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We participate in marketing programs, our editorial content is not influenced by any commissions. To find out more, please visit our Term and Conditions page.
This morning I powered on my desktop only to be greeted by a weird noise, like that of a grinding mill. Further investigation led me to discover to my own dismay, that my hard drive was responsible for this new development.
If you are in same situation with me, what will you do? What will be your reaction when your hard drive start making strange and unpleasant noises? Could this be last days of your hard drive?
I’m afraid, indeed, this could be the last days of your hard drive. The first step to take is to power off your PC completely.
Of course, you will need to replace your hard drive with a new one, hence, the need to recover your files from the the spinning hard drive. If your hard drive (the old one) is still accessible, the process of recovery is relatively easier. USB adapters such IDE/SATA to USB Adapter can be used to copy data from your old hard drive to your new one.
A complete, up-to-date backup, or a cloud-based backup service can come quite handy in situations when your drive is inaccessible. Though much will depend on what type of backup you have.
If you have an image backup of your C: drive, you can restore that to the new drive and be up and working almost immediately. Whatever program you used to create the image should have a way for you to boot the computer and restore it.
If you backed up your data files separately, you’ll have to restore those separately, as well.
But what if you have your documents and other data files safely backed up, but never bothered to back up Windows itself? (As far as I know, an image is the only reliable way to back up Windows.) In that case, contact the computer manufacturer and find out how you can restore Windows to the new drive. Once that’s done, you’ll have to restore your programs.
If you do not have a backup, you can ask a skilled professional to clone the dying hard drive to the new one.
Cloning a hard drive is easy if you have done it before but for a novice, it could be a bit tricky. Some agents such as DriveSavers, Kroll OnTrack and Flashback Data offers reliable but expensive data recovery services.
Screencast Pro might be the ideal app for screen-casting quality videos on your mobile; Wondershare video converter will ensure that you don’t miss your favourite video due to compatibility issue.
Wondershare Video Converter is an amazing software that lets you convert 2D & 3D videos in any format to over 150+ formats; including AVI, 3GP, MP4, MPEG, FLV, WMV, MUV, MTS, VOB, MKV, etc. The easy-to-use interface makes it possible for you to drag and drop multiple videos and convert them with one click. In a niche already populated with some heavy-weight competitors, Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate will not hide behind the folds; presenting unique and unprecedented features that will crack even the ‘hardest nut’.
Similarly to Total Video Converter, the ultra-fast video converter keeps you on track: So that you can choose your device brand/model (ranging from PCs, iPad, DVDs, DVs and Smartphones) from the workspace, ensuring that you only covert videos into something that really works for your device.
The Applications lets you choose the device you want to make your video compatible with.
Unlike Total Video Converter, you can now convert multiple videos, simply by dragging them into the workspace and hitting the convert button, saving you the stress of adding each video manually. You can as well merge multiple videos into one file: Just check the box next to ‘Merge all videos into one file‘ before hitting the covert button and watch the application do the rest for you.
How about recording a Christmas event? Outside video conversion, Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate makes it easier to ‘preserve a memory’ in a DVD: You can easily burn a Christmas event into a DVD5/DVD 9 disc, DVD folder, or ISO files. This feature can also be used commercially to make professional and corporate presentations, music videos or DVD collections.
Edit and burn video in any format to DVD5/DVD 9 disc, DVD folder, or ISO files
If you don’t like the default, you can always change the template, use a custom background image, text and add your own background music to your DVD.
Right before you hit the ‘Burn‘ button; you can achieve massive result with the video editing tool. This tool lets you cut, merge, crop, trim, rotate, adjust duration or even add watermark to your video. You can have Santa Claus standing right beside you with the editor’s photo effect or stitch an old video to your current presentation (see image below).
Professional but easy-to-use video editing tool: Add personalized effects to your videos
The Version 6.7.0 of Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate now supports metadata retrieval; so that you can add meta information (e.g. Artwork, Actors, Directors, etc) to your imported beefs. The featured version also save you the stress of importing converted beef to iTune library as this is done automatically upon connection.
While JetAudio seems incapable of shaking itself off from bugs and Window media player just ‘what it is’, Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate can very well compete for a spot as a top video player. Its elegant and seamless interface makes a huge difference; less I forget, it plays a large variety of video formats and of course, whilst remaining bug-free.
Download and covert videos from the web (Including flash videos)
This review will be incomplete without mentioning that you can as well download your favourite videos from YouTube and watch them offline. The software comes with a browser extension/plugin /add-on that let you download and convert videos from the web (including flash videos).
I understand some of my readers here believe in what they see, I won’t judge you for that; a free demo version is available for you to try. Also, Wondershare will be offering you a very generous promotion across its product lines this coming Christmas. Be sure to seize this fantastic deal either on the great discounts or free giveaways! The Christmas campaign will run from the 20th of December until the 10th of January 2014. Please click here for more information. Price When Rated: $69.95$49.95 Our Rating: 4.5 Operating System: Windows XP/Vista/7/8, Mac Download Now
Me2U is a long existing service that lets you transfer airtime credit from one Airtel sim to another. The services was introduced in the days when the company we now know as Airtel NG today was ran by V.Mobile (a Nigerien telecommunication company).
Every Airtel subscriber is entitled to use the Me2u service; no activation is required. The password by default is set to 1234 and you can go ahead and perform transactions with this password.
However, to be on the safer side, it is recommended that you change this password to something that will be easy for you to remember and difficult for others to guess.
Security consciousness is” the first step of wisdom”, especially when the matter involves money. How do you ensure that a malicious person will not transfer your airtime credit when your phone is being stolen, or while you are charging your mobile phone at mama nkechi’s kiosk?
We shall find out, but first, let me show you how to change your default password.
How to reset Airtel Me2u password
To change your Me2U default password, send a message to 432 using the following format: PIN OldPin NewPin
For example if you want your new pin to be 3030, then send “PIN 1234 3030” to 432.
In the above example, OldPin is your current Airtel Me2U password. If you forgot your current Airtel Me2U password, consider tips on how to recover your Airtel Me2U password.
Password Tips for Airtel Me2u Service
It’s one thing to have a strong password, remembering this password is a different story altogether. Aritel will not hesitate to bar you from using the Me2u service the first time you enter a wrong password thrice. To save you the troubles of going through the rigorous process of unbarring your account, it is important to strike a balance between a strong password and a password you can remember.
With that being said, let’s take a long look at some of the effective tips that will help you maintain a healthy Me2u password and keep the thieves away.
Avoid using a straight password: A password like 2468, 1234, 9876 etc. will often be easy for anyone to guess as it involves the multiple of a single number, serial increase and decrease of a number respectively.
Do not use a single number for password: e.g. 1111, 2222, 9999 etc.
Do not use your year of birth: Someone who knew you were born on 1987 can easily assume that it’s your password. Just make sure you don’t fall for that mistake.
Beware of the last four digits of your phone number: Using the last four digit of your phone may sound like a good bargain but when all other methods fails, the thief might be tempted to try the last four digit of your phone number.
Any random four numbers is a good password, you can pick any four digit from your first flyer number, the last four digit of your first phone number or even the birth year of your grand mother.
Transferring Airtime Credit with Airtel Me2u
Did you just recharge the wrong sim? Or need to transfer some airtime credit to your daughter in high school? Just send a message to 432 using the following message format: 2U PhoneNumber Amount PIn
For instance, if you want to transfer N100 to 08020000000 and your pin is 1234, then send: “2U 08020000000 100 1234” to 432.
How to Transfer Airtime using Airtel STK
The SIM Application Toolkit (STK) is a standard application of the GSM system which enables the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) to initiate actions which can be used for various value-added services.
The Airtel STK application comes with a service that allows you to transfer credit on Airtel to another Airtel subscriber.
Launch Airtel STK Application
From the Airtel Menu on your SIM, select Airtel Services. If you are using a smart phone, locate the SIM Toolkit application from your applications drawer.
Select Me2U
Initialize the Airtel Me2u service by selecting Me2U from the list of services.
Send airtime credit.
Select the send airtime credit option from the menu.
Enter Amount
Enter the amount of credit you want to transfer. Remember that Airtel takes NGN10 transaction fee, i.e. If you are transferring N100, you must at least have N110 airtime balance for the transaction to be successful.
Choose or enter phone number
Select option to enter Phone Number or choose the Number from your address book.
Confirm the transaction
Check your transaction to make sure the subscriber phone number and airtime credit amount is correct.
Enter PASSWORD
Enter your secure password. If you have forgotten your password, kindly follow our tips below to recover your password.
Send
Finalize your transfer by hitting the send button.
Note: This service will cost an additional charge of N10. i.e. If you are transferring N100, you must at least have N110 airtime balance for the transaction to be successful.
How to unbar Airtel Me2u
If you enter a wrong pin more than thrice during a transfer, you are likely to be kicked out from further using the Me2u service. This is a security measure from Airtel to ensure that an intruder is not trying to make away with your money.
Unfortunately, there is no short code readily available to unbar me2u service on your Airtel line. Not to worry though, you can still unbar your account and continue enjoying Airtel Me2u service.
Follow the steps below to ubar Me2U service on your Airtel account. If you find yourself doing this too often, consider reading our tips for a healthy password.
Get your SIM pack ready. Your PUK may be required for identification.
Contact Airtel customer care number. Call 111 / 121 toll-free from an Airtel line. You can as well call +234-802-150-0111 from a non-airtel number or +234-802-150-0121 if you are calling from abroad.
Choose to speak to an agent.
Ask that you want to unblock your Me2U account.
To reset the pin, kindly provide the last 5 digits of the serial number on the sim, last recharge amount and length of usage.
SmartShare – How to Gift & Share Data using Airtel Data Me2U Service
Airtel allows you to share a data plan with family and friends across phones, tablets and laptops. Here are two ways to share an Airtel data plan:
Data Me2U (aka Data Share): You can “share” or “transfer” from the data allowance of an already purchased data bundle to another customer. For example, if you have purchased a 1.5GB Monthly, you can transfer 100MB to another customer.
· To share/transfer data, simply dial *141# and select the option for Gifting or Me2U.
Data Gifting: Data gifting allows you to buy a data bundle plan for another customer by paying with your own airtime. For example, if your friend/family runs out of data, you can just buy another data plan for the person.
· To gift data, simply dial *141# and select the option for Gifting or Me2U.
How do Data Me2U differ from Data Gifting?
The table below will guide:
SN
CRITERIA
DATA ME2U
DATA GIFTING
1
Default PIN, accessibly via *141#; Note that this PIN must be changed before sharing can occur
1234
1234
2
Subscription via USSD
Dial *141#. Select the Gift or Share Data option. Thereafter select Data Me2U.
Dial *141#. Select the Gift or Share Data option. Thereafter select Data Gifting.
3
Data Allowance shareable
Data size maximum of 200MB per day.
Restricted to regular data bundle plans.
4
Number of sharing instances possible
– Twice in a day to a maximum of two different people. – You can share data to the same person again only after that person finishes the first shared data. First rule above still applies.
As many times as possible.
5
Validity of bundle
Residual validity of Sender’s bundle
Validity of gifted bundle plan
6
Auto Renewal
No
No
7
Dta Balance Check
*140#
*140#
8
PIN Management
– PIN reset option is available on *141# USSD Menu – One PIN is applicable for Data Gifting & Data Me2U. – At the fifth pin attempt, the customer will be barred from using any of the services above. – This barring will be for 1 hour at a time. – Where 3 barring(s) happen to one MSISDN in a 24-hour period, customer has to call in to the Call Center for a reset.
*140#
Airtel Me2U Frequently Asked Questions
I forgot my Airtel Me2U PIN?
You can reset your Aitel Me2U by contacting Airtel customer support by calling 111 or 112. To reset the pin, you will need to provide the last 5 digits of the serial number on the sim, last recharge amount and length of usage.
How do I solve a problem of data not sent on Airtel Me2U?
If you are getting this error while using the phone USSD, try using the Airtel SIM Toolkit application. If problem persist, restart your phone or contact customer service.
What is Data Me2U?
Data Me2U also known as Data Share – allows you to transfer data from your existing data allowance to another Airtel customer. Recipient can be another customer e.g your friend, family etc or just your other device with an Airtel line.
How can I access Data Me2U?
By dialing *141#. Dialing this string returns a menu, then you select the option for Gifting or Me2U.
What data bundle plans are available for Data Me2U?
The regular data bundle plans – Weekly/Daily Bundles, Monthly Bundles and Mega Packs.
What is the validity of the shared data bundle?
The shared data will have the same validity as the original data. E.g If you have a bundle with validity end date of 1st Jan 2018, and you share some of that data; the recipient’s data will also expire on 1st Jan 2018.
Is the shared data auto-renewed?
No. You are not auto-renewed on a shared data.
How much data can be shared at a time?
You can share a maximum of 200MB data to one person.
How many people can I share data with?
You can share data with a maximum of 2 recipients daily. This means that you can share a maximum of 200MB each with 2 recipients daily.
Is this service available to both Post-Paid and prepaid customers?
Yes, Data Sharing is for both Prepaid and Postpaid customers.
What is Data Gifting?
Data Gifting allows you to buy a data bundle for another line.
How can I access Data Gifting?
By dialing *141#. Dialing this string returns a menu, then you select the option for Gifting or Me2U.
What data bundle plans are available for Data Gifting?
The regular data bundle plans – Weekly/Daily Bundles, Monthly Bundles and Mega Packs.
How frequently can I gift data?
You can gift data to as many people, as many times as you wish. There are no restrictions.
Is the gifted data auto-renewed?
No. You are not auto-renewed on a gifted bundle.
Will a customer on the receiving end pay for the shared or gifted data?
No. The recipients of Data Sharing/Gifting do not need to pay for the data or bundle received. The sender has already paid for it.
Tell me more about the Pin for Data Sharing.
· In order to prevent an unauthorized person from doing Data Sharing/Gifting from a customer’s phone, a Pin is required before you can share or gift data. · When you access Data Sharing/Gifting for the first time, you will be required to change your Pin from the default Pin to any Pin you desire to use.
Does a customer need to get a special SIM card to use this service?
No special SIM card is required as all newly activated SIMs are automatically data enabled. However, each SIM must have been KYC-ed without which data activity will be automatically disabled. Customers are advised to visit the nearest Airtel retail or partner outlets to perform KYC.
What is Smart-SHARE Service?
The Airtel Smart-Share service consists of a bouquet of offerings that allows internet data bundles to be used by more than one customer in any of the following ways: · Me2U-sending a bundle from your currently active bundle · Gifting-buy a bundle for another line In this regard, please note the following: · Internet bundles refer, in this case to Data, BlackBerry & Android bundles except where explicitly stated · Me2U is possible for only normal data bundles while Gifting is possible for all bundle types above
What constitutes the Airtel Smart-Share Service (AMI) service?
The Airtel Smart-Share Service can be accessed in any of the following ways: · Mobile Devices and Smartphones: Customers can send internet to 232 for settings to be automatically pushed to the respective handset. Settings can also be pushed by a call in to the Call Center or done manually at any of the Airtel shops. · Desktop or laptop: in which case, a USB data card/ modem will be required. This can be picked up from the nearest Airtel outlet at N3,990 and N3,500 respectively for the 7.2mbps and 3.6mbps speeds
Does a customer need to get a special SIM card to use this service?
No special SIM card is required as all newly activated SIMs are automatically data enabled. However, each SIM must have been KYC-ed without which data activity will be automatically disabled. Customers are advised to visit the nearest Airtel retail or partner outlets to perform KYC.
Can the internet be accessed through a Desktop or laptop anywhere in Nigeria?
Yes- over 98% of the locations in Nigeria are covered with at least EDGE data coverage while 3G coverage is at 100% in each of the state capitals and major townsYes- over 98% of the locations in Nigeria are covered with at least EDGE data coverage while 3G coverage is at 100% in each of the state capitals and major towns.
Can I access the internet on my handset or smart phone anywhere in Nigeria?
Yes- internet access is available ‘on the go’ on any handset anywhere in Nigeria as the handset has data capability
How are internet settings activated on a handset or smart phone?
· Sending SETTINGS to 232 via SMS · Call Toll Free number “111” for assistance · Visiting any Airtel shop for manual configuration
Will a customer have to pay for subscription after purchasing the data modem?
Subsequent to purchasing the data modem, a decision has to be taken on the AMI bundle service plan of choice. The default service plan is the Pay As You Use (PAYU) tariff which cost 5kobo per Kilobyte.
How do each of the Smart Share variants differ, one from the other?
Kindly refer to the table above.
How will the Smart Share service work?
Based on the definitions above, please note the following business rules: · The 2 variants of Smart Share will be accessible via SMS, USSD, *141# and *141*1# USSD Menus · There is only one PIN, which is usable across all the 3 variants · Auto renewal or Fall back pricing will not be applicable for Internet bundles that have been shared via Me2U or Sharing · Internet bundles that have been shared via Me2U will have maximum validity of 30 days while internet bundles that have been shared via Gifting and Sharing will have the validity of the associated bundles · Subscribers in the Staff and Spouse service classes should be able to receive Gifted bundles, Me2U or Data Bundle Sharing- the rule is to RECEIVE ONLY · Not all bundle types can be shared across the various service classes. The matrix below outlines the use cases across the 2 major service classes:
How does a customer currently confirm Data Account Balance?
By dialing *141*11*0# or *123*10#
Is there any other menu to take up Data Bundle or other plans?
Yes, by visiting the Airtel Smart Store accessible by dialing *141*1# or *141#. Dialing this string returns a menu & this menu is extremely user friendly
For quicker support, you can as well reach out to @AirtelNigeria on Twitter.
Bonus
To ask someone to send you airtime credit this season, simply dial *141*8*NUMBER# e.g. *141*8*0802000000#.
I wish you all Merry Xmass in advance! and stay safe 🙂
Android OS is gradually taking it’s place as the mobile king: every tom, dick and harry now own one. This insane increase in consumers has lead to the development of many third-party ‘useful’ Android application.
As a measure intended to shield your Android device from malwares synonymous with most third-party applications, the OS does not accept application unapproved by Google (unapproved applications may be installed but will not work correctly on non-rooted Android devices).
Rooting (or jailbreaking) your Android device gives you unimaginable control over your device, letting you have master control on how your device functions; update the OS, replace the firmware, overclock (or underclock) the processor, customize just about anything.
In the past rooting might be an easy “nut to crack” for Mr. tom Mr. dick, but certainly not for Mr. harry. The process was generally complicated and you might just end up in the ‘bricked’ zone with one miscalculated move. In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to root/jailbreak any Android phone with just 1 click (or maybe 2).
Requirements:
– A healthy Windows PC (Windows XP, 7, 8 or higher).
– You must have Kingo Android Root software installed in your PC. If you don’t have the software, you can download a copy here.
– Your device must be properly charged.
Compatibility Check Up
To begin the rooting process, make sure you have downloaded and installed Kingo Android Root software on your PC: The application will root any (or at least 95%) android device with 1 click but to remain on the safer side, check if your device is compatible with the software.
Enable USB Debugging
If your device is among the compatible devices, proceed to your device settings and enable USB debugging. If it’s running Android 4.0 or 4.1 follow this steps to enable USB debugging:
GOTO Settings.
Navigate to Developer Options
Tick the box just beside “USB debugging.” (You may need to switch “Developer options” to On before you can do so.)
Follow this steps if your device is running on Android 4.2 and later:
GOTO Settings
Navigate to About Phone
Enter Developer Options
Tick the box next to “USB debugging“.
Then Click OK to save your changes.
Run Kingo Android Root Software
After enabling USB debugging on your device, locate Kingo Android Root icon on your start menu or desktop. Run the application by double clicking on it and connect your device via its USB sync cable. If your device is connected successfully, you should see an indication at the bottom-left corner of the software interface.
1 Click Rooting
Once your device is connected; you are just 1 click away from being the master of your Android phone/tablet. Click ROOT, grab a cup of coffee and watch Kingo Android Root do the rest for you. The whole process is automated and should take up to 2 mins; your device maybe rebooted a couple of times.
Beware: Rooting your Android device will make it open to malware attack, to remain on the safer side; only install applications from trusted sources and websites.
Un-Root your Android
If you decided rooting is just ‘what it is’ you can always sign off by running the Kingo Android Root software on your PC, reconnect your device via USB sync cable and click UNROOT when your device is set.
You can also opt for any of these popular Android UNroot methods instead. They’re best for mostly MTK-powered devices.
This application works with rooted Android phones only. It helps you record your screen into high quality videos. Recorded videos will be saved as MP4 on your device or SD card – you in turn, will be able to mail this video to a friend or share it on YouTube and social media.
The Screencast Pro is available to be downloaded free at the Google Play Store. However, if for reasons you would love to have a ‘raw’ copy of the application or you wish to use this Android app on PC or Mac, simply hit the download button just beneath this section.
Publisher’s Description
** Rooted phones only ** Screencast is a free screen recorder application. Record your screen into high quality video. Videos are saved as MP4 on your sdcard. Very usefull to create presentation or tutorials.
This application may works on some unrooted phones. Please tell us if it works for you. and if it doesn’t, please tell us too to help us improve this app.
If your phone is rooted and the app doesn’t work, please send us a message with your phone characteristics including processor information, thanks. This application doesn’t support all Tegra 2/3 based devices. Keywords: screenshot, screencast, video recorder, screen recorder, camtasia, screenrecorder
**This app uses FFMPEG application for the encoding process
If you weren’t annoyed enough by how intrusive Facebook can be both with its adverts and communications from “friends.” Don’t expect to be any happier with the social network this Thursday. That’s the day Facebook introduces video advertising that automatically starts playing as part of your News Feed.
If you think you’re safe from such videos because you surf Facebook on your smartphone, think again. They will auto-play on both desktop and web versions of the social network, appearing as a natural extension of your News Feed. Facebook says this won’t impact data plans because the videos are downloaded to a device in advance when a WiFi connection is detected. However, Facebook is also overlooking the fact some people have data caps on their home broadband, and playing video is going to reduce your smartphone’s battery life.
It’s unclear how often these video adverts will appear, but they can be up to 15 seconds long. Facebook is also well aware that such ads can annoy users, and that’s part of the reason why they are launching so late this year. However, I can’t see what’s changed to stop that annoyance. Videos auto-playing, even when they aren’t adverts, is frustrating.
The main reason Facebook is pushing ahead with this simply comes down to cash. TV advertising is worth over $66 billion a year, and they want a piece of the action. If it proves profitable in the short term, then expect it to become a permanent fixture on your News Feed next year.
Facebook is predictably presenting the video ads as a positive addition for consumers to the service that aims to enhance the quality of News Feed adverts. Initially only a small subset of Facebook users will see them, with the first video being for the movie Divergent. It will play automatically without sound and you can’t stop it playing. However, if you click or tap the video it will go full screen and the sound will start playing. Once finished, two more videos will be presented to watch.
Google yesterday, announced that they’ve acquired Boston Dynamics. Now, if you remember Boston Dynamics: they are the creators of quad- and bi-pedal robots like Big Dog and PETMAN. This is Google’s eighth robotics acquisition.
The company, however did not disclose the details of the sale. The announcement appeared in the New York Times where Boston Dynamics CEO Marc Raibert said they would honor their DARPA military contracts although Google will not officially be a military contractor.
The company, founded in 1992, has been working on standalone, gas-powered robots for the past decade. The robots are self-righting and very resilient. Robots like Big Dog can throw cinder blocks, handle rocky terrain, and run at 16 mph.
The man behind the acquisition, Andy Rubin, stepped down as head of Googe’s Android business in march after turning a little-known mobile OS into a juggernaut. “His last big bet, Android, started off as a crazy idea that ended up putting a supercomputer in hundreds of millions of pockets,” wrote Larry Page on his Google+ page. “It is still very early days for this, but I can’t wait to see the progress.”
China has joined the U.S. and Russia as one of only three nations to make a controlled soft landing of an unmanned spacecraft on the moon’s surface. https://www.youtube.com/embed/WGNdJ76aG54?feature=player_detailpage China Central Television, the state television broadcaster in mainland China, broadcast the final stage of the mission on Saturday (see above video); it showed the Chang’e-3 successfully touching down on the moon. Carrying a solar-powered moon rover called “Yutu” (Jade Rabbit), CCTV also televised the launch of the Chang’e-3 probe on Dec. 1, as seen in the video, below.
Sending back black-and-white video of the moon’s surface as it made its final descent, the Chang’e-3’s handlers expect to deploy the Yutu moon rover on Sunday.
In an interview with China’s state news agency Xinhua, Sun Huixian, an engineer in charge of the space-probe mission, said, “Compared to the last century’s space race between the United States and the former Soviet Union, mankind’s current return to the moon is more based on curiosity and exploration of the unknown universe … China’s lunar program is an important component of mankind’s activities to explore peaceful use of space.”
The Yutu rover’s mission is to collect high-resolution imagery of the moon’s surface, as well as lunar soil samples, according to Xinhua.
The samples will be returned to Earth by the Chang’e 5 probe, which is scheduled to launch some time before 2015, and to return to China before 2020.News According to Mashable | Image by: China National Space Administration
For those of you who felt you can run forever from Google+, well, I have got some bad news for you: Google is going to blackmail you.
After investing so much in Google+, Google thinks it’s the right time for you to get rid of Facebook, delete your Tumblr page and stop complaining. I’m sorry, if you think you really have an option: This hilarious video has revealed Google’s new strategy to force you into joining Google+. http://www.collegehumor.com/e/6942530 It’s incredible and equally awkward to imagine the impact this could have on your life. How well do you enjoy people keeping tracks on your searches – Like your employer knowing that you looked up “How to implicate my boss?” twice, before reporting to duty 1 hour earlier than usual?
Like a popular adage goes “You can’t beat them? Join them”, you really don’t have an option. To remain on the safer side, you need to bite the bullet, and sign up.
To commemorate the Computer Science Education Week, President Barack Obama has re-awaken a long time Internet’s debates: whether it’s appropriate to take selfies at funerals, and whether everyone should learn to code. In a YouTube video titled “President Obama calls on every American to learn code.” (watch video below).
“Learning these skills isn’t just important for your future, it’s important for our country’s future,” he said. “If we want America to stay on the cutting edge, we need young Americans like you to master the tools and technology that will change the way we do just about everything.” The last time we went through this was when New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg tweeted that he would learn to code as part of Codecademy’s “Year of Code” in 2012, which earned a certain amount of backlash.
“I would no more urge everyone to learn programming than I would urge everyone to learn plumbing,” Discourse co-founder and CTO Jeff Atwood wrote, suggesting that communication skills were at least as important to a well-rounded education as programming. Many other critics complained that you don’t need to learn to build an engine in order to drive a car.
I’m still on the side of pushing code literacy to as many people as possible. If everyone in the country were likely to spend a significant portion of their waking hours using faucets, and Congress was likely to debate bills that had great ramifications for the future of faucet users, then I probably would say that everyone should at least learn the basics of plumbing. And I agree with Douglas Rushkoff, author of Program or be Programmed, that not knowing how to code is more analogous to not only not being able to drive, but being blind folded while you ride. And while we don’t teach all of our high schoolers how to build engines, we do generally teach them the basics of physics and internal combustion as freshman. Likewise, we can’t expect to teach everyone enough programming to build Facebook, but we can make sure as many people as possible have a general idea of how it was built.
But I think we can all agree that learning programming shouldn’t detract from other educational objectives, like reading, writing and math. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to. In fact, it can be combined with other skills.
Mathematics is the most obvious subject to combine with computer programming. Conrad Wolfram — Stephen Wolfram’s brother — is one of the most radical proponents. His organization, Computerbasedmath.org, calls for students to stop doing rote memorization of steps and focus instead on using computers to explore the concepts that underpin those steps.
“Why get students emulating what computers do so much better (computing) rather than concentrate on imaginative thinking, analysis and problem-solving that students ought to be able to do so much better even than today’s computers?” he wrote in a blog post announcing a partnership with Estonia to rewrite the country statistics and probability coursework. But you don’t need to go that far to add a few programming exercises to an algebra or geometry course.
Meanwhile, economics is an elective at most high schools, but it’s probably something more students should learn and it’s another subject that could incorporate some programming lessons. There are already books on programming for college level biology and physics courses, and they could be adapted to fit high school level courses as well.
But it’s not just math and science that can be combined with programming. A class that used SuperCollider or PureData to teach music theory could be a fun and interactive way to learn both programming and music. And Adam Parrish at New York University already teaches creative writing through programming (yes you read that right). He teaches students a bit of Python, and then sets them to work doing stuff like creating algorithmic poetry using the Twitter API.
Where things could get really interesting is combining multiple subjects. My dream course would be one that taught programming, electronics, mathematics, physics and music by having students build, program and play Arduino-based synthesizers.
The big idea here would be to give students early, accomplishable projects. One of the most interesting posts of the week was one by an anonymous blogger titled “People Feel Dumb: That’s Why They Don’t Code.” It’s a big problem: there’s research showing that students who think they can make themselves smarter do better in school. Those who think that they just aren’t smart get left behind. I know from experience that people feel the same way about writing, drawing and other creative endeavors.
One of the best ways to combat the “I’m not smart enough” or “I’m not talented enough” phenomena would be to give students early victories, showing them that they can program or that they can make music or that they can do math — preferably while teaching them something else important along the way.
The hardest part of such a scheme, though, will probably be teacher training. Estonia designed a curriculum to teach computer science in elementary school last year. The first step in bringing the program to life, though, is teaching training. We’d do well to remember that in the U.S.Photo by Michael Himbeault | Article Credit: TechCrunch
Remember when television was the exclusive preserve of a select few? When no one really cared about picture quality, but those who has access to movies on television were simply thankful to behold the wonders of motion picture? Well, those days are gone now.
The average person now cares as much for the quality of a video as he does for the quality of a movie plot. Panasonic knows that. That’s why it recently introduced its latest camcorder product to widen the gap in film shooting and photography with the pro-style shoulder mounted HD camcorder HC-MDH2. The camcorder is equipped with the “Simultaneous Recording” function, the camcorder allows recording on dual memory devices simultaneously.
Panasonic’s new HC-MDH2 with greater advanced shooting performance, design and operability enables photographers to shoot still Photo’s at 20 Megapixel resolution and videos in Full High Definition or in Standard Definition format. The direct manual control Of focus, Zoom, Iris, White Balance and Shutter Speed, via the manual ring, are incorporated based on user needs to have control over varying shooting conditions. “Simultaneous Recording” in Dual Memory Devices for Added Dependability:
With the Simultaneous recording function, a captured video can be recorded in dual memory devices at the same time, which means that even if a problem happens in one device while shooting, the video images are always backed up in the other device. This ensures high dependability. Relay Recording is also supported, making the camcorders effective for extended recordings.
Automatically correcting the tilting of captured images to make them horizontally level for ease of viewing -The tilting angle to the horizontal plane is automatically detected and corrected while the camcorder is stationary.
This article first appeared at our neighbor’s site: Vanguardngr.
One of the fundamental aspect of a good website is it’s layout: The design of your website might give you an edge over your competitors, as websites with attractive designs are often viewed as more credible to those with less attractive layouts.
There are loads of WordPress themes out there but we are focusing on the ones with responsive layout and easily customizeable. If you are wondering how a responsive site works, I’m going to give you an insight on how the browser renders responsive themes.
As mobile computing goes viral, the need for mobilized layout becomes piratically essential. Different users access your website via various devices and screen sizes: Some from small screen devices like Blackberry, iPhone, others from larger screen sizes like the iPad, Kindle or Netbook. Now, you cannot base your website layout on one device or screen size, as that will limit the access of users from other devices.
Responsive Web design prompts your design and development to respond to the user’s behavior and environment based on screen size, platform and orientation. The practice consists of a mix of flexible grids and layouts, images and an intelligent use of CSS media queries. As the user switches from their laptop to iPad, the website should automatically switch to accommodate for resolution, image size and scripting abilities. In other words, the website should have the technology to automatically respond to the user’s preferences. This would eliminate the need for a different design and development phase for each new gadget on the market. In this post we shall be looking at 70 of such themes you can use on your WordPress self-hosted website.
1. The Wetro
The Wetro is Windows 8 Metro layout inspired HTML5 & CSS3 theme. With it’s powerful wordpress substructure you can manage everything. Most of the pages are built with drag and drop. It is so easy to manage pages with drag and drop content. It has 20 page elements which you can put where ever you want with just drag and drop. The Wetro comes with 2 menu options. Default one is left side menu. The other one is top menu with completely different layout. You can easily switch between them with just a click. Also, You can use our colorpicker tool to change color of The Wetro. You can either do it from admin panel or use WordPress’ theme customizer to see it live.
2. Second Touch
Second Touch is clean, light-weight, retina ready, fully responsive metro style WordPress theme. Its powerful customization capabilities enable you to create your outstanding website easy and fast.
3. Argo – Modern OnePage Metro UI WordPress Theme
ARGO is a unique and creative WordPress Theme with clean and modern design. It is perfect choice foryour corporate agency, creative studio or for portfolio. It can be customized easily to suit your wishes.
4. TechDesk
Clean and intuitive design with a tons of features & options: live search, widgetized areas, faq post format, shortcodes and much more. This theme can easily be used to build a FAQ site.
5. Metro – Responsive WordPress Theme
An elegant theme with cute layers. It gives your website a decent appearance.
6. Metrolium
Metrolium is a modern, metro inspired, multi-purpose, Retina Ready responsive WordPress theme. Beautifully designed, lovingly coded and absolutely bursting with functionality.
7. MetroVibes Responsive theme
MetroVibes Responsive theme is a modern and responsive metro WordPress theme perfect for a creative agency or a portfolio showcase website and is bound to turn some heads. The elegant and minimalistic look will definitely give a modern vibe to your website and will impress each and every one of your visitors.
8. Metpo
Metpo is a Responsive and HTML5 Ready Magazine Theme
9. Platinum Responsive Magazine Theme
Platinum Responsive Magazine Theme is a magazine based design or as what commonly called blogging theme its design is based and inspired by the popular Windows 8 OS.
10. Rocket Board
Rocket Board is a super awesome portfolio WordPress Theme with METRO style. You can set each thumbnail size as 1×1, 1×2, 2×1 or 2×2 easily. This theme also allow user to set specific colour on each metro box or just use the default colour from admin panel. You can also set the first state of metro box to show as colour box or show as feature image.
Fortis7 is a responsive bbPress-compatible WordPress Theme, suited for business websites and users who want to showcase their work on a neat portfolio site.
Brandon WordPress theme is a great, modern, responsive and easy to use theme for your business. The themes comes with an easy to use Muffin Builder which let you create any page you want without any knowledge in html, php or css.
13. Time
Time WordPress theme is suitable for a variety of site types: crative portfolio, big corporate site, personal blog, product-oriented site, video gallery & photo album – you name it. It is what you will call ‘a multipurpose’ theme.
14. Daisho
Daisho WordPress theme brings awesomeness to reality, giving your website an amazing clean layout that will surely keep your visitors comfortable.
If you are looking for a light weight theme with clean layouts; Revonge WordPress theme might be just the ideal theme.
16. Underground
Underground is a 2 in 1 (Onepage and Multipage) Responsive WordPress Theme. It is a multipurpose theme: Suitable for personal onepage or multipage websites/blogs, business websites, shop websites, users who want a very nice portfolio website where they can showcase their work, or for any other purpose website.
17. Stack
Stack is a clean, flexible, responsive on both layout & image and fully support retina display.
18. Sentinel
Sentinel WordPress theme is one of the most recent theme added to the already long list of WordPress theme. However, what makes this theme stand out among the rest is it’s highly SEO optimized structure. The theme also has elegant responsive layout with retina ready display.
19. Amzola WordPress Theme
Amzola WordPress Theme is specially designed for magazine websites. It is responsive, clean as well as beautiful.
20. Metro Rox HTML5 WordPress Multipurpose Theme
Metro Rox is a HTML5 WordPress Multipurpose Theme inspired by Windows 8 Metro UI
21. Smart7
Smart7 is a multipurpose WordPress theme with decent layout.
22. Safarica
Though, cannot be classified as a multipurpose theme; Safarica can be used on personal blogs as well as business blogs.
23. Built it yourself Responsive Theme
This theme is self explainable: It is totally customizeable, meaning that you can mold it to suite your taste without much knowledge on CSS, PHP or coding.
24. Black Pearl – Responsive WordPress Theme
Black Pearl responsive WordPress theme is work inspired by metro style design. It is multipurpose theme suitable for any kind of website.
25. Pacific
Pacific is a responsive & retina ready all in one theme, with good SEO optimization.
26. Ventus
High quality WordPress theme suitable for portfolio sites.
27. Sensica
Sensica is a responsive WordPress theme to easily show off your portfolio.
28. Venix
Venix is a very clean multipurpose wordpress theme based on responsive HTML5 & CSS3. The design is a new trend, it aim to highlight your work and services leaving away others graphic elements. This theme has been developed to to serve at all your needs, it comes with a wide range of options that will allow you to doing almost everything you want with the theme.
29. FacePress – Community Content Sharing
FacePress is a flexible well designed WordPress theme that allows you to make your site fully controllable. It’s elegant layout adds a decent feel to your website.
30. Express
This is a well designed multi-layout WordPress theme designed specially for portfolio websites. It can also be used on business blogs but not on personal blogs.
31. Increase – Premium Business WordPress Theme
32. Syncro | Grid Powered WordPress
33. NEWS24 | 4 in 1 News/Magazine WordPress Theme
34. Nemo
35. MetroStyle Responsive All Purpose WordPress Theme
36. Themify Metro WordPress Theme
37. Metrika
38. Everest – Premium WordPress Theme
39. Metro Facebook Timeline WordPress Template
40. MetroPix
41. OneCommunity
42. Metro Mobile Premium WordPress Mobile Template
A report on Vanguardngr says that BlackBerry has announced enhancements to its award-winning multi-OS enterprise mobility management (EMM) solution with the release of BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES10) version 10.2 globally.
This is even as its customers including Morgan Stanley, Boeing, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and Secusmartare currently participating in the BES10 version 10.2 Early Adopter and Beta programs, and are running the new version in a test environment.
Currently, customers have installed nearly 30,000 BES10 commercial and test servers around the world. Organizationscontinue to choose BlackBerry because it is the most proven and trustedenterprise mobility management (EMM)solution, supporting iOS, Android™ and BlackBerry smartphones. That is why Secusmart, a leading expert in the field of highly secure mobile voice and data communication,uses BES10, and chose to be an early adopter of version 10.2.
“Secusmart’s needs an EMM solution that can enable our workforce to be more productive and connected, while maintaining our strict security standards and not compromising on our end user experience,” Dr. Hans-ChristophQuelle, CEO of Secusmart, said, adding that , “BES10 provides the necessary functionality and security for our employees and has truly exceeded our expectations.
We’ve benefitted tremendously from BlackBerry’s single, secure multi-platform connectivity model to mobilize our business and empower our employees to be more productive and better equipped to serve our customers.”
Recently named the Best Mobile Device Management Software for 2013 by UK enterprise IT publication V3, BES10 is the only enterprise mobility management solutioncapable of delivering comprehensive management and security for devices, apps and content across iOS, Android and BlackBerry devices, all easily managed through a single console. Backed by industry leading global support services, BES10 offers a seamless, scalable and cost-effective way to truly mobilize businesses, enabling organizations to balance enduser and corporate needs without compromising security.
The 2go IM is currently on the Google Play Store but if for some reasons (probably best known to you) you don’t want to download it from the Store, then be my guest: I have uploaded it to this page and the application is all yours the moment you click the download button below this section.
Publisher Description
2go is a mobile social network where you can chat and share with friends and meet new people!
– Create your own profile and upload profile pictures
– Share files and photos
– Share contacts
– Chat to friends on Facebook, Google Chat and Mxit
What’s New on 2go?
The Facebook gateway is available. Chat to all your Facebook friends in 2go!
v1.0.16
– Emoticons now selected from text box for easier access.
– Preview gallery photos before sending.
– Improved keyboard behaviour.
– Improved online and offline notifications.
– Numerous bug fixes and improvements!
File Info
– Release Date: October 24, 2013
– Size: 2.3 MB
– Version: 1.0.16
– App Requirement: Android 2.2 and up
– Age Rating: 16+
For information on how to use Android 2go Application on PC or Mac click here, otherwise, click on the download button below to start your download.
If you enjoy watching video-game content on YouTube, today is not your day.
PC World reports that the site recently activated its Content ID copyright infringement detection system on affiliates of YouTube’s Multi-Channel Networks (MCNs), and the results are far-reaching. Since YouTube updated its terms in an effort to deter copyright infringement, video games channels have received thousands of copyright claims, particularly concerning video games content.
Video games are (as the name implies) a visual form, so it’s no surprise that video content has grown exponentially in recent years. Both the new Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles have integrated support for video output, and the Most-Viewed and Most-Subscribed channel on YouTube belongs to one Felix Kjellberg, a.k.a. PewDiePie, who plays through and discusses video games on his channel.
YouTube has been an important outlet for game videos because of its affiliate program, which allows content creators to earn money based on their channel views. For the most popular YouTube stars, this can amount to a significant amount of cash—potentially up into the tens of thousands of dollars. Until this week.
Copyright claims
YouTube’s decision to implement Content ID included affiliates of MCNs (such as Machinima (one of the largest MCNs devoted to games). Game videos are always in a Fair Use gray area—many provide an unedited look at entire hours of a game, with only voiceover commentary added by the video creator. These efforts are easy targets for copyright claims, and publishers have laid down rules about what can be streamed in the past—rules they’ve rarely enforced.
Polygon reports that some channel operators have already lost up to 15% of their libraries to claims. Copyright claims are particularly damaging because they divert revenue from video views to whoever initiated the claim. You’d guess that the likely culprits in this case would be game publishers. Except the game publishers say no.
One recipient’s reaction to YouTube’s action
Capcom, Deep Silver, Ubisoft, and more have gone on record to state that they’ve filed zero copyright claims this week, and Capcom even said it’s fighting over this with YouTube.
Publishers tend to like it when fans make online video content because it’s free marketing—their games get exposure to enormous audiences, with little effort on the publisher’s part.
These claims appear to have originated from far weirder sources, which, in some cases, includes companies that don’t really exist anymore.
Popular games personality TotalBiscuit tweeted, “Apparently THQ is putting out a lot of copyright claims, which is impressive since it no longer exists.” THQ went out of business earlier this year.
Other channels received copyright claims from third-party companies with no discernible relation to the games in question, but YouTube allowed the claims to go through regardless.
YouTube, for its part, defended the new system, reiterating that—despite publisher’s claims to the contrary—copyright infringement policies are set by content owners.
A YouTube spokesman said in an email: “We recently enabled Content ID scanning on channels identified as affiliates of MCNs. This has resulted in new copyright claims for some users, based on policies set by the relevant content owners. As ever, channel owners can easily dispute Content ID claims if they believe those claims are invalid.”
Implications
Whether this spells the end of video-games content on YouTube, or whether the system will automatically course correct after a few days of volatility remains to be seen. If YouTube sticks to this path though, it may leave a door open for a competitor to take over games content.
Judging from the state of Twitter on this subject today (see tweets from theRadBrad and Jim Sterling as examples), some people would welcome a change.
It’s always kind of a drag when your mobile email client doesn’t do all the things that your desktop client can. Google seems to be catching on to this, since the company rolled out a new update to Gmail for Android today with a few new features that have been previously reserved for its web users.
Gmail 4.7 now lets you set up an away message with the Vacation Responder. Just as in the web client, you can set a start and end date for when the service should send out an automatic message that you’re out enjoying yourself. When you’re done having fun, you can easily toggle the messages on and off from within the app.
Google also added the ability to send attachments from the mobile client, such as documents, PDFs, and .zip files.
For those of you with Android 4.4. KitKat, the new Gmail includes native support for cloud printing. Devices with low memory will also notice a performance improvement within the app, which Google notes is a change made on behalf of Project Svelte.
The Gmail update should be rolling out to an Android device near you, or you can try to grab it from the Google Play store.
Falling prices on TVs and 7-inch Android tablets helped boost Black Friday sales to nearly $5 billion, NPD reported Wednesday. The retail analyst firm added that sales of “stocking stuffer” accessories also showed dramatic growth from a year ago.
All told, sales during Black Friday week (Nov. 24 through Nov. 30) increased nearly 10 percent compared with a year ago, the firm found. One of the only laggards during the period was the slowdown in Windows sales, which dropped off by more than 10 percent compared to 2012.
TVs and tablets generated the most revenue of any category measured by NPD, prompted in part by what appears to be the migration of low-end TVs into what might be called impulse buys. Retailers polled by NPD reported $1.4 billion in TV sales during that one week alone, up 5.6 percent, with units climbing more than 16 percent to 4.7 million units. Interestingly, both high-end and low-end TVs flew off the shelves, with 60-inch TV sales growing by 60 percent; the average price was a little more than $1000, down about $300 from a year ago. Vizio led with 55 percent of the 60-inch TV market. Samsung, then Sharp, trailed with 29 percent and 8 percent, respectively.)
But the average selling price of a 32-inch TV also plunged from $194 to $137, making it a fairly uncomplicated purchase for a bedroom or as a second monitor. That helped boost sales of 32-inch TVs by 40 percent.
Tablet sales boomed, as units increased by 105 percent and the category generated the second-highest revenue of any measured by NPD.
Drilling down through NPD’s numbers, however, unearthed the big winner of Black Friday: 7-inch Android tablets, which accounted for 80 percent of all Android tablet sales. Total Android tablet sales exploded 146 percent from a year ago, and revenues climbed 70 percent. But the prices tell the story: the average price of an Android tablet fell from $151 to $105, and the average price of the 7-inch tablets was just $82. That means a lot of $69 Android tablets will be under the Christmas tree this year, for better or for worse.
Overall, PC and tablet sales increased by 58 percent to almost 5.9 million units; however, notebook sales actually fell by 2 percent.
NPD found that Microsoft’s aggressive discounts paid off, with an 8 percent boost in Windows device sales as a whole. But Windows desktops and Windows notebooks fell 8 percent and 9 percent, respectively. So that left Apple to pick up the slack: thanks to its own holiday sales, sales were up 34 percent in notebooks, 51 percent in tablets and 277 percent in desktops, NPD found.
Tech stocking-stuffers gaining, too
NPD also found that more shoppers began plowing back any savings in the tablets and other devices with additional purchases in accessories and cheaper devices. And not only are consumers buying more headphones and sound bars, but they’re spending more, too.
Stephen Baker, the analyst in charge of the report, provided some examples on a related blog: the average price paid by a shopper for a multi-function inkjet printer prices was up 23 percent, PC monitors were up 2 percent, and memory cards climbed 30 percent from a year ago (but just to $13).
“To sum up we saw encouraging industry signs in this Black Friday report,” Baker wrote. “Revenue growth across all the major large categories and accelerating revenue increases in the fastest growing mid-size categories, all combined with a slowing in revenue declines in some of the legacy categories, with the end result that Black Friday week sales delivered an impressive start to the holiday season.”This post first appeared on PC World
Yahoo’s Mail service is reported to be still down for some users a day after the company said access would be restored.
The problem began affecting users Monday night, due to a hardware problem with one of its mail data centers, said Jeffrey Bonforte, senior VP of communication products, in a statement recently posted on Tumblr.
Yahoo first acknowledged the outage early Tuesday afternoon Eastern time in a post on its Facebook page, as well as on Twitter. Yahoo said it was aiming to restore access within the next few hours after those posts but, as of Wednesday morning, Mail was still down for some people.
”The issue has been harder to fix than we originally expected,” Bonforte said. Dozens of the company’s employees are working to get the problem fixed by 6 p.m. Eastern time, he said.
Who is affected
The number of people affected by the outage is not clear, and a Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment further. But it could be on the order of multiple hundreds, if not somewhere in the thousands, judging from the level of activity in Yahoo’s Mail forum.
The problem could have widespread implications on people’s ability to communicate and get work done, given Yahoo Mail’s prominence. With more than 100 million daily users, Mail is one of Yahoo’s most important products.
In the forum, the discussion thread for the outage had more than 1200 votes on it by mid-afternoon Wednesday EST, with more than 500 comments from users. A smaller number of people appear to have taken to Twitter to express their frustrations.
For some of these people, their access to Mail has been down for two to three days.
Yahoo also has sent mixed messages about the outage. When trying to log in to Mail, some users have seen a page telling them that “scheduled maintenance” is taking place.
”I don’t believe for one minute this is a scheduled maintenance thing,” one person wrote in the forum. “They have been hacked and just don’t want people to know what’s going on.”
Another person offered more practical advice. “People relax. It’s not life or death. Has another email account, like Hotmail or Gmail,” he said.
Other problems
Yahoo has had a bit of a rough time with its Mail service lately. It was redesigned in October with a new Gmail-like interface, but since then some people have complained about the way that it looks, or how it functions.
Yahoo has even had challenges getting its own employees to use it, according to a recent report in AllThingsD.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has said that Mail is one of the top things she wants to improve to attract new users to Yahoo.
It is often a hectic experience trying to find a new place to live (especially if you desire to move to the housing market hellholes that are New York City and San Francisco). It’s no surprise then that so many startups — Trulia, Zillow, Redfin, Apartment List, Rental Engine, Zumper, Nestio, the list goes on — are trying to make it all just a little bit easier.
Of these myriad startups, apartment-centric Lovely has been especially busy these past few months: it closed a (sadly undisclosed) Series A and snapped up automated rent payment startup Rentmatic to help prove its worth to property owners too. So what was next on their agenda? Getting a new Android app out the door, which the company finally did earlier today.
Lovely is hardly new to the mobile realm — it launched an iOS version of the app a little over a year ago, and anyone who’s mucked around with that should feel comfortable taking the Android version for a spin. That’s far from a bad thing when more than a few competing mobile real estate apps are happy to throw everything plus the kitchen sink into the mix. It’s not hard to see why: as stated, finding an apartment is hard and bombarding a user with fiddly options and controls makes them feel like they’re actually getting something done. Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t, but the illusion of control persists.
The Lovely approach is to strip out the cruft. When you fire up the app for the first time, color-coded listings appear in location-based groups that expand when tapped. From there it takes a but a few taps to directly contact the property owner, share the listing, or report obvious frauds. If you go on to create an account, even more doors open (I slay me) so you can set alerts when properties free up within specific areas and preload some personal and financial information to put potential renters at ease.
There’s little here that differentiates the Android app from its iOS cousin, but that’s hardly an issue — CEO Blake Pierson said he considers Lovely a mobile-first company that uses what it’s learned from fast iteration on the web to inform the mobile experience. All things considered, this new Android version of the app is a handsome one and I actually found a few interesting leads while I was writing this story (what can I say, I’ve grown a little weary of southern New Jersey).
“Some think of us as purely a search tool,” Pierson noted on the phone. “But our long term vision is to be the platform and THE marketplace for rentals.” What he means is that the Lovely vision ultimately encompasses the renting process from both ends: tools for renters and apartment hunters alike. The team has already starting moving down that path with its Rentmatic acquisition, but we’ll see if they can really balance both sides of that equation.DOWNLOAD LOVELY ANDROID APP
The use of LinkedIn “Creative” profile is gradually fading to oblivion. The company is releasing its list of the most overused buzzwords in 2013, based on the words that appear most frequently on the professional networking site’s profiles. In 2011 and 2012, the most overused word was “creative”, but this year “creative” was beaten by “responsible.” On one hand, that’s less obviously self-defeating than describing yourself as creative. On the other hand, it’s more than little … uninspiring.
Personally, I find the whole idea of pumping up your LinkedIn profile with flattering adjectives to be kind of strange, but then, my profile says, “I write stuff,” so what do I know? However, in LinkedIn’s own press release, the company’s “career expert” Nicole Williams says that including buzzwords in your profile isn’t a great idea: “If you sound like everyone else, you won’t stand out from other professionals vying for opportunities.” And if you’re staring at the buzzword list below with dawning horror because it’s basically the same as your entire LinkedIn profile, well, the company has some suggestions. Among other things, it says you should let other users vouch for you (given the random requests and recommendations I get, I’m not crazy about this feature either, but, uh, let’s move on …), include actual work or results that show you’re creative or (bleh) responsible, and be more specific in your wording so that it’s better tailored to the jobs, companies, and industries you’re interested in. Anyway, here’s the top 10 list: 1. Responsible 2. Strategic 3. Creative 4. Effective 5. Patient 6. Expert 7. Organizational 8. Driven 9. Innovative 10. Analytical This article first appeared on techcrunch.
