Does eggnog actually get safer to drink the longer it ages?

Nothing divides a holiday party quite like the serving of eggnog. Some love it, others hate it. Let’s say you make a batch for Christmas, but you inadvertently find yourself in a group of nog loathers. How long can you keep the dairy-laden brew around? It depends on how much booze you added, essentially.

In 2009, we heard a story on Science Friday about Rockefeller University microbiologists Vince Fischetti and Raymond Schuch testing the salmonella levels in eggnog from Dr. Rebecca Lancefield’s recipe, which had been chilling in the fridge since before Thanksgiving. They’d added a bunch of salmonella and tested it at one, two, and three weeks. The longer the eggnog sat, the fewer bacteria there were, until it was completely sterile by week three.

But the aging process does more than kill bacteria: It makes the nog less boozy-tasting. The year after we heard the SciFri episode, we made our own — though we didn’t have the lab equipment to test the bacteria count. We admit we may have tasted a glass or two before the three weeks were up (living dangerously), and we found it to be quite the potent potable. Some of the liquor taste seemed to evaporate by the time Christmas rolled around, but we never made it again. We prefer Mary Meade’s eggnog recipe, which one of our dads has been making since before we were born.

But is Mary’s mellower concoction high-octane enough to kill bacteria that may have been lurking in the eggs? First, our dad only lets his eggnog sit a day or two before serving — which wouldn’t be enough time to do any real damage to the salmonella, the Rockefeller experiment found. No matter what, we’re playing with delicious, delicious fire. But if you want to age your nog and don’t want to use Lancefield’s recipe, Cook’s Illustrated figured out a formula you can adapt to your family’s favorite: Use 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor for each egg, and don’t add your dairy until you’re ready to serve. The alcohol by volume is amped up initially to ensure sterilization and then sinks down to around 14 percent once you add the cream.

Meade’s recipe uses one cup of rum, one cup of Grand Marnier, and a half-cup of brandy. That’s 20 ounces of alcohol to six eggs. That means even if your brandy isn’t 80 proof, the recipe more than meets Cook’s Illustrated’s requirements (as long as your Grand Marnier and rum are 80 proof, of course).

The FDA cautions that relying on alcohol is risky and wants you to use pasteurized eggs or cook them beforehand. Safety first of course (salmonella isn’t something you want to mess with), but we will leave you with a link to Michael Ruhlman, who lived to tell the tale after drinking two-year-old eggnog.

Editors’ Recommendations

• 13 white elephant gift ideas that are guaranteed to spice up your holiday party
• Want better beer, fancy cocktails, and ‘aged’ wine? Try these drinking gadgets
• Oh She Glows is the most stunning recipe app you’ll ever see
• These holiday gadgets will make cooking your meal a breeze
• Shotsgiving: An entire Thanksgiving meal in shots

Ticwatch S and E review: Affordable Android Wear

Smartwatches are still a bit of a tough category; there are so many in the market now, but it’s hard to say that they have really penetrated the lives of the masses. Android Wear opened the market to a wide range of wearables, from the useful to the overly simplistic to the gaudy and expensive. It’s been tough to really love any of them. Android Wear still feels a little sterile, even boring, especially considering how little it actually adds to the experience of using a smartphone.

Pretty much any smartwatch can fill the role of a notification center and alternate way of sending messages and taking calls. Sport-oriented Wear devices also track your steps, as well as your location during various forms of exercise, and some even have features like NFC-driven payments via Android Pay. Aside from that, the core of Android Wear is pretty much the same from device to device, which makes the overall experience a love-it-or-hate-it kind of thing.

See the Ticwatch S at Amazon
See the Ticwatch E at Amazon

Editor’s Pick

Ticwatch 2 review – Will this be your first smartwatch?

In the world of smartwatches, Android Wear and the Apple Watch tend to be king. Despite the efforts of Samsung and their Tizen powered wearables, we have few other third parties that actually make a …

That’s where the Ticwatch came in. Powered by a custom version of Android, creator Mobvoi wanted to give smartwatch beginners a different avenue into the space. With a simple but effective quirk — a touch sensitive side which could be ‘tickled’ for scrolling and selection — the Ticwatch carved out a niche, keeping its price low enough so users would feel comfortable giving it a try.

In Ticwatch’s new entry, that feature has been jettisoned to offer a more affordable product. In doing so, Mobvoi has put itself in a strange middle ground between the people who actually might like Android Wear and those who are just trying to save a buck. The result is the Ticwatch S and the Ticwatch E.

Related

Best fitness trackers (December 2017)

Fitness trackers have come an extremely long way over the years. No longer are they glorified pedometers; they’re much more than that. Most standard fitness trackers nowadays can track your steps taken, distance traveled, how …

The Ticwatch S is the sportier of the two. The one we used was more eye-catching than most. David even  wore it in a number recent videos and a lot of people asked what he was wearing. It comes in a highlighter green-yellow that, as David puts it, screams “I WORK OUT.” There are expected pitfalls to the design; the straps are proprietary and the color makes it difficult to wear outside of casual and workout environments. It certainly won’t work with a suit. During our recent trip to Hawaii, it didn’t take long for the rubberized band to get dirty. For a supposedly sporty watch, it’s a bit troubling how quickly sweat and general wear and tear can soil it.

These problems disappeared with the Ticwatch E, which showed up in matte black that would blend in a little better. Other versions of the Ticwatch E look even better, but we appreciated the black on black nonetheless. The E is compatible with any 22 mm band, and has a GPS nested within the watch itself, rather than hiding it in the band. We don’t have the screen on in shots of the Ticwatch E because our unit had a problem. Without any drops or bumps, the screen got stuck showing a context card and now flickers like crazy. We have only seen this happen to our unit, but felt the need to mention it. Consider our cautionary tale when you think about the E version’s lower price tag. Your mileage may vary with a watch in this price range.

Both watches sport just one button on the left, which feels too squishy for good tactile response. The watches’ plastic bodies frame it so we didn’t know if we actually pressed it until something happened on the screen. Putting the button on the left side makes these watches a bit different, but it also feels a bit unnatural.

The rest of the specifications are the same. The 1.4-inch OLED screen looks great on both devices handles the “always on” functions well. Both use Mediatek processors, which have held up so far. The watches feature 4 GB of internal storage, which can be used for localized music playback through Mobvoi’s included application.

The S and E feature 350 mAh batteries which, boosted by the omission of cellular radios, have lasted up to 2 days, but definitely closer to 1.5 during average usage. Expect to charge these watches nightly to ensure they don’t go dead in the middle of the day. The included charger has a strong magnet which snaps right into place. The cable is flat and minimal, so we didn’t have any trouble bringing it on recent trips.

See also: Best GPS running watches

What else makes the S different from E? Aside from the cosmetic changes and location of the GPS antenna, the S also comes with a Mobvoi-developed health suite, which works quite well. The app shows Apple Watch-esque circles illustrating your calories burned, your steps, and even your nutritional intake likely derived from a baseline total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). The interface on both the watch and the connected smartphone app are appealing and work well enough for casual fitness tracking. I used the watch for Sleep as Android tracking and it worked alright,  but forced me to shift the charging time of the watch to midday so it would have enough juice for nightly tracking.

See also

10 best sleep tracker apps for Android

A good night’s rest is very important to one’s health. Those who don’t get enough may not feel great during the day. Smartphones can’t do all the work. They can be helpful, though. There are …

The heart rate monitor and GPS work as well as expected. A wrist-mounted heart rate monitor is never as accurate as other methods, but it is nice to have when the desire to check our vitals strikes. The Ticwatch E is not afforded these features, making it more for those who just want a wrist-bound notification center compatible, with a few other apps to suit their needs.

Mobvoi ticks a lot of the right boxes with their devices, but we miss the touch sensitive strip. It’s absence only makes the Ticwatch S and E blend in to the already-crowded Android Wear market. For the money, you are also paying for completely plastic bodies, which do not instill a high level of confidence.

So who needs this kind of device? Fans of the Ticwatch are kind of left in the cold without the features that separated their beloved smartwatch from the droves of Android Wear devices, so they would just stick to the Ticwatches they already wear. Android Wear enthusiasts have a massive library of watches from which to choose. Some of them are somewhat competitive to the price of Mobvoi’s latest attempt. It seems the user who may only cautiously try a smartwatch for the first time could use the Ticwatch as that starting line. At $159 for the Ticwatch E and $199 for the Ticwatch S, at least they can rest assured their wallets won’t shrink too much in giving a smartwatch a try.

Could this be your first smartwatch? At this price, why not consider it? The latest that the Android Wear OS can offer is here for you to try in the Ticwatch E and S, even if the experience is proportionate to the price point.

See the Ticwatch S at Amazon
See the Ticwatch E at Amazon

Year in review: The best crowdfunding projects of 2017

2017 is almost in the history books, and with it another great year for crowdfunding campaigns. Whether you’re interested in e-bikes, 3D printers, D.I.Y. engineering projects or, erm, toilets for cats; you could find whatever you were searching for on the pages at Indiegogo and Kickstarter.

What were some of our favorite projects of the year? We’re glad you asked!

Ink made out of pollution

When you think about the year’s most innovative crowdfunding campaigns, chances are that you picture robots or futuristic vehicles long before you imagine a project involving ink. However, the folks behind Graviky Labs managed to win us over with their unique method for recycling air pollution by turning it into something you can actually write with.

The Air-Ink Kickstarter campaign promised five different types of ink — covering applications ranging from fabric and outdoor paints to screen printing, oil painting, and markers.

Lid helmet

Okay, we’ll admit it: referring to a cycling helmet as “collapsible” doesn’t fill you with a whole lot of confidence. But the Lid helmet is kind of awesome. While it offers the requisite amount of protection when it’s on your noggin, once you take it off, its unique design allows it to collapse down to easily fit into a backpack.

“Our research told us that ‘helmet hassle’ is the No. 1 reason why cyclists opt not to wear a helmet, and also that safety concerns prevent many commuters from cycling altogether,” creator Sam Terry told Digital Trends. The fact that it looks pretty nice too is just a bonus!

Catolet toilet for cats and small dogs

The idea of a flushable toilet for cats might sound ridiculous, but any feline owners who have spent far too long cleaning out litter boxes may well appreciate its subtle genius.

Called the Catolet (because of course it is), the device involves a smart porous conveyor belt system on which your beloved Fido sits. Urine passes through the belt, while solid waste are conveyed into the main basin after built-in motion sensors determine that business has been concluded. Solids are then run through a shredder, and launched into the sewer.

The only awkward thing you’ll have to do is explain it to visitors.

Rubbee X

Its name may sound faintly inappropriate, but Rubbee X promises to be among the year’s best Kickstarter campaigns for cyclists. It’s a lightweight conversion device which will give any regular bike an electric makeover.

“Rubbee X works by providing electric assist directly to the rear tire via an electric friction roller,” Gediminas Nemanis, CEO of Rubbee, told Digital Trends. “It has modular batteries to extend the rides, regenerative braking, and not a single wire. We track the pedaling pattern by attaching a small wireless sensor to the pedal crank. This way, we know when and how much additional support to provide to the rider in real time. There are no buttons to push; just pedal and your power will be multiplied 2 to 3 times. It’s a pure electric assist system.”

Suddenly your commute to work in the new year just got a whole lot easier.

Moai aquarium robot

Moai – Aquarium robot

Cleaning your fish tank is one of the less enjoyable parts of aquarium ownership. One possible solution to that problem may be Moai, a glass-cleaning robot which autonomously propels itself around your tank, scrubbing algae as it goes. It can also monitor tank pH levels, salinity, ORP, temperature, and more, as well as livestream 1080p videos of your fish doing… well, whatever it is that fish do when you’re not home.

Makerbuino

Why buy a handheld video game device when you can build your own? That’s the philosophy behind Makerbuino, an open-source handheld eight-bit game device that you (or your kids) can make for themselves. Shipping in kit form, Makerbuino comes with all the electronic components and instructions you need to piece together and program a finished unit.

While it won’t be playing the latest Call of Duty game any time soon, it does come with an archive of vintage games — plus the ability to make your own games if you’re so inclined.

Atari Pong coffee table

No self-respecting gaming nerd should be able to resist a mechanical, coffee table-sized tribute to one of the world’s first video games. Recreating Atari’s classic Pong by way of magnets and metal bars for controlling the physical game pieces, this geeky masterpiece would be the center of attention in any games room it graced with its presence.

Heck, there was even a $5,000 Collector’s Edition, signed by none other than Atari legend Nolan Bushnell.

Vaquform smart vacuum former

We’re massive fans of 3D printing, but it’s not ideal for every scenario. One common pain point is how slow the process is. That’s one way vacuum forming can speed up your workflow — which is exactly what digital desktop vacuum former Vaquform set out to do.

The concept of the machine is to add digital smarts to regular vacuum forming, with an infrared probe that monitors the temperature of your plastic sheet down to 0.1-degree Celcius precision, various presets designed to make your job easier, and some extra smart features thrown in for good measure.

BioLite FirePit

It’s a fair question to ask just how smart a fire pit needs to be. BioLite’s FirePit answers that with a built-in fan, which funnels air through 51 individual jets, resulting in a fire that burns more efficiently, with reduced smoke, more warmth, and less fuel. You can even control the fan remotely, via an iOS or Android BioLite Energy app, which connects via Bluetooth.

Bean 3D printer

An entry level SLA 3D printer from the makers of the Titan 1 and Titan 2 DLP 3D printers, the Bean offers an affordable printer with an impressive accuracy of 0.05mm. For those keeping track at home, that’s an impressive ratio of price to performance. It’s not shipped yet, but provided that it does everything claimed, this could well be one of our recommended 3D printers of 2018.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Heated coats, folding ebikes, and more
• Awesome tech you can’t buy yet: Instant prints from your phone, snake fences
• Best outdoor product of 2017
• The best smart helmets are full of cool tech, and totally worth the messy hair
• Counting down the 10 most important robots in history

Want to download audiobooks for free? Here are the sites to visit

Audiobooks bring together the best of both worlds: The joys of a good story and the convenience of easy listening. They also often serve as a great way to pass time, whether you’re cooking up your favorite dish or out for a long drive. While audiobooks may lack the feel and sweet smell of a traditional book, a well-done voiceover can do more than make up for the loss of aesthetics. It can be an engaging ride that is both worthwhile and convenient on-the-go. Unfortunately, beaming books into your ears can be pricier than you might expect.

For instance, an audio copy of Paula Hawkins’ best-selling novel The Girl on the Train will cost you a whopping $24 on iTunes. For reference, the ebook equivalent is $10. Even literary classics like The Great Gatsby, Huckleberry Finn, and The Hobbit can be rather expensive when not on sale. Luckily, the internet has opened the door to a veritable trove of audiobooks if you don’t mind forgoing top-notch narrations and sticking mainly with the classics. That said, here are our picks for the best websites to get audiobooks for free; you can also find apps that provide the same service.

If you’d rather read than listen, check out our roundup of the best free books for Kindle. For a different listening experience, try podcasts.

Open Culture

Open Culture is one of the better gateway websites for educational and cultural media. The site compiles content from around the web and has an admirable collection of audiobooks — primarily classics — that you can stream over the internet or download in a variety of audio formats for later consumption. The audiobooks are organized by genre (fiction and literature, nonfiction and poetry) and alphabetically listed by the author’s last name.

Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg houses one of the largest and oldest collections of audiobooks on the Web. The site’s audiobooks project — a collaboration with fellow pioneers LibriVox and AudioBooksForFree — breaks down its extensive collection of books by human and computer-generated narration. From there you can browse books lists by author’s last name, title, and language. However, we suggest avoiding computer-generated narrations if possible. No one should have to listen to Jack London’s Call of the Wild read by an incompetent Siri knockoff.

LibriVox

LibriVox leverages the power of its volunteers to provide free recordings of public domain works. Volunteers record and submit their own readings of works, and as a result the quality varies; you won’t always hear a professional voice actor, to put it generously. Still, LibriVox’s library is vast, its selections varied. If you like the classics (and the low price of nothing), you ought to give LibriVox a try.

Lit2Go

Lit2Go offers one of the finer looking free sources for audiobooks. The throwback site, run by Florida’s Educational Technology Clearinghouse, contains a comprehensive collection of downloadable short stories and poems that you can browse by author, title, genre, collection, and even reading level (grades K through 12). The bulk of the audiobooks can be downloaded as a single MP3 or as short, segmented passages of specific chapters. The homepage search option is also a nice touch, as is the black-and-white artwork that accompanies each title and book collection. Our personal favorites? We’re going to have to go with Proto-feminist Literature or Autumn in Verse — after all, nothing does inspire classic poetry quite like the turning of the seasons.

Scribl

Scribl (formerly Podiobooks) showcases some of the best, off-the-beaten-path audiobooks the Internet has to offer, many of which are even recent publishings. The site distributes serialized audiobooks via RSS; just click on any of the audiobook links to begin streaming or downloading the narration. Although the collection is rather limited,  you can browse the book selection by contributing author, genre, award status, release date, and title. The site also allows you to donate to your favorite author directly if you feel so inclined, whether his or her book falls under the “Hard-Boiled” or “Urban Fantasy” selection.

Free Classic AudioBooks

Free Classic AudioBooks is pretty self explanatory. The basic site offers free recordings of Treasure Island, Huckleberry Finn, and the King James Bible, among others. The site itself is a bit difficult to browse, but as long as you don’t mind sticking with the most popular titles (or you know exactly what you’re looking for), you can navigate it rather quickly. Everything available on the site is absolutely free, too, and can be downloaded as either an MP3 or M4B for listening on a variety of devices. As the name might imply, though, it’s not the best site for listening to anything newer than Huckleberry Finn.

Google Maps: Everything you need to know!

Make the most out of Google Maps.

Google Maps is a powerful tool that’s used by over 1 billion people, and over the years the app has become more efficient at suggesting routes, offering detailed options for public transit, nearby points of interest, and so much more.

Google serves up directions for driving, walking, biking, or public transit. When you select the driving option, you can ask Google to suggest a route that avoids tolls, highways, or ferries. Similarly for public transit, you can choose your preferred mode of transportation.

Its sheer scale means that there are tons of features that aren’t immediately visible, and that’s where this guide comes in handy. If you’re just getting started with Google Maps or are looking to discover new features the service has to offer, read on.

• Save your home and work addresses
• Get driving and walking directions
• See public transit schedules
• Take maps offline
• Add multiple stops to your route
• Share your current location
• Book an Uber
• Use indoor maps
• Create and share lists
• View your location history
• Use two-wheeler mode to find shortcuts

Save your home and work addresses

Setting an address for your home and work should be the first thing you do in Google Maps, as it gives you the ability to quickly navigate to your home or office from your current location. Choosing a custom address also lets you use voice commands for navigation such as “Take me home”.

How to save your home and work addresses in Google Maps

Get driving and walking directions

If you’re driving a car, exploring a new locale by walking around, cycling to work, or using public transit, Google Maps has you covered. You’ll be able to set your preferred mode of transport and select a route from all the available options with ease, with Google showing real-time travel info along with suggested shortcuts to avoid traffic.

How to get driving and walking directions in Google Maps

See public transit schedules

Google Maps is a valuable resource if you rely on public transit for your daily commute. The service gives you a detailed list of transit options for your journey —whether it’s by bus, train, or ferry — and it offers the ability to set a departure time and see what facilities are available at that time.

How to use Google Maps for public transit

Take maps offline

If you’re traveling abroad or heading to a location with limited internet connectivity, a good option is to save that particular area offline so you can get driving directions and view points of interest. Saved areas expire in 30 days, after which you’ll have to update them to continue navigating them offline.

How to use Google Maps offline

Add multiple stops to your route

The ability to add multiple stops to your route is easily one of the best features to come to Google Maps. You can set up to nine stops along your route, and Google gives you the overall trip time as well as any delays along your selected course.

How to add multiple stops in Google Maps

Share your current location

Google removed location sharing from Google+ and reintroduced it to Maps back in March, giving you an easy way to share your location with friends and family. You can broadcast your whereabouts for a set amount of time, select approved contacts to share your location with, or just create and share a link with your real-time location information.

How to share your location in Google Maps

Book an Uber

Google Maps lets you book an Uber — along with Lyft or Ola, based on your location — without ever leaving the app. You’ll be able to see tariff breakdowns for various tiers, as well as estimated wait times and payment options. You don’t even need to have Uber installed on your phone to use the service — you have the option to sign in to the service from Maps.

How to book an Uber in Google Maps

Use indoor maps

Indoor maps take the guesswork out of finding your favorite retail store inside a mall or the exhibit you’re looking for in a museum. The service is available in over 25 countries and lets you easily navigate within malls, museums, libraries, or sports venues.

How to use indoor maps in Google Maps

Create and share lists

The ability to create lists is the newest feature addition to Google Maps, and it brings a social element to the navigation service. With lists, you can easily create and share lists of your favorite restaurants, make easy-to-follow lists of places to visit when traveling to a new city, or follow a curated list of places. You can set up lists that are public (viewable by all), private, or those that can be accessed by a unique URL.

How to create and share lists in Google Maps

View your location history

Google Maps has a Timeline feature that lets you browse the places you’ve visited, categorized by date. The location data is augmented by any photos you’ve taken at a particular place, as well as travel time and mode of transport. It’s a nifty feature if you’re interested in looking at your previous travel data, but if you’re worried about your privacy (Google tracks everything), you can easily turn it off.

How to view your location history in Google Maps

Use two-wheeler mode to find the fastest routes

Motorcycle mode is a feature designed specifically for the Indian market. The country is the world’s largest two-wheeler market, and as such Google is looking to provide a better experience to those on bikes and scooters by offering more optimized directions.

The goal is to suggest routes that are traditionally inaccessible by cars, which will not only cut down on congestion but also provide a shorter commute time for those on motorcycles. To this effect, Google is actively soliciting recommendations from the Indian community in addition to mapping out back alleys.

Two-wheeler mode offers voice prompts and turn-by-turn directions — just like the regular driving mode — and for now the feature is limited to the Indian market.

How do you use Maps?

What Maps feature do you use the most? Is there a particular feature you’d like added to the service? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Updated December 2017 with details on two-wheeler mode.

Do you still use a tablet?

Tablets might have lost some of their glimmer over the years, but there are still quite a few folks that use them.

A few years back, it seemed like everyone and their kid was using a tablet. Whether it be an iPad, Amazon Fire Tablet, or any random Android-based one, tablets were everywhere. The tablet hype train drove ahead at full steam for quite a while, but as time’s passed and phones have gotten bigger, the need for them has started to phase out.

Some of our forum users recently got into a discussion about whether or not they still use tablets here in late 2017, and interestingly enough, it looks like a lot of them are still using one.

mumfoau
12-24-2017 03:15 PM

“

I use an iPad Mini 4 and am buying a used iPad Pro today.

Reply

Soundman72
12-24-2017 03:38 PM

“

tab s3 I use in fact I’ve completely done away with my laptop

Reply

toenail_flicker
12-24-2017 04:01 PM

“

I have a Tab S2 and an iPad mini (hand me down)

Reply

donm527
12-24-2017 06:38 PM

“

iPad Air 2 and iPad Air 2s and iPad Pro in the household and have had iPads since the original and still useful as hand-me-downs. Solid devices and I think for tablets, Apple continually to keep providing iOS updates for at least the next 3 years helps from them getting outdated and useful.

Reply

kj11
12-24-2017 08:26 PM

“

I have a Galaxy tab A 10.1 with SPen…. Because I can’t live without a SPen apparently.

I got it a couple months before the Note 8, I had been using a Nexus 7 for a while (“stock” Android is overrated, PS) and I wanted a larger screen tablet. I hadn’t been in the market for one for a while and was surprised that they even had one with a SPen and at a reasonable price

Reply

How about you – Are you still using a tablet?

Join the conversation in the forums!

Why you (and your family) should be using 2FA and a password manager

Keep you and your loved ones safe and secure.

So much of what we do every day, day in and day out, is either done online or has a record kept online. Things like your email or a shopping website are obvious, but your bank, mortgage holder, health insurance provider and more are also online companies even if that’s not how we interact with them. There is a pretty complete fingerprint of your life stored where plenty of other people can (and often do) look for it.

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5
• Day 6
• Day 7
• Day 8
• Day 9
• Day 10
• Day 11
• Day 12

So what should we do about it? That’s easy — use a good password for everything, make sure you don’t use the same password in more than one place, and secure things with a second step anytime you can.

You can’t remember all those passwords

Don’t feel bad because nobody else can, either. A good password simply means one that someone else who is really good at figuring this stuff out isn’t likely to be able to use. That means they aren’t something you are going to be remembering, especially when there are more than a few of them. That’s where a password manager comes in.

Best password manager for Android

A password manager is like a safe that holds all your passwords and gives the right one to the right place when it’s needed once it’s sure you really asked for it. Enter all your account information into it and then all you need to remember is one good secure password that’s used as your OK to let it share its data with another app or website. Now there is only one thing to remember and it gives you more secure access to everything else!

Remembering one good password is something we can all do.

There are a lot of good ways to manage passwords. A recipe box filled with index cards that sits on your desk is one way, but a good app from a trusted company does a better job and offers more features. Most have a way to keep a backup copy of your password database in case you lose your phone or it gets stolen, as well as extras like a place to store credit card info or secure notes. The best secondary feature you’ll find is a password generator that can create a good password, then put it in the database and be ready to serve it to the right place so you never have to worry about keeping track of it.

Password managers work great on your Chromebook, too!

• 1Password X brings me closer to using a Chromebook full-time
• Password manager Enpass now working seamlessly on Chromebooks

The first thing a person who gets your password is going to do is to try to use it everywhere. That’s why it’s important to never reuse passwords at more than one place because when someone breaks into the servers at Target, or Adobe, or Yahoo! or anywhere else and gets your username and password, you certainly don’t want to let them run up your credit card by buying things at Amazon. You just can’t remember all those passwords.

The convenience and security a proper password manager offers are better than anything you can do to manage things yourself and it’s more secure, too. If you’re not using one, stop right now and set one up — then help make sure the rest of your family is doing the same thing.

A password is a key to the door and 2FA is the drawbridge over the moat

I forget who said it, but 2FA (two-factor authentication) has been described this way. Imagine a castle with attackers at the gate. It has a very strong door (the password) but also has another deterrent in the form of a drawbridge that’s lifted so nobody can get over a moat filled with medieval monsters of some sort. 2FA is that drawbridge and it only gets lowered when you tell it to lower.

In non-technical terms, 2FA is simply a second way to prove your identity before access to digital data is given. You prove your identity using two of these three things:

• Something you know (a password)
• Something you have (a code from an app or text message)
• Something you are (your fingerprint)

How to set up two-factor authentication on your Google account

Most of us have used it in one form or another even if we didn’t know it. The three-digit number on the back of your Visa card is an example of something you have; ideally, you only know it if you have the card there in front of you which means you have your wallet which means you are probably the person whose name is on the front. A more complicated method that’s just as simple to understand: when you log into your computer at work the server checks to see if you swiped your employee ID to get into the building before it starts showing you any company data.

2FA for our online accounts is (thankfully) much more simple that an authentication server at work thanks to our smartphone. Using an Authenticator app you are given a short code to enter along with a password. Having this code means that you have your phone and your password — two of the three things. And as long as your Authenticator app is protected with a good password as mentioned above, only you can use it.

Two-factor authentication: What you need to know

This sounds like a lot more hassle than it really is because your phone is also secured and can be trusted. Most places that offer 2FA also allow you to say you trust the device you’re using to access it and you can bypass the step once you’ve proven your identity. As long as you have a good password on your phone and the company that makes it doesn’t allow someone unlimited tries to guess that password, you’re pretty safe.

One extra layer of security is never a bad thing!

But trying to access the same account from another device, whether it be another phone or a computer, means you’ll need to enter the 2FA code. This means you can get on Twitter or Facebook (or Amazon or your bank’s website) from your phone easily but I can’t get in from my phone or computer without having your 2FA code, which only comes to your phone. Following? It’s a great big circle of trust that doesn’t allow anyone else in it.

Google wants you to upgrade to (its) better two-factor authentication

How to install and set up Authy for two-factor authentication on your Android

Be safe, be secure

Look, we know that most of us aren’t high-profile targets with people focused on hacking into our lives. Those people have extra steps they can take, but we don’t need those. But we are all potential victims of chance when it comes to phishing attacks or corporate database breaches. Not using a password manager and 2FA whenever it’s offered is crazy.

Don’t be a victim. And don’t let the people closest to you be one, either. Use a good password manager and two-factor authentication for everything, all the time!

Android One Moto X4 now being updated to 8.0 Oreo

It’s finally here! 🍪

There are a few different versions of the Moto X4 that you can purchase, but one of our favorites is the Android One variant. Available through Motorola and on Project Fi, the Android One Moto X4 offers a stock build of Android that runs and feels great. The Moto X4 shipped with Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box, but it’s now being updated to 8.0 Oreo.

Updating your Android One Moto X4 will change the build number to OPW27.1, and it comes with all of the Oreo goodies you’d expect – including picture-in-picture, adaptive notification dots, the latest Android security patch, and plenty more.

Oreo is rolling out to the Moto X4 now, so if you haven’t received an OTA update just yet, it should be hitting your device soon.

Android Oreo

• Android Oreo review!
• Everything new in Android Oreo
• How to get Android Oreo on your Pixel or Nexus
• Oreo will make you love notifications again
• Will my phone get Android Oreo?
• Join the Discussion

Best Calendar Apps for Android 2017

A calendar app can help keep track of your busy schedule.

With a busy, awesome life full of parties, appointments, and work deadlines, keeping track of everything on your schedule can seem almost impossible. Unless of course, you’ve got a handy calendar app in your pocket to help ensure you don’t accidentally overbook yourself or miss your niece’s recital. With that in mind, we’ve put together our favorite calendar apps for android.

Check out our picks here!

Google Calendar

Google’s own calendar app has been refined over the years to a point where it’s both elegant and functional. And it’s not just for Google stored calendars, either, with support for “all calendars on your phone, including Exchange.”

Some of the nifty features on hand include a schedule view with photos and maps of places you’ll be heading to, smart suggestions on places, people and the ability to create calendar events based on reservations for things like flights and restaurants that appear in your Gmail inbox.

Sometimes stock is more than enough. Google’s calendar app is more than capable to handle all your scheduling needs while keeping things simple and clean.
With the power of Google behind it, this app is smart enough to suggest titles, contacts, and places as you type in your event information. It will also automatically scan your Gmail and add reservations for flights, restaurants and more if you allow permission for it. Essentially, if you’ve enjoyed using other Google products and apps, you’ll be more than happy with everything that Google has included here.

If it didn’t already come pre-loaded on your phone, you can get it for free. Additionally, Google Calendar also works with Google Assistant. So you can ask your Assistant to add an item to your calendar and be done with it! With the latest update, you can now drag and drop events within your calendar as well, making it easy to reschedule an event without taking too much time to do it.

Download: Google Calendar

Microsoft Outlook

Not the first app you might think of when looking for a calendar, but the truth is that Microsoft Outlook on Android is really good. It combines your email, including Gmail, and calendars, including Google, inside one app so you can manage both in one hit.

Microsoft Outlook is a good option if you want to access your email and calendar all in one place, with access to great features. Event icons are just one of the features that the Sunrise team has brought into the fold. Try typing “coffee” or “lunch” the next time you create an event and just see what happens in your agenda view. Outlook gets regular patches to streamline the user process, and recently they added functionality for 10 new languages including Uzbek and Bosnian Latin.

Download: Microsoft Outlook (free)

DigiCal Calendar

Being able to personalize not just the content of your calendar, but also the way it looks and acts is a perk that just about everyone would like to take advantage of. That’s also exactly what DigiCal does. You can switch between nine different themes, color code events, and even view multiple agendas all at once.

There are six different widgets you can use to keep an eye on your calendar from your home screen, and you also get access to the weather profile so that you can plan your day accordingly. If you like to color code things in order to keep better track, there are 42 different colors available for you to use.

Download: DigiCal Calendar (free)

How do you keep track?

There are plenty of excellent calendar apps out there but these are our pics for the best of the best. Do you have a favorite calendar app that ought to have been on our list? Let us know about it in the comments below!

December 2017: We’ve updated this post with new updates for Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook, as well as replacing Sol Calendar with DigiCal!

Four million people signed up for Amazon Prime during the holidays

This holiday season and the entire year of 2017 was a great one for Amazon — here are some of the highlights.

Whatever holiday you celebrate, there’s a good chance you bought a few things on Amazon this year whether you were buying gifts for others or treating yourself to make Tom and Donna proud.

Amazon recently shared its biggest numbers/stats for this past year, and one of the highlights is definitely the fact that more than four million people signed up for Amazon Prime during just one week this holiday season. That four million number includes both free trials and paid memberships, and even if a lot of those new members end up canceling after their trial is up, that’s still a big win for Amazon.

This holiday season also saw over one billion items ordered by entrepreneurs/small businesses across the world, and Amazon’s own Echo Dot and Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote were two of the top-selling products on the entire site.

A few other highlights include:

• Twice as many Fire TV Sticks were purchased compared to last year’s holiday season
• Martinis and Manhattans were the most asked-about drink recipes with Alexa
• Alexa users on the East Coast asked Alexa to play 2.5x as much music compared to the West Coast
• Holiday lights were turned on over one million times using Alexa
• Amazon’s mobile app was used 70% more this holiday season
• Over 1,400 electronics were bought every second during the holidays
• Four times as much music was streamed with Amazon Music on Alexa compared to last year
• The Grand Tour was the most-watched show on Prime Video
• Amazon customers purchased enough littlebits Star Wars Droid Inventor Kits on Amazon.com to man an Imperial-II class Star Destroyer.

For even more holiday tidbits, click/tap here.

Amazon buys smart doorbell and camera marker Blink