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WhatsApp Launches Group Calling on Android and iOS

In 2015, WhatsApp introduced voice calling, enabling users to voice call other WhatsApp users. Then, in 2016, WhatsApp introduced video calling, enabling users to video call other WhatsApp users. Now, WhatsApp is introducing group calling for voice and video.

WhatsApp Finally Adds Group Calling

At the Facebook F8 2018 conference back in May, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that group calling would be coming to WhatsApp in the not-too-distant future. Two months later, and WhatsApp (owned entirely by Facebook) is rolling out the feature.

Group video calling also coming to WhatsApp. Pretty soon Facebook is going to have four apps—Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp—that are absolutely exactly the same thing.

— David Pierce (@pierce) May 1, 2018

Other messaging apps have offered group voice calls and videos chats for a while now. Even Snapchat joined the party in April 2018, with support for voice calls for up to 32 people, and video calls for up to 16 people. But it’s better late than never for WhatsApp.

Encrypted Calls for Up to Four People

WhatsApp’s group calling for voice and video supports up to four people in total. All you need to do is start a one-on-one voice or video call with someone, and then tap the “Add participant” button in the top right corner to invite someone else to the conversation.

Two things separate WhatsApp’s group calls from the competition. First, all group calls are end-to-end encrypted. Which is probably why they’re limited to just four people. Secondly, WhatsApp has designed group calls to work under a variety of network conditions.

Update Your WhatsApp to Gain Access

WhatsApp is currently rolling out group calling to its Android and iOS apps. So, be sure to keep your WhatsApp updated to the latest version in order to gain access to the feature. With more than 1.5 billion people using WhatsApp, that’s a lot of people to group call.

If you’ve read this far down we assume you’re a regular WhatsApp user. Which means you should check out these tips to make WhatsApp more secure and private. But if you’re new to WhatsApp, take a look at the best WhatsApp features everyone should know.

Read the full article: WhatsApp Launches Group Calling on Android and iOS

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20 Fascinating Subreddits With Facts and Stories That’ll Blow Your Mind

Reddit is a treasure trove of content. If you know how to find new and interesting subreddits, there’s one for just about everything.

Today, we’re going to dive into several subreddits packed full of facts likely to blow your mind. We’ll cover everything from the fascinating and the phenomenal to the downright odd. Prepare to be amazed!

1. /r/ChemicalReactionGIFs

Inserting a Coin Into Dry Ice from chemicalreactiongifs

Have you ever wondered what happens when you throw a coin into dry ice or mix food coloring with bleach?

No, we hadn’t either until we found this subreddit. Subscribe if you want to see awesome GIFs of different elements reacting with each other in weird and wonderful ways.

2. /r/DataArt

Most regular Reddit users are probably familiar with /r/DataIsBeautiful, but have you heard of the data art subreddit?

It’s full of posts that blur the line between data and art to make stunning visualizations. The creations are as gorgeous as they are interesting. You can expect a couple of new posts per week.

3. /r/PropagandaPosters

"Americans will always fight for liberty", American WW2 recruitment poster, 1943 from PropagandaPosters

This subreddit is full of historical propaganda posters. Its focus is on World War II and the Cold War, but you can find content from issues as diverse the Palestinian conflict to the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

4. /r/Nostalgia

Supersoakers, Pokémon cards, Etch-a-Sketches, Blockbuster stores, and overhead projectors in classrooms. No matter what decade you grew up in, you’ll find something in r/Nostalgia to take you back to a simpler time.

If you love this subreddit, there are some awesome websites about nostalgia that you should also check out.

5. /r/TalesFromRetail

The Tales From Retail subreddit will blow your mind in a different way. It’s a neverending feed of stories about horrifying hygiene, shocking working conditions, duplicitous bosses, and evil corporations.

After a little time spent in this subreddit, if you work in a shop, you have our sympathy.

6. /r/Pareidolia/

Africa, Europe, and Asia in the sky from Pareidolia

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines pareidolia as “a tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern.”

Who knew clouds could look like a map of the world or potatoes could look like aquatic life? Check it out.

7. /r/Neuropsychology

The brain is a fascinating thing; the source of every emotion we feel and every action we take.

Neuropsychology is the study of the brain. Example posts include “My brain tumor and its psychological repercussions,” “Inflammation: The Hidden Cause of Depression Nobody is Talking About,” and “Musicians Hallucinate Less: Implications for Schizophrenia.”

8. /r/WatchingCongress

S. 3235: A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a presumption of service-connection for certain veterans with tinnitus or hearing loss, and for other purposes. from watchingcongress

Watching Congress makes a post every time a new bill is submitted to the U.S. Congress. It’s a fantastic example of democracy in action, as thousands of users debate and scrutinize all the legislation.

It’s also a great testament to the amount of work that the American government deals with on a daily basis. Don’t believe me? Then take a look for yourself.

9. /r/FanTheories

This subreddit is precisely what the name suggests. It’s a collection of fan theories for popular TV shows and movies.

Some of them are admittedly terrible, but occasionally a theory will pop up that will blow your mind. One of the most famous is the post which argued that the Joker was the hero in Dark Knight.

10. /r/FunFacts

Fun Fact: In 1989 the Soviet Union traded Pepsi Company 17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer for Pepsi to be sold in the Soviet Union. This trade made Pepsi the 6th largest military in the world at the time. from funfacts

Well-crafted facts can be jaw-droppingly stunning; they alter your perception of history, opinion of people, or conceptions of reality.

Want an example? Well, did you know polar bears are the largest land predators on earth, standing over 11 feet high and weighing over 1,700 pounds? Or that Romans used urine to clean clothes and their teeth due to its high levels of ammonia content?

Subscribe to r/FunFacts for more.

11. /r/Offbeat

Don’t doubt for a second that the world is a crazy place. r/Offbeat is a subreddit dedicated to the strangest news stories from all corners of the planet.

Some of the antics that people get up to will blow your mind. A man accidentally draining an entire canal in England? Drunk seagulls on American beaches? An Indonesian mob killing 300 crocodiles in a “revenge attack”? Read about it here.

12. /r/Fascinating

What if the largest countries had the biggest populations? from fascinating

The content in this subreddit is, um, fascinating. Most of the posts are YouTube videos, but there’s some user-generated original content as well.

13. /r/Cosmology

The Cosmology subreddit only has 22,000 subscribers compared to the 450,0000 on /r/Astronomy, but we prefer it.

Rather than being full of (admittedly incredible) photos, this subreddit debates, discusses, and hypothesizes on the universe’s most pressing questions. It’s guaranteed to expand your horizons.

14. /r/CrazyIdeas

Put ads on school buses and use the revenue for school funding. from CrazyIdeas

/r/CrazyIdeas is best described as Shark Tank meets /r/ShowerThoughts. It’s full of great—but distinctly left-field—suggestions from users.

For example, one user suggested that a film studio should make a series of seemingly unrelated movies with different characters, then make a movie that reveals they all actually take place within the same universe. Another said Snapchat should harness crowd-sourced video and location data to create a weather service.

Both mind blowingly good ideas, we’re sure you’ll agree.

15. /r/WowThisSubExists

We’re only going to introduce you to 20 subreddits in this article. But there are an estimated 1.2 million subreddits across the whole of Reddit. How can you ever hope to find all the cool stuff?

Step forward r/WowThisSubExists. It’s like a meta subreddit full of links to content that you probably wouldn’t otherwise know about.

16. /r/PerfectTiming

Alligator gar jumping into alligators mouth. from PerfectTiming

So much of photography is about skill, but to capture genuinely mind-blowing images, you also need a healthy dose of luck.

On r/PerfectTiming you’ll find thousands of stunning images when the person behind the camera was fortunate enough to press the shutter at exactly the right moment.

17. /r/100YearsAgo

[July 19th, 1918] An officer of the 444th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA), smokes a pipe as he supervises a kitten balancing on a 12 inch gun shell near Arras, 19 July 1918. from 100yearsago

What happened on this day, 100 years ago? For an educational trip back in time, subscribe to this sub.

You can expect to see about 10 stories posts per day about events that occurred exactly a century in the past.

18. /r/FinancialIndependence

Look, we know that financial independence sounds like a dry topic and isn’t particularly mind-blowing, but stick with us.

What if we told you this entire subreddit was dedicated to retiring early? And we mean in your early-to-mid-40s, not just a couple of years before you hit 65.

You don’t need to be a millionaire or have a high-paying job. This subreddit teaches you the secrets.

19. /r/CatastrophicFailure

Visual of how a tsunami can wreak havoc. from CatastrophicFailure

A subreddit about machinery and man-made structures breaking, collapsing, or failing in spectacular ways. It offers a good mix of images and videos.

20. /r/NotInteresting

No, this isn’t a quirky name or a joke; nothing on this subreddit is interesting. Its specialty is posting the most mundane content imaginable.

And the mind-blowing part? That 227,000 people have the time and interest to keep the sub alive!

The Never-Ending Journey of Reddit

Reddit is an infinite rabbithole that fans can’t get enough of. So, if you know about some insane subreddits that we should all subscribe to, let us know in the comments.

And, before you leave, make sure you check out our lists of great alternatives to the default subreddits, subreddits about finance, and the most sociable subreddits.

Read the full article: 20 Fascinating Subreddits With Facts and Stories That’ll Blow Your Mind

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How to Switch Between LastPass and 1Password While Migrating Your Data

There’s no question you should be using a password manager to keep your passwords safe. There are plenty of options out there, but two of the most reputable options are LastPass and 1Password. If you’re thinking of switching from one to the other, they both make it very easy to export and import your data.

How to Switch From LastPass to 1Password

When exporting your LastPass passwords, you have to use the website rather than the browser extension. It’s also recommended to use Chrome, Opera, or Safari, but not to export your data using Firefox.

To export your data, do the following:

1. While signed in to your LastPass account, click More options in the left sidebar menu.
2.  Click Advanced > Export. 
3. Enter your password when prompted.
4. You’ll see all your LastPass data in a  plain text document in your browser.
5. Select all the data using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl/Cmd+A , and use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl/Cmd+C to copy it.

To import your data into 1Password, do the following:

1. While signed in to your 1Password account in a browser, click your username in the top right corner and select Import. 
2. From the list of services that appear, select LastPass.
3.  If you have more than one vault in 1Password, select the vault where you want to import your data.
4. In the field where you can paste your CSV data, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl/Cmd+V to fill in your data. 
5. LastPass will immediately begin to import your data. You’ll see a message letting you know how many accounts have been imported.

Immediately after you complete your import, you can undo the import if you notice that anything went wrong.

How to Switch From 1Password to LastPass

To export your 1Password data, you’ll need to use the desktop app:

1. While signed in to your 1Password account in the desktop app, open the vault you want to export (if you have more than one vault.)
2. Click File > Export > All items. (If you want to be selective about the process, you can choose selected items. You can select multiple accounts first by holding down the shift key and clicking the accounts you want to export.) 
3. You’ll be prompted to enter your password to continue.
4. In the dialog box that opens, you can select a file name, format and choose where the file with your passwords will be saved. For the format, select .pif. (1Password warns you that this file will not be encrypted so be sure to keep it safe.)
5.  For fields to export, keep Common fields selected. 
6. Click Save.

LastPass recommends using Firefox to import your passwords. To import them, open LastPass in your browser and do the following:

1. Click More options in the left sidebar menu > Import. 
2. In the window that opens, for Source select 1Password from the dropdown menu.
3. Open the pif file you downloaded using your browser of choice. You can do this quickly by opening a new tab and dragging the pif file into the empty tab.
4. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl/Cmd+A to select all the data and Ctrl/Cmd+C to copy it.
5. In the LastPass import window, paste that data in the Content field.
6. Click the Upload button. 
7. LastPass will parse the data, and you should see all the passwords listed. You can manually remove any items you don’t want to import, and then click Import All. (You can also avoid importing duplicates by keeping Remove duplicate items checked.)

If you’re not sold on either LastPass or 1Password, then check out these alternative password managers.

Read the full article: How to Switch Between LastPass and 1Password While Migrating Your Data

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Stuck in Windows 10 S Mode? Here’s How to Get Out of It for Good

Windows 10 has several versions which can be difficult to keep straight. One of the most prominent was Windows 10 S, a limited mode which only let you install software from the Windows Store.

In early 2018, Microsoft dropped Windows 10 S as a dedicated OS flavor and introduced S Mode instead. Now, manufacturers can choose to ship their devices with Windows 10 S Mode enabled.

If you have Windows 10 S Mode on your computer and want to leave it, here’s how.

Before You Leave Windows 10 S Mode

You should know what Windows 10 S Mode does and its advantages before you leave it, because doing so is a one-way option.

Essentially, S Mode limits you to only using software from the Windows Store. You can’t install traditional desktop software, including browsers, game clients, and more. It also doesn’t let you change the default search engine in Edge from Bing or use the Command Prompt.

For power users, S Mode is far too limiting. But for those with less experience, S Mode can actually be handy. The restricted environment makes it much harder for malware to attack a computer, and helps keep it running smoothly.

How to Leave Windows 10 S Mode for Good

Leaving S Mode is free, and isn’t difficult. Open the Start Menu and type Store to launch the Microsoft Store app. Click the Search icon in the upper-right and search for Switch Out of S Mode.

You’ll see a banner about S Mode with a Learn more button. Click this, then follow the steps to leave S Mode and get a full version of Windows. Depending on the version of Windows that shipped with your PC, you’ll get either Windows 10 Home or Professional.

If you’re looking for a lightweight computer, check out why Chromebooks beat Windows 10 S Mode.

Read the full article: Stuck in Windows 10 S Mode? Here’s How to Get Out of It for Good

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Get 3TB of Lifetime Cloud Storage with Zoolz for $75

Dropbox and Google Drive are great for syncing a few files between your devices. But if you want to back up all your files, these services can be really expensive. Zoolz Cloud Storage offers all the same features at a far more affordable price. Right now, you can get lifetime access to your very own 3TB cloud vault for just $74.95 at MakeUseOf Deals.

Smart Storage

Zoolz makes it easy to back up your files. After you download the app on Windows or Mac, you simply select what you want to upload. The app then works in the background, keeping all your files synced.

Your 3TB of storage space is split into two sections. The 1.5TB Instant Vault is perfect for the files you use every day. Your data is synced instantly, and Zoolz can keep multiple versions of each file.

For the things you want to keep longer term, the 1.5TB Cold Storage provides a safe home. It’s like your very own digital attic — the place to put precious family photos and important tax records.

You can access all your uploaded files via any web browser, and the Zoolz mobile apps offer instant previews. Copies of your data are kept in several secure locations, and you can back up two devices on one account.

Lifetime 3TB Storage for $74.95

This deal is worth $2,100, but you can order now for just $74.95 to get lifetime backup.

Read the full article: Get 3TB of Lifetime Cloud Storage with Zoolz for $75

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5 Apps to Identify a Song by Humming, Tapping on Keyboard, or Asking Others

When you come across a song you don’t know, you can usually use Shazam or SoundHound to find its name. But if the song is stuck in your head, these music identifying apps can’t work. That’s when you need something different.

You have multiple options, all of which we’ll tackle here. There are sites that let you hum the tune or tap the beat on the keyboard, and the site will try to guess based on that. Or you can go to certain forums to ask others. Here are your best options.

Wat Zat Song (Web): Sing a Sample for People to Identify

The easiest way to express that tune stuck in your head is to sing it out loud. Wat Zat Song is a web app made to let you post a quick recording, which others can then comment on.

You’ll need to sign up to get started. Click the “Post a Sample” button, and wait for it to prompt you to record your voice. Lean in to your microphone and belt out the best rendition you can of the tune you want to know. Turn it into a post and wait for the community to weigh in.

While you wait, you can help others who are similarly stuck. Click “Listen” on any post to hear the audio, and then answer it if you can. You can also “follow” any post so that you’ll get a notification when there are any updates on it.

Name That Song (Reddit): Reddit’s Song Identification Community

Of course, there is an entire subreddit dedicated to naming songs that you can’t identify. In fact, there are two, but we’ll get to the other one later. For now, head over to r/NameThatSong to figure out that tune.

As with most Reddit communities, there are some rules on how to format your posts, so read those first. Plus, adhere to the age-old rules of what not to do on Reddit. You can usually make a text post, but don’t be afraid to upload a quick video of yourself singing that tune.

While Name That Song is all about music, you can also try your luck at r/TipOfMyTongue. This one isn’t limited to music alone, and also helps you find books without authors, or movies without actors, or just about anything else. It’s a much larger community that Name That Song, so you might have better luck there.

Identification of Music Group (Facebook): The Best in the Business

Big love for the identification of music group, Shazam is out of business ? pic.twitter.com/Kd3kerOGu5

— EFK (@erin_fk) April 29, 2018

The Identification of Music Group (IoMG) is about three years old now and is one of the best Facebook groups you can follow. It has over 95,000 members and gets about 50,000 posts every month. The entire group has one purpose: to help you figure out what that tune is.

Like with the Reddit group, you can ask the question in various ways. You could write it as a question and give context, or use a homemade recording of yourself singing, humming, or recreating the tune in any way.

The group has a few rules that you should familiarize yourself with first. They want you to do a few basic steps before you post, like trying to find the tune on Shazam, search old posts, and generally be respectful and helpful. Do that and the whole group will rally around you to help you identify that tune.

Find Music By Lyrics (Web): When You Only Know a Few Words

With some songs, you have a few words in your head, but not all the lyrics. And if the words are too common, you need to prime Google search with operators. Find Music By Lyrics (FMBL) makes the process easy.

You can type an artist’s name, a song, or a few words of the lyrics to get a match in seconds. FMBL has a bunch of Google operators already clubbed in, making it easier to use than Google itself.

For example, try searching for the phrase “look who’s crawling lyrics” in Google. You’ll get a bunch of links to Linkin Park’s song, Crawling. But do the same search in FMBL and you’ll get results for that phrase from different songs, like Still Tippin’ by Mike Jones, Boris The Spider by The Who, and Wedding Dress by Melee.

Musipedia (Web): Tap a Beat or Play a Virtual Piano

If you need to know the answer immediately, you can’t wait for a reply on these forums. Musipedia uses AI and some innovative methods to search for your song. Here are the various ways:

1. You can tap the beat of the song on your computer’s keyboard, and hope to identify it based on that.
2. You can sing into your microphone.
3. You can use a virtual piano to play notes on it. You can also use your mouse to “compose” a tune on the piano, which is easier than playing it.
4. The “music contour search” is the most complicated, and you should only use that if you’ve exhausted all the other options.

Musipedia isn’t new, and we’ve talked about it before, but it still remains the best app for this kind of internet magic.

The Best Music Identification App?

These apps are only going to be useful when you can’t play that song again and it’s only stuck in your head. But when the song is playing, you should use something like Shazam. So what’s the best music identification app today?

Image Credit: SIphotography/Depositphotos

Read the full article: 5 Apps to Identify a Song by Humming, Tapping on Keyboard, or Asking Others

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YouTube Admits Vertical Videos Are Here to Stay

The YouTube website now adapts to the aspect ratio of the video it’s playing. The idea is to provide you, the viewer, with the best possible viewing experience. But it also means YouTube admitting that vertical videos are here to stay. Sadly.

Vertical Video Syndrome

For decades video was shot in landscape mode, because our eyes are positioned next to one another, and TVs and PCs were designed to accommodate that. And then along came the smartphone with its vertical design. And people started shooting vertical videos.

For a time many of us fought this, even naming it Vertical Video Syndrome. But the battle is over, and the vertical video brigade won. Instagram’s IGTV actually insists on vertical video, and now YouTube is admitting defeat by getting rid of those black bars.

YouTube Removes the Bars

On the YouTube Help Forum, a community manager announced that “the YouTube video player on desktop […] now automatically adapts to provide the best viewing experience based on the video’s size (aspect ratio) and your computer’s screen/browser size.”

This has been the case on YouTube’s mobile apps—on Android and on iOS—for some time, but the update is now live on desktop too. Which means that whether you’re watching a YouTube video on mobile or desktop you should no longer see black bars.

Instead of black bars, YouTube will try to expand the video to fill the available space. If this isn’t possible, which is the case with videos shot vertically on smartphones, white space will fill the voids on either side. Which is a lot less jarring on the eyes.

Some YouTubers are complaining that the update means parts of their videos are being cut off, and the change in aspect ratio is adversely affecting the quality. However, unfortunately for the whiners, there is currently no way to disable this feature.

Smartphones Ruined Everything

This is a sad day for those of us old enough to remember the fight back against vertical videos. But the current generation of youngsters has grown up believing vertical video is fine, thank you very much, because everyone except this guy now owns a smartphone.

Image Credit: Rego Korosi/Flickr

Read the full article: YouTube Admits Vertical Videos Are Here to Stay

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5 Ways to Protect Yourself Against Keyloggers

Keyloggers are one of the most well-known and feared security threats on computers today. Keyloggers carry a fearsome reputation for several reasons, not least because they’re hard to detect, but because the direct damage to your life extends well beyond the computer and screen in front of you.

Keylogging malware is, unfortunately, very common. More often than not a malware variant packs a keylogger for maximum damage and to compound the attacker’s investment. Luckily, there are several methods to protect your system from a keylogger. And while no defense is perfect, these five steps drastically improve your chances.

What Is a Keylogger?

Before looking at how to mitigate a keylogger, consider what a keylogger is and where they come from.

A keylogger is consistent to its name. The term refers to a malicious computer program that captures and records your keystrokes; that’s every word, character, and button you press on your keyboard. The keylogger sends a record of your keystrokes to the attacker. This record might contain your banking logins, credit and debit card details, social media passwords, and everything else in-between. In short, keyloggers are a dangerous tool in the battle against identity and financial fraud.

The overwhelming majority of keyloggers are bundled with other forms of malware. In the “old” days, the malware delivering a keylogger would remain silent for as long as possible. That means, unlike other virus and malware variants, files remain intact, there’s a little system disruption as possible, and you continue using your system as normal.

However, that’s not always the case. For instance, the recently discovered MysteryBot targets Android devices with a banking Trojan, a keylogger, and ransomware—that’s quite the combination. But by-and-large, a keylogger will feature as part of a large exploit kit that grants an attacker control over various aspects of your system.

There’s another common variety of keylogger you hear about, too, but not something you immediately think about. Have you got it yet? That’s right; card readers and skimmers, and other point-of-sale malware deploy keyloggers to copy your PIN to use later. The PoSeidon malware is a prime example of this type of scam.

Now you know, how can you protect yourself?

5 Ways to Protect Yourself Against Keyloggers

Protecting against keyloggers covers a fairly standard security spectrum. That is, your online and personal digital security needs this level of protection on a day-to-day basis. There’s a lot more than just keyloggers out there.

1. Use a Firewall

In most instances, the keylogger has to transmit its information back to the attacker for it to do any harm. The keylogger must send data out from your computer via the internet. As your internet passes through a firewall (for instance, Windows Firewall is a default security setting for Windows 10 systems), there’s a chance it will realize something isn’t quite right.

That said, there’s also a stronger chance it won’t detect an issue. An easily terminated keylogger isn’t much use to the attacker. The Windows Firewall is an excellent option for most users, but several excellent third-party firewall options come with extensive functionality. Unsure where to start? Check out these seven third-party firewall options to get started.

A firewall alone might not stop a keylogger or its associated malware, but it is better to have one than not.

2. Install a Password Manager

One constant piece of security advice is to update and change your passwords (along with using a strong single-use password to begin with). But, let’s face it: it’s really hard to remember tens of 16-character passwords for the staggering number of sites most of us use. Keyloggers are effective in their simplicity; it copies the keystrokes and logs the information. But what if you never actually typed a password?

Most password managers use autofill functionality to provide a master password that unlocks a specific account. Your password still works, you’re already browsing your Twitter feed, and all without typing. Sounds great, right?

Unfortunately, a password manager can only get you so far, for a few reasons.

1. Some password managers don’t copy and paste your password. Instead, they use an auto-type function to input the password. Any keylogger worth its salt will copy virtual keystrokes, too. But…
2. …A sufficiently well-designed keylogger will also periodically take screenshots as well as record the contents of the clipboard.
3. Some dangerous advanced malware variants will target offline password databases, stealing the entire list rather than one at a time.

Now, all is not lost. For example, KeePass negates the first and second issue using Two-Channel Auto-Type Obfuscation (TCATO). TCATO basically splits the password down into two subparts, sends both to the clipboard, then merges in the password field. However, by their admission, TCATO isn’t 100% secure, noting that “it is theoretically possible to write a dedicated spy application that specializes on logging obfuscated auto-type.”

The point of a password manager wasn’t to stop keylogging. However, if you do encounter a keylogger and you have a password manager installed, there’s a chance you only lose the strong single-use password for one account, rather than every password for every account you own. Check out this comparison of five password manager services to get you started.

3. Update Your System (And Keep It That Way)

Being proactive about system security is always a good idea. One of the most important parts of a proactive defense is keeping your system up to date. That includes your operating system as well as the applications and programs you run on it. Keyloggers and other malware look for exploits in outdated software and can take advantage of them, sometimes without you knowing anything is wrong.

Security researchers find new exploits all of the time. Some are relatively benign. Others are patched immediately by the developer. But others still become critical exploits used to expose your computer to malware.

Particularly rare and unreleased vulnerabilities are known as zero-day exploits and carry a significant threat. Indeed, the CIA ran into trouble when it emerged hackers had liberated their previously unknown and top secret zero-day vulnerability stockpile, releasing powerful exploits into the wild—leading directly to the enormous WannaCry ransomworm.

Updating software isn’t always convenient, but it could save you and your system from serious trouble down the line.

4. Consider Additional Security Tools

The default security options for Windows 10 and macOS are okay, but you should always consider bulking that security out for maximum protection. Check out our list of the best security and antivirus tools for your system. These are Windows-focused, but many have macOS equivalents and are worth the small investment.

If you want security tools that specifically target keyloggers, check these two free options out:

• Ghostpress: a free anti-keylogger with an extremely small performance footprint. Features Process Protection to stop any other program terminating Ghostpress.
• KL-Detector: a basic keylogger detection tool. Once you detect a keylogger, it’s up to you to remove it, but the tool will alert you to the keyloggers presence.

Another worthwhile investment is Malwarebytes Premium. Unlike the free version, Malwarebytes Premium constantly monitors your system for potential threats. This alone drastically cuts your chances of picking up something nasty.

5. Change Your Passwords

If you suspect something is wrong, use a different computer to change your passwords. The measures listed above should provide ample protection against keyloggers, but there always seems to be people who have their passwords stolen even though they did everything right.

Frequently changing your passwords will help minimize the potential damage of a keylogging attack. Your password may be stolen, but it would be uncommon for it to be stolen and used immediately unless that keylogger was targeted directly at you (in which case you may have bigger problems than keylogging!). If you change your password every two weeks, your stolen information will no longer be useful.

Remove Your Keylogger…

These methods will help protect against keyloggers by decreasing their opportunity to infect your PC with malware. Furthermore, you’re taking steps to isolate the amount of data a keylogger can access in the event you happen to pick one up. And, although you can never have 100% protection, you can certainly empower yourself and your system in the battle against malware.

Read the full article: 5 Ways to Protect Yourself Against Keyloggers

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LinkedIn Adds Voice Messaging No One Wants

LinkedIn has added voice messaging to its platform. This means you can now record and send a voice message to someone on LinkedIn, saving you the time and effort of writing out a message. No one asked for this, but LinkedIn thinks it’s a good idea regardless.

Why LinkedIn? Why Voice Messaging?

You may be wondering why LinkedIn would add voice messaging. Well, LinkedIn predicted the response to this feature, and has laid out a trio of reasons why you may want to use voice messaging. As explained on the LinkedIn Blog:

Voice messaging makes it easier to contact people on the go. Because, if you’re busy doing something else, speaking into a microphone is easier than typing. And as most people speak faster than they type, voice messaging can save you time too.

Now you can communicate in your own voice with your connections on LinkedIn: https://t.co/0W6ni36g1P

— LinkedIn (@LinkedIn) July 26, 2018

Voice messaging is less intrusive on the recipient’s time. If you call someone you’re essentially asking them to drop what they’re doing to speak to you. A voice message is more permanent, and can sit there until the recipient is ready to respond.

Voice messaging allows you to communicate on a personal level. Written messages can sometimes read as dry, with a distinct lack of personality shining through. The intended tone can also get lost in the time between you writing it and someone else reading it.

How to Use LinkedIn Voice Messaging

You can use voice messaging through the LinkedIn app on Android and on iOS. To record a voice message simply tap the Microphone icon in the mobile messaging keyboard. Then tap and hold the new Microphone icon to record your message, releasing it to send.

You can cancel sending a voice message by sliding your finger away from the microphone while recording. Which will be a Godsend if you either say the wrong thing, stumble over your words, or employ the wrong tone. All of which could make you look less professional.

As If Endless Emails Aren’t Bad Enough

LinkedIn is famous for flooding your inbox with emails. Which is all kinds of annoying. Now, imagine that barrage of emails sent as voice messages, and you’ll see why this new feature hasn’t exactly been greeted with enthusiasm by regular LinkedIn users.

Still it cannot be denied that, with or without voice messaging, LinkedIn can be an extremely useful tool. So why not check out the LinkedIn features you should be using and the reasons why LinkedIn Premium may be worth paying for.

Read the full article: LinkedIn Adds Voice Messaging No One Wants

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Microsoft Teams vs. Slack: The Best Free Workplace Messenger Apps

Slack turned the best bits of instant messaging into a work-friendly format. The platform has emojis, numerous bots, games, add-ons, and customizations, but retains the overall feeling of a serious tool for serious work.

But what’s that? A new challenger enters? That’s right: Microsoft Teams is upping the ante with the introduction of a new free tier for its Teams workplace collaboration software.

The new free tier is a direct Slack attack. But will it win users over? Which one is right for you? Keep reading to find out.

Microsoft Teams vs. Slack: Free Version Comparison

Before the introduction of the free tier, Microsoft Teams was a tool only available for Office 365 subscribers. And even then, using it was an extra feature that came with an added cost.

The payment structure and focus on existing Office customers limited the appeal of the Teams platform, but it is a valuable productivity tool for business with an existing Office 365 subscription.

The Microsoft Teams free subscription certainly offers a lot. Especially in comparison to the free version of Slack.

One of Slack’s best features is its ease-of-use. Almost anyone can jump into Slack and get chatting straight away, albeit using a proper account. Is it just as seamless using Microsoft Teams?

Is Microsoft Teams Easy to Use?

The Microsoft Teams UI fits the vogue of instant messaging platform design.

A column on the left displays your Teams and their associated channels, while a separate column on the right-hand side lists the Team members and their online status.

The center of the app houses the Conversations, Files, Meeting Notes, and other customizable tabs.

There’s another menu column on the extreme left of the app with options for quick access chats, your recent activity, direct access to shared files, as well as any additional apps and integrations.

Microsoft Teams Functionality

Diving further into the free version of Microsoft Teams reveals that despite the somewhat un-intuitive menu structures, there’s a lot of functionality to find.

My two test volunteers and I quickly created a three-way video meeting (powered by Skype), noting how handy it was to have integrated meeting notes and file sharing as we chatted about our very important test business.

The video meeting also has integrated screen-sharing, which allows you to view what your colleague is demonstrating. For instance, they can run a presentation from their screen without interruption. Screencasting is an important part of team meetings these days.

The screen-sharing and overlays work without any fiddling about either, and it was seamless adding a new member to the video chat. There’s also video background blurring, as well as cloud recordings to share with other Team members.

The range of integrations and apps available to Microsoft Teams is quite impressive, especially compared to the limitations placed on the free version of Slack like the number of total Slack integrations per free workspace.

You can see how useful a Microsoft Teams free subscription could be for small businesses and new startups. One cool feature is the inline message translation for Team members using a foreign language in their app.

Control Your Microsoft Teams

Another nifty feature is the direct control over what content can feature in your Team conversation. In our work Slack channels, we try to keep dank memes to a minimum, and the same goes for GIFs and similar amusements. While these things are fun, they can quickly escalate into battles and one-ups, forcing actual work-based conversation away from the eyes that need to see it.

The Microsoft Teams Setting has a “Fun stuff” option. What is fun? Well, emojis, memes, GIFs, and stickers, of course. The “Fun stuff” setting allows the Team owner to turn off uploads for custom memes (as opposed to non-custom memes?), emojis, stickers, and GIFs. Hopefully, you won’t have to go that far, but the option is there, nonetheless.

Time to Move to Microsoft Teams? The Downsides

Well, not quite. There were a couple of issues along the way.

The sign-up and sign-in process is an annoyance. Microsoft makes accessing Teams a difficult enough procedure that two other friends invited to test Teams with me gave up. Their pre-existing Microsoft accounts couldn’t use any of the Get link to team links sent from within the Teams app to gain access. Thinking the issue could relate to their organization email accounts (accounts created by their workplace), they switched to personal accounts, but still had the same issue.

Team creation is still inconsistent. Similarly, my attempts to create a MakeUseOf Team to test out repeatedly failed while using my work email account as my Microsoft User ID—as it suggested I did. However, after switching to my personal Microsoft account, I was able to create an alternative test Team for some friends.

After downloading and installing the Teams desktop app, I noticed that my first attempts to create a MakeUseOf test Team had worked, but I wasn’t informed. My testers could then connect to the MakeUseOf test Team, but not my private Team (again using the “Get link to team” function).

All in all, it was a hairsplitting process for someone with no experience of the platform.

The Battle for the Best Group Chat for Work

Microsoft Teams has Microsoft’s sticky fingers all over it: fantastic ideas, powerful tools, irritating implementation. But when you consider the differences between the free offerings of Slack and Teams, there’s a lot to weigh up.

Teams offers an expansive vision of what the free version of Slack would love to be. Backed by those unfathomably deep Redmond pockets, Teams can offer 140+ integrations and apps, and 2GB free storage for each user. It’s a move that significantly ups the ante, and it is probably out of reach for what Slack can hope to offer its free users.

Can Microsoft Teams take on Slack? I think Slack has a thing or two to worry about, that’s for sure.

Read the full article: Microsoft Teams vs. Slack: The Best Free Workplace Messenger Apps

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The Fake ISP Phone Call Scam: How It Works and What to Do About It

You’ve received a call claiming to be from your Internet Service Provider (ISP). The operator claims that your modem is about to expire or that someone has been using your internet connection.

They’re going to help you “fix” this, but at some point, they’re either going to ask for money, for remote access to your computer (to steal sensitive data), or access your online banking (to steal your money).

It’s a scam!

Here’s a breakdown of how this scam works, what you should do if someone calls you claiming to be from your ISP and brings up these “issues,” and how to keep yourself from becoming a victim.

Note: It doesn’t matter if these people are calling you from a dedicated call center or not. These callers, while they may sound as though they want to help, aren’t interested in you—they’re interested in the contents of your wallet.

The Phone Call From the ISP Scammer

Like all telephone scams, the criminals usual stick to a pattern of behavior and questions that they use to part you with your cash.

This scam kicks off with a phone call to your landline. Because this scam targets you based on which ISP you’re using, the call comes via landline rather than mobile. (This probably explains how the scammers get your number, which can be acquired by current or former ISP employees.)

At first, an automated announcement greets you, explaining that there is a problem with your modem, or that someone has used your internet connection for “illegal activities.”

This seems to be a tactic to filter the targets. Those likely to hang up right away (or abuse the scammers) are not able to do so unless they hold the line. The intimation being, of course, that if you’re holding on to speak, you want to learn more about the alleged problem.

One or more operators follow, and perhaps a brief interim chat to give reassurance before you’re talked through “fixing” the issue by a senior scammer.

Presenting a Fix for a Non-Existent Problem

The “fix” is the scammer trying to find out as much as they can in order to profit from your moment of acceptance. As long as you—their victim—accept and believe that they will help fix the non-existent problem, you’re likely to grant them permission to do pretty much anything they want.

For example, if your scammer is running the “modem is about to expire” line, he or she will talk you through running some checks to “confirm” this diagnosis. Now in their power, you’ll feel that submitting control of your computer (or tablet, mobile, what have you) will save a lot of bother later on.

That, of course, is exactly what the scammer wants. This is when they strike.

If you’re being told your modem (or router) is set to expire, then you’ll probably be told that a fee needs to be paid, perhaps with the promise of a (non-existent) engineer to come and replace the device. Meanwhile, if you’ve been called concerning unauthorized access of your internet account, they might introduce a fee, but their primary aim is to establish remote access to your computer. Here, they’ll try to install Trojan software (perhaps keyloggers or ransomware) or even boldly head for your online banking tab if it is open.

This is the point where you should be deeply suspicious. No one should be remotely accessing your PC unless you already have a support contract with them. You should not accept the remote connection, and you should refuse payment.

If you ever accidentally or unknowingly accept a remote connection, switch off your router and/or power down your device.

Why You Can Be Sure It’s a Scam

The veneer of reality, competence, and threat of “illegal activity” (or being denied access to the web) is all these scammers have in their arsenal.

But given some thought, it all falls apart pretty quickly:

• ISPs rarely call you. The onus is usually on you to call them.
• ISPs will have information about you to check your identity, whereas scam callers do not.
• Call center agents are trained to use the company name. Scammers don’t do this, instead using terms like “your Internet Service Provider” in place of the name. (When I experienced this attack, the scammers used “British Telecom”, the former name of the BT Group, albeit one that hasn’t been used since the 1990s.)
• Modems do not “expire”!
• People don’t use your internet account (as in, the account provided by your ISP) from another country. It just can’t be done.

We’ve seen some comments that suggest that if the call center operative has a strong Indian accent, that it is probably a scam. This is terrible advice. All kinds of legitimate companies outsource call center operations to India. Plus, many telephone scams originate from within the US.

Our advice? Listen to the words, not the accent. As ever with scams: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

What to Do About It? Just Hang Up

So, how do you handle a call like this?

It’s important not to be pressured into making a decision. Make the time to research the problem online, looking for the correct solution. This may mean requesting the scammer call back later, or you take details and call them. In most cases, they will refuse.

Check with your ISP. Use the contact number from your internet bill or your ISP’s website to call your ISP and confirm if the call is genuine.

In the future, when you receive calls like this, simply hang up. These people are criminals. They have a track record of abusive, threatening behavior. Getting involved is a waste of your time.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that as long as you keep them on the phone, you’re saving someone else from being conned. Their enterprise is so successful that you’ll barely be making a dent.

Instead, contact your ISP or your communications ministry and complain with full details of the call. Keep a note of the number that was used to call you if you have caller display. Give the authorities all the information they need to close these call centers down.

We’ve previously looked at the similar Windows tech support scam and what to do if you’ve been caught out by it. We’ve even looked at whether you should record and share your encounters with scammers.

Image Credit: realinemedia/Depositphotos

Read the full article: The Fake ISP Phone Call Scam: How It Works and What to Do About It

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What Is Steemit and How Does It Work?

The Steemit social network has been gaining considerable traction in the last few months. It now boasts more than one million users and is one of the most-visited sites in the world.

But it’s not like any other social network. It’s closely integrated with the Steem cryptocurrency and thus has some unique features which have been enticing users.

So, what’s all the fuss about? Let’s take a closer look!

What Is Steemit?

Steemit is part blogging platform, part social network. At its most basic level, it functions a lot like Reddit; you can upvote and downvote, follow topics that interest you, submit content, and discuss posts with other users.

However, it’s also a revenue-sharing website. And that’s where the cryptocurrency part comes into play. Instead of receiving payment in regular flat currencies like the U.S. dollar or the British pound, Steemit pays you in the Steem cryptocurrency.

You don’t only get paid for posting content. You can also earn Steem for commenting and even just upvoting other posts.

How Does Steemit Work?

Unlike regular social networks, which store all their content on their own servers, almost all the text on Steemit is saved on the Steem blockchain. For images, you’ll still need to use a third-party hosting site like Imgur.

The use of the blockchain has some practical benefits. For example, you retain ownership of your content forever, and no one can delete it.

But more importantly, the blockchain also underpins the entire rewards scheme. Every day, the blockchain mints new Steem tokens. From the new tokens, five percent goes to people who hold Steem Power, 75 percent goes to the community pool, and 10 percent goes to the Steem miners.

Steemit then divides the community pool between users depending on the popularity of their content.

Note: Make sure you understand how a blockchain works before reading any further.

How Does Steemit Divide the Community Pool?

Whenever you create new content, you can choose how to receive your payment. You can either receive 50 percent in Steem tokens and 50 percent in Steem dollars, or you can receive the entire payment in Steem Power.

There are some critical differences between the three:

• Steem: Steem is like any other cryptocurrency. It’s liquid, tradable, and transferable. You can buy and sell it on any of the major cryptocurrency exchanges and keep it in secure wallets. Its price determines the value of the other Steem-based tokens.
• Steem dollars: Steem dollars are pegged to the US dollar. They are a debt instrument that will pay $1 worth of Steem to the holder in the future. You can also convert your Steem dollars into Steem. Some cryptocurrency exchanges allow you to trade Steem dollars.
• Steem Power: Steem Power is like an influence score. The more Steem Power you have, the more your upvote is worth on the network. It’s a tool designed to keep people engaged with the Steem project over the long-term. It is the most illiquid of the three assets. If you want to sell your Steem Power—referred to as “powering down”—you will receive the value of the Power in Steem in 13 equal payments over 13 weeks. Steem Power is not tradeable.

How Much Money Can You Earn on Steemit?

Steemit is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Like with any social network, some social posts can go viral and earn their creators a surprising amount of Steem in a short amount of time.

But if you want to earn a solid amount of Steem consistently, you’ll need to invest time and effort to grow your following, become known in your own part of the community, and develop high-quality content. Again, it’s just like any other social network.

One particularly famous user made $100,000 in a week, but your expectations shouldn’t be so high. If you earn more than $500/month, you’re doing really well. As a new user, you shouldn’t expect to earn more than a few dollars.

Is the Steem Cryptocurrency Valuable?

Steem has a market capitalization of around $440 million putting it comfortably in the world’s top 40 coins. Its all-time high was $7.31 at the start of 2018, but it has spent most of the last 12 months bouncing between about $1.50 and $4.

Are There Any Downsides to Steemit?

So far, we’ve painted a rosy picture of Steemit, but the social network does have some drawbacks that you need to be aware of…

Fleeting Post Exposure

Some users have complained about the transient nature of the posts. They put a lot of effort into creating high-quality content, only to see it vanish from view in minutes because it didn’t receive enough early traction.

Unbalanced Voting Power

As some of the early adopters collect more and more Steem Power, their votes (both up and down) become worth significantly more than any other users’ votes.

This has led to accusations of vote bullying, whereby a couple of long-term users can band together and immediately scupper any hopes you might have of earning money from your content.

Hacking Threat

One of the biggest criticisms aimed at the crypto world is the frequency with which hacks occur. There have been numerous high-profile cryptocurrency hacks that have cost users millions of dollars.

Back in July 2016, hackers attacked Steemit. A total of 260 accounts were compromised, and more than $80,000 was stolen. Steemit responded by shutting down its network and reimbursing any users who lost money.

However, the fact it happened is concerning. Who knows how it would play out if another hack were to occur in the future and a more significant amount of money was taken.

Crash Potential

Some Steemit users have expressed concerns about the high-profile users who hold disproportionate amounts of the Steem token.

If they decided to cash out in one go, it could crash the price of Steem in a flash. The crash would have a disastrous effect on the amount of money you could earn on the network.

Password Resets

Because of the nature of the underlying blockchain, you cannot reset your Steemit password. If you lose or forget your credentials, you will be locked out forever with no way to recover the funds within your account.

You need to guard your login credentials closely; at the very least, use a password manager.

Steemit: One of Many Alternative Social Networks

If you’re growing tired of the incessant bickering on Twitter, selfies on Instagram, and baby photos on Facebook, Steemit is worth checking out.

It’s just one of many alternative social networks that deserve your attention, and we’re happy it exists. Have you ever wondered about the positive impact of social networks on society?

Read the full article: What Is Steemit and How Does It Work?

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5 Easy DIY Air Conditioners to Keep You Cool This Summer

You’re melting and you need to cool down. Your air conditioning is on the blink, or else you don’t have any (perhaps you live in the UK), and no way to deal with this ridiculous heat.

So, what can you do? The solution is simple: build your own air conditioner! Sounds too complicated? You’re about to find that it’s far easier than you think.

The following DIY air conditioner projects demonstrate how easy it can be to cool down your home and beat the heat this summer.

1. A Fan and a Tray of Ice

Okay, so there isn’t a great amount of DIY about this, but it is where the majority of DIY air conditioning projects begin: a fan, and some ice. Rather than blowing air around a room with a fan, it blows cool air.

Here, the ice is on a tray, in the form of cubes from your freezer. The fan is angled down slightly, and the air is cooled as it passes over the ice. But how well does this work?

Having given this a go myself, it has a few flaws. First, the ice cubes melt far quicker than a larger block ice, so you’re going to find you need an inexhaustible supply of ice. Second, a faster fan gives better results than a slower one.

Third, oscillation isn’t possible without missing the ice (unless you have a very long tray).

2. Plastic Soda Bottle

Here’s a slightly better alternative, and not too different to an project I’ve tried myself (see below). In this video, small soda bottles are strapped to the back of a fan using cable ties.

Inside the bottles, which have been peppered with holes thanks to a soldering iron, is the ice. Air is drawn through the bottles by the fan, and the air cooled by the ice.

This is a great low-budget air cooling conditioning solution, one that you can put together in just a few minutes!

Or Use an Ice Block

Along similar lines, you could also use an ice block, the type often found in cool boxes. I tried this, using cable ties to attach a plastic net bag to the back of the fan. Into this, I slotted the ice block, and enjoyed around 30 minutes of cool air.

It’s a useful alternative that doesn’t have the problem of dripping water (which you might have when using soda bottles).

3. Cool Box Air Conditioner

Now this is an impressive build. Working with the same basic components (a fan, some ice, and a container), this cool box-based DIY air conditioner features some drainpipe tubing as an outlet.

Here, two circles are cut into the lid of the cool box. One of these is big enough to fit the fan, which is placed face-down into the box. The other is for the outlet pipe. In the box, which would normally store food or drink, is a massive piece of ice (although we expect you’d probably start off with a load of ice cubes).

When switched on, air is drawn in by the fan, cooled by the ice, and pushed out of the cool box to chill your room!

Note: A search of YouTube can reveal several variations on this project, all of which are worth checking out.

4. Convert Your Fan Into an Air Conditioner

So far we’ve only looked at projects requiring a fan and some ice. For a more authentic air conditioned experience, however, you can adapt your fan with some 1/4-inch copper tubing.

Mounted on the front of the fan cage, the tubing is then pumped with cold water using a fountain pump. The water runs through vinyl tubing first, then into the copper tubing, and back to the pump, with cooling (perhaps via a bag of ice) taking place along the way.

Although somewhat more complicated than the other projects listed here, it appears the results are good.

5. Pond Pump-Powered Swamp Cooler

Eschewing the need for a fan, this build employs a pond pump and some evaporative cooler pad. Pinned up with a wooden frame, the builder of this project claims that it can reduce the temperature indoors by over 20F.

Evaporative cooling is the process by which the temperature is reduced via the evaporation of liquid. It’s basically how sweating works, removing heat from the surface of the skin. Also found in industrial cooling systems, this DIY evaporative cooling project should cost under $100.

Admittedly, this is the most complex project listed here, and again it requires a source of cool (although not cooled) water.

Other Ways to Stay Cool This Summer

Hot weather doesn’t make it easy to do much, other than lay around watching TV, reading, or topping up your tan (plenty of sunblock, please, and only for short periods).

A DIY air conditioner project should be enough to help you stay cool. While it might not work as a long-term solution, it should work as a stopgap when your air conditioner is down.

However, if a DIY air conditioner unit isn’t working out, or you need something more, try some additional ways to keep cool:

• Take a cold shower/bath: When things get unbearable, this is always a good option.
• Schedule your windows: Keep them shut when it’s hot during the day, but open at night to let cool air in. When you shut them in the morning, that cool air should be trapped for a few hours.
• Power down unnecessary electrics: Computers, TVs, even clothes dryers, should be switched off. They all contribute to the amount of heat in your home, which isn’t useful in such hot weather.

Meanwhile, if you’re reading this article because you feel your air conditioner isn’t cooling well enough, be sure to check our post on common air conditioner mistakes to avoid.

Read the full article: 5 Easy DIY Air Conditioners to Keep You Cool This Summer

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What’s New in Steam Chat? 9 Features You Should Know About

Steam has always offered a chat function, but it was never as smooth, easy-to-use, and feature-rich as dedicated chat apps like Discord.

The most recent update to Steam has changed all that. But while it may be new and improved, only one question truly matters: Is it worth using? In this article, we explore the answer.

The New Steam Chat Steps Out of Beta

Prior to this new update, Steam found itself in a curious position. It was comfortably the most popular gaming platform but found itself trailing behind Discord in the battle to dominate the social space.

Steam’s old chat client was functional but felt clunky and awkward to use compared to its competitor’s service.

Stream users have been crying out for a revamp for a long time, so the company finally listened to their concerns. But the revamp also has a business benefit; Steam cannot risk Discord using its own app as a distribution platform and becoming a fully fledged rival, so this move helps to keep its opponent in check.

Work began on the new Steam chat client many months ago. It finally entered beta for selected users in June 2018. One month later, it exited beta and became available to everyone.

How to Access the New Steam Chat

You can access Steam Chat in two ways: either via the Steam desktop client or via the web.

At the time of writing, neither the Android nor iOS apps offers the new chat service. Indeed, the Android app hasn’t been updated since April 2017 and the iOS app since June 2016. This places the service at a disadvantage compared to Discord, which boasts a large number of mobile users.

To access the chat feature using the desktop client, open the app, enter your credentials if necessary, and click on Friends and Chat in the lower right-hand corner. The chat client will open in a new window.

To access Steam Chat on the web, go to steamcommunity.com/chat and enter your login details. If it is the first time you’ve logged into the app from the web, Steam will send you an email with a five-digit code that you’ll need to enter for security purposes.

Steam Chat offers an identical experience in both the desktop app and the web app. All the features are present in both versions.

The Best Features in the New Steam Chat

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s take a look at some of the best new features in Steam Chat:

1. Favorites

You can now pin people you frequently interact with to the top of the chat window. This means you can see at a glance whether they are online and message and trade with them in fewer clicks.

To mark a friend or family member as a favorite, simply drag-and-drop their name over the Favorites bar.

To remove someone from the bar, right-click on their profile icon and go to Manage > Remove from Favorites.

2. Categories

Steam has remodeled the “Tag as” feature and rebranded it as Categories.

Categories provide a way for you to manage your chat buddies more effectively. For example, you could make a category for college friends, a category for family members, a category for people you only know through Steam, and so on.

You can add friends to multiple categories and can add multiple friends into a single category at the same time.

You can drag-and-drop people into categories or right-click on their name and go to Manage > Categorize.

3. Inline Content

The old Steam chat client was limited to text. You couldn’t share inline GIFs, images, videos, or any other type of content.

The redesign remedies the problem and makes Steam Chat more akin to Discord, Slack, and other widely-used chat apps.

In addition to images and videos, you can also share links from Spotify, SoundCloud, and other similar services and they will appear inline.

4. Friends List Organization

Steam Chat now displays your friends list in a more intelligent way.

Your friends will be automatically grouped by the game they are currently playing, making it easy to see if you want to jump in and join the party.

All your friends also have a rich presence. Underneath their name, it will show whether they’re currently involved in a live game, whether they are available for matchmaking, and whether they’re gaming with an existing party.

5. Group Chats

At the bottom of your friends list, you’ll see any group chats you’re a part of. You can make a group for any purpose, but Steam has designed them with gaming in mind. You can instantly start multi-person voice chats with other members, and their current game status is prominently displayed.

To create a group, click on the + icon in the Group Chats section of the window and invite the people you want to join you.

Note: All group participants need to be running the latest version of Steam for the invite to work.

6. Channels

Within each group, you can create persistent channels. You could use them for team discussions in multiplayer matches or just to chat about off-topic stuff to avoid clogging up the main group.

To create either a voice or text channel within a group, click on the corresponding link within the chat window.

7. Invisible Mode

The update lets you appear offline while still seeing which of your friends are online. It’s a new feature that complements the existing Away status.

To set yourself as invisible, click on the small arrow next to your username in the upper left-hand corner and select Invisible from the drop-down menu.

8. Chat History

Steam’s servers will retain two weeks of your chat history. The history is present for both one-on-one chats and group chats.

9. Better Security

Steam has completely rewritten the voice chat feature. As a result, all voice chat is encrypted and sent via Steam’s servers rather than peer-to-peer.

The changes mean your IP address is always private, thus masking your physical location from other gamers and helping to prevent network attacks.

Can the New Steam Chat Rival Discord?

If you’re a Discord user who’s reading this article, you’ll probably recognize many of these new features. In much the same way that Instagram keeps stealing Snapchat features, Steam has cherry picked the best things Discord offers and ported them into its own chat app.

But is it enough to bring back some of the millions of users who have already made the jump from Steam to Discord?

In some ways, the new Steam Chat still lags behind its rival. Discord will show a user’s game status regardless of which platform or console they are gaming on; Steam Chat only shows a person’s status if they are playing a Steam game.

Discord also lets you connect several non-gaming apps like Spotify, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and Twitch. Steam Chat does not yet have such integrations.

It’s certainly a step in the right direction, but Steam will need to roll out further improvements to Chat before hardcore Discord users switch over for good.

To improve your Steam experience further, check out our article on how to organize your Steam library properly.

Read the full article: What’s New in Steam Chat? 9 Features You Should Know About

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Microsoft Wants to Stop Windows 10 Updates Annoying You

Microsoft is finally doing something about the way Windows 10 handles updates. And it’s using machine learning to accomplish the task. If it’s successful, updating Windows 10 should, in the future, become much less annoying.

Windows 10 can be a little aggressive when installing updates. Unless you know how to manage Windows 10 updates, they’ll come thick and fast, and start installing when you least expect it. Possibly rebooting your PC at an inopportune moment.

A New Way of Updating Windows 10

Microsoft has a plan up its sleeve to prevent this from happening. And it’s being tested right now by Windows 10 Insiders. The key is artificial intelligence which Microsoft hopes will be able to accurately predict when the time is right to install updates.

This predictive model is being tested right now in Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17723 (RS5) and Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18204 (19H1). Which should, all being well, reach ordinary Windows 10 users later this year and in early 2019, respectively.

To Windows 10: NEVER, EVER START AN UPDATE AT AN INCONVENIENT TIME EVER AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. SEND ME A REMINDER IN A WEEK LIKE ALWAYS. BE CAUTIOUS!

— Nem: The Infinity Watcher (@NemRaps) July 23, 2018

In a blog post outlining what’s new in RS5 and 19H1, Windows Insider chief Dona Sarkar asks, “Have you ever had to stop what you were doing, or wait for your computer to boot up because the device updated at the wrong time?” To which everyone replied, “Yes”.

Microsoft has listened to this feedback, so, “if you have an update pending we’ve updated our reboot logic to use a new system that is more adaptive and proactive. We trained a predictive model that can accurately predict when the right time to restart the device is.”

This means that Microsoft will “not only check if you are currently using your device before we restart, but we will also try to predict if you had just left the device to grab a cup of coffee and return shortly after.” Or at least that’s the plan.

Reserving Judgement During Testing

The proof, as the saying goes, is in the pudding. So we will reserve judgement on this new way of handling Windows 10 updates until we see it working in the wild. However, it’s fair to say that questions remain about exactly how well it will work.

In the meantime, if you encounter any issues updating Windows, be sure to read our guide to resolving Windows Update problems. And if you’ve had enough of Windows 10 updating altogether here’s how to temporarily turn off Windows Update.

Read the full article: Microsoft Wants to Stop Windows 10 Updates Annoying You

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