives that there are sites specifically designed to share these hacks.

No one can resist the power of a life-simplifying secret, especially one that has to do with the gadgets we use on daily basis.

So love them or hate them, tech hacks are here to stay, and they get better each and every day.

We hope the above hacks will make your tech life a whole lot easier.

Instagram grows to 1M active advertisers, plans to add more data and direct bookingInstagram grows to 1M active advertisers, plans to add more data and direct booking

The Facebook-owned photo and video app is announcing that it now has 1 million monthly active advertisers, compared to 500,000 in September and 200,000 just over a year ago.

Some of that growth can be attributed to the simple fact that a lot of people use Instagram — 400 million every day, as of January. But James Quarles, who leads Instagram’s ad business, said the platform stands out in a few key ways, beyond just attracting a lot of eyeballs.

First, he said Instagram is a place where people follow their passions, whether that’s “a very mainstream thing like following their favorite musician, or a niche business like candy art.” One sign that that’s paid off for companies with a presence on Instagram: 80 percent users follow a business.

Second, there’s the “ease and simplicity” of using Instagram. For example, Quarles said, “It takes only four taps to place an ad on a business profile.”

 And lastly, he said Instagram is trying to “produce visible action” — it’s not just about getting users to like a photo or follow an account, but also convincing them to visit your website and maybe buy a product.

Quarles didn’t just use our call to boast about Instagram’s continued growth. He also talked about new features that the service will be adding for advertisers. For one thing, he said it will be adding insights data around multi-image posts and Instagram Stories.

In addition, businesses will soon be able to add a button to their profiles that allows users to make a booking or appointment directly through Instagram. This enables Instagram to become more of “a primary storefront for the businesses,” Quarles said, while making it easier for consumers to engage with businesses “just by swiping your finger.”

Apple offers its own take on Snapchat and Instagram Stories with the simple Clips video editing app

It won’t arrive in the App Store until next month, but Apple’s already offering up a preview of its new mobile video app. The company is positioning Clips as a halfway mark between iMovie and Memories (the slideshow feature in Camera) in terms of usability, but the Snapchat and Instagram Stories comparisons are going to prove pretty difficult to avoid on this one.

But while Clips operates on similar principles as those insanely popular social media platforms — letting users stitch together short videos and photos into a mini-story — there are a few key distinctions of note.

First, Apple’s not launching a social network. Clips is a standalone app with sharing functionality that delivers it to all of the usual suspects (Facebook, Instagram, etc.). Second, it has the decided advantage of being built atop the company’s substantial expertise when it comes to video and photo editing software, delivering a fairly customizable but user-friendly experience.

Apple would obviously prefer you think of Clips as an entry-level version of its video editing software offerings. If iMovie is the software for those who aren’t ready for Final Cut Pro, then Clips is for those who aren’t ready for iMovie. It requires no video editing knowledge to work. You just need to press and hold a big red “record” button for a few seconds.

Also, unlike the aforementioned software offerings, Clips is the first video editing app the company has created directly for the mobile platform, rather than porting an existing desktop offering over to iOS, which makes for a more intuitive native experience.



And indeed, it’s pretty simple to use, with some additional features buried a bit for those who are a bit more experienced. Though any deeper than that and you should consider yourself graduated to iMovie. In a quick preview of the app, I was able to hit the ground running. From the main screen, you can record a video, shoot a photo or grab something from your library. As with the standard Camera app, there’s also a reverse button, so you can shoot a selfie, if you’re so inclined. Next to that is a large red ovular button labeled “HOLD TO RECORD,” which should be self-explanatory.

The video will record for the length of time the button is held — ditto for still photos, which can be augmented with Ken Burns-style sweeps with a swipe or a zoom. Once recorded, the video or photo will be saved to a small timeline on the bottom of the app. The creation can be previewed and the order of scenes can be swapped down there. Clicking into one scene will also bring up a simple editing function to shorten the clip. The recording limit on each individual scene is 30 minutes, with a one-hour max length for an entire Clip.

At top are a series of options for adding additional touches to the videos, including animated title cards, filters (eight in all, including a few not previously seen on the Photos app) and symbols. Most noteworthy is the Live Titles feature, which auto-generates captions based on the user’s speech, leveraging speech to text technology the company has been building up in iOS. It’s far and away the coolest new piece of technology in the app, and seems to work like a charm.

Also worth mentioning is the Soundtrack feature, which bring dozens of musical beds to the app — or just lets users choose from the music they’ve purchased through iTunes (though not streaming stuff through Apple Music). Oh, and the company even managed to wrangle Hans Zimmer into recording one. Each pre-recorded clip is designed to be looped, so it fits as long or as short as you make your video.

Once the Clip is completed, it can be shared through a bunch of platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Vimeo. Apple is also rolling out a new feature for the first time with Clips that recommends Messages friends based on names mentioned in the video (via Live Titles) or specific photos of friends, using, one imagines, some form of facial detections. Other recommendations are just pulled from the people you frequently message.

It feels a bit strange, launching an app like this without its own devoted social network. But it’s easy to see why Apple wouldn’t want to go through the hassle of going down that road. And besides, there’s something to be said for leveraging the prevalence of iOS as a platform without forcing users to adopt a brand new proprietary social network in order to use it. If there’s one thing Google+ has taught us, it’s that even the biggest companies aren’t a shoe-in for the social networking game.

Also of note is the square format. Like Instagram, the app is meant to be used in portrait mode. It’s a move that’s likely to irritate photography purists, but, then, let’s be honest, this app really just isn’t for them. Like Clips itself, the move is a play to appeal to the kind of people who can’t really be bothered to adjust the phone into portrait mode for shooting.

And if LG’s G6 launch taught us anything, it’s that the company may also be using the square format to help hype the launch of a new aspect ratio that’s been rumored for the upcoming iPhone 7. Among LG’s biggest selling points for the new 18:9 screen was the ability to position two square photos next to one another, so perhaps Apple is setting the stage for that release.

Whatever the case, the timing and the standalone release are certainly an unusual play for Apple. It’s tough to come up with a clear precedent at the company for a launch of this kind, rather than baking the functionality into an existing platform like Photos, Messages or even offering it up as an entry-level setting on iMovie. Whatever the case, it’s easy and fun, and the iPad version offers an interesting take for students looking to put together a quick video report for school.

It’s hard to say precisely what’s behind the unique play for the company, though it’s hard to shake the feeling that Apple is working to lay the groundwork for something larger, be it hardware or software. And certainly it’s easy to imagine pieces like Live Titles and sharing recommendations making an appearance on additional proprietary Apple apps in the near future.

There’s no exact launch date on Clips yet, but it’s set to arrive some time in April. It will be available as a free download for the iPhone 5s and later, the iPad and iPod touch.

Apple Buys An AI-Based Face Recognition Startup Company

According to the several Israeli newspapers, the tech giant Apple has reached an agreement with an Israeli startup dedicated to cybersecurity and machine learning, which specializes in facial recognition technology.

 

Apple Buys An AI-Based Face Recognition Startup Company

Among the many rumors that have gone ahead for the new iPhone, facial recognition has been gaining a great weight and is touted as almost certain. Apple likes to invest in new technologies, and this would be perfect for this new device.

Not having the technology in place to implement it, Apple may have taken the right step by purchasing an Israeli company dedicated to creating solutions for this function, RealFace.

There is still no confirmation of this deal, but several Israeli newspapers are moving forward with the information as being right. Apple has reached an agreement with RealFace for its purchase, in a deal that will involve several million dollars.

 

RealFace is an Israeli startup dedicated to cyber security and machine learning, which specializes in facial recognition technology. Its experience is already very high, being pointed out as one of the companies with better solutions for the authentication of the users using facial recognition.

Apple’s interest in RealFace should be focused on the technology that has already developed and not on the team that RealFace has, and this acquisition is likely destined first to the iPhone and later to the rest of its line of equipment, as happened, for example, with the virtual assistant Siri.

 

RealFace has developed an iPhone application, Pickeez, which uses facial recognition technologies to automatically choose the best photos that users have published on different social networks.

If this purchase is confirmed, the time it is being done ends up throwing the idea that the new iPhone will already have facial recognition. The time available to embed it in iOS and iPhone would turn out to be too short. It is most likely to take at least another year to complete, so it is expected for the 2018 model.

It is now time to wait for Apple and RealFace to confirm the purchase, making it another company to develop technology for the American giant, giving the iPhone a functionality that many expect and that has already proven its usefulness.

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