Google now lets you donate to nonprofits right within Google Search

Making donations is just a Google Search away.

November 28, 2017, is Giving Tuesday – a day for people all around the world to give back to those in need. It’s a holiday celebrated the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States, and this year, Google is making it easier than ever to make a donation to your favorite non-profit organization.

When searching for a U.S.-based nonprofit in Google Search, you’ll now see special cards for the organization you’re searching for that has a link to its official website, a brief description about its mission, where it’s located, and more.

At the very top of these cards, there’s a “Donate” button that allows you to make a donation of up to $2,000 without having to open another app or website.

Google says that this feature is rolling out to numerous organizations now, and you can access the cards by simply searching for the nonprofit of your choice.

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NVIDIA Shield Tablet receives KRACK fix and November 2017 security patch

Available now as part of the Shield Tablet Software Upgrade 5.3.

In October, an NVIDIA employee confirmed via Twitter that neither the Shield Tablet or Shield Tablet K1 would be updated to Android Oreo. This didn’t come as much of a surprise considering the age of each device, but that same employee also noted that another Nougat-based update was in the works.

That update is here today as part of the Shield Tablet Software Upgrade 5.3, and although there’s nothing revolutionary here, there are a couple important security patches that we’re really thankful to see.

Included with this update is not only a fix for the KRACK Wi-Fi vulnerability that has the potential to be rather damaging, but there’s also an upgrade to the November 5, 2017, security patch that was just released earlier this month. For hardware that’s over three years old at this point, that’s mighty impressive on NVIDIA’s part.

In addition to those security-focused updates, there’s also a fix for connectivity issues with Zagg Bluetooth keyboards, as well as general stability and other security optimizations.

The Shield Tablet Software Upgrade 5.3 is available for both the Shield Tablet and Shield Tablet K1 now.

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How to use the alert slider in OxygenOS on the OnePlus 5T

How do I use the alert slider on my OnePlus phone?

OnePlus has a knack for leaving the best parts of Android alone while adding small conveniences here and there, and that’s not just true of its software. Ever since the OnePlus 2, a small alert slider has resided above the volume buttons on every OnePlus device, and it’s easily become one of the company’s most unique and useful features.

Similar to the iPhone’s hardware switch, OnePlus’s alert slider allows the user to quickly jump between different audio profiles. There are three positions for the slider, and each can be customized to your liking.

Note: This feature is available on all OnePlus devices, starting with the OnePlus 2.

Why would you want to use the alert slider?

By default, the three positions from top to bottom represent the Silent, Do Not Disturb, and Ring profiles respectively, but the alert slider isn’t just great for changing the behavior of your notifications.

I use the alert slider all the time (seriously, dozens of times a day) to adjust my media volume. Save for Silent, which always defaults to muting media, each audio profile remembers your most recent volume setting for media, making it incredibly easy to quickly jump from max volume to something more fitting for a quiet room.

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How to configure the alert slider

It’s easy to fine-tune each position of the alert slider in the settings.

Open the Settings app.
Tap Alert slider.

Tap one of the three audio profiles to adjust its settings.

The settings for Silent and Ring are pretty straightforward — just a couple of switches for you to toggle vibration and media volume on or off. Do Not Disturb mode has quite a few more in-depth options, however.

Configuring Do Not Disturb mode

Each option in Do Not Disturb mode establishes exceptions for the audio profile, which generally silences ringtones and vibrations from any incoming notifications. For example, sliding the Repeat callers toggle to its on position will cause the phone to override Do Not Disturb mode and ring in the event of a person calling twice within three minutes.

You can also manage favorite contacts, who will always override Do Not Disturb mode, or allow incoming calls and/or messages from anyone in your contacts list.

If calls and texts aren’t your primary concern with Do Not Disturb mode, there’s the option to allow notifications for reminders and events, as well, and you can even decide whether or not you want the notification light to pulse in the event of a notification (this applies to silenced notifications and allowed notifications alike).

That’s it! Once you start using the alert slider throughout your day, you’ll wonder why it isn’t a standard feature on every Android device.

Questions? Comments?

Got any burning questions about the alert slider, or want to share something we might’ve left out? Let us know in the comments below!

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There are now AR headsets made like Google Cardboard

Cardboard AR is clunky but fun.

Augmented Reality is like VR’s fraternal twin, delivering awesome experiences, while not removing you completely from the real world in the process. While Microsoft has busted onto the scene with the top of the line Hololens, and a variety of headsets with Windows Mixed Reality, finding a good headset to get started with AR on can be problematic.

That’s where Aryzon’s awesome Cardboard AR Kit comes in. It delivers a low budget way to check out AR, all with a cardboard headset that runs off of your phone. Whether you’ve never tried AR at all, or you want to see what mobile AR is capable of, this headset is full of surprises. While it is a bit clunky, and not terrible comfortable to wear, it delivers fun games that let you stay aware of the world you’re in while you play.

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Google has fixed the infamous cheseburger emoji with Android 8.1

Keep being you, Google.

About a month ago, some Twitter users started to notice something rather peculiar about Android’s cheeseburger emoji – the cheese was placed on the bottom of the bun below the patty.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai was quick to respond to this travesty and announced that his team would “drop everything” to address the issue at hand. We all thought Sundar was simply having some fun with those that were (rightly so) freaking out about the misplacement of the cheese, but it looks like our outrage has resulted in real-world change.

Spotted by the folks at Emojipedia, the current Developer Preview of Android 8.1 Oreo has a tweaked cheeseburger emoji that places the cheese on top of the patty.

In addition to this, the less controversial beer emojis have also been updated so that we no longer have the mind-boggling half-full mug with mysterious froth still sitting at the top, as well as reworked holes on the cheese emoji so that they don’t look like they were painted on around the top edge.

Android 8.1 Oreo was shaping up to be a pretty minor update in the grand scheme of things, but I think we can all agree that it’s now one of the most important software updates Android has ever received.

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HDMI 2.1 is here with 10K and Dynamic HDR support

Back in January, the HDMI Forum unveiled its new specifications for the HDMI connector, called HDMI 2.1. Now, that HDMI specification is available to all HDMI 2.0 adopters. It’s backwards compatible with all previous HDMI specifications.

The focus of HDMI 2.1 is on higher video bandwidth; it supports 48 GB per second with a new backwards-compatible ultra high speed HDMI cable. It also supports faster refresh rates for high video resolution — 60 Hz for 8K and 120 Hz for 4K. The standard also supports Dynamic HDR and resolutions up to 10K for commercial and specialty use.

This new version of the HDMI specification also introduces an enhanced refresh rate that gamers will appreciate. VRR, or Variable Refresh Rate, reduces, or in some cases eliminates, lag for smoother gameplay, while Quick Frame Transport (QFT) reduces latency. Quick Media Switching, or QMS, reduces the amount of blank-screen wait time while switching media. HDMI 2.1 also includes Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), which automatically sets the ideal latency for the smoothest viewing experience.

If you’re not sure what this HDMI upgrade means, this handy chart provided by the HDMI forum makes it clearer. You can clearly see how upgraded specifications have increased support for different features as specifications improved.

Source: HDMI Forum

Apple to Shut Down iTunes Connect From December 23 to 27

Each year, Apple shuts down iTunes Connect for a week around the holidays to give its App Store staff time off from work. This year, iTunes Connect will be shut down from December 23 to December 27.

While iTunes Connect is shuttered, Apple will not accept new apps or app updates, so all price changes and app submissions will need to be locked in before that date.

Developers often offer sales and promotions ahead of when the App Store closes for the holidays, and those sales remain available until the App Store re-opens in late December.

Apple says developers can let customers know about promotions, upcoming features, and in-app events using the promotional text field available in iOS 11.

While app store submissions will be unavailable, other iTunes Connect tools will remain accessible to developers throughout the holiday period.

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YouTube pulled 150,000 videos of children over predatory comments

YouTube is taking extensive action after word broke that pedophiles were targeting videos of children with vile comments. The streaming service reported that it had taken down over 150,000 videos that had fallen prey to comment abuse, and had disabled comments for more than 625,000 clips. It also terminated the accounts of several hundred users behind those comments.

The move comes just days after YouTube cracked down on child-exploiting videos, and just as it had to pull disturbing autocomplete results. It has been promising stricter enforcement of its policies on both the content of videos and their comments.

As with YouTube’s reaction to hate videos, the takedowns and policy enforcement measures are welcome, but also relatively late — they’re coming as advertisers are pulling out and the damage has already been done. The tougher enforcement should reduce the chances of a situation like this going forward, but the rash of discoveries suggests that there may need to be more proactive campaigns that catch abuse before it makes headlines.

Source: Variety

Classified US Army and NSA data was stored on an unprotected server

Earlier this month, researchers at UpGuard reported that US military intelligence gathering data had been stored on a misconfigured Amazon Web Services S3 server that wasn’t password protected and was publicly viewable. While the data in that leak appeared to consist entirely of collected public internet posts and news commentary, not private information, the team at UpGuard today reports another US government data leak, this time containing clearly classified information.

This batch of data was discovered by UpGuard Director of Cyber Risk Research Chris Vickery in September and contained information from the US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) — an intelligence gathering command jointly run by the US Army and the National Security Agency (NSA). The data was stored on an Amazon Web Services S3 cloud storage bucket mistakenly configured for public access. Within the accessible repository — found under the very obviously labeled ‘inscom’ subdomain — were 47 viewable files and folders, three of which were able to be downloaded. The largest downloadable file contained a virtual hard drive, which appeared to be used for receiving, transmitting and handling classified data, with files within it marked as “Top Secret” and “NOFORN” — a classification meaning that no foreign nationals can view the documents regardless of what clearance level they hold. There were also private keys used for accessing distributed intelligence systems and hashed passwords stored in the hard drive.

The other two downloadable files provided instruction for the contents in the file with the virtual hard drive and what appeared to be a training snapshot on how to label and categorize classified information. At least some of the information in the repository was accessed and managed by a third-party INSCOM partner.

“Although the UpGuard Cyber Risk Team has found and helped to secure multiple data exposures involving sensitive defense intelligence data, this is the first time that clearly classified information has been among the exposed data,” said UpGuard in its report. Previous UpGuard finds include sensitive data exposed by a defense contractor, a Verizon partner, a political ad strategizing firm hired by the GOP, a voting machine supplier and a major consulting and management company.

UpGuard notes that this leak could have been avoided if the server access settings had just been configured to only allow authorized individuals into the repository, but that handing over data management to third-party companies, in this case a defense contractor called Invertix, opens that data up to more mistakes. “If the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing, the entire body will be injured,” says UpGuard, “The Defense Department must have full oversight into how their data is handled by external partners, and be able to react quickly should disaster strike.”

Source: UpGuard

Airbnb’s split payments option is now available to all group travel

One of the most requested features on Airbnb has been the ability to split payments among members of a group traveling together. After all, it’s never fun to run after your friends for payment, and according to Airbnb, 43 percent of American group travelers have lost $1,000 or more as a result. Now, after months of testing, the accommodation service is rolling out a group payment tool around the globe.

The feature works with up to sixteen travelers and allows the trip organizer to hold a reservation while only charging their portion to their card. Trip members will have 72 hours to log in and input their credit card information, automatically splitting the costs of travel. Note that one person can pay another’s balance; for the reservation to go through, all shares must be paid for. If someone fails to pay up within the 72-hour window, the reservation will be cancelled and all shares refunded.

Airbnb is the first accommodation service to incorporate seamless split payments on a global level. The feature has already been tested on over 80,000 groups in almost 175 countries. It also has the potential to expand Airbnb bookings and users. After all, more accommodations are available in terms of budget when one traveler doesn’t have to front the entire payment. Additionally, it draws new users onto the Airbnb platform as people invite their friends to pay individually in group reservations, which just adds to its incredible growth.

Via: The Verge

Source: Airbnb (1), Airbnb (2)