Facebook Is Testing Reddit-Style Downvotes

Facebook is currently testing a Downvote button. This is only a small test limited to Australia and New Zealand, but it’s a test nonetheless. And if the feature is ever rolled out to everyone then expect all of your friends to express opinions on your comments.

In February 2018, we reported how Facebook was experimenting with the idea of letting people Downvote comments, which would then flag it for moderation. However, the test now seems to have evolved into proper Reddit-style Upvote and Downvote options.

Upvoting the Idea of Downvotes

Facebook’s Like button is now the stuff of legend. We all know what it signifies and we all use it regularly to let people know we have seen their post or comment without having to reply. Unfortunately, Facebook has resisted all calls to add a Dislike button.

However, Facebook IS now actively testing Upvotes and Downvotes for comments. Just like Reddit. Facebook is pitching this feature a little differently than Reddit, suggesting this is to let you vote up good comments and vote down bad comments.

Hmmmm. Not sure I like the Upvote and Downvote feature of Facebook. Time will tell I guess. pic.twitter.com/hxvjW7HaTX

— BEN SLATER ? (@iambenslater) April 29, 2018

The reality is people will use this however they want. Which, for most Facebook users, means giving comments they agree with an Upvote and comments they disagree with a Downvote. Which makes this system no different than having Like and Dislike buttons.

It isn’t yet clear what Upvotes and Downvotes will actually do. They could move comments up and down, making the popular comments more visible. Or maybe they’ll do nothing but show a number representing how many Upvotes versus how many Downvotes.

Facebook Is Serious This Time

This is currently just a test, and a small one at that. However, we know that Facebook has been testing different forms of Downvotes for at least three months, so it’s obviously seriously considering enabling this across the board at some point in the future.

If Facebook ever does enable Upvotes and Downvotes, it would mean there’s a lot of different things to take notice of when scrolling through your News Feed. After all, Facebook’s various Reaction options already tell us what people think of our posts.

Image Credit: Guillaume Capron/Flickr

How (Not) to Upgrade to the Latest Windows 10 Version

Todaz, Microsoft released Windows 10 build 1803.

As with previous Windows 10 versions, it could take many months until this latest feature update, known as the April 2018 Update, rolls out to your machine. If you’d like to upgrade to the latest version of Windows 10 right now, follow this guide. Likewise, if you’d rather not upgrade, we’ll show you how to do that, too.

Which Version of Windows Do You Have?

First, find out which version of Windows you’re running right now.

If you’re running Windows 10, go to Start > Settings > System > About and check what it says under Windows Specifications.

For a quick check that works on any version of Windows, press Windows + Q, type winver, and hit Enter.

If you’re still on Windows 7 or 8, the only way to upgrade to Windows 10 now is to buy a copy and install it. Earlier this year, Microsoft closed the loophole that permitted a free Windows 10 upgrade.

How Not to Upgrade

Not upgrading to the latest version of Windows 10 is a sensible choice. You’ll maximize your time on a stable installation and avoid bugs. Whether you can temporarily delay the Windows 10 April 2018 Update depends on your Windows edition.

Windows 10 Home

As a Home user, you can temporarily disable Windows Update by setting your internet connection to metered.

Go to Start > Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi, select the network you’re connected to, and switch the slider under Set as metered connection to On. This path now also works for Ethernet connections. As soon as you connect to an unmetered Wi-Fi network or a LAN network, Windows Update will start downloading updates again.

Unfortunately, this is just a temporary workaround. Though it could take many weeks, you should prepare for the impending upgrade that Windows Update will eventually drop on you.

Windows 10 Pro, Education, and Business

If you’re on one of these Windows 10 editions, you have the luxury of temporarily deferring feature updates.

To pause updates completely for up to 7 days, head to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Advanced options and under Pause Updates, move the slider into the On position. Note that once updates resume, you will have to install the latest updates before you can pause Windows Update again.

To defer updates, stay in the Advanced options window. Under Choose when updates are installed, you can pick Current Branch or Current Branch for Business and defer updates for up to 365 days.

With the April 2018 Update, the deferral options will move to the Group Policy Editor. Please check our article on how to temporarily pause Windows Update for details (linked above).

Prepare Your Windows 10 Upgrade

To upgrade to the April 2018 Update, you should be on version 1709, also known as the Fall Creators Update. If that’s your Windows version, you’re good to go. Before you upgrade, however, check off these pre-installation To-Dos:

1. Create a Windows recovery drive.
2. Back up your product keys.
3. Enable System Restore.
4. Back up your important data.

With Windows, you never know what could go wrong. So be prepared and do your Windows housekeeping. You can read more in our article on what to do before you upgrade to the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.

Always Run the Latest Builds: Become a Windows Insider

As Windows Insider, you’ll always run the latest Windows 10 builds. It’s the fast lane to new features, but you also risk facing countless bugs and problems with the operating system. Are you up for the challenge?

How to Join the Windows Insider Program

To become a Windows Insider, you have to go through the following steps:

1. Sign up for the Windows Insider Program. You’ll need a Microsoft account.
2. Make sure you sign into Windows using your Microsoft account: Go to Start > Settings > Accounts > Your info to change how you sign in.
3. Enroll your Windows 10 computer: Go to Start > Settings > Update & Seurity > Windows Insider Program > Get started to opt in.

You’ll have to link your Microsoft account and choose a Windows Update branch. We recommend the slow ring.

Twice a year, when the Windows Insider build aligns with the latest build that Microsoft is rolling out to the public (the RTM build), you’ll be able to exit the Insider program without having to reinstall. When that’s the case, head to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program and click Stop Insider Preview builds.

Upgrade to the Latest Stable Release of Windows 10

Being a Windows Insider means you’ll often run buggy versions of Windows 10. The safe choice is to wait for a stable release of Windows 10 and use one of the following upgrade routes.

Upgrade to Windows 10 Version 1803 via Windows Update

When your computer is ready to upgrade, you’ll receive the April 2018 Update through Windows Update. It’s worth being patient. If Microsoft doesn’t have reliable data for your hardware or if Insiders with your specs experienced lots of issues, the update may not roll out to your system for some time.

To check whether you’re ready to upgrade, head to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and click Check for updates. Once the upgrade has downloaded, you’ll see it listed here.

Before you can upgrade to a new build, however, you’ll have to install any pending security updates. Make sure you didn’t pause or defer feature updates under Advanced options.

Manually Install Windows 10 Using the Media Creation Tool

If Windows Update doesn’t think it’s your turn yet, you can force the upgrade using Microsoft’s Windows 10 Media Creation Tool (open this link in Microsoft Edge).

You can click the Update now link to launch the Update Assistant and initiate the upgrade directly from the website.

Or click Download tool now to prepare Windows 10 installation media for a clean install.

Please refer to the article linked in the previous paragraph for a step-by-step guide to using the Windows 10 Media Creation tool.

Should You Upgrade?

It depends on which version of Windows you’re currently using. Generally, Microsoft will stop supporting each Windows 10 version 18 months after its initial release.

Windows 10 Home, Version 1703 or 1709

You should wait until the upgrade is available through Windows Update. And even then, it’s safer to defer the feature update and wait a little longer until Microsoft has fixed common bugs. Although you can roll back to your previous Windows version for 10 days (previously 30 days), it’s not worth the hassle.

Moreover, if you’re presently running the Windows 10 Creators or Fall Creators Update, you’ll continue to receive security patches until October 2018 and April 2019, respectively. There’s no rush to update right now, so take your time.

Windows 10 Home, Version 1607, 1511, or 1507

The only time you should upgrade is when support for your current Windows 10 version ends. But this won’t happen for many years.

The original Windows 10 release, version 1507, and the Fall Update, version 1511, reached their end of service last year. If you’re still running one of these versions, you’re no longer receiving security patches and should upgrade immediately.

Likewise, the Anniversary Update, version 1607, will lose support in April 2018. On April 10, it will receive one last set of security updates. If that’s your Windows version, you should upgrade as soon as possible. If your machine supports the April 2018 Update, we’d recommend waiting for its release and then upgrading manually, as described above.

Should you be stuck on the Anniversary Update because your machine can’t upgrade, there’s a silver lining! For systems that see a “Windows 10 is no longer supported on this PC” error while trying to upgrade, Microsoft has extended support until 2023.

Microsoft introduced this exception for PCs using Intel’s Clover Trail processor, but it might extend to other unsupported hardware as well.

To keep our customers secure, we will provide security updates to these specific devices running the Windows 10 Anniversary Update until January of 2023, which aligns with the original Windows 8.1 extended support period.

Windows 10 Enterprise and Education Editions

Windows 10 Enterprise and Education users can add an additional six months to the dates above. Microsoft writes:

Windows 10 version 1511, 1607, 1703 and 1709 will continue to receive monthly servicing updates at no-cost for a period of 6 months past the end of service dates. The security-only updates are available through all normal channels including: Windows Update (WU/WUfB), WSUS, the Update Catalog, and enterprise management solutions and are delivered as standard cumulative update packages.

Some versions of Enterprise and Education editions will have an option for an additional paid extension for eligible volume licensing customers. Customers should reach out to their Microsoft account team for more information about a paid program.

Welcome to the Future of Windows

The good news is that the latest Windows 10 version will hijack your computer for only around 30 minutes. Microsoft has optimized the installation process and enabled many installation steps to run in the background. This means you can continue to use your machine for a lot longer before you have to restart.

Once you’ve successfully upgraded to the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, double-check all your privacy-related settings and restore your preferences. You might also want to set up or disable new features.

Huawei P20 Pro survives scratch, burn, and bend testing but gets wounded in the process

The Huawei P20 Pro is the latest smartphone to be put through the now-routine scratch, burn, and bend testing by Zack from YouTube channel JerryRigEverything. Huawei's newest flagship starts off decently, but finishes the test in not the best shape. The screen scratches only with a level 6 Mohs pick, and at level 7 there's a deeper groove. Huawei fits the P20 Pro with a plastic screen protector from the factory, but doesn't advertise that there's Gorilla Glass of any kind on top of the display panel. It's just 'tempered glass' of the generic variety. That seems to be a problem...

GSMArena.com - Latest articles

Huawei P20 Pro survives scratch, burn, and bend testing but gets wounded in the process

The Huawei P20 Pro is the latest smartphone to be put through the now-routine scratch, burn, and bend testing by Zack from YouTube channel JerryRigEverything. Huawei's newest flagship starts off decently, but finishes the test in not the best shape. The screen scratches only with a level 6 Mohs pick, and at level 7 there's a deeper groove. Huawei fits the P20 Pro with a plastic screen protector from the factory, but doesn't advertise that there's Gorilla Glass of any kind on top of the display panel. It's just 'tempered glass' of the generic variety. That seems to be a problem...

GSMArena.com - Latest articles

Huawei P20 Pro survives scratch, burn, and bend testing but gets wounded in the process

The Huawei P20 Pro is the latest smartphone to be put through the now-routine scratch, burn, and bend testing by Zack from YouTube channel JerryRigEverything. Huawei's newest flagship starts off decently, but finishes the test in not the best shape. The screen scratches only with a level 6 Mohs pick, and at level 7 there's a deeper groove. Huawei fits the P20 Pro with a plastic screen protector from the factory, but doesn't advertise that there's Gorilla Glass of any kind on top of the display panel. It's just 'tempered glass' of the generic variety. That seems to be a problem...

GSMArena.com - Latest articles

An Introduction to Facebook’s Closed and Secret Groups

One of the more interesting aspects of Facebook is the ability to create and join groups. There are groups for everything on the social network, including groups for dating, groups to sell stuff, groups for mothers, and more besides.

The thing is, in addition to the open groups, there are closed and secret Facebook groups too. In this article, you’ll learn more about Facebook groups and the differences between each type, and we’ll show you how to find the closed and secret groups.

What Are Open, Closed, and Secret Facebook Groups?

There are three types of Facebook groups: open, closed, and secret. Facebook groups, regardless of the type, all have some things in common. All are designed to allow members to share locations, plan events, and exchange contact information. But there are some differences.

Open Groups

Open groups are, not surprisingly, accessible to anyone with a Facebook account. This means anyone can see the group’s name, location, member list, and posts. Perhaps most importantly, anything that’s posted in the group is available in Facebook searches and on the news feed.

Want to join an open Facebook group? Go right ahead; membership doesn’t require an invite or approval.

Closed Groups

Closed groups, by contrast, add some restrictions. Like open groups, the name, description, and member list of a closed group are readily available. Closed groups are also found in Facebook searches.

Unlike open groups, however, closed groups require that new members get approved by an administrator or get invited to join by a current member. Additionally, only current members can see what’s being discussed in group posts and on its news feed.

Secret Groups

Secret groups, as you would suspect, are the most private of the three types of Facebook groups. No aspect of a secret group is publicly visible, new members must be added or invited by current members to join, and only members can see group posts with or without a comment. However, former members who have voluntarily left the group can still find the group in search and see its name, description, tags, and location.

How to Find Closed Facebook Groups

Unsurprisingly, there’s no simple way to find a listing for all Facebook groups, at least those which are open or closed. Actually, this is a good thing, given that there are hundreds of thousands of Facebook groups.

However, there are some awesome ways to discover new Facebook groups. To find a closed group on Facebook, you’ll want first to become familiar with Facebook Search. This tool will find almost anything you want, but you should take your time and use it correctly. Using filters and keywords can help you narrow your search.

Because Facebook already knows a lot about you, check out Facebook’s Groups page. Here you can see what groups you have joined, and what groups you have been invited to join. And if you click the “Discover” tab you’ll see groups Facebook recommends for you, groups local to you, and groups your friends have joined.

The Facebook Sale Groups is another excellent URL worth exploring. You can find plenty of communities right here which are looking to buy or sell stuff. There’s also an easy-to-use map that shows you the location of sale groups near you.

If you’re looking to find some more bizarre Facebook groups, we recommend you search Reddit for “Facebook groups” and prepare to get a surprise. It seems the world is full of some rather twisted Facebook groups.

Using this method I discovered closed Facebook groups for anime, LuLaRoe sellers, and “extreme triggering,” to name a few of the more benign ones.

How to Find Secret Facebook Groups

Thanks to the internet, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to hide anything anymore, including the fact that these secret Facebook groups exist.

Finding a secret Facebook group is all about finding a member list or the administrator of the group. Once you do that, you can try to get an invite by contacting them on Facebook. You should also take advantage of your own friends by asking around to see if they belong to any secret groups that might interest you.

For example, if you’re a parent, the odds are pretty high that some of your Facebook friends are also parents. Some of those almost certainly belong to secret Facebook groups for parents. Remember, just like real life, social networking requires a certain amount of, well, networking.

As with closed groups, you can also search Reddit for “secret Facebook groups”. Here, you’ll find a running list of secret groups discovered by Reddit members. Not everything discussed here is appropriate for everyone, nor are the listings always verified. Still, if you’re willing to go down a slightly murky rabbit hole, this is a great place to start.

Secret Facebook groups are out there waiting to be discovered if you do some digging.

Making Use of Facebook Groups

If you’re looking for a community of like-minded individuals, joining a Facebook group is a great way to go about doing so. Facebook’s open, closed, and secret groups allow you to increase your circle of friends and learn more about the things you already love.

There’s much more to discover about Facebook too. Perhaps you want to learn about some hidden Facebook tricks, or discover the unwritten rules for Facebook friend requests.

Image Credit: zentilia/Depositphotos

5 Ways to Generate a List of All Installed Programs in Windows

You’ve probably installed many programs over time on your Windows PC and you probably don’t remember all of them. Generating a list of installed programs in Windows is useful for several reasons:

• Reset or reinstall Windows. A list of installed programs allows you to know what was installed before the reset or reinstall. You can refer to the list once Windows is running again.
• Setting up a new PC. You probably want to install at least some of the same programs you had on your old PC.
• Free up space on your PC. Generating a list of installed programs and reviewing it helps you discover programs you haven’t used in years and don’t need anymore.

Today we’ll cover five ways you can generate a list of installed programs in Windows.

The tools we discuss here do not include license keys and serial numbers for the programs in the list. We’ve previously covered ways to recover serial numbers for Windows programs.

1. List Installed Programs Using PowerShell

PowerShell is a more powerful command line environment than the traditional command prompt. It can perform a lot of the same tasks as the command prompt, but also can be extended and scripted using “cmdlets.”

Don’t be scared off by the power of PowerShell. It can do simple things also, like generate a list of installed programs on your PC.

Open PowerShell by pressing Win + X and selecting Windows PowerShell on the Power User menu.

Enter the following command at the prompt and press Enter. You can copy and paste the command from here but replace the path and file name portion (“C:\Users\Lori\Documents\InstalledPrograms\InstalledProgramsPS.txt”) with your own path and the file name you want to use:

Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion, Publisher, InstallDate | Format-Table –AutoSize > C:\Users\Lori\Documents\InstalledPrograms\InstalledProgramsPS.txt

The list contains the name, version, and publisher for each installed program. You may notice several blank lines between some of the items.

2. List Installed Programs Using Command Prompt

If you’re more comfortable using the traditional command prompt rather than PowerShell, you can use the Windows Management Instrumentation Command line tool (WMIC) in the Command Prompt window.

Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box. Then, type “cmd.exe” in the Open box and click OK or press Enter.

If the User Account Control dialog box displays, click Yes to continue.

At the command prompt, type “wmic” and press Enter.

Enter the following line at the wmic:root\cli prompt and press Enter. Replace the path and file name portion (“C:\Users\Lori\Documents\InstalledPrograms\InstalledProgramsWMIC.txt”) with your own path and the file name you want to use:

/output:C:\Users\Lori\Documents\InstalledPrograms\InstalledProgramsWMIC.txt product get name,version

Once you get the wmic:root\cli prompt back, type “exit” and press Enter to return to the normal command prompt.

Type “exit” again and press Enter to close the Command Prompt window.

The text file with the name and version for the installed programs on your PC is generated and saved in the location you specified.

3. List Installed Programs Using Control Panel

If you don’t want to type commands to generate a list of installed programs, there are other methods. One way is to view all your installed programs on the Programs and Features screen in the Control Panel.

Type “control panel” in the Search box next to the Start menu. Then, click Control Panel under Best match.

On the Control Panel window, click Uninstall a program under Programs.

If you’re viewing the items by small or large icons, click the Programs and Features item.

To see all the details for each program in the list on the Uninstall or change a program screen, click the More options arrow on the Change Your View button and select Details.

Click on the title bar of the Control Panel window to make sure it’s active. Then, press Alt + Print Screen (or Alt + Fn + Print Screen on some laptops or other devices) to take a screenshot of the window.

Paste the screenshot into another program like Paint and save the image. In Paint, you can save your screenshot as a PNG, JPEG, BMP, GIF, or other formats.

Depending on how many programs are installed, you may need to take multiple screenshots of the Control Panel window, scrolling down for each one to capture the next part of the list. If this is the case, you may want to paste each image directly into a word processor like Word to save them all in one file.

4. List Installed Programs Using CCleaner

CCleaner is a Windows program that allows you to easily clean up and free up space on your PC. You can delete temporary files, your browsing and download history, and recent documents lists in some programs.

The program also includes an uninstaller tool, which generates a list of installed programs on your PC. This list can be saved to a text file.

Download CCleaner and install it. Be aware that Avast Free Antivirus will be automatically installed while installing CCleaner unless you uncheck the Yes, install Avast Free Antivirus box before clicking Install to begin the installation.

Open CCleaner and hit the Tools button on the gray sidebar on the left. Then, make sure that Uninstall is selected to the right of that sidebar.

Click the blue Save to text file button in the lower-right corner.

On the Save As dialog box, navigate to the folder where you want to save the installed programs list, enter a File name and click Save.

The list of installed programs includes the company, date installed, size, and version number for each program.

The text is tab-delimited, which makes it somewhat hard to read in a text editor. You can import the text from this file into Word or Excel to make it easier to read. Read on to learn how to convert this data into a table in Word or into a worksheet in Excel.

Remember that if you save your list of programs in Word or Excel, you must install that program on the newly installed or reset Windows system before you can access your list. Or use online document viewers. The next two tips show you how to format the text list into neat tables.

Tip: Convert Your List of Programs Into a Word Table

To convert your list to a table in Word, open the text file you saved in Word. The File Conversion dialog box displays before the file opens, showing how the text will look in the Preview box.

Accept the default settings and click OK.

Select the text you want to convert to a table. Then, on the Insert tab, click Table and select Convert Text to Table.

Make sure the number of columns is 5 and that Tabs is selected under Separate text at.

Click OK to continue with the conversion.

Format the table any way you want. Be sure to save the Word file to an external or network drive so you’ll have access to it once you reinstall or reset Windows.

Tip: Convert Your List of Programs Into an Excel Worksheet

If you’d rather have your list of programs in Excel, here’s how to convert the list to an Excel worksheet.

First, we recommend you make a copy of the original text file. Change the extension on the copied file from .txt to .csv and open the .csv file in Excel.

On the first screen of the Text Import Wizard dialog box, make sure Delimited is selected under Choose the file type that best describes your data.

Accept the defaults for the rest of the settings on this screen and click Next.

On the second screen, make sure Tab is checked under Delimiters.

Click Finish. For our purpose, we don’t need to do Step 3.

Your list of programs is imported into columns on a worksheet in Excel, making it easier to read. Be sure to save the Excel file to an external or network drive so you’ll have access to it once you reinstall or reset Windows.

5. List Installed Programs Using Geek Uninstaller

Geek Uninstaller is a free, portable Windows program used to thoroughly uninstall programs, including all leftovers. The program will also forcefully remove stubborn or broken programs. You can use Geek Uninstaller to generate and save a list of installed programs on your PC.

Download Geek Uninstaller. The program is portable. Simply unzip the downloaded file into a folder on your PC and run the EXE file.

A list of installed programs displays on the Geek Uninstaller main window. To save this list to an HTML file, open Geek Uninstaller and go to File > Export to HTML, or press Ctrl + S.

On the Save As dialog box, navigate to the folder where you want to save the installed programs list, enter a File name and click Save.

The HTML file automatically opens in the default browser once it’s saved. The list includes the name and size of each program and the date on which the program was installed.

If you’re using a browser like Firefox, Chrome, or Vivaldi, hit Ctrl + S to save the Installed Programs HTML page to a location you choose with a custom file name. You can save it to your local hard drive but be sure you transfer the file to an external or network drive before reinstalling Windows. Other browsers may have a different shortcut or option for saving HTML files.

Geek Uninstaller also allows you to display a list of apps installed from the Windows Store. Go to View > Windows Store Apps.

All the apps installed on your PC from the Windows Store display. You can export this list to an HTML file the same way you did for the list of regular Windows programs.

Store the Generated App Lists on External Media

You might have noticed that each of the methods we mentioned here produces a slightly different list of programs. So you might want to use more than one method and keep each separate list.

Remember to store your lists of programs on an external or network drive so you have access to it after reinstalling Windows. When you reset (instead of reinstalling) Windows 10, programs are removed but your data is preserved. No matter what the situation, it’s a good idea to back up your lists when backing up your data.

Samsung officially launches 128GB and 256GB Galaxy S9 and S9+ in the US

Today Samsung has decided to bring the 128GB and 256GB Galaxy S9 and S9+ to the USA. Both iterations will become available to pre-order tomorrow, on May 1. They will be released on May 18, exclusively at Samsung.com. We assume the company has surveyed the market and figured out there wouldn't be a lot of demand for these storage versions. Otherwise, selling them exclusively through its online store wouldn't make a lot of sense. Of course, you can still use microSD cards (up to 400GB) even with these models, for a possible maximum grand total of 656GB on your phone if you splurge and...

GSMArena.com - Latest articles

Samsung officially launches 128GB and 256GB Galaxy S9 and S9+ in the US

Today Samsung has decided to bring the 128GB and 256GB Galaxy S9 and S9+ to the USA. Both iterations will become available to pre-order tomorrow, on May 1. They will be released on May 18, exclusively at Samsung.com. We assume the company has surveyed the market and figured out there wouldn't be a lot of demand for these storage versions. Otherwise, selling them exclusively through its online store wouldn't make a lot of sense. Of course, you can still use microSD cards (up to 400GB) even with these models, for a possible maximum grand total of 656GB on your phone if you splurge and...

GSMArena.com - Latest articles

Samsung officially launches 128GB and 256GB Galaxy S9 and S9+ in the US

Today Samsung has decided to bring the 128GB and 256GB Galaxy S9 and S9+ to the USA. Both iterations will become available to pre-order tomorrow, on May 1. They will be released on May 18, exclusively at Samsung.com. We assume the company has surveyed the market and figured out there wouldn't be a lot of demand for these storage versions. Otherwise, selling them exclusively through its online store wouldn't make a lot of sense. Of course, you can still use microSD cards (up to 400GB) even with these models, for a possible maximum grand total of 656GB on your phone if you splurge and...

GSMArena.com - Latest articles

How to Set Up Gmail in Outlook

Want to access your Gmail email in Outlook? Maybe you don’t like Gmail’s web interface and prefer a desktop email client, or want to manage your email all in one place.

Whatever the case, it’s easy to add your Gmail to Outlook. We’ll walk you through the process.

Note: These instructions assume you already have at least one email account in Outlook. If you don’t, Outlook will prompt you to set up a new account when you first open it.

Step 1: Enable IMAP in Gmail

First, you’ll need to enable IMAP in your Gmail settings so Outlook can access your mail. Open Gmail in a browser and sign in if needed. From your inbox, click the Gear icon in the upper-right corner and choose Settings.

On the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab, you’ll find the settings you need. Here you can choose between the POP and IMAP protocols for email syncing. In almost every case, you’ll want to use IMAP, as POP is outdated and doesn’t work with multiple devices. If you do use IMAP, choose Disable POP to avoid duplicate emails later.

Under the IMAP Access section, check the Enable IMAP toggle. If you have a ton of email, you may want to use the Folder Size Limits control. This lets you restrict syncing to folders with fewer than a certain amount of messages.

Note that Gmail may lock you out of your account temporarily if you download huge amounts of email (more than 2.5GB) in a day. This is to prevent email abuse.

If You Use Gmail’s Two-Factor Authentication

Those who use two-factor authentication to add another layer of protection to their Google accounts need to take an extra step before continuing. Outlook doesn’t support two-factor codes, so the connection in the next step will fail if you don’t generate a special password in your Gmail settings.

To do so, click your profile picture in the top-right corner of Gmail and choose My Account. Click the Sign-in & Security box, then scroll down and look for the App passwords entry. You may need to confirm your password to continue. On this page, you can create a one-time password to use with apps that don’t support two-factor authentication.

You’ll only need to enter it once, so you don’t have to remember it. Under the Select app dropdown select Mail, then choose Windows Computer for Select device. This is simply to help you remember what the app password is for, so feel free to use the Other field to set a custom name.

Once you click Generate, you’ll get an app password. Keep it handy for the next step.

Step 2: Add Your Gmail Account to Outlook

Now that other mail clients can access your Gmail, it’s time to add your account to Outlook.

Open Outlook and click File in the top-left corner. In the resulting panel, make sure you’re on the Info tab. Select the Add Account button near the top to begin the process.

Enter your Gmail address here, then hit Connect.

Next, Outlook will ask for your Gmail password. Enter it, then press Connect again. If you followed the steps to create an app password above, enter that password here instead of your normal Gmail password.

If you get a failure message, make sure that you typed your password correctly. In our testing, we had to click Retry once and setup succeeded after that. If you’re sure you have everything right, you may need to enable access to “less secure” apps on your Google account.

When you see Account setup is complete, click OK. You can uncheck the Set up Outlook Mobile on my phone, too box, as you probably already have the Gmail app on your phone.

Older versions of Outlook required you to enter Gmail’s connection settings manually, but it’s much simpler in newer versions. If Outlook asks you to enter server settings, Google provides an easy reference with all the information you need.

Step 3: Accessing Your Gmail Account in Outlook

Once you’ve done the above, you’re all set to access Gmail in Outlook. If you have other accounts in Outlook, you can switch between them using the tabs on the left sidebar. Click an arrow to expand that account and show all its folders.

When you’re responding to a message with more than one account in Outlook, you can click the From box to change what email address you use to respond. Be careful with this, as it’s easy to choose the wrong account.

Step 4: Gmail Contacts, Calendar, Settings in Outlook

You’re all set to use Gmail in Outlook now, but you may want to make a few more tweaks first.

The above process only syncs your Gmail mail to Outlook; it doesn’t include contacts or your calendar. If you’d like to move those to Outlook too, follow our guides on exporting and importing your email contacts and how to sync Google Calendar with Outlook.

If you plan on using your Gmail account in Outlook most of the time, it makes sense to set it as the default. In Outlook, go to File > Info > Account Settings and click Account Settings in the dropdown box. On the Email tab, click your Gmail address and choose Set as Default. Outlook will open this by default from now on.

Finally, if you don’t want to sync all of your mail to Outlook, select your account on the same Account Settings dialog and choose Change. You’ll see a Mail to keep offline slider that you can change from All to as little as 1 Month.

Done! Adding Gmail to Outlook Is Easy

That’s all you need to set up Gmail in Outlook. Enable IMAP in Gmail, create a new account in Outlook, and it’s ready for you. This is a great option if you already use Outlook, as keeping everything in one place is easier to manage. If you decide you don’t like it, you can always try using Gmail like a desktop client.

Since you’ll be working in Outlook more often, check out the best tools to supercharge Microsoft Outlook.

LG V30 ThinQ long-term review

F5 refreshes the page in the web browser on your computer. So what's the Oppo F5, then? Is it a refresh of sorts, too? Or maybe it's a refreshing mid-range smartphone that's trying to look like it's more expensive than it actually is. Refreshing, but not niggle-free. Pretty, but not without its faults. Good in most areas, frustrating in others.

GSMArena.com - Latest articles

LG V30 ThinQ long-term review

F5 refreshes the page in the web browser on your computer. So what's the Oppo F5, then? Is it a refresh of sorts, too? Or maybe it's a refreshing mid-range smartphone that's trying to look like it's more expensive than it actually is. Refreshing, but not niggle-free. Pretty, but not without its faults. Good in most areas, frustrating in others.

GSMArena.com - Latest articles

LG V30 ThinQ long-term review

F5 refreshes the page in the web browser on your computer. So what's the Oppo F5, then? Is it a refresh of sorts, too? Or maybe it's a refreshing mid-range smartphone that's trying to look like it's more expensive than it actually is. Refreshing, but not niggle-free. Pretty, but not without its faults. Good in most areas, frustrating in others.

GSMArena.com - Latest articles

10 Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Apple TV

T-Mobile and Sprint Merge to Boost Internet Speeds

T-Mobile and Sprint have announced a merger after years of talks trying to forge a deal. The new company will be called T-Mobile, and have over 100 million customers. And the new company is promising to spearhead the nationwide rollout of a 5G network.

There have been rumors for years that T-Mobile and Sprint would be merging together. And in November 2017 it looked like it was happening. However, the deal fell apart as the two companies were unable to reach a consensus over the terms of the deal.

The New T-Mobile Sprints Into the Future

On Sunday, the deadlock was broken, with the companies agreeing to merge in an all-stock transaction. The new company, called T-Mobile, will be headquartered in Washington. John Legere of T-Mobile will be CEO, with Mike Siever of Sprint President and COO.

The companies claim this is all positive. T-Mobile and Sprint maintain that combining forces gives them “the network capacity to rapidly create a nationwide 5G network” and “light up a broad and deep 5G network faster than either company could separately”.

In its press release, the two companies adopted a patriotic tone, saying the merger will fuel “American innovation and entrepreneurship,” and help “America and American companies lead in the 5G era”. However, both companies have international entities as shareholders.

Legere said, “As industry lines blur and we enter the 5G era, consumers and businesses need a company with the disruptive culture and capabilities to force positive change on their behalf.” And according to Legere, that company is the new T-Mobile.

Is This the End of User-Friendly Offerings?

Although the companies have now agreed terms, the merger still needs to be approved by regulators and shareholders. If finalized, the new T-Mobile will be closer in size to Verizon and AT&T, the two biggest carriers in the United States.

Growing in size and stature could cause problems for customers though. As smaller companies, both T-Mobile and Sprint had to work hard to win people over. As one giant entity there’s a danger any and all user-friendly offerings will come to an end.

7 Security Tips You Can Learn From the Avengers

The Avengers: Earth’s mightiest heroes. You can learn a lot from this team. Iron Man teaches us to recognize the consequences of our actions. The Vision shows that there is great humanity in all of us.

It’s time to consider what else these heroes can teach us—about technology, security, and privacy. (Minor spoilers for Marvel movies follow, but none for Infinity War.)

1. Research Is Important

The film: Steve Rogers has lived a long life, but he’s missed a lot too. At the start of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Sam Wilson advises the Super Soldier to listen to Marvin Gaye’s 1972 Trouble Man soundtrack: “Everything you missed, jammed into one album.”

Cap adds it to the list of things he needs to catch up on. Incidentally, this list is different, depending on which region you’re watching. Americans will see Steve Jobs and the Moon Landings included; UK viewers will be pleased to note the Beatles and the 1966 World Cup Final on there; while Tim Tams and Steve Irwin appear on the Australian version.

The reality: Your first line of defence is research. You need to keep updated with all the latest security and privacy threats.

This means being on-the-ball, for instance, when there’s a massive leak of Gmail credentials. Or about being aware of the ongoing iTunes gift card scam.

However, it’s also important to know the very basic hacks that continue to plague us, albeit in different iterations of the same idea. Take sextortion for example, which is when someone holds NSFW material of you to gain leverage and get you to do something you don’t want to do.

But it’s more life-changing than ever because cybercriminals have combined the technique with another common threat: ransomware. Traditional ransomware holds your device hostage, insisting you pay up or lose all your files. Combined with sextortion software, it further threatens to send your explicit photos or videos to family and friends directly via email or SMS.

2. Create Backups

The film: “Dormammu, I’ve come to bargain.”

When faced by something terrifying, Doctor Strange went in prepared. In the conclusion of his titular 2016 film, he knew the one way to battle evil was by backing himself up.

The reality: We hate to admit it, but Arnim Zola had it right too. A technological genius, he lived on as an intelligent computer programme after his body failed him. We don’t encourage you to Hail HYDRA, but still think you should be like Zola and create a backup.

These have many purposes—most crucial is their ability to render ransomware almost completely pointless. Taking a back up of your whole system on a regular basis means a scammer putting your PC into lockdown is moot. They can threaten your documents all they like because you have them held securely elsewhere. If you are unfortunate enough to encounter ransomware, we advise you seek a professional to transfer all your data back from your backup.

You do need to disconnect the additional storage device after backing up your personal files, though; otherwise, ransomware can infect that too.

This is one reason cybercriminals still use that type of malware. The other reason is merely that comparatively few people actually carry backups on a regular basis!

3. Encryption Isn’t Absolute

The film: The Sokovian Accords divided the Avengers in Captain America: Civil War (2016), but that gap was widened by the work of Helmut Zemo. Daniel Brühl’s character learned the secrets of Bucky Barnes by decrypting the SHIELD files leaked online—in doing so, he drew a wedge between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark.

The reality: Let’s not underestimate encryption. It’s vital. For data to be sent or held securely, it needs some level of encryption. But let’s not overestimate it either.

This is one of the big myths about encryption. Nothing is impregnable. You use encryption all the time; HTTPS is an everyday example. Smartphone passcodes scramble all the data on your device. And so it all hangs on how strong your encryption key (i.e. password) is.

Furthermore, encryption isn’t a defence against all cyberattacks. Ransomware is still 100 percent effective. In fact, it uses encryption against you, by further encrypting your files. It can scramble your data once more, whether you’ve scrambled it before or not.

4. Limit What You Share

The film: Following SHIELD’s downfall in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the Black Widow dumped all its secret files on the web. Natasha had formerly hidden behind aliases and fake histories. Now, with all that information readily available, she has to work out who she really is.

The reality: The wealth of personal details we put online has been subject of analysis since the public learned that Facebook data was harvested for political gain by Cambridge Analytica. Everyone seems shocked to find out the social network was gaining from users’ information. But if you’ve been paying attention, this has been happening for years.

If you’re worried about your own privacy, you simply must limit the amount of data you put on the internet. That’s not confined solely to Facebook. It applies to all social media. Without the proper precautions in place, Twitter is a goldmine for fraudsters looking for private details. Instagram also knows a great deal about you. Heck, all free services do!

5. Fight for Personal Freedoms

The film: Freedom lies at the heart of many superhero tales, but none more so than the Captain America films. Check out The Winter Soldier for a prime example of this. HYDRA had infiltrated SHIELD and the helicarriers were primed to eliminate potential threats to mankind.

But the Sentinel of Liberty stopped them. He could see the importance of choice, even a choice between good and evil. He could also see the ambiguity between the two. Steve normally views things in black and white, but this time, the gray area was too great to ignore.

The reality: Our personal freedoms are permanently being infringed upon. Look at all the ways the NSA snoops on us.

The sad fact of life is, you can’t always do something about it. But that doesn’t mean you can’t try.

It’s like the scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) where Tony asks how Steve and co. plan to defeat a seemingly-unstoppable foe. “Together,” Cap says. Tony cautions, “We’ll lose”. Cap’s reply? “Then we’ll do that together too.”

So make some noise. It’s better than rolling over and blindly accepting what’s coming. Working as a team can achieve great things. Enough uproar can even change government policy. This is the basis for groups like Anonymous, fighting for the privacies of peoples worldwide.

6. Don’t Underestimate the Little Guy

The film: Ant Man (2015) was a surprise hit. Except it wasn’t much of a surprise for long-term Marvel fans who know the character is fantastic. No, it was a surprise for the cinema-going public who thought a movie about a guy who could shrink would be naff. It proved the hero could be just as effective as any other Avenger.

The reality: The message here is not to solely anticipate the big-scale attacks like Thor wielding Mjolnir or Hulk flinging a car at your face. You have to prepare for the smaller threats too by putting into effect basic security measures.

You do this already—at least, we hope you do! If you don’t fall for emails from Nigerian princes with money to give away, you’re on the right step. Confidence in spotting fraudulent activity comes with experience, of course. Some emails scream “fake”, whereas others are increasingly sophisticated.

Again, research will help you in spotting the difference between what’s real and what will compromise your data.

You need to find security software you can trust too. It’s a very basic thing to do; however, some rely solely on Windows Defender or figure installing a virtual private network (VPN) will be just as useful as an anti-virus. But this simply isn’t the case.

7. Share, Share, Share!

The film: For much of Wakanda’s past, its technological advances were kept strictly for the benefit of its own citizens. It was only in Black Panther (2018) that T’Challa, the new King of the African nation, realized that you can’t blindly follow in the footsteps of your ancestors. He decided to help the world, breaking generations of tradition.

Tony Stark eventually decided to share his technology as well. It admittedly took some coercion, but for Iron Man 2 (2010), his friend, James Rhodes became War Machine. Peter Parker got an upgrade ready for Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). Plus, the Avengers regularly benefit from Stark’s advances, namely in their facilities in New York.

The reality: Users should benefit from developers, and the tech-savvy should help fortify other users’ systems.

What does this mean? It’s all about upgrades. This was a major factor in our assessments of the most secure mobile operating systems (OS) and subsequently of the most secure browser. It’s not solely about exploitations; the vital thing is how quickly developers issue patches for vulnerabilities.

For instance, Google Chrome sends out fixes in good time once a problem is discovered. Sadly 50 percent of users don’t update, but it’s easy: click on the vertical ellipsis, then Help > About Google Chrome. Finishing the process just requires a relaunch.

As for how users can help each other: spread the news about an exploitation and tell others when it’s important to accept an update. We all get lazy when iOS informs us a new version is available. Sometimes, it’s needed.

Then of course, there’s open-source software, notably Linux. The code is accessible, so you can check there’s nothing malicious going on. It also means individuals can contribute to the whole. It’s that sort of admirable teamwork that’s the foundation of the Avengers.

Assemble!

We can’t all save the universe from a major threat like Thanos. But there remains plenty of good we can do for each other—even if that’s ensuring the internet is a safe environment.

Just because you’ve not been bitten by a radioactive spider or can summon the power of Odin, that doesn’t mean you can’t fashion yourself into something Marvellous.

How to Use the IPStack API for IP Geolocation Lookups

If you run a website, you’re certainly interested in who’s visiting it. But why leave yourself in the dark by guessing about your visitors or working with incomplete information?

ipstack is a powerful tool for your website that can locate your visitors by IP address through geolocation. Read on to find out more about this IP geolocation tool and how to use it.

What Is ipstack?

ipstack is an IP geolocation API that can look up accurate locations for your website visitors in real-time. When you want to see the information, you can download it in seconds in JSON or XML format for easy review and processing.

There are several reasons that using a tool like this is advantageous. For one, it helps you detect threats from risky IP addresses more efficiently. When a rogue address visits your site, ipstack’s quick identification helps keep it safe.

Another non-security reason is adjusting your visitors’ experience based on location. For example, you might detect a user’s country and change language settings on the fly based on where their IP is. Or, you might have slightly different content prioritized on your website depending on the user’s region.

Getting Started With ipstack

You can try out ipstack at no cost with a free API key. Head to the ipstack homepage and click the orange Get Free API Key button in the upper-right corner. You’ll see ipstack’s various plans (which we’ll discuss below).

Next, you’ll need to sign up for a free account. Enter your email address and a password, as well as your billing address (and company information if you like). You don’t need to specify any payment information for the free plan.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll see a Quickstart page with your API key. You’ll need this to access the service, so make sure you keep it safe.

IP Lookups

You should know about the three main methods of using ipstack’s IP:

• Standard Lookup: The most straightforward method, this looks up the data behind a single IP address.
• Bulk Lookup: This allows you to look up data for multiple IP addresses at once.
• Requester Lookup: Use this to look up data for the IP address that’s making the API request.

No matter which of the three methods you use, all calls to the ipstack API start with the same base URL:

http://api.ipstack.com/

For a basic IP lookup, all you have to do is append the IP address in question to this URL, followed by your access key. As an example, this URL (with a valid access key) will look up the information for an UltraDNS IP:

http://api.ipstack.com/156.154.71.1?access_key=ABC123&format=1

For a bulk lookup, simply separate two or more IP addresses with commas:

http://api.ipstack.com/156.154.71.1,156.154.70.1?access_key=ABC123&format=1

Finally, for a requester lookup, you don’t need to include an IP address. Instead, add check in its place:

http://api.ipstack.com/check?access_key=ABC123&format=1

By default, you’ll see the results in JSON format in a new tab when you open these links. It includes information on the closest city, country, latitude, longitude, language spoken in that area, and more.

Using ipstack on Your Website

Of course, you’re probably not going to manually enter IP addresses into a URL to use the ipstack API. On the backend of your website, you can call ipstack and use the results through languages like PHP or JavaScript. ipstack is flexible and works with other languages and a variety of frameworks, too.

A full examination of the code is beyond the scope of this article, so we recommend you take a look at the Sample Code section of ipstack’s helpful documentation. See our explanation of JavaScript if you need a primer.

Once you’ve got the API integrated into your website and are storing the data, you’ll find all sorts of uses for it. The API can detect crawlers and Tor users so you can easily block them. The currency module lets you offer storefronts in the user’s local currency. And learning what percentage of your visitors come from what countries is valuable.

Pricing

Your free ipstack API key includes 10,000 requests per month with the basic location module. For a small website, this should be sufficient, but professional users will likely want to upgrade to a premium plan.

Basic, at $9.99 per month, is one step up from the free plan. It ups your monthly requests to 50,000 and includes SSL encryption. You’ll also gain access to additional modules that tell you more about a user’s IP, including currency and time zones. If you need even more, you can check out the Professional or Professional Plus plans.

Lookups Made Easy With ipstack

ipstack receives over two million requests and updates its database more than 20 times per day. It’s also reliable, with 99.998% uptime in the last 30 days. Whether you try out the free plan or opt for a premium offering, you can know it’s a trusted solution for your IP geolocation lookup needs.

For further reading, check out how to trace an IP address and find your own.

Image Credit: efks/DepositPhotos