An independent security researcher has found malicious code in 18 Chrome extensions currently available in the Chrome Web Store. Combined, the extensions have over 57 million active users. It’s yet more evidence that Chrome extensions need to be evaluated with a critical eye. 

Chrome extensions are apps built on top of Google Chrome that allow you to add extra features to your browser. The tasks that this customizable feature can do are wide-ranging, but some popular extensions can auto-fill your password, block ads, enable one-click access to your todo list, or change how a social media site looks. Unfortunately, because Chrome extensions are so powerful and can have a lot of control over your browsing experience, they are a popular target for hackers and other bad actors. 

Earlier this month, independent security researcher Wladimir Palant discovered code in a browser extension called PDF Toolbox that allows it to inject malicious JavaScript code into any website you visit. The extension purports to be a basic PDF processor that can do things like convert other documents to PDF, merge two PDFs into one, and download PDFs from open tabs. 

It’s that last feature that leaves PDF Toolbox open for bad intentions. Google requires extension developers to only use the minimum permissions necessary. In order to download PDFs from tabs that aren’t currently active, PDF Toolbox has to be able to access every web page you currently have open. Without this feature, it would not be able to pseudo-legitimately access your browser to the same extent.

While PDF Toolbox seemingly can do all the PDF tasks it claims to be able to, it also downloads and runs a JavaScript file from an external website which could contain code to do almost anything, including capture everything you type into your browser, redirect you to fake websites, and take control of what you see on the web. By making the malicious code resemble a legitimate API call, obfuscating it so that it’s hard to follow, and delaying the malicious call for 24 hours, PDF Toolbox has been able to avoid being removed from the Chrome Web Store by Google since it was last updated in January 2022. (It is still available there at the time of writing, despite Palant lodging a report about its malicious code.) 

Palant had no way of confirming what the malicious code in PDF Toolbox did when he first discovered it. However yesterday, he disclosed 17 more browser extensions that use the same trick to download and run a JavaScript file. These include Autoskip for Youtube, Crystal Ad block, Brisk VPN, Clipboard Helper, Maxi Refresher, Quick Translation, Easyview Reader view, Zoom Plus, Base Image Downloader, Clickish fun cursors, Maximum Color Changer for Youtube, Readl Reader mode, Image download center, Font Customizer, Easy Undo Closed Tabs, OneCleaner, and Repeat button, though it is likely that there are other infected extensions. These were only the ones that Palant found in a sample of approximately 1,000 extensions.

In addition to finding more affected extensions, Palant was able to confirm what the malicious code was doing (or at least had done in the past). The extensions were redirecting users’ Google searches to third-party search engines, likely in return for a small affiliate fee. By infecting millions of users, the developers could rake in a tidy amount of profit. 

Unfortunately, code injection is code injection. Just because the malicious JavaScript fairly harmlessly redirected Google searches to alternative search engines in the past, doesn’t mean that it does so today. “There are way more dangerous things one can do with the power to inject arbitrary JavaScript code into each and every website,” writes Palant.

And what kind of dangerous things are those? Well, the extensions could be collecting browser data, adding extra ads to every web page someone visits, or even recording online banking credentials and credit card numbers. Malicious JavaScript running unchecked in your web browser can be incredibly powerful. 

If you have one of the affected extensions installed on your computer, you should remove it now. It’s also a good idea to do a quick audit of all the other extensions you have installed to make sure that you are still using them, and that they all look to be legitimate. If you not, you should remove them too. 

Otherwise, treat this as a reminder to always be vigilant for potential malware. For more tips on how to fight it, check out our guide on removing malware from your computer.

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Following a troubling proliferation of AI-generated and manipulated media, Twitter announced on Tuesday its plans to expand its Community Notes system to flag altered and fake images. First launched late last year shortly after Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, Community Notes built upon the company’s previous Birdwatch program aimed at leveraging unpaid, crowdsourced fact checking of tweets to rein in misinformation and hoaxes.

[Related: Why an AI image of Pope Francis in a fly jacket stirred up the internet.]

The expansion is currently in an “experimental” testing phase, and only pertains to posts containing a single image. Twitter states it plans to extend the feature to handle tweets featuring additional media uploads such as GIFs, videos, and multiple images in the near future. As of right now, however, only those signed up as a Community Notes contributor with a user rated Writing Impact score of 10 can see the option to flag a post for its accompanying media instead of just its text. According to Twitter’s Community Notes page, “Tagging notes as ‘about the image’ makes them visible on all Tweets that our system identifies as containing the same image,” meaning that other users’ tweets containing the same image alongside different text will hypothetically contain the same flag.

Twitter’s Community Notes team warned that the new feature’s accuracy could still produce both false positives and negatives for other tweets.  “It’s currently intended to err on the side of precision when matching images,” they explained, “which means it likely won’t match every image that looks like a match to you.” Twitter added that its team will continue to “tune this to expand coverage” while also cutting down on “erroneous matches.”

The new feature arrives just days after a fake image depicting an explosion at the Pentagon began circulating on Twitter, first via an account claiming association with Bloomberg News. The now-suspended account included a “Blue Checkmark” that for years reflected an account’s verified authenticity. Following Musk’s company takeover, a verification can now be obtained via subscribing to the premium Twitter Blue user tier.

[Related: Twitter’s ‘Blue Check’ drama is a verified mess.]

Twitter has relied extensively on crowdsourced moderation via the Community Notes system after axing the majority of its staff dedicated to trust and safety issues. On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported the social media platform is now worth approximately one-third of the $44 billion Musk paid for it.

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Following a similar report issued by the American Psychological Association (APA) earlier this month, the US Surgeon General released an advisory statement on Tuesday warning of social media platforms’ potentially harmful effects on minors.

While cautioning more research is still needed to understand the full scope of social media’s impact on children, adolescents, and teens, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s office makes clear they believe “ample indicators” show social media can represent a “profound risk of harm to [their] mental health and well-being.”

“We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis, and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis—one that we must urgently address,” Murthy said in a statement this week, citing the “growing evidence” supporting their worry. In one such study referenced, adolescents who spend over 3 hours per day on social media faced double the risk of mental health issues such as symptoms of anxiety and depression. Additional research cited by the Surgeon General’s report points towards particular harm for girls, who face cyberbullying and body-image issues.

[Related: APA releases youth social media guidelines.]

“At this time, we do not yet have enough evidence to determine if social media is sufficiently safe for children and adolescents,” the advisory states.

At the same time, the advisory statement makes it clear that children and adolescents utilize and are influenced by social media in vastly varying ways. The ways children are impacted by social media are often based on their particularly emotional and psychological strengths and vulnerabilities, as well as cultural, historical, and socio-economic factors. Some of these experiences on social media can prove beneficial, such as offering spaces for community and connection with like-minded individuals sharing “identities, abilities, and interests,” alongside offering access to important information and spaces for self-expression.

As The New York Times noted on Thursday, social media has also proven especially helpful to children and teens within the LGBTQ+ community. “[A] variety of research over the decade since social media became ubiquitous among teenagers has found that often, social media use has been more beneficial than not for LGBTQ youth,” the article states.

A Surgeon General’s advisory does not carry any legal weight, but often serves as a public statement calling attention to a health issue alongside subsequent recommendations for policymakers, businesses, and the public. Among other suggestions, the Surgeon General’s office urges lawmakers to enact legislation ensuring tech companies share relevant health impact data to independent researchers and the public “in a manner that is timely, sufficiently detailed, and protects privacy.”

Additionally, the report recommends the development and implementation of digital and media literacy curricula in schools, as well as encouraging policies that “further limit access—in ways that minimize the risk of harm—to social media for all children.”

[Related: How to use built-in parental controls on Instagram, TikTok, and more.]

Meanwhile, businesses such as Meta, Twitter, and TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, are pushed to maintain a proper level of transparency about their own internal research and methods for developing products used by minors—something that’s frequently proven difficult to realize. Parents are also strongly encouraged to discuss, educate, and monitor their children’s social media habits.

Earlier this month, the American Psychological Association released its first-ever health advisory report on youth and adolescent social media usage, which spoke broadly of potential developmental effects stemming from experiences on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. The APA’s 11-page outline described these apps as “not inherently beneficial or harmful to young people,” but stressed it was rather how minors used the apps that influenced them.

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The days of freely sharing a Netflix account are over. This week, Netflix finally announced that it would stop American subscribers from sharing their Netflix account with family members, friends, and anyone else who lives at a different location. In an email to affected subscribers, the streaming giant wrote: “Your Netflix account is for you and the people you live with—your household.”

Although Netflix embraced—or at least tacitly allowed—password sharing for years, slowing financial growth, subscriber retention issues, subscriber growth falling short of expectations, and competition from Disney and other streaming services have forced the company to change its tact. Last year, it launched the limited $6.99/month ad-supported tier. At that time, Netflix started cracking down on password sharers in three test countries: Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. Seemingly, those trials proved successful (or at least lucrative), as the streamer is now rolling these features out to subscribers in 103 countries around the world, including the US, most of Europe, Australia, Singapore, Mexico, and Brazil.

According to Netflix, anyone who lives with you will be able to continue to use your account as normal, but anyone who lives in a different location—like children away at university, deployed military personnel, and the ex you haven’t spoken to in three years—will have to transfer their profile to another account or convince you to pay $7.99/month to add an extra member to your account. 

“A Netflix account is for use by one household,” the company says in the email to subscribers. “Everyone living in that household can use Netflix wherever they are—at home, on the go, on holiday—and take advantage of new features like Transfer Profile and Manage Access and Devices.” 

Netflix now wants users to set up a Netflix Household by signing in on a TV connected to their home internet. Any device that uses the same internet connection will be automatically added to the Household. 

Netflix is keeping quiet about how exactly it detects if you’re sharing your account with someone you shouldn’t. In an FAQ on the website, the company says: “We use information such as IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity to determine whether a device signed into your account is part of your Netflix Household. We do not collect GPS data to try to determine the precise physical location of your devices.” Still, it’s unclear what will trigger the system. Presumably your device needs to connect to the Household internet connection with some regularity, but does a three week backpacking trip or semester abroad count as a holiday? Or will Netflix’s automated systems decide that someone needs to set up a new account. 

Similarly, if you have a complicated Wi-Fi setup, expect Netflix to have Household issues. In the same FAQ, the company says that for subscribers with “multiple Wi-Fi networks, we may only associate one with your Netflix Household. If you want to watch Netflix on devices that are connected to Wi-Fi networks using different ISP accounts or that have different external IP addresses, you may be asked to verify that device as part of your Netflix Household.”

But no matter what happens with the edge cases, it sounds like Netflix is pretty serious about stopping out-and-out password sharing. If you don’t genuinely live with the person whose account you use, it looks like your options are pretty limited. If you really want to stay on the same account, you can ask them to add an extra member slot for $7.99/month; though only if they are on the $15.49/month Standard or $19.99/month Premium plan. The $6.99/month Standard with Ads and $9.99/month Basic plans don’t support extra members. 

Otherwise, you can transfer your profile to a new account and start paying (ugh) or just give up on Netflix for a little while and check out what some of the other streaming services have to offer. 

Though there is, perhaps, one workaround. Apparently, “If you don’t watch Netflix on a TV or don’t have one, you do not need to set a Netflix Household for your account.” So as long everyone watches on their laptops, tablets or smartphones, you might be able to dodge the great password sharing crackdown.

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Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) slapped Meta with a record-shattering $1.3 billion (€1.2 billion) fine Monday alongside an order to cease transferring EU users’ Facebook data to US servers. But despite the latest massive penalty, some legal experts warn little will likely change within Meta’s overall approach to data privacy as long as US digital protections remain lax.

The fine caps a saga initiated nearly decade ago thanks to whistleblower Edward Snowden’s damning reveal of American digital mass surveillance programs. Since then, data privacy law within the EU changed dramatically following the 2016 passage of its General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). After years of legal back-and-forth in the EU, Ireland’s DPC has determined Facebook’s data transfer protocols to the US do not “address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms” of EU residents. In particular, the courts determined EU citizens’ information could be susceptible to US surveillance program scrapes, and thus violate the GDPR.

[Related: A massive data leak just cost Meta $275 million.]

User data underpins a massive percentage of revenue for tech companies like Meta, as it is employed to build highly detailed, targeted consumer profiles for advertising. Because of this, Meta has fought tooth-and-nail to maintain its ability to transfer global user data back to the US. In a statement attributed to Meta’s President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg and Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Newstead, the company plans to immediately pursue a legal stay “given the harm that these orders would cause, including to the millions of people who use Facebook every day.” The Meta representatives also stated “no immediate disruption” would occur for European Facebook users.

As The Verge notes, there are a number of stipulations even if Meta’s attempt at a legal stay falls apart. Right at the outset, the DPC’s decision pertains only to Facebook, and not Meta’s other platforms such as WhatsApp and Instagram. Next, Meta has a five-month grace period to cease future data transfers alongside a six-month deadline to purge its current EU data held within the US. Finally, the EU and the US are in the midst of negotiations regarding a new data transfer deal that could finalize as soon as October.

[Related: EU fines Meta for forcing users to accept personalized ads.]

Regardless, even with the record-breaking fine, some policy experts are skeptical of the penalty’s influence on Meta’s data policy. Over the weekend, a senior fellow at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties told The Guardian that, “A billion-euro parking ticket is of no consequence to a company that earns many more billions by parking illegally.” Although some states including California, Utah, and Colorado have passed their own privacy laws, comprehensive US protections remain stalled at the federal level. 

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Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill into law on Wednesday banning TikTok within the entire state, all-but-ensuring a legal, political, and sheer logistical battle over the popular social media platform’s usage and accessibility.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Gianforte claimed the new law is an effort to “protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party.” Critics and security experts, however, argue the app’s blacklisting infringes on residents’ right to free speech, and would do little to actually guard individuals’ private data.

“This unconstitutional ban undermines the free speech and association of Montana TikTok users and intrudes on TikTok’s interest in disseminating its users’ videos,” the digital rights advocacy organization Electronic Frontier Foundation argued in a statement posted to Twitter,  calling the new law a “blatant violation of the First Amendment.”

[Related: Why some US lawmakers want to ban TikTok.]

According to the EFF and other advocacy groups, Montana’s TikTok ban won’t actually protect residents’ from companies and bad actors who can still scrape and subsequently monetize their private data. Instead, advocates repeated their urge for legislators to pass comprehensive data privacy laws akin to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations. Similar laws have passed in states like California, Colorado, and Utah, but continue to stall at the federal level.

“We want to reassure Montanans that they can continue using TikTok to express themselves, earn a living and find community as we continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana,”TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter stated on Wednesday.

Montana’s new law is primarily focused on TikTok’s accessibility via app stores from tech providers like Apple and Google, which are directed to block all downloads of the social media platform once the ban goes into effect at the beginning of 2024. Montanans are not subject to the $10,000 per day fine if they still access TikTok—rather, the penalty is levied at companies such as Google, Apple, and TikTok’s owner, ByteDance.

[Related: The best VPNs of 2023.]

That said, there is no clear or legal way to force Montanans to delete the app if it is already downloaded to their phones. Likewise, proxy services such as VPNs hypothetically could easily skirt the ban. As The Guardian noted on Thursday, the ability for Montana to actually enforce a wholesale ban on the app is ostensibly impossible, barring the state following censorship tactics used by nations such as China.

“With this ban, Governor Gianforte and the Montana legislature have trampled on the free speech of hundreds of thousands of Montanans who use the app to express themselves, gather information, and run their small business in the name of anti-Chinese sentiment,” Keegan Medrano, policy director at the ACLU of Montana, said in a statement. “We will never trade our First Amendment rights for cheap political points.”

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Google said this week that it would start deleting unused and abandoned accounts at the end of this year. In a blog post announcing an update to its inactive account policies, Ruth Kricheli, vice president of product management, explained that any accounts that haven’t been logged into or used in the previous two years were potentially in line for removal. 

Google is presenting the updated policy as a security decision. In the blog post, Kricheli wrote that, “if an account hasn’t been used for an extended period of time, it is more likely to be compromised. This is because forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords haven’t had two factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user.” According to Google’s internal analysis, unused accounts are “at least 10x less likely” to have two-factor verification set up which makes them easier for malicious actors to hijack and then use for identity theft, to send spam, and more. 

As a result, Google is going to start deleting inactive accounts and their contents from Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Meet, Google Calendar, and Google Photos no earlier than December, 2023. The company intends to take a phased approach and start by deleting accounts that were created but never used. Before an account is deleted, Google will send multiple notifications to the email address associated with it as well as any recovery email addresses.

[Related: All the products that Google has sent to the graveyard]

The new inactivity policy applies to any personal Google Accounts that haven’t been signed into or used in some way in the last two years. Accounts managed by a business or school are safe, at least for now, even if they aren’t currently active. 

It’s worth noting that the previous inactivity policy, announced in 2020, already allowed Google to delete the contents of any account that hadn’t been logged into for two years. The difference here is that the company may now delete the entire account, instead of just its content. According to 9to5Google, any deleted email addresses won’t be reassigned which nicely avoids the issues plaguing Twitter’s recently trial-ballooned username reassignment plan. The accounts will just permanently stop working. 

There are also another few edge cases and caveats to note. Google Photos has its own two-year inactivity rules. To keep your photos from being deleted, you need to log into the service separately. Logging into your Google account will keep it active, but you may still lose your photos. 

9to5Google reports that accounts with YouTube videos are also safe, at least for the time being, because deleting them “would be tricky as some old abandoned clips might have historical relevance.” Similarly, accounts that are signed into Android devices are considered active, as are any with an ongoing subscription to Google One or third-party apps. 

The wording of the whole announcement seems to suggests that Google either hasn’t finalized the process and policies, or that it is keeping things relatively secret for security reasons. Either way, keeping your account active is relatively easy. All you have to do is sign in and perform some basic actions, like reading or sending an email, watching a YouTube video, using Google Search, or logging into a third-party service. 

Kricheli also uses the announcement to recommend that Google users create a backup plan for their account and its contents. You can set up a recovery email, so that you can reclaim you account if you forget their password or otherwise lose access to it. If you no longer use an account, the Takeout feature allows you to download all your data and export it to another platform. 

Finally, there is a Google feature called the Inactive Account Manager that allows you to specify what happens if you don’t sign into your account for 18 months. You can set up a Gmail autoresponder, send specific files to chosen contacts, or delete your account entirely. It’s designed so that if something bad happens to you, you have control over what happens to the (potentially meaningful) contents of your account. 

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Nothing in this life is free, especially a “free” 55-inch television. On Monday, a new startup called Telly announced plans to provide half-a-million smart TVs to consumers free-of-charge. But there’s a catch—underneath the sizable 4K HDR primary screen and accompanying five-driver soundbar is a second, smaller screen meant to constantly display advertisements alongside other widgets like stock prices and weather forecasts. The tradeoff for a constant stream of Pizza Hut offers and car insurance deals, therefore, is a technically commercial-free streaming experience. Basically, it swaps out commercial breaks for a steady montage of pop-up ads.

Whether or not this kind of entertainment experience is for you is a matter of personal preference, but be forewarned: Even after agreeing to a constant barrage of commercials, Telly’s “free” televisions make sure they pay for themselves through what appears to be an extremely lax, potentially litigious privacy policy.

[Related: FTC sues data broker for selling information, including abortion clinic visits.]

As first highlighted by journalist Shoshana Wodinsky and subsequently boosted by TechCrunch on Tuesday, Telly’s original privacy fine print apparently was a typo-laden draft featuring editorial comments asking “Do wehave [sic] to say we will delete the information or is there another way around…,” discarding children’s personal data.

According to a statement provided to TechCrunch from Telly’s chief strategy officer Dallas Lawrence, the questions within the concerning, since-revised policy draft “appear a bit out of context,” and there’s a perfectly logical explanation to it:

“The team was unclear about how much time we had to delete any data we may inadvertently capture on children under 13,” wrote Lawrence, who added, “The term ‘quickly as possible’ that was included in the draft language seemed vague and undetermined and needing [sic] further clarification from a technical perspective.”

[Related: This app helped police plan raids. Hackers just made the data public.]

But even without the troubling wording, Telly’s privacy policy also discloses it collects such information as names, email addresses, phone numbers, ages, genders, ethnicities, and precise geolocations. At one point, the policy stated it may collect data pertaining to one’s “sex life or sexual orientation,” although TechCrunch notes this stipulation has since been “quietly removed” from its privacy policy.

User data troves are often essential to tech companies’ financials, as they can be sold to any number of third-parties for lucrative sums of money. Most often, this information is used to build extremely detailed consumer profiles to customize ad experiences, but there are numerous instances of data caches being provided to law enforcement agencies without users’ knowledge, alongside various hacker groups and bad actors regularly obtaining the personal information.

Telly is still taking reservations for its “free” smart TVs, but as the old adage goes: Buyer beware. And even when you’re not technically “buying” it, you’re certainly paying for it.

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Rumors of a free national tax e-filing service have surfaced repeatedly over the past couple years, and it sounds like the US could be one step closer to making it a reality. As The Washington Post first reported on Monday, the IRS plans to test a digital tax filing prototype with a small group of Americans at the onset of the 2024 tax season—but just how much of your biometric data is needed to use the service remains to be seen.

Although the IRS offers a Free File system for people below a certain income level (roughly 70 percent of the population), the Government Accountability Office estimates less than three percent of US tax filers actually utilize the service. The vast majority of Americans instead rely on third-party filing programs, either in the form of online services like Intuit TurboTax and H&R Block, or via third-party CPAs. The $11 billion private tax filing industry has come under intense scrutiny and subsequent litigation in recent years for allegedly misleading consumers away from free filing options to premium services. Last November, an investigation into multiple major third-party tax filing services’ data privacy policies revealed the companies previously provided sensitive personal data to Facebook via its Meta Pixel tracking code.

[Related: Major tax-filing sites routinely shared users’ financial info with Facebook.]

According to The Washington Post’s interviews with anonymous sources familiar with the situation, the IRS is developing the program alongside the White House’s technology consulting agency, the US Digital Service. A dedicated universal free filing portal would add the US to the list of nations that already provide similar options, including Australia, Chile, and Estonia.

Last year, the IRS found itself facing a barrage of criticisms after announcing, then walking back, a new policy that would have required US citizens to submit a selfie via ID.me to access their tax information. ID.me is a third-party verification service used extensively by state and federal organizations, as well as private companies for proofing, authentication and group affiliations via a combination of photo uploads and video chat confirmations. Using ID.me is currently one of multiple verification options for the IRS. It is unclear if such a process will be mandatory within a future federal free filing portal. Both the IRS and the US Treasury Department have not responded to requests for clarification at the time of writing.

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WhatsApp just got a new feature bolstering its long-standing emphasis on users’ privacy: a “Chat Lock” feature that squirrels away your most confidential conversations.

Much like Apple’s hidden photos option, Chat Lock allows users to create a separate folder for private discussions; it’s protected by either password or biometric access. Any conversations filed within WhatsApp’s Chat Lock section also will block both sender and text in their push notifications, resulting in a simple “New Message” button. According to WhatsApp’s owners at Meta, Chat Lock could prove useful for those “who have reason to share their phones from time to time with a family member or those moments where someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment an extra special chat arrives.”

[Related: WhatsApp users can now ghost group chats and delete messages for days.]

To enable the new feature, WhatsApp users simply need to tap the name of a one-to-one or group message and select the lock option. To see those classified conversations, just slowly pull down on the inbox icon, then input the required password or biometric information to unlock. According to WhatsApp, Chat Lock capabilities are set to expand even further over the next few months, including features like locking messages on companion devices and creating custom passwords for each chat on a single phone.

Chat Lock is only the latest in a number of updates to come to the world’s most popular messaging app. Earlier this month, WhatsApp introduced multiple updates to its polling feature, including single-vote polls, a search option, and notifications for when people cast their votes. The platform also recently introduced the ability to forward media and documents with captions for context.

[Related: 3 ways to hide photos and files on your phone.]

Although it has long billed itself as a secure messaging alternative to standard platforms such as Apple’s iMessage (both WhatsApp and iMessage use end-to-end encryption, as do some other apps), WhatsApp experienced a sizable user backlash in 2021 when it changed its privacy policy to allow for more personal data sharing with its parent company, Meta. Meanwhile, other privacy-focused apps like Signal and Telegram remain popular alternatives.

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Since 2021, the EU and the nation of Georgia have highlighted a need to install an underwater internet cable through the Black Sea to improve the connectivity between Georgia and other European countries. 

After the start of war in Ukraine, the project has garnered increased attention as countries in the South Caucasus region have been working to decrease their reliance on Russian resources—a trend that goes for energy as well as communications infrastructure. Internet cables have been under scrutiny because they could be tapped into by hackers or governments for spying. 

“Concerns around intentional sabotage of undersea cables and other maritime infrastructure have also grown since multiple explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines last September, which media reports recently linked to Russian vessels,” the Financial Times reported. The proposed cable, which will cross international water through the Black Sea, will be 1,100 kilometers, or 684 miles long, and will link the Caucasus nations to EU member states. It’s estimated to cost €45 million (approximately $49 million). 

[Related: An undersea cable could bring speedy internet to Antarctica]

“Russia is one of multiple routes through which data packages move between Asia and Europe and is integral to connectivity in some parts of Asia and the Caucasus, which has sparked concern from some politicians about an over-reliance on the nation for connectivity,” The Financial Times reported. 

Across the dark depths of the globe’s oceans there are 552 cables that are “active and planned,” according to TeleGeography. All together, they may measure nearly 870,000 miles long, the company estimates. Take a look at a map showing existing cables, including in the Black Sea area, and here’s a bit more about how they work.

[Related: A 10-million-pound undersea cable just set an internet speed record]

The Black Sea cable is just one project in the European Commission’s infrastructure-related Global Gateway Initiative. According to the European Commission’s website, “the new cable will be essential to accelerate the digital transformation of the region and increase its resilience by reducing its dependency on terrestrial fibre-optic connectivity transiting via Russia. In 2023, the European Investment Bank is planning to submit a proposal for a €20 million investment grant to support this project.”

Currently, the project is still in the feasibility testing stage. While the general route and the locations for the converter stations have already been selected, it will have to go through geotechnical and geophysical studies before formal construction can go forward.

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At Google’s annual I/O developer’s conference, the tech giant announced a whole heap of AI-powered features that will be coming soon to its core apps, like Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Photos, and Meet. It even showcased an updated version of Project Starline, the 3D video-calling booth it announced back in 2021. 

While all very fun and exciting, Google’s flashy new project announcements are usually met with some degree of trepidation by the tech press. The company has undeniably revolutionized search and advertising, and products like Gmail and Docs are incredibly popular. But, it has also announced countless products with great fanfare, failed to support them, then quietly killed them. Let’s have a look at some of the high and low lights from Google’s product graveyard. 

Google Glass, Wave, Reader, and the other ones people are still bitter about

Over the past two decades, Google has killed off a lot of products—and some of them were pretty popular, or at least had diehard fans. Others, not so much. 

Google Reader is, perhaps, the biggest victim here. The beloved RSS reader app was unceremoniously axed, possibly in an attempt to drive people to Google+. It’s still missed by a lot of tech writers. 

The Google URL Shortener was a handy free alternative to bit.ly and other similar services. It got killed in 2019. Another similar service, Google Go Links, that allowed you to make your own custom URL shortener was also discontinued in 2021.

Inbox by Gmail, an innovative mobile-first email app, was pulled in 2019. However, most of its features, like snoozing emails and smart replies, were added to Gmail. 

Another groundbreaking Google app was Google Wave: A real-time editing and collaborative document tool. Apps like Notion, Slack, and even Google Docs owe a lot to the trend-setting app, which was shut down in 2012. 

Less bitterly, Google Glass was discontinued for consumers in 2015 and the Glass OS version of Android was discontinued a few years later in 2017. Its official demise was announced earlier this year. Not many people were sad to see it go, though if rumors are to be believed, we might be gearing up for the next AR goggle hype-cycle. 

And perhaps most famously, Google+ was an attempt to build a Facebook-style social network that failed spectacularly. Despite cramming Google+ features into YouTube, Gmail, and every other Google app, it was faded off in 2019.

Now, with some of the big names out of the way, here are some products you might have forgotten Google even launched. 

Stadia, we hardly knew ya

Google Stadia was a cloud gaming service that ran through Chrome, a Chromecast, or a mobile app. The idea was that you could stream games that actually played on Google’s server. As long as you had a fast enough internet connection, it would effectively turn your smartphone, TV, or under-powered PC into a games console. 

Unfortunately, despite some dedicated fans and a lot of hype from Google, the company never delivered the one thing a games console needs: great games. It stopped operating early this year. 

Jacquard

One of Google’s wildest ideas, Jacquard was a collaboration between Google and Levi’s, the clothing brand. Somehow, the two companies made two generations of a smart jacket—one in 2017 and another in 2019. It featured a touch-sensitive strip of fabric on your wrist so you could play and pause music and answer phone calls. 

While it’s hard to argue that Jacquard ever really took off, Google officially killed it earlier this year.

YouTube (not so) Originals

Launched in 2016, YouTube Originals was a somewhat misguided attempt to compete with Netflix and justify the $12/month Google was asking for YouTube Premium (at the time called YouTube Red). Already big YouTubers like PewDiePie were given large budgets to make poorly received shows. 

Though it wasn’t all bad: Cobra Kai, a sequel to The Karate Kid, got two seasons as a YouTube Original before moving to Netflix. 

YouTube Originals was finally discontinued in late 2022. 

About 9 different messaging apps

Google has a long history of releasing messaging apps before merging them, pivoting them, killing them, and reusing the name. The situation is so ridiculous that we had to write a full explainer last year. 

But in short, Google currently has three communications apps: Google Chat, Google Meet, and Messages. To get to this streamlined situation, it has killed, rebranded, or otherwise discontinued: Google Talk or GChat, Google+ Messenger, SMS on Android, Google Voice, Google Messenger (a different app again), YouTube Messages, Google Allo, Google Duo, and Google Hangouts.

So, while Project Starline looks awesome, we fear there’s a good chance the general public never sees it. The AI-features look more likely to get some support, but who knows how long Google will let them stick around.

The post All the products that Google has sent to the graveyard appeared first on Popular Science.

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One of the leading US mental health organizations, the American Psychological Association (APA), has issued its first ever health advisory report on social media usage for youth and adolescents. Published on Tuesday, the 11-page brief speaks in broad terms regarding the habits of children and teens on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, describing them as “not inherently beneficial or harmful to young people.” Rather, the APA argues social media’s influences on minors are only part of a much wider, complex array of factors, and “likely depend on what teens can do and see online, teens’ pre-existing strengths or vulnerabilities, and the contexts in which they grow up.”

In short, the APA reiterates that, like every other aspect of psychological development, it’s difficult to pinpoint and quantify any single influence on an individual’s brain evolution. Instead, the association focuses on two major contributors to how social media can potentially affect younger users—parental oversight and awareness, as well as a platform’s own algorithmic structures.

[Related: Twitter may soon purge ‘inactive’ accounts.]

The APA recommends parents regularly review and discuss their children’s social media usage, particularly during early adolescence—usually defined as between 10- and 14-years-old. Educating children and teens on social media literacy and usage alongside fostering healthy online habits and relationships are also considered key methods of maintaining a safe experience on platforms like TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Meanwhile, the APA stresses the responsibility does not rest solely on minors’ parents. The advisory’s authors note that the tech companies’ algorithms determining how, when, and why users see certain content are built upon “centuries of racist policy and discrimination encoded.” Social media therefore often becomes an “incubator” of these inherent biases, and which can  introduce and exacerbate extremist socio-political and racist ideals. “The resulting potential impact is far reaching, including physical violence offline, as well as threats to well-being,” adds the APA.

Speaking to PopSci, Jeremy Birnholtz, a professor of communication studies at Northwestern University focusing on LGBTQ+ adolescent social media usage and the head of the school’s Social Media Lab, says he believes the APA’s “measured document” is a step in the right direction, but argues some of the guidelines are potentially difficult to follow for parents.

[Related: Is shyness something kids feel, or something kids are?]

In one section of the report, for example, the APA advises limiting the amount of time younger users spend comparing themselves to others the see on social media, “particularly around beauty- or appearance-related content,” pointing towards its potentially influence on “poorer body image, disordered eating, and depressive symptoms, particularly among girls.”

“The guideline is ‘teens should avoid using social media for social comparison.’ And it’s like, well, what does that mean? You shouldn’t look at your friends’ vacation photos? You shouldn’t follow the influencers that all your friends follow? I don’t think that’s realistic,” says Birnholtz.

Like the APA’s report, Birnholtz also argues social media’s negative effects are often symptomatic of broader, real world issues. Racism can be baked into social media—while that’s true, it’s also baked into society,” they say of platforms’ algorithmic biases. “Certain things like social comparison, no question, can be exacerbated by social media. But to suggest that they are a function of [it] is problematic, I think.”

Birnholtz goes on to explain that while it’s vital to take the APA’s suggestions into account, it’s important to remember the origins of many social media issues. “You’re detaching problems with social media from the problems that they represent in the broader society,” says Birnholtz. “You can fix it on social media, but as long as it’s in the [real world], you’re not going to fix it.”

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On Monday, Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced plans to delete accounts that the company deems inactive. He also warned that users may see their number of followers drop as a result of the digital house cleaning. “We’re purging accounts that have had no activity at all for several years,” Musk tweeted via his personal account.

The decision prompted swift criticism from both fans and critics of Musk’s chaotic tenure at the company, with some users pointing towards the emotional and historical implications in the wholesale erasures. For many, the Twitter profiles and messages of deceased relatives and loved ones function as digital memorials. Since Musk’s announcement, some users describe scrambling to archive the data before it disappears.

[Related: Twitter’s ‘Blue Check’ drama is a verified mess.]

“My son’s account is inactive because he died nearly 2 years ago. I would be devastated if his account were to be deleted… [I]t is one of the few things I have left,” one user tweeted. “I agree it’s worth preserving the libraries from the ancient internet,” tweeted Grimes, a musician and Musk’s ex-partner.

The sudden policy shift comes less than a week after Musk threatened to reassign NPR’s account handle after the news outlet publicly stated it would cease utilizing the social media platform. NPR’s decision stemmed from objections over Twitter’s attempt to relabel the nonprofit as a “government-funded media.” It now simply features a blue checkmark indicating the account is “Verified.” Federal funding comprises less than 1 percent of NPR’s annual operating budget, according to its own public data.

Prior to Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, the social media platform attempted a similar inactive username sweep in 2019, but widespread criticism at the time prompted the company to promptly reverse course. “We’ve heard you on the impact that this would have on the accounts of the deceased. This was a miss on our part,” company representatives said at the time, adding that Twitter would not remove any inactive accounts until they created “a new way for people to memorialize accounts.”

[Related: How to download your data from Twitter and other sites.]

A new memorialization method was never announced, although in responding to one critic yesterday, Musk claimed purged accounts “will be archived… But it is important to free up abandoned handles.” Musk has not yet offered an estimated timeline of when username deletions might occur, nor how a purged account archive would work. As of writing, it is still possible to download an archive of one’s own personal account.

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Early in the morning of May 3, local Moscow time, a pair of explosions occurred above the Kremlin. Videos of the incident appeared to show two small drones detonating—ultramodern tech lit up against the venerable citadel. The incident was exclusively the domain of Russian social media for half a day, before Russian President Vladimir Putin declared it a failed assassination attempt.

What actually happened in the night sky above the Russian capital? It is a task being pieced together in public and in secret. Open-source analysts, examining the information available in the public, have constructed a picture of the event and video release, forming a good starting point.

Writing at Radio Liberty, a US-government-funded Russian-language outlet, reporters Sergei Dobrynin and Mark Krutov point out that a video showing smoke above the Kremlin was published around 3:30 am local time on a Moscow Telegram channel. Twelve hours later, Putin released a statement on the attack, and then, write Dobrynin and Krutov, “several other videos of the night attack appeared, according to which Radio Liberty established that two drones actually exploded in the area of ​​​​the dome of the Senate Palace with an interval of about 16 minutes, arriving from opposite directions. The first caused a small fire on the roof of the building, the second exploded in the air.”

That the drones exploded outside a symbolic target, without reaching a practical one, could be by design, or it could owe to the nature of Kremlin air defense, which may have shot the drones down at the last moment before they became more threatening. 

Other investigations into the origin, nature, and means of the drone incident are likely being carried out behind the closed doors and covert channels of intelligence services. Without being privy to those conversations, and aware that information released by governments is only a selective portion of what is collected, it’s possible to instead answer a different set of questions: could drones do this? And why would someone use a drone for an attack like this?

To answer both, it is important to understand gimmick drones.

What’s a gimmick drone?

Drones, especially the models able to carry a small payload and fly long enough to travel a practical distance, can be useful tools for a variety of real functions. Those can include real-estate photography, crop surveying, creating videos, and even carrying small explosives in war. But drones can also carry less-useful payloads, and be used as a way to advertise something other than the drone itself, like coffee delivery, beer vending, or returning shirts from a dry cleaner. For a certain part of the 2010s, attaching a product to a drone video was a good way to get the media to write about it. 

What stands out about gimmick drones is not that they were doing something only a drone could do, but instead that the people behind the stunt were using a drone as a publicity technique for something else. In 2018, a commercial drone was allegedly used in an assassination attempt against Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, in which drones flew at Maduro and then exploded in the sky, away from people and without reports of injury. 

As I noted at the time about gimmick drones, “In every case, the drone is the entry point to a sales pitch about something else, a prelude to an ad for sunblock or holiday specials at a casual restaurant. The drone was always part of the theater, a robotic pitchman, an unmanned MC. What mattered was the spectacle, the hook, to get people to listen to whatever was said afterwards.”

Drones are a hard weapon to use for precision assassination. Compared to firearms, poisoning, explosives in cars or buildings, or a host of other attacks, drones represent a clumsy and difficult method. Wind can blow the drones off course, they can be intercepted before they get close, and the flight time of a commercial drone laden with explosives is in minutes, not hours.

What a drone can do, though, is explode in a high-profile manner.

Why fly explosive-laden drones at the  Kremlin?

Without knowing the exact type of drone or the motives of the drone operator (or operators), it is hard to say exactly why one was flown at and blown up above one of Russia’s most iconic edifices of state power. Russia’s government initially blamed Ukraine, before moving on to attribute the attack to the United States. The United States denied involvement in the attack, and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said to take any Russian claims with “a very large shaker of salt.”

Asked about the news, Ukraine’s President Zelensky said the country fights Russia on its own territory, not through direct attacks on Putin or Moscow. The war has seen successful attacks on Putin-aligned figures and war proponents in Russia, as well as the family of Putin allies, though attribution for these attacks remains at least somewhat contested, with the United States attributing at least one of them to Ukrainian efforts.

Some war commentators in the US have floated the possibility that the attack was staged by Russia against Russia, as a way to rally support for the government’s invasion. However, that would demonstrate that Russian air defenses and security services are inept enough to miss two explosive-laden drones flying over the capital and would be an unusual way to argue that the country is powerful and strong. 

Ultimately, the drone attackers may have not conducted this operation to achieve any direct kill or material victory, but as a proof of concept, showing that such attacks are possible. It would also show that claims of inviolability of Russian airspace are, at least for small enough flying machines and covert enough operatives, a myth. 

In that sense, the May 3 drone incident has a lot in common with the May 1987 flight of Mathias Rust, an amateur pilot in Germany who safely flew a private plane into Moscow and landed it in Red Square, right near the Kremlin. Rust’s flight ended without bloodshed or explosions, and took place in a peacetime environment, but it demonstrated the hollowness of the fortress state whose skies he flew through.

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Best designed portable WiFi		TP-Link N300 Wireless Portable Nano Travel Router		SEE IT	This is a pocket-sized powerhouse that lets you can take a strong connection anywhere.
Most user-friendly portable WiFi		GlocalMe G4 Pro 4G LTE Mobile HotSpot		SEE IT	More than just a portable WiFi device, it’s like a portable command center.
Best portable WiFi for connection speed		NetGear Mobile WiFi Hotspot		SEE IT	A fast, reliable connection wherever you happen to be.

We are living in the age of the “Internet of Things.” Nearly every device—from your phones to your lamps to your toothbrush—has WiFi capabilities, and the interconnected IoT network almost requires you to be always on all the time. This reality is one of the reasons we recommend everyone pick up one of the best WiFi boosters for their home, as there’s a lot more competition for bandwidth in the age of work/school/game/stream from home than there used to be. But what if you’re on the go and the work can’t wait? What if you’re out and about and really need to be connected? Don’t worry, you don’t need to go over your data cap as you’re going over wide-ranging terrain with the best portable WiFi options.

Rather than overloading your cellular data plan or hoping that if you wander around long enough you’ll stumble onto a strong, free WiFi signal, you can actually bring your WiFi along with you. Portable WiFi—also called mobile WiFi or mobile routers—is exactly what it sounds like: small, easily transportable devices that act just like your WiFi router at home. Instead of being attached to a phone cable, however, they operate with a SIM card, which allows the phone to connect to your phone or cable provider just like a hardwired modem would at home. The best portable WiFi device will enable you to set up your own private Internet connection, practically anywhere in the world, on at least 10 devices simultaneously, including phones, laptops, tablets, and iPads, games consoles, and cameras.

You have a lot of options when it comes to a portable WiFi device, which ranges in size, functionality, and connectivity. Selecting the right one will require you to assess your specific needs, how mobile you intend to be (are you, say, literally hopping from train to station to car, or are you settling down in a cafe), and how fast you need your downloads and uploads. Here’s some information to get you started.

• Best designed: TP-Link N300 Wireless Portable Nano Travel Router
• Best battery life: RoamWiFi R10
• Most user-friendly: GlocalMe G4 Pro 4G LTE Mobile HotSpot
• Best for connection speed: NetGear Mobile WiFi Hotspot
• Best budget: KuWFi 4G LTE

The best portable WiFi: Reviews & Recommendations

Best designed: TP-Link N300 Wireless Portable Nano Travel Router

Amazon

SEE IT

The TP-Link is compact, simple, looks great, and can fit in a pocket or the pouch of a knapsack. It can deliver 300Mbps WiFi speed on a 2.4G hertz band, which makes it great for streaming and online gaming. it’s compatible with Chromecast, and powers via a Micro USB port. We like it because it’s sleek, secure, and efficient.

Best battery life: RoamWiFi R10

Amazon

SEE IT

The RoamWiFi R10 supports 4G LTE high-speed network, with a maximum upload speed of 50Mbps and a maximum download speed of 433Mbps. But its main selling point is that it provides a solid 18 hours of battery life after a full charge (which is about 3 hours). It’s small, as easy to carry around as a smartphone, and provides strong, secure connections.

Most user-friendly: GlocalMe G4 Pro 4G LTE Mobile HotSpot

Amazon

SEE IT

The GlocalMe G4 allows you to connect up to 10 devices at once—but the best part is how easily it allows you to manage those connections. With its smartphone-like user interface, it makes managing device usage, tracking battery life, and connecting to available signals as easy as using an app. It has its own data plan and package rates, so those not looking to deal with SIM cards will find this an added convenience.

Best for connection speed: NetGear Mobile WiFi Hotspot

Amazon

SEE IT

To be honest, NetGear’s 400 Mbps of download speed might even be better than what you get on your home desktop. Designed to be portable and convenient, the NetGear offers 11 hours of battery life, a color LCD display, and the ability to connect to up to 15 devices at once.

Best budget: KuWFi 4G LTE

Amazon

SEE IT

The KuWFi comes in at just under $50, but offers 4G LTE connectivity, low power consumption, and the ability to share up to 10 devices. It has a clear, colorful LED screen showing battery life, connection strength, and other pieces of information, and is compatible with a number of SIM cards and data storage cards.

Things to consider when shopping for the best portable WiFi

When you’re on the lookout for devices designed to help you be more product and more connected—which is exactly what the best portable WiFi devices are meant to do—it’s easy to fall into the trap of something big and complex and seemingly all-powerful, only to discover that you only actually need a fraction of its capabilities for your everyday use. Knowing exactly how you work, and where your own personal trouble spots are, will help you narrow your focus and get a device that does exactly what you need it to do. With the right research (which we’ve happily done for you), you can narrow down the copious options and identify the perfect portable companion for all your on-the-go network needs.

Do you want something you won’t mind carrying around with you?

It’s not shallow to say that how a device looks goes a long way towards how willing you’ll be to carrying it around with you. A clunky, brick-like device is going to become a burden, and you’ll end up not getting as much use out of it as you should. It goes beyond aesthetics, too, as a well-designed device will be user-friendly and convenient in addition to being a cool part of your portable communications system.

Your search should consider the overall size of the device, its functionality, and how easily it will mesh with your other devices. Honing in on these key factors will ensure you get a portable WiFi router you’ll use again and again.

Can it give you enough battery life if a power source isn’t available?

It’s mankind’s biggest collective struggle in the modern age—the constant raging against the dying of the battery. From phones to laptops, tiny battery icons taunt us from their top corner perches, slowly bleeding down until their red bars inform you that you’d better wrap it up, save your data, and hurry to an outlet before all of your work is lost.

Although a lot of portable WiFi devices can be powered via USB, you may find yourself in a situation where WiFi is needed but a USB-compatible device may not be available. Here’s where to find a mobile hotspot that will cover you even if you have to rely on battery power.

Are you looking for portable WiFi you can use immediately without fuss?

The main selling point of portable WiFi is convenience. Whether you want portable WiFi for travel, or you’re looking for a strong connection when you happen to be away from your home base unit, you need something you can rely on that won’t be overly complicated or difficult to manage.

Finding a mobile WiFi router that puts user interface first and foremost will ensure you feel comfortable using it again and again, and that you get the most out of it every single time. Look for devices that have easily-readable screens, simple navigating, and convenient information accessibility.

How fast do you need your WiFi connection to be?

Perhaps the biggest reason to invest in a portable WiFi router is that you intend to download or upload files on a regular basis, and need both the speed and convenience of a strong WiFi signal to do it. A smartphone alone is fine for emails and texts, but for anything bigger or more complex, you need a fast Internet connection without question.

It used to be you’d need to be hard-wired to process anything bigger than a few megabytes, but there are options available now that can deliver fast upload and download speeds even if you are on the go.

Are you a Verizon customer looking for portable WiFi?

Depending on where in the world you live, you may have a lot of public WiFi hotspots available for your use. While they allow you to access WiFi without an Internet provider, they do come with some security risks. If you have a specific cell or internet provider, you can access private WiFi hotspots that offer premium prepaid internet access that’s much cheaper than using mobile data, and more secure.

There are some mobile WiFi devices that are geared specifically for one provider—say, for example, if you are a Verizon customer. Being able to connect to a service you already use can save a lot of hassle, and help you avoid having to use insecure, public networks that could expose your data.

Best portable WiFi device on a budget: What you can get for under $50

Portable WiFi devices aren’t, generally speaking, among the most expensive pieces of technology. Even the higher-end devices usually sit under $200, so finding the best portable WiFi option on a budget isn’t too difficult.

FAQs

A final word on shopping for the best portable WiFi

The ease and convenience of a mobile WiFi router really can’t be overstated. Having the ability to connect to the internet with home computer speeds anywhere in the world opens you up to all new possibilities—whether you need it for remote work or for frequent traveling. Knowing your own usage tendencies as well as what kind of work assets you need (are you sharing simple Word Docs or do you need to traffic in heavier images or video?) will go a long way towards narrowing down your selection. Once you find the perfect mix of portable and reliable, the world is your oyster.

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There are countless studies and copious amounts of research delving into how the internet can negatively impact your mind. But, new data indicates that there’s one way online time could actually benefit the brain. According to findings recently published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society from a team at NYU, it appears that regular internet usage may significantly reduce the risk of dementia in older populations.

As also highlighted by Gizmodo on Thursday, the study examined online habits of over 18,000 adults over the age of 50 for as long as 17 years (with a median of nearly 8 years) via data from the government’s biannual Health and Retirement Study. The dataset was subsequently broken down into two groups—those who were regular internet users, and those who were not. A second survey assessed their cognition at the study’s outset to use for reference over time. According to researchers, regular visitors to the internet “experienced approximately half the risk of dementia than non-regular users,” even when taking issues like pre-existing conditions into consideration. As Gizmodo also noted, those who reported using the internet in subsequent analysis displayed even lower risks of impairment.

[Related: How your daily screen time affects your wellbeing.]

But don’t take this as carte blanche to surf the web to your heart’s content just yet. When utilizing a smaller dataset of users that provided hourly usage rates per week, researchers discovered a potential U-curve situation between time and risk for dementia. Those who spend over six hours a day on the internet appear to possess a slightly increased chance to develop cognitive issues, much like those who rarely go online at all. This led researchers to hypothesize that “excessive online engagement may have adverse cognitive effects on older adults.” Despite the study’s caveats, however, the findings present an interesting look into the potential positives of online use, especially when people are often told to use the internet less.

The Goldilocks “not too much, but not too little” linkage between internet use and dementia falls in line with experts’ recent suggestions on how to best maintain cognitive health: lead an overall, decently healthy lifestyle, i.e. one with regular physical activity, a primarily plant-based diet, an aversion to bogus supplements, managing existing diseases, and reduced alcohol consumption. So, on top of all that, you can now possibly add a healthy hour or so of daily internet scrolling to the list. Just don’t fall too far down the rabbit hole.

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The passwordless future is slowly becoming a reality. This week, Google announced that you can now log into your Google account with just a passkey. It’s a huge milestone in what promises to be the incredibly long, awkward move away from using passwords for security. 

In case you haven’t heard yet, passwords are terrible. People pick awful passwords to begin with, find them really hard to remember, and then don’t even use them properly. When someone gets hacked, that may just involve someone using (or reusing) a really bad password or accidentally giving it to a scammer. To try to solve these difficult problems, an industry group—including Apple, Google, and Microsoft—called the FIDO Alliance developed a system called passkeys. 

Passkeys are built using what’s called the WebAuthentication (or WebAuthn) standard and public-key cryptography. It’s similar to how end-to-end encrypted messaging apps work. Instead of you creating a password, your device generates a unique pair of mathematically related keys. One of them, the public key, is stored by the service on its server. The other, the private key, is kept securely on your device, ideally locked behind your biometric data (like your fingerprint or face scan), though the system also supports PINs. 

[Related: Microsoft is letting you ditch passwords. Here’s how.]

Because the keys are mathematically related, the website or app can get your device to verify that you have the matching private key and issue a one-time login without ever actually knowing what your private key is. This means that account details can’t be stolen or phished and, since you don’t have to remember anything, logging in is simple. 

Take Google’s recent implementation. Once you’ve set up a passkey, you will be able to log into your Google account just by entering your email address and scanning your fingerprint or face. It feels similar to how built-in password managers work, though without any password in the mix. 

Of course, passkeys are still a work in progress, and implementations are inconsistent. As ArsTechnica points out, passkeys currently sync using your operating system ecosystem. Right now, if you exclusively use Apple devices, things are pretty okay. Your passkeys will sync between your iPhone, iPad, and Mac using iCloud. For everyone else though, they’re a mess. If you create a passkey on your Android smartphone, it will sync to your other Android devices, but not your Windows computer or even your Chrome browser. There are workarounds using tools like QR codes, but it’s a far cry from the easy password-sharing built into most browsers.

[Related: Apple’s passkeys could be better than passwords. Here’s how they’ll work.]

Also, passkeys aren’t very widely supported yet. Different operating systems support them to various degrees and there currently are just 41 apps and services that allow you to use them to login. Google joining the list is a huge deal, in part because of how many services rely on Sign In With Google.

Password managers have become a good tool for managing complex, unique passwords across different devices and operating systems. These same password managers, like Dashlane and 1Password, are working to solve the syncing issues currently baked into passkeys. In a statement to PopSci, 1Password CEO Jeff Shiner said, “Passkeys are the first authentication method that removes human error—delivering security and ease of use… In order to be widely adopted though, users need the ability to choose where and when they want to use passkeys so they can easily switch between ecosystems… This is a tipping point for passkeys and making the online world safe.”

If you’re ready to try passkeys despite the sync issues and lack of support, you can read our guide on how to set up a passkey for your Google account right now. Unfortunately, this only works with regular Google accounts. Google Workspace accounts aren’t supported just yet. 

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The Biden administration wants cryptocurrency miners to pay up if they intend to continue consuming more electricity than every television in the US combined each year. On Tuesday, the White House announced its 2024 proposed budget featuring the Digital Asset Mining Energy (DAME) tax, which aims to slap a 30 percent surcharge on crypto firms’ power intake.

“Currently, cryptomining firms do not have to pay for the full cost they impose on others, in the form of local environmental pollution, higher energy prices, and the impacts of increased greenhouse gas emissions on the climate,” reads the Biden administration’s statement released earlier this week. “The DAME tax encourages firms to start taking better account of the harms they impose on society.”

[Related: Bitcoin’s steep environmental costs go beyond its hunger for energy.]

Recent studies have shown that crypto mining’s extremely high energy costs negatively impact the environment, electricity grids, and quality of life for those living nearby. The pollution generated often disproportionately affects low-income areas and communities of color, while the stress on power infrastructure can also raise consumer prices while straining equipment and endangering the public. Despite these issues, the Biden administration argues that crypto firms offer neither local nor national benefits that often come from other businesses consuming the same amounts of electricity.

“There is little evidence of benefits to local communities in the form of employment or economic opportunity, and research has found that minor increases in local tax revenue are more than offset by increased energy prices for firms and households,” the White House adds.

[Related: Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested and charged with fraud.]

Fueled by viral media coverage and big-name endorsements, many cryptocurrencies (particularly its most popular variant, Bitcoin) experienced dramatic speculative runs beginning in late 2020. Following Bitcoin’s all-time high of nearly $69,000 per coin in November 2021, numerous financial scandals hit the industry, most notably the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange firm FTX and subsequent arrest of its CEO Sam Bankman-Fried on charges of fraud. Since then, values have since plummeted to around $29,000 for 1 BTC at the time of writing.

In March, members of Congress announced the Crypto-Asset Environmental Transparency Act, a bill that would force cryptominers to disclose their annual emissions. “When one year of U.S. Bitcoin mining creates as many carbon emissions as 7.5 million gas-powered cars—we have a problem,” bill co-sponsor Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) wrote on Twitter at the time. “The crypto industry is growing, but so is the fight for climate justice. We will hold these companies accountable.”

If passed, the Biden administration estimates the DAME tax would raise around $10.5 billion in revenue over the next decade.

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Best overall		Netgear Nighthawk Cable Modem Wi-Fi Router Combo		SEE IT	This modem-router combination takes the guesswork out of Spectrum compatibilty.
Best cyber secure		Gryphon AC3000		SEE IT	Hackers are no match for this protective router.
Best budget		TP-Link AC1750		SEE IT	Lots of expensive features are packed into this budget-friendly router.

If you work from home—and you’re a Charter Communications customer—you know there’s a huge difference between a bad router and the best routers for Spectrum internet. A bad router means long wait times talking to customer service, annoyingly slow load speeds, and a pixelated presence on work video calls. Choosing the best router for work, play, and just surfing the web makes life easier—and reduces the amount of low to no bandwidth-induced headaches you might get. 

• Best overall: Netgear Nighthawk Cable Modem Wi-Fi Router Combo
• Best for gaming: ASUS AX5700 Wi-Fi 6 Gaming Router
• Best for streaming: Linksys – Dual-Band AX5400 Wi-Fi 6 Router
• Best mesh: NETGEAR Orbi Whole Home Tri-band Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System
• Best cyber secure: Gryphon AC3000
• Best budget: TP-Link AC1750

How we chose the best routers for Spectrum

We know how important a strong Wi-Fi connection is to effortless, lag-free gaming and streaming high-quality lossless audio. I personally have made the mistake of not doing my research before buying a router—would not recommend spending a few days Wi-Fi-less and with my own thoughts. To prevent you from facing a similar situation, we looked to personal testing, peer recommendations, critical reviews, and user impressions to find the best Spectrum routers.

The best routers for Spectrum: Reviews & Recommendations

The best routers for Spectrum can handle everything, whether it’s a day full of video meetings, nights scrolling TikTok, intense gaming sessions, or streaming lengthy explainer videos on YouTube. These are our top picks.

Best overall: Netgear Nighthawk Cable Modem Wi-Fi Router Combo

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: You don’t have to worry about purchasing a separate modem with this trusted combination device.

Specs

• Data transfer rate: 1,900 Mbps
• Coverage: 1,800 square feet
• Plan speed compatibility: Up to 400 Mbps
• Parental controls: Yes
• Ports: Four 1-gigabit Ethernet ports; one USB 2.0 port

Pros

• Easy installation
• Independent channels for 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz
• Warrants fast, reliable internet. 

Cons 

• Slow return on investment
• No support for Wi-Fi 6

The Netgear Nighthawk proves that two is better than one: This router also features a built-in modem, meaning you don’t have to shop for a Spectrum-compatible modem. This router covers 1,800 square feet for up to 30 devices and is compatible with Spectrum speed plans up to 400 Mbps. It includes separate networks for 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz bands, meaning you can organize your devices based on band level. You can plug in gaming consoles and computers to Ethernet thanks to four one-gigabit Ethernet ports, and can share storage with a connected device using the USB port. The router supports Wi-Fi 4 and 5 but does not support Wi-Fi 6. It features a WPA2-PSK security protocol, which is secure enough to protect your home without an enterprise authentication server—simply provide an 8- to 62-character-long passphrase to encrypt your network. However, it will take some time to see a return on your investment with the Nighthawk. Multiple reviews note that owners’ internet speed and performance were improved after setup, making the purchase worth it.

Best for gaming: ASUS AX5700 Wi-Fi 6 Gaming Router

ASUS

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: Reduced lag and latency are a tap away thanks to the router’s game mode and support for Wi-Fi 6. 

Specs

• Data transfer rate: 5700 Mbps
• Coverage: 2,500 square feet
• Plan speed compatibility: 1 Gbps
• Parental controls: Yes
• Ports: two 3.2 USB ports; one 2.5 G WAN/LAN port; one WAN port; four Ethernet ports

Pros

• Fiber internet compatible
• Easy installation
• Plenty of LAN ports for devices if need be

Cons 

• Upright design can hinder placement 

We are no strangers to the ASUS AX5700—we’ve previously named it the best all-purpose gaming router. And it is compatible with Spectrum’s Internet Gig plan, which can handle up to 1 Gpbs, making it a perfect addition to this list. It’s Wi-Fi 6 compatible and includes MU-MIMO functionality for increased speed and security. Download the ASUS Router app to turn on the mobile game mode, which reduces lag and latency for back-to-back Victory Royales. AiMesh support allows you to bring seamless, interruption-free coverage to your home—and, considering the price of mesh routers, that makes this one a steal. Hackers will be KO’d thanks to free lifetime access to ASUS AiProtection Pro, which includes WPA3 protection—the latest Wi-Fi security protocol—powered by Trend Micro, a cyber security software company. However, you can only set the router vertically, which could pose a problem if you need a horizontal router. 

Best for streaming: Linksys – Dual-Band AX5400 Wi-Fi 6 Router

Linksys

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: Between the wide coverage range, support for more than 30-plus devices, and splittable price, this router means the only thing your roommates will lag on is doing their dishes. 

Specs

• Data transfer rate: 5.4 Gbps
• Coverage: 2,800 square feet
• Plan speed compatibility: 1 Gbps
• Parental controls: Yes
• Ports: 4 Ethernet ports; 1 internet port; 1 USB port

Pros

• Easy setup
• Separate guest access
• Easy device connection thanks to a WPS button

Cons 

• Reviews note trouble connecting the router to the Linksys app

We’ve all had the problem of the internet slowing because it’s slogged down by everyone’s respective phone, laptop, and gaming system streaming at once. This problem is exacerbated if your roommates like Internet-of-Things smart devices that connect to the network. Expect the slog to stop with this dual-band router, which can connect to more than 30 devices. Additionally, this router is Wi-Fi 6 compatible, meaning it’s fast and futureproof. This router includes four Ethernet ports, one internet port to connect the router to the modem, and one USB port. Also, the router can create a guest access network so your roommates’ siblings or frequent callers don’t cause security problems or snag too much bandwidth when they add their binge-watching to what’s pulling down all the data. A WPS button makes device connection easy, and you can use your smartphone, tablet, or computer browser for quick set-up. The second biggest problem with this router is deciding who will take it at the end of the lease. The largest problem is connecting it to the Linksys app.

Best mesh: NETGEAR Orbi Whole Home Tri-band Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System

NETGEAR

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: Up to 5,000 square feet of coverage and an included satellite extender means you can take meetings almost everywhere in your home without lag.

Specs

• Data transfer rate: 4.2 Gbps
• Coverage: 5,000 square feet
• Plan speed compatibility: 1 Gbps
• Parental controls: Yes
• Ports: 1 Ethernet WAN port; 3 Ethernet ports; 2 Ethernet ports on satellite extender

Pros

• No dead zones
• Wide coverage area
• Tri-band Wi-Fi

Cons 

• Must pay Netgear to service software issues
• Expensive
• App capabilities are only free for 30 days

We’ve all experienced the pain of being laggy and pixelated on a video call, either from weak signals or dead spots in the home. Say goodbye to all that with the Netgear Orbi, which covers 5,000 square feet and includes a satellite extender for more reach. This router, our pick for working from home, can support up to 40 devices and has a crazy-fast data transfer rate of 4.2 Gbps, plus support for Wi-Fi 6 for futureproofing. Unlike other routers, this one supports a tri-band frequency: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz band for connecting your devices, and a separate 5 GHz band so the router and included satellite can communicate with each other. Netgear Armor Antivirus and data theft protection powered by Bitdefender means business secrets will stay secret. However, there is a catch: this capability, along with others in the Orbi app like parental controls, are only free for 30 days. Afterward, you’ll need a subscription. And you’ll have to pay Netgear for software troubleshooting—that can be a lot of money to spend after purchasing an already-expensive router.

Best cyber secure: Gryphon AC3000

Gryphon

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: This router does not use a web browser for configuration, making it less likely that a hacker will jack your info. 

Specs

• Data transfer rate: 3 Gbps 
• Coverage: 3,000 square feet
• Plan speed compatibility: 1 Gbps
• Parental controls: Yes
• Ports: 1 WAN port; 3 Ethernet ports with backhaul capabilities

Pros

• Easy installation with Gryphon app
• Free intrusion detection in the first year
• Responsive support team

Cons 

• No advanced customization options

You won’t need to worry about hackers and internet thieves with the Gryphon AC3000, which offers advanced security thanks to its Wi-Fi 6 functionality, vulnerability scans, and app configuration that prevents hackers from accessing your network via the web. It also secures connected devices and sends alerts when it detects vulnerabilities, weak passwords, or infected devices. The router has fantastic basic security and you also get one year of intrusion detection for free with purchase. Afterward, it’s $89 per year. It covers 3,000 square feet—an average 2-3 bedroom home—at lightning-fast speeds thanks to its 3 Gbps data transfer rate. If you purchase multiple Gryphon routers, you can create a mesh network for even stronger, wider coverage. The Gryphon Connect app includes robust parental controls, including content filtering, screen time, and usage monitoring. Its user interface is incredibly streamlined and simple. However, reviews note that there could be more advanced customization options, like more device categories and fields for categories that should be blocked.

Best budget: TP-Link AC1750

TP-Link

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: The TP-Link AC1750 features high-end capabilities at a fraction of the cost. 

Specs

• Data transfer rate: 1750 Mbps
• Coverage: 2,500 square feet
• Plan speed compatibility: 400 Mbps
• Parental controls: Yes
• Ports: 1 USB port; 1 WAN port; 4 Ethernet ports

Pros

• VPN Server
• Alexa compatibility
• Bandwidth prioritization (QoS)

Cons 

• Not compatible with Wi-Fi 6

The TP-Link AC1750 tops Amazon’s list of computer routers for a reason: it includes a VPN server, bandwidth prioritization, parental controls, Alexa compatibility, and can connect up to 50 devices—all for under $100. A 2,500-square-foot range means you can take video calls outside and bandwidth prioritization allows you to assign devices to either of the dual bands to prevent congestion and slow internet speeds. Connect it to Alexa to turn the guest Wi-Fi on or off using your voice, or use the TP-Link Tether app to set up and manage your network. WPA/WPA2 wireless encryption keeps the entire family protected from hackers, and parental controls protect your kids from looking up mature content on the internet. The only downside of this router? It’s not Wi-Fi 6 compatible, which means it could become obsolete as new Wi-Fi protocols come out.

What to consider when buying the best routers for Spectrum

Routers are not one-size-fits-all. Here is what you need to know when shopping for the best routers for Spectrum:

Modem vs. router

A modem connects you to a wide area network, or WAN—the internet that Spectrum provides. A router connects your devices to a local area network, or LAN—your own little piece of the internet that Spectrum provides. You can’t connect to a router without a modem. Spectrum customers are required to use an authorized modem, and the company provides a preconfigured Wi-Fi router for a monthly fee. However, that adds up, and purchasing your own can save money in the long run. If you buy your own router, you don’t have to give it back if you cancel your service—you can use it with your new internet provider.

Compatibility with Spectrum

Make sure that the router your purchase is compatible with Spectrum. Otherwise, you’ll have to return it. You can find a list of Spectrum-compliant routers on the company’s site. Although buying the correct modem is more important, it never hurts to double-check. Also, the router can only run as fast as your internet plan provides. For example, if you have a router that can only reach speeds of 300 Mbps and have an internet plan for 200 Mbps, you’ll only max out at 200 Mbps.

Wireless protocol

The wireless protocol, or Wi-Fi standard, determines your router’s throughput and range. You can determine the protocol by finding the number 802.11 and a certain letter combination:

• 11ax (Wi-Fi 6): Wi-Fi 6 is the newest standard and delivers speeds up to 10 Gbps. However, not all devices and internet connections support Wi-Fi 6. You may not need to upgrade just yet, but switching to Wi-Fi 6 will help futureproof your internet connection. This standard is the fastest.  
• 11ac (Wi-Fi 5): This standard appears on most routers, and supports speeds up to 3.5 Gbps. 
• 11n (Wi-Fi 4): This standard supports speeds up to 600 Mbps and was the first to allow both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies. This standard, compared to Wi-Fi 5 and 6, is the slowest. 

Range and signal strength

Wi-Fi range is determined by the kind of router you’re using, the wireless protocol the router follows, and the space you’re in. Wi-Fi signals have a harder time permeating through concrete, compared to wood, stucco, and other building materials. For example, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi routers can reach up to 150 feet indoors and 300 feet outdoors and should be used if you’re looking for long-distance Wi-Fi. Routers running on 5 GHz bands can reach around one-third of these distances since it uses narrower wavelengths—because of this, you should choose a 5 GHz router for speed but only if your devices can be located nearer to your internet access point. Newer routers operate on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands to reach greater distances and achieve maximum throughput for devices in closer proximity.

Budget

The best routers range from $50 up to $500. The best Wi-Fi extenders can help with spotty internet, but Consumer Reports recommends using a mesh router system that relies on multiple systems to spread strong Wi-Fi signals. However, a mesh router system can be pricey. On the flip side, Wi-Fi extenders are cheaper and can be a perfect solution if you’re looking for more reliable coverage in certain areas of your home. However, poor placement of your extender won’t help your Wi-Fi woes and can cause more connectivity problems if your Wi-Fi extender creates a separate network that your device has to switch between.

Extra features

Many newer routers are compatible with voice assistants like Siri and Alexa, have parental controls, and provide separate networks for guests. Built-in VPNs and routers with multi-user, multiple-input, and multiple-output technology—also known as MU-MIMO—can help with security and network speed, respectively. However, if you would not benefit from the bells and whistles—and the added costs associated with them—then there’s no shame in going for a basic router.

FAQs

Final thoughts on the best routers for Spectrum

• Best overall: Netgear Nighthawk Cable Modem Wi-Fi Router Combo
• Best for gaming: ASUS AX5700 Wi-Fi 6 Gaming Router
• Best for streaming: Linksys – Dual-Band AX5400 Wi-Fi 6 Router
• Best mesh: NETGEAR Orbi Whole Home Tri-band Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System
• Best cyber secure: Gryphon AC3000
• Best budget: TP-Link AC1750

Whether you decide on a router that helps you jumpstart your streaming career, keeps your new battlestation in sync with the rest of the squad, or feeds your OLED TV buttery-smooth 4K video, the best routers for Spectrum will be suited to your lifestyle and internet needs. It doesn’t matter if you go ham-handed on the features or keep it simple—the best routers will get you streaming, web surfing, online gaming, and working with ease.

Why trust us

Popular Science started writing about technology more than 150 years ago. There was no such thing as “gadget writing” when we published our first issue in 1872, but if there was, our mission to demystify the world of innovation for everyday readers means we would have been all over it. Here in the present, PopSci is fully committed to helping readers navigate the increasingly intimidating array of devices on the market right now.

Our writers and editors have combined decades of experience covering and reviewing consumer electronics. We each have our own obsessive specialties—from high-end audio to video games to cameras and beyond—but when we’re reviewing devices outside of our immediate wheelhouses, we do our best to seek out trustworthy voices and opinions to help guide people to the very best recommendations. We know we don’t know everything, but we’re excited to live through the analysis paralysis that internet shopping can spur so readers don’t have to.

The post The best routers for Spectrum of 2023 appeared first on Popular Science.

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Best Overall		Motorola MG7700		SEE IT	Comcast approved, this modem-router combo is quick to set up and the right bandwidth for most high-speed customers.
Best Netgear		NETGEAR Nighthawk C7100V		SEE IT	Supporting up to 30 devices and a shared storage device, this is a robust reliable home internet hub.
Best 600 Mbps for Cable Internet		ARRIS SURFboard SBG7400ACS		SEE IT	Approved for Xfinity, with built-in virus protection features, this is a stable east-to-setup option.

When you sign up for Comcast’s Xfinity internet service, you’ll be presented with a choice that seems almost trivial but will turn out to be one of the most critical parts of your customer experience: Rent a modem/router combo from Comcast or go out and buy your own. At first, it might feel like a no-brainer to go with the Comcast-provided choice. You know it will work well with what you have and the quoted price is never too expensive. However, the math is clear: you’re probably going to be a Comcast customer for many years, so buying your own modem and router will be cheaper. It can be scary to go out and finally make the purchase, though, because you don’t know if the equipment you’re looking at will work with Comcast. That’s why we’ve worked hard to put your fears to rest and come up with this list of the best routers for Comcast.

• Best overall: Motorola MG7700 Modem Wi-Fi Router Combo 
• Best Netgear: NETGEAR Nighthawk C7100V
• Best 600 Mbps for cable internet: ARRIS SURFboard SBG7400ACS
• Best Wi-Fi: Amazon eero 6 Mesh Wi-Fi Router
• Best budget: TP-Link Archer A7

How we chose the best routers for Comcast

Getting one of the best routers for Comcast is typically a two-step process. First, you need to identify what kind of router you want. Are you going budget? Is Netgear best? Or are you searching for the best portable Wi-Fi? Whatever you’re looking for, there is probably a great router that works with Comcast in the list. This brings us to the second step: verifying that the router works with Comcast internet. This is done in a variety of ways, including researching the wide diversity of customer experiences, manufacturer claims, and product certifications. When combined, these two steps will lead you to one of our best routers for Comcast, just like they informed our list.

The best routers for Comcast: Reviews & Recommendations

The best routers for Comcast are ones that pick up on the key needs of consumers today, while also conferring some advantages of their own. It is tempting to fall into the trap of thinking that only DOCSIS 3.1, Wi-Fi 6E, multi-gigabyte-supporting routers are the best, but the reality is that a more measured approach is best. No over-the-top router built today will actually be the router of choice in the far future it imagines. Instead, our recommendations focus on the best routers for Comcast that will work great in 2023 and beyond … but not so far beyond that we enter a future beyond our current understanding.

Best overall: Motorola MG7700

Motorola

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: A Comcast Xfinity-approved modem-router combo that has all you need for quality internet quickly.

Specs

• Modem combo: Yes
• Max speed: Supports internet plans up to 800 Mbps
• Wi-Fi standard: Wi-Fi 5

Pros

• Comcast approved
• Quick Setup
• Right speed for most high-speed customers
• 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports

Cons

• Connectivity issues in large homes

The Motorola MG7700 is an upgrade to the very successful MG7550. As far as Wi-Fi routers for your home go, this one will prove to be a top competitor for the modern era. Serving up to 800 Mbps service plans and coming with four Ethernet ports ready to serve the gigabit generation, you should be happy for quite some time.

The MG7700 is only approved to work with Comcast Xfinity, Cox, and Spectrum, which works out in your favor as a Comcast customer. You’ll find that setup is generally quite quick, with only a power cord and your coaxial cable needing to be plugged in before following a few simple steps to secure your connection. Plus, if you do run into any problems, your customer support tech from Comcast Xfinity will likely be at least somewhat familiar with the MG7700 and can give you some pro tips about working with the device.

The Motorola MG7700 works best in medium-sized homes, with those in large homes finding some trouble connecting in the far corners of their home. For these customers, the Wi-Fi 6/DOCSIS 3.1 Motorola MG8725 might work better, but for the average person in the here and now the MG7700 will more than suffice.

Best Netgear: NETGEAR Nighthawk C7100V

NETGEAR

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: This is a tried-and-true Netgear with the perfect balance between reliable performance and price.

Specs

• Modem combo: Yes
• Max speed: Certified for 800 Mbps Xfinity Cable (1,900 Mbps theoretical maximum)
• Wi-Fi range: Suitable for 1,800 sq. ft. homes

Pros

• Supports up to 30 devices
• Shared storage drive
• 4 gigabit Ethernet ports
• Access to Comcast Voice (VoIP)

Cons

• Older model

The NETGEAR Nighthawk C7100V is a robust model that has not only stood the test of time but still competes as one of the best routers of today.

A manufacturing sticker tells us that the C7100V is “100% Certified Compatible” with cable internet from Xfinity up to 800 Mbps, while the actual speed that it can reach is somewhat faster. This should be enough for most consumers by itself, but the four gigabit Ethernet ports certainly aren’t reducing the value either.

Next, we have the access to Comcast Voice, a VoIP system signified by the “V” at the end of the product model. While VoIP is certainly nothing new, we aren’t into turning down well-tuned extras.

Speaking of being nothing new, the C7100V isn’t exactly the new kid on the block. When models have been out for a few years, you have the advantage of knowing exactly what you are going to get and the markdowns in price that come with time. The trade-off, of course, is lowered future longevity and the potential for reduced support from the manufacturer coming on the horizon. In all, with the C7100V you know you’re getting a modem-router combo that won’t break down easily and should still be worth something in a few years.

Best 600 Mbps for cable internet: ARRIS SURFboard SBG7400ACS

ARRIS

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: This is a recommended for 600 Mbps router that is capable of so much more.

Specs

• Modem combo: Yes
• Max speed: Approved for 600 Mbps cable, with 1000 Mbps download
• DOCSIS: 3.0

Pros

• Approved for Comcast Xfinity
• Built-in McAfee protection
• 4 gigabit Ethernet ports
• Password-free connection via WPS

Cons

• Tricky installation
• Not compatible with DSL or fiber

ARRIS’s SURFboard SBG7400AC2 is a DOCSIS 3.0 router that is suggested for cable internet plans of around 600 Mbps. Again, that’s cable plans (it won’t work with DSL or fiber) and that is a suggestion. In many instances, this product is capable of much higher speeds, such as via the Ethernet ports that can give you a full gigabit connection.

One interesting feature that comes with the SURFboard SBG7400AC2 is access to McAfee Secure Home Internet, part of the McAfee Secure Home Platform. When enabled, it provides McAfee-level security to all devices connected to your network, controlled via an associated app. You can control the security via Alexa or Google Assistant, set parental controls, and even set it to prevent your devices from accessing the internet while you’re away from home for an even higher level of security. For those of you seeing another McAfee product in your lives as a hassle, you’ll be happy to know that this part of the router is optional.

Getting connected to the router with your device is also quite easy. The small button below the status lights, labeled “WPS,” can be pressed to connect applicable phones and other devices. No having to give your password out and no lengthy password typing. A win-win for sure.

The initial setup feels like the main drawback with this router, as the provided instructions are a tad confusing and the SURFboard Manager app isn’t as user-friendly as we’d like. Still, once it works the SURFboard SBG7400AC2 provides a lot for the right niche it serves.

Best Wi-Fi: Amazon eero 6e Mesh Wi-Fi Router

Eero

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: Amazon’s eero Mesh Wi-Fi Router sets up quickly to provide whole-home internet coverage.

Specs

• Modem combo: No
• Wi-Fi range: Supports 2,000 sq. ft. area
• Max Speed: Supports internet plans up to 2.3Gbps

Pros

• Tiny and lightweight
• 2 gigabit Ethernet ports
• Amazon Alexa support
• Stay secure with auto-updates

Cons

• No modem combo

If you’re looking for a pure router, no modem combo, to help distribute internet power throughout your home, Amazon’s own eero 6e Pro Mesh Wi-Fi Router is the perfect device to do so with. As a mesh router, it packs a lot of power in a tiny size and can help you destroy those pockets of your home that are currently just filling one or fewer internet bars on your phone.

The eero Mesh is an Amazon product, so there is no surprise that it comes with Alexa support. Here, Alexa can give you control over the access individual devices have to your Wi-Fi network, meaning your naughty child’s late-night Fortnite session can be shut down with a single sentence.

The eero Mesh is not expensive, with the three-pack option coming in at about the price of the modem-router combos on this list. This is a good thing because the only downside to this system is that in real homes it often isn’t meeting up to the 2,000 square foot coverage area suggested by eero. Too many customers are reporting difficulties using the product through their walls or just outside their home, suggesting a weak signal. Instead, give every room its own happy cube of Wi-Fi-fed internet joy.

Best budget: TP-Link Archer A7

TP-Link

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: The TP-Link AC1750 Archer A7 provides Alexa support, a VPN server, parental control, and more at a price point anyone can afford.

Specs

• Modem combo: No
• Max speed: Supports plans up to 300 Mbps (1750 Mbps theoretical maximum)
• Wi-Fi range: Suitable for 2,500 sq. ft. home

Pros

• Competitive pricing
• 4 gigabit Ethernet ports, 1 gigabit WAN port
• Award-winning customer satisfaction
• Built-in Alexa and parental control support

Cons

• Old model
• No modem combo

Finally, we get to the TP-Link Archer A7, which is a reliable older router without the modem combo. If you’re truly looking for the best routers for Comcast, as opposed to modem-router combos, and are on a budget this is the go-to pick that should satisfy you for quite some time.

What you might not be expecting from an older, budget router is the Alexa support and robust parental controls, which can set time limits and filtering levels. The router even has a VPN to secure your web-browsing privacy just an extra bit more.

Much like our commentary with the NETGEAR Nighthawk C7100V, there are certain pros and cons when it comes to getting an older router. With the Archer A7, you do get the satisfaction of knowing that the product you’re buying is a two-time winner of a customer satisfaction award from JD Power—the same group known for rating the best cars positively. If it were only to have a modem tied in with it, it could likely still be a high-ranking contender in its own right.

What to consider when buying the best routers for Comcast

So, you’ve followed the two-step approach outlined above and have arrived at a decent-looking router for Comcast. How do you evaluate it from here? A lot of the decision-making process from here comes down to stats and the nearly unlimited wealth of knowledge that comes from the huge Comcast user base. Numbers and individual experiences can tell you a lot about the short-term functioning of a router, but there is nothing like the masses to show you if a router outperforms the rest in the long run.

The next thing you should consider is possibly the biggest question you’ll face when getting a router for Comcast. A question so important, that it will divide the acceptable range of products for you to buy into two parts. So, what is this oh-so-essential question?

Max speed: Routers are rated on the max speed they can deliver. If that speed is higher than the internet speed Comcast is giving you, you’re overpaying for your router. However, if the speed is lower, you’re overpaying for your internet. Every. Single. Month. The recommendation is fairly straightforward and simple: Find the perfect internet speed for you, then buy a router that has a max speed somewhat above that speed. Getting a router with a bit extra leaves you some growing room as your internet package expands, as well.

For modem-router combo users, the next thing you’ll need to consider is DOCSIS. Standing for “Data Over Cable Services Interface Specification,” this factor affects your speed by determining how well the aforementioned “internet juice” can travel from the modem part of the combo to the router part.

In 2022, you’ll only need to select from DOCSIS 3.0 and DOCSIS 3.1. If you want to skip the technical details, we can simplify this selection by saying that DOCSIS 3.0 will be fine for average internet users of the current age but DOCSIS 3.1 is better for top-of-the-line internet speeds and equipment and is more “futureproofed.” In the years that come, we can expect that the basic standard will switch from DOCSIS 3.0 to DOCSIS 3.1.

Now, onto the fine details. DOCSIS 3.0 is capable of 200 Mbps upload speeds and up to 1 Gbps download speeds. In a world where most Americans don’t have gigabit internet yet, it will do fine. However, as coverage expands and competition drives prices cheaper, this will rapidly change. DOCSIS 3.1 has 2 Gbps upload and 10 Gbps download speeds. To put that in comprehensible terms: FromSoftware’s Elden Ring is 60GB. With DOCSIS 3.1 and fast enough internet, you could theoretically download Elden Ring in just 6 seconds. The best gaming routers of tomorrow will certainly be DOCSIS 3.1 routers.

Wi-Fi standard: There are three Wi-Fi standards you are likely to hear about while router shopping. From most to least common, they are: Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6, and Wi-Fi 6E. Much like DOCSIS 3.0 above, Wi-Fi 5 is going to be fine for the vast majority of you. It isn’t until you get to faster internet speeds or want a dozen or so devices connected to the router at once that you will want something better. Let’s look at these future-thinking options now:

We’ve explained Wi-Fi 6 in detail before, but here are the key facts: Wi-Fi 6 just started to appear in 2019 and is made to handle the faster, multi-gigabit internet speeds we are commonly starting to see. More importantly, it is able to handle a much larger number of smart devices at once. Think about your home filled with you and your spouse browsing through your phones while doing work on your laptops, with the addition of your teen and about a dozen of their friends doing a group project on just about as many phones and laptops. This is the future Wi-Fi 6 will have us prepared for.

Wi-Fi 6 routers also tend to have next-generation security protocols, like WPA3, and an extended Wi-Fi range.

Wi-Fi 6E is even newer than Wi-Fi 6, with the E standing for “Enhanced.” It uses technology that few devices today can actually take advantage of. Understanding Wi-Fi 6E in detail is worth it for the futurist but, in the here and now, there is such a thing as being too prepared. If you want something to last far into the future, one of our picks for the best Wi-Fi 6 routers should be more than enough.

Wi-Fi range: Wi-Fi range is quite a bit more simple to understand than the above. This is the range that you can get Wi-Fi signal from the router. The only time this calculation can get complicated to understand is if you have a multi-story home (at which point you might want to look at our suggestions for best Wi-Fi extenders). The range is a direct point A to point B count, so you might have to study up on your Pythagoras.

The last thing to consider is that walls, electronic devices, and certain other materials in between your device and the router can weaken the signal somewhat. Like a lot of stats in the tech product world, more is better, but just enough will suffice.

FAQs

Final thoughts on the best routers for Comcast

• Best overall: Motorola MG7700 Modem Wi-Fi Router Combo 
• Best Netgear: NETGEAR Nighthawk C7100V
• Best 600 Mbps for cable internet: ARRIS SURFboard SBG7400ACS
• Best Wi-Fi: Amazon eero 6 Mesh Wi-Fi Router
• Best budget: TP-Link Archer A7

At the end of the day, the most important thing when buying your own router for Comcast is making sure you end up with both a router and a modem, have a router that is compatible with Comcast, and are able to enjoy the speeds provided. All of our best routers for Comcast are suitable for Comcast and many have modems, too. Nearly everyone will be happy using the Motorola MG7700 with their Comcast Xfinity internet.

Why trust us

Popular Science started writing about technology more than 150 years ago. There was no such thing as “gadget writing” when we published our first issue in 1872, but if there was, our mission to demystify the world of innovation for everyday readers means we would have been all over it. Here in the present, PopSci is fully committed to helping readers navigate the increasingly intimidating array of devices on the market right now.

Our writers and editors have combined decades of experience covering and reviewing consumer electronics. We each have our own obsessive specialties—from high-end audio to video games to cameras and beyond—but when we’re reviewing devices outside of our immediate wheelhouses, we do our best to seek out trustworthy voices and opinions to help guide people to the very best recommendations. We know we don’t know everything, but we’re excited to live through the analysis paralysis that internet shopping can spur so readers don’t have to.

The post The best routers for Comcast in 2023 appeared first on Popular Science.

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Some corners of the internet act as bastions of healthy discussion, but out there on the Wild Web, discourse appears worse than ever before. If you’re tired of feeling your blood boil every time you get to the bottom of an article or open up your social media app of choice, it’s time to clean up your internet conversations.

Block comments on news sites and blogs

Some sites are doing away with comments altogether, but there are plenty that have stuck by their discussion section—even if it’s littered with spam and hateful garbage. You can’t stop commenters from spewing their filth, but you can banish them from your view. Shut Up is a simple open-source tool that will automatically block most comment sections across the web. It’s available as an extension for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple’s Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Opera. Just install it on your desktop or mobile platform of choice, and comment sections will disappear as if they were never there.

If there’s a site that you actually like to read comments on—yes, there are a few decent ones out there—you can click the Shut Up button in your toolbar or press Ctrl+Shift+X to whitelist that site. It will remember your preferences, so your favorite comment sections will stay visible no matter how many times you leave and return. Sadly, there’s no way to mute certain comments based on keywords.

Note that due to the way Chrome’s annoyingly broad permission system works, this extension will request access to read and edit data on all sites you visit, but you can read the developer’s privacy policy to ensure you agree with it. Afterward, if you’re still uneasy, you can always inspect and inject the Shut Up CSS code yourself, if you have a stylesheet extension you like.

Mute words on Twitter, Instagram, and other social networks

Website and blog comments are just a small fraction of toxic internet conversation—most of it happens on social media. Shut Up will block comment sections on some networks, like Facebook and Reddit, but that defeats the purpose of using those platforms at all. Thankfully some services, like Twitter and Instagram, have caught on and built “mute” functions that let you hide comments that contain certain keywords, for more control over what you see.

On Twitter, you can mute tweets with certain words or phrases by heading to the Twitter website and clicking More on the sidebar to the left. Next, go to Settings and Support > Settings and privacy > Privacy and safety > Mute and block > Muted words. Finally, click the plus icon in the top right to add words to your list. In the mobile app, the steps are nearly identical, but you start by tapping your avatar in the upper left-hand corner of your screen and build a list of muted words by using the Add button at the bottom right.

When you add the words you want to avoid, you can also select how long you want to mute it—which is useful if you’re just trying to avoid spoilers for a few days.

If you want to do a little less work, you can also turn on the switches under the Offensive words and phrases heading at the top of the page to hide comments or message requests containing any words Instagram thinks you won’t want to see.

Other social networks, like Reddit, don’t have a mute feature built-in. However, browser extensions like the ever-popular Reddit Enhancement Suite will allow you to mute comments with certain words just the same. Install the extension and open the RES Settings Console. Navigate to Subreddits > filteReddit, and create filters to your heart’s content. You can hide posts with specific terms in the title, or block posts that come from chosen websites. You can also build filters for comments, provided you know how regular expressions work—there’s a small tutorial available if you need it.

Finally, Facebook is in a weird spot when it comes to muting or filtering comments. Back in June of 2018, Facebook began testing a feature called Keyword Snooze that would allow you to hide any comment containing words you specified. It wasn’t available to everyone and that test ended in January 2021. Now, your best bet is to hit the three dots in the top right corner of any post on your News Feed and choose Hide post to see fewer posts like it. From the same menu, you can snooze and unfollow the person or page that posted it.

The post How to block toxic comments everywhere appeared first on Popular Science.

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Google has become so synonymous with search that the company’s name has found its way into the dictionary as a verb—and that means your Google search history can reveal a lot about your life. If someone manages to gain access to that treasure trove of information, they could learn about everything from the medical conditions you’ve been worried about to where you’ve been on your vacations.

With so much sensitive data involved, you should make sure that your search history is safe from prying eyes. There are ways to make extra-sure that no outsiders can get a glimpse at what you’ve been looking for, and to block Google itself from knowing anything about your online queries.

Put a password on your Google search history

Your Google account is protected by both a password and two-factor authentication if you’ve switched that on (we recommend you do). That should minimize the risk of anyone else being able to log in and take a peek at what you’ve been searching for, but you can do more.

If you’re on a computer where you’re regularly logged into Google, your browser has your password saved, and other people (maybe housemates or colleagues) are likely to be wandering past, you might feel like an additional layer of security is required. Or maybe you’re just very private and security-conscious.

For these situations, Google has created an extra password step just for your search history. Even if someone makes it to your Google account page, they’ll need your password to enter the search history section.

You can enable this by going to your Google account page, and choosing Data & privacy from the options on the left. Scroll down to the History settings box, click Web & App Activity, and then hit Manage all Web & App Activity at the bottom of the page. Finally, click Manage My Activity verification, fill in the bubble next to Require extra verification, and hit Save.

Automatically delete your Google searches

Google will automatically clean up your search history, if you want it to. Go to your Google account page, click Data & privacy, find the History settings heading, and click Web & App Activity to open the Activity Controls page. There, find the Auto-delete section and click the time period underneath to open a dialog box full of customization options. Use the dropdown menu to tell Google to automatically delete search history data older than three, 18, or 36 months.

Back on the Activity Controls page, if you choose Manage all Web & App Activity instead of opening the auto-delete options, you can manually wipe everything you’ve ever searched for, or just some of it. Use the search and filter options to look for something specific, and either the Delete box directly under the search bar or the X buttons next to individual entries to get rid of what you want to erase.

[Related: How to purge all of your search histories]

You can also use the Activity Controls page to just tell Google to stop tracking your activity altogether. To do so, find the Web & App Activity heading and click Turn off. Then hit Pause, followed by Got it to confirm that this is actually what you want to do. This will remain off until you decide to turn it back on. For a clean slate, click Manage all Web & App Activity at the bottom of the page to see your activity, then hit Delete and All time to erase everything, or use whatever other options suit you.

Avoid Google entirely

Another way to keep your Google search history private is not to allow Google to track it in the first place. If you open an incognito or private window in your browser of choice before visiting Google and running your search, it won’t be recorded. As soon as you close the window, the browser (and Google) will forget the query ever happened.

In Google Chrome, for example, click the three dots in the top right-hand corner of the browser interface and choose New Incognito Window from the menu that appears. In Microsoft Edge, click the three dots (top right) then New InPrivate window; in Firefox, click the three lines (top right), then New private window; and in Safari you can click File and New Private Window.

When you start off in an incognito or private browser window, you won’t be signed into any of your accounts, including your Google one. Make sure you don’t sign into Google during the browsing session though—otherwise Google will log your search requests as normal, even if you’re using a private browsing mode.

You also have the option to run your web searches elsewhere: You can pick from Microsoft’s Bing or the privacy-focused DuckDuckGo, for instance. The developers behind the browser Brave have also launched a search engine you can try, and it won’t track you or anything you’re searching for.

Manage your browsing history and syncing

If you use Chrome while signed into your Google account, everything you search for on Google will be saved to the browser and your Google account. If you’ve turned off tracking in your Google account, your search history will still appear in Chrome. These lists of queries are one and the same, though the information might be presented slightly differently. You can see your history in Chrome by clicking the three dots (top right), choosing History, then History again.

This setup also means you can delete your history from your browser as well as your Google account page. From the History screen, you can select individual entries and then choose Delete, or click Clear browsing data on the left for some more comprehensive options. Select Browsing history and the time period you want to cover, then select Clear data.

[Related: How to clear your web history in any browser]

The post 4 ways to protect your Google search history appeared first on Popular Science.

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When it comes to computers, convenience and security are often at odds. A simple, easy-to-use system that you can’t lock yourself out of tends to be less secure than something a little less user-friendly. This is often the case with end-to-end encryption (E2EE), a system in which messages, backups, and anything else can only be decrypted by someone with the right key—and not the provider of the service or any other middlemen. While much more secure, it does have some issues with convenience, and it’s been in the news a lot lately. 

The UK Parliament is currently considering its long awaited Online Safety Bill, which would essentially make secure end-to-end encryption illegal. Both WhatsApp and Signal, which use E2EE for their messaging apps, said they would pull out of the UK market rather than compromise user security. 

Slack, on the other hand, doesn’t use E2EE to protect its users. This means that Slack can theoretically access most messages sent on its service. (The highest paying corporate customers can use their own encryption set up, but the bosses or IT department can then read any employee messages if they are the ones in control of the key.) Fight for the Future, a digital rights group, has just launched a campaign calling on Slack to change this, as it currently “puts people who are seeking, providing, and facilitating abortions at risk in a post-Roe environment.”

Finally, Google has updated its two-factor Authenticator app to allow the secret one-time codes that allow you to log in to sync between devices. This means that users don’t need to reconfigure every account with 2FA set up when they get a new phone. Unfortunately, as two security researchers pointed out on Twitter, Google Authenticator doesn’t yet use E2EE, so Google—or anyone who compromised your Google account—can see the secret information used to generate 2FA one-time codes. While exploiting this might take work, it fatally undermines what’s meant to be a secure system. In response, Google has said it will add E2EE, but has given no timeline.

[Related: 7 secure messaging apps you should be using]

For such an important technology, E2EE is a relatively simple idea—though the math required to make it work is complicated and involves factoring a lot of very large numbers. It’s easiest to understand with something like text messages, though the same principles can be used to secure other kinds of digital communications—like two-factor authorization codes, device back ups, and photo libraries. (For example, messages sent through iMessage, Signal, and WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted, but a standard SMS message is not.)

E2EE generally uses a system called public key cryptography. Every user has two keys that are mathematically related: a public key and a private key. The public key can genuinely be public; it’s not a secret piece of information. The private key, on the other hand, has to be protected at all costs—it’s what makes the encryption secure. Because the public key and private key are mathematically related, a text message that is encoded with someone’s public key using a hard-to-reverse algorithm can only be decoded using the matching private key. 

So, say Bob wants to send Alice an encrypted text message. The service they’re using stores all the public keys on a central server and each user stores their private keys on their own device. When he sends his message, the app will convert it into a long number, get Alice’s public key from the server (another long number), and run both numbers through the encryption algorithm. That really long number that looks like absolute nonsense to everyone else gets sent to Alice, and her device then decrypts it with her private key so she can read the text. 

But this example also highlights where E2EE can cause headaches. What happens if Alice loses her device containing her private key? Well, then she can’t decrypt any messages that anyone sends her. And since her private key isn’t backed up anywhere, she has to set up an entirely new messaging account. That’s annoying if it’s a texting app, but if it’s an important backup or a 2FA system, getting locked out of your account because you lost your private key is a very real risk with no good solution. 

And what happens if Bob sends Alice a message about his plans for world domination? Well, if the UK government has a law in place that they must be copied on all messages about world domination, the service provider is in a bit of a bind. They can’t offer E2EE and perform any kind of content moderation. 

This is part of why E2EE is so often in the news. While it’s theoretically great for users, for the companies offering these services, there is a very real trade-off between providing users with great security and setting things up so that customer support can help people who lock themselves out of their accounts, and so that they can comply with government demands and subpoenas. Don’t expect to see encryption out of the news any time soon. 

The post Some of your everyday tech tools lack this important security feature appeared first on Popular Science.

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Best USB WiFi booster		TP-Link Archer T4U Plus USB Wireless Network Adapter		SEE IT	Have an open USB port? You can add optimized WiFi, no IT expertise needed.
Best mesh WiFi system		Google Nest Mesh System (2nd Generation)		SEE IT	It may sound porous, but a mesh system actually offers the most extensive, most adaptable option.
Best dual-band WiFi booster		NETGEAR EX7300 WiFi Range Extender		SEE IT	If you have a lot of demanding devices, this model will extend coverage without your signal being stretched thin.

Working from home has changed how we view our personal space and cyberspace. Entire families have found themselves competing for the same bandwidth, balancing work and play on one network. The wireless routers that used to be more than enough for surfing the web and streaming Netflix are reaching their limits as we repurpose every nook and cranny into a home office, a school workstation, a yoga studio, a movie theater, or all of the above. With more and more laptops and tablets, HD streaming services, and smart TVs, etc., pulling down data, a strong connection has become the most important utility after electricity and water. After all, nobody wants to be that frozen square on the Zoom call because you’re working too far from the central router, but you also don’t want to be the one in the meeting with people walking behind them because you parked your computer too close to that living room signal. This means that picking the best WiFi boosters is a must to make sure your whole space is covered.

Doing more between your walls also means that the walls themselves—full of wiring and metal studs, electronics-packed appliances, dense materials, and decorative features—can interfere with your home network. And when an entire family is working and trying to unwind in the same home, the solution isn’t always as simple as moving to another room. Luckily, there’s a best WiFi boosters to suit all budgets and boundaries—whether you’re logging on indoors or outdoors, in a house full of executives and/or gamers, on a budget, or replacing an entire system. The following are some of our top selections for tech that hits the (hot) spot when you need to boost productivity and range throughout your home.

• Best USB: TP-Link Archer T4U Plus USB Wireless Network Adapter
• Best dual-band: NETGEAR EX7300 WiFi Range Extender
• Best outdoor: TP-Link Omada EAP225 Outdoor Access Point
• Best mesh: Google Nest Mesh System (2nd Generation)
• Best budget: TP-Link RE230 WiFi Extender

The best WiFi boosters: Reviews & Recommendations

Best USB: TP-Link Archer T4U Plus USB Wireless Network Adapter

Amazon

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Why it made the cut: TP-Link’s Archer T4U Plus is a cost-effective way to extend your WiFi network without sacrificing speed.

Specs

• Speed: Up to 876Mbps
• Range: N/A
• Price: $23.99

Pros

• Multi-band
• Fast speeds
• Price

Cons

• Takes up a little more space.

Offering two adjustable, multi-directional antennae and a 1.0m USB 3.0 cable, the TP-Link AC1300 Archer T4U Plus offers flexible positioning and dual-band support, so you can pick the frequency for an optimized network experience based on your needs and location. It’s completely compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems, and supports WPA/WPA2 encryption to secure connections. In addition, its MU-MIMO certification means the highest efficiency and minimal lag with a similarly equipped router (when in doubt, always match your WiFi extender’s specs to that of the router to ensure the strongest streams). While this USB WiFi booster cable uses USB-A (the standard, rectangular slot), there are plenty of adapters to purchase if you need a USB-C connection.

Best dual-band: NETGEAR EX7300 WiFi Range Extender

Amazon

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Why it made the cut: Netgear’s EX7300 is as powerful as a standalone WiFi router.

Specs

• Speed: 2200Mbps
• Range: 2300 Sq. Ft.
• Price: $144.99

Pros

• Excellent range
• Fantastic speeds
• Dual band

Cons

• Price

Dual-band boosters operate on two frequency bands (2.4GHz has longer reach, but slower speed, while 5GHz has less coverage but increased data rates), and the NETGEAR AC2200 EX7300 handles both with aplomb, offering an easy-to-install, high-throughput extender. Featuring WPS (WiFi Protected Setup), it joins your existing router with the press of one button and operates under your established network name for seamless roaming. Its 2200 Mbps, 2000-square-foot performance can handle up to 35 devices simultaneously, and an Ethernet port lets you make a direct connection to a smart TV or gaming console to assure uninterrupted speed. Just make sure to place the booster where coverage is established and steady, so that it’s amplifying a uniformly strong signal.

Best outdoor: TP-Link Omada EAP225 Outdoor Access Point

Amazon

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Why it made the cut: If you want to extend your home’s network to a patio or porch, TP-Link’s EAP225 is the WiFi booster to get.

Specs

• Speed: Up to 867Mbps
• Range: 984 feet
• Price: $69.99

Pros

• Size
• Durability
• Remote management

Cons

• Better options for indoor use

Housed in a discreet, dust- and water-tight IP65-rated enclosure, TP-Link Omaha AC1200 EAP225-Outdoor repeater is the best outdoor WiFi booster. Protected from all sides against the elements, the TP-Link Omaha will deliver stable coverage through anything short of a flood (it even features lightning protection). It’s got dual-band and MU-MIMO support, allowing for seamless roaming around your yard, pool, etc. When integrated with similar units it forms a self-steering, self-healing system to reroute data and maintain connectivity in case of one device’s issue. And, featuring support for a software-defined controller, the Omaha AC1200 will use the cloud for remote configuration, meaning no need to brave the threat of real clouds if the network needs maintenance.

Best mesh: Google Nest Mesh System (2nd Generation)

Amazon

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Why it made the cut: The second-generation Google Nest WiFi Router system is the most powerful option for boosting your home’s WiFi network.

Specs

• Speed: 2.2Gbps
• Range: 1,640 sq. ft.
• Price: $195

Pros

• Exceptional speed
• Google Assistant support
• Aesthetically pleasing

Cons

• May be way more powerful for your needs
• Price

If you aren’t already locked into a router and already think you may need two or more extenders to cover your space, the Google Nest AC2200 Mesh System is a no-brainer for the best mesh WiFi system. A scalable system, the $195 base package comes with a dual-band 2.2Gbps router and two access points intended to cover up to 1600 square feet (add more as needed), meaning your 4K video will stream flawlessly no matter where in the house you wander. The nodes use a proprietary channel to talk to one another, strengthening the signal between each other. And Google’s simple-to-operate iPhone/Android Home app allows the system administrator to create separate guest networks, remotely see what devices are connected, and even pause connections when necessary (I’m looking at you, homework time).

Best budget: TP-Link RE230 WiFi Extender

Amazon

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Why it made the cut: If your needs are modest, TP-Link’s RE230 WiFi Extender is a cost-effective way to boost your home’s wireless network.

Specs

• Speed: Up to 433Mbps
• Range: 1,200 sq. ft.
• Price: $29.99

Pros

• Compact
• Has an Ethernet port
• Price

Cons

• Not as fast as other options

Equipped with dual-band performance and WPS compatibility, the TP-Link AC750 RE230 is the best cheap WiFi booster with a way to quickly drop in another access point for web browsing and other lower-intensity online activities. For everyday use, watching HD video and conducting Zoom calls, etc., the TP-Link RE230 should deliver up to 75Mbps and doesn’t lack much besides expense.

Things to consider when shopping for the best WiFi boosters

WiFi extenders, repeaters—no matter what you call them, the best WiFi boosters look simple because they are simple. They just take the existing wireless signal from your router and lengthen its range. Most need little more than an open wall socket to operate, and many connect with the push of a button. That doesn’t mean there aren’t things to consider, however. Is it just a single device you need to improve, or everything in the house? Is the entire network overwhelmed, or do you just want the best outdoor booster for when you need a change of scenery? Are you looking to plug something in behind the couch, or do you have desktop space? Does your router support a newer, higher throughput technology such as MU-MIMO? Here’s a rundown of important considerations and the best WiFi boosters for each situation.

Range: The main reason to get a WiFi booster extender is to, well, extend the range of your home’s wireless network. You’ll want to get a rough measurement of your home (including the porch and backyard if applicable) to determine which WiFi range extender will work best for you. In some cases you’ll have to get multiple extenders to have the best chance of having a large, consistent network.

Speed: A WiFi booster’s speed is typically calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second). This factor matters less than you may think because the Internet speed you actually get will be determined by the plan you’ve signed up for through your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

Bands: Imagine you’re in a hurry to be somewhere when you come up on roadwork. Someone in a reflective orange vest holds a stop sign for what seems like an eternity as a single line of traffic slowly comes toward you up the one open lane. Finally, that sign gets flipped to “SLOW,” the direction of traffic changes and you meander your way through the same congested channel. Now imagine if your car was data and that data had to take turns all day coming and going from your router. Doesn’t sound very efficient, does it? That’s why the best WiFi boosters support dual-band technology.

A single-band system has to receive, pause, rebroadcast on one channel, repeating the process for each data packet. With the best dual-band WiFi booster system, however, the repeater can connect with the router on one channel, while amplifying the signal to another, cutting down on the overlap that leads to speed loss—an indispensable feature, to be sure.

Outdoor use: Where your router is situated is typically tied to how your internet provider’s wiring enters your house. So, unless you like stringing long, unwieldy and unsightly Ethernet cables throughout your home, your coverage won’t always originate from a central location or be conveniently located near where you’d like to spend more time. For instance, the router might be in the front corner of the living room, as far removed from your back patio as possible. You’d love a change of scenery, to feel less boxed in, but the signal loss through all those walls is just too great to work outside. At least it was before you installed an outdoor WiFi booster.

If you have a covered area with an external wall socket, you could just plug in a standard repeater, but over time moisture and other environmental factors (even just one hard rain) can take their toll. The best all-weather WiFi extenders support multiple devices at up to 300 meters, aided by interchangeable/upgradable antennae. Mounting kits allow for easy installation on a wall or pole, and power can be delivered over Ethernet cable (allowing for placement away from walls and other exposed power sources, etc.).

Mesh WiFi system worth it: : In a house with coaxial ports in multiple rooms, there are hardwired extenders you can install that can rebroadcast your router’s signal to improve range and reliability. Outside of new/custom construction, however, that’s not a very common scenario, so if you’re trying to address a large and/or multistory floor plan, a mesh system can be the best way to overcome thick walls and competing radio waves.

Think of a mesh system as a series of tiny synced cell towers that blanket your home with signal under a single, router-established name, as opposed to multiple, independently managed mini-networks that have to make handshakes and handoffs every time your phone or laptop passes from one to another. Positioned on convenient tabletops, so away from walls and obstructions, mesh WiFi system components can allow for smart roaming with minimal (typically less than 10 percent) signal loss throughout. In addition, there’s the added bonus of using one app to manage all devices, rather than having to go through multiple passwords and configuration interfaces to have everything talking.

Price: If you’re working with a smaller space or budget, it’s still possible to get a lot of buzzwords for less investment. While $100-$200 boosters are common, a $30 plug-in option can still offer a universally compatible add-on perfect for homes in the sub-1200 square feet category.

FAQs

A final word on shopping for the best WiFi boosters

A conference room, a classroom, a movie theater, a multimedia studio: Every room in your house has become a multi-use hub of online activity, so they all need an always-on connection to make sure you’re not wasting space. When strategically placed, the best WiFi boosters shouldn’t require you to do much more than plug them in and hold a button before you’re up and running, and then will be so consistent you forget they’re there. With the right gear, that back room can finally take the front stage, regardless of where your router is.

The post The best WiFi boosters of 2023 appeared first on Popular Science.

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US Facebook users can now apply for their share of the settlement from the Cambridge Analytica class action lawsuit. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, settled the suit last December, agreeing to pay $725 million—although it didn’t have to admit any wrongdoing. If you reside stateside and had an active Facebook account any time between May 24th, 2007, and December 22nd, 2022, you are entitled to a part of the multi-million dollar payout even if you have since deleted your account. You just have to submit a claim before August 25th, 2023.

The settlement all stems from the 2018 revelations that Facebook allowed Cambridge Analytica, a now-defunct British consulting and data mining company, to improperly access personal information from up to 87 million users and use it to target voters during Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign. The data was purportedly collected for academic purposes using a personality quiz app. Even though only 270,000 people took the quiz, because of Facebook’s lax privacy policies, the app was able to scrape personal information from their Facebook friends. 

The fall out at the time was pretty severe. Facebook CEO (and now Meta CEO) Mark Zuckerberg was called before Congress to answer questions related to the scandal, and the company agreed to voluntarily enforce GDPR-like privacy rules globally to prevent something similar from happening again.

After an investigation, the Federal Trade Commission fined Facebook a record-breaking $5 billion. The SEC also fined the company $100 million for misleading investors. And, of course, there was this class action lawsuit—which was later expanded to encompass any other third parties Facebook had allowed to improperly access user data. 

Unfortunately, whatever sum of money you get from this settlement will likely be pretty small. As the FAQs explain, every claimant will be given one point for each month they used Facebook between 2007 and 2022. The full settlement, minus administrative fees, legal costs, and a few other expenses, will then be divided by the total number of points and shared out accordingly. If you have only used Facebook for a few years, you’ll get less than someone who has used the service for the full 15-year claim period.

It’s impossible to know the exact amount that anyone will get until the claim period has passed, but we can do some quick calculations to get a rough range. There were 240 million US Facebook users in 2022. If all of them submitted a claim and they’d all (impossibly) been using monthly Facebook since 2007, assuming the lawyers received 33 percent of the settlement, then you would be entitled to just around the $2 mark. 

At the other end of things, let’s say that just 10 percent of the 50 million users on the site in October, 2007 bother to apply for the settlement and the lawyers only take 25 percent as fees, you’d be entitled to something north of $100. 

So, depending on how active you’ve been on Facebook over the past 15 years, it seems likely that class action participants will get enough for a meal out—though whether that’s at McDonald’s or a local steakhouse remains to be seen. (Of course, if only a handful people bother to fill in Facebook’s claim form, then you could walk away with a few hundred thousand dollars. That seems unlikely, but you never know.)If you want to submit a claim, Facebook has set up a dedicated website. Once you (ironically) fill in a few personal details and select whether you want to be paid with a prepaid gift card, through PayPal or Venmo, or directly into your bank account, all you have to do is wait for your money.

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It’s time for the credits to finally roll on Netflix’s signature red envelopes. After 25 years of delivering DVDs to the doors of movie fans across the country, on Tuesday the company announced that they are finally shutting down their movie-by-mail feature. 

“Those iconic red envelopes changed the way people watched shows and movies at home — and they paved the way for the shift to streaming,” the company’s co-chief executive Ted Sarandos told the New York Times. “To everyone who ever added a DVD to their queue or waited by the mailbox for a red envelope to arrive: thank you.”

The service began in March 1998 with a shipping of Tim Burton’s classic Beetlejuice. By 2010, 20 million people were subscribed to the service, which was around the same time that The Blind Side, Netflix’s most ordered DVD, first came out. The company now says that their final round of DVD shipments will hit the post on September 29. 

[Related: Google Glass is finally shattered]

There isn’t an official count of the number of folks still devoted to the movie-by-mail system that made Netflix the household name it is today, but there are still fans out there waiting patiently for their latest screening. “There are titles you can’t find elsewhere. Their library was just huge compared to any sort of streaming option,” Ann Silverthorn, a retired tech writer and “DVD-by-mail” influencer, told the Washington Post. “I really enjoyed being able to see the trailers at the beginning of each disc. I would get so many ideas of new old movies that I might like to see and I’d write them down and sure enough, they’d be in their catalogue.”

As sad as it is to let go of many films that are otherwise tricky to find on streaming platforms, the revenue from DVD rentals has dropped in recent years, from $182.3 million in 2021 to $145.7 million in 2022. Meanwhile, another revenue-saving move, the crackdown on password sharing, has been delayed from “late Q1 to Q2” in the US (password-sharing rules have already hit Netflix accounts in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain earlier this year, however). 

“While this means that some of the expected membership growth and revenue benefit will fall in Q3 rather than Q2, we believe this will result in a better outcome from both our members and our business,” the company said referring to the password sharing crackdown. 

As for those red envelopes, the company mailed more than 5.2 billion discs to enthusiastic viewers over the last quarter of a century.

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For the first time, a prominent ransomware group appears to be actively targeting macOS computers. Discovered last weekend by MalwareHunterTeam, the code sample suggests that the Russia-based LockBit gang is working on a version of its malware that would encrypt files on Mac devices.

Small businesses, large enterprises, and government institutions are frequently the target of ransomware attacks. Hackers often use phishing emails to send real-seeming messages to try to trick staff into downloading the ransomware payload. Once it’s in, the malware spreads around any computer systems, automatically encrypting user files and preventing the organization from operating until a ransom is paid—usually in crypto currencies like Bitcoin. 

Over the past few years, ransomware attacks have disrupted fuel pipelines, schools, hospitals, cloud providers, and countless other businesses. LockBit has been responsible for hundreds of these attacks, and in the past six months has brought down the UK’s Royal Mail international shipping service and disrupted operations in a Canadian children’s hospital over the Christmas period.

Up until now, these ransomware attacks mostly targeted Windows, Linux, and other enterprise operating systems. While Apple computers are popular with consumers, they aren’t as commonly used in the kind of businesses and other deep-pocketed organizations that ransomware gangs typically go after. 

MalwareHunterTeam, an independent group of security researchers, only discovered the Mac encryptors recently, but they have apparently been present on malware-tracking site VirusTotal since November last year. One encryptor targets Apple Macs with the newer M1 chips, while another targets those with Power PC CPUs, which were all developed before 2006. Presumably, there is a third encryptor somewhere that targets Intel-based Macs, although it doesn’t appear to be in the VirusTotal repository. 

Fortunately, when BleepingComputer assessed the Apple M1 encryptor, it found a fairly half-baked bit of malware. There were lots of code fragments that they said “are out of place in a macOS encryptor.” It concluded that the encryptor was “likely haphazardly thrown together in a test.”

In a deep dive into the M1 encryptor, security researcher Patrick Wardle discovered much the same thing. He found that the code was incomplete, buggy, and missing the features necessary to actually encrypt files on a Mac. In fact, since it wasn’t signed with an Apple Developer ID, it wouldn’t even run in its present state. According to Wardle, “the average macOS user is unlikely to be impacted by this LockBit macOS sample” but that a “large ransomware gang has apparently set its sights on macOS, should give us pause for concern and also catalyze conversions about detecting and preventing this (and future) samples in the first place!”

Apple has also preemptively implemented a number of security features that mitigate the risks from ransomware attacks. According to Wardle, operating system-level files are protected by both System Integrity Protection and read-only system volumes. This makes it hard for ransomware to do much to disrupt how macOS works even if it does end up on your computer. Similarly, Apple protects directories such as the Desktop, Documents, and other folders, so the ransomware wouldn’t be able to encrypt them without user approval or an exploit. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible that ransomware could work on a Mac, but it certainly won’t be easy on those that are kept up-to-date with the latest security features. 

Still, the fact that a large hacking group is seemingly targeting Macs is still a big deal—and it’s a reminder that whatever reputation Apple has for developing more secure devices is constantly being put to the test. When BleepingComputer contacted LockBitSupp, the public face of LockBit, the group confirmed that a Mac encryptor is “actively being developed.” While the ransomware won’t do much in its present state, you should always keep your Mac up-to-date—and be careful with any suspicious files you download from the internet.

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In the water, sound is the primary form of communication for many marine organisms. A healthy ecosystem, like a lively coral reef, sounds like a loud symphony of snaps, crackles, pops, and croaks. These sounds can attract new inhabitants who hear its call from the open ocean. But in reefs that are degraded or overfished, it is more of a somber hum. That’s why monitoring how these habitats sound is becoming a key focus in marine research. 

To study this, scientists deploy underwater microphones, or hydrophones, for 24 hours at a time. Although these tools can pick up a lot of data, the hundreds of hours of recordings are tedious and difficult for a handful of researchers, or even labs, to go through. 

This week, tech giant Google announced that it was collaborating with marine biologists to launch an ocean listening project called “Calling our corals.” Anyone can listen to the recordings loaded on the platform—they come from sounds recorded by underwater microphones at 10 reefs around the world—and help scientists identify fish, crabs, shrimps, dolphins and human sounds like mining or boats. By crowdsourcing the annotation process for the audio clips, scientists could gather information more quickly on the biodiversity and activity at these reefs. 

[Related: Why ocean researchers want to create a global library of undersea sounds]

As part of the experience, you can also immerse in 360, surround sound views, of different underwater places as you read about the importance of coral to ocean life. Or, you can peruse through this interactive exhibit that takes you on a whirlwind tour. 

If you want to participate as a citizen scientist, click through to the platform, and it will take you through a training session where it teaches you to identify fish sounds. Then, you can practice until you feel solid about your skills. After that, you’ll be given 30-second-reef sound clips, and you will be asked to click every time you hear a fish noise, or spot where fish sounds versus shrimp sounds appear in a spectrogram (a spectrogram is a visual pattern representation capturing the amplitude, frequency, and duration of sounds). 

You can choose a location to begin your journey. The choices are Australia, Indonesia, French Polynesia, Maldives, Panama, Belgium’s North Sea, Florida Keys, Sweden, and The Guly in Canada. The whole process should take around 3 minutes. 

A more ambitious goal down the line for this project is to use all of the data gathered through this platform to train an AI model to listen to reefs and automatically identify the different species that are present. Having an AI model means that they can handle and ingest larger amounts of data, getting the researchers  up to date faster on the present conditions out in the ocean. 

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Montana is one step away from instituting a state-wide wholesale ban of TikTok. On Friday, the state’s House of Representatives voted 54-43 in favor of passing SB419, which would blacklist the immensely popular social media platform from operating within the “territorial jurisdiction of Montana,”  as well as prohibit app stores from offering it to users. The legislation now heads to Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte, who has 10 days to sign the bill into law, veto it, or allow it to go into effect without issuing an explicit decision.

Although a spokesperson only said that Gov. Gianforte would “carefully consider any bill the Legislature sends to his desk,” previous statements and actions indicate a sign-off is likely. Gianforte banned TikTok on all government devices last year after describing the platform as a “significant risk” for data security.

TikTok is owned by the China-based company, ByteDance, and faces intense scrutiny from critics on both sides of the political aisle over concerns regarding users’ privacy. Many opponents of the app also claim it subjects Americans to undue influence and propaganda from the Chinese government. Speaking with local news outlet KTVH last week, Montana state Sen. Shelley Vance alleged that “we know that beyond a doubt that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance is operating as a surveillance arm of the Chinese Communist Party and gathers information about Americans against their will.”

[Related: Why some US lawmakers want to ban TikTok.]

As Gizmodo also notes, however, there is still no definitive proof TikTok or ByteDance is surveilling US users, although company employees do have standard access to user data. Regardless, many privacy advocates and experts warn that the continued focus on TikTok ignores the much larger and more pervasive data privacy issues affecting Americans. The RESTRICT Act, for example, is the most notable federal effort to institute a wholesale blacklisting of TikTok, but critics have voiced numerous worries regarding its expansive language, ill-defined enforcement, and unintended consequences. The bill’s ultimate fate still remains unclear.

If Montana’s SB419 ultimately moves forward, it will go into effect on January 1, 2024. The bill proposes a $10,000 per day fine on any app store, or TikTok itself, if it continues to remain available within the state afterwards. The proposed law does not include any penalties on individual users.

In a statement reported by The New York Times, a TikTok spokesperson said the company “will continue to fight for TikTok users and creators in Montana whose livelihoods and First Amendment rights are threatened by this egregious government overreach.”

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On a late summer day last year, an emergency test alert popped up for a small number of pre-selected drivers in Fairfax County, Virginia, warning of a fictitious brushfire in their area. But this message didn’t just come through a beep or buzz on their phones—it was also shared directly on the infotainment consoles in their cars, with a “fire zone” area appearing on their on-screen maps. 

These test messages were for a live demonstration of a years-in-the-making project to update emergency alerts for wildfires. While wireless emergency alerts have been available on cell phones for more than a decade, there is currently no method for sending them directly to car screens. The hope for this new system is that having an alert display in vehicles could help authorities reach people who live in areas at risk of wildfires—people who are otherwise challenging to notify through other warning methods. 

In particular, this pilot project is focused on the “wildland-urban interface,” or WUI. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), WUI areas are any neighborhoods or residential settlements at the cusp of, or even mixed in with, undeveloped land. Across the United States, more than 46 million homes are at a heightened risk of wildfires due to their location in the WUI. 

When a wildfire does occur in these areas, it can be particularly difficult to notify residents. Oftentimes, homes in WUI regions are spread out, making methods like sirens or door-knocking less viable. These areas also tend to have limited reception and internet connectivity, which can mean residents do not receive cell phone alerts. And even if the alerts do come through, they typically do not include direction information to get to safety. In recent years, multiple WUI communities have reported a lack in sufficient wildfire warnings, including those impacted by the 2018 Camp Fire in California and the 2021 Marshall Fire in Colorado. In some cases, community members in such areas have even developed their own apps and outlets in an effort to address this gap. 

It was after learning about residents’ frustrations following the Marshall Fire that Norman Speicher says his office began to explore other alerting options. Speicher works at the Department of Homeland Security as a program manager for the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), which is the research and development branch of DHS. His team wanted to find new ways to “bring the information to where people already are,” Speicher says, and became interested in the idea of sending messages straight to car infotainment systems, which are the built-in screens that can display your connected phone, GPS services, and other information about your vehicle.

The Virginia test in August 2022 was the first (almost) real-world trial of that idea, which the S&T is calling the WUI Integration Model. While it’s still deep in development, Speicher is confident that the team will ultimately be able to produce a system that can generate a virtual map of future wildfires and alert drivers in surrounding areas to stay away. One day, he hopes it could even be able to help drivers navigate away safely. But getting to that point requires not only new technology—it also calls for forging paths through the worlds of warnings and car systems, all without losing sight of what makes a warning message successful.

Understanding existing emergency alerts 

The WUI Integration Model is part of a warning landscape that Jeannette Sutton describes as “complicated.” An associate professor at the State University of New York at Albany’s College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity, Sutton researches all things related to emergency alerts, from official public warnings to social media posts. 

There are a few major pathways to warn the public of disasters in the United States, she explains. There are public-facing alerts that require no effort from residents—like sirens, highway billboards, and messages sent through radios or TVs. There are also opt-in measures, like following emergency agencies on social media and specific apps or messaging systems that emergency managers in some municipalities use to send local residents messages. 

Then there is the wireless emergency alert system, which sends geographically-targeted messages straight to your cell phone. This operates as an opt-out measure, meaning all capable phones will receive these warnings unless someone takes action to turn them off. (For example, if you have an iPhone, you can check your preferences by going into Settings, then selecting Notifications and scrolling all the way down until you see the Government Alerts section.) In the 11 years since this program launched, the Federal Communication Commission says it has issued more than 70,000 messages sharing critical information. 

[Related: A network of 1,000 cameras is watching for Western wildfires—and you can, too]

To actually get these wireless emergency alerts to your cell phone, emergency officials use FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, or IPAWS, which is a kind of one-stop shop for all national broadcast warnings. Emergency officials craft messages that IPAWS can understand, which are then sent through to the correct alerting pipeline, whether its wireless emergency alerts to cell phones or dispatches through radio and TV. This system is also a key player in the new WUI Integration Model.

From IPAWS to your infotainment system

In order to bridge the gap between IPAWS and car consoles, S&T began working with FEMA, consulting firm Corner Alliance, and HAAS Alert, a business specializing in digital automotive and roadway alerts. These partnerships have been particularly helpful in understanding just how infotainment centers function, says Speicher. He describes this particular arm of the automotive industry as a “Wild West” since different automakers have various approaches—some develop their own proprietary infotainment consoles, while others work with third-party providers. Plus, there are various systems that can be integrated with the infotainment centers, like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. 

Speicher says his team was able to develop a system that would serve car brands that work with Stellantis, an automaker whose brands includes Chrysler, Jeep, and a host of others. The multi-company partnership operates with HAAS serving as a conduit between an outpost of the IPAWS system and Stellantis.

So, when a disaster happens, the model operates like this: an emergency manager drafts the necessary alert into IPAWS, from which it is added to an open-platform feed. HAAS then picks up the message, decodes and processes it, and redistributes it to Stellantis, which in turn pushes the message out to its network of vehicles. From there, location services within the Stellantis infotainment consoles determine if the alert is relevant to display. 

In the case of the demo last summer, the Fairfax Office of Emergency Management in Virginia sent out the test alert, which was distributed through infotainment consoles to other members of the project team who drove within a one-mile radius of the fake fire. Speicher says the test was valuable as a proof of concept but also was helpful in revealing additional needs and opportunities for future development. 

One major area of interest for Speicher is working with navigation services like Google Maps and Waze. Both navigation systems currently offer basic alerts, which indicate areas where there are hazards like fires or flooding, but Speicher says he is eager to explore partnerships with these providers that might allow for more specific navigation offerings in the future. That could include not only showing where a hazard is, but offering directions to avoid it or leave it. Speicher says they are also looking into providing alerts once someone has left the fire zone, as well as figuring out how these console alerts could be translated into other languages. 

Making up the messaging

From Sutton’s perspective as a risk communications researcher, the biggest question with this new model is what the actual messaging looks and sounds like. In her experience, this is a critical area that has traditionally been overlooked in the past when it came to developing emergency alerts. For example, she says early wireless emergency alerts were actually found to fail to motivate people to take protective action—she and other researchers found people were actually more likely to seek out additional information instead. IPAWS has since tweaked its allotted amount of characters and better targeted its messaging to make warnings clearer for recipients. 

With this new WUI Integration Model, Sutton believes the delivery and design of the alert is particularly important given the fact that recipients will be driving. That means the message needs to be easily and accurately digested.

“They also have to solve the potential problems that could arise with people being notified about a significant event, which is very disruptive,” Sutton added, as the typical alert sounds or display used on cell phones might be too jarring for a driver. 

In a press release from S&T about the program, Speicher said such behavioral science is being factored into the design of the model, with the goal of creating a “standardized messaging format” that can be easily recognized by drivers. 

What’s next, and what you can do now 

Speicher says the next WUI Integration Model test is currently slated for July, and he teased a number of other emergency messaging developments that are also in the works, including a way to distribute alerts through streaming providers like Netflix or Hulu. But for now, there are a few ways to increase your likelihood of receiving relevant emergency alerts. 

Experts strongly recommend keeping on those wireless emergency alerts, which tend to be the best way to stay in the loop. If you have opted out in the past and are interested in turning them back on, check your phone settings for both emergency and public safety alerts. You can also look up your state or local office of emergency management to better understand your area’s risks and any opportunities to stay more informed. In some cases, there might be additional apps you can download for more specialized alerts, such as ShakeAlert, an earthquake alert system for Western states. 

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ON THE WEBSITE Soar.Earth, you’ll find a map of the world that at first looks a lot like the one on Google Earth. But zoom in, and rectangles appear. Click on one, and you might find an image from a 1960s spy satellite showing a fresh crater from a nuclear-weapons test. Scoot to different coordinates, and see high-resolution satellite shots of last year’s floods in Western Australia. Northwest of that, there’s a map showing where Saudi Arabia has excavated for a futuristic, 110-mile-long city called The Line. 

The site’s founder, Amir Farhand, has big dreams for Soar: He hopes it will become the world’s biggest atlas, allowing users to see all the information that people have gathered about any point on Earth.

While achieving that dream is perhaps impossible, or at least a long way away, Soar already hosts oodles of historical maps, satellite shots from sources like NASA, and even cartography from scientific papers. Containing past and present maps while allowing users to also commission images from satellites, Soar can track the intersecting interests of many different groups: climate scientists, developers, intelligence analysts, mining experts, and defense contractors. 

The interests of the last two groups are, in fact, what spurred Soar’s creation.

Charted territory

Farhand, who lives in Australia, was always a plot-the-world kind of guy. He moved a lot as a kid, but wherever he was, he would ride his bike around his neighborhood and make maps of the surroundings.

After learning about satellite imagery and its relevance to Earth science in college, and then dropping out of a PhD program, Farhand became a consultant. He worked all over the world on geospatial projects. 

“Then I thought, You know what, I love atlases,” he says. “And I thought to myself, Why aren’t all the world’s atlases in one place?” 

Why wasn’t there a spot where he could overlay a leopard habitat range over a climatic map and so see the correlation? Why couldn’t he also see how someone had baroquely hand-drawn the area’s layout hundreds of years ago? Who wouldn’t want that?

Back then, around 2011, those were relatively idle questions for him. But in the years to come, Farhand would take them to work. In 2013, he created an application called Mappt—it contained the early seeds of what Soar would become. A few years after Mappt became available, a new customer took an interest: the US government. In 2017, a defense-centric version called Mappt Military appeared on the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s official app store. Verified Department of Defense or intelligence community members could use it for free. It’s still available today, allowing users to map hazards, plan logistics and transport, and plot place-based risks, among other things. 

Defense users and also people in the mining industry were interested in using the technology to build their own private atlases, storing all their geospatial data in one spot, accessible from anywhere. The contents of those atlases ranged from modern drone and satellite photos to pictures taken from airplanes in the 1960s, and they wanted it in the field, offline. 

“It was all based on that premise of flexibility of having mapping data on your hands,” Farhand says. 

Soar rose, in a way, out of Mappt’s iterations. On the site, users can create their own private atlases—as the defense and mining companies wanted to—and include proprietary data, like satellite images they buy through the site. Or they can upload content for everyone to see, as long as they own its copyright or do their best to attribute public domain and out-of-copyright images. Or they can do both. Interacting with the site is free, as is creating an account, although some features (like making a private atlas) do cost money. Today, both Mappt and Soar.Earth are part of the parent company, Soar. 

On the Soar site, users can whip across the screen to anywhere on the planet and see if someone has uploaded an aerial photo from the 1950s, maps of flooding, maps of drought, and plots of elevation—all of which are available for, say, the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. They can make measurements, add annotations, make different layers transparent and see how they overlap. 

The team is currently working through how best to moderate content on the platform to ensure it fits with Soar’s guidelines. Right now, anyone can upload maps in near real time if they agree their data fits with copyright and community guidelines. The Soar team generally logs in and checks on new uploads several times a day. Users can also report violations. Soon, though, the company will split users into two tiers: one of trusted power users who can automatically upload, and another that will have to await Soar’s approval before their maps appear. Farhand compares their policy to what you might find with Google Reviews or YouTube, noting that he’s “hopeful we can use precursor crowdsourcing platforms for directions on what to not to do, as much as what to do.”

If Soar doesn’t yet have the maps a user is looking for, they can request free NASA or Sentinel (a European satellite program) data of the area, buy brand-new shots from commercial satellites, or order archival images—all of which can be done through Soar and added to the public atlas of atlases. “They were very, very early into making it possible to just log into a website and buy satellite imagery,” says Joe Morrison, a vice president at Umbra, a company that takes radar-based data from space. 

Morrison writes a popular industry newsletter called “A Closer Look,” about “maps, satellites, and the businesses that create them,” and his analysis often laments the typical difficulty of buying shots from space: The pricing is opaque, the licensing is often restrictive, and actually opening the shutter can take so long the picture is no longer relevant. Soar aims to solve a lot of those problems. 

The combination and chronology of the data is interesting to people doing, say, climate research, tracking a conflict, or trying to suss out secret goings-on by using public data. Soar provides a platform on which users can do a form of what’s known as open-source intelligence, or OSINT, which can be a powerful way to track intra- or inter-country dynamics.

Morrison says what sets Soar apart from other geospatial endeavors is that it has focused on creating a community that publicly shares interactive maps. Most people aren’t going to pay for their own shiny satellite pictures, or spend all their free time aligning old National Geographic maps to the Soar lat-long grid, or adding daily updates on the big construction project across town. But some people will. 

Farhand thinks of the dynamic like that of YouTube: Many more people watch videos than create them. “We get this beautiful, enriching content from incredible specialists around the world,” he says of Soar’s homegrown influencers. “And then you’ve got these hordes of viewers that come on board.”

Spatial storytelling

One big-audience user who shares regular info on Soar goes by the handle War Mapper. They regularly post maps that consolidate updates on the conflict in Ukraine, showing the extent of territory controlled by Ukraine, or Russian-occupied territory, among other data. 

Another popular presence is Harry Stranger, a 23-year-old from Brisbane. “I would consider him an open-source analyst,” Morrison says. “He’s not really a journalist. He’s not really a military analyst. And he’s not just the normal amateur sleuth. He’s somewhere between.”

A while ago, Stranger, a space nerd, wanted to see a picture of a particular launchpad. Like so many interesting things, space infrastructure is hard to reach. You can’t just stroll up to a rocket’s spot on Cape Canaveral. And you definitely cannot do so at China’s Xichang Satellite Launch Center. “People can’t just walk up to and take a picture of it,” he says of such secure spots. But space offers a view of it all. And there aren’t really restrictions—despite rumors to the contrary—on what civilians can nab shots of.  

At some point, Stranger heard that he could get satellite images of the launchpad, for free, from Sentinel. “I became addicted,” he says.

Stranger started to keep an eye on various aerospace places in the world, particularly those located in countries that don’t give much public notice of their activities, like China. Was there construction? Is there a rocket rocking on the pad? Sometimes he hears a rumor and starts monitoring the site via satellite. Without having any insider knowledge, he could know more than he ever had before. “Space from space,” he calls his endeavors now.

When you can’t go through, don’t go around: Go above and look down. It is, after all, what the intelligence apparatus has been doing since the satellites that took the photos were invented. 

Stranger’s interest in monitoring earthly activity from above mirrors the more automated interests of intelligence programs, like the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity’s SMART program, which aims to create software that can spot terrestrial changes, like heavy construction or new crop growth, from satellite imagery. 

Soon, Stranger was interested in what the intelligence types of the past had seen, which he was able to access through the lenses of old spy satellite systems whose images had since been cleared for public release. “I knew it existed out there,” he says of the declassified images. He didn’t think “out there” would end up being as easy as logging into the United States Geological Survey website, but it was.

If the formerly hushed images had already been scanned, he could download them for free, and he soon set up a GoFundMe to pay for the digitization of more. Soar, which Stranger hadn’t really used yet, donated $750.

“That’s where we kind of kicked off our relationship,” he says.

He started uploading the declassified imagery to Soar. Now, anyone can see US spy satellite shots of the Jiuquan Launch Center in China from the 1970s, along with a 2022 commercial-satellite image of a rocket test stand at the site, which was hit by an explosion the year before.

Guide to the planet

Right now, Soar hosts just under 100,000 different maps (excluding the shots from satellites like Sentinel, which add data all the time). Farhand estimates that this six-digit number is less than 0.0001 percent of the world’s total extant maps. “I don’t think that’s good enough,” he says. 

But if the company can get up to 1 or 2 percent of the total, he thinks, Soar could become as ubiquitous as Google Maps but with more context and community. That’s the dream anyway—a castle in the air that he’d like to tether to Earth. 

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Picture this: You’re at your desk working on a project when your phone chimes. A quick glance tells you a friend sent over a video on TikTok. Convinced you’re due for a break, you click the link to find a new dance video from Charli D’Amelio. Fast forward an hour later, and you’re still on your phone, except now you’ve gone from viral dances to animal videos to fitness gurus raving about a weight loss hack. 

If this scenario hits too close to home, you’re not alone. Most people on social media check it daily, and younger people are likelier to return to their favorite platforms multiple times a day. TikTok is especially popular with teenagers: A 2022 survey from the Pew Research Center suggests 67 percent of teens use it, while 16 percent use it almost constantly. 

So why do people spend so much time online? One underlying reason is that platforms like TikTok promote infinite scrolling. You might start off in one video only for the page to continuously load a never-ending stream of content. Absent-mindedly scrolling through content might seem like an innocent activity and a great excuse to waste time. However, research suggests it can negatively influence the brain and mental health.

Anyone can fall prey to mindless scrolling. Younger people are especially vulnerable since the brain is not fully developed until age 25, says Lisa Pion-Berlin, a psychologist and president of Parents Anonymous, a child abuse prevention nonprofit. While limiting access to social media (like this Utah bill requiring parental permission is trying to do) is one option, learning how to be a more active user can help anyone stop infinite scrolling and still enjoy social media.

Why infinite scrolling is bad for you

Social media platforms like TikTok are not comprehensively bad for you. Several studies suggest social media can prompt feelings of connectedness and positive well-being. Further, they allow for personal expression, which fosters positive mental health.

Ultimately, how social media makes people feel depends on how they use it. For example, excess social media use is associated with feeling more anxious, lonely, and generally bad about yourself. 

“The more attached we are to our devices, the more problematic it becomes,” says Lisa Strohman, a psychologist and the founder of Digital Citizen Academy, an education program that teaches children and teens how to have a healthy relationship with technology. 

[Related: Do you never feel FOMO? Time to meet its twin, JOMO.]

Moreover, Strohman says watching pictures and videos of everyone living their best life might make you worried or sad that you’re missing out. Some research suggests that comparing yourself to others on social media can result in aggression and anxiety, while other studies suggest a link between negative comparisons on social media and suicidal ideation.

Meanwhile, mindless scrolling can result in a state of mind similar to being in a trance state, says Pion-Berlin. She’s concerned that “mindless scrolling is a way to tune out” or dissociate from reality. Some research suggests that overuse of social media can result in negative psychological impacts: A 2023 study in the journal JAMA Pediatrics found that middle schoolers who constantly checked their social media feeds showed changes in how their brains responded to feedback and criticism from peers.   

Infinite scrolling can also lead to disrupted sleep patterns in adolescents and adults. The screen’s blue light can make it difficult to fall asleep, and the constant content prevents your brain from shutting down for the night. 

When we sleep, the brain sorts through and categorizes the information from the day and commits the vital stuff into long-term memory, explains Strohman. But mindless social media surfing before bedtime keeps giving it more data for the brain to process throughout the night, “and that’s what tends to lead to that insomnia,” she explains.

How infinite scrolling can hijack the brain

Mindless scrolling helps make social media an addicting habit because it takes advantage of the brain’s reward system, says Strohman.

An enjoyable TikTok, for example, can trigger the brain’s reward pathway. Subsequently, this causes the brain to release a chemical called dopamine, which Strohman describes “as a hit or a high” for the brain. The dopamine surge tells the brain that scrolling through social media is pleasurable and that we should do it again. Because another attention-grabbing Tiktok plays immediately when the first is over, this process starts all over again immediately. 

“The brain is rewarded every time because of how the feeds and algorithms are set up so that anytime we’re not on the app, we think we’re missing something,” explains Strohman. “That makes us want to go back on it again.:

The same process applies to adolescents—possibly to a more significant effect. Pion-Berlin explains that because the prefrontal cortex is one of the last brain areas to mature fully, younger people are more impulsive and have less self-control than adults. With less self-control, it may be easier for teens to fall into this rabbit hole of social media content, she says. In addition, the limbic system—a part of the brain involved in behavioral and emotional responses—is also more sensitive during our teenage years, which makes them likelier to prioritize pleasurable and desirable activities.

What are some ways to stop infinite scrolling?

While infinite scrolling isn’t great, that does not mean you need to quit social media altogether. On the contrary, there are some benefits to staying on the apps, such as building communities among people with a shared hobby or interest, maintaining relationships with family who live miles away, raising awareness for a particular cause, and learning from credible experts.

[Related: All the ways you can reduce screen time across your devices]

To make the most of your time, you’ll want to become an active rather than a passive user. Active users interact with others— in practice, this could look like commenting on posts or creating content. The high engagement gives you a specific purpose for being on the app, allows you to nurture and maintain online friendships, and is associated with improved well-being. 

Meanwhile, infinite scrolling is a passive activity because you’re socially disconnected from others and lurking in the background. Of course, sometimes you just want to take a break from life and watch some mind-numbing videos. In these situations, you’ll want to set a timer to limit the time you spend online and know when it’s time to log off, Strohman says. 

Another suggestion from Strohman is turning off notifications. People often fall into mindless surfing when notified or tagged in something. And while you might start out looking at the relevant post, you can easily find yourself lost in a comment thread or other recommended videos. 

“Have a clear purpose when accessing social media,” Strohman says. If a friend shares a post, tell yourself you will only watch this one video and not spend the next two hours on TikTok. 

“The more you scroll, the less settled you’ll be,” advises Strohman. “Be mindful, recognize your part in it, and try to do what you can to manage yourself in those online worlds.”

The post How to break your toxic infinite scroll habit on TikTok appeared first on Popular Science.

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The fate of the RESTRICT Act remains unclear. Also known as the “TikTok ban,” the bill has sizable bipartisan political—and even public—support, but critics say the bill in its current form focuses on the wrong issues. If it becomes law, it could change the way the government polices your internet activity, whether or not you use the popular video sharing app. 

Proponents of the RESTRICT Act, which stands for “Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology,” have called China’s social media app dangerous and invasive. But Salon, among others, has noted that “TikTok” does not appear once throughout the RESTRICT Act’s 55-page proposal. Salon even refers to it as “Patriot Act 2.0” in regards to its minefield of privacy violations.

[Related: Why some US lawmakers want to ban TikTok.]

Critics continue to note that the passage of the bill into law could grant an expansive, ill-defined set of new powers to unelected committee officials. Regardless of what happens with TikTok itself, the new oversight ensures any number of other apps and internet sites could be subjected to blacklisting and censorship at the government’s discretion. What’s more, everyday citizens may face legal prosecution for attempting to circumvent these digital blockades—such as downloading banned apps via VPN or while in another country—including 25 years of prison time.

In its latest detailed rundown published on Tuesday, the digital privacy advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation called the potential law a “dangerous substitute” for comprehensive data privacy legislation that could actually benefit internet users, such as bills passed for states like California, Colorado, Iowa, Connecticut, Virginia, and Utah. Meanwhile, the digital rights nonprofit Fight for the Future’s ongoing #DontBanTikTok campaign describes the RESTRICT Act as “oppressive” while still failing to address “valid privacy and security concerns.” The ACLU also maintains the ban “would violate [Americans’] constitutional right to free speech.”

As EFF noted earlier this week, the current proposed legislation would authorize the executive branch to block “transactions [and] holdings” of “foreign adversaries” involving information and communication technology if deemed “undue or unacceptable risk[s]” to national security. These decisions would often be at the sole discretion of unelected government officials, and because of the legislation’s broad phrasing, they could make it difficult for the public to learn exactly why a company or app is facing restrictions.

In its lengthy, scathing rebuke, Salon offered the following bill section for consideration:

“If a civil action challenging an action or finding under this Act is brought, and the court determines that protected information in the administrative record, including classified or other information subject to privilege or protections under any provision of law, is necessary to resolve the action, that information shall be submitted ex parte and in camera to the court and the court shall maintain that information under seal.”

[RELATED: Twitter’s ‘Blue Check’ drama is a verified mess.]

Distilled down, this section could imply that the evidence about an accused violator—say, an average US citizen who unwittingly accessed a banned platform—could be used against them without their knowledge.

If RESTRICT Act were to be passed as law, the “ban” could force changes in how the internet fundamentally works within the US, “including potential requirements on service platforms to police and censor the traffic of users, or even a national firewall to prevent users from downloading TikTok from sources across our borders,” argues the Center for Democracy and Technology.

Because of the bill’s language, future bans could go into effect for any number of other, foreign-based apps and websites. As Salon also argues, the bill allows for a distressing lack of accountability and transparency regarding the committee responsible for deciding which apps to ban, adding that “the lack of judicial review and reliance on Patriot Act-like surveillance powers could open the door to unjustified targeting of individuals or groups.”

Instead of the RESTRICT Act, privacy advocates urge politicians to pass comprehensive data privacy reforms that pertain to all companies, both domestic and foreign. The EFF argues, “Congress… should focus on comprehensive consumer data privacy legislation that will have a real impact, and protect our data no matter what platform it’s on—TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else that profits from our private information.”

The post The ‘TikTok ban’ is a legal nightmare beyond TikTok appeared first on Popular Science.

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The copy of the original white paper explaining Bitcoin’s technological, philosophical, and economic underpinnings has been available online since its publication in 2008—but for some reason, a file version is potentially also buried in every Apple product running MacOS. First spotted by the blogger Andy Baio, a simple copy-paste of the following commands entered into Terminal will reveal the cryptocurrency explainer tucked away within macOS systems folders: 

open /System/Library/Image\

Capture/Devices/VirtualScanner.app/Contents/Resources/simpledoc.pdf

PopSci can also confirm the PDF’s existence on Ventura 13.2.1 after testing out the prompt. As Ars Technica noted on Thursday, the PDF is included within a system app called VirtualScanner.app, which is “almost certainly” related to the “import from iPhone” Continuity Camera feature first rolled out with Mojave.

[Related: A beginner’s guide to how cryptocurrencies work.]

Penned under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, the Bitcoin white paper’s author (or authors) have never been confirmed, but their impact on global economics has been felt ever since. Designed to be a decentralized alternative form of digital currency, Bitcoin relies on transactions recorded within a globally shared blockchain ledger, and is “mined” over time via users’ computers. As PopSci explained in 2016:

“Every 10 minutes, new Bitcoin enter the system. ‘Miners’ donate spare or dedicated processing power to help validate transactions around the globe. Bitcoin come as rewards for that work. In the early days, you could just do this with a PC. Now the process is complex and requires powerful hardware.”

While many Bitcoin and general cryptocurrency enthusiasts abound, critics often point to the monetary system’s extreme volatility. The value of single Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $68,789 on November 10, 2021. Barely a month later, its value sank to $46,164. As of writing, one Bitcoin is worth roughly $28,000.

According to his post on Wednesday, Baio accidentally came across the PDF Easter egg while attempting to fix their printer. After double checking with over a dozen Mac-using friends, Baio confirmed the file could be located in every version of macOS they had, stretching all the way back to 2018’s Mojave (10.14.0) update. Any Mac featuring High Sierra or earlier, however, appears to be sans “Satoshi.”

As to why Nakamoto’s white paper is buried within macOS, it’s anyone’s guess. “ Is there a secret Bitcoin maxi working at Apple?” asks Baio, before surmising, “Maybe it was just a convenient, lightweight multipage PDF for testing purposes, never meant to be seen by end users.”

In any case, Baio reveals a “little bird” informed him someone internally flagged the issue almost a year ago, which was subsequently assigned to the same engineer who embedded the whitepaper PDF. Clearly, nothing has happened to it since then, although that could very well change if enough people make a fuss about it.

PopSci has reached out to Apple for comment, and will update accordingly.

The post A Bitcoin Easter egg has been buried in macOS since 2018 appeared first on Popular Science.

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After years of Instagram users pining for the return of chronological feeds, the app has finally made a change that lets you put the most recent posts at the top. There is a catch, though: your choice to sort your homepage chronologically is temporary, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

As we mentioned above, this change will not stick. If you close the app and reopen it, you’ll be right back on Instagram’s algorithmic feed. You also won’t be able to see Stories in this view, so it feels very much like a sub-feed. But if you tap any of the icons at the bottom of the screen (search, Reels, shop, and profile), then go back to the homepage, it should still be sorted chronologically. To get back to the standard feed, tap the back arrow in the top left.

This feature isn’t available if you’re using Instagram in a web browser, but if you don’t see these options on your mobile device, try updating your app. The Meta-owned platform launched this feature almost a year ago, so getting the most recent version should give you the ability to make your feed chronological. The pre-update workaround still helps, too: tap View Older Posts wherever you see it to gaze upon posts you may have missed.

How to set up Instagram’s chronological Favorites feed

If you follow a lot of accounts, a chronological Instagram feed can become tedious. When Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced the change in January 2021, he noted that most people don’t get through most of their feeds. You can use the Favorites sorting option to only see the most recent posts from select accounts.

Posts from accounts on your Favorites list will be starred and appear higher up on the standard Instagram feed, Mosseri said in a post on Meta’s official blog.

There are a few ways to manage your Favorites list after you’ve created it. If you’re viewing the Favorites feed, tap the starred list icon in the top right to add or remove accounts. You can also tap the star icon next to a post from a favorited account wherever you see it, then hit Manage favorites to get to the same screen. Or tap the three lines in the top right corner of your profile page, then choose Favorites. It’s a great way to keep only the best posts on your sparkling new chronological Instagram feed.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on March 29, 2022.

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Best overall		Nighthawk AX8 Wi-Fi Mesh Extender (EAX80)		SEE IT	The Netgear Nighthawk AX8 is a large extender … because it can also serve as a mesh network access point.
Best outlet		TP-Link AC2600 Range Extender (RE650)		SEE IT	The TP-Link AC2600 delivers almost as much range as our top pick, but in a compact form factor.
Best for outside		Netgear Orbi Outdoor Satellite Extender (RBS50Y)		SEE IT	The Netgear Orbi Satellite Extender was made to bring a mesh network outside, but works well as an outdoor extender for any router.

You’ve just set up your new, top-of-the-line router to take full advantage of your high-bandwidth home internet connection, but are horrified to discover that the wireless signal—despite getting blazing-fast speeds in most of your home—just doesn’t extend to your office. Between the limitations of your router’s range or physical interference from solid walls and other obstacles, it may be difficult to cover your home with a single, centralized WiFi router. Don’t worry! Rather than start from scratch, you may be able to buy an extra peripheral to strengthen your router’s signal and reach those awkward, out-of-the-way corners and make sure you’ve got complete wireless coverage throughout your home. Tapping into your existing network and then rebroadcasting the signal from a new location, the best WiFi extenders should be capable of covering small dead zones in the far corners of your space.

• Best overall: Netgear Nighthawk AX8 Wi-Fi Mesh Extender (EAX80)
• Best outlet: TP-Link AC2600 Range Extender (RE650)
• Best for outside: Netgear Orbi Outdoor Satellite Extender (RBS50Y)
• Best budget with WiFi 6: D-Link EXO AX DAP-X1870
• Best budget: TP-Link AC750 Range Extender (RE220)

How we chose the best WiFi extenders

The best WiFi extenders are understandably made by the same companies manufacturing the best routers that they enhance. Hence, the expertise and familiarity with networking gear I’ve gained from covering the space for Popular Science carry over here. Based on testing, reading professional reviews, and consumer impressions, I made my selections to ensure that these picks have top features on paper and are well-liked in practice.

The best WiFi extenders: Reviews & Recommendations

Hopefully, you know whether you should be looking for a WiFi extender, a WiFi booster, or to replace your router completely. You’ve come to the right place if you’re just looking to fill a gap in your network. We’ve picked out the best WiFi extenders you can buy right now, with options for various price points and user needs.

Best overall: Netgear Nighthawk AX8 Wi-Fi Mesh Extender (EAX80) 

Netgear

SEE IT

Buy it used or refurbished: Amazon

Why it made the cut: The Netgear Nighthawk AX8 offers an incredible range boost, extra ports, and more.

Specs

• WiFi Version: 6 (802.11ax)
• Coverage: 2,500 sq ft
• Ports: 4 Gigabit Ethernet
• Data transfer rate: 6 GB/s

Pros

• Great performance and range
• Mesh compatibility with Netgear routers
• Security and customization features

Cons

• Large 
• Expensive

Unlike most outlet-mounted WiFi extenders, the Netgear EAX80 is a large, freestanding monolith that resembles a regular router or modem. It’s pricey and can’t be wall-mounted, so you’ll need to find some table or shelf space for this imposing slab, but it’s the best-performing WiFi 6 range extender out there. It adds up to 2,500 square feet of coverage and features four Ethernet ports, giving your home network a solid and fast new foothold. It also offers a generous suite of security customizations through an app or browser, including access control for individual devices. It can even serve as an access point in a Netgear-powered mesh network, giving you the option to upgrade if a simple extender doesn’t give you enough coverage.

Best outlet: TP-Link AC2600 Range Extender (RE650)

TP-Link

SEE IT

Buy it used or refurbished: Amazon

Why it made the cut: The TP-Link AC2600 snaps into your wall outlet and pushes your signal far.

Specs

• WiFi Version: 6 (802.11ax)
• Coverage: 14,000 sq ft (estimated)
• Ports: 1 Gigabit Ethernet
• Data transfer rate: 2.6 GB/s

Pros

• Great performance
• Mesh compatibility with TP-Link routers

Cons

• Bulky, may block neighboring outlets

If you prefer a less obtrusive outlet-style extender but need the full power of WiFi 6, TP-Link’s AC2600 extender is an easy choice, promising up to 2.6 GB/s combined over its dual 2.4 and 5GHz bands. It’s easy to set up with an app or browser controls. It can even be an access point in a mesh network with compatible TP-Link OneMesh routers. Its performance is second only to larger, freestanding models like our top choice, making it a kind among outlet extenders. There’s only one minor drawback: It’s quite large (3.4 x 6.4 x 1.6 in), so you may find it hard to plug other devices into adjacent outlets.

Best for outside: Netgear Orbi Outdoor Satellite Extender (RBS50Y)

Netgear

SEE IT

Buy it used or refurbished: eBay

Why it made the cut: The Orbi Satellite Extender offers best-in-class performance and a rugged exterior, so it can bring your signal outside.

Specs

• WiFi Version: 5 (802.11ac)
• Coverage: 2,500 sq ft
• Ports: n/a
• Data transfer rate: 3 GB/s

Pros:

• Solid range and performance
• Rugged IP66 weatherproofing

Cons:

• Expensive
• No ports

Netgear’s Orbi line is one of the most popular home mesh network systems, and the Outdoor Satellite RBS50Y is an excellent way to extend your Orbi network into the backyard. With IP66 weatherproofing, it’s designed to sufficiently withstand dirt, rain, snow, sprinklers, and all the elements in your yard. It can transfer an impressive 3 GB/s of data over three bands, with a second 5GHz band reserved for communicating with the mesh network. Although it was previously only compatible with other Orbi routers, subsequent firmware updates have made it possible to pair it with non-Orbi routers as an extender. While it’s an expensive option, especially if you don’t plan to use it as part of a mesh, the RBS50Y is one of the best WiFi extenders and a great way to bring the internet outside safely.

Best budget with WiFi 6: D-Link EXO AX DAP-X1870

D-Link

SEE IT

Buy it used or refurbished: eBay

Why it made the cut: The D-Link DAP-X180 makes it cheap and easy to extend a WiFi 6 signal.

Specs

• WiFi Version: 6 (802.11ax)
• Coverage: 2,000 sq ft
• Ports: 1 Gigabit Ethernet
• Data transfer rate: 1.8 GB/s

Pros

• Solid performance
• Simple setup
• Discreet, clean design

Cons

• Lacks WPA3 security

D-Link’s DAP-X1870 is one of the simplest, most affordable ways to extend the power of your WiFi 6 network. It has a clean design with internal antennas, easily disappearing into your wall to do its job. Reviews praised its performance, and the only major criticism we found was some users pointing out that it did not seem to work with the latest WPA3 security format, which is supposed to be a part of the WiFi 6 specification. If WiFi 6’s enhanced security was a crucial factor in your choice to update, the cost saved on this isn’t worth it; however, it should be as secure as previous-generation routers and could improve with firmware updates.

Best budget: TP-Link AC750 Range Extender (RE220)

TP-Link

SEE IT

Buy it used or refurbished: eBay

Why it made the cut: The TP-Link RE220 doesn’t have a ton of bells and whistles but offers a strong signal extension for a low price.

Specs

• WiFi Version: 5 (802.11ac)
• Coverage: 1,200 sq ft
• Ports: 1 Ethernet
• Data transfer rate: 1.8 GB/s

Pros

• Great 2.4GHz performance
• Small and discreet
• Very inexpensive

Cons

• Underwhelming 5GHz performance
• Slow LAN port

The TP-Link RE220 is like a cheap slice of pizza—it isn’t high art but gives you exactly what you need for a low and accessible price. It only operates at WiFi 5, its 5GHz performance isn’t quite as stable and fast compared to the 5GHz networks on more expensive range extenders, and the Ethernet port doesn’t support Gigabit Ethernet. All that said, it adds plenty of distance to your 2.4GHz network, with enough bandwidth for basic internet use and streaming. It’s also compact and discreet, easy to stash away at any wall outlet or power strip. For less than $50, that’s hard to beat.

Things to consider when buying the best WiFi extenders

Our houses are becoming increasingly connected, packing our networks with robots, speakers, and security systems. These smart devices aren’t so smart without a stable WiFi connection, however, which is where extenders come in. Of course, you should ensure before buying a WiFi extender that you need one. Consider whether you need a new router that supports the latest, fastest protocols. If you’re happy with what you have, try adjusting the position of your router to expand its connectivity. Ideally, you want to place your router as close to the center of your home as possible, in a position that is both high and far from any walls that might block your signal. (We see you trying to hide your router in your TV stand. Bring it out!) You also want to keep it away from other interfering electronics that may impede signal strength and range. It may be time for an extender if you’ve still got dead spots no matter where you place a router. 

Also, temper your expectations about what the extender can do. A router’s listed coverage range, given in square feet, is the manufacturer’s estimate of the area the extender could potentially add to your network. Remember that these are estimates and may change depending on your home’s layout and your network’s wireless strength. 

WiFi extenders can’t magically extend the full force of your existing network forever. Any signal going through the extender has to make an additional step between your connected device and the modem: That process will reduce the bandwidth of your wireless signal by about half. That means you don’t want to rely on an extender for areas where you intend to do a lot of high-bandwidth activities like 4K video streaming or playing online games. Position your router to prioritize the room where you use your WiFi the most, like your living room and home office, and use the extenders to bring some WiFi to less important areas.

Extender or mesh

If you have more substantive network coverage gaps, you want to skip a WiFi extender and replace your router with a mesh WiFi system. These multi-router networks allow you to place multiple WiFi access points around your home to generate signals from multiple places rather than simply expanding or “boosting” the signal of a single, centralized router.

A mesh network distributes the network more evenly and widely, with less loss than an extender. It also lets you keep your entire house on a signal network with one name and password, while third-party extenders usually create a new, secondary network. Some modern WiFi extenders will work within the same WiFi network as your router, so long as both the router and extender come from the same manufacturer.

That said, a mesh system is a more expensive upgrade. It may be overkill if you simply need to get a better signal in one more room.

Outlet or freestanding

Many of the best WiFi extenders plug directly into an outlet, which can be conveniently discreet. Freestanding models that resemble conventional routers are stronger, given their reduced spatial constraints. Freestanding models are also more likely to offer Ethernet ports to enable stronger connections for gaming laptops or streaming devices. Both have their merits, but it’s wise to understand the pros and cons of each form factor.

WiFi 6

Depending on when you last bought a router, you may be wondering what WiFi 6 is and whether you need to care about it. In short, WiFi 6 is the newest wireless internet standard, which offers better connectivity when you have many devices on your network, among other things.

The changes from one generation to the next are fairly incremental and always backward-compatible with previous hardware, so you can never go wrong with getting the latest. That said, the best rule of thumb is to simply make sure your extender can cover the highest standard supported by your router. If you need to push a WiFi 5 (802.11ac) signal, then there’s no need to spend more on a WiFi 6 (802.11ax) extender.

FAQs

Final thoughts on the best WiFi extenders

• Best overall: Netgear Nighthawk AX8 Wi-Fi Mesh Extender (EAX80)
• Best outlet: TP-Link AC2600 Range Extender (RE650)
• Best for outside: Netgear Orbi Outdoor Satellite Extender (RBS50Y)
• Best budget with WiFi 6: D-Link EXO AX DAP-X1870
• Best budget: TP-Link AC750 Range Extender (RE220)

The best WiFi extenders offer a great solution to covering gaps in your home network when you don’t want to start over with a new router or mesh network. As WiFi 6 supplants WiFi 5 as the new standard for more routers, extenders will naturally benefit as well. Leave no corner of your home unconnected with a great range extender.

Why trust us

Popular Science started writing about technology more than 150 years ago. There was no such thing as “gadget writing” when we published our first issue in 1872, but if there was, our mission to demystify the world of innovation for everyday readers means we would have been all over it. Here in the present, PopSci is fully committed to helping readers navigate the increasingly intimidating array of devices on the market right now.

Our writers and editors have combined decades of experience covering and reviewing consumer electronics. We each have our own obsessive specialties—from high-end audio to video games to cameras and beyond—but when we’re reviewing devices outside of our immediate wheelhouses, we do our best to seek out trustworthy voices and opinions to help guide people to the very best recommendations. We know we don’t know everything, but we’re excited to live through the analysis paralysis that internet shopping can spur so readers don’t have to.

The post The best WiFi extenders for 2023 appeared first on Popular Science.

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Earlier this week, Google introduced a suite of new search features that will hopefully reduce some anxiety around travel planning. These tools, which promise to help make looking for places to stay and things to do more convenient, also include a “price guarantee” through the “Book with Google” option for flights departing from the US—which is Google’s way of saying that this deal is the best it’s going to get “before takeoff.” 

Already, Google offers ways to get data around historical prices for the flight they want to book. But many companies use revenue-maximizing AI algorithms to vary individual ticket pricing based on the capacity of the plane, demand, and competition with other airlines. This puts the onus on consumers to continuously monitor and research tickets in order to get the best deal. Specialty sites and hacks have popped up, offering loopholes around dynamic pricing (much to the dismay of major airlines).

Google’s pilot program for ticket pricing appears to offer another solution for consumers so they don’t have to constantly shop around for prices and come back day after day. To back it, Google says that if the price drops after booking, it will send you the difference back via Google Pay. 

[Related: The highlights and lowlights from the Google AI event]

The fine print (available via an online help document) specifies that the price difference must be greater than $5 and every user is limited to $500 per calendar year. And only users with a US billing address, phone number, and Google account can take advantage of this algorithm. Still, the fact that a person could receive back several hundred dollars after booking feels non-trivial. 

According to The Washington Post, “airlines have to partner with Google to participate in the Book on Google program — and to appear on Google Flights in the first place,” therefore it’s possible that users will still have to do some independent research for tickets offered by airlines outside of the partnerships. And since it’s only a pilot program, the feature in and of itself is subject to change. 

“For now, Alaska, Hawaiian and Spirit Airlines are the main Book on Google partners, so they are likely to have the most price-guaranteed itineraries during the pilot phase,” USA Today reported. “But Google representatives said they’re hoping to expand the program to more carriers soon.”

The Verge noted that price guarantees aren’t a new thing in the travel space. For example, “Priceline and Orbitz both promise partial refunds under certain circumstances, as do some individual airlines.” 

Interested in testing this out? Head on over to Google flights and look for the rainbow shield icon when browsing for tickets.

The post Google Flights’ new feature will ‘guarantee’ the best price appeared first on Popular Science.

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The “winding down” of Twitter’s Legacy Verified accounts supposedly began over the weekend. However, the only blue checkmark to take the hit so far appears to be the one for The New York Times—at CEO Elon Musk’s personal direction after a user’s meme brought it to his attention.

A spokesperson for The New York Times confirmed on Sunday the media company would decline to pay $12,000 a year for its verification badge. Upon apparently hearing the news, Musk responded, “Oh ok, we’ll take it off then.” It is unclear if Musk’s information source, DogeDesigner, is verified via the legacy system, or a paid Twitter Blue subscriber. It is now impossible to distinguish between the two tiers.

[Related: Twitter Blue is back and more confusing than ever.]

Twitter has granted verified statuses to thousands of individuals and organizations deemed “notable” since 2009, including governmental bodies, celebrities, professional journalists, and official corporate accounts. The simple system, while not perfect, for years helped users distinguish authentic accounts from imposters, scammers, and parodies. 

Since Musk assumed control of the social media platform in October 2022, Twitter has ushered in a dizzying flurry of updates, backtracks, and conflicting alterations to the verification program, which Musk has described as “corrupt and nonsensical.”

Amid last month’s verification requirement alterations, Twitter announced organizations such as news outlets could retain their gold “organization” badges—part of a recent color-coded policy shift—by ponying up $1,000 a month. The New York Times isn’t alone in skipping the expense— representatives from outlets like The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and Politico have said the companies would also not pay for the designation.

[Related: TikTok is taking on the conspiracy theorists.]

The main account for The New York Times now lacks a verification badge, but subsections such as Books, Arts, and Travel still retain their statuses. That said, both Arts and Travel show gold badges—while Books still boasts a blue checkmark. What’s more, blue ticks are now apparently reserved for both legacy verified users and Twitter Blue subscribers. Previously, clicking an individual account’s blue verification symbol showed whether it was a non-paying account, or one paying $8 per month for Musk’s “premium” Twitter experience.

As The Washington Post explained on Friday, the legacy phase-out delay may stem from a “largely manual process by a system prone to breaking.” Described as “similar to an Excel spreadsheet,” the verification database is reportedly “held together with duct tape,” according to one anonymous former employee. 

Twitter is currently worth around $20 billion, according to a recent internal memo. Musk paid $44 billion for the company in October 2022.

The post Twitter’s ‘Blue Check’ drama is a verified mess appeared first on Popular Science.

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IT MAY SEEM as if websites suddenly started displaying banners telling us they were using cookies and asking if we were cool with it. Maybe you didn’t think too much about it—just clicked “accept all” and moved on. And maybe that’s what you’ve been doing ever since.

But you really should stop and think about it. We’ve been dealing with these notifications for almost five years now, and some folks still don’t know what it means to accept or reject all cookies, or even what those yummy-sounding files do. Tech companies don’t make it easy to understand either (perhaps on purpose). But consent isn’t really consent if we don’t know what we’re saying yes to.

Cookies 101

It’s right there in the Cheers theme song: Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name. And if the internet were your friendly neighborhood bar, having folks greet you and hand you your favorite drink before you order would be possible only with cookies.  

These small text files are generated on websites and saved in your browser. When you return to a site, the page will retrieve the relevant cookies from your computer to provide a more seamless experience—your preferences will be the same as the last time you were there, the weather information will match your location, and the shoes you were not so sure about two nights ago will still be waiting in your virtual shopping cart. These cookies, also known as HTTP or first-party cookies, are incredibly convenient, and since they’re typically a data transaction between you and the website you’re visiting, they’re mostly harmless (unless a hacker intercepts them via an unsecured website or public WiFi network, but that’s rare).

Cookies in general get a bad rap because of one type: third-party cookies. These are usually generated not by the website you’re visiting but by the advertising networks and data brokers working within that site. These cookies are designed to gather marketable information about you (what you like, what catches your eye, what ads you click on) that can be used to sell you stuff. This data can also be sold to other actors, potentially with nefarious results. “That’s part of the magic of big data,” says Carissa Véliz, author of the book Privacy is Power. “It draws out inferences that we would’ve never guessed. So it’s very hard to predict what the consequences are for sharing that personal data.”  

What’s worse is that third-party cookies can track you across the internet. Let’s say you are a stylish baseball fan with a weakness for high-quality perfume. So you wake up, and the first thing you do is go to your favorite sports website to check the scores of yesterday’s games. Two hours later, while on a break between meetings, you browse a perfume blog to read a review. What you don’t know is that the ads on the sports website were managed by the same company that showed you ads on the blog, so now the advertising network knows you’re willing to splurge on a nice woody scent and also good seats for the next Mets game. Because advertising networks work with countless websites, those third-party cookies keep adding up, feeding more data to advertisers and their clients.

What European law has to do with everyone’s cookie notifications

When the European Parliament approved the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018, this bill teamed up with previous regulation to, in part, give EU citizens the right to be informed about a website’s use of any unnecessary cookies, consent to the tracking and use of their data, withdraw that consent whenever they want, and access platforms even after rejecting all cookies. What makes the GDPR different from earlier rules is that it protects EU citizens no matter where they are, where tech companies are headquartered, or where data is processed.  

[Related: When it comes to privacy, smart devices are not the smarter choice]

Because there’s no way to determine if a user is an EU citizen, and running two versions of a website is hard and expensive, tech companies avoided million-dollar fines by adopting a “better safe than sorry” approach, which meant they started asking everyone for consent to use cookies on their websites. That resulted in everyone in the world getting a bit more control over their data online. But know this: Unless you’re an EU citizen, or some other privacy regulation applies to you (like the California Privacy Rights Act), you do not have the right to withdraw consent when it comes to tech companies or data brokers collecting and using your data. Jon Callas, director of public interest technology at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says some companies, like Twitter and Apple, decided to make things easier for everyone by providing GDPR rights to all their users no matter their nationality. But those are the exceptions. In most cases, if you’ve consented to data collection, a company can use whatever it already has on you however it likes—no law allows you to demand the immediate and total deletion of that data just because you want to. 

You can, however, turn off the informational faucet and sever websites’ access to more of your data. 

The best cookies are the ones you choose

Start by clearing the cache on your browser. This will get rid of all the cookies currently stored on your device and will prompt websites to ask you about cookies again, giving you a chance for a semifresh start. The steps will be different depending on your browser, but you can check out our guide to clearing cookies and web history on all the major browsers. 

With a clean slate in your browser, you’ll want to be more selective when it comes to consenting to cookies in the future. When deciding whether to accept cookies, the fastest, easiest, and most secure answer is to always reject them all. Most of the time, you’ll have to dig into the pop-up banner’s options and find your way to the right button, but you can also use your browser’s settings to reject all cookies from all websites all the time.

You’ll notice most browsers will try to warn you against rejecting all cookies. This is not only because doing so will prevent them from serving you personalized ads and will make your online experience a little less streamlined. They warn you because some websites were built with cookies in mind, and rejecting them all may result in glitches or limited functionality. This is where you must gauge your personal situation and decide what level of risk you’re comfortable with. 

After you reject all cookies, most sites will still be fully functional, just slightly harder to use than you’re used to. You may have to set your preferences every time you visit a page, remember your username, and scroll down to the exact point where you left off reading that lengthy article at lunch. Maybe that sounds like a price you’re willing to pay to protect your data from malicious third parties, but it may also sound absolutely unbearable. Neither response is wrong—you just have to do what’s best for you.

If banning all cookies forever seems right for you, follow these steps:

• On Chrome: Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data > check the box next to Block all cookies.
• On Safari: Settings > Privacy > check the box next to Block all cookies.
• On Firefox: Settings > Privacy & security > find Enhanced tracking protection > choose Custom > find Cookies > open the drop-down menu > All cookies.
• On Microsoft Edge: Settings > Privacy, search, and services, find Tracking prevention > Strict.

Microsoft’s browser is different in that it doesn’t let you block all cookies, only “the majority” of them “from all sites.” This doesn’t give you a lot of control over or transparency about what cookies Edge is actually blocking—but this may just be its way to prevent some sites from breaking without them.

Not willing to live in a cookie-free world but still want to protect your data? You’ll likely need to take time to personalize your privacy settings whenever you visit a new website. There’s no one way to do this, as every website is different. But the main strategy is to reject anything that says “tracker,” “third-party,” “targeting,” or “social media” next to it. 

You’ll also have to beware of dark patterns—weaponized web design elements meant to sway your behavior one way or another, sometimes without you noticing. For example, placing a big, noticeable “accept all” button next to a tiny link in a noncontrasting color that says “reject all” is a dark pattern. These can be even more subtle, like when your only options are “accept all” or “edit preferences.” “It’s not giving you the choice of ‘yes’ versus ‘no’—they’re making you look for ‘no’ so you’re more likely to click ‘yes,’” says Callas. “Close” or “X” buttons may also be considered a dark pattern. Because these notifications act as a final hurdle between you and the content you’re interested in, it’s natural for you to click that “X” as soon as possible to get past the banner. But some sites might consider that consenting by omission. Callas says some websites are explicit about this, but others might not tell you what you’re actually doing when you close the disclosure notice without making a choice. That would not be considered proper consent under GDPR, but Callas says some might be willing to take the risk: “The websites are gaming the rules to get the most information out of you, because information is money.” 

Keep in mind that the GDPR forces companies to provide options only when there are unnecessary cookies involved. So if you stumble upon a page that is not explicitly asking for your consent, that’s because there’s nothing to consent to—only information about the site’s use of HTTP or first-party cookies.

As with most things in life, there’s no right or wrong answer to the cookie dilemma. If you find value in targeted ads and are OK with companies potentially abusing the data they collect, you can accept all cookies forever. But there is certainly a middle ground where it’s possible to enjoy a streamlined experience online and still keep your data out of the reach of bad actors. Tech companies don’t make it easy (privacy policies are somehow both dense and vague, Véliz says), which makes us wonder if the GDPR-given right to consent is real and not an illusion. Whichever the case, one thing is still true: Those cookie notifications can be annoying, but they sure are better than nothing.

Read more PopSci+ stories.

The post The Opt Out: When you should and shouldn’t accept a website’s cookies appeared first on Popular Science.

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If you want to instantly improve your digital life, take a sticky note, write “delete browsing history” on it, and place it near your computer so you never forget it. Web browsers keep track of your past activity because it comes in handy if you want to find a funny article again, return to your favorite photo of the kids, or if you want to restore a tab you accidentally closed.

At the same time, some people find this constant tracking a little on the creepy side. Not to mention that, if you share a computer with others, you might not want them to find out about a gift you secretly bought them, your interest in 1970s folk-rock, or your more private Google searches.

Fortunately, all of today’s web browsers make it easy to erase your web browsing history and wipe away your tracks online.

Browsers also track your download history, which is just a list of files you’ve downloaded. Don’t confuse this history with the actual files themselves, which live somewhere on your computer. It’s simply a list of references to them, which can help when you can’t find a specific document or if you want to download it again.

Next up are cookies: little bits of code websites use to recognize who you are. They come in a variety of forms. For example, if you go to a weather website and it instantly shows you the cities you previously searched forecasts for, that’s a cookie in action. If you return to a shopping site and you find the items you left in the shopping basket are still there, that’s cookies at work again. These files won’t harm your computer, but some users don’t like this kind of tracking and prefer to delete them on a regular basis.

While you’re looking at cookies, you might see that your browser distinguishes standard cookies from those from third parties. Third-party cookies track behavior across multiple sites and they’re usually in the ads rather than in the actual page code of a website. You can blame this type of cookie for personalized ads: If you’ve spent some time searching multiple sites for tents and you start seeing tent ads everywhere, third-party cookies are responsible.

Finally, browsers keep a “cache,” which contains local copies of graphics and other elements these programs use to load pages more quickly. If you head back to a site you’ve just visited, for example, the browser can draw site images from the cache rather than pulling them from the web again. This reduces the amount of data your browser has to download each time and speeds up the whole page-loading process. While it can provide snoops with a few hints about your browsing history, you need a certain amount of technical know-how to understand it properly.

When you decide to clear browsing data, most browsers will list all these types of data separately. You can decide to clear everything out, which lets you start all over again—as if you had a new browser on a new computer—or you might decide to keep certain types of files, like the cookies and cache, to make your browsing life more convenient.

However, this mode won’t erase everything you do. If you log on to a site like Facebook or Amazon in incognito mode, those pages will recognize you and record your browsing activity. In other words, your browser won’t remember what you’ve been up to, but any sites you log into will. This means you might see evidence of your private browsing in ads that appear later. And if you download files, private mode won’t wipe them either, though it will clear out your download history.

Those using Mozilla Firefox you should click the three horizontal lines to the right of the address bar to open the Firefox menu, then pick Settings. Click Privacy & Security and then scroll down to the Cookies and Site Data section. Here, you can clear your data completely or manage your data to have more control over what you delete. You can also check the box that clears your browsing data every time you close Firefox if you don’t want to have to worry about doing it manually.

If you’re using Apple Safari on macOS, you can blitz your browsing history by opening the Safari menu and clicking Clear History. Choose the time period you want to erase from the drop-down menu, then click Clear History to confirm the action. When you clear your history in Safari, you won’t get the option to delete different types of data, so it will wipe your cookies and cached files along with your history.

Windows 11 users who are using Microsoft Edge browser a whirl can also clear their browsing history. Click the three dots to the right of the address bar, then pick Settings from the menu that appears. In the Privacy, search and services tab, find Clear browsing data and click Choose what to clear. Next, make your choices from the list, which includes browsing history and cached data, then click Clear now.

Finally, in the popular third-party browser Opera, click the quick settings icon to the right of the address bar—it looks like a stack of three dials. On the emerging menu, scroll down to Privacy & Security, and next to Browsing data click on Clear. This will open the browser’s full settings page, and you’ll be able to choose your types of data and specify your time period. When you’re done, click Clear data. 

Across the street, Mac users using Safari, can go to Settings, Privacy, and Manage website data. Apple’s browser will provide one long list of all the information it’s gathered. Choose to delete select items or click Remove all to get a clean start.

On Firefox, go to Settings, Privacy & security, and under Cookies and site data, choose Clear data. Continue by picking Cookies and Site Data, plus anything else you want to delete, and hit Clear.

Meanwhile, on Microsoft Edge, go to Settings, then Privacy, search, and services, and under Clear browsing data, choose What to clear. In the next window, choose Cookies and other site data, then click on Clear now.

The post How to clear your web history in any browser appeared first on Popular Science.

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Internet Archive, best known for a tool called the Wayback Machine, is also a massive non-profit digital library, free to everyone who creates an account with their email address. However, in 2020, it was sued by four corporate publishers over copyright issues, and in 2022, the non-profit organization asked a federal judge to put a stop to the lawsuit. Last week, the case came before US District Judge John Koeltl of New York, and on Friday, the federal judge ruled in favor of the publishers. 

At its heart, the dispute is around the way that the digital library lends books. Hachette Book Group, which comprises Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin, and Wiley, alleged that 127 books under their copyright were scanned and loaned out electronically without their permission. Internet Archive argues that this practice is fair use. 

Typically, public and academic libraries acquire books for their patrons by either buying the physical copies, or paying for ebook licenses through so-called aggregators like OverDrive. Each publisher has a slightly different profit model when it comes to licensing. But in summary, all of them are fairly lucrative. “For example, library ebook licenses generate around $59 million per year for Penguin. Between 2015 and 2020, HarperCollins earned $46.91 million from the American library ebook market,” according to a court filing on the case. 

[Related: A copyright lawsuit threatens to kill free access to Internet Archive’s library of books]

Internet Archive mostly employed a practice called Controlled Digital Lending, where it first purchases a hard copy of a book, and scans it to make an ebook. Controlled Digital Lending works so that if the library owns one physical copy of a book, it can lend the digital version out to one user at a time, and if it owns four physical copies, then it can lend out four digital copies. Internet Archive uses software to ensure that users cannot copy or view the copies after the loan period. 

But, it temporarily suspended this policy during the COVID-19 lockdowns in order to implement a “National Emergency Library.” With the Emergency Library in place from March to June 2020, that policy was relaxed. As a result, many readers were allowed to borrow the same book simultaneously. And this appears to be the key issue that is swaying the judge to the publishers’ side, NPR reported. Reuters reported that Koeltl honed in on the question of “whether the library has the right to reproduce the book that it otherwise has the right to possess.”

Internet Archive doesn’t dispute that it copied the publishers’ works without permission. But its argument is that the doctrine of fair use “allows some unauthorized uses of copyrighted works,” granted that it aligns with the copyright law’s original purpose, which is to “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts,” according to the court filing. Fair use exemptions in court can be complicated and are considered on a case-to-case basis, since many factors like the effect on the market, the transformation on the original, and the purpose of use need to be accounted for. And ultimately, the judge ruled that “each enumerated fair use factor favors the Publishers.”

Based on the ruling, Internet Archive can still distribute books in its collection that are public domain. “It also may use its scans of the Works in Suit, or other works in its collection, in a manner consistent with the uses deemed to be fair in Google Books and HathiTrust,” the filing stated. “What fair use does not allow, however, is the mass reproduction and distribution of complete copyrighted works in a way that does not transform those works and that creates directly competing substitutes for the originals.”

In a statement, Internet Archive said that it planned to appeal the judgment. “This decision impacts libraries across the US who rely on controlled digital lending to connect their patrons with books online,” Chris Freeland, the director of Open Libraries at Internet Archive, wrote in a blog post. “It hurts authors by saying that unfair licensing models are the only way their books can be read online.” 

Additionally, in its petition site’s FAQ, Internet Archive noted that the ruling has the potential not only to impact how libraries work, but also on preserving content against the threat of censorship. “Most digital books can only be licensed, meaning there is effectively only one copy of a digital book and it can be edited or deleted at any time with zero transparency,” the site stated. “In this scenario, profit-motivated big publishing shareholders for companies like Newscorp, Amazon, and Disney are in control of whether a book is censored or not.” 

The post Internet Archive just lost a federal lawsuit against big book publishers appeared first on Popular Science.

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As we’ve learned over the past few years, almost anything that connects to the internet, uses Bluetooth or any other wireless protocols, or simply has a computer chip inside can be hacked—and that includes cars. There are just too many potential vulnerabilities across all these surfaces for hackers to exploit, and every time there’s a software update, there is a chance that new ones get introduced even as the old ones are patched out. (Seriously, keep your software up-to-date, though. It’s the best way to stay as secure as possible.)

With that in mind, researchers from French security firm Synacktiv have won $530,000 and a Tesla Model 3 at Pwn2Own Vancouver, a security competition where “white hat” hackers and security researchers can win the devices with previously unknown vulnerabilities (that they discover and exploit)—plus a cash prize.

The team from Synacktiv demonstrated two separate exploits. In the first, they were able to breach the Model 3’s Gateway system, the energy management interface that communicates between Tesla cars and Tesla Powerwalls, in less than two minutes. They used a Time of Check to Time of Use (TOCTOU) attack, a technique that exploits the small time gap between when a computer checks something like a security credential and when it actually uses it, to insert the necessary malicious code. For safety reasons, they weren’t hacking a real Model 3, but they would have been able to open the car’s doors and front hood, even while it was in motion. 

The second exploit allowed the hackers to remotely gain root (or admin) access to the mock Tesla’s infotainment system and from there, to gain control of other subsystems in the car. They used what’s known as a heap overflow vulnerability and an out-of-bounds write error in the Bluetooth chipset to get in. Dustin Childs, head of threat awareness at Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative (ZDI), told Dark Reading, “The biggest vulnerability demonstrated this year was definitely the Tesla exploit. They went from what’s essentially an external component, the Bluetooth chipset, to systems deep within the vehicle.” 

According to TechCrunch, Tesla contends that all the hackers would have been able to do is annoy the driver, though the researchers themselves aren’t so sure. Eloi Benoist-Vanderbeken, one of the Synacktiv researchers, told TechCrunch, “[Tesla] said we wouldn’t be able to turn the steering wheel, accelerate or brake. But from our understanding of the car architecture we are not sure that this is correct, but we don’t have proof of it.” Apparently they are looking forward to fact-checking Tesla’s claim as soon as they get their hands on their new Model 3. 

This is the second year in a row that Synacktiv has been able to hack a Tesla. Last year the French security team were also able to exploit the infotainment system, but weren’t able to gain enough access to the rest of the system to win the car. 

It’s worth noting that Tesla was a willing participant and provided the car to Pwn2Own. It—along with all the other companies involved—uses the competition as an opportunity to find potentially devastating “zero day” or undiscovered vulnerabilities in their devices so they can fix them. Apparently, the company is already working on a patch for these latest bugs that will roll out automatically. 

As well as Tesla, some of the big names at Pwn2Own were Oracle, Microsoft, Google, Zoom, and Adobe. An exploit using two bugs in Microsoft SharePoint was enough to win Star Labs $100,000, while two bugs in Microsoft Teams won Team Viettel $75,000. Synacktiv also picked up another $80,000 for a three-bug exploit against Oracle’s Virtual Box. 

In total, contestants found 27 unique zero-day bugs and won a combined $1,035,000 (plus a car). 

The post These hackers revealed security vulnerabilities in a Tesla—and won a car appeared first on Popular Science.

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Utah’s governor signed two bills into law on Thursday aimed at protecting the state’s underage social media users. Privacy critics, however, argue that the new laws’ constitutional legality and enforcement remain troublingly murky.

As NBC News and elsewhere report, H.B. 311 and S.B. 152 would make any social media companies with over 10 million users age-verify all Utah residents, as well as require parental consent from minors who want to make a profile. Among other sweeping reforms, the laws also require social media companies to allow parents complete access to their children’s posts and private messages. Additionally, the law sets up a curfew on social media use for underage Utahns from between 10:30 PM to 6:30 AM. Although the new legislation is scheduled to take effect in March 2024, it is unclear if the regulations will hold up to judicial scrutiny. 

In a letter sent to Gov. Spencer Cox earlier this month, digital rights advocates at the Electronic Frontier Foundation argued Utah’s bills are some of the most egregious they’ve seen so far.  Other states including Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Ohio, and New Jersey are considering similar legislation, as well.

[Related: Social media drama can hit teens hard at different ages.]

“Young people have First Amendment rights,” writes an EFF representative, adding that federal attempts to restrict internet content access “generally have not withstood constitutional scrutiny when challenged” in courts. Privacy advocates also argue Utah’s laws will ironically give social media companies even greater access to users’ private data via ID verification requirements, as well as disadvantage many young Utahans by limiting informational access. Because of the laws’ broad language, EFF argues apps including Duolingo and the hiking service, AllTrails, are subject to the new access restrictions.

“This all feels a little like the ‘ban on dancing’ in Footloose,” argued Evan Greer, director for  online privacy group Fight for the Future.

In an email to PopSci, Greer agreed there are “very real harms” to youth from social media companies, but contended that those problems would be better addressed by cracking down on abusive corporate practices rather than “draconian” restrictions for young people—restrictions Greer said could disproportionately harm LGBTQ+ children and those suffering from abusive environments. “[T]hey also just don’t really make any sense. I’m not sure anyone has actually thought about how any of this will work in practice,” added Greer.

[Related: Why TikTok’s algorithm is so addictive.]

Greer points to various scenarios, such as how to authentically determine a young person’s parent or legal guardian, as well as instances involving custody battles or abuse allegations. “Once you create mechanisms for parents to snoop on their kids’ social media activity, they’ll be abused by others,” said Greer.

Instead of Utah’s latest examples, Greer and likeminded advocates contend politicians should push to pass comprehensive privacy legislation. The FTC and state regulators, they argue, should tighten restrictions on predatory design practices such as apps’ autoplay and infinite scroll features, using personal data for algorithmic recommendations, and intrusive notifications.

“These laws are clearly unconstitutional,” said Greer, “but more importantly they’re going to put children in danger and strip them of their rights.” 

The post Utah teens will need parents’ permission to use social media appeared first on Popular Science.

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How much money have you lost from forgetting to cancel an online subscription following its free trial? Or from getting frustrated while trying to figure out how exactly to end a recurring charge, pledging to do it later, and then subsequently not getting around to it? Don’t feel bad—the Federal Trade Commission sympathizes. And they are trying to do something to ease the pain.

On Thursday, the FTC announced a new “click to cancel” rule provision proposal to simplify the process of ending subscriptions and memberships for consumers. The potential reforms come as regulators are reexamining their 1973 Negative Option Rule, which is often utilized by the agency to push back against companies’ often deliberate tactics to obfuscate the ways in which customers can voluntarily end subscriptions.

[Related: The FTC is trying to get more tech-savvy.]

“Some businesses too often trick consumers into paying for subscriptions they no longer want or didn’t sign up for in the first place,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan in the official statement, adding that the new proposal will save consumers money and time while enabling regulators the ability to issue penalties to businesses for “subscription tricks and traps.”

Arguing the “current patchwork of laws and regulations available to the FTC do not provide consumers and industry with a consistent legal framework,” regulators are suggesting three major changes:

• Requiring a simple mechanism making it as easy to cancel a service’s account as it is to sign up for one, and in “the same number of steps.”
• While still allowing businesses to pitch additional offers or subscription modifications during the cancellation process, those opportunities can only be given after presenting users with a clear means to opt-out of paid memberships.
• Requiring sellers to offer consumers annual reminders enrolled in “negative option programs involving anything other than physical goods, before they are automatically renewed.”

Additionally, the FTC seeks to require companies offering customers online subscription sign-up options to also explicitly offer online cancellation, as opposed to only doing so through email forms, phone calls, or in-person meetings.

[Related: Why the new FTC chair is causing such a stir.]

As helpful as these changes will be for consumers, unfortunately, there is no current estimated timeline on when the reforms could go into effect. Multiple additional steps are needed, including a public comment period, before the FTC begins writing a final rule proposal. In the meantime, now is as good a time as ever to start reviewing what subscriptions—such as streaming services—are still charging to your bank accounts.

The post Canceling your digital subscriptions could finally get easier appeared first on Popular Science.

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Notifications from apps and operating systems aren’t all you have to deal with these days. Websites are also keen to keep you informed and up to date with their news, adding to the deluge of pop-ups constantly hitting your devices.

Manage the settings for Google Chrome notifications

Any site that wants to send you alerts will prompt you to deny or accept the request right away. But if you change your mind later, you can tweak these settings by clicking the padlock icon to the left of the address bar. Choose Site settings, find Notifications, and select Allow or Block from the adjacent dropdown menu next to decide if the website you’re on can send you alerts via your browser.

Another way to get to these settings is to click the three vertical dots in the top right corner of the Chrome interface, then go to Settings, Privacy and security, Site settings, and Notifications. Here you’ll see a list of all the sites where you’ve previously blocked or allowed notifications, and you can make changes by clicking the three vertical dots next to any site name.

[Related: The best internet browsers you’ve never heard of]

The same methods work in Chrome for Android, too. Tap the padlock icon in the address bar, then go to Permissions to set the notification rules for the open site. You can also tap the three dots in the top right, and go to Settings, Site settings, and Notifications to see a list of all the options you’ve configured so far.

To review all your notification settings, open the Firefox menu via the three horizontal lines in the top right corner, then choose Settings, followed by Privacy & Security. Scroll down to find the Permissions heading, look for Notifications, and click the Settings bubble to its right. You can use the emerging window to change the listed websites’ permissions and even stop the speech bubble from appearing altogether by checking the box next to Block new requests asking to allow notifications.

In Firefox for Android, you’ll see a prompt to allow or block notifications from individual sites. You can also manage alerts for the site you’re on by tapping the three dots in the corner of the Firefox interface, and then going to Settings, Site permissions, and Notifications.

Allow or deny Safari notifications

Websites that want to send you notifications in Apple’s built-in browser will ask for permission to do so when you open them up, or shortly after. If you want to stop these permission prompts from popping up at all, go to Safari, Settings, and Websites. There, choose Notifications from the left-hand sidebar and uncheck the box labeled Allow websites to ask for permission to send notifications.

You can use the same dialog box to change your mind about a website that you’ve blocked or allowed permissions from in the past. Just click the small drop-down box next to the website in question and choose Allow or Deny from the list.

Change the Microsoft Edge notification settings

When a site wants to send you notifications in Microsoft Edge, you’ll first see a small pop-up box that lets you choose whether to allow or block them. You can also change this site-specific setting at any point by clicking the site information icon (a padlock or “i” symbol) on the far left of the address bar, choosing Permissions for this site, finding the Notifications option, and adjusting the options in the dropdown menu to its right.

In Edge for Android, you can tap the padlock or info icon on the left of the address bar, then choose Site settings to modify the permissions of a site, including notifications. You can also tap the three dots at the bottom of the interface and go to Settings, Site permissions, and Notifications to see a list of permissions for all sites.

To see the settings for every site you’ve visited, click the cog icon on the Opera browser’s left-hand sidebar. From there, choose Privacy & security, Site settings, and Notifications. You can adjust the configuration for sites already listed, and add new entries with the Add button.

When it comes to Opera for Android, again you can tap the padlock icon in the address bar, and go to Site settings to control notification permissions. To see the settings for all sites, tap the Opera icon in the lower right corner of the interface and go to Settings, Site settings, and Notifications.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on March 25, 2021.

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Artificial intelligence systems that can generate images have been big news for the past year. OpenAI’s DALL-E 2 and Stable Diffusion have dominated the headlines, and Google, Meta, and Microsoft have all announced features they are working on. But one huge name has been conspicuously absent: Adobe. Today, with the announcement of Firefly, which is a family of generative AI models, that changes.

For more than two decades, Adobe has led the digital image making and manipulation industries. Its flagship product, Adobe Photoshop, has become a verb—against its will. And while its products have always had AI-powered features, like Content Aware Fill and Neural Filters, Firefly represents Adobe’s first publicly announced image-generating AI. Initially, the beta will integrate with Express, Photoshop, Illustrator, and the marketing-focused Adobe Experience Manager.

What Adobe’s Firefly will do 

Like DALL-E 2 and Stable Diffusion, Firefly can take a text-prompt and turn it into an image. Unlike those two apps, however, Firefly is designed to give more consistent results. Alexandru Costin, Adobe’s vice president of Generative AI and Sensei, called the kind of prompts most people use as “word soup” on a video call with PopSci. To get great results with Stable Diffusion, for example, you often need to add buzzwords to your prompt, like “4K,” “trending on artstation,” “hyper-realistic,” “digital art,” and “super detailed.” 

So, instead of saying something like “batman riding a scooter,” you say “batman riding a scooter, cinematic lighting, movie still, directed by Chris Nolan.” It’s very hack-y, but for most generative AIs, it’s the best way to get good results. 

Firefly is taking a different approach. The overall look and feel of a generated image is determined by drop-downs and buttons. You can type “batman riding a scooter” and then select from the various options to dial in the look you want. Costin also explained that the images don’t regenerate each time you select a new style, so if you’re happy with the content of the image, you don’t have to worry that changing the style will create something completely different. It aims to be a lot more user-friendly. 

As well as creating new images from text prompts, Firefly will also be able to generate text effects. The example that Costin showed (above) was rendering the word “Firefly” with “many fireflies in the night, bokeh effect.” It looks impressive, and it shows how generative AIs can integrate with other forms of art and design. 

What Firefly aims not to do

According to Costin, Adobe wants to employ AI responsibly, and in his presentation he directly addressed two of the most significant issues with generative AI: copyright concerns and biases. 

Copyright is a particularly thorny issue for generative AIs. StabilityAI, the makers of Stable Diffusion, is currently being sued by a collection of artists and the stock image service Getty Photos for using their photos to train Stable Diffusion without licensing them. The example images where Stable Diffusion creates a blurry Getty-like logo are particularly damning. 

Adobe has sidestepped these kinds of copyright problems by training Firefly on hundreds of millions of Adobe Stock images, as well as openly licensed and public domain content. It protects creators from any potential copyright problems, especially if they intend to use generated content for commercial purposes. 

Similarly, Costin says that Adobe has dealt with the potential biases in its training data by designing Firefly to deliberately generate diverse images of people of different ages, genders, and ethnicities. “We don’t want to carry over the biases in the data,” he says, so he says that Adobe has proactively addressed the issue. Of course, you can still prompt the AI to render a specific thing, but when left to its own devices it should hopefully avoid producing biased results. 

While Firefly is launching in beta, Adobe has big plans. “The world is going to be transformed by AI,” says Costin, and Adobe intends to be part of it. 

Going forward, Adobe wants a future where creators are able to train their own AI models on their work, and where generative AIs integrate seamlessly across its full range of products. In theory, this would allow artists to generate whatever assets they needed right in Photoshop or Illustrator, and treat them as they do any other image or block of text. 

If you want to check Firefly out, you can apply to join the beta now.

The post Adobe built its Firefly AI art generator to avoid bias and copyright issues appeared first on Popular Science.

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TikTok announced a number of updates to its community guidelines on Tuesday, including how it will address misinformation, AI-generated art, and deepfakes. The revamped rulebook and classifications go into effect on April 21. The changes arrive amid mounting political pressure from Western lawmakers in the US and UK, alongside an impending congressional testimony from TikTok CEO Shou ZI Chew regarding alleged security concerns within one of the world’s most popular social media platforms.

Perhaps the most noticeable addition comes in the form of TikTok’s new guidelines section dedicated to the rapid proliferation of “synthetic media,” such as altered videos and deepfakes. Although TikTok “welcome[s] the creativity that new artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies may unlock,” it acknowledges these tools often blur the lines between reality and fiction. Beginning next month, all deepfaked or otherwise altered content must be labeled as such through a sticker or caption.

[Related: Why some US lawmakers want to ban TikTok.]

Additionally, a wholesale ban on using the likeness of “any real private figure” will be initiated in April. Public figures, meanwhile, are granted more leeway due to their high profiles and societal relevance. That said, content including a deepfaked politician or celebrity cannot “be the subject of abuse,” or used to mislead audiences on political or societal issues. As The Verge also noted on Tuesday, TikTok’s prior stance on deepfakes were summed up by a single line banning uploads which “mislead users by distorting the truth of events [or] cause significant harm to the subject of the video.”

Notably, the company is also instituting a new section explicitly addressing the proliferation of climate misinformation. Any content that “undermines well-established scientific consensus” regarding the reality of climate change and its contributing factors is prohibited. As TechCrunch explains, conversations on climate change are still permitted, including the pros and cons of individual policies and technologies, as long as it does not contradict scientific consensus. Last year, at least one study showcased that TikTok search results were inundated with climate change misinformation and denialism. The new hardline on misinformation apparently extends beyond climate disinfo, as well. In a separate section, TikTok explains content will be ineligible from users’ For You Feed if it “contains general conspiracy theories or unverified information related to emergencies.”

[Related: US government gives TikTok an ultimatum, warning of ban.]

These and other changes come as TikTok weathers increasingly intense criticisms and scrutiny over its data security, with lawmakers citing issues with the social media platform’s China-based parent company, ByteDance. Last week, the Biden administration issued its starkest warning yet, urging the platform’s Chinese national owners to sell their shares or face a wholesale ban on the app. The announcement came after moves to ban the social media platform from all US government devices—a decision echoed recently in the UK and the Netherlands, as well. Critics of the hardline stances point towards the larger data insecurities within the digital ecosystem.

In a statement released last week from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the digital rights advocacy group conceded that “TikTok raises special concerns, given the surveillance and censorship practices of its home country, China, but contended that the solution isn’t a single business or company ban. Rather, we must enact comprehensive consumer data privacy legislation.”

The post TikTok is taking on the conspiracy theorists appeared first on Popular Science.

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Best for large properties		eero Pro 6e		SEE IT	Big coverage and fast speeds abound.
Best for home		Google Nest Wi-Fi		SEE IT	Enjoy tight integration with Google Home.
Best for speed		Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6		SEE IT	Speeds top out at 2.5 Gbps.

Wi-Fi routers are legendarily annoying. They’re opaque, with hundreds of obscure settings and features that—unless you love inelegant, browser-based interfaces—are often difficult even to access, let alone tweak. They go down for no reason, and if they’re not completely offline, the signal is flummoxed by such ordinary problems as a wall between your device and the hotspot. The best mesh Wi-Fi systems, however, are one of the greatest innovations to come to home internet in years. 

Just another plastic puck with some blinking lights, a mesh Wi-Fi station may not look that different from the traditionally cumbersome models. It’s so unassuming you may wonder if it’s worth the extra investment. You’ll quickly find, however, that mesh Wi-Fi can solve many of the most common problems. Using multiple nodes, wireless mesh networks let you space access points throughout your house (and yard, if you like), but they don’t act independently. Your devices will switch from station to station seamlessly without the need to save and manually select multiple network names and passwords. All devices can be configured through cleanly designed smartphone apps.

Another benefit to using mesh Wi-Fi is the ease of adding another router to your system after it’s set up. This adaptability allows you to use the same mesh Wi-Fi system if you move to a larger house, realize that your home still has degraded speeds or dead zones, or you’d like your network to cover the outside of your place. Many of the networking companies you’re familiar with have shifted their focus to mesh Wi-Fi systems—though there’s still a place for single-point routers, as we’ll explain in more detail in the FAQ section of this story. If your network needs have grown lately, a set of the best mesh Wi-Fi routers will help you keep up with those changes.

• Best overall: eero Pro 6e
• Best for homes: Google Nest Wi-Fi
• Best Wi-Fi 6 mesh router: TP-Link Deco 6
• Best mesh Wi-Fi extender: Amazon eero mesh router 
• Best for speed: Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6
• Best budget: TP-Link Deco, Version S4

How we picked the best mesh Wi-Fi Routers

For this story, we surveyed the top brands and models of mesh Wi-Fi routers on the market. While you can’t truly test a mesh Wi-Fi system until you’ve lived with it for an extended period, we consulted tons of online research, editorial reviews, and hands-on experience to choose models that best fit people’s homes and lifestyles.

The best mesh Wi-Fi: Reviews & Recommendations

The best mesh Wi-Fi routers can cover your home with fast wireless internet regardless of size, the composition of its walls, or the number of devices you have connected. Routers are a gadget that shouldn’t be replaced very often—think seven to 10 years, so we’ve stuck with companies with a proven track record of providing continuous software and security updates over time. You shouldn’t have to think about troubleshooting very often either because finding ways to fix your home internet without the internet is tedious, so ease of use is another factor we strongly considered. The mesh Wi-Fi landscape changes regularly, and new technology constantly drops. We’re just getting into the world of Wi-Fi 6/6E, and Wi-Fi 7 is coming quickly on its heels. For now, though, you can feel comfortable trusting these models for their proven performance over time (just don’t forget to immediately address your security settings).

Best overall: eero Pro 6e

Amazon

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: This tried-and-true system covers large swaths of area with fast connections and lots of bandwidth.

Specs

• Coverage: Up to 4,000 square feet
• Speed: Up to 2.3 Gbps
• Tri-band

Pros

• Supports Wi-Fi 6E
• Powerful signal
• Fast data

Cons

• Pricy

Eero was the company that popularized mesh Wi-Fi routers and made them approachable and accessible to the average consumer. The company has since refined and expanded its line to include mesh Wi-Fi systems that cost as little as $139. But, if you want the best of the best, you’ll have to pony up for its Pre 6E mesh Wi-Fi system, which hits the sweet spot between incredibly proficient performance, ease of use, and price.

We’ve had the chance to test several mesh Wi-Fi systems, but Eero’s is the easiest to set up and manage. If you’re completely new to mesh Wi-Fi routers, the onboarding process is streamlined, so you’ll be up and running within a half hour. Most of your setup time will be devoted to creating an account and figuring out the best place to put the system’s second router for maximum coverage. If you’re upgrading from a previous Eero Wi-Fi system, you’ll be able to add the routers to your existing network before taking the old ones offline.

Eero’s Pro 6E mesh Wi-Fi System supports the Wi-Fi 6E standard, currently the most up-to-date Wi-Fi protocol available. Wi-Fi 6E allows routers to achieve wireless data transfer speeds up to 1.3Gbps. Nobody needs that much bandwidth (few people even have an internet plan that supports Gigabit speeds), but it does help with network congestion. If multiple people are trying to download large files at once, the router can provide a solid, fast connection to both rather than severely throttling one of the requests until the other is finished. The routers in this mesh Wi-Fi system also benefit from the fact that they have three bands, which means they send out a signal at three frequencies instead of two. Devices will automatically connect to the one that offers the best performance based on their Wi-Fi chip, which leaves more space for other ones. Thankfully, all of this networking wizardry happens behind the scenes, so you don’t end up with multiple networks: Network Name and Network Name 5GHz and the like.

Our experience with Eero’s routers goes back to the very first generation released over half a decade ago, but somehow its networking gear continues to impress. In our tests, Eero’s Pro 6E routers created a fast, rock-solid connection that maxed out our internet connection and provided enough coverage for a three-floor condo. While our experience was universally positive, we noticed gadgets that support Wi-Fi 6 (the latest iPhones, for instance) could take full advantage of the speeds on offer. Eero has had to make its routers larger to accommodate additional networking hardware, but they’re still the best-looking option. Aesthetics don’t matter nearly as much as performance, but Wi-Fi routers are among the few gadgets that need to be out in the open to work properly. Anyone who comes into your home likely won’t notice the routers, which is sort of the point.

Eero’s Pro 6E mesh Wi-Fi routers are the best choice to create a fast, far-reaching network that can handle dozens of connections without skipping a beat. The company’s easy-to-use app and focus on aesthetics are also welcome and complement the routers’ performance wonderfully.

Best for homes: Google Nest Wi-Fi

Amazon

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: A reliable connection with tight ties to Google Home makes this an attractive and easily expandable solution.

Specs

• Coverage: 4,400 square feet
• Speed: Up to 1 Gbps
• Dual-band

Pros

• Easy setup
• Ties nicely into Google Home
• Small and unobtrusive

Cons

• No Wi-Fi 6 in this model

Google’s Wi-Fi system, which was recently brought under the “Nest” umbrella, is one of the fastest home mesh Wi-Fi systems on the market and one of the most handsome. It’s also incredibly easy to use: just pop open the app, and you’ll be able to do simple tasks without any trouble, whether creating a guest network, sharing your password with a friend, or instituting parental controls. It’s on the pricey side—but lets you pick an initial, appropriately priced pack of one, two, or three units—and it’s backward compatible with previous versions of Google Wi-Fi, which can help you save a little money on satellite beacons you already have or come across on closeout sale.

Best Wi-Fi 6 mesh router: TP-Link Deco 6

Amazon

SEE IT

Why we picked it: Wi-Fi 6 routers are starting to emerge, and this advanced system is ahead of the curve regarding features and compatibility.

Specs

• Coverage: 5,800 square feet
• Speed: 1.8 Gbps
• Tri-band

Pros

• Wi-Fi 6 support
• Affordable
• Supports up to 150 connected devices

Cons

• Not the prettiest design

Do you need a Wi-Fi 6 mesh router right now? Maybe. But routers aren’t something we replace that often, so you might want to consider picking one that’ll be compatible with Wi-Fi 6 when it comes. The TP-Link Deco 6 provides super-fast speeds to up to 150 devices, which is one of the hallmarks of the next-generation Wi-Fi 6 standard. It comes with three stations and, at this price, is actually cheaper than some mesh systems without Wi-FI 6. Reviewers note that the included ethernet cable is a bit short and that the app isn’t quite as easy to use as others, but speed and ease of setup are both said to be excellent. In addition, it’s compatible with Alexa if you’re invested in Amazon’s smart home ecosystem.

Best mesh Wi-Fi extender: eero 6 Wi-Fi Extender

Amazon

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: This is an easy, relatively cheap way to get more internet in remote areas of your home.

Specs

• Coverage: 1,500 square feet
• Speed: 500 Mbps
• Dual-band

Pros

• Small
• Fast
• Lots of range for a small box

Cons

• Requires compatible system

One of the best things about mesh network systems is that if you ever move or find that your current setup doesn’t cover the entire area you need, you can always just buy an extra station. That said, you need to buy an additional router made by the same company as your mesh Wi-Fi system, there’s no option to mix and match. Suppose you only need your network to reach just a little further. In that case, you may get away with using a basic Wi-Fi range extender or booster, which is interoperable with any mesh Wi-Fi system but isn’t as powerful as a router and will require you to use two apps to manage your network.

Because we’ve chosen Eero’s Pro 6e as the top mesh Wi-Fi system, we’ve elected to show you how to extend an Eero network using the company’s Wi-Fi 6 Extender. This standalone station works with any existing eero system, adds 1,500 square feet of coverage, and gets continual firmware updates to ensure it’s always securely patched and up to date. The simple accessory is the easiest way to stretch your Eero network. If you have mesh Wi-Fi routers from a different company, search for a compatible extender from the same brand.

Best for speed: Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6

Amazon

SEE IT

Why we picked it: If you’re looking for super-fast speeds, this system has the bandwidth to spare that it can share across many devices.

Specs

• Coverage: 5,000 square feet
• Speed: 2.5 Gbps
• Tri-band

Pros

• Fast connection
• Good security
• Attractive device

Cons

• Software can be buggy

Far be it from us to discourage you from finding the absolute fastest Wi-Fi 6 mesh router system on the market. And the Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6 is certainly that. It supports the newest Wi-Fi standard, provides up to 2.5Gbps service, and supports over 100 different gadgets simultaneously. It even gives you plenty of Ethernet ports on the satellite stations if you want to hardwire (well, part-hardwire, since there’s still wireless involved) any gaming systems, Smart TVs, etc. If you have a house full of demanding Full HD/4K devices, you want to ensure no one will have to buffer or suffer. The biggest downside? Price. This baby isn’t cheap, but you get a lot for your money, and reviews are glowing.

Best budget: Vilo Mesh Wi-Fi System

Vilo

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: It’s not the bleeding edge technology, but not everyone needs that. You get fast, reliable connectivity in an attractive package without much hassle.

Specs

• Coverage: 4,500 square feet
• Speed: 867Mbps
• Dual-band

Pros

• Affordable
• Supports up to 120 devices
• Built-in parental controls

Cons

• No Wi-Fi 6

If you want a whole-home Wi-Fi solution but don’t want to spend a lot of money, Vilo’s Mesh Wi-Fi System is the obvious choice. It may cost $100, but Vilo managed to cut down the price of its networking gear without compromising many features. This mesh Wi-Fi system’s marquee feature is its impressive 4,500-square-foot range, which is on par with what you’d expect from more expensive hardware. Granted, some higher-end systems can achieve that coverage area with two routers instead of three, but that’s not a huge deal.

Setting up and using Vilo’s Wi-Fi System is managed using an app, which also gives you granular control over which sites certain devices can visit. This per-device version of parental controls can be very helpful in homes with adults and children. Vilo says its routers can be connected to 120 devices simultaneously, which is impressive and makes them a solid choice if you’ve built up a sizable smart home, or plan to in the near future.

While Vilo didn’t have to cut any big corners to achieve its price point, something did have to give. The routers don’t support Wi-Fi 6, which would have been nice but isn’t a deal breaker. Additionally, the mesh Wi-Fi routers only have two bands instead of three. The reduction in speed from these two technical decisions isn’t gigantic but may be noticeable when your home network is taxed. Under normal circumstances—one person streaming a show on one TV while another person plays video games on a console and a third person streams music, for example, there shouldn’t be an issue. If you’ve held off on adopting a mesh Wi-Fi system because of cost, Vilo’s routers give you no excuse.

Things to consider when buying the best mesh Wi-Fi routers

Wi-Fi version: Wi-Fi routers used to be categorized by a series of letters (N, AC, AX), but that’s been simplified to a number, which makes it easier to determine what the latest standard is. The most up-to-date Wi-Fi version on the market is 6E. Wi-Fi is a universal wireless standard, which means devices don’t need to have a Wi-Fi 6E-compatible chip inside to connect to a cutting-edge router.

Range: One of the big advantages of using a set of mesh Wi-Fi routers instead of a single-point router is increased range. You’ll want to get a rough measurement of your home (including the porch and backyard, if applicable) to determine which mesh Wi-Fi router system will work best for you. Our general rule is to have one Wi-Fi router on every floor of your home to have the best chance of even coverage.

Speed: A mesh Wi-Fi router’s speed is typically calculated in Mbps (Megabits per second), though Wi-Fi 6E systems operate in Gbps (Gigabits per second). This factor matters less than you may think because the Internet speed you actually get will be determined by the plan you’ve signed up for through your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

Bands: Most mesh Wi-Fi routers have two bands, which allow them to send a signal at two frequencies: 2.4GHz and 5GHz. The 5GHz frequency band offers higher speeds and will be less susceptible to interference from legacy wireless electronics like landline telephones. That said, some smart home accessories can only connect to the internet using a 2.4GHz frequency.

FAQs

The final word on the best mesh Wi-Fi

• Best overall: eero Pro 6e
• Best for homes: Google Nest Wi-Fi
• Best Wi-Fi 6 mesh router: TP-Link Deco 6
• Best mesh Wi-Fi extender: Amazon eero mesh router 
• Best for speed: Netgear Orbi Wi-Fi 6
• Best budget: TP-Link Deco, Version S4

Look, we get it: It’s hard to get excited about a router. But the best mesh Wi-Fi systems are a way to get the absolute most out of your home network—a way to think about your internet connection as little as possible and have it just work. And that’s what we want out of our internet, right?

Why trust us

Popular Science started writing about technology more than 150 years ago. There was no such thing as “gadget writing” when we published our first issue in 1872, but if there was, our mission to demystify the world of innovation for everyday readers means we would have been all over it. Here in the present, PopSci is fully committed to helping readers navigate the increasingly intimidating array of devices on the market right now.

Our writers and editors have combined decades of experience covering and reviewing consumer electronics. We each have our own obsessive specialties—from high-end audio to video games to cameras and beyond—but when we’re reviewing devices outside of our immediate wheelhouses, we do our best to seek out trustworthy voices and opinions to help guide people to the very best recommendations. We know we don’t know everything, but we’re excited to live through the analysis paralysis that internet shopping can spur so readers don’t have to.

The post The best mesh Wi-Fi of 2023 appeared first on Popular Science.

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Scrolling through Instagram and TikTok on a Monday morning is an easy trigger for the dreaded fear of missing out–or FOMO. To push back against this need to never miss a party or fancy vacation, the term JOMO (joy of missing out) has been popularized for those who report a healthy level of enjoyment of solitude.

However, most people who also have high JOMO also report higher levels of social anxiety, according to a study published this month in the journal Telematics and Informatics Reports.

[Related: Seattle schools sue social media companies over students’ worsening mental health.]

For the study, a team from Washington State University looked at two 500-person samples of adults recruited through Amazon’s crowdsourcing platform MTurk. As a way to measure JOMO, they asked a slate of questions about enjoying spending time alone and experiencing disconnection. For example, whether subjects liked having time to self-reflect and if they were happy to see friends and family out enjoying themselves even if they weren’t there. Questions to assess loneliness, social media use, social anxiety, personality traits, and general life satisfaction were also included. 

The surveys revealed mixed results, with some evidence that there is actually some anxiety hiding behind the joy. 

“In general, a lot of people like being connected,” psychology professor and co-author Chris Barry said in a statement. “When trying to assess JOMO, we found that some people were enjoying missing out, not for the solitude or a Zen-like, calming experience of being able to regroup, but more to avoid social interaction.”

This avoidance might explain the correlation the team found between social media use and JOMO, which surprised the team. They anticipated that people who wanted to miss out on social gatherings would not care to check in to see what their friends or family were doing. Instead, they found that those who have social anxiety may find social media as a less intense way to connect instead of interacting in person. 

The study of the first sample group showed connections in those high in JOMO and social media and also general life satisfaction, but social anxiety actually had the strongest correlation.

[Related: Study confirms the obvious: youth have abandoned Facebook.]

After getting these mixed results, they designed a second study to see if there was a group of people high in JOMO, but without that anxiety. While they did find these blissful introverts, the group was small and represented only about 10 percent of the participants in the study. This group was not socially anxious, but still reported some moderate feelings of loneliness.

Previous studies have linked FOMO with low self-esteem and loneliness, but these findings indicate that the experience of JOMO is not as clear. The team believes that JOMO might be more of a momentary phase of needing to disconnect instead of a constant state of feelings. Other studies have also shown that continued exposure to anxiety triggers can help lessen stress later.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions like ‘what’s a good dosage of social interaction versus disengagement?’ I think that’s going to differ for everyone,” Barry said.  “The motives matter,” Barry said. “Why are people missing out? If it’s because they need to recharge, that’s maybe a good thing. If they’re trying to avoid something, that is probably not healthy in the long run.”

The post Do you never feel FOMO? Time to meet its twin, JOMO. appeared first on Popular Science.

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A UK-based startup is aiming to heat swimming pools with its data centers. According to BBC News, Deep Green is using the heat generated by a “washing-machine-sized” server rig to heat the water in Exmouth Leisure Centre’s 25-meter (82 foot) public swimming pool. Its “digital boilers” are a pretty clever idea, and can reduce the environmental impact of both the swimming pool and the server. 

Data centers have a surprisingly large environmental impact. While browsing the web, streaming shows on Netflix, or posting to Instagram doesn’t necessarily feel like you’re doing something that could harm the environment, all the information getting sent to your smartphone, computer, or TV is stored in a data center somewhere. It takes a fair amount of electricity to keep all the servers running, and most importantly, to cool them down so they don’t overheat. 

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), data centers and data transmission networks account for between 1 and 1.5 percent of global electricity use and are collectively responsible for around 1 percent of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions (or 0.6 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions). While that might not sound like a lot, it puts it in the same ballpark as aviation and shipping, which are responsible for 1.7 percent and 1.9 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. 

[Related: This Is Why Microsoft Is Putting Data Servers In The Ocean]

This is why Deep Green’s data center solution is so neat. Instead of just relying on electricity—often generated by fossil fuels—to cool its server rigs, the internal components are submerged in mineral oil which absorbs the heat, then a heat exchanger transfers the warmth to a swimming pool full of cold water, which cools the oil and thus keeps the components operating safely. The system is able to convert around 96 percent of the electricity it uses into heat for the pool. And since the electricity only comes from renewable sources, the whole thing as is green as is feasible. 

While the digital boiler can’t heat Exmouth Leisure Center’s pool entirely on its own, it is able to keep the water at a comfortable 86ºF roughly 60 percent of the time. While the gas boiler is still necessary to top up the water temperature, Deep Green claims that its system saves the pool over £20,000 (~$24,000) per year and reduces its annual CO2 emissions by almost 26 tons. Sean Day, who runs the leisure center, told BBC News: “The partnership has really helped us reduce the costs of what has been astronomical over the last 12 months—our energy prices and gas prices have gone through the roof.” 

[Related: Extreme heat is knocking out data centers]

Perhaps most interestingly about Deep Green’s technology, is that it costs the swimming pool operator nothing. The setup, installation, and digital boiler are all managed and maintained by Deep Green. The pool is even reimbursed for the electricity costs of running the server, so all the heat generated is essentially free. Instead, Deep Green operates as a regular web services company, charging its commercial customers for computing power and hosting. 

According to The Next Web, seven other pools around the UK have expressed an interest in Deep Green’s digital boiler. And the company doesn’t just plan to target leisure centers. Its technology can work with anything that requires large volumes of hot water, like apartment heating systems and distilleries. 

Deep Green isn’t the only company looking to repurpose waste heat from data centers. In Finland, the new Microsoft data center will be used to heat approximately 250,000 homes and businesses. A Facebook data center in Denmark warms 6,900 homes, while Amazon uses its data centers to heat its headquarters in Seattle as well as apartments, offices, and university buildings in Ireland. It’s likely that this is an engineering design we’re going to see a lot more of; data centers may heat everything from swimming pools to metropolises. 

The post This startup wants to use heat from data centers to warm swimming pools appeared first on Popular Science.

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Google believes that mobile and digital-first experiences will be the future of health, and it has stats to back it up—namely the millions of questions asked in search queries, and the billions of views on health-related videos across its video streaming platform, YouTube. 

The tech giant has nonetheless had a bumpy journey in its pursuit to turn information into useful tools and services. Google Health, the official unit that the company formed in 2018 to tackle this issue, dissolved in 2021. Still, the mission lived on in bits across YouTube, Fitbit, Health AI, Cloud, and other teams. 

Google is not the first tech company to dream big when it comes to solving difficult problems in healthcare. IBM, for example, is interested in using quantum computing to get at topics like optimizing drugs targeted to specific proteins, improving predictive models for cardiovascular risk after surgery, and cross-searching genome sequences and large drug-target databases to find compounds that could help with conditions like Alzheimer’s.

[Related: Google Glass is finally shattered]

In Google’s third annual health event on Tuesday, called “The Check Up,” company executives provided updates about a range of health projects that they have been working on internally, and with partners. From a more accurate AI clinician, to added vitals features on Fitbit and Android, here are some of the key announcements. 

For Google, previous research at the intersection of AI and medicine have covered areas such as breast cancer detection, skin condition diagnoses, and the genomic determinants of health. Now, it’s expanding its AI models to include more applications, such as cancer treatment planning, finding colon cancer from images of tissues, and identification of health conditions on ultrasound. 

[Related: Google is launching major updates to how it serves health info]

Even more ambitiously, instead of using AI for a specific healthcare task, researchers at Google have also been experimenting with using a generative AI model, called Med-PaLM, to answer commonly asked medical questions. Med-PaLM is based on a large language model Google developed in-house called PaLM. In a preprint paper published earlier this year, the model scored 67.6 percent on a benchmark test containing questions from the US Medical License Exam. 

At the event, Alan Karthikesalingam, a senior research scientist at Google, announced that with the second iteration of the model, Med-PaLM 2, the team has bumped its accuracy on medical licensing questions to 85.4 percent. Compared to the accuracy of human physicians, sometimes Med-PaLM is not as comprehensive, according to clinician reviews, but is generally accurate, he said. “We’re still learning.” 

In a language model realm, although it’s not the buzzy new Bard, a conversational AI called Duplex is being employed to verify whether providers accept federal insurance like Medicaid, boosting a key search feature Google first unveiled in December 2021. 

[Related: This AI is no doctor, but its medical diagnoses are pretty spot on]

On the consumer hardware side, Google devices like Fitbit, Pixel, and Nest will now be able to provide users with an extended set of metrics regarding their heart rate, breathing, skin temperature, sleep, stress, and more. For Fitbit, the sensors are more evident. But the cameras on Pixel phones, as well as the motion and sound detectors on Nest devices, can also give personal insights on well-being. Coming to Fitbit’s sleep profile feature is a new metric called stability, which tells users when they’re waking up in the night by analyzing their movement and heart rate. Google also plans to make a lot more of its health metrics, like respiration, which uses a camera and non-AI algorithms to detect movement and track pixels, and heart rate, which relies on an algorithm that measures and changes in skin color, available to users with compatible devices without a subscription. 

This kind of personalization around health will hopefully allow users to get feedback on long-term patterns and events that may deviate from their normal baseline. Google is testing new features too, like an opt-in function for identifying who coughed, in addition to counting and recording coughs (both of which are already live) on Pixel. Although it’s still in the research phase, engineers at the company say that this feature can register the tone and timber of the cough as vocal fingerprints for different individuals. 

Watch the full keynote below:

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The heat is truly on for short video app TikTok in both the US and abroad following months of political posturing and threats. On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal first reported that the Biden administration has issued an unofficial ultimatum to the popular social media app’s Chinese owners—sell your stock shares, or face a wholesale app ban in the US. Meanwhile, the UK moved forward on Thursday with blacklisting TikTok from all government devices, citing security concerns.

The latest domestic pressures come after a consistent torrent of criticisms from US lawmakers against TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance. Among others, Sens. John Thune (R, SD) and Mark Warner (D, VA) allege that China-based owners ostensibly can’t be trusted with access to their millions of American users’ data. Although it is true both ByteDance’s owners and TikTok itself have been shown to engage in questionable and outright illegal practices in the past, critics of the ban say this is nothing but a deflection from the larger issues at hand—namely, consumers’ overall digital privacy safeguards across the entire spectrum of online life and social media platforms.

[Related: Why some US lawmakers want to ban TikTok.]

“If it weren’t so alarming, it would be hilarious that US policymakers are trying to ‘be tough on China’ by acting exactly like the Chinese government,” recently argued Evan Greer, director of the privacy advocacy group, Fight for the Future, in a statement. Greer also added that, “Banning an entire app used by millions of people, especially young people, LGBTQ folks, and people of color, is classic state-backed Internet censorship.”

Greer and others concede that while TikTok may pose some security risks for users, so does virtually every other major social media platform collecting massive troves of data for targeted advertising, branding, and consumer profiles. Even if TikTok were banned, Greer says, ByteDance could hypothetically still access much of the same data by buying it from data brokers, given that there are few laws in place to protect American consumers from this kind of strategy. Earlier this month, David Greene, civil liberties director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told PopSci that American lawmakers “can’t just be responding to undifferentiated fear, or to uninvestigated or unproven concerns, or at the worst, xenophobia.”

[Related: Hackers could be selling your Twitter data for the lowball price of $2.]

Instead, anti-ban advocates continue to urge Congress to pass a universal data protection legislation, much like what the European Union did back in 2018 with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This regulation, which has affected companies such as Google and Amazon, most recently cost Facebook’s owners at Meta $275 million for a massive data leak in 2021.

Meanwhile, actually enacting such a targeted ban on TikTok could prove difficult to enforce, says Greer. Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union released a letter urging politicians to reconsider their stance on the issue while warning that blacklisting the app could violate First Amendment rights.

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The disappointment of watching a great TikTok on your For You page just to accidentally reload everything and lose the clip forever is so common—so visceral—that the experience has become a bit of a meme. The incessant cries of us common folk must have reached the ears of those running the app, because they’ve rolled out several ways to check your watch history and find recently viewed videos.

Unlike the early days on the so-called clock app, it’s now easy to navigate your TikTok watch history. And if you’re a power user, you can use specific search filters and techniques to hunt down previously watched TikToks if scrolling through your archive gets a bit too tedious.

How to find your TikTok watch history on iOS and Android

Although people with iPhones got the ability to see their TikTok history before Android users, the processes have since unified. As it should be.

On iOS, all you need to do is tap Profile in the bottom right, hit the main menu (three lines) in the top right, touch Settings and privacy, find Comment and watch history under the Content & Display heading, and select Watch history. If you never comment, you’ll only see Watch history after you open the settings and privacy menu.

On Android, the steps are similar: Profile > main menu (three lines) > Settings and privacy > Comment and watch history > Watch history. Again, if you never comment, you’ll only see Watch history after Settings and privacy.

No matter which mobile operating system you’re using, you’ll see every video you’ve watched within the past 180 days. If you’re trying to find something older, you’ll have to search for it with the normal TikTok search function (tips below).

You can find a recently watched video by scrolling down this page, but be warned: everything is on there. Whether it’s a video you watched in its entirety or one that happened to briefly load and autoplay as you moved around the app, it’s part of your TikTok watch history. The only videos you won’t find are Lives and Stories.

[Related: 7 tips to make the most of TikTok]

Unless you’re extremely patient, this method isn’t great for digging deep into your archive, because you can’t search the watch history page. If you’re a heavy TikTok user and watched something days or weeks ago, you’ll end up scrolling for a while. You can, however, hit Select in the top right and tap individual videos or touch Select all watch history in the bottom left. Then you can permanently get rid of those clips by tapping the bright red Delete button. At least tidy up a bit while you’re there.

First, tap the search icon (a magnifying glass) in the top right corner of your screen. Then type out the relevant keywords and hit Search. Next, hit the Watched button just above the first row of videos. This will change your search results to show any videos you’ve watched. If you don’t see this option (along with All, Unwatched, and Recently uploaded), make sure you’re in the Top tab—they don’t appear if you’re in any of the others. Otherwise, TikTok may not have registered that you watched a video related to your search terms, or it may have passed before your eyes longer than 180 days ago.

As with your watch history, the Watched search filter will display TikToks that appeared in recent searches and auto-played as thumbnails as you looked through the results, so you may have to dig deeper every time you search.

Other TikTok search tips

The main search results page, whether you filter it or not, is stuffed with content. You can use these tabs and suggestions to further refine your search or just get lost in the TikTok abyss and hope your algorithm doesn’t take a devastating hit. I, for one, will probably spend the next week telling TikTok I’m not interested in those videos where people pour milk all over the counter while “making coffee” because I searched “coffee TikTok” while working on this story. (To do so, long-press on the video when it plays on your FYP and hit Not interested on the menu that appears.)

Across the top of the results page, you’ll see built-in filters that will display only top posts, users, videos, sounds, accounts that are currently live, and hashtags related to your search. Scroll down a little and you may also find suggestions for what other people searched for.

[Related: Why some US lawmakers want to ban TikTok]

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Today Google unveiled a series of new generative AI features across a range of its products including Gmail and its other Workspace apps, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. The AI-powered features will roll out to trusted testers in the coming weeks, and once they’ve been refined, Google says they will be available more generally. If this feels to you like Google is trying to play catch up with Microsoft and its multi-billion investment in/collaboration with OpenAI, the developers of ChatGPT and DALL-E 2, , well, you wouldn’t be wrong. According to The New York Times, it’s been a “code red” situation inside the company since ChatGPT launched last year, with plans to launch as many as 20 new products to address the perceived gap. 

Still, in Google’s press releases, the company is quick to point out that it’s actually been doing this AI thing for a long time. A blog post from earlier this year lists nine ways that AI is used in the company’s products, including in Google Search, Maps, YouTube, Gmail, and, of course, Ads. Its existing AI features, like Smart Compose and Smart Reply in Gmail, are apparently already “helping 3 billion users.” And we can’t forget about the furore last year when an engineer got fired for claiming that LaMDA, a large language model, was sentient. It’s not Google who’s slow—it’s Microsoft, okay?

While Google announced a number of other features, it’s the generative AI integrations with apps like Gmail and Docs that are the most interesting. And assuming the beta testing goes well, they will likely be used by far more people. 

According to Google, the new features will soon allow you to draft messages, reply to messages, summarize conversations, and prioritize messages in Gmail, brainstorm ideas, get your work proofread, generate text, and rewrite text in Docs, create AI-generated images, audio, and videos in Slides, capture notes and generate backgrounds in Meet, and more easily “go from raw data to insights and analysis” in Sheets (although these appear not to be connected to Google’s new AI chatbot, Bard).

[Related: Google’s own upcoming AI chatbot draws from the power of its search engine]

In the blog post announcing the new features, Johanna Voolich Wright, vice president of product at Google Workspace, gives a few specific examples. In Docs, she shows the generative AI creating a rough draft of a job post for a regional sales rep, and in Gmail she shows it turning a short bulleted list into a formal email. Voolich Wright suggests these features would work whether you’re “a busy HR professional who needs to create customized job descriptions, or a parent drafting the invitation for your child’s pirate-themed birthday party.”

Voolich Wright is at pains to say that these features are meant to be you collaborating with AI, not letting it just do its own thing. “As we’ve experimented with generative AI ourselves, one thing is clear,” she writes. “AI is no replacement for the ingenuity, creativity, and smarts of real people.” In accordance with Google’s AI Principles, the generative AI is meant to do things like create first drafts that you edit and perfect, not publishable copy. You, the user, are meant to stay in control. 

While these examples are cool and genuinely seem useful, all we have to go on right now is Google’s own announcement posts and demo videos. These tools aren’t yet available even to testers, so it’s important to treat the listed features and the examples Google gives with a bit of skepticism. We’re not saying that AI wasn’t used to generate the text in the demos Voolich Wright shows off, but they could just have easily been written by an intern in the marketing department as an example of what Google would like the new features to be able to do. 

Still, Google has a legitimately world class AI research division and has been working on these sorts of features for more than six years. It might just be able to successfully integrate generative AI tools into some of its most popular products—and make them useful.

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Yesterday, lawmakers introduced a new bipartisan Senate bill that would give the US government the power to ban TikTok. The bill is called, clunkily, the Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology, or RESTRICT Act. It was introduced in part by Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, who is also the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and it would allow the Commerce Department to review deals, software updates, and data transfers from apps and tech companies in which “foreign adversaries,” specifically the governments of China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela, have an interest. 

It’s the latest—and perhaps the closest to becoming law—in a long line of proposals that look to limit the potential for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to exert influence on TikTok, and by extension, its users around the world.

Both the US and European Union governments are considering banning TikTok, limiting how it can handle customer data, and generally just increasing the regulatory burden it’s under compared to, say, Facebook or Instagram. Both entities have gone so far as to ban it on government staff’s work phones over espionage fears. Let’s take a look at why. 

Although TikTok has over 100 million active monthly users in the US and at least 10,000 employees across the US and Europe, its parent company, ByteDance, is headquartered in Beijing, China. This has led to some security concerns as well as plenty of bellicose posturing from US lawmakers and China-hawks. 

The security concerns come in part because ByteDance has bowed down to the CCP in the past. For example, in 2018, its then-CEO and founder, Zhang Yiming, had to issue a groveling, self-criticizing apology after the CCP compelled it to shut down one of its other apps. He promised to “further deepen cooperation” with the authoritarian government.

TikTok and ByteDance employees also have a manual override for what goes viral and gets promoted by the app’s “For You” algorithm. Earlier this year, a Forbes report on the “heating” feature revealed that TikTok frequently promoted videos in order to court influencers and brands and entice them into partnerships based on inflated video view counts. The concern here is that government propaganda, fake news, and anything else could be manipulated in the same way. 

Then there are legitimate concerns about TikTok’s data handling practices. Last year, a BuzzFeed news report revealed that engineers in China were able to access data from US users, despite the information supposedly being stored in the US. TikTok’s COO, Vanessa Pappas, did little to alleviate those concerns in a grilling before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last summer. Finally, TikTok had to fire four employees based in the US and China for attempting to spy on reporters, including Emily Baker-White who wrote both the Forbes and BuzzFeed investigations. 

Of course, the app also enjoys a huge amount of popularity domestically—more than two-thirds of teens use TikTok, after all. 

As David Greene, civil liberties director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, explains over Zoom, ByteDance and TikTok aren’t really handling data or bowing down to government pressure in a wildly different way compared to other social media apps. The big difference is where ByteDance is headquartered. 

Greene also thinks any US government attempt to ban TikTok is on shaky ground. “If the government wants to ban a way for people in this country to communicate with each other and with other people, it’s going to have to do so within the framework of the First Amendment,” he says. 

As Greene explains it, this means the US government will need to show that not only does some real threat to the public exist, but also that banning TikTok is justified. “It can’t just be responding to undifferentiated fear, or to uninvestigated or unproven concerns, or at the worst, xenophobia,” he says. 

TikTok is also fighting hard to ensure it can continue to operate in the US and Europe. It’s recently launched Project Texas and Project Clover, multi-billion dollar restructuring plans that would involve storing US data in the US and European data in Ireland and Norway in ways that they could not be accessed in China. Whether these efforts can reassure lawmakers that it doesn’t need additional oversight—or worse, a total ban—remains to be seen.

The same day the bill was introduced, the White House said in a statement from the National Security Advisor that they “urge Congress to act quickly to send it to the President’s desk.” You can watch Senator Warner talk more about the bill here.

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A 191-foot-long sunken ship missing beneath the waves of Lake Huron for almost 130 years has been discovered nearly intact with the help of self-driving boats and high powered sonar imaging. 

At around 12:30 AM on September 24, 1894, a three-masted schooner barge called the Ironton collided head-on with the wooden freighter, Ohio, after being cut loose from a tow line in the face of inclement weather. Both vessels quickly sank beneath the waves, and although all of the Ohio’s crew escaped aboard a lifeboat, only two of Ironton’s crew survived the ordeal. For decades, both pieces of history rested somewhere along the bottom of Lake Huron, although their exact locations remained unknown.

[Related: Watch never-before-seen footage of the Titanic shipwreck from the 1980s.]

In 2017, however, researchers at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary collaborated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of Ocean Exploration and Research to begin search efforts for the roughly 100 ships known to have sunk within the 100-square-miles of unmapped lakebed. Using state-of-the-art equipment including multibeam sonar systems aboard the Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab’s 50-foot-long research vessel, RV Storm, the team scoured the sanctuary’s waters for evidence of long-lost barges, schooners, and other boats.

In May 2017, the teams finally located Ohio’s remnants, although Ironton eluded rediscovery. Two years later, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary set out on another expedition, this time partnered with Ocean Exploration Trust, the organization founded by Robert Ballard, famous for his discoveries of the Titanic, Bismarck, and USS Yorktown. For their new trip, researchers also brought along BEN (Bathymetric Explorer and Navigator), a 12-foot-long, diesel-fueled, self-driving boat built and run by University of New Hampshire’s Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping. 

By triangulating the Ohio’s now-known location, alongside wind and weather condition records for the day of the ship’s demise, RV Storm got to work with BEN’s high-resolution multibeam sonar sensor to map Lake Huron’s floors for evidence of the Ironton. With only a few days’ left to their trip, researchers finally were rewarded with 3D sonar scans of a clear, inarguable shipwreck featuring three masts.

[Related: For this deep-sea archaeologist, finding the Titanic at the bottom of the sea was just the start.]

Video footage provided by an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) the following month confirmed their suspicions—there lay the Ironton, almost perfectly preserved thanks to Lake Huron’s extremely cold, clear waters. “Ironton is yet another piece of the puzzle of [the region’s] fascinating place in America’s history of trade,” Ballard said in a statement, adding that they “look forward to continuing to explore sanctuaries and with our partners reveal the history found in the underwater world to inspire future generations.”

Future research expeditions and divers searching for the Ironton’s exact resting place will have no trouble going forward—Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary plans to deploy one of its deep-water mooring buoys meant to mark the spot, as well as warn nearby travelers to avoid dropping anchors atop the fragile remains. The Ironton’s made it this far in nearly pristine condition, after all.

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These apps are getting better with time, and they can give you a good idea as to what AI can do and where it might be headed in the future.

Magic Sketchpad

If there’s an artist inside you, Magic Sketchpad could help bring it out. This free AI tool is an experiment from a team at Google that gets a neural network to draw along with you. Every time you let go of a line, the platform will respond to your scribble by finishing the drawing according to a set category.

The neural network has been trained on millions of doodles mined from the also highly entertaining Quick, Draw! browser-based game. Start Magic Sketchpad by picking a category from the drop-down list at the top right of your screen—there are plenty available, from frogs to sandwiches. The tool knows the sorts of shapes and lines people tend to make when they’re trying to draw simple concepts like a bird, a ship, or a cat, so it can predict what you’ll draw next and finish the doodle for you.

Magic Sketchpad can also help artists augment their work or provide new prompts for creativity, and as far as AI websites go, it’s one of the most entertaining. Maybe one day we could see computers doodling as well as humans do.

AI Duet

Pros

• Not just for musicians
• You’ll get results quickly

Cons

• No export options
• Can struggle with rhythm

If you’re more of a musician than a sketcher, AI Duet might suit you better. Built by an engineer at Google, AI Duet puts a keyboard down at the bottom of your screen and produces an automatically generated response based on what you play on it. You can click the keys on your screen, hit them on your keyboard, or even connect a MIDI keyboard to your computer.

A traditional approach to a project like this would have involved a programmer coding in hundreds or even thousands of responses to specific patterns a user might play. But AI Duet comes up with its own responses based on a huge database of tunes it has trained on. This gives the program the ability to generate melodies that match a user’s input without any specific instructions.

[Related: These music recording apps are your first step to winning a Grammy]

This is another example of how AI can work with artists to produce new creations, whether that’s for movie soundtracks or background music in games. Theoretically, you could rework one riff an endless amount of times.

Craiyon

Pros

• Unlimited images
• Each prompt creates multiple responses
• Lots of flexibility

Cons

It is as simple as typing out what you want to see in the box at the top and clicking Draw. As far as free AI tools go, it couldn’t be much more straightforward.

You can combine two of your favorite fictional characters in a setting of your choosing, or reimagine a famous work of art in a different style— you’ll soon figure out which prompts work best. 

To generate images, Craiyon pulls in information from millions of photos online and their captions. That means it has a vast visual knowledge of everything from celebrities to national landmarks.

The results produced by Craiyon are a little rough around the edges for now, but it’s not difficult to see how we could eventually use this technology to generate highly realistic images from scratch using only a text prompt. For faster responses and no ads, you can pay from $5 a month for a paid plan.

Even Stranger Things

Pros

• No graphic design experience needed
• One of the quickest ways to experience AI

Cons

• Only really has one trick

Even Stranger Things is worth a look even if you’re not a fan of the Netflix show that inspired it. The platform lets you submit a photo of anything you like and turns it into a Stranger Things-style poster.

The site was built by creative technologist David Arcus, and it taps into the Google Cloud Vision API, a machine learning system trained to recognize images based on a vast database. So by processing thousands of pictures of dogs, for example, the AI learns to more accurately spot a dog in other photos.

Even Stranger Things will try to identify what’s in the picture you’ve submitted and incorporate it into the finished design, usually with broadly accurate results.

It’s quite a simple AI tool, but it shows how we can use databases to teach machines to spot new patterns that aren’t in their training materials. The platform is also a great example of how algorithms can apply a particular visual style to photos to create something new.

Talk To Books

Pros

• Good for existential questions
• Very simple to use
• Offers multiple answers

Cons

• Prompts need to be carefully worded

Talk To Books is yet another artificial intelligence tool created by engineers at Google. In this case, the platform uses the words from more than 100,000 books to automatically respond to a question or text prompt.

While you can’t really hold a conversation with the site, you can ask questions like “How can I fall asleep?” and “How did you meet your partner?” to get answers that generally make sense. Type your prompt, then press Go to see the results, and you can filter by literary genre if needed.

This is another example of how machine learning enables AI to predict a good response to a question or prompt by analyzing patterns in text. It’s perhaps a glimpse into how free AI software could change web searches in the future.

Pix2Pix

Pros

• Fast results
• Offers helpful tips along the way
• Ability to use random prompts

Cons

Scroll down the page and you’ll see there are four different examples to try out: cats, buildings, shoes, and handbags. Sketch out your drawing in the window on the left, and click Process to see what the AI makes of it.

This is another engine based on a GAN, where two neural networks work in tandem to produce realistic results, and even figure out where the edges of objects in images should be.

Turning sketches into realistic photos can be useful in all kinds of areas, from building construction to video game design. And the quality of the results is only likely to improve as these neural networks get smarter.

ChatGPT

Pros

• Sounds natural
• Will chat about almost any topic
• Responds to feedback

Cons

• Not always accurate
• Requires you to create an account

ChatGPT has attracted plenty of attention for the way it can generate natural-sounding text on just about any kind of topic, and it feels like a watershed moment in artificial intelligence.

This is what’s called a Large Language Model, which, as the name suggests, is trained on large volumes of sample text. Very, very, large, in fact. It’s then able to predict which words should go together and in which order, and it can improve its own algorithms as human beings rank its responses in terms of quality and appropriateness.

ChatGPT is somewhat like a sophisticated autocorrect engine, and you can try it out for free (though you’ll need to create an account and might find it’s unavailable at busy times). Test its knowledge on a topic you know a lot about, and feel free to offer feedback.

Deep Dream Generator

Pros

• Wide range of picture styles
• Can work with a base image
• Images can be refined

Cons

• Limited number of free generations
• Requires you to create an account

Fire up the Deep Dream Generator in your web browser, and you’ll be asked for a text prompt to create an image—it works like Craiyon in that respect, though you’ll get extra options in terms of image generation and refinement.

You can, for example, specify a particular style, such as photorealistic or fantasy. You can also add artists you want to mimic, or even digital camera models you’d like the AI engine to try to emulate. Another option is to supply your own base image for Deep Dream Generator to work with.

Underpinning Deep Dream Generator is a neural network trained on a huge database of images that the engine is trying to replicate, and it’s impressive in terms of the breadth and speed of the results that can be achieved. The platform requires users to spend “energy” to generate images, though, and the less you’re paying them, the fewer pictures you’ll be able to make at a time.

Runway

Pros

• Vast number of AI tools
• Simple interface
• You can train your own AI models

Cons

• The best features require payment
• You’ll need to create an account

Runway is an AI playground with a lot of different tools you can experiment with: create images from text prompts, create new images from existing images, erase parts of images, quickly remove backgrounds, generate a transcript from a video, and more.

For the text-to-image generator, for example, just type out a few words—such as “artistic painting of a solitary figure in an open meadow filled with flowers”—and Runway will go to work. You can choose from artistic styles, mediums (like chalk or ink), and even moods to refine a picture.

Other tools, like the one that colorizes black and white photos, require even fewer clicks. You can use Runway for free, but you’re limited in terms of export resolutions, storage space, and image generations—paid plans start at $15 a month.

It’s all based on advanced machine learning models that can recognize and repeat patterns. You can even use Runway to train your own AI models, making it suitable for advanced users: You might want to train it on photos of your face, for instance, and then generate endless portrait images of yourself in all kinds of styles and settings.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on June 23, 2022.

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Think about the music and podcasts you listen to, and how they affect your mood. If streaming audio content makes you happier, you’re not alone, and the proof is in the study data Spotify released today.

That finding comes courtesy of 426 free-tier Spotify users who volunteered to wear an electrodermal activity sensor on their palm any time they tuned in over the course of 40 days. The company learned that listening to either podcasts or music improved its users’ moods, and that the activities listeners participate in influenced the type of content they gravitated to.

Although part of Spotify’s motivation for this research is to help advertisers understand how users’ engagement habits with music and podcasts can be used to create a seamless ad experience, it also has interesting implications for scientific studies related to the human experience with sound. 

“The project is showing that you can actually study this stuff in the wild. The conditions here were as realistic as you can get considering these were people that were just living their lives,” study co-author Josh McDermott, associate professor in MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, tells PopSci. 

In his view, this opens the door to a new kind of anthropology-like study that can look at how people deal with audio in their lives. “There’s this big cultural shift in the way that we consume music and other audio that really happened over the last decade. It’s just changed the way that people live and probably has a lot of important effects,” McDermott adds. “This is just one way to understand that.” 

Key to Spotify’s work was the electrodermal activity sensor, which measures sweat and variations in the electroconductivity of the skin.

“The reason why we went with that specific technology is that we really wanted measure the impact of digital technologies throughout the day, so it was crucial for us to get outside of a lab environment and let our research participants use and interact with Spotify as they would normally do,” says Marion Boeri, global lead of Thought Leadership Research at Spotify.

This research follows a 2021 collaboration with a company called Neuro-Insight that measured users’ brain activity while they listened to Spotify. In the Neuro-Insight project, “we had people come in the lab, and we measured their neural activity when they’re listening to Spotify, which obviously helped us understand engagement that our platform drove, but it was something that was limiting us to that environment,” Boeri adds. 

In an effort to break free of that limitation, this time Spotify enlisted research participants from the US and the UK who had free Spotify accounts. Across 14,878 Spotify listening sessions, the company tracked what these people listened to, and asked them to fill out surveys before and after each session about the activity they were doing, their mood, if they remembered the ads they had heard, and if they were interested in the product advertised. Spotify’s researchers took a baseline measure of electrodermal activity before people listened to any audio, and used changes they observed as a metric for engagement. 

[Related: Meet Spotify’s new AI DJ]

No matter the audio content, streaming boosted mood across the board. 

“You do see that people report their mood improves regardless of what they do. You see this boost in every activity [we measured],” McDermott says. “People are choosing what they consume and it makes them a little bit happier.”

There were also findings that broadly proved some long-suspected trends in audio science, like the fact that our environments dictate the types of audio content we gravitate toward in the moment.

“The musical attributes and the audio attributes that characterize what people are listening to vary a lot depending on what they’re doing,” he notes. For example, people like dancey music if they’re in a social setting, or if they’re being active. And they might like podcasts or wordier songs when they’re on a walk by themselves. “This is the kind of thing people have suspected intuitively for a long time, but it’s never been demonstrated,” McDermott says. “This was really the first time anybody had access to that.”

The post Spotify wants to understand your body on music appeared first on Popular Science.

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On February 14, geostationary communications satellite company Astranis announced that it had been awarded a contract with the US Space Force worth over $10 million. The contract is to first demonstrate a secure comms technique on the satellite hardware in a terrestrial test setting, and also includes the possibility of testing it in space. 

Space remains a useful place for countries to place sensors that look down on other nations. Many of these satellites reside in low Earth orbit, or about 1,200 miles above the surface, which is easier for satellites to reach and lets satellites circle the globe rapidly. Geostationary orbit, which is 22,200 miles above ground, is harder to get to. Plus, satellites at all altitudes risk having signals jammed, or being disrupted by other objects in orbit, which has led the US military to pursue satellite constellations, or formations of smaller satellites, as a way to ensure that some functionality persists in the event of attack or disaster. 

“We build small satellites for higher orbits, starting with geostationary orbit, which is quite a higher orbit,” says Astranis co-founder and CEO John Gedmark. “It’s the special orbit where you can park a single satellite over a part of the world or over a country and provide continuous service with just that one satellite.”

Over Alaska and Peru

Geostationary satellites have been used to provide communications and television broadcasts, and Astranis’ primary aim for both commercial and military customers is to use smaller geostationary satellites to provide continuous broadband-level internet connections. For two demonstrations of commercial uses, Gedmark points to upcoming launches placing satellites above Alaska (scheduled for early April), and one later this year that will put a satellite above Peru.

“This is a satellite that’ll go up over Peru and also provide some coverage in Ecuador. We will basically allow them to go and deploy and upgrade a number of cell towers out in some of the most remote parts of the country,” said Gedmark. “There’s a lot of parts of Peru where the terrain is just super rough and pretty extreme in the jungles, they have Andes mountains, they have a lot of things that make it very hard to get connectivity out to some of these remote areas.”

In both these places, the satellites will augment existing telecommunications infrastructure on the ground, letting remote towers connect through space instead of over land. Peru, like Alaska, contains vast stretches of varying terrain, where infrastructure such as wires, cables, or fiber internet connections can be hard to place. Freestanding cell phone towers can be set up, powered locally, and then route their communications through satellites instead of over-land wires, bringing 3G and 4G levels of internet to places people could not previously access it.

For military use

Those same traits, for connecting local rural infrastructure to wider data networks through space, are part of what makes Astranis satellites so appealing to the military.

“We realized that the military has this real problem right now for milsatcom and for some other capabilities around resiliency, right? They are really dependent on a small handful of these giant geo satellites, some of which cost billions of dollars. And those satellites are, as we like to quote General Hyten on this, big fat and juicy targets,” said Gedmark.

In 2017, Air Force General John Hyten was the head of US Strategic Command, and announced that he would no longer “support the development any further of large, big, fat, juicy targets,” referring to those types of satellites. Hyten retired in 2021, but the Department of Defense has continued to push for smaller satellites to fill the skies, as a more resilient option than all-in-one massive satellites of the present. Many of these constellations are aimed at low earth orbit.

“Without getting into specific pricing, we could put up about a dozen or more of our satellites for the cost of one of the big ones,” says Gedmark. Since 2018, Astranis has attracted venture funding on its premise to put satellites into geostationary orbit. 

“It’s hard to design all the electronics for the harsh radiation environment of geo, you’re right in the thick of the Van Allen belts,” says Gedmark. The Van Allen belts contain charged particles that can damage satellites, so anything built to survive has to endure the heavy ion strikes and radiation dosages inherent to the region. “These higher orbits are harder to get to, so you have to solve that with some clever onboard propulsion strategies. We solve that by having an electric propulsion system, and having an ion thruster on board.”

When launched, the satellites are aimed towards geostationary orbit, and then use their own power to reach and maneuver in space. Gedmark says the satellites are designed to stay in geostationary orbit for between 8 and 10 years, with the ability to relocate up to 30 times in that period.

The speed at which the satellites can be maneuvered from one orbit to another depends on how much fuel the satellite operators are willing to expend, with repositioning possible in days, though Gedmark expects moving to a new location in weeks will be the more typical use case. 

Once in orbit, the satellites need to communicate securely. The Protected Tactical Waveform is a communications protocol and technique developed by the US military, which Astranis aims to demonstrate can be run on the software-defined radio of its satellites. (A software-defined radio  is a computer that can change its parameters for transmitting and receiving information with code, while a more traditional radio requires analog hardware, like modulators and amplifiers, to encode and decode information from radio signals.) 

The Protected Tactical Waveform is “a set of techniques that are programmed into the radio so it can automatically avoid jamming and interference,” says Gedmark. “We’re gonna start by doing that as a demo in our lab, and then with the future satellites do that as an on orbit demo.”

Because this protocol will run on software radio, rather than hardware that is fixed on form once launched, it likely means that should the need arise, Astranis could adapt existing commercial satellites to carry the Protected Tactical Waveform, while it remains in orbit, facilitating the surge communications as events arise and to meet military need.

For now, the promise is that private investment in communication tech can yield a tool useful both for expanding internet connectivity across the globe, and for providing communications to US military forces in the field faster than it would take to set up ground-based infrastructure. For the Space Force, which is tasked with ensuring reliable communications across the heavens, more durable satellites that can be maneuvered as needed would allow it to redeploy assets across the skies to win wars on Earth.  

The post Why the Space Force is testing out tech for small, high-flying satellites appeared first on Popular Science.

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The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, is bulking up its internal tech team. The agency, which focuses on consumer protection and antitrust issues in the US, announced last week that it would be forming an Office of Technology and hiring more tech experts. 

Leading the new office is Stephanie Nguyen, the agency’s existing chief technology officer, who recently spoke with PopSci about what the new department will do and what her priorities for it are. 

“In general, the FTC has always stayed on the cutting edge of emerging technology to enforce the law,” she says. “In the 1930s, we looked at deceptive radio ads.” Earlier this century, she notes, they focused on “high-tech spyware.” The goal of the agency in general involves tackling problems that plague the public, like the scourge of robocalls.

“The shift in the pace and volume of evolving tech changes means that we can’t rely on a case-by-case approach,” she adds. “We need to staff up.” And the staffing up comes at a time when the tech landscape is as complex and formidable as it’s ever been, with the rise of controversial tools like generative AI and chatbots, and companies such as Amazon—which just scooped up One Medical, a primary care company, and in 2017 purchased Whole Foods—becoming more and more powerful. 

A relatively recent example of a tech issue the FTC has tackled comes from Twitter, which was hit with a $150 million fine in 2022 for abusing the phone numbers and email addresses it had collected for security purposes because it had permitted “advertisers to use this data to target specific users,” as the FTC noted last year. The Commission has also taken on GoodRx for the way it handled and shared people’s medical data. They have an ongoing lawsuit against Facebook-owner Meta for “anticompetitive conduct.” Meanwhile, in a different case, the FTC was unsuccessful at attempting to block Meta’s acquisition of a VR company called Within Unlimited, which CNBC referred to as “a significant defeat” for the FTC. 

[Related: Why the new FTC chair is causing such a stir]

Nguyen says that as the lines become increasingly blurry between what is, and isn’t, a tech company, the creation of the office became necessary. “Tech cannot be viewed in a silo,” she says. “It cuts across sectors and industries and business models, and that is why the Office of Technology will be a key nexus point for our consumer protection and competition work to enable us to create and scale the best practices.” 

The move at the FTC comes at a time when the tech literacy of various government players is in the spotlight and is crucially important. The Supreme Court has been considering two cases that relate to a law known as Section 230, and Justice Elana Kagan even referred to herself and her fellow justices as “not the nine greatest experts on the internet.” 

At the FTC, what having the new Office of Technology will mean in practice is that the amount of what she refers to as in-house “technologists” will roughly double, as they hire about 12 new people. She says that as they create the team, “we need security and software engineers, data scientists and AI experts, human-computer interaction designers and researchers,” and well as “folks who are experts on ad tech or augmented and virtual reality.”

Tejas Narechania, the faculty director for the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, says that the FTC’s creation of this new office represents a positive step. “I think it’s a really good development,” he says. “It reflects a growing institutional capacity within the executive branch and within our agencies.” 

“The FTC has been operating in this space for a while,” he adds. “It has done quite a bit with data privacy, and it has sometimes been criticized for not really fully understanding the technology, or the development of the technology, that has undergirded some of the industries that it is charged with overseeing and regulating.” (The agency has faced other challenges too.)

One of the ways the people working for the new office will be able to help internally at the FTC, Nguyen says, is to function as in-house subject matter experts and conduct new research. She says they’ll tackle issues like “shifts in digital advertising, to help the FTC understand implications of privacy, competition, and consumer protection, or dissecting claims made about AI-powered products and assessing whether it’s snake oil.” 

Having in-house expertise will help them approach tech questions more independently, Narechania speculates. The FTC will “be able to bring its own knowledge to bear on these questions, rather than relying on the very entities it’s supposed to be scrutinizing for information,” he reflects. “To have that independent capacity for evaluation is really important.” 

For Nguyen, she says the big-picture goal of the new office is that they are “here to strengthen the agency’s ability to be knowledgeable and take action on tech changes that impact the public.”

The post The FTC is trying to get more tech-savvy appeared first on Popular Science.

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There are few laws more fundamental to the way the internet works than Section 230. Just 26 words long, it created the framework for much of the modern web. But now the Supreme Court has taken up two cases that challenge its basic premise: Gonzalez v. Google LLC and Twitter, Inc. v. Taamneh. If you want to know what all the hubbub is about, here’s what the law says, and what people think about it.

What is Section 230? 

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was initially passed in 1996. That’s before Google, Facebook, Amazon, or many of today’s internet giants were founded. Instead, it was designed to deal with an internet filled with message boards and rudimentary search engines. 

Section 230 has two key provisions: (c)(1), which states, “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider;” and (c)(2), which provides protection from liability for “any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict access to or availability of” objectionable content, whether or not that content is constitutionally protected by the First Amendment. 

In general, the courts in the US have taken a broad approach to interpreting Section 230. They have largely ruled that search engines, large social media services, e-commerce sites, and even small blogs that host comment sections aren’t liable for content that users post—though there are exceptions for things like illegal content and content that violates intellectual property law. The courts have also ruled that platforms have broad rights to remove whatever content they like, which is how former President Donald Trump got himself banned. 

This law has very important ramifications for how websites have been able to operate over the past 26 years. Sophia Cope, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, explains that “Section 230 is considered both an immunity from suit as well as from liability.” (The EFF has filed amicus briefs in support of Section 230 in both recent Supreme Court cases, and has long argued that it is an essential law for maintaining free speech rights on the internet.)

The law means that not only are websites and social networks off the hook from any potential civil settlements for any harm that comes to a plaintiff from user-generated content these platforms host, but they can get out of any lawsuit early without having to defend against the specifics of the claim. 

As Cope explains, without Section 230, “Platforms would have to defend themselves all the way to the very end of a case that might take several years… and then there could be multiple appeals that cost a lot of money and take a lot of time.” 

Why do tech companies like Section 230? 

Section 230 is often described as a “liability shield,” and really, that’s why tech companies like it. 

In other countries around the world, tech companies have far stricter obligations to remove content than they presently do in the US. In Germany, for example, social media companies have to promptly remove illegal content (that can include crimes such as insulting a public office) or face up to a €50 million (roughly $53 million) fine. 

And not only are they forced to pay fines, but they’re forced to employ lawyers and lobbyists to argue against the cases and the laws in the first place. It’s why they have fought so hard against the latest spate of European Union laws like the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act that are expressly designed to rein American tech companies in. 

How do politicians feel about Section 230?

As much as tech companies enjoy the protection of Section 230, politicians from across the political spectrum take issue with it. 

As Cope explains it, Republican politicians over the past several years tend to feel that, under Section 230, “platforms are taking down too much content—particularly too much conservative or Republican content.” Former President Trump, for example, has called for it to be abolished. 

“But on the other hand,” says Cope, “You have the Democrats, or more the liberals, who actually think that not enough content is being taken down. They complain about a lot of bad content, like hate speech, which is protected under our First Amendment.” 

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed last month, President Joe Biden called for “bipartisan action from Congress to hold Big Tech accountable,” including amending Section 230 to make the companies more liable for the content they host.

What else is there to know about Section 230?

For better or worse, change could be on the horizon. “It seems like there’s consensus in Congress that after 25 years of Section 230, they want to do something,” says Cope, “but it’s not a hundred percent clear what it is they would do.” 

First though, the Supreme Court has to consider it. Both Gonzalez v. Google LLC and Twitter, Inc. v. Taamneh are being taken under the federal Anti-Terrorism Act, and both hinge on how the court interprets Section 230. In reporting on the first of those cases yesterday, The New York Times said that the court appears leary of making big changes to the law. 

It’s the first time the highest court has considered Section 230, and whatever it decides will have serious implications for the future of the internet around the world. 

The post A guide to Section 230, the law that made the internet the Wild West appeared first on Popular Science.

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Spotify, the popular audio streaming app, is on a journey to make music-listening personal for its users. Part of that includes recommending playlists “For You” like “Discover Weekly,” and summing up your year in audio with “Wrapped.” Today, the company announced that they are introducing an AI DJ, that folds much of their past work on audio recommendation algorithms into a new feature. It’s currently rolling out for premium users in the US and Canada. 

The artificially intelligent DJ blends recommendations from across different personal and general playlists throughout the app. The goal is to create an experience where it picks the vibe that it thinks you will like, whether that’s new hits, your old favorites, or songs that you’ve had on repeat for weeks. And like a radio DJ, it will actually talk—giving some commentary, and introducing the song, before it queues it up. Users can skip songs, or even ask the DJ to change the vibe by clicking on the icon at the bottom right of the screen. It will refresh the lineup based on your interactions. 

The DJ is comprised of three main tech components: Spotify’s personalization technology, a generative AI from OpenAI that scripts up what cultural context the DJ provides (alongside human writers), and an AI text-to-voice platform that was built through their acquisition of Sonantic, and based on the real life model, Xavier “X” Jernigan, Spotify’s head of cultural partnerships. To train the AI DJ, Jernigan spent a long time in the studio recording speech samples. 

[Related: How Spotify trained an AI to transcribe music]

The text-to-speech system accounts for all the nuances in human speech, such as pitch, pacing, emphasis, and emotions. For example, if a sentence ended in a semicolon instead of a period, the voice inflection would be different.

There’s a weekly writer’s room that curates what they’re going to say about songs in the flagship playlists, such as those grouped by genres. There’s another group of writers and cultural experts that come in to discuss how they want to phrase the commentary around the songs they serve up to users. The generative AI then comes in and scales this base script, and tailors it to all the individual users. AI DJ is technically still in beta, and Spotify engineers are eager to take user feedback to add improvements in future versions.

[Related: The best Spotify add-ons and tricks]

Think of the individual “For You” recommendations as Lego pieces, Ziad Sultan, head of personalization at Spotify, tells PopSci. “It’s not that it takes all the playlists and merges them. It’s more, in order to build this playlist in the first place, we have had to build a lot of Lego pieces that understand the music, understand the user, and understand how to create the right combo,” he explains. “A lot of that is from the years of developing machine learning, getting the data, especially the playlist data, for example.” 

“Eighty-one percent of people say that the thing they love most about Spotify is the personalization,” says Sultan. “So they’re still going to have the things they know and love. But this is just a new choice, which is also about not choosing.”  

Try it for yourself in the “Music” feed of the app homepage, or see it in action below:

Update February 22, 2023: This article has been updated to clarify that “X” is the voice model that was used and not the name for Spotify’s AI DJ.

The post Meet Spotify’s new AI DJ appeared first on Popular Science.

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Best overall		NETGEAR Nighthawk Cable Modem Wi-Fi Router Combo C7000		SEE IT	You can’t go wrong with this flexible modem-router that is compatible with multiple internet providers.
Best premium		NETGEAR Nighthawk C7100V		SEE IT	Step up from the Xfinity-provided set-up with this approved third-party router.
Best budget		Motorola MG7315 Modem Wi-Fi Router Combo		SEE IT	A modem-router can be yours for around $100 with this affordable combo.

Signing up for Comcast’s Xfinity internet service presents you with two options: either rent a router for Xfinity or purchase your own. At first, it might seem smarter to go with the path of least resistance and get the Xfinity router; it’s going to work and is presented as pretty affordable per month. However, after doing a cost-benefit analysis, buying your own modem and router will be cheaper, especially if you’re going to be an Xfinity customer for many years. Router shopping can be costly and nerve-wracking, especially if you purchase the incorrect router and there’s a strict no-return policy. Leave the frantic searching to us: we’ve come up with this list of the best routers for Xfinity.

• Best overall: NETGEAR Nighthawk Cable Modem-Router Combo C7000
• Best gaming: TP-Link AC4000
• Best premium: NETGEAR Nighthawk C7100V
• Best for streaming: Motorola MG7700 Modem-Router Combo 
• Best budget: Motorola MG7315 Modem-Router Combo

How we chose the best routers for Xfinity

First, you need to identify what kind of router you want. Then, you need to verify that the router works with Xfinity. To come up with this list, we researched the wide diversity of manufacturer claims, model specs, peer experiences, and user impressions. We then made our top five picks.

The best routers for Xfinity: Reviews & Recommendations

The best routers for Xfinity solve pain points for consumers while adding to the user experience as a whole. Our recommendations focus on the best options that are relatively future-proofed but can work with older devices and technology.

Best overall: NETGEAR Nighthawk Cable Modem-Router Combo C7000

NETGEAR

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: This modem-router combo can handle up to 30 devices.

Specs

• Modem combo: Yes
• Max speed: 800 Mbps
• Wi-Fi Range: 1,800 square feet

Pros

• Wide range
• Future-proofed DOCSIS 3.1
• Fast download speeds

Cons

• Technical support for software is subscription-based
• No support for Wi-Fi 6

This router was named best overall in our Spectrum routers round-up and there’s a reason why it’s also the best overall for Xfinity. It covers 1,800 square feet, can handle up to 30 devices simultaneously, and is compatible with Xfinity plans up to 800 Mbps. It includes separate networks for 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz bands, meaning you can organize your devices based on band level. You can plug in gaming consoles and computers to Ethernet thanks to four one-gigabit Ethernet ports, and can share storage with a connected device using the USB port. The router supports Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5 but does not support Wi-Fi 6, however. It features a WPA2-PSK security protocol, which is secure enough to protect your home without an enterprise authentication server—simply provide an 8- to 62-character long passphrase to encrypt your network. And, it meets DOCSIS 3.1 specifications. It’s worth noting that it will take some time to see a return on your investment with the Nighthawk but multiple reviews note that owners’ internet speed and performance were improved after setup, making the purchase worth it.

Best gaming: TP-Link AC4000

TP-Link

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: This tri-band router is lightning-fast and has built-in security features.

Specs

• Modem combo: No
• Max speed: 800 Mbps
• Wi-Fi Range: 3,000 square feet

Pros

• Can choose what devices go on each band
• High coverage area
• Alexa compatibility
• Make your own VPN server at home

Cons

• Reviewers note tech support could be improved

If you’ve got a modem and are searching for a pure router that will take on 4K streaming and gaming sans lag, look no further than the TP-Link AC4000, which is compatible with 800 Mbps Xfinity internet plans. Say goodbye to buffering thanks to MU-MIMO technology, which lets you connect more devices at once—perfect for setting up multiple consoles and a PC to Wi-Fi. If you’d like to throw some wired connections into the mix, two 1 Gbps and two 2 Gbps Ethernet ports are there for your use. Tri-band capabilities allow you to customize which band—2.4 GHz and two 5 GHz—your device will communicate with. Keep your online activities secure with VPN capabilities and a free lifetime subscription to TP-Link HomeCare, which features antivirus, parental controls, and Quality of Service (QoS). You can even toggle certain controls with Alexa voice commands. If this gaming router doesn’t tickle your megabytes, check out more of our best gaming routers.

Best premium: NETGEAR Nighthawk C7100V

NETGEAR

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: This Netgear router provides reliable performance now and for the future.

Specs

• Modem combo: Yes
• Max speed: 800 Mbps
• Wi-Fi Range: 1,800 square feet

Pros

• Compatible with Xfinity Voice (VoIP)
• Supports up to 30 devices
• Shared storage drive

Cons

• Is an older model

This modem-router combo from Netgear is ideal for streaming in 4K, high-speed gaming, and fast downloads. It works with Xfinity internet plans up to 800 Mbps (even more theoretically), has a wide range of 1,800 square feet, and supports up to 30 devices. Unlike other routers on our list, this one features 2 VoIP ports, which allows you to route your calls over the internet—creating clearer voice calls, lowered costs, and higher scalability. The Netgear Nighthawk C7100V features DOCSIS 3.0 capabilities and includes two USB ports and four Ethernet ports. However, it is an older model so not the best long-term investment.

Best for streaming: Motorola MG7700 Modem-Router Combo 

Motorola

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: This Xfinity-approved modem-router combo has all you need for quality internet quickly.

Specs

• Modem combo: Yes
• Max speed: 800 Mbps
• Wi-Fi Range: 2,000 feet

Pros

• Quick set-up
• Right speed for high-speed customers
• Xfinity-approved

Cons

• Connectvity issues in larger homes despite range

With its high-speed internet compatibility and four Ethernet ports for direct connection, you’ll have no problems surfing the web or streaming your favorite shows. Setup is quick: you just need to plug in a power cord and coaxial cable and follow a few simple steps to secure your connection. Plus, if you do run into any problems, your customer support tech from Comcast Xfinity will likely be at least somewhat familiar with the MG7700 and can give you some pro tips about working with the device.

The Motorola MG7700 works best in medium-sized homes, with those in large homes finding some trouble connecting in the far corners of their home. For these customers, the Wi-Fi 6/DOCSIS 3.1 Motorola MG8725 might work better. The average person in the here and now, however, will find that the MG7700 will more than suffice.

Best budget: Motorola MG7315 Modem-Router Combo

Motorola

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: This modem-router combo is just under $100 and includes basic features for the fuss-free user. 

Specs

• Modem combo: Yes
• Max speed: 200 Mbps
• Wi-Fi Range: 1,200 square feet

Pros

• Faster return on investment
• Easy installation
• Power Boost huge advantage

Cons

• No 5 GHz band
• Not future-proof

Do you live alone and need a router-modem combo that just gets the job done, no bells and whistles included? Check out the Motorola MG7315, which is compatible with Xfinity’s 200 Mbps service plan—perfect for web browsing, streaming, and light online gaming. This DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem and Wi-Fi 4 router has four Ethernet ports for wired connections. Don’t let its single-band fool you: Its “Power Boost” technology reinforces the Wi-Fi signal for quality gaming, streaming, and video conferencing. A vertical design makes for easy, discreet placement, and prevents overheating for longer product life. Although it doesn’t have any USB ports, it does feature four Ethernet ports for connecting devices directly to the internet. If you’re looking for a step-up option, check out the Motorola MG8702, which features dual-band tech, Wi-Fi 5, and app control capabilities in a similar design.

What to consider when buying the best routers for Xfinity

Reviews, meeting at least the minimum requirements, and crowd-sourced reports can tell you a lot about the overall functioning of a router. Then there are smaller factors that can help you pick once you’ve narrowed it down to a few choices.

Should I get a modem-router combo?

A modem connects you to the internet that Xfinity provides. A router lets your devices access that internet from around your house. A router serves little to no purpose without a modem. If you get a router but don’t have a modem, you will be stuck with a box offering you access, but access that’s the equivalent of opening a door and finding a brick wall.

This is why some reach for a modem-router combo: you get everything you need in a single piece of equipment. To avoid disappointment, be sure to check for compatibility, either from the manufacturer or from Xfinity’s website.

Speed

Routers are rated on the max speed they can deliver. Find the perfect internet speed for you, then buy a router that has a max speed above but not too above that speed (why pay for something you’re not using, after all). 

The next thing you’ll need to consider is DOCSIS, or “Data Over Cable Services Interface Specification.” This factor affects your speed by determining how well the internet can travel from the modem part of the combo to the router part.

There are two varieties of DOCSIS you’ll have to worry about: DOCSIS 3.0 and DOCSIS 3.1. DOCSIS 3.0 is capable of 200 Mbps upload speeds and up to 1 Gbps download speeds. DOCSIS 3.1 has 2 Gbps upload and 10 Gbps download speeds. 

Wi-Fi standard

There are three Wi-Fi standards you are likely to hear about while router shopping. From most to least common, they are Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6, and Wi-Fi 6E. 

Wi-Fi 5: This standard appears on most routers, and supports speeds up to 3.5 Gbps. It was first introduced around 2011.  

Wi-Fi 6: We’ve written extensively about Wi-Fi 6 but to sum up: Wi-Fi 6 began in 2019 and can handle multi-gigabit internet speeds. It can also handle a much larger number of network devices at once, including smart light switches and smart speakers. Wi-Fi 6 routers also have next-gen. security protocols, like WPA3, and an extended range.

Wi-Fi 6E: Wi-Fi 6E is newer than Wi-Fi 6, with the E standing for “Enhanced.” Understanding Wi-Fi 6E is important for future-proofing devices. If you want something to last far for years, one of our picks for the best Wi-Fi 6 routers should be more than enough.

Range

Wi-Fi range is determined by the kind of router you’re using, the wireless protocol the router follows, and the space you’re in. 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi routers can reach up to 150 feet indoors and 300 feet outdoors and should be used if you’re looking for long-distance Wi-Fi. Routers running on 5 GHz bands can reach around one-third of these distances since it uses narrower wavelengths—because of this, you should choose a 5 GHz router for speed but only if your devices can be located nearer to your internet access point. Newer routers operate on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands to reach greater distances and achieve maximum throughput for devices in closer proximity. 

Walls, electronic devices, and certain other materials in between your device and the router can weaken the signal (which is why we’ve put together a handy guide to Wi-Fi extenders). 

FAQs

Final thoughts on the best routers for Xfinity

The best routers for Xfinity should accommodate your current internet plan but leave room to level up for faster internet speeds. VPN capabilities, Alexa compatibility, and app customization are a few add-ons that help you integrate other technologies into one device. At the end of the day, the best Xfinity router should make your life easier and worry-free from spotty internet.

The post The best routers for Xfinity in 2023 appeared first on Popular Science.

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Blue jellyfish, new heart hues, and a very shaken smiley face are among the 31 emojis within Apple’s iOS 16.4 beta update. Although the expanded options are currently only available for anyone enrolled in the Apple Developer Program, the images should appear within during the wider, public iOS update estimated to arrive in March or April. As Emojipedia explains in its first look published on Thursday, new emojis’ current versions could be tweaked slightly between now and then, as was the case in the previous batches’ troll, peach, and bagel images.

In total, 21 novel emojis are included in the forthcoming update, alongside the various skin tone options for applicable entries. Other additions include animals like a moose and a goose, as well as long sought-after basics like plain pink and blue hearts. According to Emojipedia, the plain pink option was named as one of the website’s top requested additions all the way back in 2016.

The process for adopting new emojis is a lot more complicated than most people might think—one that’s fraught with all manner of accessibility, geopolitical, and cultural considerations. As Gizmodo explained in 2020, the world of emojis is largely overseen by the Unicode Consortium, which maintains the standards and updates to international, multilingual text and images. Every year, the public can submit new proposals for potential emojis, which Unicode then reviews and winnows. Afterwards, the actual consortium members (i.e., those who pay an $21,000 annual membership fee) vote on which ones make the cut. It’s not always smooth sailing from there, however.

One such example came in 2019, when Apple quietly hid the Taiwanese flag emoji on devices with regions set to mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau. Taiwan’s sovereignty has long been contested by China, and many critics saw the move as a capitulation to the country. Luckily, it doesn’t exactly appear at first glance like any of the upcoming emojis boast quite the same caché—although who’s to say what that shaking emoji face could represent in one year’s time?

The emoji keyboard isn’t the only language getting receiving updates. As The Verge details, Korean keyboards are receiving default autocorrect capabilities, while Ukrainians should receive support for predictive text. The beta also has South Asian languages such as Punjabi, Urdu, and Gujarati getting transliteration layouts that should help users typing with Roman letters avoid pesky English autocorrection issues.

The post Meet the newest Apple emojis: a goose, a moose, and another pink heart appeared first on Popular Science.

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In living rooms, backyards, and public parks throughout the country, baby showers are being replaced by something a bit more dramatic. Some of today’s expectant parents share their joy by “revealing” their child’s sex in parties that feature balloons, cake, and confetti in pink or blue (or occasionally purple, if the parents want to signal that they will not know their child’s chosen gender for many years to come). But the biggest ones, fueled by social media trends, go even further, involving extravagant stunts. And these spectacles can wreak havoc on the environment. 

A pink pigeon found in New York City, who some speculate was brightly colored for a gender reveal party, died from inhaling the dye’s toxins earlier this month. A couple who used a pyrotechnic device to reveal their baby’s gender started the El Dorado fire in California in 2020, which killed a firefighter and destroyed five homes and 15 buildings. An off-duty border patrol agent lit an Arizona forest on fire with a blue-colored explosive. And in one gender reveal party in Brazil, a couple dyed an entire river blue.

[Related:

[Related: How to build and extinguish a campfire without sparking a catastrophe]

While most gender reveal parties stick to colored cupcakes or other tame features, social media could be driving a few expectant parents to go bigger. Popular videos and posts can encourage people to mimic what others are doing, such as learning a TikTok dance, says Laura Tropp, a professor of communication arts at Marymount Manhattan College who specializes in representations of pregnancy, motherhood, and families in popular culture. Or they can take a trend to dangerous heights, which seems to be the case with the pigeon, river, and fires. Insurance companies are even posting liability advice for when reveals go wrong.

“You’re seeing this pressure on a lot of people to have the next-level gender reveal party,” Tropp says. “They involve color; they involve objects. And I think people love to watch all these extreme parties happening because they’re exciting.” 

Not only are gender reveals visual phenomena—they are also able to make what used to be a very private human experience something more social. “Pregnancy is long, most of it is just happening inside a woman’s body,” Tropp explains. “So it’s the ability to kind of take an aspect of pregnancy, move it outside a woman’s body, and then make it exciting. And then maybe make it extreme to get the social media views that people want.”

[Related: TikTokers are taking a diabetes drug to lose weight. Now it’s in short supply.]

Tropp says it’s all part of the commoditization of pregnancy and parenthood. The baby product industry is estimated to reach $352 billion by 2023, and offers everything from “it’s a boy!” hand sanitizer to edible glitter bombs. “There’s this pressure on parents to be a part of all these rituals that were never associated with pregnancy or parenting,” she notes. “Gender reveal parties are a part of this moment where you could publicly express an aspect of your pregnancy really early on. So I think we’re seeing this kind of shift from parenting starting at the moment of birth to parenting starting much, much earlier.”

But gender reveal parties are just one of many human rituals that can be harmful to the environment, according to Bron Taylor, a professor of religion, nature and ethics at the University of Florida, who has written about environmental ethics. “Fireworks are an obvious example,” he writes in an email to PopSci. “They pollute the air, soil, and water, and of course, their production, distribution, and use, contributes to anthropogenic climate disruption. But these practices, whether for nationalistic, calendrical, or religious rituals, are now so well-established, that many consider questioning them unthinkable … In this age of profound environmental crises, we should be rethinking everything, including every sort of ceremony and ritualized practice.” 

For those who still want to throw a gender reveal party, a good starting point may be to “eschew things that burn, explode, or otherwise risk hurting people or ecosystems,” Taylor says. Share your excitement in a responsible way—or you could just stick to cupcakes and piñatas.

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Best for YouTube beginners (Windows)		NCH VideoPad		SEE IT	A simple-to-use program that doesn’t skimp on the tools editors use most.
Best for Mac		Adobe Premiere Pro		SEE IT	Professional editing software that provides all the tools to cut anything you can experience on a screen.
Best for mobile devices		Premiere Rush		SEE IT	A simple and intuitive app designed for on-the-go editing.

The ideal video editing software for YouTube provides powerful tools and an interface that doesn’t get in the way of your creativity. Whether you’re producing unboxing videos, product reviews, sketch comedy routines, short films, or news reports, solid editing transforms raw footage into content that gets more views and Likes. There was a time when high-end, professional editing software cost too much for home users. Today, however, pretty much any aspiring creator has access to the best video editing software for YouTube … as long as you pick from this list!

• Best for beginners (Windows): NCH VideoPad
• Best for beginners (macOS): Apple iMovie
• Best editor for Mac: Adobe Premiere Pro
• Best video editor for PC: Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 18
• Best for mobile devices: Adobe Premiere Rush

How we chose the best video editing software for YouTube

In picking our best video editing software for YouTube, we looked at 10 top products. We evaluated their editing tools, titling and graphics options, how the software handles audio, and selections of transitions and effects. We also paid close attention to the types of files they can import and play, as well as the video formats and resolutions that they output. We looked specifically at each software’s limitations to decide if they were deal-breakers. Finally, we assessed their ease of use. The best software in the world doesn’t do anyone any good if no one can figure out how to use it. 

Our evaluations come from direct testing by professional editors, as well as conversations with other industry professionals. We also looked at reviews left by typical users to get an idea of how editors of different experience levels feel about the software.

The best video editing software for YouTube: Reviews & Recommendations

In testing this software, we treated each program as if we were using it on professional projects, often importing footage shot for TV shows and movies. These were cut into sequences, trailers, and other short videos. We didn’t skimp on titles or effects, and we exported our files using YouTube’s suggested parameters, as well as settings for higher-end delivery. Combining this with observations from other trusted peers, we narrowed the options to these five top choices.

Best for beginners (Windows): NCH VideoPad

NCH Software

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: VideoPad is the best video editing software for Youtube beginners because it has an easy-to-navigate interface and many of the most important editing tools, with a tiered price structure that keeps it affordable.  

Specs 

• Cost: Tiered subscription
• Mobile or Desktop: Desktop
• Platform: Windows and macOS (with limited features)

Pros

• Easy to learn 
• Tiered pricing, including a limited free version
• Excellent video stabilization

Cons

• Free version includes repetitive notifications
• Poor automatic speech-to-text subtitles

NCH Software’s VideoPad Editor is a simple-to-use program that doesn’t skimp on the tools editors use most. Other software might provide a larger set of features and more functionality, but those programs can often overwhelm beginners—not to mention their budgets. But with its easy upgrade path that opens up features, VideoPad is a video editor for Windows that grows with its user.   

The traditional layout includes familiar modules. Bins store clips, still images, music, and other assets. A timeline allows you to string the assets together. The viewer displays the final project. The intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes piecing together engaging content quick and painless, and the included effects and transitions will let you flex your creative muscles. You can even edit 360-degree video.

Overlays like graphics or text use the same drag-and-drop system, so adding on-screen identifications and logos is easy. The Masters Edition opens the software to third-party plugins that increase the software’s effects and transition library. 

VideoPad creates files in resolutions ranging from 480p to 4K. It can output directly to YouTube and other social media, as well as sites like Dropbox, Vimeo, and Google Drive. Of course, files can also be saved to the desktop or a dedicated folder on both an internal or external hard drive. 

Best for beginners (macOS): Apple iMovie

Apple

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: Practically every Mac and iOS device includes iMovie, making it quick and easy for Apple users to start editing video without spending an extra dime.

Specs 

• Cost: Free
• Mobile or Desktop: Both
• Platform: macOS, iOS

Pros

• Included on every new Apple product
• Simple interface
• Powerful color-matching and green-screen tools
• Excellent tools for audio

Cons

• No 360-degree video editing
• Only two video tracks
• No multicam capabilities

If you own a Mac, iPad, or iPhone, you’ve already got iMovie—why not learn to edit on it before diving into deeper waters? Apple’s ubiquitous software is the best video editing software for Youtube beginners because it is easy to navigate and features intuitive drag-and-drop functionality to help you produce your YouTube videos quickly. It also acts as a stepping stone to Apple’s full-featured video editor, Final Cut Pro, for anyone who wants to stay in Apple’s orchard. 

The simple iMovie interface only shows you the tools you need when you need them. A standard three-pane layout includes source material, your video content, and a timeline. The software only has two video tracks, a limitation that most editors will outgrow. On the flip side, it’s easier for beginners to focus on the fundamentals of laying out a compelling and focused story.

Editing in iMovie is simple. If you slide the mouse over a clip while in Media View, you’ll scrub through your footage for easy previews. Once you drag a selected clip into the timeline, it automatically links up with the other clips. Trim or extend your selections by dragging their fronts or backs. Clips conveniently lock together so you can move whole chunks without worrying that you might accidentally leave part of a sequence behind.

Apple provides powerful tools for color correction, green-screen keying, and time effects—as well as more esoteric options. iMovie handles different types of footage without trouble, including 4K resolutions. Once the edit is done, it outputs all standard file formats. You can share your video directly to YouTube, Vimeo, or your iTunes library, or you can save it to your computer to upload to other sites.

Best video editor for Mac: Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: Adobe Premiere Pro is an industry-standard editing platform designed to cut everything from YouTube videos to Hollywood blockbusters, making it our choice for the best Youtube editor for Mac. 

Specs 

• Cost: $20.99-$31.49/month (Included with Creative Cloud subscription)
• Desktop or Mobile: Desktop
• Platform: macOS, Windows

Pros

• Interfaces seamlessly with other Adobe Creative Cloud apps
• Full set of industry-standard, professional editing tools
• Can output virtually any type of audio or video file 
• Highly adjustable effects and transitions

Cons

• Steep learning curve
• Requires a powerful computer

Adobe Premiere Pro is cross-platform, professional editing software that provides all the tools to cut YouTube videos, Hollywood features, music videos, educational shorts, or anything else you can watch on a screen. It’s part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud subscription service, including Photoshop, Illustrator, AfterEffects (motion graphics), and numerous other programs—many of which interface seamlessly with Premiere Pro.

Premiere Pro provides any number of video and audio tracks, limited only by your computer’s CPU and GPU. Nearly every parameter is adjustable, including the clip’s length, speed, scale, position, rotation, and transparency levels. Want to add text? It’s easy with a text editor that includes design and layout tools. 

The software includes dozens of effects and transitions, from the simple to the outrageous, with powerful image stabilization and advanced color correction. It runs most third-party plug-ins, too. Effects can be added to individual clips or adjustment layers that transform entire sequences. 

Premiere Pro imports and plays nearly any type of video file and provides comprehensive media management tools to help keep track of everything. It exports videos in any format, resolution, size, or bitrate, making it easy to optimize your content for playback via YouTube, social media, streaming services, BluRay, or your local multiplex. 

Premiere Pro has a steep learning curve, especially for brand-new editors. But experienced YouTubers and filmmakers will grasp the basics thanks to the program’s standard layout. Adobe’s website helpfully provides extensive tutorials, and the filmmaking community has swamped YouTube with how-to videos. 

Best video editor for PC: Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve 18

Blackmagic

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: Professional features, industry-standard color grading tools, and a starting price tag of zero dollars make DaVinci Resolve a powerful choice for YouTubers and our choice for the best Youtube video editor for a PC.  

Specs 

• Cost: Free
• Desktop or Mobile: Desktop
• Platform: Windows, macOS

Pros

• Full set of professional editing tools
• Includes Hollywood’s go-to color-correcting system
• The “Cut” page allows for fast edits and quick turnarounds
• Free version has everything most editors need

Cons

• Extra effect filters cost money
• Upgrading to DaVinci Resolve Studio is expensive

Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve started life as a color-grading system used by most TV networks and production companies. When the company announced the addition of a full suite of editing tools, the industry took notice. Now, 18 versions later, that software has become a tool used regularly by editors in and outside of Hollywood. 

Resolve combines an entire post-production facility into one program, from media management to editing to motion graphics to color correction to audio mixing to final delivery. All those tools come with a learning curve, but Blackmagic has always focused on user experience. While the interface isn’t exactly intuitive, it’s easy to get a hang of after watching some tutorials.

The software includes all the expected editing tools, effects, and transitions, as well as highly-customizable speed ramping and excellent tools for creating picture-in-picture videos. Given the software’s lineage, it’s not surprising that the color-correcting tools are some of the best in the world. One of the most useful elements of Resolve is its Cut page, which presents editors with a simplified timeline and tools for faster content creation when deadlines are looming.

Fusion is Resolve’s motion-graphics toolset, and it can create 2D and 3D text, animation, and other elements for your video. And the Fairlight audio system provides mixing and processing for music, dialogue, voice-overs, and sound effects. If you decide that you need to really push your editing workflow, you can upgrade to DaVinci Resolve Studio, which has tons of additional effects and optimizations for a Hollywood-level editing experience.

Best for mobile devices: Adobe Premiere Rush

Adobe

SEE IT

Why it made the cut: Premiere Rush is an easy-to-navigate app that’s ideal for on-the-go YouTubers, with output tools designed for use with all major social media sites making it our choice for the best video editing software for mobile devices.    

Specs

• Cost: $9.99/month (Included with Premiere Pro or Creative Cloud subscriptions)
• Desktop or Mobile: Mobile
• Platform: iOS, Android

Pros

• Easy to learn
• Automatically converts videos to specific aspect ratios for social media
• Can share projects with Premiere Pro
• Included with Creative Cloud

Cons

• Requires subscription to use all the features

Adobe Premiere Rush is a simple and intuitive editing app designed for on-the-go YouTubers. By trimming away some of the more esoteric features found on Premiere Pro, it allows content creators to edit and post videos quickly—whether they’re on macOS, Windows, iOS, or Android.

Moving clips to the timeline from the bin is a one-button process, and then you can cut, trim, clip, or move pieces around at will. Premiere Rush features a title creator with useful, customizable templates, and can import and overlay photos and graphics. Speed tools create drama, and the color corrector includes templates for fast fixes—creators who want a specific look can tweak parameters all day long. Audio is just a click away, and Premiere Rush can access Adobe’s library of music tracks if you need them. 

Premiere Rush tailors its output to social media use and can change aspect ratios to 1:1, 16:9, 9:16, or 4:5 in just a few clicks. Hit all your social media sites without fiddling around too much with settings. 

The app’s ability to share projects with Adobe Premiere Pro makes it a great tool for tweaking bigger projects while away from home. Or, if you want to attack your video with more, send it to the desktop. 

YouTubers who already subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud or Premiere Pro can download Premiere Rush immediately and at no additional cost. Otherwise, you’ll need to purchase a subscription to take advantage of all the features.

Things to consider when shopping for the best video editing software for YouTube

Any video editing software can deliver professional results, but that doesn’t mean every program is right for every editor. Here are some important questions to think about before making a purchase.

Are you a beginner? 

If you’ve never edited video before, consider starting with software that leaves off or hides more advanced features so you can focus on the basics. Great content doesn’t require 100 layers of video and an endless supply of effects. After all, many Hollywood classics were cut with what was essentially a razor blade!

Mac or PC?

First, ensure the software is compatible with your laptop, then confirm that it can take full advantage of a video-editing optimized monitor. Thankfully, many of the best programs run on both Mac and Windows machines. Of course, there are exceptions, such as Apple’s iMovie and Final Cut Pro, which only work on Macs. 

Want to edit on your mobile device?

With a modern smartphone, whether iPhone or Android, it’s easy to shoot spectacular 4K video and then upload it directly to YouTube. So why bounce it out to a desktop just to edit when plenty of apps turn your device into an all-in-one production studio? If you create content from the field, editing apps are lifesavers—and the processing power of an M2 iPad Pro is astounding. 

How fancy are your YouTube videos?

Experienced editors can take advantage of the multiple layers, complex effects and transitions, powerful compositing tools, titling and graphics, and advanced output options in professional editing software. If that’s you, the basic programs will leave you wanting or cost you extra cash when you send it out for advanced work. 

What’s your budget?

Most editing software requires payment to unlock all the features or remove watermarks. Tiered subscription models help protect your wallet by only making you pay for features you’ll actually use. And the free options are great for trying before you buy.  

FAQs

Final thoughts on selecting the best video editing software for YouTube

Adobe’s Premiere Pro is our choice for the best video editing software for YouTube. Advanced editing tools and easy integration with other Adobe products—specifically Photoshop, AfterEffects, and Premiere Rush—make it the software of choice among professionals. And while the program’s complexity steepens Premiere Pro’s learning curve, beginners can start cutting footage after just a few online tutorials.  

The post The best video editing software for YouTube in 2023 appeared first on Popular Science.

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Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the heartbreakers at the Federal Trade Commission recently released their latest report on online romance scammers and the aftermath of their schemes. According to the FTC’s statistics, almost 70,000 people reported falling for romantic scams amounting to $1.3 billion in personal losses. The median loss for individuals tallied up to around $4,400 per person.

As the FTC report details, con artists are constantly improving their tactics and are frequently scouring social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for personal information on their targets. As such, they approach their potential victims armed with quick, seemingly meant-to-be similarities. “You like a thing, so that’s their thing, too. You’re looking to settle down. They’re ready too,” explains Emma Fletcher, author of the FTC’s Data Spotlight rundown.

[Related: Cryptocurrency scammers are mining dating sites for victims.]

After approaching people via these digital venues, conversations often transfer over to messaging apps like Telegram, Google Chat, or WhatsApp. From there, malicious scammers try to elicit money, more personal details, alongside potentially explicit images and videos which they can then use for blackmailing—a tactic often referred to as “sextortion.”

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of payments sent to scam artists came in the form of cryptocurrency and wire transfers, given their highly anonymized natures. Other runners-up include gift card requests and asking for payment to cover a nonexistent package’s shipping costs.

The FTC conducted a breakdown of scammers’ preferred storylines via keyword analysis based on over 8 million romance scam reports resulting in monetary losses. Nearly a quarter of lies stem from someone claiming a friend or relative is sick, hurt, or in jail. Grifters also like to claim they can teach victims how to invest, are deployed overseas in the military, or have recently come into some fortune they inexplicably want to share.

[Related: Social media scammers made off with $770 million last year.]

Anyone hoping to avoid becoming a lovelorn statistic should abide by a few straightforward rules: First off, virtually no one is going to out-of-the-blue request money or investment opportunities via crypto or gift cards—swipe left if a suitor ever does. Vet your potential lover’s stories by friends and family to see if anyone raises an eyebrow, and trust those suspicions.

Lastly, the FTC also suggests a rather ingenious bit of amateur sleuthing if you ever start getting second thoughts: Conduct a reverse image search if a pursuer ever offers any supposed photographs or selfies. If the stories don’t line up, then it’s time to wade elsewhere in the online dating pool.

The post Don’t fall for an online love scam this Valentine’s Day appeared first on Popular Science.

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Few people are going to have a worse Valentine’s Day than Internet Explorer. Microsoft is officially cutting ties with the iconic web relic for good tomorrow. Per a prior official company announcement, an Edge browser update will be issued on February 14 to permanently disable the browser and bring all PCs into the newer Edge fold.

Interestingly, Internet Explorer’s desktop icons will remain as is for the time being. As Betanews notes, this is likely a way to ease Internet Explorer loyalists (whoever they may be) into the Edge era before erecting the final metaphorical gravestone sometime in the near future.

[Related: It’s your last chance to save your Internet Explorer bookmarks.]

Although Microsoft is at long last closing the Internet Explorer chapter, official support for the browser actually ended in June of last year. Meanwhile, the purveyors of all things PC have been aggressively lobbying for its new-and-improved browser platform, Edge—and often making a pretty good case for it, with personalized feeds, faster search speeds, privacy controls, and even Chrome extensions. That said, the recent announcement of integrating ChatGPT into both Edge and Bing are raising some eyebrows.

[Related: RIP Internet Explorer, and thanks for all the memes.]

Of course, the vast majority of people have long parted ways with Explorer in favor of more modern, reliable, secure and simply better options: such as the more privacy-focused downloads like Vivaldi, Brave, and Opera GX. As digital tracking techniques become increasingly sneaky and all-but-ubiquitous, Internet Explorer has lagged far behind its heirs  for quite some time now. In many ways, the OG browser has outstayed its welcome, and potentially made holdouts’ digital experiences a little less safe. Still, it’s hard not to shed a digital tear for one of the foundational gateways into the modern online world.

RIP Internet Explorer. Say “hi” to our old pal Clippy for us.

Update 2/14/23: Microsoft clarified its Internet Explorer retirement by stating the retirement change would come via Edge, and not a Windows 10 software update.

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Ever since Elon Musk officially became the owner of Twitter, user experience on the platform has been… interesting. The company has endured massive layoffs, glitches, and scandals, and the also-owner of Tesla and SpaceX has taken it upon himself to manage things from the comfort of his own Twitter polls. Needless to say, some people have had a problem with all this.

Twitter hasn’t imploded (yet), despite predictions its collapse is imminent, but if you don’t want to stay to witness that, you might want a place where you can re-create the pre-Musk Twitter experience. 

Well, we checked, and some of the countless available social media platforms do have the potential to feel a bit like Twitter. If you’re thinking about where to set up shop next, these should be your first stops. 

People can tip or pay a creator on a post-to-post basis using a point system that translates into money: one point equals one cent. You get 50 points for free upon signing up, but you’ll need to start spending your own money if you want to keep tipping. That’s when the currency conversion gets a little iffy. For example, a bundle of 10,000 points, which should translate to $100, is actually $127 (with a discount, because buying in bulk is cheaper). Logically, that $27 difference goes to expenses like taxes and operational costs, but since we didn’t see any ads in the time we spent there, it’s easy to assume this is one of the ways Post makes money. Even if some of the initial payments go to the platform, Post’s developers say tips go entirely to creators.  

[Related: 11 Twitter bots that will make the most of your timeline]

Aesthetically, Post looks like a put-together version of Twitter: as soon as you create a profile, you can start scrolling a curated feed that gets refined the more you click and scroll. The interface is clean and the site uses a legible serif font. You can share original content and like and repost stuff from other users, but instead of Twitter-like replies where everything you say is in the form of a new tweet, you can comment the old-fashioned way—publicly, but not showing as a new item on your personal timeline.

Overall, things are generally civil over at Post, and even though you can find a large variety of wholesome content, there’s a lot of politics and journalism from reputable sources going around. 

If you never experienced the good ol’ days of peak Tumblr, the best way to understand the platform is to think of it as Twitter’s and Instagram’s forbidden love child. Its design makes it more of a visual-first platform than Twitter, but you can post all sorts of content: text, photos, videos, GIFs, and even audio. You can also interact with posts from people you follow by reposting (retweeting) them and replying to them just like you would on Twitter. 

In the beginning and during its heyday, this platform was a haven for women, fandoms, artists, and the LGBTQI+ community, who were free to post all sorts of content. Tumblr’s decline began when Yahoo bought the platform in 2013, but the biggest hit came when Verizon acquired the site in 2017. The telecom company set up stricter community guidelines that purged adult content from the site (including that of an artistic or educational nature), driving a lot of users onto other platforms, like Twitter. 

Pillowfort was highly attractive to those users for two main reasons: its interface is similar to Tumblr’s (especially because it gives more space to photos and videos) and community guidelines are more flexible, which is why the platform currently has a thriving fandom community. 

The site emphasizes content filtering and giving users the ability to interact with a handpicked group of people. Sign up, and you’ll be able to blacklist bothersome accounts, preventing them from seeing your posts or contacting you in any way—even through reposted content or instant messaging. 

Right now, Pillowfort is still in an open beta stage, and new users can only create accounts by paying a one-time $5 fee or by signing up for the waitlist, which promises to send you an invitation code in less than an hour.

If you don’t want to pay or wait, you can take a tour of the platform as a “demo user,” which will give you a pretty good idea of what you’ll encounter if you decide to join. 

With an easy-to-use and retro-looking interface, Cohost works a lot like Tumblr, but there’s no algorithm. This means you’ll only see the content from accounts you follow and tags you’ve bookmarked. As an anti-spam measure, new users cannot post or comment until a day or two after opening their accounts, but you can bypass that if you have an invite code from an existing user. 

Because there’s no algorithm, the easiest way to find people and posts you’re interested in (and make it easy for other users to find you) is by using tags. Users are encouraged to slap as many as possible onto each post, even if they’re super niche or more of an extra comment than a label. 

Cohost also attracts the artistic and LGBTQI+ communities, and has a strong population of Furries. In general, users are nice and respectful, while looking to make friends, show their work, and share humor. A cute extra feature is Cohost’s mascot, Eggbug, a round magenta bug who’s the star of a lot of fan art and merchandise.  

People can interact freely with each other at a “federal” level—meaning regardless of what community they belong to—or join more than one server at a time. If you change your mind, the platform allows you to move your entire account, including your followers, from one community to another. 

All this makes the Mastodon concept a little difficult to understand upfront, so the learning curve for new users is a bit steeper than for other platforms. Still, the best way to truly see if Mastodon is the Twitter alternative for you is to create an account and dive in head first. 

What makes CounterSocial different from other platforms is its claim to have a zero-tolerance policy for bullies, trolls, ads, and fake news. The network takes this so far that it has completely banned entire countries for being “well known to be origin points of an overwhelming majority of bots and trolls.” The list currently includes Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, and Syria, and the platform reserves the right to add and remove territories to this list at its own discretion. 

[Related: 8 tricks for making your Twitter feed less toxic]

CounterSocial (also known as COSO) puts a particular emphasis on news and politics. You’ll see MSNBC’s news ribbon at the top of your screen, and Counter Pro accounts even have access to news video clips on the homepage. Something you won’t see anywhere else is COSO’s current overall network sentiment—you’ll see it in the form of a thermometer at the top of the first column. This tool is constantly taking the pulse of the platform, measuring its level of toxicity. By looking at it you can be sure that people are, indeed, on edge, and it’s not just you. 

In terms of community, CounterSocial has a variety of folks sharing things like random thoughts, music, and the latest decal they’ve stuck to their bikes. Still, in the time we spent there, most posts were about politics, and all of them were very clearly from the same blue side of the US political spectrum. 

As an added bonus, COSO Pro users ($4.99 a month) get access to Counter Realms, which is a virtual reality iteration of the social network. There, users can create spaces or join those formed by others, and talk to other people using their avatars. If you have a VR set, you can use it in Realms, but if you prefer to keep it old-school, you can also access the platform with only your computer. 

This story has been updated. It was first published on April 27, 2022.

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Conversational AI-powered tools are going mainstream, which to many disinformation researchers, is a major cause for concern. This week, Google announced Bard, its answer to Open AI’s ChatGPT, and doubled down on rolling out AI-enhanced features to many of its core products at an event in Paris. Similarly, Microsoft announced that ChatGPT would soon be integrated with Bing, its much maligned search engine. Over the coming months these conversational tools will be widely available, but already, some problems are starting to appear.

Conversational AIs are built using a neural network framework called “large language models” (LLMs) and are incredibly good at generating text that is grammatically coherent and seems plausible and human-like. They can do this because they are trained on hundreds of gigabytes of human text, most of it scraped from the internet. To generate new text, the model will work by predicting the next “token” (basically, a word or fragment of a complex word) given a sequence of tokens (many researchers have compared this to the “fill in the blank” exercises we used to do in school). 

For example, I asked ChatGPT to write about PopSci and it started by stating “Popular Science is a science and technology magazine that was first published in 1872.” Here, it’s fairly clear that it is cribbing its information from places like our About page and our Wikipedia page, and calculating what are the likely follow-on words to a sentence that starts: “Popular Science is…” The paragraph continues in much the same vein, with each sentence being the kind of thing that follows along naturally in the sorts of content that ChatGPT is trained on.

Unfortunately, this method of predicting plausible next words and sentences mean conversational AIs can frequently be factually wrong, and unless you already know the information already, you can easily be misled because they sound like they know what they’re talking about. PopSci is technically no longer a magazine, but Google demonstrated this even better with the rollout of Bard. (This is also why large language models can regurgitate conspiracy theories and other offensive content unless specifically trained not to.)

[Related: A simple guide to the expansive world of artificial intelligence]

One of the demonstration questions in Google’s announcement (which is still live as of the time of writing) was “What new discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope can I tell my 9 year old about?” In response, Bard offered three bullet points including one that said that “JWST took the very first pictures of a planet outside of our solar system.” 

While that sounds like the kind of thing you’d expect the largest space telescope ever built to do—and the JWST is indeed spotting exoplanets—it didn’t find the first one. According to Reuters and NASA, that honor goes to the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) which found one in 2004. If this had instead happened as part of someone asking Bard for advice and not as part of a very public announcement, there wouldn’t have been dozens of astronomy experts ready to step in and correct it. 

Microsoft is taking a more up front approach. The Verge found that Bing’s new FAQ stated that ”the AI can make mistakes,” and that “Bing will sometimes misrepresent the information it finds, and you may see responses that sound convincing but are incomplete, inaccurate, or inappropriate.” It continues calling on users to exercise their own judgment and double-check the facts that the AI offers up. (It also says that you can ask Bing: “Where did you get that information?” to find out what sources it used to generate the answer.)

Still, this feels like a bit of a cop out from Microsoft. Yes, people should be skeptical of information that they read online, but the onus is also on Microsoft to make sure the tools it is providing to millions of users aren’t just making stuff up and presenting it as if it’s true. Search engines like Bing are one of the best tools people have for verifying facts—they shouldn’t add to the amount of misinformation out there. 

And that onus may be legally enforceable. The EU’s Digital Services Act, which will come into force some time in 2024, has provisions to specifically prevent the spread of misinformation. Failure to comply with the new law could result in penalties of up to 6 percent of a company’s annual turnover. Given the EU’s recent spate of large fines for US tech companies and existing provision that search engines must remove certain kinds of information that can be proved to be inaccurate, it seems plausible that the 27-country bloc may take a hard stance on AI-generated misinformation displayed prominently on Google or Bing. They are already being forced to take a tougher stance on other forms of generated misinformation, like deepfakes and fake social media accounts.

With these conversational AIs set to be widely and freely available soon, we are likely to see more discussion about how appropriate their use is—especially as they claim to be an authoritative source of information. In the meantime, let’s keep in mind going forward that it’s far easier for these kind of AIs to create grammatically coherent nonsense than it is for them to write an adequately fact-checked response to a query.

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