Portable USB-C chargers, dimming kits, durable flashlights, and more are all discounted today

Whether you’re looking for new tech gear or household items, we’ve got you covered.

We found plenty of great deals today that include big discounts on the Philips Hue dimming kit, a high-capacity USB-C portable charger, Pelican flashlights, and more! Most of these prices will be gone when the day ends, so don’t miss your chance to save big!

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“Human computing” has appeared in economic science in 2003 as a description of the calculation process. “Human computing” is expected to use only human mind resources and it was meant as a force that should beat a computer. The official “crowdsourcing” name was taken from English, where crowd – “crowd” and sourcing – “use of resources”. Crowdsourcing was first formulated in Wired magazine in 2006 and provided the idea of mobilizing the resources of individuals through IT. It used to solve the problems of science, business and society.

In March 2017 ABBYY launched a project to translate Coursera’s online educational courses from English to Russian. The project involves over 5000 people: professionals, ordinary people with good English and it really increased efficiency and helped create a unique product, Max Polyakov says in his scientific work.

One of the best examples is Wikipedia. The project lacked resources for advertising, and even a business model. Thousands and even millions of participants connected to the Internet took part in the process of adding information to the encyclopedia. As a result, Wikipedia became one of the most visited sites in the world.

Most sophisticated example is the AirBnB rental network. The founders of the service connect all those who rent out housing and who want to rent it. Thus customers have created their own content and advertise the AirBnB business.

Crowdsourcing is an effective process of interaction between society and technology. It helps solve the most complex tasks by spending less and attracting whole continents to cooperate. Often such projects use the principles of gamification. This is borrowed from games, which try to involve participants in the deep levels of the research or business process. Gamification works mostly with young audiences that have been using computers since childhood and hanging out in games all the time. Gamers can literally rise businesses to the top of the market. “And it applies not only to the entertainment industry but also serious scientific research, where for example participants decode the human genome or trying to find new variants of protein synthesis,” Max Polyakov clarifies in his scientific work.

Low cost of does not mean unprofessionalism. Participants can be highly educated and curious. Furthermore, such projects can have people as business consultants, engineers, writers, designers and scientists.

Сrowdsourcing can be extremely effective to improve the brand of a company and increase the involvement of their customers. In his research Max Polyakov argues that companies will be able to accumulate ideas, opinions, strategies, new employees and become closer to their clients. These ideas were proven by cases like MacDonald’s, Starbucks, SAS and others. Certainly, the future lies behind common decisions and teamwork.

HP DreamColor Z27X G2 Studio Monitor Review

Riley Young/Digital Trends

What do 80 percent of Academy Award-nominated visual effects have in common? According to HP, they use a DreamColor display. HP even won an award in 2015 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science for its professional-grade display technology.

But how good is it, really? To find out, we took HP’s new, second-generation DreamColor monitor for a spin, and let our in-house video team see what difference it made. It didn’t win us any Academy Awards, but its color precision impressed.

Don’t judge a book by its cover

The HP DreamColor Z27X G2 doesn’t look all that special. If anything, it seems a bit outdated, with thick bezels, a heavy posterior, and pronounced menu buttons. It’s not ultrawide, curved, or even 4K. But unlike most monitors that lean on those newer trends, every feature of the DreamColor Z27X is included primarily on the suggestion of the animators and videographers that make up its target audience.

That’s right — with the second-generation of the DreamColor, HP actually spoke with the people that used its product for serious work and brought a lot of those requested features into its newest version. Some of these will be more specific than the average person will know what to do with, including integrated workflow tools like a built-in KVM switcher, an adjustable refresh rate, and an assortment of markers and masks for live video broadcasting.

Even against monitors like the Samsung CF791 or the BenQ PD3200U, the DreamColor Z27X G2 Studio dominates.

One of the most useful features is the built-in calibration tool, which is packed into the bump in the top bezel of the screen. You can schedule to automate the calibration to happen whenever’s most convenient for you, and then put it on a routine maintenance schedule. That’s one less thing to distract you from your work, our video team that particularly helpful on a daily basis.

HP also threw in niceties like a single-cord Thunderbolt 3 connection and a sturdier VESA mounting bracket. These make it easier to integrate the monitor into your current setup, regardless of the other tech you use.

Color that hits the mark

None of the bells and whistles matter, of course, if the display quality doesn’t hold up.

The DreamColor Z27X G2 Studio is a 27-inch, 2,560 x 1440 matte display with a 16:9 aspect ratio. But more importantly, its display performance is great — especially in color gamut. Colors are vivid and vibrant, showing 100 percent of the sRGB color scale and 99 percent of the AdobeRGB scale. Even against monitors like the Samsung CF791 or the BenQ PD3200U, the DreamColor dominates. That is particularly important for photographers, animators, and videographers, and our video team noticed the vivid colors right off the bat.

Using a third-party calibration tool, we brought the average color error down to an impressive 0.95.

On the other hand, we felt that an average color error of 2.81 was a bit high for a monitor like this. Using a third-party calibration tool, we brought that down to an impressive 0.95, which is closer to what we expected. HP obviously assumes that people spending $2,000 on a professional-grade monitor will calibrate it, though we still would have liked to see better accuracy right out of the box.

The DreamColor isn’t all the bright, reaching a maximum of just 220 nits. That’s low, even compared to monitors a quarter the price — and it’s something our video team noticed working in our brightly lit office. Clearly, HP thinks that videographers will be using this monitor in a darkened room.

Know what you’re getting into

If it isn’t painfully clear by now, the DreamColor Z27X is not a display we’d recommend to the average buyer — or even the average professional. If you are gamer, you’ll want something with a higher refresh rate. If you want something for watching media, you’ll probably want a brighter, 4K screen. Even if you’re professional photographer, you can probably find something far cheaper that still has an accurate display.

But if you fit into the niche group of people who need a tool tailor-made for visual arts, the DreamColor is a monitor crafted for exactly what you do. Who knows? Maybe you’ll win an Academy Award.

Editors’ Recommendations

• BenQ EX3501R ultrawide monitor review
• Asus ROG Swift PG279Q review
• The best monitor you can buy
• The best monitors for photo editing
• The best ultrawide monitors of 2018

Best Samsung Galaxy S9 Accessories

Keep your Samsung Galaxy S9 protected and functional with these great accessories!

The Samsung Galaxy S9 is another outstanding phone released in 2018 — if you own one you know how fast and capable this phone is.

Whether you’ve already got one in your pocket, or you’re still debating whether to upgrade to the S9, you should also think about investing in some quality accessories to keep your phone in mint condition and improve the storage capabilities and battery life.

Here are the best accessories for the Galaxy S9.

• Samsung Alcantara Cover
• Spigen Rugged Armor Case
• Whitestone Dome Glass Tempered Glass Screen Protector
• Samsung Gear VR
• Samsung Fast Charge Wireless Charging Convertible Stand
• Anker PowerCore+ 26,800 mAh battery pack
• Samsung microSD EVO+ 256GB

Samsung Alcantara Cover

Samsung is one of the few phone makers that really does a great job of supporting their own devices with a solid line of cases. We’ve featured a number of Samsung’s cases in our round up of the best cases for the Galaxy S9, but we’ve highlighted the Alcantara Cover here because it was a fantastic option for the Note 8 and should be equally stellar with the S9.

Alcantara is a lightweight material that’s as rugged as the plastic and rubber cases, but offers a very unique look and feel that compliments Samsung’s tall devices. This case deftly covers the edges of the screen but leaves the bottom open for the charging port, headphone jack, and speaker. Get your from Amazon starting at just $27.45.

See at Amazon

Spigen Rugged Armor Case

There’s going to be a ton of third-party case options for the Galaxy S9, but for our money you won’t find a better value than the slim Rugged Armor case from Spigen.

Made of flexible TPU, this case offers a precisely designed shell to keep your S9 protected without adding unnecessary bulk. It’s thin enough to allow wireless charging while still protecting the camera and fingerprint sensor on the back and prevents the display from sitting flush on a table. Get this minimalist case for $12 on Amazon.

See at Amazon

Whitestone Dome Glass Tempered Glass Screen Protector

Not all screen protectors are created equal. If you’re afraid of damaging the Galaxy S9’s curved screen, you should consider the Whitestone Dome Glass screen protector.

This brand burst onto the scene with the Galaxy S8, offering the best coverage with a tempered glass screen protector we’ve seen. Using a unique liquid adhesion technique that involves uses a UV curing light to ensure a perfect installation.

Now, the downside is the price. At $45, it’s by far the most expensive screen protector you can buy, but it’s a well-reviewed screen protector that’s backed by a limited lifetime warranty. If you’re concerned about protecting your phone around those curved edges, this is the screen protector you want.

See at Amazon

Samsung Gear VR

While mobile-powered VR is not as flashy as the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, you’d be remiss to ignore just how awesome the Samsung Gear VR is with the latest Samsung phones. Last year’s updated version of the Samsung Gear VR will work excellently with the Galaxy S9 and is available for just $110 on Amazon.

Powered by Oculus technology, the Gear VR (2017) comes with a fantastic touch controller that will let you interact and play with a ton of great games via the Oculus app. If you’re debating between upgrading your phone or investing in virtual reality this year, get the Gear VR along with your Galaxy S9 and settle that debate the right way.

See at Amazon

Samsung Fast Charge Wireless Charging Convertible Stand

If you’ve got the option to wirelessly charge your phone, you may as well take full advantage, right? Any true Samsung fan will love the design of this convertible wireless charging pad. Made by Samsung, this pad supports Fast Charge technology (of course) and ships with its won Samsung Fast Charge wall adapter — and you can never have enough of those.

Regularly sold for up to $90, you can snag one of these bad boys for $40 on Amazon.

See at Amazon

Anker PowerCore+ 26,800mAh Battery Pack

It’s always a smart idea to back up your new phone with an extra boost of juice, and there are few better battery packs than Anker’s PowerCore+.

Anker has packed in 26,000mAh into a sleek package that’s small enough to easy stash in a backpack or even slip in your pants pocket. it features three USB ports so you can charge multiple devices at one time. Featuring

Get yours for roughly $70.

See at Amazon

Samsung microSD EVO+ 256GB

The Galaxy S9 has carried on Samsung’s tradition of allowing expandable storage via microSD, so why not take advantage? You can get Samsung’s 128GB card for just $38 or go all out with the 256GB card for $97. Both cards feature read speeds up to 95MB/s and write speeds up to 90MB/s, meaning they will be able to handle whatever you throw at it.

Whichever you go with, you can be sure that it’ll give you all the storage space you desire so you never have to delete photos and videos.

See at Amazon

What accessories will you be getting?

What must-have accessories are at the top of your list when you’re buying a new phone such as the Galaxy S9? Let us know in the comments!

Update July 29, 2018: Lots of price drops across all our picks! These are still the best accessories for the Samsung Galaxy S9.

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+

• Galaxy S9 and S9+: Everything you need to know!
• Galaxy S9 review: A great phone for the masses
• Complete Galaxy S9 and S9+ specs
• Galaxy S9 vs. Galaxy S8: Should you upgrade?
• Join our Galaxy S9 forums

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Sprint

Become an Excel whiz with this bundle of training courses!

Microsoft’s Excel, the spreadsheet tool in its Office suite, has an incredible amount of depth that most people never touch. Figures and graphs are what Excel is usually used for, but there’s so much more potential if you have the correct knowledge.

Master Microsoft Excel for just $39! Learn more

Whether it’s PivotTables, Pivot Charts, macros, or powerful formulas, in-depth Excel training to automate spreadsheets and solve complex problems can be quite expensive. There’s a lot of content to cover, and there are many questions to answer.

If you’re interested in extensive spreadsheet training, Android Central right now has a Microsoft Excel course that includes over 28 hours of content spread over nine courses. Instead of paying the regular price of $1,066, you’ll instead pay just $49. That’s 96 percent off the regular price!

Use code DIGITALWEEK50 for an extra 50% off — you pay just $24.50 Learn more

Access to this course remains open forever, so even if you don’t have the time at this moment, you can jump in whenever you’d like. At just $49 for extensive Excel training, how can you go wrong?

The Philips Hue smart dimming kit has dropped to $28 right now

Easy dimming.

The Philips Hue smart dimming kit is down to $27.98 on Amazon. This is a price we haven’t seen on this kit since August last year. It usually sells for $35 and only drops to around $32 when it drops at all.

This kit is a simple way to get into smart dimming. It comes with the Philips Hue Dimmer Switch and one compatible light bulb. The switch can control up to ten lights wirelessly if you decide to expand it. The switch itself is battery-powered and wireless too, so you can adhere it wherever you please without the struggles that come with wiring other dimmer switches.

With the Hue Bridge (sold separately), you can connect up to 50 lights and 10 dimmer switches together for total home lighting automation. But for anyone without a massive home or someone who needs just a handful of lights to work together, the dimmer switch will work great all on its own. Users give it 4.5 out of 5-star ranking on Amazon.

See on Amazon