Tips and tricks for all

Josh Constine / TechCrunch : Instagram tests anti-bullying features like warning users before they say something hurtful, the ability to limit interactions without blocking, and Away Mode   —  Would we feel less envious, shameful and competitive if Instagram didn't tell us how many Likes a post received? from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2V5E7oy

Kevin Carbotte / Tom's Hardware : Oculus Quest review: attractive, comfy wireless design, $399 price is fair, but a step back in VR graphics quality and some Oculus Store content is restricted   —  The Oculus Quest could be the device that turns the VR market around and attracts the masses.  It's easy to use, simple to setup, performs well and is reasonably priced. from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2Wo2yK8

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch : Microsoft's game streaming platform Mixer now lets streamers reward fans for participation, not just subscriptions, with a feature called Channel Progression   —  On game streaming platforms today, there's really only one way to earn status within a creator's community: you have to become a subscriber. from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2DEcKag

Hackers gained access to technology giant Citrix’s networks six months before they were discovered, the company has confirmed. In a letter to California’s attorney general, the virtualization and security software maker said the hackers had “intermittent access” to its internal network from October 13, 2018 until March 8, 2019, two days after the FBI alerted the company to the breach. Citrix said the hackers “removed files from our systems, which may have included files containing information about our current and former employees and, in limited cases, information about beneficiaries and/or dependents.” Initially the company said hackers stole business documents . Now it’s saying the stolen information may have included names, Social Security numbers, and financial information. Citrix said in a later update on April 4 that the attack was likely a result of password spraying, which attackers use to breach accounts by brute-forcing from a list of commonly used passwords that aren’

Ian Sherr / CNET : The Valve Index VR headset is available for preorder for $499 starting Wednesday and will ship by June 28, as the company tries to take on Oculus and HTC   —  As if there weren't enough virtual reality headsets already, game maker Valve is preparing to release its own take on the technology. from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2LgRjCj

Kris Holt / Engadget : Facebook adds a feature letting Marketplace sellers ship items anywhere in the continental US, facilitating the purchases directly through Facebook   —  Facebook will soon let Marketplace sellers ship items anywhere in the continental US, while you'll be able to pay for purchases directly through the platform. from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2J53W0E

Will Greenwald / PCMag : Oculus Rift S review: a worthwhile $399 Rift successor with a sharper screen and a 6DOF tracking, but it's still tethered and connects via DisplayPort, not HDMI   —  Editors' Rating:  —  4.00  —  EXCELLENT  —  PCMag reviews products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2GS7W2U

Natalie Gagliordi / ZDNet : Ford says it is bringing Amazon Key's in-car delivery service to select Ford and Lincoln vehicles   —  The automaker said eligible Ford and Lincoln vehicles from 2017 onward will have the ability to link up to Amazon's Key delivery service.  —  Ford Motor Company said on Tuesday … from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2vsy5yV

Nick Statt / The Verge : Instagram is launching a camera redesign to make it easier to make high quality posts without importing media, adds dedicated shopping tags for creators   —  Turning Instagram into a more robust commerce platform  —  Instagram is announcing a couple of new features today that are designed … from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2PBSLOl

Malwarebytes Labs : Researchers are monitoring a growing botnet hijacking Electrum cryptocurrency wallets and spreading malware that has infected 100K+ clients and stole $4.6M+   —  By Jérôme Segura, Adam Thomas, and S!  Ri  —  We have been closely monitoring the situation involving the continued attacks … from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2INv1Gc

It should go without saying that your brand is who you are, what you stand for, and the one thing unifying the goals, ideals, and mission of your business. In short, your brand is an integral part of your business identity, so you want to make a good one right out of the gate. Of […] The post Ultimate Guide to Re-branding Your Business: The Major Do’s and Dont’s appeared first on ReadWrite . from ReadWrite http://bit.ly/2IRh9uQ

Khari Johnson / VentureBeat : Facebook says its Portal smart displays will soon support end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp video calls   —  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg today announced that its Portal smart displays will soon support end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp video calls.  The move brings together WhatsApp … from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2IOX0FL

Josh Constine / TechCrunch : Facebook Dating launches in 14 more countries, will come to US in 2019, adds Secret Crush feature to let users select up to 9 friends for Tinder-like matching   —  Facebook built Dating to be privacy-safe, hoping to avoid the awkwardness of friends or family checking out your romance profile. from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2J7p1aS

The monetization hose is on full blast at Instagram now, and today at F-8 Facebook unveiled one of the latest developments on that front. The company said that creators will now be able to tag items to sell them directly to people viewing their posts and Stories. For now, this will work only on items that are tagged from businesses that are part of the new checkout beta program Instagram is running in the US. It’s also part of a bigger transactional swing that we’re seeing at Instagram that extends beyond just catering to consumerism and influencers speaking to Instragram’s billion-plus users. Today Instagram also confirmed that it would be adding donation stickers in Stories — something we reported it was working on several months ago . The tags that creators and influencers can now add is a significant development on product tagging, which up to now had been reserved just for businesses and brands, not open to individuals. But the purpose for now doesn’t seem to be to help crea

The intelligence community’s annual transparency report revealed a spike in the number of warrantless searches of Americans’ data in 2018. The data, published Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), revealed a 28 percent rise in the number of targeted search terms used to query massive databases of collected Americans’ communications. Some 9,637 warrantless search queries of the contents of Americans’ calls, text messages, emails and other communications were conducted by the NSA during 2018, up from 7,512 searches on the year prior, the report said. The figures also don’t take into account queries made by the FBI or the Drug Enforcement Administration , which also has access to the database, nor do they say exactly how many Americans had their information collected. The NSA conducts these searches under its so-called Section 702 powers, reauthorized in 2018 despite heated opposition by a bipartisan group of pro-privacy senators. These powers allow

Valve is throwing a little bit of a “screw you” to Oculus this morning, announcing the specs of their high-end VR headset the Valve Index, just before Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced some minor updates to the Rift. The Valve Index is a high-end headset with few compromises. It’s $999 for the whole system but you can buy each of the components individually as well. The headset’s 1440×1600 per eye display is the same as the Vive Pro but it features some insane 144 hz refresh rates and a much wider 130-degree field-of-view. The full system comes with Valve’s newly-names Index “Knuckles” controllers that developers have been playing with for the past year or two. Everything can be tracked by the SteamVR tracking sensors that came with your Vive or Valve’s new-generation trackers. Pre-orders are launching tomorrow and the system ships June 28. Review: Facebook’s Oculus Rift S is barely an upgrade from TechCrunch https://tcrn.ch/2ZLmo4s

Ashley Carman / The Verge : Facebook says it's running a test in Canada to hide Likes in Instagram's Feed, on permalinked pages, and profiles   —  It's only a test for now  —  Instagram announced at its F8 developer conference today that it'll start testing a new feature later this week that'll hide users' public like counts on videos and photos. from Techmeme http://bit.ly/2ZLgQqy