An interactive map can keep you off LA’s most fatal roads

Open data can be an incredibly powerful tool, but it still requires context and people to actually pay attention to the information for it to be valuable. Los Angeles has discovered this the hard way. Its Vision Zero initiative aims to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025, but compared to other cities with similar programs, LA is coming up short in terms of results. After the program’s first full year (2016), fatalities rose by some 43 percent according to the Los Angeles Times. There are a number of reasons for this, including more pedestrian and bicycle traffic, distracted driving and driving under the influence. To combat the rising number, the city looked to data as a means of discerning the most fatal roadways.

It determined that 450 miles of the City of Angels’ streets (roughly six percent) are where 66 percent of pedestrian deaths happen. To address this, city officials hope to augment those roads with bike lanes, speed-tracking signs and widened sidewalks. Maybe LA should look into adding lights to its sidewalks to alert pedestrians distracted by their phones, too.

Residents also have a new interactive map at their disposal. It’s part data visualization and part commute-planning tool. Each dot on the map represents a traffic death, and in some cases, acts as a memorial for the departed. Age, name of the deceased and sometimes a photo and a short message inform users who the person was and what they meant to others — a way of humanizing data if there ever was one.

As Fast Company notes, the map could prove valuable to folks who walk or bike to work and help them pick a route that’s statistically safer. Of course, this is only helpful if people actually use it.

Prior to the map, the city’s hope for Zero Vision was a 20 percent decrease in fatalities by year’s end, but reality is at odds with mayor Eric Garcetti’s projections: In 2017, traffic deaths have already jumped 22 percent compared to last year.

Via: Fast Company

Source: Vision Zero, Los Angeles Times

For exactly zero dollars, this photographer built a working lens out of trash

Why it matters to you

With some tinkering and a bit of luck, this video shows how you can build a no-cost lens out of just about anything.

If you’ve spent the last few months trying to win over your significant over and convince them you need an expensive new lens for your camera, maybe don’t show them this video. Self-proclaimed experimental photographer Mathieu Stern is back with another cost-saving photography tip that seems almost too good to be true. With a bit of scavenging, some rubber bands, and a few minutes of his time, he assembled a functional 135mm camera lens out of items he found in the trash.

Aptly dubbed the “Crapinon,” the lens is literally garbage — which both refers to how it was made and the fact that it is really not sharp at all. However, we can’t help but be impressed with the results, soft as they are. The photos have a very retro, film aesthetic, with subdued contrast and colors. It’s a look that will undoubtedly help propel your Instagram account to unimaginable new heights.

Stern built the lens to work on a full-frame camera. He arrived at the focal length of 135mm after some experimentation. As for the aperture, which is fixed without a mechanical iris diaphragm, he believes it is between f/2 and f/3, according to DIYPhotography. Based on the very shallow depth of field of the sample photos, that would seem to make sense.

Of course, actually being able to reproduce Stern’s Crapinon may not be quite so easy as he makes it seem. For one, most of us likely don’t have M42 tubes and focusing helicoids just lying around. Rummaging through flea markets also isn’t guaranteed to turn up a suitable optic. Still, it is good to know that if you happen upon one and if you have access to the associated required parts, a little elbow grease and trial and error will let you turn it into a surprisingly usable lens for your mirrorless camera or DSLR.

Google brings its solar panel calculator to Germany

Google’s Project Sunroof is a way of combining the company’s mapping data with information on how much sunlight hits your home. With it, people can work out if their abode gets enough radiation for them to consider investing in solar panels. Until now, the service was limited to the US but, from today, the system is rolling out to Germans similarly curious about adopting renewables.

The search engine has teamed up with German power company E.On to map the country and calculate solar fall. The project currently covers 40 percent of all German homes, totaling some seven million buildings with a focus on densely-populated areas like Berlin, Munich, Rhine-Main and the Rhur. Locals can simply type in their address to be given Google’s estimate of the potential costs and return of the project.

The tool is also being added to E.On’s solar sales website and will, hopefully, encourage more people to make the switch. Germany is leading the way in the fight against climate change, and in 2016, a full third of its energy came from sources such as wind, solar and hydro. The country’s efforts have been so successful that there is a pleasant “trail of blood” running across the local coal industry.

Source: Google

How to download Netflix movies and TV shows to your phone, tablet, or PC

Netflix is a great service when you want to spend a night on the couch, but what if you have a long plane ride ahead of you? For years, Netflix subscribers have dreamed of the ability to download movies or episodes of their favorite TV shows to accompany them on a long trip off the grid. Now that dream has finally arrived, and we’re here to help you make that transition offline go as smoothly as possible so you can simply sit back and enjoy.

For now, downloading titles for offline playback is limited to the Netflix app on iOS and Android mobile devices, or the Windows 10 Netflix app on PCs (Windows 10 Mobile devices aren’t supported for now). Follow us below to figure out how to get downloading so you can get off the grid, and take your Netflix along for the ride.

Getting your download on

Step 1: Get up to date

First things first, you’ll need to make sure your Netflix app has been updated to be ready for downloading. If you don’t have your device set to auto update, for iOS devices you can simply click on the app in the app store to get version 9.0.1 or later, while on Android devices you can do the same at the Google Play store where the version varies by device. For Windows 10, select Store from the taskbar or start menu, then click your user icon, and select Downloads or Updates. From here, select Check for Updates and your Netflix app will be updated.

Step 2: Choose your download quality

Netflix offers two different quality levels for downloads: Standard and “Higher,” the latter of which is seemingly high definition (720-1080p resolution), though Netflix doesn’t specify there. Standard uses less space on your device and downloads faster, while Higher takes a bit more space. Which one you’ll want to use will depend on how much free space you have on your device, and what kind of device you’re using — a Standard title may look fine on a phone, while Higher may be necessary for your tablet of laptop. To choose, select the menu icon on the left, then scroll down to App Settings. From here, under the Downloads heading, click or tap Video Quality and select your preference. We’ll get into more details on how much space Netflix downloads take up later in this article.

Step 3: Pick your poison

Not everything on Netflix is available for download, but the company has made downloadable titles easy to find by arranging them in a special section called simply “Available for Download.” To get there, click or tap the menu button in the upper left and it’s the first option below the Home section. If you’re searching for specific titles simply look for the download icon, which looks like an arrow pointing down to a line.

Step 4: Get downloading

To begin downloading, simply select the download icon on the show or movie you want to watch. There is one thing Android users will need to be aware of here: Netflix can only download titles to the same storage space in which the Netflix app is stored, so if you want to download to an SD card, you’ll need to make sure to download the Netflix app there as well.

Step 5: Watch your downloaded titles

Once titles are downloaded, they are stored in the “My Downloads” section, found by selecting the menu button in the app’s upper left hand corner. The My Downloads folder is located just above the Home section. A title’s running time as well as how much space it uses is listed next to the title. To play a downloaded episode, simply click or tap on the video thumbnail.

This colorful cube grounds virtual objects in the real world

You can’t usually spin, stretch and otherwise manipulate virtual objects all that easily. You’re often relegated to clicking and dragging on a mouse, and even exotic approaches like HoloLens or VR headsets introduce issues like lag. However, North Carolina State University has developed a simple solution that only requires a webcam and a little geometry. Their Captive technology revolves around a color-coded cube that sends visual cues to video recognition software — all you have to do is rotate the cube to examine a virtual object, resize it or change textures.

It’s intuitive, as you can see in the clip below, but it’s also extremely quick. There’s no significant latency to make you second-guess your moves. And since Captive works with any device that has both a camera and a decent amount of computing power, you could use it on everything from your laptop to your smartphone.

A practical implementation of Captive is likely some ways off, since that would require both a mass-produced cube (the existing object is 3D-printed) and integrating support into apps. However, this is one of those why-didn’t-we-think-of-this-sooner discoveries that could easily find its way into 3D modeling tools, games (there’s a whiff of PlayStation Move to it) and other software that could benefit from quick and easy 3D control.

Via: The Verge

Source: NCSU

‘MLB The Show 17’: Pitching and fielding tips and tricks

MLB The Show 17 is definitely an offense-driven game. With helpful on-field cues to catch fly balls, automatically aligning infielders who get a good jump on grounders off the bat, and an intuitive pitching system, you could argument could be made that the every game comes down to who can take care of business at the plate.

Sometimes, though, even the best players struggle at bat. When getting on base is a challenge — let alone tacking on runs — having a steady command of your defense will keep you in the game. From solid pitching strategies to best fielding practices, here’s what you should keep in mind to get through your opponent’s at bats as unscathed as possible.

Pitching considerations

Everything on the defensive side of the ball begins, and possibly ends, with your pitcher.

The basics: By default, The Show features a pitching meter. Press the button assigned to the pitch you’d like to throw, confirm it, then the meter rises. Your goal is to press your pitch button when the meter is in the red zone on its way up, and then again on its way down. To throw a “perfect pitch,” you must tap the button at the very end of the meter on the way up, then hit the bright yellow line on the edge of the red zone on the way down.

The timing of these presses changes based on your pitcher’s confidence and energy. Stopping it in the red isn’t particularly difficult, but lining up perfect throws, particularly with the initial slim yellow line, can be tough.

If you’re having trouble making your throws, we found that paying attention to the pitcher’s motion helped us find our timing with the pitching meter. By looking at the pitcher’s arm, you get a more natural vision of where to press the button during the followthrough. Each pitcher’s windup and delivery is different, but after a few pitches, watching them in action becomes far more intuitive than focusing the brunt of your attention on the meter.

Managing velocity: A pitcher’s velocity determines the speed and break of a pitch. In The Show‘s pitching meter, velocity is measured as the top portion, which we referred to as the red zone. The closer to the top that you stop the meter, the more velocity the pitch will have. While hitting the far end of the red zone will deliver the fastest pitch, you should not aim for edge of the meter every time. Setting aside the fact that faster pitches are harder to throw accurately, trying to pitch that 100mph fastball isn’t always smart. Overthrowing too often will wear out your pitchers — especially your starters — and send them in to ice their shoulder early.

We recommend shooting for close to maximum velocity with relief and closing pitchers near the end of the game. With starting pitchers, try and stop the meter before the halfway mark in the red. Your starting pitcher in online matches is typically your ace, and conserving his energy — the green meter on-screen —  is important. Energy depletes as the pitch count increases, but also from the pitcher’s exertion. More velocity equals more strain. If you can outlast your opponent’s starting pitcher, you’re usually on the right track.

Pitch usage: Each pitcher has 3-5 pitch types, a mix of fastballs and offspeed breaking pitches. Generally speaking, the majority of pitches — especially those from starting pitchers — are of the fastball variety. You should mix up pitches between fastballs and breaking balls, but the The Show is dedicated to realism, meaning that the fastball should be your go-to pitch. It also happens to be the easiest pitch to place.

While there’s no set formula for how to pick a throw, we’ve compiled a list of every pitch you might encounter so you’ll be ready for anything.

Fastballs

• Four-seam fastball: The hardest pitch in your arsenal. They follow on a straight path, and have no discernible movement. They are also the easiest to place where you want them
• Two-seam fastball: Similar to the four-seam fastball, but not quite as rigid, and can be bit harder to place. The pitch moves in a relatively straight line but usually sinks a bit over the plate.
• Running fastball: Virtually identical to a two-seam fastball.
• Sinker: Dips more noticeably than a two seam fastball.
• Cutter: Moves slightly in the direction of the pitcher’s glove. For right handers, it curves left, for left handers it curves right.

Breaking balls:

• Curveball: The most common breaking ball, the curveball has dramatic forward spin on the ball which causes it to dip dramatically and sweep across the plate.
• Sweeping Curve: A sweeping curveball has moves laterally with greater effect than a traditional curveball.
• 12-6 Curve: As hinted by its name, the 12-6 curve starts off high and gradually drops in flight.
• Slider: Similar to a Cutter, but more pronounced. This breaking pitch moves across the pitcher’s body and downward.
• Slurve: Derived from the slider and curveball, the slurve is almost indistinguishable from a slider in The Show.
• Knuckle curve: A curveball with two different variations. The first offers more control than the traditional curve with more controlled spin. The second has spin like a regular curveball while holding onto some of the unpredictability of a knuckleball.
• Screwball: This breaking ball curves away from the pitcher rather than back across the pitcher’s body like other breaking pitches.

Off-speed pitches:

• Splitter: The splitter, A.K.A. the split-finger fastball, looks like a normal fastball, but is actually a changeup. It appears to drop off suddenly at the plate to confuse batters.
• Knuckleball: A good knuckle ball spins minimally, if at all, in the air. The absence of spin causes the ball to take an unpredictable path towards the plate.
• Circle changeup: Thrown like a two seam fastball, the circle changeup mirrors the two-seamer’s minimal movement, but as an off-speed pitch.
• Palmball: With low velocity, and the appearance of a fastball, the palmball is meant to be thrown to overeager batters prone to swinging early.
• Forkball: Related to the splitter, the forkball moves a bit slower and drops off at the plate.
• Vulcanchange: Similar tot he circle changeup, but with a greater drop off at the plate.

Pitch placement: By default, The Show provides a strike zone overlay. Any pitch that crosses the plate inside that zone, and sometimes around its edges, is typically called a strike. Portions of the zone — one or more of the nine sections — may appear red, indicating that the batter excels at hitting pitches placed in the highlighted locations. Avoiding those areas is important, but you should also focus your efforts on throwing to the corners and edges of the zone. Tossing one down the center of the plate, even a screeching fastball, is never a good move. For breaking pitches, this means that you will often want to start the pitch outside of the zone, and let it work back in. If facing a same-handed player, try and start your breaking pitches inside to crowd the batter, as the pitch will break away from their stance.

Your pitcher’s confidence, the blue meter, is affected by your strike/ball ratio, as well as securing outs. The more batters a pitcher retires without allowing excessive hits and runs, the higher your followthrough meter climbs. Keep this in mind when you are trying to get opponents to chase pitches purposefully thrown as balls. If they swing, it will help your confidence meter, but if they lay off of your errant tosses, the size of the followthrough meter grows thinner.

Using your bullpen: In a nine-inning game, you will almost always have to swap in a pitcher from your bullpen. Even if your starter is having a phenomenal day on the mound, you should consider getting a fresh arm in there. The best moment to bring in a new pitcher varies, but you should usually look to sit your starting pitcher in the sixth or seventh inning. You should not wait until your pitcher can’t throw anymore before taking him out. You need to have forethought, and that comes with getting a new pitcher ready to come into the game.

You have the option to either “Stretch & Toss” or “Warm Up” up to two pitchers at any time. Under normal circumstances, we recommend setting a reliever to warm up, which lets your reliever get fully “hot” before trotting out to the mound, an inning before you plan to put him in. For example, if you plan on taking out your starting pitcher at the beginning of the seventh, start warming up a reliever at the beginning of the sixth.

Stretch and Toss, which gives pitchers a less effective warm up mid-inning, should be reserved for your starting pitcher has stayed in too long and is showing signs of slowing down. Though it’s always better to give your relievers a full warm-up, you still have a way to mitigate the damage and get yourself out an unexpected jam.

Since you have two spots, we recommend warming up a righty and a lefty at the same time so that you can make the most out of your new pitcher’s first matchup, i.e. righty versus righty, lefty versus lefty.

SoundCloud’s latest feature crafts playlists from fresh uploads

Soundcloud isn’t like other music streaming services. Rather than offering the back catalogs of seemingly every musician on the planet, the service is more of a resource for one-offs, mash-ups and folks looking for unique tunes to put into their DJ sets. As a way to help you discover more of what’s on its servers, SoundCloud has launched “The Upload.” The features looks at what you’ve liked and played and delivers a daily playlist based on your listening history.

To keep things fresh, these tracks will all have been uploaded within the past few days. The update is out on desktop, Android and iOS right now. To find it on the latter, navigate to the “search” tab and it should be right up top. Given the surfeit of music (and podcasts) available on the service, this should help people wade through what’s available and maybe even find a few new artists to obsess over along the way.

Source: iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud

Wide angles, squares, and more: Get the best from the LG G6’s superb camera

The G6 continues the tradition of LG phones featuring excellent cameras, with a dual-lens wide-angle rear camera as well as a wide-angle selfie cam on the front. The G6’s other party piece, its 5.7-inch 18:9 aspect ratio screen, also enhances the camera experience through a special app, and some additional features.

While it’s not hard to just pick up the G6 and go shoot some excellent pictures, it’s worth taking the time to understand its intricacies, so we’ve put together a guide to help you really make the most of this great camera phone.

Wide-angle rear camera

The main camera app is the one you’ll use most of the time, but the interface is quite busy, so it’s a good idea to learn the various controls. Holding the phone in landscape orientation, at the top centre of the display are two buttons, each showing little tree icons. The left button with a single tree icon is for the standard-angle lens, but tap the button next to it with three tree icons, and it activates the wide-angle lens. Alternatively, you can use pinch-to-zoom and switch between the two lenses. Pinch your fingers together to move from standard to wide angle views.

Camera roll preview

On the right-hand side of the display are the buttons for the camera shutter release, and the video mode, plus a preview of the last photo taken. On the far left-hand side of the screen, thanks to the 18:9 aspect ratio display, there’s a vertical preview of the last four photos taken, which can also be scrolled through with a swipe. It’s a handy alternative to jumping out of the camera app and into the Gallery app. If you feel this makes the screen look too busy, you can turn off the preview. This is found by tapping the Settings cog icon, and toggling the switch for Camera Roll.

Settings and manual mode

While you’re under Settings, it’s here that the HDR mode can be force activated, the resolution for photos and video selected, along with handy features such as a grid for the viewfinder — activate this to make composing shots easier — and geolocation tagging for your pictures. In the interests of privacy, we’d suggest turning the latter off.

The G6’s camera defaults to auto mode, but if you want to experiment with manual mode — where you can adjust many aspects of the camera — tap the Auto button on the left-hand side of the screen, and select Manual. There are two manual modes, one for the still camera and another for video. Also found in this menu is a mode for taking square, 1:1 ratio pictures, for easy sharing on apps like Instagram.

Panorama, Food, Popout, and other modes

Other camera modes can be found by tapping the Mode button on the left-hand side of the screen. A basic panorama mode is accompanied with a 360-degree panorama mode, and an enhanced image mode for taking pictures of food. More unusually, there’s LG’s Popout, which produces psychedelic images with different effects, by splitting the image into separate areas. Give it a try, it’s a very unusual look.

Also on the left hand side of the screen is a filter button, which looks like three overlaid circles. Tap this and choose from nine different effects, which handily show up live on the viewfinder. The filter icon on the left is shown in color when a filter is active, so you won’t forget about it.

Selfies

Flip the camera around using the button on the left of the camera viewfinder, or simply swipe up or down the screen for the same result. The front camera on the G6 also has a wide-angle mode, and it’s activated in the same way as the rear camera, except the icons have little images of people instead of trees. Be careful when in wide-angle mode, it’s easy for a finger or your palm to invade the shot if you hold the phone in an awkward way.

There are three new modes available when shooting selfies, which are adjusted using buttons running down the right hand side of the viewfinder. They’re labeled Filter, Lighting, and Skin Tone. The filters adjust the look of the entire scene, and are shown live on the screen, just like with the rear camera. Lighting and Skin Tone only affects your face, acting like a beauty mode. Mess around with both using the on-screen slider controls to get the look that suits you best.

Editing

When viewing photos in the LG G6’s gallery, there’s an Edit button at the bottom of the screen, which unusually doesn’t open LG’s own image editing suite, but Google Photos. If it doesn’t do the job, consider installing an app such as Snapseed, which will then appear in the options when you tap the Edit button.

Square Camera

Square Camera makes clever use of the G6’s 18:9 (or 2:1) aspect ratio screen, by splitting the camera view into two perfect squares, and using each one differently. If you’re looking for a Square Camera app and can’t find it, don’t panic, it’s actually a widget and may have been hidden away on your phone. To get it working, hold down an empty area of home screen until you get a helicopter view of all your apps and screens, then select widgets from the menu running across the bottom of the screen. Scroll through the widgets available until you find Square Camera, then tap it to add it to a home screen.

Holding the phone in portrait here, the same method for switching between front and rear cameras applies: A swipe or a tap of the button. Also, the wide-angle mode is activated in the same way, along with the majority of controls for taking a picture. Tap the Square button in the top right to select manual mode for video or stills, and the filter button for live filter effects. To find Square Camera’s special modes, tap the Mode button along the top of the screen. There are four, and if you’re unsure which one to choose, tap the Question mark icon for a quick introduction.

Here’s how to get the best from them.

Snap Shot

This is Square Camera at its most basic. The viewfinder is in the top square, and when you take a photo, a preview appears in the lower square. There’s a quick delete button, or if you drag the social button — it usually defaults to a Facebook icon — across the screen, you can share it on your choice of social network, without jumping out the app.

Match Shot

Match Shot takes two shots in quick succession of each other, and presents them side-by-side. These shots can both be from the same camera, or one from the front and the other from the rear, or be video rather than stills. It’s controlled using the icon that shows two boxes over each other, with the numbers 1 or 2 inside.

When the icon shows 1 and 2, you can take two pictures at different times. When it shows 1 and 1, two photos are taken at the same time. Alternatively, look for the Gallery icon when shooting in 1/2 mode, and choose an image from the phone’s gallery to insert into one of the squares.

Guide Shot

A fast, easy way to take a photo with the same composition as another. This is a little confusing to use at first, but it’s easy once you get the hang of it. Like the G6’s other camera modes, the viewfinder appears in the top square, and all the usual modes and features apply, including switching lenses and from the front and rear camera.

The lower square shows previews of other shots you’ve taken, or some standard ones included by LG. These confuse the situation, and if you want to remove them from the preview screen, long press and select Delete. Look for the big square with a “+” in it and tap it, then choose Take Photo, and snap away. The result will appear as a new Guide Shot for use later on. Tap it to select it, the use the transparency slider to adjust how much the ghost image shows on the viewfinder. Using this, you can compose the same shot over and over, in many different situations.

In our tests, the simpler the composition, the easier it is to align the two images. Try anything too busy, and it gets very hard to match the two together.

Grid Shot

The final Square Camera mode may be the most fun. The lower square is split into four, each ready to be filled with either a still image or a 3-second video. Tap in square number one and take a photo. It should appear in the square, and automatically move on to square number two. To take a video here, and watch for the 3-second countdown in the top right of the viewfinder to help compose the clip. Add a still or video to squares three and four to complete your collage. If you want to retake one image, just tap on it again.

Our advice here is to think about the order before you start taking the shots, because you can’t rearrange them later on. It’s fun to make little stories with Grid Shot, and they’re easily shared on Facebook and Twitter, when the video clips play automatically in the post.

Gallery

When you take shots in Square Camera, they can all be seen in the standard LG Gallery app. Open it and tap the icon that looks like three stacked lines in the top left of the screen. Look down the list and find Camera Mode, then tap it. Each Square Camera mode gets its own album.

That’s it, we hope you enjoy using the LG G6 and its superb wide-angle camera — both front and back.

Windows 10 S is a gamble on the future of desktop apps

So what is Windows 10 S? Is it the perfect OS for school kids and teachers, or is it the OS that will make Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop shine? Can it be both?

If you don’t have 105 minutes to watch the presentation, Windows 10 S is a skew of Microsoft’s OS that only runs Windows Store apps. Because of this, it’s purportedly faster and, thanks to app sandboxes, more secure than Windows 10 Home or Pro. Before its unveil, it was widely assumed that 10 S was all about competing with Chrome OS at the low end. But despite introducing the OS at an education-focused event, Microsoft and its hardware partners will sell Windows 10 S machines to the masses, with prices ranging from $189 to more than $2,000 for the most expensive Surface Laptop.

10 S will probably get a lot of love from schools and maybe even businesses. Microsoft has added tools that make setting up and managing hundreds of machines far easier, and these are environments where administrators already dictate what users can and can’t do with their computers.

But that Windows Store restriction could pose problems: Some powerful programs don’t have full-fat UWP (Universal Windows Platform, the Windows Store app format) versions, and many older pieces of software simply don’t have UWP equivalents. Microsoft does have a fairly simple method for users to repackage older apps to UWP, which administrators could feasibly run through before distributing via the specialized Microsoft Store for Education or Business.

If 10 S becomes an OS of choice for schools, it should encourage more developers to convert their apps to UWP. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Adobe or Autodesk will start offering their apps through the general Windows Store: There are business reasons why they won’t, not least of which is Microsoft’s cut of Windows Store revenues. But it takes little effort to package a UWP app, and for many developers the draw will be strong.

10 S for the masses

As a pitch for education, Windows 10 S makes a lot of sense. The app ecosystem, replete with full versions of Office, makes it markedly more flexible than Chrome OS, and its locked-down nature should make it easy to manage. But Microsoft, and its hardware partners, will sell anyone a Windows 10 S laptop, and with the Surface Laptop attracting attention and general prices starting at $189, chances are that a lot of people are going to be tempted. How will it work for them?

Without an administrator smoothing over the cracks, 10 S is less flexible. Those app work-arounds are off the table, and you’re essentially going back to the Store-only vision Microsoft offered with Windows RT, its ill-fated attempt to sell ARM-powered Windows machines to compete with tablets.

The vast majority of users don’t want or need pro-grade applications though. The Windows Store selection is far wider than it was five years ago, when RT was released, and most of our time is spent in the browser anyway. Windows 10 S is also based on a better OS in Windows 10: one that performs well and, more importantly, that users are already accustomed to. With that in mind, the comparison between the two OSes fades away.

Arguably Microsoft’s biggest problem with RT was that it solved nothing. It was a slower version of Windows with barely any applications, and consumers neither understood nor cared about processor architecture. So what problem does 10 S solve? It offers a streamlined OS, improved performance and longer battery life at the cost of flexibility. That’s roughly the same pitch companies use to sell Chromebooks, and 10 S presents a more familiar and less rigid environment for most users than Google’s OS.

Microsoft is at a slight disadvantage compared to Google though. The Chromebook is easily understandable because people know what Chrome is. The expectation is for you to open your new laptop and have the software be a browser. Practically everyone knows what Windows is, and it’s not exactly what Microsoft is offering here.

It all comes down to how people install software on Windows: You go to a website, you download an app and you use it. A Windows 10 S laptop does not work like that. And sure, people will use the Windows Store, but the first thing they’ll do when they can’t find an app is head to the web to download it. When they do that, they’ll be asked to pay $49 to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. Although that asking price isn’t crazy, a pop-up informing you of it isn’t a great user experience, and Microsoft has a giant task ahead of it in explaining why these new machines don’t work like Windows laptops. Clear marketing and in-store messaging will be key to making 10 S a success.

Clear marketing and in-store messaging will be key to making 10 S a success.

Microsoft, for its part, is doing a decent job with that, and overall its marketing materials are clear on what 10 S is and isn’t. “Windows 10 S is streamlined for security and performance, and works exclusively with apps from the Windows Store,” says the description on the OS comparison section of the company’s site, which couldn’t be clearer. But it’s easy to fall short.

On the Surface Laptop page, you get “Applications are delivered via the Windows Store, ensuring that they’re Microsoft verified.” Without the “exclusive” disclaimer, this sounds a bit like a bonus security feature, something optional like Apple’s Gatekeeper.

In the case of the Surface Laptop, Microsoft is actually offering a free upgrade to Windows 10 Pro, so that’s not such a big deal. But it highlights the problem here: Microsoft’s Windows team can get its messaging right, but the temptation for laptop makers — even inside Microsoft — to gloss over their devices’ shortcomings is going to to be strong. It’s going to need to work hard to make sure its hardware partners don’t do irreparable damage to its new OS’ reputation.

Browsers, Bing and Choice

While the broad strokes of 10 S seem solid, some of the details fall short. Regardless of its OS, the first thing I do with a new laptop is install Google Chrome, and I’m not alone in that preference. Despite being shipped as the default browser on Windows 10 (and the OS constantly nagging you to give it a shot), data from last year suggests that only one in five Windows 10 users are using Edge. The vast majority are using Google Chrome, which isn’t currently available on the Windows Store.

Even if Google brings Chrome to the store tomorrow, it won’t make things much better. While it wasn’t mentioned at yesterday’s event, Microsoft has since said that the default browser cannot be changed in Windows 10 S. That means every time you click a link in an app or message, it’ll open Edge.

Microsoft can and probably will point to improved battery life, RAM usage and security as a reason for this decision. By restricting user choice, it can ensure everyone is using a safe, modern browser that won’t make cheaper machines run like garbage. But if that were true, why is it also locking in Bing as the default search engine? That’s right: Unless you manually navigate to google.com and get searching, all of your search results are going to come from Bing.

The soul of Windows is choice, not Edge or Bing.

Take these two restrictions together and it’s clear that this has nothing to do with security or performance. It’s Microsoft desperately trying to prop up its browser and search efforts by restricting choice. Yesterday Windows chief Terry Myerson described 10 S as “the soul of Windows,” but to me and millions of Windows users around the world, the soul of Windows is choice, not Edge or Bing. It’s an inherently hackable, customizable platform.

This is clearly user hostile, but maybe Microsoft has data that suggests this tactic could work. For a while now, Cortana and Start Menu searches in Windows 10 have gone through Bing and opened in Edge, ignoring browser-preference settings. Given the vast amount of analytical data Microsoft collects from its users, it’s possible it has seen a pattern of usage there that it thinks will yield results. Perhaps the majority of users continued browsing in Edge for the rest of their session, suggesting they don’t care and are using other browsers out of habit.

Either way, the fact remains that there are some users, myself included, who aren’t happy with this behavior, and locking 10 S down in this way will only empower those warning about UWP to create a walled garden within Windows to complain louder. To me, restricting both the apps that you can install and the default search engine is pushing users a little too hard. These are small details though, and if there’s adequate uproar, Microsoft can easily flip a switch and change them without compromising the basic sales pitch for the OS.

A Windows Store future

With 10 S, Microsoft is laying out its vision for the future of Windows. For a long time now, it’s been working hard to move developers to UWP, creating simple workflows to package legacy apps in a UWP container, and this is yet another push in that direction. It’s hoping its users will appreciate the increased speed and battery life and that developers will move to where their customers are, and fast.

Like Windows 8 and RT, 10 S represents a gamble for Microsoft. It’s gambling that developers will follow if it can persuade schools to get on board; it’s gambling that a $189 laptop will provide adequate performance to not burn consumers; and it’s gambling that if developers don’t move fast enough for users, it can essentially sell a $49 “add-on” to them when, at that precise moment in time, they will have just been frustrated by a lack of functionality in its OS.

In the long run, Microsoft wants to own Windows as an ecosystem rather than a platform. For that to happen, it needs to spin the wheel. It’s been trying and failing to sell its developers and users on the Windows Store for some time now, after all. If Microsoft wants to offer a 10 S experience as standard and put legacy apps and services behind a Pro paywall, it needs to start somewhere.

The education market is large enough that it should provide the audience to bring more developers on board to its vision. Enticing regular users with both cheap computers and gorgeous hardware like the Surface Laptop will only bolster its chances of the gamble paying off. But if Microsoft can’t get the vast majority of apps on the Windows Store, its plan won’t work.

How to a take a screenshot on a PC with Windows 7, 8, or 10

We could spend all day arguing the merits of a good screen-capture utility. They’re quick and efficient, often providing a simple way to take a JPG snapshot of an application window or your entire display in a matter of seconds, without the need to download any external software. Perhaps you need to send a screenshot to tech support, email an image to a friend, or, if you’re like us, capture a screenshot for an awesome how-to guide about how to take a screenshot on a PC!

No matter the reason, Windows features several built-in utilities for capturing and saving screenshots, and they’re only a few keyboard clicks away. All four methods covered in this guide are free, straightforward, and work fantastically on most PCs, no matter what you want to capture.

Using the default keyboard shortcuts

Taking a screenshot is simple, regardless of which version of Windows you’re running. There are only a few steps — assuming you haven’t fiddled with the default keyboard controls — and you should already have access to all the image-editing software you need.

Step 1: Capture the image — Assuming the area you want to capture is displayed on your screen, press the Print Screen (often shortened to “PrtScn”) key, typically located in the upper-right corner of your keyboard, to capture a screenshot of your entire display. Alternatively, press Alt + Print Screen to capture a screenshot of the active window. If you’re on a laptop, you may need to press Fn + Print Screen if your laptop has another feature assigned to that particular key.

There will be no noise or any other indication the screenshot was taken, but the resulting image will be saved as a PNG file to your clipboard. If using Windows 8 or 10, click the Windows Key + Print Screen to automatically save a full-screen screenshot within the Screenshots folder of your picture directory.

Alternatively, if you have Dropbox installed, the screenshot will be automatically deposited in your Dropbox directory, under Screenshots.

Step 2: Open Paint — Click the Start menu, navigate to the Windows Accessories folder — or the Accessories folder, if using Windows 7 — and click Paint. The icon depicts a painting palette with a brush on the right side, but it will vary slightly depending on your operating system.

In Windows 8, press the Windows key to open the start screen. Afterward, click the down arrow in the bottom left, press Ctrl + Tab, or swipe downward from the center of the display to access the Apps View. From there, select Paint.

In Windows 10, you can open the Start menu, go to All Apps, and scroll through the alphabetical list until you find Paint.

All three versions also include Windows Search, which can be used to find Paint by searching for — you guessed it — Paint!

Step 3: Paste the screenshot — Once open, click the Paste button in the upper-left corner of the program, choose Edit then Paste, or press Ctrl + V on the keyboard to paste your screenshot. Again, the exact navigation and wordage will vary slightly from OS to OS, but the keyboard shortcut will remain the same.

Step 4: Save the screenshot — Perform any edits you want, such as cropping the image to a specified area, and click the main File option in the top-left corner. Afterward, select Save as, title the new file, choose a save location, and select your desired file format from the drop-down menu. For most purposes, JPG will do fine, but a variety of other formats are available to choose from such as PNG, BMP, GIF, and others. Click the gray Save button in the bottom right-hand corner when finished.