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Image Blur Plugin with 4kb Minified Size Jul 15th 2015, 08:35 Image Blur Plugin is an Ultra small plugin (4kb minified, 1.5kb gzipped) for Blurring images. This plugin utilizes SVG filter to blur the image if SVG is supported by the browser (all except IE), otherwise the plugin creates an IMG tag and applies a special IE-only filter in CSS. If you are using Velocity.js animation library, the plugin will automatically detect its presence and make fade in/fade out animations more performant, especially on mobile. If Velocity is not present on the page, jQuery’s “animate” is used. Requirements: JavaScript Framework Demo: http://msurguy.github.io/background-blur/ License: MIT License The post Image Blur Plugin with 4kb Minified Size appeared first on WebAppers. This New Wi-Fi Tech Uses Proximity To End Waiting In Long Lines Jul 14th 2015, 21:47 There's a new wireless technology in town, courtesy of the Wi-Fi Alliance. The group just announced a new Wi-Fi Aware certification program, which lets wireless devices discover each other, communicate and share basic information directly—no external network or additional hardware necessary.  Users might get an alert that Facebook friends are in the same coffee shop, or a warning about how long the queue is at the airport gate. Developers can also offer more nitty gritty privacy and availability settings on an app-by-app basis.  See also: How Google's Latest Boosts Bluetooth Beacons Think of it like proximity technology, but one that doesn't rely on GPS or your actual physical location—only where your phone is in relation to another Wi-Fi Aware device. And, the organization claims, the new approach offers a few distinct advantages compared to other location-based approaches.  Raising Awareness  Developed over the past three years by the Wi-Fi Alliance, a nonprofit organization backed by Microsoft, Apple, Intel and hundreds of other tech companies, Wi-Fi Aware shares a few similarities with Bluetooth settings, like those offered by beacons.  Both offer proximity-based functionality, and the ability to communicate without being on the same network. However, Wi-Fi Aware doesn't rely on pre-installed transmitters and, since it's based on Wi-Fi standards, the new technology has a longer range than Bluetooth. It also lets applications offer or seek services on nearby devices and exchange basic information, without having to first making a full connection to those gadgets.  "Devices form clusters and exchange small messages about services available nearby, enabling immediate discovery," the organization wrote in a press release. "Once an interesting service has been discovered, an app can easily initiate a Wi-Fi connection for follow-up activity such as sharing photos or playing a multiplayer game."  Kevin Robinson, Wi-Fi Alliance director of product marketing, told ReadWrite via email that "Wi-Fi Aware improves on existing proximity offerings by delivering a here-and-now contextual awareness solution that works well indoors and in dense environments."  He wouldn't discuss Bluetooth specifically, but noted that "a disadvantage of many existing proximity technologies is they only offer one-way conversations," he said. "So you can discover proximity to a uniquely identified service or device, but the benefits stop there." Wi-Fi Aware, however, allows for two-way conversation with no need for Internet or GPS connectivity.  That makes it seem like a successor to Wi-Fi Direct—which lets a device create its own Wi-Fi network for other gadgets to join. It's not. The group considers Aware a complement to Direct, not a replacement. Think of it as the technology that makes the introductions and exchanges bits of basic information, but lets Wi-Fi Direct establish a fuller connection when more information (or a connection to peripherals, like printers) is involved.  Forget Long Lines, And Short Battery Life Plenty of proximity technologies can let users know they're near an airport security checkpoint. Apps that support Wi-Fi Aware, however, can let people know the current wait time at the checkpoint, or find other checkpoints with shorter wait times.  The organization makes special mention of the benefits that proximity-based or "personalized" experiences can bring to social media apps like Facebook, Twitter, Tinder, Snapchat and others. People can find friends easily, share photos at a concert or initiate a mobile gaming session at a crowded clubhouse. Interference should be no issue; in fact, the Wi-Fi Alliance promises that Wi-Fi Aware shines in crowded settings.  All that communication might sound like a power drain, but the group promises minimal cost to battery life. Once two or more devices are connected, it says, they adopt a common "heartbeat" where pings are synchronized to save energy.  The certification program has only just launched, but several chipmakers have already pledged support, including Intel, Marvell, Broadcom and RealTek. Meanwhile, app updates from the likes of Facebook and LinkedIn are also expected, possibly arriving by the end of the year—which could make for an extra social, contextually aware holiday season. If it can help beat back long checkout lines, then maybe it will be a merry season indeed.  Image courtesy of the Wi-Fi Alliance Media files: MTMxNTkxMzMyNjgxNTIxNjMw.jpg (image/jpeg) How Google's Latest Boosts Bluetooth Beacons Jul 14th 2015, 18:06 Bluetooth beacons, those low-power signals that announce location and other data to nearby devices, have broadcasted more hype than reality. That may change, thanks to a Google-backed initiative called Eddystone. Eddystone, at its heart, is primarily a set of formats—agreed-upon standards for data transmission meant to simplify the cacophony of bits that beacons broadcast.  See also: Why Retail Beacons Still Have A Long Way To Go This won't solve all the problems beacons face—many of which, as Matt Asay recently pointed out, are business-related rather than technical. But Eddystone promises to remove some of the barriers that have made beacons a headache. A Beacon Of Hope For Developers To date, the beacon industry has been vertically integrated, with companies like Gimbal, the Qualcomm spinoff, providing hardware, software, services, and standards. Apple has its own iBeacon standard, focused on enabling beacons for iOS devices.  That works well in scenarios where retail chains like Macy's install beacons in their stores and design apps to talk to those beacons. There, only the retailer's in-house developers have to understand the data broadcasted by those beacons, and the rules and safeguards around its use. See also: Bluetooth SIG Unveils Better, Stronger, Faster Bluetooth That vertically integrated scenario starts to fall apart when beacon-equipped physical locations want to court a wide range of developers, while protecting the privacy of users. Now retailers and the managers of other public venues can simply publish specifications for the data their beacons broadcast—and developers can build all kinds of apps they never envisioned.  Think of this as the moment beacons become an open platform.  The need for this struck me when I thought back to South By Southwest Interactive, which experimented with beacons tied to the tech conference's official app. Features, like finding nearby conference attendees going to the same panel, were interesting, but were trapped within SXSW's app. It would have been far more interesting if SXSW had unleashed its community's creativity—if it had a way to announce specs for its beacons and welcome in third-party developers. That's the kind of thing Eddystone can fix.  "It’s been clear to me, because I’ve been deeply involved in this for a while, that it’s not a one- or two-person ecosystem," Matthew Kulick, a Google product manager who worked on Eddystone, told me. "You’ve got people who specialize in deploying beacons into people’s apps. It’s a relatively interesting ecosystem. That’s why we’re trying to offer tools and services here at multiple layers of the stack." Stacking Up Tools Those layers include application programming interfaces (see our API explainer), which allow app developers to associate a beacon with a physical location (the Proximity Beacon API) and extract data from nearby beacons, like a bus stop or an art exhibit (the Nearby API). They also include management tools for companies deploying fleets of beacons in physical locations.  Google isn't creating dashboards or other management services for beacon deployments, Kulick said—which is good news for the growing number of startups that offer them. Instead, the tech giant is hoping that Eddystone formats will help those companies simplify the task of setting up and maintaining large beacon installations in public spaces like malls, stadiums, and museums. In particular, an Eddystone telemetry format will allow beacons to communicate problems, like low battery levels or other hardware failures.  Eddystone also offers Ephemeral IDs, which lower the risk of privacy leaks by encrypting the ID, so that only authorized clients can use them, and changing them frequently. If widely adopted, that may alleviate some of the privacy concerns around beacons.  Google has partnered with beacon manufacturers including Bluvision, Estimote, and Kontakt.io, who are planning to support Eddystone. (Disclosure: Kontakt.io recently participated in Wearable World Labs, a startup accelerator run by ReadWrite's parent company, Wearable World. Wearable World holds stakes in Wearable World Labs companies.)  The significant omission from that group is Gimbal, a large beacon manufacturer that deployed devices in Apple Stores, among other retailers. Kulick said Google and Gimbal had not spoken about Eddystone. A Gimbal spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It's likely Apple will be reflexively hostile to a Google-backed initiative, so we may see Apple and Gimbal line up against Google and its Eddystone partners. That would be a shame, because beacons, on balance, make smartphones and mobile apps work better. A rising tide of open formats lifts all boats. Photo by Intel Free Press Media files: MTMwMzM1MjI2Mjc3NzA5ODM0.jpg (image/jpeg) Why Apple, Google, And Samsung Want To Lock You In With Wearables Jul 14th 2015, 14:47 Guest author Christian Cantrell is a developer, blogger and science fiction author. Chances are you're either an iOS person or an Android person. Chances are also pretty good that whichever platform you’re currently using, you will remain faithful come upgrade time. Mobile devices, it turns out, are a little like political affiliation, ice cream preference, and James Bond fandom: Most of us find something we like, weave it into our identities, then vehemently defend it. But every once in a while, much like our favorite Game of Thrones characters, someone unexpectedly changes sides. Maybe it’s screen size that tips the balance, or platform pressure from a group of new peers, or a particularly crafty salesperson with incentives to clear out aging inventory. Whatever the impetus, if you pay careful attention to smartphone metrics, although the majority of consumers remain devoted to their chosen clans, the tides do shift. There are typically three parts to platform migration: getting accustomed to a new physical form factor, acclimating to a different user experience, and either navigating the perils of data migration yourself, or entrusting your entire digital life to someone else (usually either a smarmy sales rep, or a tech-savvy relative who can’t say no). Defecting from one mobile faction to another may be inconvenient, but it’s not yet impossible, which is why major platform players are inclined to steer their devices and services in a direction that increases not only their allure, but also the cost of abandonment. And an important new weapon of mass disincentive is wearables. How Wearables Lock You In Generally speaking, you have two types of wearables: platform-agnostic, and platform-dependent. Platform-agnostic wearables are devices that work with either iOS or Android (and in some cases, even Windows Phone). These include most fitness trackers like the Fitbit, and some smartwatches like the Pebble Time and Garmin Fenix 3. Their main advantage is that you can pair them with whatever device you happen to have, and they usually function pretty consistently—or, at least, to within a tolerable variance. Platform-dependent wearables, on the other hand, are those that will only work with one brand of device, and in fact, are better conceptualized as extensions of those devices rather than standalone gadgets. Canonical examples include Apple Watch, Android Wear devices and most of the myriad of wrist-top concoctions hatched by Samsung. The advantage of platform-dependent wearables is that they integrate with your phone’s OS more tightly, leveraging APIs and services that third-party devices might not have access to, and generally delivering a more seamless and better unified user experience. But the disadvantage of such a tight coupling is that you are more heavily invested in that one specific platform, limiting your options the next time you find yourself upgrade-eligible. If the rumors about Google working on iOS support for Android Wear are true, it’s possible that a third category of wearables is about to emerge: platform-preferred. A platform-preferred device is one that can be considered “native” to one platform, but can function at some level when paired with the competition. The problem with the prospect of pairing an Android Wear smartwatch with an iPhone is that—due to constraints that limit deep third-party OS integration, or simply fundamental discrepancies in platform features—you are likely to find yourself in a kind of purgatory where your experience is worse than if you were using an Android phone, and also not as good as if you were wearing an Apple Watch. Many iPhone users who try to use Google services exclusively are already familiar with this unfortunate dynamic. For example, you won’t be able to access Apple Pay from a Moto 360 (or probably any other Android Wear device, current or future), nor will you be able to smart unlock your iPhone with your watch. As a result, the more invested you become in wearables, the more you are probably going to be tempted to bring your devices into more harmonious alignment. For the truly platform devout, party-line conformity isn’t a problem. In fact, it’s practically a feature since it dramatically simplifies things like compatibility, upgrade decisions, and support. But for those of us who like to keep our options open—who want to ensure that some of the most powerful entities on the face of the planet continue to be motivated to compete for our fealty—the rise of wearables presents a pretty serious compatibility conundrum. Google primarily makes money from services, so it makes sense to try to establish as much of a presence as possible across multiple platforms and devices. But for a company like Apple—one of the few companies left that still enjoys huge profit margins on hardware—deep device and platform integration isn’t just a convenience for customers. It’s a business imperative. Why The Apple Watch Isn't Gunning For Market Share On its face, it might seem like a mistake for Apple to inextricably link the Apple Watch to the iPhone. Why invest so heavily in an entirely new product category like smartwatches, but intentionally engineer them so that they will only appeal to a relatively small fraction of the total addressable market? Actually, to be more specific, only a fraction of a fraction since iPhones only make up roughly 18% of worldwide smartphone market share, and it appears only a subset of iPhone owners want an Apple Watch. On the other hand, if the Apple Watch were compatible with any modern smartphone, while still offering additional features and functionality when paired with phones of their own noble lineage, the total addressable market would instantly skyrocket. The only reasonable conclusion is that there is much more to be gained in platform acquisition and retention than there is in simply shipping and selling a few million more devices per quarter. Public companies need their revenue to be as predictable, consistent, and as steady as possible which means they require their customers to be as loyal (or locked-in—either way works) as possible. They need such business and marketing constructs as customer and product pipelines; they need subscribers to services as opposed to isolated impulse buys; and they need the walls of their ever-expanding gardens to grow increasingly unassailable. Of course, to not do everything possible (or at least legal) to retain customers would ultimately be irresponsible. Most of these companies would find themselves playing by different rules than their competition, putting them at a distinct disadvantage. It's Going To Be A Bumpy Ride As wearables become increasingly available, capable, and prevalent, I think it’s worth acknowledging the paradox many of them embody. In one sense, they are about freeing us from phones, PCs, and other less convenient technologies by making information and human connection much more readily accessible. In exchange for freeing ourselves from one burden, we are agreeing to take on another. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t buy devices like smartwatches; it just means we should be fully aware of the fact that, as much as we’re strapping devices to ourselves, we are also strapping ourselves to our devices. Media files: MTI5OTkyNDIzMTk0NTMxMDkw.jpg (image/jpeg) Build Agents that Monitor and Act on Your Behalf Jul 14th 2015, 07:58 Huginn is a system for building agents that perform automated tasks for you online. They can read the web, watch for events, and take actions on your behalf. Huginn’s Agents create and consume events, propagating them along a directed graph. Think of it as a hackable Yahoo! Pipes plus IFTTT on your own server. You always know who has your data. You do. Requirements: – Demo: https://github.com/cantino/huginn License: MIT License The post Build Agents that Monitor and Act on Your Behalf appeared first on WebAppers.

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FontForge – Open Source Font Editor Jul 16th 2015, 07:13 Type design is visually complex as well as highly technical – however it is easier to begin making type now than ever, partly because of the availability of free tools like FontForge. FontForge is a free (libre) font editor for Windows, Mac OS X and GNU+Linux. Use it to create, edit and convert fonts in OpenType, TrueType, UFO, CID-keyed, Multiple Master, and many other formats. While being a handy tool with which to begin, FontForge is not just for beginners. It has an advanced toolset and is rapidly improving at the time this book is being written. FontForge aims to offer technical help and general insight into planning a type design project, and also offers advice about how to make your workflow more efficient. If you wish to help them, you can contribute to making FontForge better by giving feedback or even by contributing content and fixes on GitHub. Requirements: – Demo: http://fontforge.github.io/ License: Creative Commons 3.0 License The post FontForge – Open Source Font Editor appeared first on WebAppers.

Freebie: A Workspace Illustrations Kit (AI, PNG, PSD, EPS and SVG) Jul 15th 2015, 13:44 Today we're happy to release yet another freebie: a set of 60 lovely workspace illustrations of items that many web and graphic designers use every day: tablet and desktop computers, Apple Watches, cameras, Moleskine notebooks, headphones, pens, pencils, pairs of glasses — even coffee cups and cookies! The set has been designed by Anastasia Kolisnichenko, from Minsk, Belarus, and released for free for Smashing Magazine's readers. Feel free to use all these elements and others for your projects. Grab what you need for a poster or website. You can customize everything you want: stroke width, size, color, shape — everything. The post Freebie: A Workspace Illustrations Kit (AI, PNG, PSD, EPS and SVG) appeared first on Smashing Magazine. Quantity Ordering With CSS Jul 14th 2015, 16:20 Here is your mission, should you choose to accept it: create a table of items. Each item should span a third of the content area, with the fourth item starting on a new row, much like floats. However, a particular item must always display the price at the end of the first row. So if there are only two elements, the price element would be second. But if there are more than three items, the price would be the last element in the first row. You might assume that JavaScript would be the best solution — just loop over the items, and if there are more than three, update the styling. But what if I told you could do it with CSS alone? The post Quantity Ordering With CSS appeared first on Smashing Magazine. An In-Depth Guide To Launching Your Own Podcast Jul 13th 2015, 11:49 Podcasting has experienced a renaissance in the last couple of years. According to RawVoice, which tracks 20,000 shows, the number of unique monthly podcast listeners has tripled to 75 million, up from 25 million five years ago. Suffice it to say, now is a great time to start a podcast. It’s an authentic and intimate way to demonstrate authority in your niche and to grow your client base. When starting out our own podcast, I was a bit lost with the technical logistics of actually setting up the podcast; figuring out the best approach required a lot of searching and digging. The post An In-Depth Guide To Launching Your Own Podcast appeared first on Smashing Magazine. Media files: file01.m4a (audio/mpeg)

Become A Command-Line Power User With Oh-My-ZSH And Z Jul 11th 2015, 00:35 The command line is increasingly becoming a part of every web developer's workflow. With tools like Grunt, Gulp and Bower leveraging the increase in productivity that comes with working in the command line, we are seeing it become a much more friendly and comfortable place for beginners and experts alike. This article provides insight into some of the best tools to use in your day-to-day workflow in the command line and gets you started with a totally customized setup. The post Become A Command-Line Power User With Oh-My-ZSH And Z appeared first on Smashing Magazine. A Simple Workflow From Development To Deployment Jul 9th 2015, 10:27 In this article I’ll be taking a look at how to build a simple yet robust workflow for developing sites that require PHP and MySQL. I’ll show you how to use Vagrant to create and run a web server on your own computer, with the version of PHP your live site runs. I also demonstrate a process for using a hosted service to deploy files in a robust way to your live server. This article is for you if you currently have no way to test your PHP and MySQL sites locally, or use something like MAMP or XAMPP. The second half of the article will help you move away from uploading files using FTP to a process that is far less likely to cause you problems. The post A Simple Workflow From Development To Deployment appeared first on Smashing Magazine. Material Design Icons, Goodies and Starter Kits Jul 8th 2015, 13:30 It's always great to have a little toolbox with just the right tools waiting for you when you need them. What if you are about to start working on a new project which should apply the material design language introduced by Google last year? What if you had just a good starter kit with everything you need to dive into the creative process without being distracted by routine tasks? We're here to have your back — with a little selection of handy goodies, icons, templates and tools to help you get off the ground faster. This post is one of our first shorter "Sideblog" pieces where we highlight some of the more useful and helpful snippets and goodies every now and then. We'd love to hear your feedback in the comments to this post. The post Material Design Icons, Goodies and Starter Kits appeared first on Smashing Magazine. “Web Design Is Dead.” No, It Isn’t. Jul 8th 2015, 11:58 Every now and then we see discussions proclaiming a profound change in the way we design and build websites. Be it progressive enhancement, the role of CSS or, most recently, web design itself being dead. All these articles raise valid points, but I'd argue that they often lack objectivity and balance, preferring one side of the argument over another one. These discussions are great for testing the boundaries of what we think is (or is not) possible, and they challenge how we approach our craft, but they don't help us as a community to evolve together. They divide us into groups and sometimes even isolate us in small camps. Chris Coyier has published a fantastic post recently covering the debate on the role of CSS in light of growing popularity of React.js, extensively and objectively. That's the quality discussions we need, and that's what keeps us evolving as a growing and maturing community. The post “Web Design Is Dead.” No, It Isn’t. appeared first on Smashing Magazine. Beyond The Boring: The Hunt For The Web’s Lost Soul Jul 6th 2015, 09:02 Has web design lost its soul? And is responsive design to blame? These questions, posed by my friend and colleague Noah Stokes, are provocative to say the least. After all, the responsive web has made browsing on our ever increasing collection of Internet-connected screens not only possible, but enjoyable. Our priority as designers must be to solve problems; perhaps more than anything else, this is what we do. Responsive web design is a fantastic solution to the problem of creating virtual experiences that adapt to different devices. There are other problems out there that we're called on to solve, though, not least of which is to make content of all kinds appear interesting and engaging. A page of plain text becomes a beautiful blog post, a mess of unconnected JPGs becomes a professional portfolio. The post Beyond The Boring: The Hunt For The Web’s Lost Soul appeared first on Smashing Magazine.

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United Pays Out Bug Bounty, Adobe Flash Patched and Dumped, Hacking Team Update Jul 15th 2015, 18:43 Your weekly hacking team update, Flash is patched and dumped all on the same day, and United gives out one million miles for an exploit. All that coming up now on Threat Wire. Links: https://threatpost.com/hacking-team-promises-to-rebuild-controversial-surveillance-software/113743 http://thehackernews.com/2015/07/hacking-uefi-bios-rootkit.html http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/07/hacking-team-broke-bitcoin-secrecy-by-targeting-crucial-wallet-file/   http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/07/once-again-adobe-releases-emergency-flash-patch-for-hacking-team-0-days/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/blocked/p94 https://twitter.com/alexstamos/status/620306643360706561 https://twitter.com/alexstamos/status/620306791520309248   https://threatpost.com/united-airlines-hands-out-million-mile-bug-bounty/113766   http://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cp-flash/all/all http://httparchive.org/interesting.php https://alternativeto.net/software/flash-player/ https://www.sophos.com/en-us/security-news-trends/security-trends/html5-and-security.aspx http://www.smashbrand.com/articles/html-5-explained-quickly/ https://www.owasp.org/index.php/HTML5_Security_Cheat_Sheet http://www.sitepoint.com/security-risks-html5-apps/   Youtube Thumbnail credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/AMIBIOS_ROM-Chip_1992.JPG The post United Pays Out Bug Bounty, Adobe Flash Patched and Dumped, Hacking Team Update appeared first on Technolust since 2005. Hak5 1822 – 10 Minute Free VPN Server Build Jul 15th 2015, 18:37 VPNs are great for protecting your Internet traffic when on untrusted networks – like Public WiFi. So many times it’s thrown around as advice “just get a VPN” – but where should you get a VPN? When you sign up for a $10/month VPN service in “the cloud” you’re basically handing over both money *and* the very same information you’re wanting to protect — your packets! Download HD  |   Download MP4 Today we’ll be showing you how to protect your packets with a quick and dirty VPN server you can run on a VM at home. So if you trust your Internet connection at home, you could trust your Internet traffic when connected to your VPN. Let’s get started. We’ll be using all open source for this build. For the OS we’re using Ubuntu 14.04 because it’s currently in long term support. The install is very similar if you’re using CentOS, Debian, openSUSE or Fedora. For the VPN server we’re using a version of OpenVPN called Access Server. OpenVPN Access Server is essentially a pretty front-end for OpenVPN that simplifies setup with a nice web interface and easy setup for windows, mac, linux, android and iOS clients. 1. Install Ubuntu Server 2. Install and configure OpenVPN Access Server 3. Login to OpenVPN Access Server from a client computer or smartphone From our XenServer we’ll fire up a new Virtual Machine and get this party started. wget http://swupdate.openvpn.org/as/openvpn-as-2.0.10-Ubuntu14.amd_64.deb sudo dpkg -i openvpn-as-2.0.10-Ubuntu14.amd_64.deb sudo passwd openvpn https://:943/admin Login as openvpn with password configured above Go to Authentication > General > Local > Save Update running server User Management > User Permissions New user enter name and check auto-login. Save. Show next to user. Enter password. Save. Update running server. Login to http://IP:943 from client computer. Login and download OpenVPN client. From openvpn client – click connect. Now obviously this won’t work from outside our network until we do a little port forwarding which is going to vary based on your router at home. You should also consider at OpenVPN Access Server is only free for up to 2 concurrent users. Learn more at https://openvpn.net/index.php/access-server/overview.html The post Hak5 1822 – 10 Minute Free VPN Server Build appeared first on Technolust since 2005. Media files: hak5--1822--10-minute-free-vpn-server-build--hd720p30.h264.mp4 (video/mp4, 0 MB) Raspberry Pi ProxyHam Cancelled, Kill Flash, New Java Attack, Patent Trolls Still Suck Jul 13th 2015, 18:46 Yet another Flash exploit has been found… expect a patch, but we’d rather you removed Adobe’s Flash. RhinoSecurity has cancelled the super cool ProxyHam, and the DefCon talk, Patent Trolls are getting worse, and the first new zero day Java attack in two years! We’ll explain it all in today’s edition of ThreatWire Links: Another Reason To Remove Flash: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/flash-player/apsa15-04.html   ProxyHam Cancelled? https://twitter.com/RhinoSecurity/status/619556777353293824 https://twitter.com/rhinosecurity/status/619556993385132032 https://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-23/dc-23-speakers.html http://www.csoonline.com/article/2947377/network-security/privacy-talk-at-def-con-canceled-under-questionable-circumstances.html   First Java Zero Day in 2 Years! http://www.securityweek.com/java-zero-day-used-attacks-nato-member-us-defense-organization TrendMicro on the new Java Zero Day http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/pawn-storm-update-trend-micro-discovers-new-java-zero-day-exploit/   Patent Trolls Getting Worse??? http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/07/patent-troll-lawsuits-head-towards-all-time-high/   Youtube Thumbnail credit: Photo by Benjamin Caudill The post Raspberry Pi ProxyHam Cancelled, Kill Flash, New Java Attack, Patent Trolls Still Suck appeared first on Technolust since 2005. TekThing 27: Secure Email, Synology DS1515+ NAS, 64-bit Chrome & Firefox, Surround Sound Help, Micro Bit, Die Flash Die!!! Jul 9th 2015, 19:24 Synology DS1515+… just what is a NAS, anyhow??? Email Encryption, getting surround sound speakers set up right, die flash die, portable chargers, and more, today on TekThing! ——- Download the video. Subscribe To Our Video on YouTube, iTunes, RSS. Download audio only MP3. (Audio RSS Feed Coming!) —— Love the show? Please support us on Patreon! THANKS to Hak5! & The HakShop!!! SOCIAL IT UP! Twitter, Facebook, Google+. Email a...@tekthing.com!!! ——- Sponsor: Thanks Hostgator.com!  Use coupon code TekThing for 30% off your hosting package ——- Shownotes! Got Windows 10 Questions? Send ’em to us. Windows 10 is coming July 29th! BTW, Lifehacker’s How to Configure Windows 10 to Protect Your Privacy is worth reading. Micro Bit Kids PC: The BBC has finalized the design for the Micro Bit… they’ll be giving a million away to UK schoolkids to learn programming! Synology DS1515+ NAS: What’s a NAS? Do you need one for backups and serving media? How do they protect your data? How fast can they move files? We’ve got Synology’s DS1515+ 5 bay NAS in house. Designed for a small to midsize business, it’s got a ton of features… find out what we think of it in the video! Surround Sound Setup Tips: Getting your home theater on? We’ve got three things you should think about before you install your speakers! First up, take a look at the Dolby Speaker Setup Guide so you can figure out what you can fit where you need to fit it! Wireless TV Speakers? Steve writes, “My wife would like to have speakers for the TV, but wants the placement to be over by the head of the bed (the TV is on the opposite wall). Any advice on gear to accomplish this?” Yup! Watch the video to find out, but,hint! Easy PGP Email Encryption! Shannon’s shows off 3 great tools to secure your email: Keybase.io, a site and command line tool for PGP:, Mailvelope, a Chrome extension and Firefox add on, and ProtonMail, a newcomer that supports privacy and encryption! (Thanks for the tip on ProtonMail, Paul!) 64 Bit Chrome & Firefox? Joe writes, “I would like to know are 64 bit browsers better than 32 bit? Is there a Chrome (here) or Firefox 64 bit (here) browser? I use Firefox, Waterfox, Cyberfox, and the Pale Moon 64 bit browsers, and writes, “The only problem that I have is that Waterfox has a problem with Adobe Flash Player sometimes.” Remove Adobe Flash. Forever. Seriously. Go to OccupyFlash.org. And here’s how to turn off the Flash built into Chrome. Best Portable Charger? Dan needs juice to keep a tablet running for 16-24 hours…. we’ve had great luck w/ Anker! Export OS X Keychain? Manny writes, “Just a small question. Is there a short or not too complex way to export the passwords stored in the OS X Keychain to a CSV file or something else?” It’s not easy, but you can Convert OSX Keychain to a CSV! (You -don’t- need to do that to Copy OSX Keychain from One Mac to Another, btw!) Glue Stick! “Patrick have you tried using glue stick on your 3D printer bed most ppl find it to work well and you avoid over spray on your printer also how are you finding 3D printing I’m loving mine.” Thanks, Ashley! The post TekThing 27: Secure Email, Synology DS1515+ NAS, 64-bit Chrome & Firefox, Surround Sound Help, Micro Bit, Die Flash Die!!! appeared first on Technolust since 2005. Media files: tekthing--0027--secure--email-synology-ds1515-nas-64-bit-chrome-firefox-micro-bit-remove-flash.mp4 (video/mp4, 0 MB) Adobe Flash Vulnerability, No More Private Registration?!, T-Mobile Transparency Report Jul 8th 2015, 17:38 Adobe Flash 0-Day Vulnerability, No More Private Registration?!, T-Mobile Transparency Report Released. All that coming up now on Threat Wire. Links: http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/07/hacking-team-leak-releases-potent-flash-0day-into-the-wild/ http://www.wired.com/2015/07/fbi-spent-775k-hacking-teams-spy-tools-since-2011/ http://www.wired.com/2015/07/unassuming-web-proposal-make-harassment-easier/ https://gnso.icann.org/en/issues/raa/ppsai-initial-05may15-en.pdf http://www.cnet.com/news/t-mobiles-transparency-report-reveals-352000-customer-data-requests/ http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/content/1020/files/NewTransparencyReport.pdf https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/105419513438843979262/communities/108468376385294386339   Youtube Thumbnail credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/maxkiesler/8114167283 The post Adobe Flash Vulnerability, No More Private Registration?!, T-Mobile Transparency Report appeared first on Technolust since 2005. Hak5 1821 – Android Packet Sniffing and Free Alternatives to XenCenter Jul 8th 2015, 06:01 Sniffing Packets on Android with tPacketCapture and Xen Orchestra, a free open source web-based management system for XenServers. Download HD  |   Download MP4 Links: https://xen-orchestra.com https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.taosoftware.android.packetcapture&hl=en https://www.kismetwireless.net/android-pcap/ The post Hak5 1821 – Android Packet Sniffing and Free Alternatives to XenCenter appeared first on Technolust since 2005. Media files: hak5--1821--android-packet-sniffing-free-alternative-xencenter--hd720p30.h264.mp4 (video/mp4, 252 MB)

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How The New iPod Touch Will Help You Test Apps Jul 17th 2015, 16:53 It’s no surprise that Apple’s new iPod Touch is far better than the previous model. Tech moves fast, and it has been three years since the company lavished any attention on this device, which has morphed from a music player into a kind of tiny tablet which can run the same apps as an iPhone. The new version brings faster performance and better cameras, without sacrificing battery life or supersizing its measurements. That could be a winning trait or a problematic scenario, depending on what you plan to use it for.  See also: Maybe Apple's Next Watch Should Do Less, Not More App makers often pick up the iPod Touch for development or testing purposes. That makes sense since, starting at $199, it’s the cheapest Apple gadget capable of running full iOS. But as great as the new version looks, it still comes with a few trade-offs. Here are a few things iOS developers need to know before they fill their carts with new iPods. iPod Touch, Meet 2015 The iPod Touch has always been a watered-down version of Apple's flagship iPhone. That has plusses and minuses. The new model’s updates takes cues from the company’s iPhone 6 smartphones, but it still doesn't overcome a few key deficiencies that could be important considerations for app makers.  First, some improvements:  Fancy A8 Processor Apple took the 64-bit chip powering its iPhones and stuffed it into the iPod Touch. The Apple-designed A8 is a major upgrade, compared to the previous A5 processor. But even though the processor is the same, Apple appears to have underclocked it: The iPhone 6 runs it at 1.39GHz, but on the iPod Touch, the same chip works at 1.1GHz (possibly to help battery life).  Despite this, the company promises "10 times faster graphics performance,” and the power should keep many Metal-optimized games running well.  More Memory To keep the performance going, Apple also bumped up the memory. The fifth-generation iPod Touch came with 512 megabytes of RAM. Its successor boasts 1 gigabyte. That's on par with every other Apple iOS device, apart from the iPad Air 2, which has 2 GB of RAM.  Better Cameras The upgraded device includes a new 8-megapixel rear camera (up from 5 megapixels in the previous version), and an “improved” front camera. That matters, if you’re working on a photo or video app, or any phone-based VR or smart-home technology that uses a camera. See also: Why Apple's Letting Developers Test Apps On 100 Apple TVs Thanks to a new image-processing chip, the new iPod Touch also offers a few of the same tricks as its iPhone cousins—like burst mode (at 10 frames per second) for still photos, slow-motion video recording (at 120 fps) and stabilization for video. More Motion Tracking In addition to the three-axis gyroscope and accelerometer, which can tell how you tilt or orient the device, the new gadget also features Apple's M8 motion coprocessor.  That’s a necessity for decent health and fitness tracking, which are areas of intense interest for the company. The older iPod Touch could run the Health app, but it couldn't track steps on its own—it had to rely on external trackers which work with Apple's HealthKit software. If you want to test features that rely on a motion coprocessor, you previously needed an iPhone 5S or 6. See also: How (And Why) Apple's Obsessed With Our Health Improved Wireless As the world becomes increasingly connected, wireless technology becomes even more critical. But the Touch has never had LTE or even 3G networks to rely on for connectivity on the go—otherwise it would be an iPhone, right? That has meant that its Wi-Fi and Bluetooth features need to be extremely solid. And yet, some developers have struggled with the older iPod Touch's connectivity, even more so than iPhones.  Fortunately, Apple amped up the Wi-Fi with 802.11ac support. Though it's not exactly prevalent yet, over time, older Wi-Fi routers—which use the slower b, g, or n variants of the 802.11 standard—will make way for ones with the newer specification. Apple says the upgrade gives the iPod “three times faster Wi-Fi.”  Apple also provisioned the new iPod Touch with Bluetooth version 4.1—a profile that promises better battery efficiency and more reliable pairing.  This iPod Touch is Apple's first gadget to offer this Bluetooth profile out of the box. (Even the iPhone 6 is still stuck on 4.0.) That's exciting if you’re working on apps that tie into smart homes using Apple's HomeKit framework, or working with iBeacons or any other Bluetooth devices (like a CarPlay dashboard or an Apple Watch).  New 128 GB Storage Option The iPod Touch didn’t grow in physical size. On the inside, though, it boasts a new, larger storage option. A 128 GB model is part of the line-up now, which altogether comes to: 16 GB ($199), 32 GB ($249), 64 GB ($299) and 128 GB ($399). That's useful if your apps store a lot of data onboard. The iPod Still Can't Touch This The changes make for a dramatically improved new iPod Touch. But even so, the new version still omits some important features, some of which have become increasingly significant for developers.  No Change In Screen The new iPod Touch held onto its predecessor's 4-inch Retina display, at 1136 x 640 resolution—the same as the iPhone 5 and 5s. That means it's the smallest Apple device capable of running a full version of iOS. The company’s current crop of iOS devices now features five different display sizes—4 inches, 4.7 inches, and 5.5 inches for iPhones, not to mention the 7.9-inch and 9.7-inch iPads. A sixth size may come this fall too, if there’s any truth to the iPad Pro rumors. Yes, Apple’s Auto Layout and Interface Builder are powerful tools that can help developers deal with varying sizes. But they're not a panacea—especially if you have to support older versions of iOS, or if your apps have interface elements that need a larger canvass to look or work well. The smaller screen can be a help or a drawback here—it can help simulate older iPhones alongside a newer iPhone 6, but it may be limited as a standalone test device. No Touch ID Even the iPad got Apple's fingerprint scanner. Not so for its smaller sibling. The device also skips short-range Near Field Communications (NFC). In other words, no Apple Pay.  In theory, Apple Pay could work on the iPod Touch, since NFC technology doesn't require an Internet connection. But that would have required designing in the special security hardware that the iPhone 6 and other Pay-compatible devices have. Too bad—since the iPod Touch is such an app-friendly device, it would have been great for testing e-commerce apps.  No GPS With the iPod Touch, app makers who need location data have to rely on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to kinda, sorta figure out where the user is. Good thing Apple improved both, but they’re still no replacement for cellular-based GPS.  This may not be a challenge for all developers. Apple’s Location Services is good enough for apps that just sporadically need a general sense of where users are. Others that need more accuracy may struggle with this. No Vibration Rumors run high that the next iPhone (or iPhones) will feature Force Touch, the vibration response introduced in the Apple Watch. The feature made its way to Apple’s MacBooks shortly after.  Looks like the iPod Touch will be the odd man out. A teardown by iFixit suggests it lacks the hardware to make the shaking action happen. See also: The Force (Touch) May Be Strong With iOS 9 It’s not clear yet what Force Touch might bring to the iPhone, so it's not a big loss to not be able to test the feature. But if you're already dreaming up games or other apps which make use of this feedback element, you'll have to wait for future hardware. The Bottom Line The new iPod Touch does look like a much-needed update. For smart-home developers especially, the improved Bluetooth support makes it a good test device. But the most important thing for developers to know is their experience with the iPod Touch will depend a lot on the specifics of what they're building.  For some, this gadget will be ideal, both in performance and price. But for others, the perfect iOS test unit will still be a full-fledged iPhone.  Photos courtesy of Apple

Media files: MTMxNjQyOTI0OTAyNDM0ODI2.jpg (image/jpeg) Product Design Unification Case Study, Part 2: “Burger-Driven” Framework Jul 17th 2015, 10:11 In the first part of the case study about Mail.Ru Group product design unification, I described our first approach — a mobile web framework. Aside from creating a unified visual style and interaction principles for a dozen services, we've also transformed our design process from the classic "prototype → design mock-up → HTML → implementation" approach for every screen, to a modern and more efficient framework-based approach. In this second part I'll show how we have improved the same technology to embody larger versions of these products and made our "Bootstrap on steroids" more powerful. In the spring of 2012, our business unit acquired 11 content-based projects: Auto, Events Guide, Health, Horoscopes, Kids, Lady, Moto, News, Sports, TV, and Weather. Many of them are very successful in their market niche in Russia; however, they each have their own history, often with outsourced designs that led to inconsistencies. The post Product Design Unification Case Study, Part 2: “Burger-Driven” Framework appeared first on Smashing Magazine. How Eddystone Will Take Beacons Further Than Ever Before Jul 16th 2015, 21:44 Szymon Niemczura is the CEO and cofounder of Kontakt.io, a provider of microlocation tools. Kontakt.io is a Wearable World Labs company. ReadWrite's parent company, Wearable World, takes a stake in Wearable World Labs companies. In its new Eddystone standard, Google has offered a complete package that solves proximity for developers in a number of ways. What should you do about it? Eddystone is an open format from Google that takes the primary capability of beacons—their ability to broadcast a unique number via short-range Bluetooth signals—and extends it to an impressive degree. What does that mean? Let’s start by looking at what makes Eddystone different from iBeacon, the well-known beacon format from Apple. iBeacon is Android and iOS compatible, but native only for iOS Eddystone is Android and iOS compatible, and may be a native part of the upcoming Android M release iBeacon is simple and easy to implement Eddystone is flexible and opens new possibilities, but is more complicated to code iBeacon is not open source—the specification is in Apple's hands Eddystone is published openly on GitHub iBeacon broadcasts a unique ID number Eddystone broadcasts three different packets: a unique ID number, a URL address, and sensor telemetry Take in the broader set of data you can broadcast with Eddystone-compatible beacons. You have the capacity to broadcast URLs directly to users’ smart devices, or take temperature or other sensor data from beacons and broadcast it to smart devices for a variety of uses.  Google has done more than that. This week, it also launched two new services: the Nearby API and the Proximity Beacon API.  The Proximity Beacon API is a Google-sized solution for a problem many other businesses have tried to solve: How does a developer manage all of the data involved in working with beacons and smart devices? They’re hardly the first ones to present a solution for this (every beacon manufacturer worth their salt has developed its own approach), but Google is making their own attempt at being the one API to rule them all.  The Nearby API is also a good answer to a hard problem: putting proximity features into smart devices at the operating-system level instead of at the app level. Through Nearby Messages and Nearby Connections, Google is looking to own the data flow from beginning to end. The Internet Of Things Is Where The Money Is Google knows that the Internet of Things is going to be where the money for the Internet is, in a few years’ time. In order to be there in the future, it is running hard at its target now.  For a young company like ours, in a space that’s attracting attention from companies as big as Google and Apple, you know you’re doing something right. It’s also kind of scary. Do we all really want to give Google even more data points about our lives? Eddystone represents a big jump forward in what you can expect from the Internet of Things. For the Internet of Things to reach the kind of saturation point that it needs to transform our lives in the manner which the Internet itself did, it needs to be ubiquitous. By building a complete framework that expresses how you broadcast data from Bluetooth Low Energy beacons (Eddystone format), where this data resides (the Proximity Beacon API), and even how to present that data to smart devices (the Nearby API), there's one coherent framework for the Internet of Things to operate on.  This improves how developers will create experiences across platforms and makes it easier to create an endless stream of proximity data for our devices to interact with. So how does this bring ubiquity? If, as many expect, Google natively supports Eddystone in Android M, developers will get the ability to push notifications to someone's smartphone through the Nearby API. Their apps can also take into account what the user's smart device has been doing (like searching for a given term or getting directions to a specific place) and present relevant data to users with virtually no effort on their part.  By putting a native integration into the most popular mobile operating system in the world, Google will create a huge demand for beacons and smart-device interactions, and will hugely increase the beacon installations around the world. Here's an example. Imagine you're taking a trip. When you look up directions from an airport to a hotel after you rented a car, the Nearby API can be used to see if you've left the parking garage and automatically take care of most of the steps required for checking in. Upon arriving at the hotel, you're prompted to install the hotel's registration application to speed things up. It also sets the room you're going to be in to your preferred temperature, informs the hotel staff when you've parked in their parking lot, and can even have your phone serve as your room key. When you check out at the end of your stay, your phone passes by a beacon as you leave the hotel parking lot, checking the exact registered location with the Proximity API, and checkout is handled automatically. All of these features are proximity interactions that can be driven by a native integration with Android and beacons through Eddystone, the Proximity Beacon API, and the Nearby API. What To Do About The Eddystone Opportunity In any market, the main differentiator between the winners and the losers is that the winners correctly identify the major market trends and get ahead of them. The losers don’t even notice things have changed until they’re irrelevant. Blockbuster didn’t worry about Netflix—until too late. Taxi medallion owners didn’t worry about Uber—until too late. If your business is in a space where proximity is valuable—and that’s almost every business segment out there—now is the time to start thinking about what your plan to embrace proximity in your organization is.   If you don’t determine how your business can make use of proximity to better serve your clients, odds are someone else will, and by offering better service in a world where Internet of Things functionality is ubiquitous, they’ll get and keep clients faster than you will. Just like no one takes a business without a website seriously these days, it will soon be the case that no one takes a business that doesn’t have good proximity integrations seriously either. As the leader of a company that manufactures beacons and beacon software—and who was one of the select few companies working with Google on this project as they got it ready for launch—I'm excited about what Google's Eddystone is bringing to the space. We hope it will help drive more sales of beacons, but that's almost incidental to the kind of experiences that it makes possible. It helps us by giving developers everywhere a language that they can use to construct something other than just another couponing app, and by raising expectations for what developers deliver, will increase the value of the Internet of Things to everyone who's looking at joining the space. Lead photo by Jonathan Leung; other images courtesy of Kontakt.io

Media files: MTMxNjM5ODc3NjIzMDk3OTg3.jpg (image/jpeg) Sphericam 2 Wants To Put VR Filmmaking Within Anyone's Reach Jul 16th 2015, 19:36 We know that virtual reality has big potential for filmmakers, and more professional rigs are becoming available to help them make polished VR movies. Now, Sphericam aims to give enthusiasts, hobbyists and other dabblers the same opportunity with a new 360-degree camera that, the startup promises, is easier to use and costs less.  See also: Google Jump Will Revolutionize Making Virtual-Reality Experiences Looking a bit like a multi-faceted Dungeons and Dragons die, the Sphericam 2 hit Kickstarter a couple of weeks ago, and has already blasted its $150,000 goal. Currently, the campaign (which ends July 30) has sold out of its $1,300 tier, making $1,400 now the minimum pledge to receive the device.  That's not a super-low budget cost, but it's still thousands less than, say, Google's attempt to court budding VR makers. At Google I/O, the tech giant unveiled its new Jump rig and open source software, which require 16 GoPros at $300 to $400 each, for a total cost landing around $5,000 to $6,000.  Price is only half the story. The startup's first attempt in 2012, the Sphericam 1, was a much bulkier and more cumbersome unit. Comparing the two devices shows just how far the technology has progressed in three years. For the committed amateur, the improvements and cost of entry offer an intriguing and more accessible way into the technology.  Rolling The Die Sphericam 2  It's not easy to make decent-looking VR video. Often, blind spots, uneven stitching of footage and variations from different white balance levels can plague projects, reads Sphericam's Kickstarter page.  The campaign outlines the frustrations of dealing with those problems:  There just aren't many people who want to go through the months of training required to operate six sports cameras stuck together, and the tremendous amount of tricky post-processing that is needed to make such footage watchable. Google's Jump platform wants to take the sting out of that lining up all those GoPros and assembling all their footage.  Spherical's approach differs, starting with the hardware: The anodised aluminium-clad device includes embedded six cameras and a selection of mounting options. (Thanks to Wi-Fi support, you can use a smartphone to set viewpoints and change recording settings without laying hands on the unit.)  The setup stitches the footage together in real time, so it's essentially ready to go straight away—no extra editing required.  The Spherical 2 offers 100% spherical video capture from all sides at a 4K, 60fps resolution. Finished footage can be viewed through a VR headset like the Oculus Rift or Google Cardboard, in 2D on mobile devices or desktops, thanks to YouTube's new 360-degree video support.  See also: How Jaunt's New Neo Camera Gives VR Filmmaking A Boost Jeffrey Martin, Sphericam's creator, told ReadWrite that he's seen "a huge sigh of relief" from video makers. "Many people are tired of bolting together action cameras and going through an incredibly convoluted process of shooting and post production to achieve acceptable results," he said. "Many more people don't even want to try this route because it is so expensive and difficult." Not Just For Amateurs I Am You (Source: Cinehackers) Filmmaker Elli Raynai agrees with Martin. Having had to create his own bespoke rig to shoot a short VR film titled I Am You, Raynai sees the the Sphericam 2's smooth workflow being just as exciting as the device itself.  The camera might be aimed at amateurs, but he feels such devices could help more serious filmmaking pursuits too.  See also: The Brave New World Of Virtual-Reality Filmmaking "Any camera that makes the 360 stitching process easier is a very beneficial tool for filmmakers, as stitching is a very difficult process to get perfect," he said. "This coupled with sixty frames per second and 4K resolution recording makes this an ideal candidate for VR 360 filmmaking."  To complete I Am You, Raynai had to enlist the help of programmer partner Alexander Kondratskiy. (He wrote a plug-in for the Unity gaming engine to support VR feedback.) Recruiting coding expertise may not be an option for everyone. But while barriers still exist in both hardware and software, they seem to be coming down faster.   Raynai says there are fewer limitations in the way of VR filmmakers now. Directing a viewer's point of view has been one potential problem, and dealing with the camera's field of vision can be another. Those obstacles haven't totally disappeared yet, but they're not insurmountable. With products like Spherical's device, it's probably just a matter of time.  "I think over the next couple years we are going to see more and more indies trying to make films in VR," says Raynai. "My film has been met with great enthusiasm by both the general public and other filmmakers who are curious about [it]. VR filmmaking will never replace regular filmmaking, but will be another medium to tell stories on." The Real Goal For This Virtual Camera  Martin attributes Spherical's current crowdfunding success to "pent-up demand" for an affordable VR camera. But, he's also aware of some skepticism because of the project's origins on Kickstarter.  This original Sphericam The Sphericam 2 Older campaigns for 360-degree cameras that launched in previous years, but still haven't shipped, "have hurt us," Martin said. "We've gotten a ton of comments along the lines of 'Well I'd love to get Sphericam, but I already backed those two other, and I haven't gotten them yet, so I need to wait, or my wife will kill me!'"  New uses for immersive video could outweigh those concerns: For instance, one doctor wants to use Sphericam 2 to document cancer treatment in virtual reality, so that newly diagnosed patients can know what to expect.  Scenarios like that and others may have fueled Spherical's campaign. Now that it has surpassed its original goal, the company wants to offer new incentives—including more colors (if it reaches $250,000) and a splashproof housing for the unit (at $360,000). If the funds reach a total of $750,000, the Sphericam 2 will get a USB Type-C port.  The longer term goal is a bit less quantifiable. Martin hopes his Sphericam 2 will lead to more VR content creators stepping into the space.  "[VR] adoption has gone more slowly due to a lack of content. We really want to fill that hole," he said. "I hope our camera lets a lot of new people explore and create new art for this medium."  Images courtesy of Sphericam and Cinehackers.

Media files: MTMxNjM1ODAxOTY3NTk2ODE4.jpg (image/jpeg) How Small Changes To Google Search Can Punch Your Web Traffic In The Face Jul 15th 2015, 22:21 This post appears courtesy of the Ferenstein Wire, a syndicated news service. Publishing partners may edit posts. For inquiries, please email author and publisher Gregory Ferenstein.  When it comes to optimizing traffic to your website, plenty of reports would have you believe that social media is the only field worth plowing. But a new Adobe study shows that Google searches remain a dominant force—so much so, that even small tweaks to its algorithm can cause immediate and significant changes in Web traffic. See also: Google Shows How Fast America Rushed To Learn About Gay Marriage The company has a history of intentionally punishing or rewarding websites, based on whether they align with its vision or not. Most recently, it decided to lower rankings for websites that weren't mobile-optimized, such as those displaying large text that didn't wrap to fit smartphone screens. The change wound up not being so little after all. When Google, which owns 70.8% of the global search engine market, decided to focus on phone-friendly websites, the shift wound up undercutting traffic and raising the overall cost of website operation. The report calls it the Google “mobilegeddon.” KO'ed By Mobilegeddon According to the report, which tracked 5,000 websites [PDF], Google's shift shrank traffic to some sites up to nearly 10% in just 2 months after it implemented the policy. That may not sound like much, but for high-volume sites, that can amount to a severe drop-off. See also: Why The EU Hates Google: Its End Game Is Still A Single Search Result Perhaps more importantly, the change made running mobile-unfriendly websites more expensive: Some website owners bought advertisements to make up for the resulting dip in organic traffic from Google searches. Publishers didn’t just buy more ads; they wound up paying more per interaction, with the "cost-per-click" of ads rising 16%. Everyone knows Google owns Web searches. (They don’t call it a search giant for nothing.) But scenarios like this illustrate how deep its influence can go. Woe Be To Anyone Who Doesn’t Think Like Google In past years, Google has tweaked its algorithm to punish content farms, such as Demand Media’s How.com. The site features popular headlines, but the tech company believes it lacks substantive information. Demand Media's business, which depended on Google for much of its traffic, suffered immediately after the changes. In the future, Google reportedly plans to prioritize websites that have scientifically validated facts, rather than speculation—especially when it comes to health-related information. This could have a big impact on fringe communities that lay outside popular opinion, like anti-vaccination activists. Granted, that can be either good or bad news, depending on your point of view. But the move may also keep educational sites about Eastern medicine, holistic healing and alternative therapies in the shadows, away from the Google spotlight. The numbers in the “mobilegeddon” report matter less than the fact it managed to quantify how Google can broadly influence the way we find information or media. Let it be a lesson: Those who want to curry favor with the search giant will align with their priorities with it. In other words, woe be to any site that ignores Google’s priorities. You could be de-ranked into obscurity. For more stories like this, subscribe to the Ferenstein Wire newsletter here. Photo by Ari Bakker

Media files: MTMxNjE3NjIzNTE4NDg5MjE5.jpg (image/jpeg) BitTorrent Gives Developers A Cloud-Free Alternative Jul 15th 2015, 17:00 As privacy and security become bigger concerns, developers who want to store users' data securely may be interested in a new API from BitTorrent that offers more options and a lower barrier to entry than its predecessor.  BitTorrent is already familiar to many for its peer-to-peer file transfer technology that enabled websites like The Pirate Bay to exist. But the company has been branching out and finding different, more specialized applications for its core technology.  In 2013, it launched BitTorrent Sync, a file-synchronization service that operates similar to applications like Box and Dropbox. BitTorrent Sync, however, doesn't use the cloud as it's conventionally conceived: None of the data being transferred ends up on a third-party server. Instead, it's shared from device to device as needed—and can even work when devices are connected to each other but aren't on the Internet. Soon after releasing Sync, BitTorrent also released an API for the product, and let developers play around with it. Since then, they've seen four primary uses for their sync technology: file integration, workflow management, automatic syncing, and custom reporting.  There have also been outlier projects that the team didn't expect at all, according to Erik Pounds, BitTorrent's vice president of product management. The highest profile one of these was a project by Jack Minardi, an electrical engineer, Harvard fellow, and cofounder of Voxel8, a 3D-printing company.  Minardi's project is a decentralized Web page, available only to users with approved machines. Here's how Torrentfreak explains the process:  By self-publishing websites locally, everyone with access to a machine through BitTorrent Sync/SyncNet can view it peer-to-peer without the need to access a traditional server-based website. Any changes to the website are automatically pushed to users and since BitTorrent Sync has a feature to grant users read-only access, there’s no risk of unauthorized modification of content. The Sync API 2.0, which launches Wednesday, should encourage more creative projects like Minardi's. The API is more flexible—the number of API calls, or allowable operations, has tripled from 14 to 42—but more importantly, it should also be easier to use. That's because this time around, BitTorrent built the API using the REST (representational state transfer) style, which means testing out commands should be faster and smoother for developers.  "It was much easier to develop," said Theron Lewis, one of BitTorrent's senior engineers and lead API developer. "It was much easier to write sample apps than it was for the previous API. [Using REST], there's tons of other toolkits and frameworks and stuff that will make integration much easier. The internal framework we set up makes it easier to incorporate new functionality."  Pounds and Lewis said BitTorrent issued 6,300 developer keys for the previous version of the API, suggesting a substantial level of interest in Sync.  One such developer is Onehub, an enterprise file-sharing service, which will use Sync to allow for faster file transfer.  "They had a challenge where [their product] was all cloud-based, which most file-sync solutions are," Pounds said. "For some of their customers that was just too slow."  Onehub used Sync and its APIs to create a service that transfers files directly between machines while simultaneously creating a backup copy in the cloud. While file-sharing is an obvious application for Sync, it's the offline capabilities that have yet to be plumbed. Sync could find a home among developers of wearables and other devices that only have intermittent connections to the Internet, for which Amazon, Box, Dropbox, Google, and Microsoft's Internet-dependent services just won't work. Photo by Lachlan Donald

Media files: MTMxNTk3NDI2NzAzMjU1NTYy.jpg (image/jpeg) As Its Enemies Grow, Flash's Days Are Numbered Jul 15th 2015, 16:14 On Tuesday, Mozilla and Google stopped Adobe Flash dead in its tracks. In a decision that threatens legions of restaurant websites that inexplicably still feature Flash, the makers of the Firefox and Chrome browsers ended support for all versions of the Web plugin. The move follows the recent discovery of zero-day security bugs in Adobe Flash.  The aging platform was already known for crashes and glitchy performance, but the security weakness appeared to be the last straw.  See also: YouTube Fired Flash, Clearing HTML5's Last Obstacle For World Domination For Mozilla, the quick decision to pull the plug may be a positive sign for the browser maker. The open-source organization has been scrambling to get its mojo back in recent months, as usage for the once-popular Firefox browser fell behind rival Chrome.  When I caught up with Chris Beard, Mozilla’s CEO, at an event recently, he acknowledged that Mozilla had "lost its way." But he was excited about numerous initiatives the group has up its sleeve.  Now, in its apparent bid to claw its way back to relevancy for today’s Web, Firefox joined the first wave to shed one of the most frustratingly flawed and ungainly vestiges of the past. (Update: According to the Mozilla Firefox Twitter account, the browser has re-enabled Flash by default, thanks to the resolution of its security vulnerabilities. See below.)   The Anti-Flash Mob Adobe Flash has no shortage of haters on the Web, and some have even built browser extensions to block the animation and video plugin.  One of the most infamous enemies of Adobe Flash was Steve Jobs. Five years ago, the late Apple CEO and co-founder posted his infamous “Thoughts On Flash” missive explaining why iPhones and iPads wouldn't support the technology. He didn’t call the platform a “toxic hellstew of vulnerabilities,” as his successor later described another technology, but that was pretty much his conclusion: Symantec recently highlighted Flash for having one of the worst security records in 2009. We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash. We have been working with Adobe to fix these problems, but they have persisted for several years now. Different year, same problems. The most recent: Italy’s Hacking Team discovered three Flash security bugs, which—considering the plugin’s widespread support—make an overwhelming proportion of today’s Web vulnerable to attacks. (Update: Some of the holes apparently have been patched. More here.) Given that Flash is a resource-hungry, buggy and largely mobile-unfriendly technology (especially if you have an iPhone), it’s baffling how the Adobe platform has hung on this long.  Then again, that hold has been tenuous. Flash is essentially a leftover no one bothered to Hoover up yet. While it still has a grip on online games, Flash usage overall has slipped in favor of HTML5, which now runs on virtually every major browser and powers much of the online world’s videos. Although HTML5 isn’t perfect, even Adobe sees the opposing specification as the way forward—so much so that it backed off from its own technology.  So did YouTube, the massive Google-owned peddler of cat videos, Web shows and amateur uploads. Earlier this year, it fired Flash as its default player for videos. That Chrome would now cut ties too should surprise no one.  Flash has some surprising adherents. One example is Slack, the popular team communication tool, uses Flash as a fallback client-server mechanism for older browsers that don't support WebSockets—chiefly older versions of Internet Explorer. But there are newer frameworks that allow Web-app developers to avoid even that scenario. Among those jumping into the anti-Flash mob was Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos, who called for Adobe to kill it off. Considering the social giant's emphasis on shared video lately, that looked like another major sign of Flash's looming demise. (Of course, before Stamos continues his tirade, he may want to observe the ways in which his company still uses Flash.) Unlike Facebook, however, Mozilla and Google took concrete steps to snuff it out.  For Mozilla, Flash Just Ain't Foxy  It might seem natural for Google, as one of the largest technology companies in the world, to respond swiftly to security problems. Mozilla might be another matter. The browser maker, owned by a nonprofit foundation, has had plenty of other things on its mind, after all—like working on its own comeback.  But Mozilla jumped on the matter, and its speedy response seemed to carry an unspoken message: When something’s so bad that Firefox dropped everything to boot it, maybe it really does need to die off posthaste.  Oof, rough crowd. But they're not wrong.  No argument there. But the move also happens to line up with what Mozilla has been up to—which is to fight its way back to relevance.  Mozilla's deal last year with Yahoo to replace Google ironically made Microsoft Bing the default search engine. Its Firefox operating system spread out from phones to TVs, but those results have been far too mixed and vague to qualify as successful (not to mention remotely profitable). The reaction to its "sponsored tiles” experiment was more decisive—but not in a good way. Users abhorred the idea, prompting Mozilla to end it.  See also: Firefox Kicks Google To The Curb To Make Room For Yahoo The organization also found itself playing executive musical chairs, putting Chris Beard in the seat vacated by then-CEO Brendan Eich after his much-publicized departure last year.  Beard and his group want to put those days behind them. Instead of fixating on the past, they're keeping their eyes focused ahead with new Firefox efforts, like its multi-process Electrolysis project and its WebVR initiative for streaming virtual reality experiences.  I gave it a whirl a couple of weeks ago on an Oculus Rift (DK2), and it was impressive. The stream came in via Firefox without stutters, and my interactions worked smoothly.  That experience seems all the more relevant as we contemplate the death of Flash. It wouldn't enable experiences like WebVR. If anything, Flash would hold it back. As Mozilla aims to reinvigorate Firefox and pursue passion projects like WebVR, it seems like there's no place in that future for a dusty plugin that can barely handle boring 2D video. Add in major security flaws, and there's not much left to redeem the old Adobe tech.  This strike against Flash won't be the last, so video creators, Web developers and others—ahem, Facebook—should take note.  Lead photo by Pikawil; Steve Jobs photo by Dan Farber Update 7/15/2015: Once again, Mozilla has moved like lightning to respond to recent events. This time, however, it's to reverse its latest decision.  According to the Firefox Twitter account, the browser has restored Adobe Flash following updates that have resolved its latest security holes. The plugin is now enabled by default again.  We still don't believe Flash makes sense in the context of the organization's focus lately. It's just not positioned well for the future (or even the present, for that matter). However, it seems clear that Firefox's newfound responsiveness remains in full force to support the tools people use—whether they're frustrating or not.  In other words, for those in the Occupy Flash camp, now might be a good time to hit up Web developers, your local restaurants and anyone else responsible for keeping that old plugin alive.

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Lotus – An Open Source Framework for Ruby Jul 20th 2015, 07:33 Lotus is Open Source Software, which strives for simplicity, fewer DSLs, minimal conventions, more objects, zero monkey-patching and the separation of concerns between MVC layers. It suggests best practices, but it leaves all the freedom to you, the developer, to build your own architecture, with your own objects. Lotus is made of standalone frameworks (controllers, views, etc.) and each one is shipped as an independent gem to emphasize the separation of concerns. Requirements: – Demo: http://lotusrb.org/ License: MIT License The post Lotus – An Open Source Framework for Ruby appeared first on WebAppers.

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Styleguide – A Tool to Make and Maintain Styleguides Jul 21st 2015, 08:54 Styleguide is a tool to make creating and maintaining styleguides easy. All you need to do is to add the Styleguide to a separate folder in your project. Use it as your CSS. You just need to import the generated file inside your HTML and you are all set! This way the Styleguide will be synced with your project. Isn’t that awesome!? Just copy your project’s CSS and paste it in the Styleguide CSS file. Now you only need to customize the modules to use the proper classes. You can always create/edit any module when you need. The Styleguide is also a independent project. You can download it and use it in your browser. Then all you need to do is edit it’s CSS and set/customize the modules. When you are finished you can send the files to a server or use the HTML version. Requirements: – Demo: http://hugeinc.github.io/styleguide/ License: License Free The post Styleguide – A Tool to Make and Maintain Styleguides appeared first on WebAppers.

The Best Shot At Success For Indie Developers: Go Work For "The Man" Jul 20th 2015, 21:10 Yes, there's an app for that. But even if there is, you definitely shouldn't write it. Not if you're an indie developer, anyway. (Or you enjoy poverty.) While it's easy to point to successful mobile apps, for small, independent app makers, these are the exceptions to the rule.  See also: Without More Data, Your Mobile Strategy Is Toast Just as the Web's early rise wrongly made us believe in the Long Tail, the theory of success moving from a few dominant mega blockbusters to a broad universe of niche hits, mobile's halcyon days made us believe that "there's an app for that" would translate into a financial bonanza for mobile developers.  For some, it has. But not for most—not by a long shot.    Credit: Gaping Void The Long Tail turned out to be short, as Hugh McLeod's drawing insightfully argues. And today's app stores, though open to all, is closed for (your) indie business.  That leaves budding developers, makers and builders to face a harsh reality: At one time, they might have found the best opportunity to express their ideas through app development. Now it's hardware, connected devices, and services that exploit and serve those innovations.  See also: Google's Offering Smarter Tools For Smarter Apps And Homes Ultimately, if you want to innovate, then build new products or services. If all you know how to do (or want to do) is write apps, your best bet is to go work for The Man.  Getting Noticed, Getting Paid Not everyone agrees. For example, Pollen CEO Mark Macmillan would have us believe that the steady increase in new apps signals a "clear indication that the app economy is strong."  Actually, for any individual developer's own "economy," those swelling ranks tell us the opposite.  One reason we have more apps is because it has become progressively easier to build them. Tools like Apple's Swift programming language, Google's latest Android Studio 1.3, and even outside services for porting to different platforms or prototyping, all aim to simplify the process of making apps.  See also: Apple's Swift Move: How Its New Coding Language Could Shake Up iOS Development But while development has become easier (and apparently cheaper), those streamlined processes make for more crowded app stores to fight through.  That, invariably, means less money for the indie. Part of the problem comes down to attention. The bigger Apple's or Google's app stores get, the less likely it will be that anyone ever discovers your app. That's one reason more people will grab Big Brand X's truly awful download before they'll sniff at yours. They know (and presumably love) Big Brand X, so it's a natural hop to move to its mobile app.  But you? You're almost certainly a waste of screen real estate.  You may believe that the huddled masses would love your app, if only they could find it. Too bad you'll probably never know. Marketing apps to new users has recently become a little less expensive, but it's still not cheap to get someone to download an app, as Fiksu's data shows:  Credit: Fiksu Once you do get people to install your app, that's still only half the battle.  Macmillan points to MIDiA research that indicates "many of today’s blockbuster games are not acquiring new audiences." He thinks that should warm the heart of indies hoping to break into big-time revenue. On the contrary, that may do the opposite. The mobile app world's best examples of success look like a desperate scramble to acquire an audience, followed by a plateau. In other words, good luck trying to keep the growth going.  According to Fiksu, which measured costs in relation to app launches over time, the expense of keeping users engaged adds up quickly. Recent figures show they've risen 188% year-over-year for Android and 13% for iOS: Credit: Fiksu Overall, Brent Simmons' lament rings true: "The iOS App Store is, to understate the case, generally unfavorable [to app developers making money]. Indies don’t have a fighting chance." You Could Get Lucky Macmillan's point of view is obviously more optimistic. He predicts an imminent future "where more app developers will have more chances to make more money." To support this he cites data that shows "the number of publishers making between $1,000 and $5,000 monthly has increased 12 percent to reach 6,300 publishers in April 2015, up from 5,600 in September 2014." That's great news. Sort of.  For one thing, it overlooks the reality that all apps are not created equal when it comes to getting paid. On average, roughly 70% of the time we spend in apps is restricted to our three most frequently used apps, according to Flurry data. Your odds of becoming one of those three are very, very small. That is, unless you're developing a game (32% of time spent in apps), Facebook (17%), or social messaging (10%). And games? Well, if you look at the top grossing apps/games, they tend to not be written by indie developers. Supercell, King.com, and Machine Zone all have multi-billion dollar valuations.  Maybe you don't need to make a mint. But you do need to pay your rent. Good luck with that. According to Flurry, roughly 52% of apps lose half of their peak users within three months. And games, despite owning a large chunk of our time, struggle mightily to retain users: 50% of gaming apps lose 50% of their peak monthly active users within two months.  But maybe you're not a game, or Facebook, or a messaging app like Whatsapp. That leaves 41% of the market to fight over. But subtract Twitter (2%), utilities (8%) and YouTube (4%), and that segment dwindles. What you wind up with is just a quarter of a user's potential app time, extending across an average of 26.8 apps we use on a monthly basis, according to Nielsen.  That doesn't mean it's impossible to make it as an indie developer. But the odds of success certainly aren't in your favor.  Big Is Different The same is not true for big brands. Part of the reason is because most aren't in the app business, per se. Mobile apps are a means to an end, and that end is not normally the lavish retirement of their developers.  Larger enterprises tend to see mobile as part of a larger multi-channel strategy. Even when mobile drives considerable revenue—one U.S. retailer recently told me that they expect to do $2 billion this year through their mobile website and app—it's still just one source of revenue among several.   So what's an indie developer to do? Switch gears. Maybe even literally.  ReadWrite Editor-In-Chief Owen Thomas recently observed that "what was largely a software phenomenon has turned into physical hardware." Increasingly, innovation has been leaping off flat screens into three-dimensional products you can touch and hold. "The mobile and social revolutions have largely run their course; while people will still reap the rewards of those innovations, the opportunities are fewer and less interesting," he wrote.  If hardware's not your calling, Simmons offers another alternative: Go work for "The Man":  You the indie developer could become the next Flexibits. Could. But almost certainly not. Okay—not. What’s more likely is that you’ll find yourself working on a Mobile Experience for a Big National Brand(tm) and doing the apps you want to write in your spare time. If there’s a way out of despair, it’s in changing our expectations.  VisionMobile agrees. If there's one thing its data has consistently shown for years, it's this: Enterprise app developers may not have more fun, but they make a lot more money than consumer-facing, independent developers.  The time has come to stop thinking up "apps for that," and perhaps start building "apps for them"—that is, for the big brands that can actually afford a more sophisticated mobile strategy.  Lead photo by Jason Howie

Media files: MTI4NzQxMTA5NDM3MzUxOTQ2.jpg (image/jpeg) Monstroid. How to manage template typography Jul 20th 2015, 13:34 You are about to watch a video tutorial on how to manage Typography in Monstroid template. Monstroid. How to change Google map location Jul 20th 2015, 13:11 This tutorial will show you how to change Google map location in Monstroid template.

Virtual-Reality Films Could Put The Whole Industry In The Spotlight Jul 20th 2015, 13:00 Virtual reality wants to envelop everyone's eyeballs, not just those of gamers. The nascent industry wants couch potatoes, too. Oculus, the Facebook-owned VR gear maker that has come to embody the current virtual-reality wave, has been lobbying hard to make VR cinema an actual thing. The company just struck a deal last week with VR production pros Felix & Paul Studios to produce immersive experiences for its own upcoming Rift headset and Samsung's Gear VR. The announcement bills the partnership as the "largest live-action VR deal to date.” It's the latest in a concerted push to extend the platform beyond gaming.  Such efforts, from multiple VR players, matters to everyone interested in the technology. See also: Oculus Will Let You Grab Virtual Reality With Both Hands If you’re a fan, get your face ready: You’ve got a lot more immersive videos to look forward to. Filmmakers have a new art form to play with (not to mention new tools). As for developers and hardware makers, deals like this could mean even more—like the potential to reach a huge audience. Virtualizing Cinema These lenses could give you the biggest movie screens you've ever seen that wrap all around you. Felix & Paul Studios may be best known as the outfit that created the VR experiences for Jurassic World and Wild for the Gear VR. Considering the fact that Samsung’s goggles are powered by Oculus technology, it’s natural for the Rift to get in on the action. For studio cofounder Felix Lajeunesse, VR cinema is an intriguing storytelling vehicle, and he wants a hand in shaping it: "Each project born out of our partnership with Oculus will be an occasion to explore VR’s unprecedented potential to immerse viewers in human-driven experiences in the fields of fiction and non-fiction storytelling as well as music and the performing arts,” he said in the press release.

See also: The Brave New World Of Virtual-Reality Filmmaking

Oculus has been touting the same line about VR's artistic potential. But it's not an indie filmmaker. It’s a tech company, and VR cinema is one way to push the platform beyond gaming to a larger audience.  Gamers are already passionate about VR, and they're a natural fit, since games depend on sucking people into digital worlds. As many as 155 million Americans are already immersed in it, according to the Entertainment Software Association. That even trumps streaming subscribers, which are projected to reach more than 100 million people by the end of the year.  But that doesn’t take the whole audience into account. Include people who, say, spend hours on YouTube or Dailymotion, or watch cable TV and go to movies—in other words, everyone who enjoys videos and films—and that potential reach becomes massive.  It's hard to convey virtual reality, so Google showed video of a whale on wraparound, panoramic screens at Google I/O 2015. A real VR environment would be even more immersive. If VR becomes a hot destination for must-see (and experience) video, pulling in big audiences, then it's reasonable to believe those eyes will check out what else is in the store. It’s a retail “destination” play, in which sought-after shops or restaurants bring in business for an entire neighborhood.  That represents an important opportunity for VR app makers. While indie developers have a tough time standing out in the mature (and oversaturated) mobile app scene, virtual reality is only just starting to find its legs. For now, early entrants can make a mark in an exciting and far less crowded space.  For Oculus, the company has more than one reason to diversify its appeal. Perhaps the biggest: the HTC Vive. The (really excellent) rival headset, powered by Valve's Steam OS, could give the Rift a run for its money on the gaming front. The company very almost certainly knows this, so it's doubling down on the cinema side. Video May Ignite The VR Star One thing holding back this big cinema push: Oculus still doesn't have a consumer product yet. Its Rift facegear won’t hit the market until early next year. But that's not stopping it from lining up works, so they're ready to grab eyeballs from the get-go.  It's not the only tech company actively pursuing immersive VR videos. Earlier this year, Samsung announced that it struck a deal with David Alpert, executive producer of The Walking Dead, to produce a series for its Milk VR service. Google also recently gave YouTube support for 360-degree video, so Cardboard users and others can enjoy cat videos or whatever else creators want to wrap around viewers.  People voluntarily put corrugated paper on their faces for the Cardboard demo at Google I/O 2015 For the Rift maker, the Felix & Paul deal is its latest move in a string of cinema initiatives. The Facebook-owned VR company already introduced Story Studio, a group of Hollywood veterans (including Pixar animation pros) who have been working to produce VR short films. The company also evangelized its platform at the Cannes Film Festival recently, in an effort to court filmmakers.  See also: Samsung Is Getting Serious About Producing Its Own Virtual-Reality Videos It's a mad scramble by all the VR makers to make sure the pipes are filled. There's a lot at stake. If successful, such efforts could lift the whole industry—and turn virtual reality into real success.  Photos by Adriana Lee

Media files: MTMxNjY0NDU3NzIwOTgzNTIy.jpg (image/jpeg) Monstroid. How to work with MotoPress Slider Jul 20th 2015, 11:36 This tutorial shows how to work with MotoPress Slider in Monstroid template. Monstroid. How to install a theme Jul 20th 2015, 07:38 This tutorial shows how to install Monstroid theme. WordPress. How to change Google map marker Jul 18th 2015, 10:11 Today you will learn how to change the Google map marker in Wordpress templates.

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A Nokia VR Headset Could Bring Pros And Cons For Developers Jul 21st 2015, 23:46 According to a Recode report, Nokia may be entering the virtual reality fray with a headset of its own. Its sources peg a product unveiling for the Finnish company next week at an exclusive event in Los Angeles.  See also: Virtual-Reality Films Could Put The Whole Industry In The Spotlight From a VR perspective, a Nokia VR device would be another product for consumers to mull over and developers to possibly build for: The movement kicked off by the Oculus Rift has since attracted the likes of HTC/Steam, Samsung (whose device runs Oculus technology), Sony, Google and several smaller names, not to mention related projects by giants such as Microsoft. Altogether, that makes for a race to connect our faces to all sorts of digital realities.  For Nokia, it's a way back into hardware after the company was gutted by Microsoft, which bought the mobile arm in 2013. Not just any hardware, either. VR has become a trendy, frenzied area for tech makers. If Recode's story pans out, Nokia's play for virtual reality could be even more important—or at least more exciting—than any attempt it could make to dip back into the saturated smartphone market.  Opportunity Could Be Knocking On The Virtual Door Nokia Technologies, the small hardware division left post-Microsoft, hasn't completely forgotten about mobile devices. The firm produced the Nokia N1 Tablet and still plans to resume its pursuit of smartphones at some point next year, though at least initially through a licensing deal.  See also: Sphericam 2 Wants To Put VR Filmmaking Within Anyone's Reach But virtual reality represents a brave new world of hardware and software—one that's at its early stages, much less crowded and with huge potential for the future. It would be the perfect market for a reborn Nokia to innovate in.  Consider this: VR turned out to be just the thing to reinvigorate interest in HTC, the struggling handset maker that wowed attendees at Mobile World Congress and the Game Developers Conference with its HTC Vive VR goggles.  For now, little is known about next week's event or whatever device Nokia may show off there—including what support for it might look like. In other words, it's not clear if this rumored headset will work off an existing platform, or foist yet another on app developers.  Some Real Hassles In Developing Virtual Worlds For the people who will build the immersive, virtual experiences users will enjoy, that matters a great deal. Coding apps multiple times to support various platforms and devices plagued mobile developers for years. Right now, it's not entirely clear if the same situation will ding the VR programming experience.  In a sprawling Reddit thread, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey confirmed that the Rift will be an open platform, so developers will be able to create apps without approval from Oculus itself.  Luckey also said he was hopeful that the same code could eventually work for multiple VR headsets in the future. However, it's going to take time, effort and collaboration that Oculus and others can't spare, while they ramp up their own products.  Now they may have one more to ponder, which could be both exciting and, depending on the details, possibly fraught.  If there's a glimmer of hope, it may be this: The broader virtual reality's appeal becomes, the more developer tools we'll see. After all, neither filmmakers nor advertisers will want the complexity of remaking multiple versions of their virtual worlds. In that sense, if a Nokia-branded set of goggles really are on the tarmac, then everyone involved in VR should hope they take off and inspire greater adoption.  Image courtesy of Nokia

Media files: MTMxNzU0NDA1MzQxOTY0OTMx.jpg (image/jpeg) This Free Tool Can Tell If Hacking Team’s Exploits Crawled Into Your System Jul 21st 2015, 18:56 This week, IT security software firm Rook Security released a free tool that can sniff out malware leaked from Milan's Hacking Team, a clandestine group that sells surveillance and malignant software to governments, law enforcement and other private clients worldwide. Ironically, the Italian firm that helps governments spy on citizens itself fell victim to a cyberattack earlier this month that spilled 400GB’s worth of data into the wild.  See also: As Its Enemies Grow, Flash's Days Are Numbered The attackers, who may have been ex-employees, released torrent files that span internal documents, source code, and emails with detailed customer information. Rook created its Milano tool to specifically sniff out the Hacking Team's exploits, and reign in threat that's now out in the open.  Why Stockpiling Malware Is A Bad Idea “This breach has been very unique in nature and challenging for security technology vendors to obtain code samples to create signatures and patches, thereby leaving scores of systems potentially vulnerable to nefarious actors seeking to weaponize Hacking Team’s once proprietary tools,” said J.J. Thompson, CEO of Rook, in a press statement. Rook has been working with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, specifically its Cyber Task Force in Indianapolis, to zero in on the HackingTeam’s exploits. The firm's new tool, called “Milano,” digs into target systems, performing either a quick scan in a few seconds or a more comprehensive inspection taking up to an hour. The software hunts for “hashes" (files) connected to the Italian company's security breach. It doesn't appear to cover every single potential attack—so far, it spans hashes for 40 Windows executable and library files—but more could come through future updates.  More than Hacking Team’s own confidential information is at stake. Over the course of its work, the company unearthed security holes in technologies ranging from Adobe to Facebook, and many others. Both companies patched the holes to the affected Flash plugin and Oquery tool, respectively. Hacking Team had discovered or had been working on a variety of exploits for everything from software to online services to drone-based Wi-Fi surveillance tools. It often took advantage of "zero-day” vulnerabilities, which are holes that the vendors don’t even know they have. When zero-day attacks go out, they often do damage before companies even know what hit them.  What You Can Do About It The reach of the group’s stash of work could be extensive, affecting developers and other partners, as well as users on a global basis.  Rook said it moved swiftly to respond to the threat. “After our Intelligence Team quickly deduced how the leaked code could be weaponized and used for harm, we immediately put a team in place to identify, analyze, and detect malicious files located in this data,” said Thompson.  The Milano download is available for download on this page. More from Rook about the tool, including a technical overview, can be found here.  Lead photo courtesy of Shutterstock Epilogue: One RW reader on Twitter couldn't help but note that Rook's solution may not be much better than the problem:  There's no hard evidence indicating that the feds could use Milano for their own purposes. However, given the surveillance era we live in, it wouldn't be a huge stretch to believe that may be possible. IT managers and other system administrators would do well to consider all the potential risks.

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Monstroid: Monstrously Powerful WordPress Theme Jul 22nd 2015, 16:15 Whether you are tech-savvy or just a newbie, you’ll definitely be glad to have a universal theme providing all the essentials in one pack. Well, it appears that such a solution has finally been released for WordPress users. As its name suggests, “Monstroid” is a monstrously powerful WP theme suitable for any type of site, from blogs and news portals to personal & corporate portfolios and e-stores. It is equipped with a rich array of options for the design of your website. They include 145 predefined pages, 120+ PSD files, 50+ licensed images, 500+ fonts, multiple interface elements, styles, skins, child themes – you name it. This is just a modest beginning to the list of features, so read our review to learn about Monstroid in detail. Get Multiple Child Themes for Free Monstroid does not only have unlimited design possibilities but also comes with 4 child themes. They embrace the topics enjoying the widest popularity in the web design community, particularly finance & IT for businessmen, art & photography for creative individuals and studios, education for instructors and schools, as well as interior & furniture for decorators and architects. What’s more, the scope of topics will be broadened eventually, and you will receive up to 15 child themes monthly. It means you pay for one theme, but obtain multiple themes for the same amount of money. As you can see, Monstroid allows you to save for a rainy day. * * * Create an Optimal Website Layout First of all, let’s focus on the structure of pages. Monstroid enables you to create multiple layouts without touching the code. All you have to do is to enter the dashboard and manage the layout options right there. Depending on your preferences, you can build a boxed or full-width structure and make it of 1170px or 960px. To draw extra attention to specific info, you can also add sidebars to the right and left sides of the layout. Feel free to experiment with your website structure as you wish. * * * Experiment with Arrangement of Interface Elements Once you have settled on a layout structure, it’s time to proceed to styling it. There are 4 style options for arranging elements on the page, particularly grid, masonry, flat, and masonry flat. With their help, you can display your content in well-defined boxes or Pinterest-style tiles with or without gaps between them. To impart more diversity to the overall design of your site, you can choose different style options for different pages. * * * Change the Theme Skin with One Click Next, Monstroid is pre-built with a skin switcher, which is a tool allowing you to change the look of your site in an instant, i.e. with a single click to be exact. Initially the theme package contains 3 skins that reflect popular web design trends. Read about them below. Flat Skin lacks obtrusive styling details like ornaments or drop shadows, which provides a clear presentation of information and faster page loading. Minimal Skin utilizes ample, clean space ensuring perfect content readability and easy navigation throughout your site. Dark Skin makes effective use of black space adding a creative and sophisticated touch to your website aesthetics. Don’t overlook the fact that this number will grow later to embrace more options. * * * Build Your Website Backend with Ease Now, let’s dig deeper into the functional potential of Monstroid. Its major value is presented in a number of innovative features meant to facilitate your website building process. Take a closer look at each of them below. Shortcode Template Editor. Using this tool, you can build templates for shortcodes and edit them in many possible ways. Dynamic CSS. This feature is designed to bring dynamic changes to CSS. On saving the option settings, you generate a new file instead of rebuilding the main CSS file. Static Area Builder. With its aid, you can locate header and footer elements (logo, banner, slider, navigation bar etc) wherever you like by dragging and dropping them. For example, you can attach a logo to any part of the footer. CSS Minifier. With this option activated, you can compile all the CSS files into a single one. Then, you can minify the size of that file to accelerate the speed of your website loading. Installation Wizard. It requires only a few clicks and takes a few minutes to install the theme and all of its components. Due to the wizard, there is no need to bother with FTP. The team behind Monstroid pursued a goal to deliver maximum ease-of-use to you while dealing with the website backend. * * * Add Store Functionality to Your Site If you are aiming to make profits online, you will find Monstroid useful for your undertaking. This is a fully functional WooCommerce theme equipped with a rich set of ready-made pages for a web store. Thus, the only thing you’ll need to do is replace the default content with your own, and that’s all. You can easily start selling your items from your inventory and monitor various details of your eCommerce activity. Keep in mind that child themes included in the Monstroid package are also WooCommerce-ready. * * * Secure Your Website with a Backup Option Sometimes people are dissatisfied with the changes they make while customizing their website designs. Fortunately, Monstroid has an ideal solution to this problem. You can back up the theme and return to the previously saved or default version any time you need. It’s possible to back up both the content and settings in the admin panel. So, don’t be afraid to experiment with your website design, as you can always take a step back without losing anything important. * * * Get Lots of Powerful Plugins for Free Monstroid is supplied with multiple powerful plugins, which will let you build a functionally rich web resource. Each of those plugins can work as a standalone tool, but still you get all of them for the initial price of the theme only. Check some of Monstroid’s plugins in detail below. MotoPress Editor. This tool can help you customize the front end of your site by means of drag-and-drop functionality. Moto Slider. It can let you create pixel-perfect slideshows with multiple layers. The slider comes with drag-and-drop interface, cool transition effects, animations, image re-size option, and much more Cherry Shortcodes. With this plugin you get 30+ shortcodes and 150+ of their variations. This allows you to add different types of content to your site and manage them with ease. Portfolio Page. With its aid, you can embed a separate portfolio section in your site. It features a lot of functions and effects to provide a memorable presentation of your projects. Cherry Mega Menu. Improve your website navigation by equipping it with a mega menu. It can accommodate lists of links, buttons, text, banners and other elements on the dropdown panel. Cherry Charts. This tool is meant to build eye-catching infographics and diagrams that are ideal for illustrating statistics. Cherry Rank. This plugin enables website visitors to rate your product images with stars for greater credibility. Cherry Data Manager. It will come in handy for moving your website to a new hosting domain. Using the manager, you can both import and export the data with a single click. * * * Provide Your Site with All the Essentials for Its Success In addition to the rich set of plugins, Monstroid offers many other things that will be of great benefit for your web resource. Learn more about these helpful features that no successful site can do without nowadays. Compatibility with Popular Extensions. In this way, you can supply your site with many extra functions besides those built into Monstroid. For example, the theme supports bbPress to create a forum, WPML to localize your site, Yoast to optimize its indexation by search engines, and many more. Cherry Framework 4.0. Monstroid is built with the Cherry framework, a Bootstrap-based WordPress theme framework that allows the building of websites with ease and speed. It has an independent modular structure, which means you can use its components independently. Today, the majority of frameworks are overloaded with unnecessary options that often annoy users, but the latest version of the Cherry Framework is different. Using this tool, you can switch off all the options you don’t need while building your site. It’s really easy to master the framework. 500+ Google Fonts. With such a diverse number of fonts, you can bring any desirable changes to your website typography and make your content more readable. SEO & Mobile Friendly. These qualities are solid prerequisites for extending your website reach. People will be able to use your site on the go via portable devices, and search engines will rank it higher on the results page. Social Media Integration. It ensures your business promotion on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other popular networks. To be more accurate, you can let people register on your site and consequently sign in to it using their social accounts. They will also be able to subscribe to your official social profiles as well as comment, rate, and share your content with friends. Google Maps. Integration of this service allows customers to find your company’s location on an interactive map. * * * Find out What Else You Can Get with Monstroid Such a rich functional potential of Monstroid can add enormous power and flexibility to your site, but that’s not all. The team behind Monstroid took all the users’ needs into account, and included cool extras to the theme package. Together with Monstroid, you will also get the following things at no charge. 50+ Licensed Images. Monstroid comes with a pack of professional images depicting various topics, which means you will definitely find something cool for your site. It will let you save both time and money on the visual presentation of content. Documentation for End Users. The theme is packed with detailed instructions to guide you through installation, customization and other procedures. Video Tutorials. In case you do not understand something written in the documentation, you can watch video tutorials to see the way it works visually. Free Customer Support. If you become a Monstroid user, you will never be on your own with your theme. Just contact the support team to get an immediate response via a live chat 24/7. You can also send an email if you have no time for chatting, and the Support Team will contact you shortly. This free service is granted for as long as you use the theme. Lifetime Updates. You will receive a message about the availability of updates on a regular basis and optionally implement them on your site. The updates include new topics, features and bug fixes. * * * Conclusion As you can see, Monstroid is an all-in-one WordPress theme to minimize your efforts in building a site and designing its interface. You can be either a developer or an end user, it doesn’t matter at all. The theme is easy for anyone to use regardless of his or her skills and experience, and the opportunity to build any type of website, e.g. blog, portfolio or e-store, makes it even more attractive. So, give Monstroid a try and enjoy maximum ease-of-use in web development. About the Author Nick Campbell, the author of this article, is fond of writing posts on various subjects, particularly web design, e-commerce, social media, marketing, business, and education. He has been involved in the content creation sphere for more than two years. Nick is primarily focused on covering modern trends in a specific industry to help his readers keep abreast of the latest news. If you don’t want to miss any brand new developments in the aforementioned topics, follow Nick Campbell on Google+! The post Monstroid: Monstrously Powerful WordPress Theme appeared first on WebAppers.

CSSPlus – Cross Browser Flexbox Layout Scaffolding Jul 22nd 2015, 12:32 CSS Plus wants to provide a simple and fast way to make flexible layout based on flexbox modeling. This awesome css feature lets you specify a flexible container which the children can also be flexible and re-sized automatically when the size of the container changed. It supports Chrome 14, Internet Explorer 10, Firefox 6, Safari 4, Opera 12.10. Requirements: CSS Demo: http://hictech.github.io/cssPlusWebsite/ License: MIT License The post CSSPlus – Cross Browser Flexbox Layout Scaffolding appeared first on WebAppers.

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Can You Be The Next Uber? It's Easier Than You Think Jul 23rd 2015, 22:17 Guest author Danny Boice is the CEO of Trustify, a service that allows anyone to hire a private investigator on demand. Uber is so successful that the name is now synonymous and interchangeable with on-demand marketplaces that overturn the status quo and leverage technology at scale. Uber did not invent the concept of aggregating disparate supply and demand to create a business, but they did it in a loud, disruptive manner with cheap technology. Others are paying attention and trying to mimic their success. Today, you don’t have to look far to see an “Uber for X” business. Why? In large part because there are so many cheap, simple, readily available building blocks for creating a marketplace business. While it has never been easier to cash in on the “Uberization” of services across our economy, the tools and strategies you use will make or break your business. As the founder and CEO of Trustify, a company that seeks to shake up the industry of private investigators in much the same way that Uber did the taxi industry, I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. For any aspiring entrepreneur who wants to build their "Uber for X" business, here is a guide, complete with free or cheap technology that will prevent headaches and save time.  Step 1: Identify A Marketplace On-demand marketplaces are delicate balancing acts. You must have significant consumer demand for what you're selling and freelance suppliers ready to meet the demand in an instant. Too many startup founders play the "wouldn't it be cool if" game. They then build a product they would personally like, only to find out the hard way that customers didn't want it, or the labor force wouldn’t play ball. The Tool: QuickMVP.com At Trustify, I used QuickMVP.com and the Lean Startup methodology at large to confirm that there was consumer demand for a "private investigators on demand" app before I did anything else. This proved invaluable, and sure enough, we had revenue our first day in business and have grown quickly month over month since we launched. Just as Uber had to acquire drivers who would not get frustrated and defect, we had to ensure that private investigators were interested in a new, predictable revenue stream and a better way of servicing customers. This came fairly easy for us and PI demand continues to be immense. Make sure you have the suppliers or else you'll find yourself in an interesting pickle where tons of customers want what you're selling but you have no suppliers to do the work. This is one of the many unique considerations of a business model where you don't truly control supply. Step 2: Acquire And Manage Customers Acquiring customers will always be a top priority. There's no point building your on-demand "Uber for X" app if nobody uses it. You also need to retain customers and turn their network into new customers. The Tool: HubSpot At Trustify, we use HubSpot, an inbound-marketing and sales platform that helps companies attract visitors, convert leads, and close customers. HubSpot is a great service for finding and managing customers, and they offer a startup discount. Step 3: Manage Suppliers And Active Jobs One of the most challenging aspects of building an "Uber for X" business is connecting disorganized consumer demand with disorganized suppliers. A good CRM with case-management capabilities can help you address this challenge.  Remember, "Uber for X" businesses are not difficult to launch technically. The challenges result from logistics and managing a cloud of suppliers that you don't actually employ.  The Tool: OroCRM At Trustify, we use the open-source OroCRM platform to acquire and manage our private investigators and to manage and monitor all of our active jobs. We had considered licensing commercial salesforce services, but decided against them because it was too expensive and did not provide a silver-bullet solution that we couldn't find in an open-source alternative. Likewise, we considered building our own solution from the ground up. This would give us infinite extensibility, but it would require months to build and the additional labor. Oro is built on Symfony, a framework of PHP components, so it is powerful, robust, and extensible. Oro is easy to use, and it has a strong API and developer framework for data interchange, integrations, and customer modules. Oro helped us to get to market quickly without a big investment up front. Step 4: Communicate With Your Customers Once you've connected your consumer with your supplier, it often behooves you to let the two speak directly. The challenge is in protecting yourself from suppliers cutting you out of the equation and working directly with the customer in future jobs. In order to prevent that, it is best to connect customers and suppliers via an intermediary that masks their mobile numbers but still allows them to communicate via SMS or text. The Tool: Twilio We use Twilio because it provides an SMS gateway, via an API, that allows the customer and the supplier to communicate without knowing each other’s phone numbers. Twilio SMS allows you to programmatically send, receive. and track text messages worldwide. There are dozen of options, but we chose Twilio because it is a large company that provides developers with tools to build SMS and VOIP applications via a Web API, using the standard web languages you likely already know. Step 5: Ensure Transparency With Built-In Maps When customers order an Uber, they can track their driver in real time. This works because Uber drivers have corresponding apps that track their exact location and send the info to Uber, who then sends it back to the customer in a nice display. When Uber first introduced this, it was a novelty. Now it's taken for granted—even Comcast has tested a system where its cable technicians on service calls appear on a map within its app. Transparency is a priority at Trustify. Before we came on to the scene, PIs had a reputation of liberal billing, which didn’t sit well with customers.  That’s why we’re developing a mapping functionality that will show customers exactly where their private investigator is when he or she is “on the clock.” Our goal is to remove the unknown from the equation, so that both customer and investigator are happy. The Tool: QuickBlox We considered many commercial products, including Global Mapper SDK, Google Maps Geolocation API and the Here platform. Ultimately, we landed on QuickBlox because it does exactly what we need, costs nothing, and is easy to use.

Media files: MTIxNDI3Mjk1MDcxNDA1NTgx.jpg (image/jpeg) What Startups Can Learn From Jet.com's Awesome Video Jul 23rd 2015, 20:43

This post appears courtesy of the Ferenstein Wire, a syndicated news service. Publishing partners may edit posts. For inquiries, please email author and publisher Gregory Ferenstein.

I didn't expect to spend 5 minutes watching a commercial for an e-commerce startup, let alone enjoy it enough to share it with friends. But Jet.com, a hot new competitor to Amazon, produced a delightfully entertaining commercial that proves the financial underpinning of ad-based businesses don't have to be annoying.  The company hired HBO "Silicon Valley" comedian Kumail Nanjiani to perform a 5 minute semi-interactive standup routine explaining the e-commerce service's best features.  See also: How Small Changes To Google Search Can Punch Your Web Traffic In The Face "Five pounds of mayonnaise is a fundamentally ridiculous thing to buy," says Nanjiani, explaining how pricing algorithms allow for the warehouse-style pricing on groceries. "When you're done with it, you can live inside the jar—7 years from now."  I watched the entire ad. Voluntarily. Even more important, at the end, when Nanjiani pointed to embedded hyperlinks, I clicked to learn more about the company. The clip was basically a pitch deck disguised as a video, and it worked. Due to sheer entertainment value, I sat through the whole spiel and wanted to learn more.  Creativity Rules  Engaging videos are important not just for startups, but for the free Web as a whole. The media industry, social networks like Facebook, and countless others depend on ads for their livelihoods. The business they bring in pays for the tools users enjoy for free.   But click-through-rates for many types of advertisements are declining, forcing online businesses to become increasingly aggressive about their tactics. The online world is riddled with annoying popup ads, auto-play videos, and complicated tracking software that slow webpage load times to a crawl.  The rationalization: If people don't voluntarily consume ads, then companies must get attention by any means necessary.  That approach, to put it simply, is wrong-headed. There's a difference between videos that bully their way into your view, and ones that draw people in and inspire them to click or share. The latter is not only less annoying, but, as Jet.com's effort shows, can be highly effective. The video was so popular, it landed on the front page of Digg.com.  This is, apparently, the year of video marketing. Larger companies have some advantages, like more resources and bigger budgets. But young companies looking to grab attention don't have the layers of bureaucracy and approvals that all too-often bog down video production. They just need to use the same type of creative thinking that went into building their apps or developing their products, and let it loose for the cameras.  Here's to hoping that ads can be become less of an annoyance and welcome part of the Web.

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Media files: MTMxODAxMzQ2OTE4NjE4Mzg2.png (image/png) Why Apple Won't Allow Reviews For iOS 9 Yet Jul 22nd 2015, 19:01 Bugs, incompatibilities and other weird things are so common in pre-release software, they're practically guaranteed—which is why Apple has now blocked iOS 9 beta testers from leaving App Store reviews.  Apple apparently wants to nip premature complaints in the bud, which seems very logical and reasonable. But it should have seen this issue coming ahead of time. Developers may be used to dealing with unfinished software, but everyday iPhone users may not be prepared for the unexpected problems that often go along for that ride.  See also: 10 Things Developers Need To Know About The New iPod Touch What makes matters worse, according to developers: Some of those issues didn't even stem from programming errors in their own apps, but from iOS 9 itself. In a sense, it was like taking the fall for someone else. Apple has been focusing on improving iOS development, but if it's serious about supporting its app-making community, it shouldn't overlook such common-sense matters.  Apple Should Have Seen This Coming When it comes to mobile apps, reputation can be everything. That's why App Store reviews and its popularity charts can wield so much power.  So naturally, some developers had a right to worry when they saw beta testers leaving one-star app reviews—particularly since some of those problems came from issues in iOS 9's code.  Apple executives must be monitoring social media more closely these days, first responding to Taylor Swift's plea for Apple Music royalties and now reacting to developer woes like this being tweeted out. Although it didn't officially announce any changes to its policy, word has spread that the company has indeed blocked beta testers from leaving reviews.  Apparently users of the iOS 9 beta now get this message if they attempt to leave an App Store review:  On the surface, the company appears to have acted quickly, striking reviews mere weeks after the iOS 9 beta opened up to the public. But dig deeper, and you'll realize that the issue goes back several months.  iOS 9 is the first major update to get the public beta treatment, but it's not the very first to take this route. The company opened up iOS 8.3 betas back in March.  See also: Apple Wants You To Help In The War On iOS Bugs Opening up early access probably looked like a great way to go. Not only can the tactic help drum up excitement among users, but this wider availability—which also wound up extending to Mac OS X—allows for a huge army of free beta testers. Too bad it also exposed Apple and its app developers to millions of users who don't necessarily understand what using beta software entails.  Better Late Than Never? Clearly, Apple wants to make its iPhone and the apps that run on it as bulletproof as possible. Most recently, it expanded the limit on test devices—from 100 in total to 100 devices per Apple device type (iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs, etc).

See also: Why Apple's Letting Developers Test Apps On 100 Apple TVs

As for this latest change, it's not immediately clear if it the new policy will affect any previous reviews left by beta testers. But at least from now on, developers may get some much-needed breathing room to get their apps fully iOS 9 compatible, without fear of bashing.  Hopefully, it will also serve as a timely reminder to users that beta versions are not the same as polished, full releases.  The final version of iOS 9 should officially see the light of day when this year's iPhones are launched around September time. It brings with it a more proactive Siri, multitasking views for the iPad, and a News app that showcases a curated list of articles from selected publishers, among other new features.  Image courtesy of Apple

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Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo And Others Push For Accessibility Development Jul 25th 2015, 02:21 For all their rhetoric and idealism about changing the world, consumer-facing technologies have largely failed at least one major set of users: people with disabilities, a segment that represents roughly 1 in 5 people in the U.S. As the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) approaches, a new group has formed to champion the cause of development for accessibility. Several educators and tech companies have joined forces in an effort dubbed Teaching Accessibility.  According to its website, the group aims to address the "lack of awareness and understanding of basic accessibility issues, concepts and best practices.” Key participants include Carnegie Mellon and Stanford, as well as Adobe, AT&T, Dropbox, Facebook, Intuit, LinkedIn, Microsoft and Yahoo. Of course, some of these companies may have some self-serving interest in pursuing this initiative—to boost their image, prepare for the possible expansion of ADA legislation to online services, or another reason. But that doesn’t negate the need to make accessibility a bigger priority. Not only have recent advances made this much more viable, but it's long overdue.  Who's Being Left Out? A Lot Of People The Teaching Accessibility website acknowledges that technology's support for people with disabilities has improved, but it hasn't yet become a fundamental priority. "While there has been progress in a variety of applications, standards and regulations," the site reads, "accessibility is still not systemic in the development of new and emerging technologies."  It's somewhat mind-boggling that now, in 2015, serving users with a variety of needs isn't part of the tech industry’s DNA. Then again, when you look at where people with disabilities tend to live in the U.S., maybe it’s not that surprising after all.  According to the 2014 Disability Statistics Annual Report [.PDF] put out by University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability, comparatively few tend to reside in California, the home of Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, or New York, among a hand-full of other states.  Teaching Accessibility, by its very name, seeks to educate—starting with students. The group essentially wants to reach tomorrow’s tech makers early, to cultivate a new type of mindset that’s bred from the ground up to consider a diversity of needs. It also wants to compile expertise and tools, and create standards so that any company or startup can support accessibility development.  It’s a laudable goal. And it even makes some business sense.  Tech companies, particularly those obsessed with the youth market, may not care that approximately 40% of Americans with disabilities are of retirement age. But naturally, that leaves roughly 60% skewing younger—from small children to teenagers to older adults in the workforce.  That’s just in the U.S. According to the United Nations, an estimated 1 billion people, or roughly 15 percent of the world’s population, live with disabilities. That’s a massive chunk of users who are at least being underserved—though perhaps not ignored entirely.  At least not by everyone. "Accessibility Rights Are Human Rights" On Friday, Apple CEO Tim Cook didn't mince words when he took to Twitter to tell people exactly how he felt about serving people with disabilities.  It’s a strong, decisive statement, particularly from a tech executive. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick certainly couldn’t make it. But Cook can. Apple has a good track record of offering accessibility features in its iPhones and improving them over time.  At its latest Worldwide Developers Conference, the company emphasized its Accessibility APIs. The tools allow app makers to use the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch’s accessibility features in their apps.  Apple offers voice over, "speak screen," dictation, zoom and Braille display support, and on the Apple Watch, the “digital crown” (or scroll wheel) offers a tactile way of zooming in on text. Google also offers developer tools for accessibility features in Android.  But the omission of these companies in Teaching Accessibility’s line-up could make for a rather large hole. Making standards universal takes a coordinated effort. Without such tech giants in the mix, adoption for whatever standards the group comes up with could become a struggle. That would be a shame, because advances in human-to-computer interfaces could make this an ideal time to make technology more inclusive.  Technology's Maturing—But Are Its Makers? Facial identification, eye or fingerprint scanning, gestures, voice interactions and other technologies have started to mature, and some have become genuinely helpful. New uses for features we’ve long taken for granted, like haptics (or vibration feedback) and geo-location, allow us to reexamine how we use our technologies. One example: Consider a smart home that knows when its user approaches and unlocks the doors, turns on the lights and resets the thermostat automatically, or allows the owner to control them by voice. That’s a convenience for just about anyone, but for a user who can’t walk or can’t see, that could be a godsend. The tech sector loves to pat itself on the back and buzz about those kinds of scenarios. But for the general public, they still seem like a far-off future. Right now, there are present challenges to deal with—like rideshare services that reject seeing-eye dogs, and other services or websites that disregard visitors with disabilities. In other words, our tools haven't let down people with disabilities. Those advances are maturing and their potential seems vast. What needs addressing is the human side of the equation, the attitudes and perspectives.  Creating specifications for technology is one challenge; setting priorities for humans is another. It's not clear Teaching Accessibility can create a standard for that. But let's hope so.  Photo by David Fulmer

Media files: MTMxODMwMjQ4MjkwNDI1MzEw.jpg (image/jpeg) Bonsai.js – An Intuitive Graphics API and SVG Renderer Jul 24th 2015, 16:05 Bonsai is a lightweight graphics library with an intuitive graphics API and an SVG renderer. Bonsai’s main features include: Architecturally separated runner and renderer, iFrame, Worker and Node running contexts, Shapes, Paths, Assets (Videos, Images, Fonts, SubMovies), Keyframe and regular animation (easing functions too), Shape/path morphing and much more… Requirements: JavaScript Framework Demo: http://bonsaijs.org/ License: MIT License The post Bonsai.js – An Intuitive Graphics API and SVG Renderer appeared first on WebAppers.

How Startup Job Titles Got Into Such A Sad State Jul 24th 2015, 13:40 Guest author Tony Stubblebine is the CEO and founder of Coach.me, an online productivity community and app. I love the job title "growth hacker." It’s an indictment of the entire field of marketing. How many marketers had to forget to do their job before we had to create a new title to remind them about the growth part? “Now remember, we want these ads to be funny AND ALSO, this is the part we skipped last month, get people to try our product.” A growth hacker is a marketer who also has responsibility for the results of their work. The theme that’s driving new job titles is this: responsibility.People are starting to use the phrase "full-stack engineer." Usually they think of the stack as being multiple technical layers, i.e. the engineer knows how to write code and install it on the server! What I hope is that "full-stack engineer" comes to imply some nontechnical layers. What if you built code and then verified that people used it? We actually do have a word for that type of engineer: hacker. A hacker writes just enough code to get the impact they are looking for. Work With Impact Hacker is the only job title that consistently implies having responsibility for impact. I haven’t yet heard of a new job title for designers, although I think they need one. If you design products that are meant to be used, are you then a design hacker? That’s crazy. But what do you call designing for Dribbble and designing for products sold by the Fortune 500? Those are two very different modes of design. You always put something polished and pretty on Dribbble, but for the real products you’re in rapid iteration mode because each exposure to reality is teaching you that you don’t know shit. That’s design hacking. Probably my least favorite characteristic to hear within a job description is "craftsmanship." Almost definitely the person is saying that the quality of the work is defined by the aesthetic values of peers, rather than by the happiness of the end user. Hacking and craftsmanship are presented as being at odds. It’s Google culture vs. Facebook culture. But sometimes, craftsmanship and hacking comes together into something that is both well made and well liked. Unfortunately, we don’t have a word that means that unambiguously. I would want to say professional. A professional programmer needs to take responsibility for code that is well crafted and matters. But if I said that I was looking to hire for professionalism, I’d hear from a bunch of programmers who were really rigorous about writing unit tests. Another word for this combination of skills is "unicorn," as if this is an impossibly rare and difficult standard. (Before it was used to describe highly valued startups, "unicorn" was frequently used in recruiting circles to describe hard-to-find candidates.) One of my coworkers—an engineer, designer, founder, seamstress, public speaker, i.e. supposed unicorn—calls engineers with product design sense “the secret weapon of startups.” Horning In On A New Career Path But I hate the word "unicorn" because it implies that being able to take a project from idea through execution through launch is some sort of magical feat. Yo, we’ve been talking for years about how making startups got a lot easier and cheaper. What are the career development implications of that? If you can turn yourself into a software developer from one summer of cut-and-paste from Stack Overflow, then you can turn yourself into a unicorn in two summers. In other words, unicorn could be a normal career path. Now, I have a friend who is working on self-driving cars. I think that there is some hard computer science involved. This friend could be a software engineer specialist. That seems fine to me. But everyone else? Especially in startupland, why don’t you just demand that every single person in your company become triple-threat unicorns? Design-> Construct-> Market. You’ll get weird pushback from people who built their identities around being a specialist. “Yo, I’m a 24-year old expert on this technology that was just released 4 months ago.”  — Junior Developer But actually, working all three areas—design, construction and marketing—makes the core competency stronger. “Yes, maybe a map would be a good way for people to browse our products. I’ll put a simple version on the site this afternoon.” — Senior Developer I’m thinking about a different coworker, a first-time marketer. This person is responsible for about half of our revenue — so very strong job performance. They also edit source code directly in GitHub (mostly copy), pull performance reports directly from the database (via Rails console connected to a Replica database), and design-hack marketing iterations based on A/B data. That’s what a newly-minted unicorn looks like. All of that was learned on the job. In other words, you can train triple-threat employees. More importantly the rarity implied by the word "unicorn" results from our expectations of what’s possible, not any natural limit of human potential. For the record, I am a rusty mid-level programer with an oddball specialty in regular expressions, a low-empathy, medium-utility, poorly aligned, strangely colored product designer, one-trick social-media growth hacker, a strong sales-closer with weak dollar sense, a PR hack, a small-team engineering manager, and an occasional CFO. In other words, I’m a startup CEO. This article was originally published on Medium. It is published here by permission of the author. Photo by Faruk Ates

Media files: MTE5NDg0MDYxMjM2MzY0ODE1.jpg (image/jpeg) Shopify. Theme options overview Jul 24th 2015, 07:30 This tutorial provides an overview of theme options in Shopify

Drupal 7.x. How to change date format

Jul 24th 2015, 07:14

This tutorial shows how to change date format in Drupal 7.x. Magento. How to set number of columns in category listing (for Magento 1.8.x+ templates) Jul 24th 2015, 07:05 In this tutorial you will learn how to set number of columns in category listing in Magento template(s). WordPress Cherry 3.x. How to make Parallax Slider link open in a new tab/window Jul 24th 2015, 06:56 Support team is ready to present you a new tutorial that shows how to make Parallax Slider links open in new tab. PrestaShop 1.6.x. How to protect images with watermarks Jul 24th 2015, 06:38 The following tutorial is going to show how to protect images with watermarks in PrestaShop 1.6.

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CherryFramework 4. How to work with Gallery Jul 23rd 2015, 07:51 The tutorial shows how to work with Gallery Page in CherryFramework 4. CherryFramework 4. How to work with Our Team posts Jul 21st 2015, 05:45 This tutorial shows how to work with Our Team posts in CherryFramework 4. CherryFramework 4. How to manage Cherry Simple Slider plugin Jul 21st 2015, 05:34 The tutorial shows how to manage Cherry Simple Slider plugin in CherryFramework 4. CherryFramework 4. How to work with charts Jul 21st 2015, 05:11 Our Support Team is ready to present a new tutorial that shows how to work with charts in CherryFramework 4. CherryFramework 4. How to work with Cherry Social plugin Jul 21st 2015, 04:47 This tutorial shows you how to work with Cherry Social plugin in CherryFramework 4. Magento. How to configure Facebook social login using “LitExtension” extension Jul 20th 2015, 07:15 In this tutorial you will learn how to configure Facebook social login in Magento template(s). WordPress Cherry 3.x. How to make parallax background image static/without scrolling effect Jul 20th 2015, 06:56 This tutorial will show you how to make parallax background image static (without scrolling effect) in Wordpress.

WooCommerce. How to add SKU to the product Jul 17th 2015, 07:02 This tutorial is going to show you how to to add SKU to the product in WooCommerce. PrestaShop 1.6.x. How to work with “TM Olark Chat” module Jul 17th 2015, 05:42 This tutorial shows how to work with TM Olark Chat module in PrestaShop. Joomla 3.x. How to increase admin panel timeout limit Jul 17th 2015, 05:33 This tutorial will show you how to increase admin panel timeout limit in Joomla 3.x. Drupal 7.x. How to add and manage background videos Jul 17th 2015, 05:07 This tutorial is going to explain you how to add and manage background videos in Drupal 7.x templates. VirtueMart 3.x. How to add child product Jul 17th 2015, 04:50 This video tutorial is going to show how to create "child" dropdown product variations in VirtueMart 3.x.. Magento. How to temporarily disable Magento extensions from the admin panel Jul 17th 2015, 04:37 This tutorial will show you the way to temporarily disable extensions in your Magento website. CherryFramework 4. How to manage portfolio page options Jul 17th 2015, 04:23 This tutorial will show you how to manage manage portfolio page options in CherryFramework 4.

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Essential Tools, Resources, and Services for Designers Jul 28th 2015, 07:03 With so many WordPress themes, page builders, and other design aids and services on the market, it can be difficult for a web designer to know where to turn when in need of a new tool, an additional resource, or a different design approach. Some of the products and services listed here are ideal for general use. Others are excellent choices for designing websites or apps intended to serve a unique or dedicated purpose. If you find a product or service here that suits your design needs, you can be assured it is top quality, or it would not be on this list. Browse through this list and find out what are the most essential tools, resources and services to have in your toolbox. WordPress Themes X Theme X Theme is exciting. It always has been, but with the release of Version 4 a new level of excitement has been attained. Users of this recently released version are raving about it, with the centre of attention being a new, unique, and innovative page builder – Cornerstone. Cornerstone is highlighted again in this listing, but what it will do for X, the fastest selling of the Themeforest themes, is make it more popular than ever. Cornerstone may have temporarily placed a number of the other X features in the shadows, but they remain as impressive as ever, and everything about using this premier WordPress theme’s features is backed up by a rock-solid, 24/7 user support team, a dynamic community site, and forums offering information, advice, and details of other user’s experiences. With a purchase of X, you are given free access to all Themeco plugins, and you will also receive free updates as they are released. Enfold Visit Enfold’s website, and the first thing you are asked to do is to Choose a Demo. If you do so, your search for a premium website theme will quite possibly come to a halt. This top-rated, multipurpose Themeforest theme’s primary characteristic may well be its extremely user-friendly operation. It may in fact be the easiest to work with website building theme on the market. Start with a blank page and an idea, and you can build any layout you want at warp speed. Enfold is always kept up to date, and you will always receive updates as they are released. You can also expect to receive nothing less than the very finest user support. Be Theme Be Theme is every bit as big as it claims to be. Its more than 40 core features give you every website design capability you are ever likely to need, and this responsive WordPress theme is easy to use from the time you select one of its 100+ pre-made layouts and begin your editing and page building process until your design is complete. The largest number of topical layouts you will find anywhere makes Be one of the most versatile themes on the market, and the layouts are in the eyes of many this premier theme’s number one attraction, and the reason for its immense popularity. User support is exceptional as well. Website Builders and Platforms XPRS If you liked playing Lego as a kid you are sure to love XPRS. Unlike drag&drop website builders, this one uses pre-made and easy to customize content blocks that you can connect into 1 beautiful website. There are tons of content blocks to choose from with different layouts and style (e.g features, call to action, teams, galleries, pricing and more). You can also add a store and it’s totally free with every package. This method of building websites makes it very simple to create your own website while still allowing professional designers a full control over the details. XPRS if totally free for artists and students and also offers a great ‘White Label’ package that includes unlimited websites for just $250 a year. Webydo Webydo is a cloud-based design platform for professional designers with a code-free, full-service business solution that empowers design professionals to lead the responsive website creation market. No other platform in the market provides a comprehensive, A to Z, solution. Webydo is a community-led platform, with professional designers determining which features that platform should  or should not have. Webydo is all about reshaping how we create for the web and in order to foster putting the designer in the driver’s seat. What is more, with Webydo’s Full White Label’ option designers can present Webydo’s technology as an integral part of their own design brand by customizing the system colors, adding logos and presenting a fully branded CMS and Dashboard to their clients. WordPress Page Builders Cornerstone Cornerstone is a brand new page builder. It is ridiculously easy to use, and it has received a ton of attention. Users are raving about it. The 100% front end editor and preview functions are displayed side by side. When you make an edit, you can instantly see what your web page will look like. There is no need to check later to see what needs fixing. Themify Flow Themify Flow is a powerful framework that enables you to design your own responsive themes within WordPress (it allows developers to do so as well). It features a drag and drop builder with a sidebar display in which you can style elements as they appear in the live preview of the layout you are building. Each template you design can have its own header, sidebar, and footer versions. Themify Flow is open source, and free to use! Project Management and Collaboration Tools Nutcache Nutcache saves important things until you need them. This project management tool has to be one of the better collaborative solutions you are likely to come across. You can use it to organize a project, or use it to present a collection of diverse ideas in an organized manner. Project status can be displayed in easy to comprehend graphics, and Nutcache gives you an easy and seamless way of tracking time, submitting invoices, and getting paid! Azendoo Azendoo offers a more relaxing, less stressful way for you to go about your work; efficiently, and without compromising quality. This intuitive project planner and task manager helps you avoid getting caught up in the rat race, and still focus on your priorities. This collaborative teamwork tool was designed with marketing and design teams in mind. It provides a nice alternative to the necessity of setting up a cumbersome organization. Converting Designs to Code PSDGator PSDGator is a small, highly dedicated team that has become well known for producing impressive results. They make PSD to code conversions quickly, and they specialize in taking Photoshop designs and converting them into responsive, hand-coded, SEO optimized HTML/CSS. The finished product is clean code that has been optimized for speed. One of their more thoughtful services is their policy of first reviewing your design to uncover any potential problems before they undertake a conversion process. 40 Dollar Markup One good reason for looking into 40 Dollar Markup for PSD to code conversions is their ability to provide clean, hand-coded, pixel-perfect code that is optimized for speed. Automated coding tools, with the inefficiencies they can introduce, are never used. Their deliverables are fully supported, and if you have an entire website you would like to have converted to responsive code, they will take it and make the necessary conversion for you. Direct Basing Slicing is what Direct Basing does best, and they do it well. In addition to standard HTML5 slicings, their other featured services include PSD to Email and Resposive HTML5 slicings. Direct Basing also has a team dedicated to converting your PSD to a WordPress template. Their customer base ranges from freelancers and small businesses, to Fortune 500 companies. If you select this slicing company, you are in good company. Hosting Services Glow Host This service provider has servers located in 16 worldwide datacenters which says a great deal about its size and customer base. Glow Host’s hosting plans include Unlimited Single Domain and Unlimited Multi-Domain hosting, Personal hosting, and a Professional Hosting plan. All four plans have a number of attractive features, making this hosting service well worth looking into. Setup and activation are instantaneous when you sign up. Rackspace Rackspace places great emphasis on what they call ‘fanantical support’. Cloud hosting is their specialty, but they are more than just a hosting resource. Rackspace offers best-fit web content management solutions to ensure your website has the speed, performance, and security you need. Rackspace also offers customized Ecommerce hosting solutions, and they will optimize websites for page loads, security and PCI compliance; services few hosting companies offer. Stock Photo Agencies Bigstock Bigstock has a truly amazing selection of quality, royalty-free images. There are in fact more than 26 million photos, vectors, and illustrations to choose from. Fortunately, their selections are well organized, and searching rarely becomes an issue. Once you have licensed an image, you can always re-download it for free. Your first 35 images are free as well. Sign up now for your week of free images from Bigstock. Stockfresh You can prepay for images or save considerably by signing up for subscription downloads. Either way, Stockfresh has neatly categorized photos, vectors, and illustrations in abundance, and ordering one or more is a snap. Their website is responsive, so you can browse and place orders from your mobile device. You can rely on prompt customer service should you run into any problems selecting and ordering images. Web Apps Sendloop Sendloop is an excellent choice for anyone who has been looking for an easy to use e-mail marketing solution. Their package includes a drag-n-drop email builder, an online image editor, and a nice selection of mobile-device-ready email templates. Coding is not necessary, but a professional HTML email editor is included for those with HTML coding skills. Sendloop has more than 20,000 current customers, and has been offering email marketing solutions for more than 15 years. Typeform Typeform is on a mission to make forms simple, beautiful, and human. You can create surveys, contact pages, user feedback, quizzes, contests, and even take payments. How’s that for versatility? Leave the stone age of forms behind. Facebook, Nike, and Jetblue can’t be wrong. Core features are free, but if you’re a power user, try their Pro plan. UI Kits Baikal – Stylish Web Component Based UI Kit If you were expecting a rather compact kit having a few templates to work with, you are in for a surprise. Baikal features more than 130 drag and drop web components, together with a collection of over 1000 design elements. The web components have been placed in 10 well-organized categories. The eCommerce category alone is worth a look, but the content in every category is quite impressive. Zed – Essential Wireframe Kit Zed is an ideal wireframe kit to have on hand for prototyping websites. You can, for example, choose one of the 25 PSD templates that come with the kit, open it, add a client’s image or logo, and show your client how a final website might appear. The 1500 pixel wide templates can be opened in Photoshop CS5, and they have been neatly placed in 10 commonly used categories. An impressive array of design elements are also included. Icons and Fonts Icons Responsive Icons Responsive is an excellent resource to have on hand with its library of 1000+ icons, and counting. These easily scalable, pixel-perfect, responsive icons come in 4 sizes, ranging from 16×16 to 128×128 pixels, as well as in line, flat, and filled glyph styles. Since they are presented in vector format, they are easy to edit. This is a truly outstanding and comprehensive selection of useful icons. Troia Classic Serif Font Family Troia is comprised of a classic handcrafted Serif font family. It features 6 different fonts in light, regular, and bold weights. Italics, and Italic bold are also featured should you have a need for them. These multilingual serif fonts cover all Latin 1 glyphs, and they can be used in the Scandinavian languages, German, French, Spanish, Afrikaans, and others. This resource is available for both commercial and personal purposes. To sum up Everything in this listing of premium themes, website, app, and page building tools, design element resources, and website design services is top quality in all respects. You can’t really make a bad choice. If you have a problem, it would be in trying to choose between products or services of roughly equal merit. In any event, we hope you have found something to your liking. Whether you found what you have been looking for, or you feel an important product or service should have been on the list, but wasn’t, we would like to hear from you. Please feel free to send along your thoughts and comments. The post Essential Tools, Resources, and Services for Designers appeared first on WebAppers.

Want To Keep Customers? Integrate Tech With A Personal Touch Jul 27th 2015, 22:26 Guest author Scott Gerber is the founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council. It's hard to do personalized customer service at scale. When you're using the technology to streamline the process and save your team time, the sense of personalization is easily lost. You need a strategy to get the best of both worlds—which is why I asked ten founders from YEC how they suggested other entrepreneurs keep the customer service experience personal while still leveraging the best technology. 1. Incorporate Data Cohesiveness And Integration With the growth of social media as a customer-relationship-management channel, as well as the trend of using social media and other channels for support, it's important for companies to create profiles and databases available regardless of a customer's point of entry. Whether a customer sends a Facebook message, tweets at your company, starts a live chat, calls on the phone, or sends an email, there has to be a way for the customer-service representative to see that customer's historical transactions. For the customer-service rep to make the experience positive, they need to know what the customer said across all channels. This information will reduce frustration and help to manage expectations and resolve problems. —Marcela DeVivo, National Debt Relief 2. Automate Only Parts Of The Process Take a long look at your sales process. You should be able to determine which parts are the same for every client, such as intake forms. If the data is something you need to review with every client, automate it. When it's time to do the real work, add in a human element to review the answers to the automated questions. This will save you about half of your time. Also, if possible, offer a product in a box that the client can DIY and then provide premium access to your personal services so that you can better offer something for everyone. If you feel like a hands-off approach doesn't work, certify your best team members to also be client facing. Make sure there's a process to make these affiliates/employees knowledgeable so you don't weaken your business reputation. —Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now 3. Add Your Signature Hire a virtual assistant or get your personal assistant to type or write a personal letter to all of your highest-performing clients or customers. In this day and age, everyone is so caught up in technology and getting things done quicker with less work. Spend the time composing and personalizing your letter and make sure to sign off on it. It's a different gesture to what everyone else is using these days, and I'm confident that it will not go unnoticed. —Engelo Rumora, Ohio Cashflow 4. Use Technology To Your Advantage The latest in customer-service technology allows your brand to create a truly personal customer-service experience. Tools like Intercom, Olark, and LivePerson allow you to interact directly with your customers through your website in a way that aligns with how customers would actually prefer to work with your brand. You get a ton of information about your users while talking to them, and they get to feel like they're truly talking to someone. Combine that with powerful data collection tools like Promoter.io or Qualaroo, and you've got all the information you need to create an amazing customer experience. These days, not leveraging the best technology available means you'll eventually end up with a subpar customer-service experience. —Mattan Griffel, One Month 5. Leverage Prewritten Responses With A Personal Touch Most customer-service tools offer a feature that allow you to quickly and easily pull a prewritten response into an email. In our tool of choice, HelpScout, it's called "saved replies." The key to using prewritten responses is to make them sound natural, and to take a moment to further personalize the email before you hit send. For example, we have a response email that says "I just wanted to reach out and thank you for signing up for Edgar. :)" This reads more like a personal note than a form response, and our team can further personalize the email with details specific to the customer. —Laura Roeder, MeetEdgar.com 6. Use 24/7 Chat Features Streamlining systems and processes to ensure that each employee's time is being used wisely is important to the success of your company and its current projects. A 24/7 chat window accessible through your website is easy to manage and a great way to maintain great customer service, as it is something that does not require hours of focus since it's constantly open and ready to be answered. The availability of a 24/7 chat is the preferred method of contact for customers, as they can quickly get in touch with you and have their questions or problems solved without having to wait for an email response. It allows employees to continue on with their day and workload while consistently being available for customers through an easy to manage chat window. —Miles Jennings, Recruiter.com 7. Be Active on Social Media The key to staying personal and delivering a "wow" customer experience is to become omnipresent on social media. When customers send you a direct message, your team needs to respond promptly. When a customer mentions you on Twitter, you should favorite the mention and retweet it. If a customer tags you in a post or mentions your brand (good or bad), you need to respond in real time and leverage whatever resources you have to thank the customer or make the situation right. Facebook and Twitter should become your highly personal customer support platforms—it's where your customers will end up if they can't get ahold of you because your systems are automated. It also allows your impeccable customer support to play out for the public to see. —Obinna Ekezie, Wakanow.com 8. Automate Touch-Point Reminders At GoBrandgo, we have a very high-touch relationship with our clients. Part of what we do is initiate “random” touch points (for example: lunch, industry articles, referrals) every month. With many clients this is difficult to keep straight manually, so we leverage tools like Google Sheets with email reminders to let us know who and what to schedule for the next two months. We also use FollowUp.cc to have articles or introductions show back up in our inboxes at the appropriate time. Leveraging technology turns high-impact efforts that regularly would be deprioritized for more urgent issues into a simple, streamlined process that takes little effort and gets executed like clockwork. This makes our clients feel important. —Derek Weber, GoBrandgo 9. Empower Your Customers Recent studies have shown that millennials spend more than five hours per day on their smartphones and on social media. An easy-to-use, attractive, and responsive mobile user experience combined with the power of data science can tailor the customer-service experience for each user, empowering them to achieve their goals at their own pace. This ultimately provides a better solution for most users than a phone call with a live operator. Not surprisingly, some of the best new tech startups offer a mobile-only experience. —Eddie Lou, Shiftgig 10. Use Trigger-Based Automatic Emails Our business thrives on being personal. However, what may look personal can actually be automated. We use a trigger-based email marketing platform that sends automatic customer-service-related emails and followups that look as if they were written by customer-service reps themselves. For example, every time a call comes in, the caller is labeled with a specific tag that triggers a specific "personal" email. It can then send another a couple of days later based on your companies needs. —Raymond Kishk, Interstate Air Conditioning & Heating Photo by Richard Eriksson

Media files: MTMxODk1OTA3ODcxMzk3MTM4.jpg (image/jpeg) Windows 10 Suffers Last-Minute Control Panel Bug Jul 27th 2015, 21:04 With the supposedly polished release of Windows 10 coming in two days, Microsoft should be putting its finishing touches on the operating system. Instead, it’s scrambling to fix a bug in its latest update, sent out through its Windows Insider Program last Saturday.  According to CNET, the latest test version of the Windows software, build KB3074681, triggered unexpected behavior when some people attempted to uninstall programs through Control Panel instead of using the newer Settings screen. In the site’s tests, doing so crashed the Control Panel app, kicking users back to the desktop.  See also: What Windows 10 Will—And Won't—Do Since the company wants Settings to replace Control Panel, this would be one way to force people to stop using it. But it wasn’t intentional. Microsoft’s Gabe Aul, engineering general manager for its operating systems group, told tech blog SuperSite For Windows on Sunday to stay tuned for a fix, which he promises should be coming soon.  In the meantime, don’t use Control Panel for uninstalling software. If you need to ditch a program, the blog offers the following tips:  In the Programs and features>Uninstall or change a program Control Panel area choose the program and instead of double-clicking, which usually begins the uninstall process, just click it once and then hit the Uninstall button at the top of the list. Another option is to use the Settings>System>Apps & features to remove a program from the system. Microsoft's Rolling Rollout As far as problems go, the Control Panel bug seems rather minor. However, it could become a major annoyance for users, who have been trained by various versions of Windows to get rid of programs through Control Panel. For developers, last-minute glitches like this could shake their faith in what has, so far, looked like Microsoft’s best operating system update in years.  See also: Holograms! Also, What Else Microsoft Announced At Its Windows 10 Event But the company made one smart move: It structured the software rollout in stages. In addition to mitigating server traffic issues, which tends to happen when people rush to download software at the same time, the move also limits the number of users affected by glitches. In other words, it buys Microsoft a little breathing room to attack problems or address quirks before they go out to everyone.  Windows Insider Program members will get the upgrade on July 29, followed by Windows 7 and 8.1 users who signed up for the free upgrade.  The latter will have a year to decide whether they want the free update, if they haven’t already, before retail prices go into effect. The cost will be $119 (Windows Home), $199 (Windows 10 Pro) and $99 (Windows 10 Pro Pack to upgrade Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Pro).  In other words, developers should note that Windows 10’s ultimate success may not amount to a frenzied burst of day-one downloads, but adoption figures stretched out over a period of time. That makes its window of opportunity more like a revolving door that, Microsoft hopes, won't catch on the threshold as users pour in.  Photos by Owen Thomas for ReadWrite

Media files: MTMxODk0NDgzMjg0NDQ1MTk0.jpg (image/jpeg) WordPress. How to add additional allowed file types to be uploaded Jul 27th 2015, 12:46 This video tutorial is going to show how to add additional file types to be uploaded in WordPress.

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Google Material Design Lite and Bootstrap Comparision Jul 29th 2015, 07:03 Tutorialzine has published an article “Comparing Bootstrap With Google’s New Material Design Lite“. Bootstrap was originally built by Twitter with the purpose of making it easy to build responsive websites. It gives you a lot of components and customization options for making web apps. Material Design Lite is a way for Google to spread its material design concept to the web. It gives you only the base building blocks for building material apps. The rest is up to the developer. Bootstrap has a very detailed documentation. Development involves copy pasting from the examples and getting a usable result fast. MDL is built around BEM, and components are built by combining multiple classes. This approach gives a great deal of control, but can sometimes lead to unwieldy HTML. Bootstrap gives you a passable default design which we have grown tired of by now, but there are plenty of wonderful themes to chose from. MDL looks fresh and features bold colors and animations. It dictates exactly how your web app should look like and gives you a limited opportunity for customization by choosing base and accent colors. You can check out the full article here. The post Google Material Design Lite and Bootstrap Comparision appeared first on WebAppers.

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CherryFramework 4. How to create Portfolio Gallery post Jul 30th 2015, 07:32 This tutorial shows how to create a Portfolio Gallery post in CherryFramework 4 template. CherryFramework 4. How to manage footer logo Jul 30th 2015, 07:08 This tutorial will show you how to manage footer logo in CherryFramework 4. CherryFramework 4. How to insert Google Map to the page using Google map shortcode Jul 30th 2015, 06:57 This tutorial will show you how to insert a Google map into CherryFramework 4 based template using a shortcode. CherryFramework 4. How to back up content and Cherry options Jul 30th 2015, 06:43 This tutorial shows how to back up content and Cherry options in CherryFramework 4 based templates. CherryFramework 4. How to set different header images for pages Jul 30th 2015, 06:31 This tutorial shows how to change header background images in your CherryFramework 4 based templates.

Here’s Why I Really Bought ReadWrite Jul 29th 2015, 21:19 Hi! It’s time for me to speak up and introduce myself. I’m the CEO of Wearable World, the company that bought ReadWrite back in February. To the many who have loved this site for more than 12 years, I’d like to say “Thank you.” Thank you for sticking around and believing in ReadWrite. Like you, I’ve been a reader. I’ve also been a sponsor of ReadWrite. I’m now its owner, and after this post goes live … I’ll be a writer, too. Having participated in all aspects of this business, I’m humbled to have the opportunity to contribute to a publication that matters to the 5 million of you in ReadWrite’s larger community. (That’s my best estimate of the extended audience reached by ReadWrite’s website, social presences, and distribution partners. There are a lot of you!) As Owen Thomas, ReadWrite’s editor-in-chief, has told you, we’ve been reorganizing ReadWrite’s editorial output around new sections that tell you how to build new products and bring them to market. We did this after seeking your feedback and listening to you, and we’re going to continue to listen. The thing is, this is what ReadWrite has always done. When ReadWrite chronicled the social and mobile revolutions, it prepared you to take advantage of those opportunities. When Richard MacManus wrote about the Internet of Things, he forecasted a huge market. And some of ReadWrite’s most popular stories have been guides, tutorials, and explainers about new technology. The only thing Owen is doing differently is presenting it with a more explicit focus on learning and action—what’s new, and what you can do about it. I’m committed to this new editorial direction. Owen and his team are bringing new voices and new insights to the table that would have benefited me when I was building my own startups. ReadWrite In The Real World When Owen and I agreed Wearable World would be a great new owner for ReadWrite, we saw eye to eye on the need to do more than just deliver great reporting and analysis on ReadWrite’s website. We also wanted to build valuable real-world experiences that lived up to the ReadWrite brand and its promise of democratizing technology and leveling the playing field. You, the ReadWrite community, inspire and help me, and I want to inspire and help you. I’m really excited to have the opportunity to connect with you directly and share something our team has been working on tirelessly: e2e, a new kind of conference for people building products. I want to share with you how this conference came about, and invite you to attend. This is the first of many opportunities I hope we’ll have to connect, and I’d like to start by saying I am thrilled to be able to engage with ReadWrite readers—the next generation of creators of game-changing technology. Unfreezing Innovation Innovation in its first form is never perfect. Entrepreneurs who want to create impact do not do so by moving slowly. But I’ve seen so many get hung up due to constraints—lack of resources and lack of knowledge. We live in a sea of hard choices. That’s startup life. But some entrepreneurs freeze up at key moments in fear of making the wrong decision. If building a startup is difficult, creating an intelligent and interactive product feels nearly impossible. At ReadWrite and Wearable World, we are always looking for ways to connect and educate our community. Our vision is to be the innovation chain for entrepreneurs looking to bring their products to market, for corporations looking to partner with innovative startups, and for governments turning to technology to solve civic problems. A few months ago we came one step closer to this vision when we solidified our partnership with Jabil, a hardware manufacturing giant based here in the United States. By working with Jabil, we’ve secured guidance for entrepreneurs looking to bring their products to market more efficiently and are thrilled to watch what our community will create. (You can count on me to shoot straight with you, so I should let you know that this is a commercial relationship and Jabil is backing the e2e conference financially and working with Wearable World in other ways. We’ll always disclose these relationships to you.) Everything To Everyone So we’ve created the e2e conference to usher in our new partnership and kickstart innovation in our community. This jamboree takes place October 13–14 at Jabil’s Blue Sky Center in San Jose. What’s e2e? Well, depends who you ask, because e2e stands for many things, including “end to end,” “entrepreneur to entrepreneur,” “engineer to engineer,” and “experience to experience.” This event delivers on our innovation-chain vision by going through every step you’ll take from idea to market. It’s the most important event for people building a business in IoT and connected hardware, and will provide attendees the opportunity to work closely with the brightest minds in the industry. You are the builders and the dreamers, and I cannot wait to see what we will create together. And if you can’t make it in October, all I ask is that you keep reading ReadWrite—because next to sitting down with us in person at e2e, there’s no better place for you to learn how to build the future than right here. Photo by Martin Fisch

Media files: MTMxOTQxMzAyNDU0NDkxNjE0.jpg (image/jpeg) The Secret Of DevOps: It's Always Been About People, Not Technology Jul 29th 2015, 16:55 Adam Jacob is a cofounder and CTO of Chef, an IT-automation company that helps enterprises use DevOps to build and deliver quality software quickly. I have had the privilege of being either physically present or near many of the seminal moments in the evolution of DevOps. My friend and cofounder at Chef, Jesse Robbins, was the conference chair for the operations track at O'Reilly's Velocity conference.  It was there in 2009 that John Allspaw and Paul Hammond gave their seminal talk, "10 Deploys Per Day, Dev And Ops Cooperation At Flickr." In it they outlined all the ways they worked together to deliver code quickly and safely. John and Paul’s talk is all the more relevant today. The largest companies in the world are working as hard as they can to figure out how to become better at building and delivering software. It's not an optional piece of their strategy: It's the future of how their customers want to work with them. Software is table stakes for survival. Work Style Is What Matters, Not Tools So where should these companies look to understand how to become better at software delivery? Many are in the midst of this transition, but none have completed it entirely.  In some industries, we can point to market-leading disruptors, such as Amazon in retail. But the real answer lies in looking at what John, Paul, and Jesse were doing in 2009—not in the specific technical choices they made, but the style in which they worked, the essence of what they believed made them high functioning and successful.  Then the challenge begins: how to apply this new style to businesses trying to become better at building and delivering software. See also: DevOps: The Future Of DIY IT? This is the DevOps movement. The issues that led to DevOps in Web-native companies are now being felt by more traditional big companies. So today there is a noisy market in teaching people how to do DevOps, or in tools that enable DevOps. We'll start seeing certifications, definitions, books, and trainings. Vendor after vendor will tell you they have the magical solution to this difficult business problem. At its heart, though—when you dig down underneath the rhetoric and positions, the software architecture decisions and design patterns, down below the software-development lifecycle and your agile practice—DevOps is about bringing together all the people you need to build and run your business effectively, and empowering them to move as quickly as possible towards their goals.  Tools matter. Make no mistake, trying to change the way you work without changing the mechanisms by which you do that work is a futile exercise in excruciating failure. But tools exist in service of the prime directive: building highly functioning, highly effective cross-functional teams, that attack your thorniest business problems as a unit, rather than as lone individuals or silos with competing incentives. See also: Three Reasons Your Startup Will Suffer Without DevOps Fundamentally DevOps is about taking the behaviors and beliefs that draw us together as people, combining them with a deep understanding of our customers’ needs, and using that knowledge to ship better products to our customers. This is how I define DevOps: DevOps is a cultural and professional movement, focused on how we build and operate high velocity organizations, born from the experiences of its practitioners. Notice that I don't mention technology, which may be surprising coming from the CTO of a DevOps-focused company.  DevOps is cultural in that it encompasses the ideas, customs, and behavior of a group of people. It is professional because people can often make a living practicing these ideas in a variety of professions—I've seen everyone from CEOs and lawyers to software developers and sales reps practicing DevOps. It covers both the building and operating of our organizations.  It is uniquely suited to, and born from, the attempt to move at ever higher velocity (speed with a direction—it's not just that we move fast, it's that we move fast and we know where to go).  Finally, it comes from experience. It wasn't a business-school theory that got applied to the world, or a mathematical formula that got applied to a problem—it comes from the collected experience of thousands of people learning the hard way how to function in these environments. What DevOps Is Made Of From here we can break DevOps down into three different components: the core principles by which it operates, which are shared by every person and organization that does DevOps the forms of work we believe reinforce those principles (such as blameless post-mortems, continuous integration, or iterative versus incremental software development) the application of those principles and forms into our daily work Each of these components gets progressively more distinct to the individual. We're very similar in our core principles, we share many of (but not all) the same forms, but we're often quite different in how we apply the same to our actual work. This perspective provides a good place to start: understand the core principles first, then start doing some of the things that people who are DevOps experts do, then see how it feels in your own environment. There is more background on DevOps and other core principles, but in context of this story on the culture of DevOps, the following principle is most relevant: People Over Products Over Companies Anyone who has worked in enterprise IT in the last 20 years has likely experienced the inverse of this principle—an environment where we believed more in companies than products, and products more than people. We used to talk about being an "IBM shop," or a "Microsoft shop," or a "CA shop." When you had a problem, the first answer was always to look at the company whose solutions you had de facto decided to adopt, see if they have a product that fits, and if so, use it. Regardless of whether it was the best product, or if it resonated with the people who were going to have to implement and use it day to day. DevOps flips this on its head. The first question we ask is what the people who are doing the work, or who are going to consume it, need. If we can find a product that fits that need, great, let’s use it. If we can't, we're not afraid to build it ourselves—to take our fate in our own hands and simply solve our problem.  If we consistently find products that solve our problem from the same company, that's great. We value those relationships, too. But the moment it stops providing value, we're taking our money (and our people) elsewhere. This principle also holds in how you design your internal teams and systems. Sad people build sad products, which in turn create sad companies. Help your people be awesome, and they will make awesome products for you. Make awesome products, and you have a shot at making an awesome company. DevOps is about people more than technology. The DevOps movement is the solution to the challenges facing every large company in the world right now. Learning its history or principles is valuable—but in order to truly understand what to do next, you need to understand deeply the day-to-day behaviors of the people who practice it.  And in turn, you must learn to apply those in your own context, whether you’re a software developer or a sales leader. Then we use technology to reinforce those behaviors, and as an accelerant to the changes we need to make. Photo by Travis Isaacs

Media files: MTMxOTM3MTE0MzI0NDc4NTk1.jpg (image/jpeg) Amazon's Marketplace For Startups Looks Great—If You Can Get In Jul 29th 2015, 13:30 Amazon has opened up a new streamlined sales channel for startups called LaunchPad. If you've got something to sell—a recently Kickstarted invention, say—then LaunchPad lets you put it in front of millions of Amazon customers and distribute it through the e-commerce giant's massive pipeline. Your new product can even get Amazon Prime eligibility too.  Sounds like a win-win situation. Amazon gets intriguing new products to sell that aren't widely available elsewhere, while inventors and startups benefit from retail expertise and access to infrastructure they might not otherwise have.  That is, if they get accepted. Participants don't just sign up and start selling. There's an application process, one with somewhat vague rules and a couple of stipulations that new product makers should be aware of.  Ready To Launch? LaunchPad pages include a Q&A section. Launchpad's debut isn't entirely surprising, if you've been studying the retail giant's job listings—like the one for a senior marketing manager who's "inspired by inventors."  Now that the service is here, Amazon wants to emphasize three primary benefits: brand development (including custom product pages and a Q&A section), customer reach (with tie-ins for Amazon's reviews, recommendations and delivery networks), and global expansion (to reach customers worldwide using Amazon's established distribution channels in up to 10 markets).  LaunchPad effectively provides a streamlined way for new product makers to stand on Amazon's shoulders. That makes a lot of sense for indie outfits looking to scale up sales and distribution.  But first, they have to get through the approval process, and the company offers few particulars of how it works. Another challenge: Amazon doesn't offer support for manufacturing, a vital area that can stymy up-and-coming startups. You'll need goods that are already rolling off the production lines (or just about to) before Launchpad will even consider you. You must also be willing to sell off units for less than you'd charge yourself.  From the Launchpad webpage:  You enroll in the program as an Amazon vendor, which means you sell your product to Amazon on wholesale terms and Amazon sells the product to consumers at the retail price.  Wholesale terms are standard in retail, but may be bracing for the types of sellers Amazon is courting—essentially startups that may be new to the ins and outs of distribution.  Applying costs nothing, at least upfront. But cash-strapped startups with pricey products should note that Launchpad ties into Amazon's Vendor Express program, which requires sellers to submit free units if they want Prime status.  We request a limited number of free units as an investment in the program. We understand that your products cost money, so we want you to know we are using them to build your Amazon.com product detail page and evaluate customer demand.  It's not clear whether Launchpad sellers will have to comply with that rule. Something else that's unclear: the criteria Amazon will use to judge applications.  The company partnered with more than 25 venture capital firms, startup accelerators and crowdfunding sites—including Y Combinator and Indiegogo—and it wants them to funnel their startups into the LaunchPad program.  Of course, just having the right kind of backing may not guarantee acceptance. When it comes to customer satisfaction, startup products can be tricky (and sometimes very buggy). The company likely has some measure in place to filter out premature products.  As for applicants not backed by one of these partners, they will be subject to a review on a case-by-case basis based on...well, we don't quite know.  For some sellers, the vagueness could be worth dealing with. Because if you do manage to get in, then you'll be sitting pretty under Amazon's ever-expanding magic halo of e-commerce and distribution.  An Amazonian Opportunity Back in March, the company introduced another specialized storefront initiative called Amazon Exclusives, which offers a visually appealing interface for products carried solely by Amazon. This time, the company's service doesn't hinge on exclusivity.  Good thing for Petzila, since its Petzi Treat Cam is available through LaunchPad as well as PetSmart. The Wi-Fi camera and pet-treat dispenser seems like the sort of creative, yet polished invention Amazon wants. The affection's mutual: CEO David Clark can't help but wax enthusiastically about his Amazon relationship.  "Any startup looking for consumer audiences should consider LaunchPad," he told ReadWrite. "The name recognition and trust Amazon enjoys with its customers, and the sheer scale of the traffic it can provide to cross-pollinate are game changers."  There were also tangible benefits to signing up: "We've seen an immediate uptake in orders," said Clark. The company even offers a team to help him navigate the process. "It’s the type of one-on-one relationship you'd expect Amazon to only offers its top tier vendors," he said. "When we have a problem, question or suggestion we can pick up the phone and speak to our team at Amazon."  Petzila is one 200-some items for sale in the LaunchPad store on the first day. If you take a tour around, you can find everything from the FiftyThree Pencil Digital Stylus and PowerUp's smartphone-controlled paper airplanes, to the super-simple, super-smart Wi-Fi box Eero.  Such products could have found other homes, getting produced and sold through the Quirky (back in its heyday, before its struggles came to head), appealing to consumers through an attractive Shopify e-commerce site, or relying on word-of-mouth at community-driven Product Hunt for discovery. Instead, they get (most of) those benefits in one place, backed by Amazon's powerhouse marketplace and fulfillment.  Product Hunt founder Ryan Hoover is happy to see Amazon get involved with those entrepreneurs. "Amazon is helping new products and startups get attention," he told ReadWrite. "This is a good thing."  At least once you manage to get in.  Lead photo by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite; all other images courtesy of Amazon

Media files: MTMxOTIyMzU4Njk1OTI2MjM4.jpg (image/jpeg) The Best Place For Tech Startups: Still Silicon Valley … For Now Jul 28th 2015, 22:48

This post appears courtesy of the Ferenstein Wire, a syndicated news service. Publishing partners may edit posts. For inquiries, please email author and publisher Gregory Ferenstein.

There’s a new global ranking of startup ecosystems, with the top three spots all from America—Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and New York, according to tech company benchmarking firm Compass Startup Genome.  The company ranks global regions based on how well they foster top tech talent, host profitable businesses and expand into foreign markets. Tech startups looking for a place to call home may be deeply interested in its latest report—though perhaps they won't find it surprising.  See also: What Startups Can Learn From Jet.com's Awesome Video According to Compass' findings, Silicon Valley is pretty much the standard by which the rest of the world compares itself.  Bay Area Bounty Over the last two years, the tech region just below San Francisco accounted for nearly half of all startup company “exits” (read: acquisitions or initial public offerings), capturing 47%. London came in at a distant second, with 10%, and LA struggled to get noticed, at 6%. Silicon Valley tech companies’ total GDP (gross domestic product) comes to a whopping $535 billion, besting the GDP average for North America, at $430 billion. The area plays host to between 14,000 and 19,000 active startups compared to the American metro average of 4,000.  However, living near Google and Apple isn’t cheap. Companies must also cough up more for salaries per employee in this area, averaging around $118,000 per year, compared to $91,000 for the North American average. But the region has nearly twice the national average of founders who already have experience in fast-growing startups (at 35% vs. 17%).  Looking Beyond The Valley There’s good news for tech businesses beyond the California and New York, too. When it comes to the industry as a whole, the pie is expanding at an impressive pace all over the globe. And some areas are even outpacing Silicon Valley’s growth. “… we see Silicon Valley growing at a 45% rate over the last two years, whereas many other ecosystems further down the index are growing at much faster pace,” Compass wrote. "London has quadrupled in the same timeframe, and Berlin has grown 20 times (due primarily to the two big IPOs of Rocket Internet and Zalando).” Berlin jumped 6 spots from 2012, ranking number 9 in 2015. Amsterdam and Montreal bring additional international flare, coming in at 19 and 20th, respectively. As for other American cities, when you consider all the factors—such as talent pool and number of successful startups—places like Austin, Texas, begin to look even more appealing. The home of music and tech conference mecca South By Southwest, Austin is new to the list and ranks 14th worldwide. In other words, the Bay Area may be the most prominent locale in the startup world. But if ambitious tech folks don’t want to run the gauntlet there—or can’t afford to—they may want to take a closer look at the options. Other regions seem to be ramping up and growing fast. Someday, they might even give Silicon Valley a run for its money. Readers can view the full report here.

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Lead photo by Patrick Nouhailler

Media files: MTMxOTE5NDYzNjE5NTMyMDUw.jpg (image/jpeg) 4 Tools To Help Startups Hack Their Growth Jul 28th 2015, 13:30 Guest author Yoav Vilner is a cofounder of Ranky.  Startups in today's increasingly saturated market just can't overestimate the importance of business growth. Technology is a frenzied sector, and founders who want to make an impact often need to prove that their businesses aren't merely growing or thriving, but accelerating in hyperdrive.  Rapid growth is not easy to achieve, and these days, it usually demands unconventional, creative approaches. Dropbox veteran Sean Ellis called it "growth hacking." He coined the term in 2010, referring to bootstrapping startups that tried all sorts of things to achieve the fast growth required for survival.  Now, five years later, we have numerous growth-hacking tools to help all kinds of entrepreneurs. I’ve been in business for more than 6 years and tried more than 100 tools, so I outlined my most effective resources based on my experience. If you're interested in growth hacking, these are excellent places to start.  Why Growth Matters Ideally, you want an 30% annual growth rate. Although growing that much in one year may seem extraordinary—and it is—that's what seems to separate companies that are doing OK from those described as "hot" or having "explosive" growth.  That figure could be even more important if you hope to go public. According to a 2013 report by Institutional Venture Partners, 54 out of the 70 initial public offerings the firm tracked over three years exceeded that benchmark in their IPO year.  Either way, getting there relies on a mix of methodologies. You need creativity, as well as a certain level of critical thinking and applications. But not all strategies or tools will work for every company. However, there are some tools that can help universally, four of which I outline below.   Measure Mobile In order to maximize the full potential of the mobile movement, it’s essential to market effectively on these devices. But the unique makeup of mobile platforms can make it tough to retrieve information, such as analytics and attribution about mobile ad campaigns.  Fortunately, some tools do exist to gather and interpret this kind of valuable data. AppsFlyer is a world-renowned mobile measurement platform that lets all app marketers, ad agencies and brands advance their growth-hacking efforts by specifically measuring their app download campaigns. The platform provides unbiased attribution, mobile campaign analytics, in-app user engagement, lifetime value analyses, ROI (return on investment) and retargeting.  All of these tools offer data that can help a mobile app startup's accountability and ability to monitor successes and failures. The information can also help founders ensure applications adapt to specific markets and clients, so they can essentially expand their client base.   Find The Right Contacts Communication and relationship management are crucial for any business, but they depend on your ability to find the right contacts to begin with. After all, you could have the best pitch in the world, but without the right ear to hear it, you’re still stranded in the same position.  Finding contact details and email addresses for key players can seem impossible sometimes, but I've found that the Email Hunter Chrome extension can help a great deal.  The browser add-on can call up known email addresses associated with a given domain, making it much easier to find and select the most relevant contact within a prospective client company.  Zero In On Content Marketing And SEO If your growth strategy involves content marketing and SEO (search engine optimization) campaigns, then Buzzsumo is a must-have online tool.  Quickly and easily, the website can pinpoint which of your online content is working well, as well as identify who the major influencers are in your field. Users just type a keyword into the search bar, and Buzzsumo redirects you to all the relevant articles or blogs that are trending.  The site can be very handy for online marketers—whether you’re trying to recognize the largest influencers to help promote your content, generate new ideas for trending topics, or gain insights from your competitors.  Boost Your Online Presence Brand visibility is a crucial part of a startup's growth and expansion. One of the best ways to stay visible is by getting involved with existing communities, and offering support or guidance to potential customers.  Colibri allows you to find relevant articles and forums, so you can put yourself and your startup right into the online action. The site even bills its services as "Growth Hacking Tools." They monitor sites such as Twitter, Quora, Growth Hackers.com and other bloggers in your industry, so you can respond and comment on the most relevant conversations.  In the past, marketers simply placed ads and crossed their fingers that their businesses would grow. Now it takes a deeper understanding of what works (as well as what doesn't), smarter tools to find the right prospects and two-way conversations that shine a light on your startup.  Call it savvy marketing or growth hacking—but either way, it's just good business that can help take you from small startup to market leader.  Lead photo by United Soybean Board; all others courtesy of respective companies

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Google Makes Beta Testing Android Apps Easier And More Open Jul 30th 2015, 20:00 Google knows a friction-free app testing and submission process can help developers keep decent apps flowing, so it just rolled out a series of improvements to the beta testing process for Google Play apps.  Overall, the changes are designed to help developers manage pre-release beta tests easily, so they can "iterate faster" to develop or improve features.

See also: Google's Offering Smarter Tools For Smarter Apps And Homes

Consider it part of Google's recent developer outreach, which also gives app makers more finetuned ways to promote their apps once the testing is over.  Test Away In the past, beta tests were closed and ran through a Google+ community or Google Group. Now users don't have to be part of the company's social channels to become testers.  The new open beta program option lets developers send links, so any user can join a beta test with a single click. That allows the group of users to go from small to large easily, though developers can set a maximize cap, if they want to control the test size.  The old way of running closed beta tests will still be available, Google says. If they want, developers will even be able to start with the old process and move over to the more open version with the same list of testers.  See also: Google’s ARC Welder Gives You A Glimpse Of An Android-Anywhere Future There's also another option for closed tests: You can run a closed beta test using a private list of email addresses, instead of a Google community or group. Set a master list, and your participants will get a one-click link sent to their inboxes.  Google has provided some examples of how developers might want to test their apps. Vector Unit's Matt Small, for example, suggests using a closed beta to iron out any glaring issues and then switching to an open beta. The company posted a full walkthrough of the process in the Developer Console's help pages. Beta testers can't leave reviews and ratings in the Google Play Store, so your app's reputation won't take a hit due to any bugs (not until the official public release, anyway).  Finished Your Beta? Here's A New Way To Promote It Changes to the beta program are not the only new Google offering this week. A new Search Ads format for Google Play is now available to everyone. The service, which began testing in February, allows developers and advertisers to promote apps based on what users search in the store.  According to the company's official statement, "Search Ads on Google Play can provide consumers new ways to discover apps that they otherwise might have missed and help developers drive more awareness of their apps." Promoted apps appear with a small yellow Ad sticker in search results.  The new feature works a lot like ads on Google itself: Apps can be promoted in relation to certain keywords, so a booking app can appear at the top of a search for "hotel reservations," for instance. In the coming weeks Google will roll out a new Universal App Campaigns platform that lets developers and marketers manage app promotion across Web search, YouTube, app store search and Google's other properties. "Simply let us know what your ad will say, who you want to reach, your budget and target cost-per-install, and we’ll do the rest," the company wrote. The benefits for Google are obvious: Better testing and search infrastructure means happier developers. Even Apple seems to have gotten that memo, having surprised app builders with recently expanded TestFlight limits. But, by contrast, the iOS beta testing process is still much more controlled and restrictive—which is, in fact, everything you might expect from Apple.  Image courtesy of Google

Media files: MTMxOTYxMTM4MjI0MDg5MDk4.jpg (image/jpeg) After Gender Ratio Stalls, Pinterest Cofounder Promises To Do Better Jul 30th 2015, 17:14 Pinterest, the fast-growing, highly valued Visual Web startup, is far ahead of the Silicon Valley pack when it comes to gender diversity. But it's vowing to do far better on both gender and racial diversity, cofounder Evan Sharp promised in a blog post on Thursday. Startlingly, despite Pinterest's efforts to improve its numbers, its industry-leading ratio of women tech employees stayed steady at 21 percent from 2014 to 2015. See also: Why Pinterest's Workforce Is The Future Of Tech That's nearly twice the ratios other large tech companies have reported. But Pinterest, spurred by engineer Tracy Chou, has made far more substantive efforts. If it's struggling, it shows just how hard the problem is to crack. "Tech" includes product management, engineering, and design. Pinterest separately broke out its engineering diversity figures this year: 19 percent of its engineers are women. Overall, Pinterest improved its workforce gender ratio from 40 percent female to 42 percent. Pinterest has been doing well with recruiting women into engineering internships and into entry-level engineering jobs for new college graduates, but that hasn't been enough to move its overall numbers. So, Sharp says the company's going to make at least 30 percent of its full-time engineering hires women in 2016. The company's also going to increase its hiring for people of Hispanic and African-American backgrounds in both engineering and non-engineering roles.  It's a maxim in business that you can't manage what you don't measure. Pinterest will likely face some criticism that it's setting quotas. But one person's quota is another person's target.  Pinterest is betting that a diverse workforce isn't just the right thing to do—it's good for its business, as it seeks to have employees who can relate to its fast-growing base of users and represent their experiences. Here's Pinterest's current workforce breakdown: Pinterest's 2015 workforce demographics Images courtesy of Pinterest

Media files: MTIyMzAxNzk0MzU2MzMxMTEw.jpg (image/jpeg) How Amazon's Drone Superhighway Would Work Jul 30th 2015, 16:13 How do we make personal and commercial drones safe? Some of the biggest names in technology put their heads together at a NASA convention in California to address that issue, and Amazon is the first to step up with a detailed proposal. Its idea: build a drone highway in the air.  Action of some sort is most definitely needed. Drones flown by the public have been getting too close to airports, interfering with firefighting operations, and even crashing into national landmarks.  See also: Facebook's First Drone Is Broader Than A 737 Amazon's plan involves two different paths for traffic—an expressway for long-haul travel and a separate, slower "local" lane for shorter trips. Fundamentally, the approach could clear some of the biggest hurdles for drone safety, and if it's adopted, it would offer some clear guidelines for anyone interested in developing or using this technology.  Express Or Local? Amazon—which has been exploring drone use for product deliveries—has a deep and obvious interest in making sure the airborne technology flies. Before it can unleash a fleet of compact air couriers, it wants to make sure safety concerns must be the first priority.  The e-commerce giant's two-lane plan envisions the slower route occupying the air below 200 feet, with faster long-distance drones traveling along a band of sky between 200 and 400 feet. It also recommends a no-fly zone between 400 and 500 feet.  Federal Aviation Administration has already banned drone flight for airspace higher than that, at least for hobbyists, so the dead zone would offer some padding between the traffic lanes and that prohibited airspace.  See also: Amazon's FAA Exemption Doesn't Make Prime Air Any More Real The proposal hinges on the devices communicating with each other, so that every Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the sky will know where others are. That sort of networking could lead to a centralized air traffic control system for drones. If a flying gadget can't connect to others, it will be required to remain below 200 feet.  With potentially thousands of small drones may take flight in the next few years, Amazon also wants new and existing hardware makers to consider safety during product development.  If they integrate software and components that can detect nearby obstacles on their own, drones would be able to identify dangers, such as a flock of seagulls, as well as other aircraft. The overarching control network could then provide more logistical assistance for incoming drones farther afield.  "It's completely doable," Prime Air's Gur Kimchi told Bloomberg News. "We can only be safe and efficient if everybody else is safe and efficient."  Letting Safety Take Flight The devices have become nuisances for some public locations, so the FAA also requires consumer drone pilots to fly them within sight and avoid airports, people and stadiums. Other sites, like national parks, independently banned them as well. Amazon's plan may not prompt anyone to relax those rules. But it might mitigate the annoyance enough to prevent tougher crackdowns on them—at least when it comes to safety. (Privacy is another matter.)  This and other proposals are being considered as part of NASA's nascent Unmanned Aerial System Traffic Management system, which includes Google and Verizon as partners.  See also: Google Starts Over In Its Drone War With Amazon "We think the airspace side of this picture is really not a place where any one entity or any one organization can think of taking charge," said Google's Dave Vos, who confirmed his company's commitment to an open and shared method of drone control last week.  "The idea really is anyone should be free to build a solution."  Like Amazon, Google is also interested in drone technology for deliveries. Vos heads up Project Wing, a Google X experimental program that's exploring how drones can be used for deliveries—just like Prime Air.  Eventually, those machines could be used to transport anything from an Amazon package to a life-saving supply of medicine to the remotest parts of Earth, unhindered by traffic jams or infrastructure problems. But they can't deliver on that promise—or anything else—until tech makers ensure they can fly safely first.  Lead photo from The Fifth Element, courtesy of Columbia Pictures; Amazon Prime Air photo courtesy of Amazon; drone photos by Don McCullough and Jon Mills

Media files: MTMxOTU5NDU4MDg2NTU2OTQ2.png (image/png) A Free Analytics for Game Developers Jul 30th 2015, 16:09 GameAnalytics is a free analytics service created by and for game developers. They have designed event types and the resulting metrics that are specific to gaming concepts so that you know what to track and how to best track it. These include: User acquisition, Player engagement, Monetization, including drivers of first time purchases, Player progression through game content, In-game economies and virtual resources (e.g. gold, lives, XP), Error tracking. Once your game is instrumented, dashboards, analysis and data mining tools make it easy to understand what your players and monetizers are doing in your game, and where you should focus your development efforts. GameAnalytics is completely free to use. There are no pricing models nor derivatives, and the features available now will remain free going forward! Requirements: – Demo: http://www.gameanalytics.com/ License: License Free The post A Free Analytics for Game Developers appeared first on WebAppers.

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Amazon's Awesome Alexa Voice Tech Reaches Out To Other Devices Jul 31st 2015, 22:04 Alexa, the chatty personality that makes the Amazon Echo smart speaker so fun and handy, wants to join more devices. The company announced Friday the launch of its free Alexa Voice Service (AVS) developer preview. AVS was born out of the company’s work on the Echo, which may be Amazon’s best hardware product since its Kindle e-reader. The device is a voice-controlled cylindrical appliance that can tell you the weather, give you traffic conditions on your commute, play music, control connected lights and other appliances, and—of course—buy things from Amazon.  See also: Amazon Echo’s Ready To Chat Up Everyone Now—Except Developers Voice features may seem rather dime-a-dozen these days, but Echo’s accuracy and grasp of natural language could be among the best to date. Although it’s not perfect either, it does largely succeed in living up to the promise of understanding organic speech. Users can talk to it easily, without learning a rigid lexicon of verbal commands. Now hardware makers, both professional and hobbyists, can see what those language powers can bring to their projects. Here's The Caveat Bear in mind, however, that this is a developer preview, not a polished or official roll-out. That means partners can’t actually launch any new features based on the Alexa Voice Service yet. Amazon still hasn’t flipped that switch. Earlier this year, the company offered beta versions of its Alexa Appkit. But even as it wrapped up Echo's limited early availability with a broad consumer release last month, there was still no word about the developer tools.  The AVS developer preview may not be a polished release either, but at least it represents progress—if not for Echo itself, then at least for partners who want to use Alexa’s voice technology for their own mic-and-speaker-equipped connected products. They can now work with the technology and the resources that go along with it.  Amazon highlights the following benefits: Use AVS to extend your hardware’s capabilities and interact with your customers in new ways. Benefits of AVS include: • Create Frictionless Interfaces for Your Customers. Allow your customers to control your device in more intuitive ways with a natural language voice interface. By integrating AVS with your device, your customer no longer needs to get out their phone, find an app, and use their thumbs to invoke a command. All they have to do is ask via the microphone on your device. • Scale Quickly in the Cloud. AVS is cloud based and scales as your needs scale. You don’t need to worry about provisioning hardware and managing infrastructure to power your voice experience. • Integrate Easily. No experience with voice recognition or Natural Language Understanding (NLU) is required. Using AVS, add Alexa to your device in just a few hours. Leave understanding human speech to us and focus on your differentiated value add to customers. • Build for Free. Using AVS to power speech experiences on your devices is completely free. The developer preview includes the tools, documentation, APIs and code samples. Alexa support also allows access to information, music, audiobooks, news, weather and traffic, among other things—including any new skills developers want to create or customize using Amazon’s other toolset, the Alexa Skills Kit. For more information, visit Amazon’s AVS developer portal.  Screen capture courtesy of Amazon; lead photo by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite

Media files: MTMxMTA3NTQ4MTAyMjM1NDEw.jpg (image/jpeg) Mozilla Blasts Microsoft CEO For Replacing User Defaults With Windows Apps Jul 31st 2015, 21:08 Looks like Microsoft's Windows 10 debut is a hit: The new version of the operating system, which launched Wednesday, now powers more than 14 million devices, the company says. But not everyone is thrilled with the new software. In an open letter to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Mozilla CEO Chris Beard called out Windows 10 for foisting the company’s own media-playback apps and Edge Web browser.  See also: What Mozilla's WebAssembly Means: More Powerful Web Apps The latter is obviously a sore spot for the Firefox maker, but the whole scenario could be a grave concern for other third-party developers. Although technically users can preserve their choices for default apps, Microsoft deemphasized those settings—which means developers of music or video apps or alternative Web browsers might see user figures drop. Getting Edgy About Microsoft’s Tactics The "express" settings for Windows 10 upgrades available to Windows 7 or 8 users essentially wipes out user defaults and file associations, leaving behind Microsoft’s own applications. Beard considers that “disturbing"—disturbing enough that Mozilla even reached out to Microsoft to discuss this privately, to no avail. Now Beard is blasting Nadella for designing Windows 10 "to throw away the choice your customers have made about the Internet experience they want, and replace it with the Internet experience Microsoft wants them to have." The new operating system doesn’t entirely obliterate people’s preferences, and Beard acknowledges that users can still preserve their settings. But he also points out that the controls for that aren’t obvious or straightforward. In older versions of Windows, browsers called up a pop-up window asking if you’d like to make them the default for Web browsing. It only took one click to change that setting. Now if people want to save their own default apps, they have to click around and go through various screens in the Windows Control Panel to get there. Beard writes: It now takes more than twice the number of mouse clicks, scrolling through content and some technical sophistication for people to reassert the choices they had previously made in earlier versions of Windows. It’s confusing, hard to navigate and easy to get lost…. Sometimes we see great progress, where consumer products respect individuals and their choices. However, with the launch of Windows 10 we are deeply disappointed to see Microsoft take such a dramatic step backwards. That last comment likely refers to a "step backwards” in time, all the way back to the year 2000, when the United States won an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft over—you guessed it—predatory behavior, specifically by limiting browser choices. Mozilla Wants Microsoft To Hit Undo Mozilla’s role as a Microsoft critic comes as no surprise. Netscape, the company which gave birth to Mozilla as an open-source project, was considered a key victim in the antitrust case. As for the Firefox browser, it became known as a champion of freedom, unshackling Windows users from the bloated and inefficient Internet Explorer 6. Lately, Firefox has seen a drastic decline in its browser market share, and Mozilla is fighting to claw its way back. On its own, Microsoft's new (and well-made) Edge browser could pose a threat. Combined with the Windows maker's strong-arm tactics, the whole scenario starts to conjure some déjà vu. See also: Microsoft's Edge Will Let You Scribble On The Web—And That's Awesome Beyond Mozilla, the approach could affect various developers and their users. Microsoft's defaults also extend to photo, video, and music apps. It's a bizarre move for a company that has tried very hard to court developers.  Microsoft explained itself by invoking the simplicity argument: "We designed Windows 10 to provide a simple upgrade experience for users and a cohesive experience following the upgrade.”  Windows 8 was lambasted for being a hot mess of confusion and complication. Microsoft may be overcorrecting with the Windows 10 upgrade process, though it obviously (and ironically) subjects people to even more complexity just to preserve their settings.  At least the company offered one ray of light: It said it would make improvements based on user feedback. However vague that promise is, Mozilla aims to put it to the test. In addition to offering a tutorial on changing the default browser, the organization is spearheading a "Ctrl-Z” campaign on Twitter. (In Windows, the control+Z keystroke combination triggers the “undo” command.) A prefilled form lets people easily tweet out the following: "Hey @Microsoft, it's not too late to hit Ctrl+Z. Bring back user choice in #Windows10.” In other words, even if this is a redo of Microsoft’s earlier tactics, there’s still time to undo it.  Screenshot courtesy of Mozilla; all other photos by ReadWrite

Media files: MTI3NTU0NjgwODI0ODMwNDMw.jpg (image/jpeg) Former White House Advisor Explains Why Bitcoin Should Become Official Jul 31st 2015, 15:00

This post appears courtesy of the Ferenstein Wire, a syndicated news service. Publishing partners may edit posts. For inquiries, please email author and publisher Gregory Ferenstein.

Bitcoin, the digital currency infamous for wild swings in value and black market transactions, could have profound implications for the future of public services. Tech optimists at the highest levels of government are exploring how the same technology that makes bitcoin anonymous could make government services less bureaucratic and more secure from hackers.  I spoke with Brian Forde, MIT Media Labs' new director of digital currency and former senior advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, at the Atlantic Aspen Ideas Festival to discuss bitcoin technology and how it could eventually become a cornerstone of modern governance.  See also: Braintree Betas Bitcoin For U.S. Merchants His perspective could be our best indication yet that the technology may, in fact, see bona fide and official adoption someday. Entrepreneurs may also want to note that some of Forde's insights on government use of bitcoin could apply to private operations as well.  Biting Off Bitcoin Over the last few years, Bitcoin has slowly gained mainstream acceptance, expanding from the hobby of libertarian digital activists to the portfolios of billionaire Silicon Valley investors. But Bitcoin and its associated cryptographic technology has largely been viewed by governments as a dangerous technology in need of regulation. See also: Bitcoin Receives Nod From Financial Sector In Coinbase Funding Round Noted investor and Twitter philosopher Marc Andreessen has championed the idea that bitcoin's "blockchain" technology, a sophisticated public ledger of transactions, could prove much more useful than the currency itself. Yet, there's been little, if any, indication that senior members of American government are taking this optimistic view seriously.  Forde also sees potential in this newfangled digital currency. When I spoke to him, he explained various scenarios illustrating some of the potential benefits for governments, including the following:  Bitcoin's Tech Could Have Big Impact On The Most In Need Digital currencies have immense potential to improve human welfare by strengthening the capacity of governments to deliver more responsive services and secure the rights of their citizens to property, identity and increase financial inclusion... And because it is an open-source protocol for innovation, a wide range of services and products can be built by entrepreneurs and non-profits on top of it.  In other words, the major benefactors of bitcoin technology are the folks who need government the most—financially beleaguered citizens, public officials targeted by foreign hackers, or entrepreneurs who need agencies to get their business paperwork approved. Basically, any piece of official documentation, from liquor licenses to medical transcripts could be made portable and secure. Bitcoin's Value Is More Than Currency Digital currencies like bitcoin are the network of transactions. If you think bitcoin is just for money transfer, that's like thinking the internet was only built for email—today we know that internet is used for so many more applications. The true innovation that bitcoin solved was the elimination of the "double-spend." Forde is talking about the blockchain, the principal technology underlying bitcoin, which allows users to verify whether a digital piece of content is authentic. The blockchain acts as a public ledger of all transactions.  Bitcoin transactions are logged publically and distributed throughout a network of nodes that produce the currency. That structure verifies the authenticity of transactions. But it's become broadly accepted as an ownerless and hacker-resistant alternative to traditional third-party verifiable sources, such as banks or notary publics. (For a full explanation of the blockchain process, see this link.)  The blockchain could make public services much more efficient, since there would be no need for banks or regulation agencies to check for forgeries, or what Forde called "the double spend." A Way To Reach Out To "The Unbanked" More than 2 billion adults around the world do not have access to a bank account. Without a connection to the financial support services that typically accompany formal bank accounts, the unbanked have very limited access to the savings and borrowing mechanisms necessary to drive broad-based economic growth. Forde imagines bringing "the unbanked" into the economic fold through super-efficient money transfers (like SMS). Credits for food or other services could be given in similar ways without the need for complex bureaucracies.  Bitcoin Use Could Boost Security Today we practice a lot of authentication theater. Your government-issued identity, for example, starts out in a database of a government agency. It's then printed out in the form of a social security card, driver's license, birth certificate or passport.... $24 billion in identity theft occurs annually because corporations treat your social security number as a user name and a password. He see bitcoin technology as a way of mitigating some of those risks. Its structure inherently allows for uniqueness between blockchains, and its built-in authentication could obviate the need for security IDS from central government databases.  A user's bitcoin-like ID could function like a social security card, and it would be globally recognizable and interoperable between all sorts of government services.  Governments Are Interested, But Not Committing Similar to CEOs of large companies and non-profits, I've found officials in governments around the world interested in learning about the technology and how they can apply it to address the social issues affecting people in their communities. "Interest" is a vague word, but use of such non-committal terms is no surprise. Senior government officials are often mum about real intentions around anything considered experimental.  So there's no telling whether we may see bitcoin technology stripping away layers of government bureaucracy any time soon. If it's in the works (and that's a huge "if"), it would take years to see the light of day.  However, entrepreneurs should note that some of the reasons governments are examining bitcoin could apply to their operations as well—including security, expediency, a way of reaching out to people who would rather not use a bank account—or don't have one to rely on—and other reasons.  Plus, if the White House eventually pursues bitcoin in a meaningful way, entrepreneurs who have already started claiming their stake in this uncharted territory could find themselves in a good position. They might even help pave the way for the government to improve its services—which benefits everybody.

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Photos by Antana and by btckeychain

Media files: MTI3NTMxOTQyNzMxMDk0NDk0.jpg (image/jpeg) Your Shadow IT Department Is Here To Stay Jul 31st 2015, 13:00 Guest author Robert J. Moore is the CEO of RJMetrics, a provider of business intelligence to online companies. Much of the growth in software-as-a-service companies is being driven by a “land and expand” strategy: Tools first get used by individuals, then by small teams, and so on up the organizational hierarchy.  Eventually the company finds itself signing a large-scale deal, all without a competitive process or RFP. Companies like Slack and Dropbox craft their pricing models specifically to encourage this behavior—Slack knew exactly what it was doing when it decided to allow accounts to grow to unlimited users for free, and it was certainly an effective strategy to penetrate my company, RJMetrics. One day, some engineers were using it, then all the engineers, then the rest of the company, then we reached a point of no return and paying for it was pretty much our only option. Enter The Shadow This phenomenon is called Shadow IT: technology decisions getting made without input from, and sometimes without even awareness of, traditional IT organizations. Many IT leaders I talk to seem to think that the inmates are running the asylum, and are pushing back hard to regain control. Typically, this is being done in the name of security and compliance.  Users see it the other way around: they feel like they are finally throwing off the yoke of IT departments that have failed to innovate on their behalf. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if this trend is good or bad—either way, it’s happening. Technology no longer exists just in the workplace, and enterprise software is now not solely controlled by the IT hierarchy. Pandora is never going back in that box, so whether or not this state of the world is desirable just isn’t particularly relevant.  We didn’t mind paying—I think Slack is worth every penny. What’s interesting, though, is the position it put us in with regards to our data. All of a sudden, there’s this company that knows more about the way my team communicates than I do. That data seems like it could be quite useful—maybe I could even use it to understand and improve my business. But right now, Slack has that data and we don’t. The Data Dilemma Take this problem and multiply it by the number of SaaS tools your company is currently using: CRM, helpdesk, productivity, file storage, and on and on. They all know about your employees, your customers, your products—everything about your business— but you don’t have access to that data. Why is that?  Traditionally, software has been on-premise, and all of the data stores sitting behind the applications were directly accessible by the IT organizations maintaining them. Accessing the data was as easy as opening up a SQL terminal (which is to say, very easy).  But with applications deployed in the cloud, the data stores behind them became inaccessible. The only way to access data living within cloud applications is via the APIs exposed by application developers. And unlike SQL, a universal language for accessing data, the API for every application is different. This means that if your organization uses ten SaaS products, you need to integrate with ten different APIs to get that data, a nontrivial task. What organizations really need is to get all of that data into a single, high-performance, SQL-based analytical database. Fortunately, there are plenty of great choices as to what that database should look like. HP Vertica, Amazon Redshift, Snowflake, and others are innovating aggressively in this space. In fact, Redshift is Amazon Web Services’ fastest-growing product in history.  Business owners of the past would shudder at the thought of their data warehouse living in the cloud, but today this has become less of a concern. The advantages of cloud deployment—managed services with low upfront investment—extend to data warehouses as well. And because of the larger trend towards cloud services, much of the modern company's data is already there in the first place.  But that still leaves an open question: How do you transfer the data from all of the data sources where your data lives into this analytical database? This is, today, an unsolved problem, but it’s one that’s being actively churned on.  Today’s solutions fall into a few buckets: Legacy ETL tools (feature-rich but heavyweight, hard to use, and expensive) Home-grown solutions (unreliable, difficult to scale, and costly to maintain) Open source libraries (promising but immature; still require technical investment) SaaS products (still early in development) This is a problem that businesses today are just waking up to. The transition to cloud services is happening in real time, and businesses are just beginning to realize how in the dark they are when it comes to analyzing this data. Five years ago there were very few companies actively pursuing answers to these questions. Companies like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Spotify built their own data-processing engines that have matured into significant competitive advantages for these companies. Today, many more online businesses are following in their footsteps but need an answer that doesn’t require dozens of full-time engineers to build and maintain. The transition to SaaS is a massive paradigm shift and companies are just learning to adapt. I have very little doubt that these companies will rely on SaaS products to build the infrastructure that ties together other SaaS products. And thus does the snake eat its own tail. Photo by Hamed Saber

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CherryFramework 4. How to set up “Cherry Twitter Timeline” widget Jul 31st 2015, 06:55 This tutorial is going to show you how set up Cherry Twitter Timeline widget in templates based on Cherry Framework 4. CherryFramework 4. How to manage testimonials Jul 31st 2015, 06:45 This tutorial will show you how to manage testimonial options in CherryFramework 4. CherryFramework 4. How to display cookie banner Jul 31st 2015, 06:37 This tutorial is going to show you how display Cookie Banner in templates based on Cherry Framework 4. CherryFramework 4. Cherry Portfolio options overview Jul 31st 2015, 06:20 This tutorial is going to show you how to work with Cherry Portfolio options in templates based on Cherry Framework 4.

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BIND9 DOS Attack, Android Mediaserver Attack Crashes Phones, TrackingPoint Sniper Rifles Wireless Hack Jul 31st 2015, 20:18 A Bind Exploit Causes DOS Attacks, an Android Mediaserver Attack Crashes Phones, and TrackingPoint Sniper Rifles have a Wireless Hack. All that coming up now on ThreatWire. http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/07/major-flaw-could-let-lone-wolf-hacker-bring-down-huge-swath-of-internet/ https://www.isc.org/blogs/cve-2015-5477-an-error-in-handling-tkey-queries-can-cause-named-to-exit-with-a-require-assertion-failure/ http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/07/new-vulnerability-can-put-android-phones-into-permanent-vegetative-state/ http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/trend-micro-discovers-vulnerability-that-renders-android-devices-silent/ http://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers-can-disable-sniper-rifleor-change-target/ Thumbnail credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Precision_Guided_Firearm_Heads_Up_Display.jpg The post BIND9 DOS Attack, Android Mediaserver Attack Crashes Phones, TrackingPoint Sniper Rifles Wireless Hack appeared first on Technolust since 2005. TekThing 30: Is Windows 10 Really Free? Should you Upgrade? New Moto X & G, Best College Classes For Tech, More! Jul 30th 2015, 20:28 Windows 10 is here! We’re checking out the OS security, features, and some specific questions you sent to us! Plus, Motorola’s new Android phones, and what classes to study if you’re college bound and want to make a career in tech. All that and more in this episode of TekThing! ——

Download the video. Subscribe To Our Video on YouTube, iTunes, RSS. Download audio only MP3. (Audio RSS Feed Coming!) —— Love the show? Please support us on Patreon! THANKS to Hak5! & The HakShop!!! SOCIAL IT UP! Twitter, Facebook, Google+. Email a...@tekthing.com!!! ——- Sponsor: Thanks Hostgator.com!  Use coupon code TekThing for 30% off your hosting package ——- Shownotes!

Windows 10!!! Yup, Windows 10 is finally here. Should you upgrade? Does Cortana work? What makes it better (or worse) than Windows 7 or 8??? We’ve got answers! New Motorola Phones! Best Android phone under $200? Check out  the new Moto G… and the new Moto X Pure (aka the Moto X Style) while you’re there! More Windows 10: Is Windows 10 really free? Privacy concerns and configuring for privacy, Home vs. Pro, Dual Booting Windows 10 with Windows 7 or 8, ISO downloads of Windows 10, Windows 10 Gaming: It’s too early to see much from DirectX 12 on most games, but DigitalTrends says Xbox Streaming works well! Turn Off Wi-Fi Sense Password Sharing: Worried about Wi-Fi Sense password sharing in Windows 10? Here’s how to turn it off. College Tech Classes: Jeovahny from Atlanta posted on Facebook, “What courses should I take in college to more prepare me for the wave of tech. I have my A+ compTIA so far.” We’ve got tons of great info on what to study and why in the video! The post TekThing 30: Is Windows 10 Really Free? Should you Upgrade? New Moto X & G, Best College Classes For Tech, More! appeared first on Technolust since 2005. Media files: tekthing--0030--is--windows--10--really--free--should--you--upgrade--new--moto--x--g--more.mp4 (video/mp4, 0 MB) Android SMS Hack and Brinks CompuSafe Hack Jul 29th 2015, 20:20 The mother of all Android vulnerabilities, a safe running Windows XP is unsafe, and ZOMG Drones! All that coming up now on ThreatWire.   Android Text Message Hack: Stagefright   http://www.androidcentral.com/stagefright-exploit-what-you-need-know https://www.twilio.com/blog/2015/07/how-to-protect-your-android-device-from-stagefright-exploit.html https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSecure/issues/3817   Brink Smart Safe Hacking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzD58OavYVY http://www.bishopfox.com/blog/2015/07/on-the-brink-of-a-robbery/ http://www.bishopfox.com/news/2015/06/def-con-23-hacking-smart-safes-on-the-brink-of-a-robbery/ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Nf-lEGqozmEJ:www.bishopfox.com/news/2015/06/def-con-23-hacking-smart-safes-on-the-brink-of-a-robbery/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq9LwFNM55k   ZOMG Drones http://hackaday.com/2015/07/22/no-mounting-a-gun-to-a-quadcopter-probably-isnt-illegal/ http://www.wsj.com/articles/next-step-for-drones-defending-against-them-1437645600?mod=WSJ_TechWSJD_moreTopStories http://www.computerworld.com/article/2951878/telematics/firewalls-cant-protect-todays-connected-cars.html   Thumbnail credit: Michael Mandiberg: https://www.flickr.com/photos/theredproject/10662464343/in/photostream/ The post Android SMS Hack and Brinks CompuSafe Hack appeared first on Technolust since 2005. Hak5 1824 – Introducing the LAN Turtle Jul 27th 2015, 19:24 Introducing the Hak5 LAN Turtle, and a site to site VPN with OpenVPN Access Server. All that and more, this time on Hak5. Download HD  |   Download MP4 Our newest edition to the Hak5 family of pentesting gear is the LAN Turtle, a covert tool for remote access, network scanning, and man-in-the-middle. It is covert and simple, just like the USB Rubber Ducky, but it is also versatile and powerful like the WiFi Pineapple. The case is a covert USB Ethernet Adapter shell, with an embedded Linux distro packed inside. The Hak5 LAN Turtle excels at remote access, man-in-the-middle, and network reconnaissance. Open-source Turtle Modules are available to do a number of exploits and attacks. It’s super easy to setup too using an intuitive menu over SSH we’ve dubbed the Turtle Shell They’re available now at: https://www.hakshop.com Learn more abou tthe the LAN Turtle at: http://www.lanturtle.com/ The post Hak5 1824 – Introducing the LAN Turtle appeared first on Technolust since 2005. Media files: hak5--1824--introducing-the-lan-turtle--hd720p30.h264.mp4 (video/mp4, 242.1 MB) TekThing 29: Ethernet Beats WiFi, Tech Travel Gear, Password Lock Folders, Power Conditioners! Jul 24th 2015, 21:24 Do I need a UPS or power conditioner to ‘protect’ my PC and home theater gear? 3 travel accessories every geek should have during their summer vacation, Ethernet vs. WiFi? (Hint, one of ’em crushes the other…) Why you might want to run conduit, and how to password protect a folder on your external hard drive. All that and more, on TekThing! ——

Download the video. Subscribe To Our Video on YouTube, iTunes, RSS. Download audio only MP3. (Audio RSS Feed Coming!) —— Love the show? Please support us on Patreon! THANKS to Hak5! & The HakShop!!! SOCIAL IT UP! Twitter, Facebook, Google+. Email a...@tekthing.com!!! ——- Sponsor: Thanks Hostgator.com!  Use coupon code TekThing for 30% off your hosting package ——-

Shownotes! Power Conditioners & UPSs: Matthew posted on Facebook,  “What’s your opinion on power conditioners and backup power supplies like a UPS? I live in a large apartment building and was thinking a power conditioner for my home theater wouldn’t be a bad idea.The wind is enough to knock out our power and when they turn on the backup generator it only powers the kitchen.” We talk power conditioners (Robert Heron reccos the APC LE1200 Line-R or the Tripp Lite LC1200 Line Conditioner), surge protection, and why a UPS isn’t the same as an emergency power supply in the video! 3 Tech Travel Accessories: Wondering what Shannon always packs before she hits the road? She talks about Anker’s 40W 5-Port High Speed Desktop USB Charger, the Fitbit ChargeHR, and Conair’s Travel Smart All-In-One Adapter and Converter in the video! Screw WiFi, Run Ethernet: Bradley’s “been toying with the idea of networking my home. I’ve gone through routers, firmware (Gargoyle was great) and range extenders. But I just prefer an Ethernet connection. I’ve read good and bad about CCA Ethernet, cat5e vs cat6, yes or no to PoE,  and in the end I’m still feeling like Jon Snow.” We’ve got tons of Ethernet info in the video! Run Conduit!!! Peter says, “Do NOT put bare wire in a crawl space.  Put it in PVC conduit!” Find out why in the video. Password Lock Windows Folders: JY from Los Angeles writes, “I have an external hard drive and want to set a password on a folder before opening it.” Shannon talks Folder Lock, and explains why How-to-Geek’s How to Create a Password Protected Folder might not be the most secure idea. Do Something Analog: Patrick’s a big fan of tidepooling with the kids! The post TekThing 29: Ethernet Beats WiFi, Tech Travel Gear, Password Lock Folders, Power Conditioners! appeared first on Technolust since 2005. Media files: tekthing--0029--ethernet-beats-wifi-tech-travel-gear-password-lock-folders-power-conditioners.mp4 (video/mp4, 0 MB) Hak5 1823 – Finalizing the OpenVPN-AS Home Server Build Jul 23rd 2015, 22:00 Follow up on our quick and dirty OpenVPN guide from last week with the final setup to getting it online and accessible from outside your LAN. Download HD  |   Download MP4 1. Setup Static IP 2. Configure Xen to start VM automatically 3. Port Forward ==Set Static IP== #SSH Into the Ubuntu OpenVPN Server ssh ha...@10.73.31.240 #Edit the network interfaces file and replace auto eth0 dhcp with static config sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces auto eth0 iface eth0 inet static address 10.73.31.152 netmask 255.255.255.0 gateway 10.73.31.1 ==Configure XenServer to automatically start the VM== #SSH into your XenServer ssh ro...@10.73.31.152 #Determine the server/pool UUID xe pool-list #Enable autostart on the pool xe pool-param-set uuid=[your UUID] other-config:auto_poweron=true #Determine the Virtual Machine UUID xe vm-list #Set the Virtual Machine to power on boot xe vm-param-set uuid=[your UUID] other-config:auto_poweron=true ==Configure Port Forwarding for the OpenVPN-AS Server== https://10.73.31.240:943/admin # Port forward TCP 443, UDP 1194, and TCP 943 as per your router The post Hak5 1823 – Finalizing the OpenVPN-AS Home Server Build appeared first on Technolust since 2005. Media files: hak5--1823--finalizing-the-openvpn-as--hd720p30.h264.mp4 (video/mp4, 159.5 MB)

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WordPress. How to add a shortcode to a text widget Aug 3rd 2015, 08:58 This tutorial will show you how to add a shortcode to your widget in CherryFramework based templates. Joomla 3.x. How to create a download link in the single article and assign this article to menu Aug 3rd 2015, 08:34 This tutorial will show you how to create a download link in the single article and assign this article to menu in Joomla. Infinit – The Next Generation File Transfer Technology Aug 3rd 2015, 07:17 Infinit is a file storage and sharing company created in 2012 by two Frenchmen, Julien Quintard and Baptiste Fradin, with the vision of combining technology and design to allow anyone to send any file (photos, videos or else), of any size, to anyone, on any device. Infinit is a file transfer application based on a point-to-point technology that connects both the sender’s and recipient’s computer directly. This deviates from cloud-based services like WeTransfer, YouSendIt (Hightail) and Dropbox that rely on a two-phase process through which the files must first be uploaded to the cloud before they can be downloaded by a recipient. The technology allows for transfers to be at least twice as fast, and up to 30 times faster, than cloud-based file sharing services. The product also benefits from an intuitive user experience allowing anyone to send any file or folder, of any size in just a matter of seconds through a single drag & drop on desktop and just a few taps on mobile. Infinit completely removes the friction from selecting a tool that only support certain file formats or imposes arbitrary file size limits on the data you wish to send. Requirements: – Demo: https://infinit.io/ License: License Free The post Infinit – The Next Generation File Transfer Technology appeared first on WebAppers.

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Beautiful Placeholders using Images from Unsplash Aug 4th 2015, 07:10 Unsplash.it is beautiful placeholders using images from unsplash. Just put your image size (width & height) after our URL and you’ll get a placeholder. You can easily get a random image by appending ?random to the end of the url; Get a blurred image by appending ?blur to the end of the url; Select the cropping gravity by adding ?gravity to the end of the url. You can use the /g/ path to greyscale the image. You can also get a specific image by appending ?image to the end of the url. Requirements: – Demo: https://unsplash.it/ License: License Free The post Beautiful Placeholders using Images from Unsplash appeared first on WebAppers.

Deal of the Week: The Font Bundle Deal for August Aug 4th 2015, 07:03 Wow! There is a great special bundle from The Hungry jPeg for the month of August! The Font Bundle Deal for August includes over fifty (50) beautiful fonts for only $29.00! These fonts are unique and you have such a huge variety that you can create the most wonderful documents, flyers, letters, posters, invitations and posts anywhere. You also get a huge assortment of dingbats and ornaments. Included are the guides to using any of these tools. Create documents and pictures like a professional. Hurry to take advantage of this deal. It is only good through the month of August and then it is gone! From beautiful antique fonts to floral fonts and even water color brush fonts; you get them all. Business lettering or fun fonts for children’s pages; everything is included. That is not all. This bundle comes with tons of graphics. You get full commercial license with the package. This is unheard of for such a low price. The Font Bundle Deal for August alone would be worth the low price of $29.00. AND as an added bonus; for a very limited time – if you tweet this deal to your contacts you get an additional 10% off! This is crazy good! Get more than 50 fonts, dingbats, ornaments, the guides to use them all and full commercial license for one amazing low price of $29.00 and an addition 10% off for sharing this great deal with your friends! Better hurry…the discount will not last long. Get yours today! The post Deal of the Week: The Font Bundle Deal for August appeared first on WebAppers.

10 Ways To Test If Your MVP Is Actually Viable Aug 3rd 2015, 16:20 Throwing together a minimum viable product, or MVP, is a great way to test your concept and find out what customers really want before you sink more money into the game. However, there's a fine line between tossing something together and a MVP that's too buggy to launch. Finding that sweet spot is tough—spend too long on a proof of concept and you're wasting your time, but send out a too-buggy product and you risk your reputation. How do you know when you're ready? I asked 10 entrepreneurs from YEC how they know if an MVP is ready launch. Their best answers are below. 1. Your MVP Solves a Problem You shouldn't judge your product based on feature set. You should judge it on whether or not it solves a problem. Here's a good way to think about your MVP: Suppose you want to help someone get from A to B. You want to build a car, but a good MVP might be a bike. Then, you add more features and you have a scooter. Over time, you end up with a car, but along the way your product was bug-free, fully functional, and helped to solve a real world problem. You're ready to launch when you can validate that your product solves a real problem faced by real customers. —Jonny Simkin, Swyft 2. You Know the Goal of Your Product Launch What do you want out of someone's use? Determine the goal of your launch. If you want someone to become a paying customer of your MVP, it's most likely going to require a more polished product. Many companies build a pre-MVP, which is a simple splash page outlining the product features. Then, there's a button that says "sign me up." You can use this form to collect valuable information such as why they want your product and what their current solution is. In return, you can offer these early signups a free sample or discount of the product when it's ready. If you want more than feedback and early user data, then launch the MVP and see what the churn rate is. —Nanxi Liu, Enplug 3. You Have a Core Group Before launching, find a small group of users who are passionate about the problem you are providing a solution for. Their passion is key—they will tolerate the bugs and give you meaningful feedback. Once you’ve solved for those initial issues, do a second wave of user testing. Make improvements based on the feedback you receive. Take note of patterns. If 10 users have the same issue, you know you need a fix. If one user encounters a bug that no other users do, make sure it’s not specific to that user’s device. After this wave of testing and improvements, your product is ready for a larger audience. There will still be bugs, but your team should take note of and address feedback constantly. Keep making incremental improvements as the audience increases and your product will succeed. —Mac Morgan, Tonic Design 4. You Have a Hypothesis The point of an MVP is not to put out a product that instantly gains traction (although that would be great). Instead, a MVP should be the minimum amount of work you need to put in to test a hypothesis and learn the result. It can be buggy and look horrible so long as the bugs do not affect testing if your hypothesis is true. You only test on a small subset of your eventual audience, so you do not need to develop every feature at once. Also, don't worry about scaling or features that are “great to have” but not absolutely required. If you build something to scale and your hypothesis is wrong, you wasted a lot of time building a scalable system that never will get traffic. So focus on getting something out there and learning as quickly as possible. —Charlie Graham, Shop It To Me 5. You're Not Ready for a Real Launch What you're worried about is the reaction you might get from "launching" a buggy product. But no one says you have to do a gigantic PR push, paid advertising, or an email blast for a product that isn't ready for it. An MVP is supposed to be something you can get in front of a handful of people and see how they respond. You can start doing that at any point when you actually have something you can put in front of people, even if it's not functional (just mockups or wireframes). So don't worry about the big launch for now—you can save that for when your product is ready. But how will you know if your product is ready unless you've actually tested it live and in the field? —Mattan Griffel, One Month 6. You Have One Killer Feature Identify the single most important feature for your target market and make sure your product does it perfectly. In our case, that was tracking time and productivity on individual tasks simultaneously. In the case of your own business, it could be whatever solves your customers' pain point with the greatest specificity. If you can knock it out of the park, you're at the MVP stage. Additional features can be a little buggy if you're delivering great value on your core feature. If the core feature itself is even a little bit buggy, you'll turn people off of your product. —Dave Nevogt, Hubstaff.com 7. You're Ready for Useful Feedback The point of launching a MVP is to start a feedback cycle that leads you to a more polished product. When you go out and watch people use your product (yes, physically watch them), you want to make sure that the bugs don't become the focal point of your MVP. Mobile experience not great? Have people test it on a desktop. Servers occasionally return an error? Tell people to refresh the page. Don't have a login portal? Do it manually for the first 100 users. None of these things are showstoppers for a MVP. But if your application takes 20 seconds to load each page, the only feedback you're going to get is "make it faster." —Slater Victoroff, Indico 8. You Have No Bugs MVP means feature reduction—it does not mean bug acceptability. Lay out the features that your team decides are the minimum functionality requirements to attract your target audience, and make sure they work flawlessly. Leave your user base boasting about how well it works even if they're longing for more features. Samsung came to market with the Galaxy Gear almost two years before the Apple Watch. The product only came to life because of the Apple Watch rumors. Samsung rushed to market with a watch that didn't do much and didn't do it well. Apple didn't panic that they were going to be second to market on their own idea. Instead, they patiently crafted the perfect product and are now reaping the rewards. Even Samsung lovers or Apple haters can't deny the numbers. —Jere Simpson, Kitewire 9. You've Been Building for a Month An MVP is something that you launch to a few of your most failure-tolerant customers in order to test your assumptions early on. Hence, rather than worrying about making a buggy launch, I would worry about how much time is spent building the MVP. Ideally, if you have spent around a month, then it's time to launch the MVP. Any more time spent on this first iteration is too much and means that you are building more than necessary to test your basic assumptions. One needs to remember that the MVP is a minimum rendition of your idea. More often than not, you will end up rebuilding the product after getting consumer feedback. Hence, worry about time to market and not whether the MVP is in a perfect state for launch. —Pratham Mittal, VenturePact  10. You Have Your Greatest Work Ready The question I always have my employees ask is “Is this my greatest work?” I believe that to have a great company, you need to overdeliver and perform above expectations. Just like investing, you should go for the long run instead of chasing short-term gains. Going for anything less and taking shortcuts might help you get your product out quicker, but will eventually cause more harm than benefit. —Elle Kaplan, LexION Capital Photo by Neil Palmer/CIAT

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NOW – A Beautiful Cross Platform UI Kit Aug 5th 2015, 07:03 InVision’s latest UI kit, called NOW which is released today. InVision NOW UI Kit is the perfect cross platform UI kit for web, tablet, and mobile designs — and it’s free. This UI kit has over 52 complete design templates, 35 custom icons, and over 180 UI components to handle all your news and publishing app needs. Plus, the design is minimal and flat to keep your focus on the content instead of the UI. The kit includes iOS, tablet, and web templates, and is available for both Sketch and Photoshop. Requirements: – Demo: http://www.invisionapp.com/now License: License Free The post NOW – A Beautiful Cross Platform UI Kit appeared first on WebAppers.

What Augmented Reality Is—And Isn't Aug 4th 2015, 21:33 Guest author Kyle Samani is the cofounder and CEO of Pristine, a maker of video-based field-service solutions. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are becoming hot buzzwords in the tech ecosystem. Giant companies are placing bets and investors are pouring capital into the space. Facebook bought Oculus for a cool $2 billion in 2014. Google has been showcasing Glass since early 2012 and continues to invest in Glass, contrary to popular belief. Microsoft, Sony, Toshiba and Samsung have announced their own smartglasses. Nearly every major venture capitalist in Silicon Valley invested in Magic Leap, and a host of startups such as Atheer, Meta, Optinvent, Recon, Vuzix, Epson, ODG, and others are also building smart glasses. The space is on fire. But what defines and distinguishes augmented reality and virtual reality? Let's start with Merriam-Webster: [Augmented reality is] an enhanced version of reality created by the use of technology to overlay digital information on an image of something being viewed through a device (as a smartphone camera) [Virtual reality is] an artificial world that consists of images and sounds created by a computer and that is affected by the actions of a person who is experiencing it It's very clear that Oculus is a VR technology and not AR. Similarly, it's also very clear that everything other than Oculus listed above is not VR. But are these technologies all then AR? Many hardware manufacturers and media would argue that most of the technologies listed above are AR. Yet most are not.  Heads Up: That's Not Augmented Reality Here's where I differ with the dictionary: I believe true AR technologies superimpose an image on a user's view of the real world. Many of the devices listed above cannot superimpose an image on reality in a way that intelligently blends the virtual objects into the real world.  Rather, these devices simply render basic text and data that happens to be readable hands free. Those are heads-up displays, not AR devices. For example: To me, these images do not demonstrate real AR experiences. Why do you need to see your heart rate in your direct line of sight? Is that data core to the running/cycling experience at hand, or is it just convenient, glanceable data? Why does the temperature alert need to be central to your line of sight? Why can’t it be glanceable in the upper right-hand corner of your vision? These experiences are not AR. Instead, they are, as I like to jokingly like to call them, the equivalent of "gluing a phone to your face." It sounds crude, and that's exactly the point. Towards A Smarter Definition Of AR What, then, is an intelligent definition of augmented reality? Augmenting reality should imply not just showing information on the screen, but actually layering the information on top of reality in a spatially intelligent way. This rendering from Atheer showcases true AR—the actual layering of data on top of physical objects in a spatially aware way. The blue arrows need to be shown precisely where they are; if you walked 10 feet to the right and looked at the same series of tubes, the arrows and data would need to intelligently adjust based on your new location and line of sight. Otherwise, all of the arrows and data would be incorrect. But why not just list the data in bullet form in your peripheral vision? Why bother layering it on top of physical objects at all? It’s a great question that depends on the density of, type of, and use case for the information you need.  In the case of the pressure gauges above, those don’t need to be layered intelligently onto reality, although it is pretty cool to see them that way. They could just be shown in your peripheral vision as text, as follows:  Motor 1: 65C  Motor 2: 27C  Motor 3: 2.4 bar On the other hand, the directional arrow flows are spatially and visually contextual; describing the liquid flows without visual context would be significantly less meaningful and useful to an operator in that facility. It could be done, but it would be significantly less useful to verbally explain the flows than to simply illustrate the flows. Here's another example, courtesy of Atheer: In this example, showing text in your peripheral vision would be inadequate. Without any visual context, how would you describe location 16-38-30? The smart text layered onto the visual context is imperative for this example to make sense. See also: The Greatest Potential—And Obstacle—For Wearables At Work True AR is several orders of magnitude more complicated than "gluing a phone to your face." Why? Because true AR is predicated on elegant and accurate optics (which are not there yet), eye tracking (not integrated into any production hardware yet), and sophisticated computer vision, which in turn requires powerful processors, which in turn require better heat dissipation mechanisms and larger batteries. Practical, polished AR is still years away from commercialization. Tricks like showing your heart rate, an ultrasound rendering, or a data feed from a pump in your line of site don’t require any smarts. They just require some relatively basic integrations and modest redesign of the user experience. Why does any of this matter? We're witnessing incredible innovation in the smart eyewear space at every level of the stack, with tech giants and startups building every conceivable type of business application.  The vast majority are still stuck at the "glueing a phone to your face" user-interaction model. That's fine. It’s not a bad thing. It just means that enterprise buyers and the teams building applications need to understand the underlying user-experience restrictions they face and design for them accordingly. This also means that the smartglasses space is even less than nascent. We are today in smartglasses application maturity where smartphone apps were in the early 2000s. The iPhone moment has not yet arrived.  The first wave of companies are building “glue a phone to your face” applications. These apps are the low-hanging fruit. There is tremendously more value that still waiting to be unleashed. Lead image courtesy of Microsoft; other images courtesy of Pristine and Atheer

Media files: MTI3NTgwOTk4NzczODI5NjAy.jpg (image/jpeg) The Developer Opportunity For Connected Cars In The Here Maps Acquisition Aug 4th 2015, 21:12 Here Maps is one of the best products to climb out of the wreckage of the Nokia that Microsoft left behind, and Audi, BMW and Daimler obviously agree: In an attempt to reduce their reliance on Google and Apple's maps, the German automobile firms have paid some €2.8 billion (or a little over $3 billion USD) to jointly acquire the business.  The deal could lead to an interesting opportunity for developers or would-be partners. Connected car initiatives, so-called "infotainment" centers and other vehicular technologies can be difficult for outside parties to get into; they tend to be tightly controlled by car companies and tech giants, such as Google and Apple.  See also: Why Automakers Still Haven't Smartened Up Your Car's Dashboard Here Maps may offer an intriguing alternative: As an established mapping solution with a track record of working with developers and partners, it could represent another route to the dashboards of some of the world's leading auto companies.  A Route Into The Car Many people have likely used Here Maps, whether they realize it or not. Its technology and data fuels an array of products and services for partners like Bing, Yahoo and CNN.  Bing Maps may have its own look and feel, but data about maps, traffic, geocoding and routing is all pulled from Here. Its technology also drove CNN's interactive venue tours for the 2012 London Olympics, and powers the whole of Yahoo's Maps product.  See also: How Delphi's Tech Will Drive Its First Coast-To-Coast Driverless Road Trip The attraction for partners lies in Here's advanced offline capabilities, management of bookmarked places (which top even Google and Apple's mapping apps) and its clean, intuitive interface. Here Maps also features Glympse integration, so users can tell friends where they are and how long they'll be. As its engineers work on the core technology, they also keep one eye on emerging trends, even dabbling in augmented reality features.  For developers, Here offers software tools that let them dig into raw maps data, a locations database, driving directions, traffic information and a geocoder (for linking addresses and coordinates).  Now, whatever they build with Here presumably could land on a fast track into vehicles by BMW, Audi and Daimler.  The APIs Have It Here Maps' developer tools could be split into three categories: JavaScript APIs (application programming interfaces) that allow app makers to tie into Here interactivity and advanced features, Rest APIs that let them query the Here platform, and Mobile SDKs (software development kits) for creating or supporting phone-based applications.  With these resources, developers can help users get from point A to point B, pull up information about venues and points of interest, and access map and satellite tiles for anywhere on the planet. They can even offer weather forecasts, if they want.  Here's mapping and navigation technology may be a natural fit for autos, but it can also fuel a cohesive platform that stays with users in and out of their cars. The company suggests how its mapping data can work with wearables—for instance, with smartwatches displaying a user's estimated arrival time or getting pre-loaded mapping data in advance, to prepare for times there's no connectivity.  Here also supports timetabled routes for public transit connections (which is something Apple is still busy adding).  You can find some of its example code snippets on GitHub. The samples cover features like adding markers to a map, creating a map overlay, inserting customized sprites, generating a route between two points, bringing up 'info bubbles,' drawing heat maps and finding out which state a user is currently located in. To test out some of the code yourself, check out Here's API Explorer.  Who's Really In The Driver's Seat? When it comes to mapping apps, Apple Maps, Google Maps and (perhaps to a lesser extent) Google's Waze may seem like the indomitable juggernauts, and given how hard both tech giants are vying to own the dashboard, it seems like they have the literal vehicles to carry their ambitions.  But if there's a wrinkle in those master plans, it may be this: Auto makers don't take it lightly when other companies try to own parts of their territory. That's why some are looking into alternatives beyond iOS and Android.  Take MirrorLink, for instance. A communications standard for populating or connecting to car infotainment systems, MirrorLink offers mobile developers safety guidelines and a formalized certification process for building or adapting apps that are suitable in a driving environment.  Although it's phone-based, the standard does not belong to any one particular company. That appeals to car makers like Volkswagen, which announced 2016 models that will support it alongside Apple's CarPlay and Android Auto. Daimler, one of Here Maps' new owners, announced Mirrorlink support for its smart car last month.  Consider the Here acquisition and initiatives like MirrorLink as all part of the same growing push by auto makers to protect their turf. That effort may span multiple approaches, some of which could yield opportunities for budding car tech developers keen on riding shotgun.  Lead photo and smartwatch/map photo courtesy of Here; car infotainment console photo by Kārlis Dambrāns

Media files: MTMyMDcyODIxMDYzOTgwMzA2.jpg (image/jpeg) Apple's Scorched-Earth Advertising Play Could Lobotomize Google Aug 4th 2015, 16:19 Apple has an advertising business. But Apple doesn't have an advertising business that it must protect at all costs. Particularly when it can create cudgels to bludgeon Google. The cudgel in question is Apple's new content-blocking software that it's building into iOS 9. The new version of Apple's mobile operating system promises to significantly improve Apple customers' experiences—even as it wreaks havoc on companies that depend upon advertising to pay the bills. Like, say, Google. While Apple is almost certainly focused on improving the experience of its customers, rather than beating up Google, Charles Arthur rightly reasons, "this could have quite an effect" on Google. Indeed. Apple Does Right By Customers Apple has a bit of a love/hate affair with advertising. Originally it was pure hate, with Steve Jobs grousing that "most of this mobile advertising sucks." Apple then acquired Quattro Wireless and introduced iAd as a way to "create the kind of advertising that captures attention and drives results." Except it hasn't. At least, not to the extent that Apple may have hoped. Apple's iAd trails Google's mobile business by a considerable margin.  Given that Apple has more cash than many countries, this may not keep CEO Tim Cook awake at night. What does, however, are the privacy and experience problems that an increasingly aggressive mobile advertising community imposes on consumers.  Despite the potentially negative impact on Apple's advertising business, Cook went on the offensive, declaring in an online statement, "[A]t Apple, we believe a great customer experience shouldn’t come at the expense of your privacy."  The same is true of advertising, which bloats mobile pages, ruining performance and cratering battery life. Services like Adblock Plus have cropped up to remediate this on desktops, and now Apple is giving developers hooks to block unwanted content on smartphones, too. To be clear, Apple is not releasing ad-blocking software. Its approach is different, as Paul Hudson describes: [T]he performance cost of ad blockers is so high to make it unworkably slow on mobile. Plus, the very nature of ad blockers requires the ad-block extension to know every page you're visiting and what you did there, which is hardly a pleasing thing to think about.  So, Apple introduced a solution: content-blocking Safari extensions. They introduce a way to programmatically determine what websites users can visit and what content can be shown, but using a dramatically new model that offers significant performance enhancements and—best of all—absolute user privacy. While this isn't a foray into ad-blocking, per se, it will enable a new strain of ad-blocking. And it will definitely have a significant impact on mobile advertising. Burning Google's Boats Which isn't good for Google, in particular, but really, for any company that gives away free services in return for gathering data on users, thereby to better target ads. Arthur details the potential fallout: Consider: iOS 9 arrives, and lots of happy iOS users say how delighted they are to be blocking those annoying ads.... Meanwhile Android users won’t be able to follow suit (to anything like the same extent). At least one of two things will happen: • some Android users begin considering switching to iPhones • Google comes under pressure to allow ad blockers on the Play Store to prevent Android switching Neither of these is good for Google. But it is arguably very good for consumers. And Apple.  On one hand, Apple's iAd won't be subject to the same content blocking constraints, because iAd runs at the OS level and therefore skirts the restrictions.  Yet Apple doesn't care as much about a few advertising pennies when it makes billions selling devices, devices that will arguably sell at even greater volumes if consumers feel they can get a cleaner, superior experience with Apple.  Will this lobotomize Google overnight? Of course not. But Apple is driving the mobile agenda, and in a way that has serious potential to bloody Google. Photo by Nestor Galina

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JS Animated. How to manage social icons Aug 4th 2015, 07:42 This guide will walk you through how to add social media buttons to your sidebar or footer, using whatever icons you prefer in Website Template. PrestaShop 1.6.x. How to delete all sample catalog data Aug 4th 2015, 07:33 The following tutorial is going to show how to delete sample catalog data in PrestaShop 1.6. ZenCart. How to add a video to a product Aug 4th 2015, 07:25 This tutorial will show you how to add a video to a product in ZenCart. OpenCart 2.x. How to change slider dimensions Aug 4th 2015, 06:53 This tutorial will show you how to change slider dimensions in Opencart 2.x. Landing Page. How to manage Contact information Aug 4th 2015, 06:40 This video tutorial is going to show how to manage contact information in Landing Page.

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A Faster and Easier Way to Build Shopify Themes Aug 6th 2015, 08:55 Shopify Timber is a front-end framework which makes building Shopify themes quick and easy. It can be used by theme creators of any skill level for themes of any scope. Seasoned pros and newbies alike can benefit from the starter templates, liquid markup, modules, and CSS frameworks provided in Timber. Shopify Timber has been tested to work in IE 8+, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari for iOS, Chrome for Android, and the stock Android browser. Timber is built with Sass, but you don’t have to know it to use it. The compiling is all done on the Shopify server, so edit the .scss.liquid file just as you would CSS and watch the magic happen on your site. Requirements: Shopify Demo: http://shopify.github.io/Timber/ License: MIT License The post A Faster and Easier Way to Build Shopify Themes appeared first on WebAppers.

PrestaShop 1.6.x. How to add phone number/contact info text in header Aug 6th 2015, 07:36 This tutorial will show you how to add a phone number or contact info text in header area in Prestashop. Magento. How to edit the Orders and Returns page Aug 6th 2015, 07:25 This tutorial shows how to edit the Orders and Returns page in Magento. PrestaShop 1.6.x Troubleshooter. Facebook block not showing content Aug 6th 2015, 07:17 This tutorial shows how to fix the 'Facebook block not showing content' issue in PrestaShop 1.6.x. WooCommerce. How to hide prices and Add to Cart for unregistered users Aug 6th 2015, 07:06 This tutorial shows how to hide Prices and Add to Cart for unregistered users in WooCommerce.

Drupal 7.x. How to manage Olark Live chat Aug 6th 2015, 06:55 This tutorial will show you how to manage Olark Live Chat in Drupal 7.x. templates. What Made Google Great May Be Its Biggest Risk Aug 5th 2015, 22:00 Guest author Steffon Davis is head of product and founder of Curalytics, a social engineering and curation-data startup.  Google’s stated mission is to “organize the world’s information,” but when it launched its search engine, it wound up doing more than that. The ranking system offered the public a sense of which results were important, based on what we searched for and what we visited. In other words, it showed us what we thought was important.  See also: Why Google Wants To Padlock The Web In a way, it was like a mirror image being held up to humanity, and it offered a beacon of sorts for the cold, dark Internet that was thick with multitudes of confusing crevices. Now other companies, like social networks, have stepped forward to further the very thing that once set Google it apart, finding new ways to bring humanity into the technology equation.  Not that the tech company fails to innovate, with efforts like self-driving cars, weather balloon-based Internet access, car insurance sales, Google Glass, among many other projects. But the company seems to have abandoned the pioneering work of facilitating humanity online. And until Google embraces the role that everyday people play in its success, it may never truly amaze us like they first did with search.  Back in the Day, Google Blew Our Minds Google Search wasn’t just addictive—it became like "the designer drug" of search engines, and we’re still hooked. Its secret ingredient was PageRank, a tools that analyzes billions of links across the Internet. The algorithm stemmed from a pivotal insight by co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin: They saw links as the digital equivalent of people pointing to the “good stuff” online, and by measuring links en masse, their technology conveyed the feelings, opinions and recommendations of everyone who has ever linked to something. In that way, it makes sense that Google's results were better—they were more human. To really sell it, the company doubled down on the humanity with its “do no evil” mantra. The public never looked back.  The Google of today still relies on this original trick. The company earns 90 percent of its revenue mostly from search ads. It may mess with the formula from time to time—which vexes so-called SEO (search engine optimization) specialists regularly. But the premise behind its core product hasn't changed much since its inception.  It should. Because other rivals are rushing in and setting new online behaviors, and they're using everything they know about humanity to do it.  The Race to Humanize the Web Today, Facebook seems to understand what it means to humanize the Web even better than Google does.  The social giant recently opened its mobile messaging service to developer experimentation, encouraging trial and error, and it stands in a good position to usher in whatever the next big consumer behavior will be.  See also: Why Facebook Messenger Is A Platform—And WhatsApp Isn’t Social media—which includes Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, and others—has a long history of getting people to do new things. We friend each other, we tweet and follow one another, we curate “pins” together, and send fast snapshots to each other, without fear of the images sticking around permanently. By contrast, Google hasn’t changed the way people behave in a long time, unless you count its copy-cat services like Google Plus or acquisitions, such as YouTube or Waze.  Then again, when it comes to making the Web a reflection of us, Google doesn’t actually have much experience. Even PageRank, its original innovation, merely measured links; it didn’t invent them.  Twitter had to invent the tweet and the ability to follow others. Snapchat invented ephemeral messaging. As for Facebook, the company didn’t invent “friending” as much as reinvent it and then specifically apply it to exactly the right audience. The term “friending" may have come from Friendster, with MySpace keeping the concept alive, but it took on a whole new meaning when founder Mark Zuckerberg applied it to school-based, friendship connections. The exclusivity, the need to connect and even the desire for people to rank themselves and each other hit on a lot of base human levels, particularly for young adults. These companies are under no illusion that designing human-focused approaches are fundamental to their success, and this gives them an advantage. Algorithms Are The Cart, Not The Horse To the victor go the spoils and each newly digitized human behavior brings enormous data and monetization opportunities. The problem for Google is that, since it doesn’t own the links that make up its lifeblood or the data behind them, the greater spoils largely don’t belong to it either. Think of it this way: Facebook is the one on the edge of social search and advertising. Twitter sits at the vanguard of the “real-time” Web. Pinterest pushes content discovery. These humanized companies continue to seize hundreds of billions of dollars from domains that Google could have been better positioned to pioneer themselves, but didn’t. If Google sees itself as an Internet infrastructure company, then that type of work would be outside its scope. But it is “organizing the world’s information,” so it’s arguable that such innovations should have been in its wheelhouse. To Be Human Again Of course, as long as Google continues to improve fundamental services likes search, maps and mobile, it will be just fine. But if Google wants to “wow” us like it first did with search, the company needs to refocus its efforts on humanizing its technology. What this looks like is open to interpretation, and the path may be indirect. (I’m pretty sure the inventor of the hyperlink didn’t foresee PageRank.) But if it's going to spend billions on research and development, then there’s little reason not to refocus on it. There’s also opportunity to experiment with the “human data” it already has. For example, why doesn’t "thumbing-up" a YouTube video improve my personal recommendations? What about all the “+1’s” on my Google Plus profile? How do they benefit me? What about the apps I download on Android, or the articles I bookmark? All of these are intensely human signals about what I think is relevant, and they are potentially more powerful than a hyperlink. And yet, I don’t see them helping me combat content overload, increase my productivity, entertain myself, or connect with others. There is tremendous innovative opportunity available to Google, possibly more than ever before. But to unlock it, it needs to remember that it’s us—average Internet citizens—who are the secret sauce in its efforts to organize the world's information. And we are human.

Lead photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Media files: MTI1NzI2NDkzMzY3MTEyOTc4.jpg (image/jpeg) 14 Big Opportunities In Enterprise Markets You Should Be Seizing Aug 5th 2015, 21:07 Guest author Jesus Rodriguez is the founder of KidoZen. The last few years have brought a new wave of innovation to enterprise software. From companies like Workday and Zendesk redefining traditional business processes to Slack and Box opening new areas of innovation, the enterprise software space have seen companies rise up to bring innovation to a space that didn’t see a lot of creativity in the previous 30 years.  The momentum in enterprise software is far from over. The latest technology movements in areas such as augmented reality or drones promise an exciting future for software businesses who primarily serve other businesses. Cloud computing, mobility, the Internet of Things, and big data are enabling this momentum, as are emerging trends in areas such as 3D printing or augmented reality. They all offer unique opportunities to reimagine enterprise software in the decade to come.  By thinking about some of the trends that can become foundational to the next generation of enterprise software, I've identified some interesting ideas: enterprise hardware the industrial Internet of Things applications powered by the blockchain proactive analytics 3D printing enterprise marketplaces domain-specific data science augmented reality in industrial settings mainstream machine learning drone platforms next-generation cybersecurity platforms for microservices the Docker ecosystem new application-development platforms for the enterprise I'm going to explore some of these ideas in more depth—and I'd love to hear your thoughts on these and other promising areas. Enterprise Hardware The rapid evolution of smart, connected devices is going to play a role in the next generation of enterprise solutions. While we use software to automate most business processes today, we are starting to see companies leverage smart devices to bring new levels of intelligence into business processes.  From vertical solutions in industries like transportation, retail, healthcare, and the public sector, to horizontal solutions in areas such as security, payments, and monitoring, we believe hardware is going to become more prominent within large organizations—both on its own and as an adjunct and accelerator to software automation. The Industrial Internet of Things The Internet of Things, or IoT, is already having a big impact within businesses. By leveraging smart devices, enterprises will be able to provide new levels of automation and intelligence to industrial solutions. Manufacturing, healthcare, and automotive are some of the industries leading the charge to adopt the Internet of Things. From a market perspective, we should expect to see the emergence of platforms that provide both horizontal and vertical-specific capabilities for adopting IoT in industrial settings. Blockchain-Powered Applications Within circles familiar with Bitcoin, blockchain is known as the foundational infrastructure that supports transactions in the cryptocurrency. However, the capabilities of the blockchain are completely independent of Bitcoin. From a functional standpoint, the blockchain provides the foundation to enable decentralized, secure, and trusted data exchange. By focusing on solving a highly complex problem such as decentralized financial transactions, developers of blockchain technologies have created capabilities that are foundational to many mission-critical applications. From vertical[-specific scenarios like electronic voting or trade settlements to next-generation peer-to-peer messaging applications, the blockchain is definitely an interesting trend in the future of enterprise applications. Domain-Specific Data Science In the last few years, we have seen the emergence of a series of platforms that have simplified the adoption of machine learning, data analysis, and visualization for large volumes of data. That evolution has allowed businesses to achieve levels of data intelligence that were impossible before. As this trend continues, we believe businesses and other large organizations are going to start tackling more complex data problems in their specific industry. Consequently, data-science platforms are going to shift from horizontal to vertical-specific capabilities. We should expect to see more and more platforms that leverage the power of current data-science platforms and adapt them to specific domains and industries. Enterprise Marketplaces Marketplaces like Uber or Airbnb have evolved to become some of the most important private technology companies. The economics of marketplace models scale to levels that were unthinkable before wide adoption of the Internet and smartphones. While startups have implemented these marketplace models in consumer scenarios, enterprises are slowly starting to discover their value. From crowdsourcing the development of applications to building marketplaces for data and analytics, we should expect to see an increase in the number of enterprise-centric marketplace platforms in the next few years. Augmented Industrial Reality Augmented reality (AR) platforms like Facebook’s Oculus or Windows Holographic have been at the center of tech news all year. Consumer applications like gaming seem to be the classic scenario for AR platforms. But enterprises can greatly benefit from the advances in AR technologies. AR technologies will drastically change industries like education, construction, healthcare, and manufacturing. Expect to see the evolution of AR platforms focused on specific industries over the next few years. 3D Printing The mainstream adoption of 3D-printing technologies is rapidly revolutionizing established industries like manufacturing, construction, automotive, and healthcare. As enterprises make 3D printing a mainstream process, the need for platforms that can operate 3D printing at an industrial scale will become more relevant. Expect to see vertical-specific 3D-printing platforms emerge for specific industries. Proactive Analytics Over the last few years, data analytics has become one of the fastest-growing areas in enterprise software. However, most of the enhancements in analytics platforms have been focused around simplifying the way we interpret data with richer data visualizations, reports, data governance, and so on. Those traditional models are based on reactive behaviors in which the data analysis is presented to a human who ultimately take some action after interpreting the data. As analytic platforms continue gaining traction in the workplace, we should expect to see a shift from reactive to proactive models where platforms trigger actions based on intelligent machine interpretation of the data. Mainstream Machine Learning The commoditization of computing power as well as the evolution of frameworks like Azure ML, AWS ML, Spark, and Scikit Learn have democratized the usage of machine learning in business applications. Despite the rapid evolution of ML platforms, most enterprises still see machine learning as an academic discipline. As ML platforms continue evolving, they are called to experience a mainstream adoption in the enterprise. In the next few years, we should expect to see ML platforms becoming as mainstream in enterprise applications as databases as BI-reports are today. Platforms For Microservices At a conceptual level, microservices predicate splitting an application into a series of small, autonomous services that perform atomic operations and can be independently deployed and managed. While microservices can be seen as an architecture style that can be implemented with any service-oriented technology, the fact of the matter is that most enterprises struggle with the effort required to implement solutions built on microservices. As microservices continue gaining popularity, we should expect to see the first generation of platforms focused on the development and management of microservices. The Docker Ecosystem Docker is one of the greatest phenomena we've seen in the last few years of enterprise software. Rarely have we seen fierce competitors like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, VMWare, and others universally adopt a third-party technology as a foundational piece of their platforms. While Docker is certainly interesting, we believe the platform ecosystem around it could be even more valuable. As enterprises continue to adopt Docker, the need for solutions in areas such as monitoring, security, and deployment automation will become increasingly relevant. Additionally, traditional enterprise applications like as content-management or line-of-business systems will start supporting Docker deployments. The combination of these two trends should make the Docker ecosystem a vibrant source of growth. Drone Platforms Unmanned devices capable of flight, more commonly known as drones, are seeing faster adoption by enterprises than consumers—the rare exception in technology's recent history. Starting with the obvious military and defense scenarios, drones have also seen adoption across such heterogeneous industries as agriculture, energy, and the public sector. With the increasing adoption of drones, the need for horizontal platforms that facilitate common tasks such as monitoring, data transmission, security, and fleet management is becoming more and more evident. Next-Generation Cybersecurity In the last few years, cybersecurity has evolved from an enterprise discipline to an element of modern warfare. This industry has seen an explosion in both the variety of technologies and the level of investment deployed. Expect this trend to continue for the next few years and produce a new generation of cybersecurity technologies that will be adopted in the enterprise. New Application-Development Platforms The last 15 years of software development in the enterprise have been dominated by two platforms: Java and .Net. While movements like Ruby on Rails and Node.js have increased developer productivity and addressed some of the limitations of Java and .Net, they have failed—so far—to become mainstream in the enterprise. The rise of mobile and big data, which require new programming paradigms, may change that. We think enterprise information-technology departments will soon be ready to adopt new programming platforms that are better equipped to support the architecture of modern software applications.  Photo by Owen Thomas for ReadWrite

Media files: MTI1Nzc2MTQ1MzM2NTUxNDM0.jpg (image/jpeg) Fitness-App Consolidation Continues As Adidas Buys Runtastic Aug 5th 2015, 17:58 Runtastic is the latest indie fitness-app maker to fall under the control of a larger player: Adidas has bought the Austrian startup for 220 million euros (the equivalent of US $239 million).  The deal follows Under Armour's aggressive rollup of MapMyFitness, MyFitnessPal, and Endomondo over the last couple of years, as well as Fitbit's recent purchase of FitStar. See also: The Runtastic Orbit Is A Fitness Tracker With All The Right Moves Of the fitness apps I looked at closely in my survey of the field in 2013, only Strava and RunKeeper remains independent. In recent years, Runtastic had distinguished itself from the pack in a couple of ways. After suffering from crashes in my initial testing, Runtastic turned things around and proved to be highly stable after its engineers road-tested the app on long bike rides through the Alps. (Runtastic is based in Linz, Austria.) It developed a solid retail-distribution network, particularly in Europe. And it also delivered a well-designed fitness tracker in the Runtastic Orbit, one of the better simple devices I've tested. Adidas badly needs Runtastic. Most of its apps have received poor reviews, and I found its MiCoach wearable device a very weak entry in a crowded field—it's an unremarkable heart-rate monitor tied to bad software. The acquisition is also a way to gear up for battle in the marketplace with Under Armour, a company Adidas has tangled with in court over patents. The next move here belongs to Nike, which has developed fitness apps in house to date. Its efforts in wearables have been troubled: It stopped making its FuelBand fitness tracker last year, and settled a lawsuit last month with consumers who claimed it didn't accurately track steps. It may be time for Nike—like Under Armour and Adidas—to admit that it needs some digital help.

Media files: MTIxNDI3Mjk1MTA2NDY3MzQx.jpg (image/jpeg) WordPress. How to manage Mega Menu Aug 5th 2015, 07:15 This tutorial will show you how to work with Mega Menu in Wordpress templates. How to create a new database user in PhpMyAdmin Aug 5th 2015, 06:49 This video tutorial is going to show how to create a new database user through PphMyAdmin.

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TouchPoint.js – Visually Shows Taps for HTML Prototypes Aug 7th 2015, 07:03 TouchPoint.js is a tiny (3.6kb minified) vanilla JavaScript library made for in-browser HTML prototyping (as part of the UX process) that visually shows where the user clicks/taps on-screen using CSS3 transforms and transitions. TouchPoint is highly customizable, mobile ready and great for screencasting, screen recording, user testing and presentations. TouchPoint is customizable. There are a number of options that you have access to to customize the look for your needs. Performance should not be an issue because each individual TouchPoint element is dynamically created and then automatically removed from the DOM after being used. Requirements: JavaScript Framework Demo: https://github.com/jonahvsweb/touchpoint-js License: MIT License The post TouchPoint.js – Visually Shows Taps for HTML Prototypes appeared first on WebAppers.

5 Predictions For The Future Of Wearables Aug 6th 2015, 23:08 Guest author Andrew Hooge is an exercise physiologist, entrepreneur, software developer, author and a product manager at mobile health-data firm Validic.  Human beings have long been fascinated with the notion of people and machines becoming one. Science-fiction author Philip K. Dick played with the premise of high-tech enhancements amping up our ability to process information. In his books, film adaptations for which include Blade Runner and Minority Report, he explored what it means to be human in a world where hardware fuels superhuman capabilities.  See also: Google’s Project Jacquard Aims To Make "Activewear" A Reality It’s easy to dismiss the fusion of technology and physiology as fantasy, but it’s no longer just science fiction fare. On the contrary, its beginnings are already underway with wearable gadgets. It’s still early in the evolution of wearables—in effect, we're in its early "toddler phase." But already, there are hundreds of devices that monitor everything from steps and sleep to blood glucose. This emerging category of body-worn devices will become increasingly important—so much so that they will shape the story of the 21st century. I predict the following five areas, over the next few years, will see their greatest impact. The Influence Of Wearables  When it comes to the wrist bands, watches and other devices we strap onto ourselves, much of what we touch is just noise in the form of data. The challenge—and opportunity—is to find smarter ways to interpret the information these gadgets collect about us. That’s not the only target. Tech makers also can’t lose sight of other critical aspects, including battery life, device communication and interface development. It’s a lot of work right now, but it could lead to advancements in data-facilitated care, personalized wearables, active coaching, gesture-based interfaces and even authentication. Data-Facilitated Care What it is: Embedded biometric sensors and software that provide continuous capture, delivery and interpretation of health and performance. This allows physicians, care teams and coaches to make prescriptive decisions quickly and from anywhere. Dr. David Berkoff, sports medicine physician at the University of North Carolina’s Department of Orthopedics, explains: “One of the main objectives right now is to improve continuity of care,” he told me. “Currently we get a very inconsistent snapshot of a patient’s health. They come in for a visit,we review the data presented that day and make decisions.” Wearables can fill in many of the important gaps, thanks to the consistent nature of the monitoring these devices can offer. “[With these gadgets,] we are close to having continuous, accurate data about an individual's physiology and daily behaviors,” he said. "This is key to empowering healthcare professionals to make better decisions and help drive behavior change and outcomes.” Personalized Wearables What it is: “Made-to-fit" sensor-equipped apparel and medical devices that use 3D-printing technology for individual customization. Nike reportedly is using advances in nano-technology to embed sensors in its apparel, and it won’t be long before individuals will be able to 3D print their own smart T-shirts. Athletes and coaches will better understand when they are over-training or under-training and when they are under hydrated and overstressed. It will also reduce the cost of production and management of the supply chain for companies like Nike. Sensor-embedded 3D printing will also impact the medical device industry. Mayo Clinic has already produced its first custom hip. They are looking for ways to embed sensors in the devices to improve monitoring of a patient's function and wear and tear on the joint. Active Coaching What it is: Sensor-embedded hardware and apparel that monitor performance, provide interpretation and make suggestions on how to progress. This next step in wearable technology will help individuals improve everything from their fitness to their biomechanics (posture and gait for example). One of the keys for active coaching to be successful is to improve the validity of the data and interpretation. That's a key concern for Dr. Steven LeBoeuf, founder and president of Valencell. When I spoke to him, he explained, “one reason we started with optical signal sensor based technology in the ear was the validity of the data.” The next step, according to LeBoeuf is to make the data relevant to improve engagement. “We need good data and then software that accurately interprets the data and provides useful advice on how to progress to make a dent in improving health and fitness outcomes.” Gesture-Based Interfaces What it is: Human-to-computer interactions that let individuals use gestures and other natural movements to interact with devices. By adopting everyday movements and gestures in lieu of complex machine-based tasks, we can improve the user experience and make it easier for people to onboard to new devices and software. We’ve already seen the beginning of gesture-based interfacing with Google Glass, which lets users take a picture by blinking. Recent patents from Apple suggest its new Watch may allow for gesture-based adaptive learning. This may communicate actions like navigating through Apple TV, flipping pages on your iPad while running on a treadmill, shutting off the lights, and more. Authentication What it is: Wearables that have the ability to provide a unique signature to the individual. Use of distinctive characteristics, such as heart rhythm, could take the place of outdated credentialing methods like a written password. How many times have you forgotten your password or had your email hacked? This could soon be a problem of the past. New technologies like watch-enabled heart rate monitors can measure one’s unique rhythm and convert it to a password. Other companies are exploring how external devices could automatically log in individuals when they are near, similar to the way Android can keep a phone and smartwatch unlocked when they are in close proximity of each other. What Lies Ahead These consumer-facing scenarios just scratch the surface. Go past that, and you can delve into anything from bionics or connected prosthetics—arguably the ultimate wearables—to circuit-equipped contact lenses.  There’s even research suggesting stomach acid can power batteries, which takes the notion of wearable technology and plunges it a few steps further, even going into ingestible technology. Though it’s still early days, there’s little doubt now that human beings are increasingly merging with their technology. The innovations that establish and advance the concept aren’t just inevitable. They are, in fact, well underway. The entrepreneurs who understand this inevitability—and plan for it—will be the best poised to usher it in and benefit. Lead photo courtesy of Atheer Labs

Media files: MTMwMDE4OTc1NzU2MTIwMDM0.jpg (image/jpeg) 5 Things Developers Should Know About Microsoft’s Open-Source iOS App-Porting Tool Aug 6th 2015, 21:16 Microsoft needs developers to build apps for its platform, and its play to get them—by helping coders port iOS and Android apps to Windows—just took a big step forward: On Thursday, the Redmond, Washington–based tech company released its iPhone app porting tool, Windows Bridge for iOS, as an open-source public preview.  The company knows that attracting mobile app makers can be an uphill climb. With the new tool, Microsoft hopes to encourage more support by offering a simple way to make Windows apps out of existing apps. Android developers also get Windows Bridge for Android, which is now available through a private beta.  The premise of these tools is to let developers reuse much of what they’ve already built, reducing complexity.  See also: Windows Wants Apps! Specifically, Android And iOS Apps However, Microsoft warns that the bridge is not finished yet. In other words, don’t be surprised if it's buggy or missing some promised features. That’s actually a key reason it chose to open-source Bridge for iOS, so developers can contribute to the project and help ensure that a polished version debuts this fall (when its new Visual Studio update launches). Here are few other things app builders should know about the new Microsoft tool. 5 Things To Know About Windows Bridge For iOS 1. You can explore, but not release: Developers can immediately start working with Windows Bridge for iOS, formerly known as “Project Islandwood.” However, since it’s a preview, they can’t launch their results just yet.  2. It’s transformation, not transference: When it comes to cross-compatibility, tech makers have different approaches. Some, like BlackBerry, can run apps made for other platforms, like Android. Microsoft has a different goal with its bridges: to make it easier for developers to transform their existing iPhone or Android apps into Windows apps. Put another way, iOS and Android apps won’t run on Windows, and the bridges do not change that. 3. iOS developers can use the code they know: Microsoft promises that developers can use fundamental Windows APIs (application programming interfaces) with Objective-C code. In other words, the iOS and Windows developer tools should be compatible. 4. It doesn't cover Windows everywhere quite yet: The tool allows developers to support both Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (with x86 and x64 architectures, which refer to the kind of chip the OS runs on). Eventually, it will also cover ARM processors, which is key for mobile devices like smartphones. 5. What the tools include: The bridge covers four essentials: the Objective-C compiler, Objective-C runtime, iOS API headers and libraries, and the ability to bring Xcode projects directly into Visual Studio 2015. Windows Bridge for iOS is now available, so you can grab the code through an open-source GitHub project under the MIT license. At its Build conference earlier this year, Microsoft told developers it would help them bring existing apps from rival platforms. Bridge is obviously the company's way of following up on that pledge. To learn more about it, check out the GitHub link above for technical details, or view the Build video for more information.  Lead photo by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite; Windows photo by Urs Steiner

Media files: MTI4NDc0ODg3MjMxNzExODc1.jpg (image/jpeg) What You Can Learn From This Map Of The Most Googled Republicans Aug 6th 2015, 17:32

This post appears courtesy of the Ferenstein Wire, a syndicated news service. Publishing partners may edit posts. For inquiries, please email author and publisher Gregory Ferenstein.

Google Trends has been known to predict stock market trends or hidden racial stereotypes for presidential candidates. Now Google News Lab's latest map of the most-searched Republicans suggests that the GOP's bid for the White House is still anyone's game.   Although Donald Trump technically dominated the searches, which was broken down by state and county, that likely hinged more on curiosity than voting interest. Otherwise, the map looks like a fairly level field.  The use of Google data isn’t limited to the tech giant alone. Search volume data can be valuable for confirming two things: that people have heard of an item (or a person), and that the public is interested. Neither types of campaigns can work without both being in place. See also: The Best Place For Tech Startups: Still Silicon Valley … For Now With plenty of public datasets open to savvy developers, virtually anyone can create search data visualizations for any reason—like grabbing publicity or measuring the reach of campaigns, both political and product-driven.   Here’s how Google applied it to its data map of the most-searched Republicans. Mapping What People Want To Know At first blush, America appears to be obsessed with Trump. Nearly every single county, save for Scott Walker's own state of Wisconsin, is crawling with Trump searches.  When you peel back the Trump-mania—which may not last, depending on the news cycle—the GOP field is a practical dead heat. No candidate in particular dominates Americans' curiosity. Even though Jeb Bush is second in many polls, he doesn't really dominate the map. And, in the all-important battleground state of Iowa, there's fascination with nearly every single candidate, even folks like Bobby Jindal, who don't rank high in the polls. Google search volume for each candidate might be a much more valuable source of information than a national poll, both because it is more detailed, and it may unearth a latent curiosity not found by directly asking voters who they like. Another study found that Google trends could be used to predict that an extra 3 million people may have registered to vote, if the deadline were extended. Google's tools are a powerful way to test a variety of hypotheses.  The tech community and the political candidacy field for the Presidency share a few similarities. Both are massive, and contenders scramble to stand out from a noisy crowd. Public sentiment can swing wildly from month-to-month, as new entrants emerge or old ones land in the headlines.

See also: How Small Changes To Google Search Can Punch Your Web Traffic In The Face

In a business setting, having regional search information can be extremely helpful. Google's search data can reveal what people want to learn more about, and those valuable insights can paint a broad picture of where to focus your efforts.  You can identify where a product has the greatest (or worst) name recognition, as well as determine beta test markets, pinpointing areas ripe for regional promotions and other uses.  Taking a cue from Google, you might even be able to nab some publicity with relatively little effort. To start, you need to identify a fascinating or unique type of search, one that is ideally related to your expertise, and then map out the data points. The picture that takes shape can tell its own story to inform your company or its potential customers.  *For more stories like this, subscribe to the Ferenstein Wire newsletter here.

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Robots Will Never Rule The World—Just Improve It Aug 7th 2015, 21:15 Guest author Anne Balduzzi is the founder and CMO of SameGrain, a "privacy first" social discovery platform, and an early pioneer of the Internet, with marketing and product development roles at Apple, Quantum Computer Services (later renamed AOL) and Viewtron.   Ray Kurzweil popularized the Terminator-like moment he called the “singularity," when artificial intelligence (AI) overtakes human thinking. With all the advancements that have been made within the robotics industry and artificial intelligence, are we finally at the cusp of this reality? From robotics to microbots to machine-learning software, the growth of these technologies is surging. According to a report from Business Insider Intelligence, there will be a $1.5 billion market for consumer and business robots by 2019. Furthermore, a report by Transparency Market Research states that the market for predictive analytics software will amount to more than $6.5 billion worldwide in 2019.  See also: This Robotic Odd Couple May Soon Run A Warehouse Near You As these advances shift from the traditional industrial and logistical application to a new focus on consumer and office use, their potential to drastically alter everyday life increases. Robotic and AI technologies have advanced so rapidly, a "Hollywood-like world," with a substantial robot population, may not seem that far away. Sure, these mechanized technologies can serve us drinks, answer Jeopardy questions and connect us with people across the globe. But despite Elon Musk’s concerns about AI leading to robots that will us, the reality is that a robot civilization simply cannot exist without humans. The Present: Improving Human Life With Robotics And AI When it comes to the robotics and artificial intelligence industry, there are several broad roles that these technologies fill. The first is physical integration, where processes can be vastly improved through robotics.  See also: What It Took These Four Women To Get Into Robotics Notably, the impact of this integration can be seen in science and medicine, with robotics opening the door for new innovation and exploration. Now, not only can we explore previously inaccessible areas from the human body to outer space, but doctors can harness the power and precision of robotics in medical procedures, reducing the risk of human error. The latter involves machine-learning technologies. New cognitive applications tap into human behaviors or tendencies, and use correlative data for specific purposes. Systems can gather tons of specific information on individuals that is then used to provide a personalized experience—from the best travel route home and shopping recommendations, to even finding romantic or professional connections. Companies and advertisers are leveraging this predictive technology to learn more about customers and successfully forecasting future purchasing behaviors. Realistic Future: The Best Case Scenario For Robotics And AI We can ponder a sci-fi-like future steeped in AI and robotic systems, but perhaps more realistically, the future hinges on where a variety of physical applications meet machine learning. Take wearable devices, for instance.  See also: Something About 'Her': Will Our Computers Ever Be Real Friends? Wearable devices, like the Apple Watch, allow us to manage our personal and business lives conveniently from a chic timepiece. But beyond that, they also serve as health management solutions and productivity calculators using machine learning. Wellness apps like Health from Apple are tapping into our daily diets and helping us keep track of exercise routines. Productivity apps like Hours track our time and allow us to easily jump from task to task. One day, those gadgets could usurp the role of professionals like dietitians or project managers. But could they ever be smarter than the human counterparts they may some day replace?  The answer, very likely, is no. Emotional Intelligence (EI) and the basic understanding of human nature and social interactions is what distinguishes man and machine. Without the scientists, engineers and end users who set the parameters and provide input data, computers and machines can’t get “smarter." People who use smartphones, Facebook accounts or even simple Google searches feed the machine-learning beast with every keystroke.  See also: Now You Can Build Your Robots Using A Snapdragon Processor Every interaction an individual takes may lead to more powerful artificial intelligence systems, but AI still cannot exist without human intervention.  Kurzweil and Musk have made bold predictions on what the future of robotics and artificial intelligence might look like. Only time will tell if human cyborgs will truly exist. In the near future, we can be certain that robotics and smart technologies will infiltrate our lives from the workplace to our home in surprising ways. Imagine your phone ordering food at a restaurant based on your personal nutritional needs. With continued human interaction and development of these technologies our lives will be “smarter," but we are nowhere near a world where robots replace humans entirely. After all, a robot-bartender may be able to make you the perfect mixed drink, but it cannot listen to your problems and empathize.  Photos courtesy of Shutterstock; Adriana Lee for ReadWrite; MIT

Media files: MTIyNDM0NTUwOTkwMjc1MTc0.jpg (image/jpeg) How Self-Driving Vehicles Will Change Us Aug 7th 2015, 19:30 Guest author Amber Case is an entrepreneur, author, speaker and researcher who helps Fortune 500 companies design, build, and think through their roadmap for connected devices. She is the cofounder and former CEO of Geoloqi, a location-based software company acquired by Esri in 2012.  Tesla announced its first self-driving cars this summer, while Apple is rumored to be getting into the self-driving car business. Even if there’s no iCar in our immediate future, we need to start talking about the dramatic changes self-driving cars likely have in store for us—not just in the way they’re built and sold, but also in the way they’ll change our lifestyles and everyday habits.  See also: How Robot Drivers Will Save Us From Ourselves To help start that conversation, let’s consider the four likely scenarios that are likely to emerge in the next decade or two. Cars Will Become Live/Work Spaces Car interiors will become more and more like living rooms, or even bedrooms. Didn’t get enough sleep the night before? You’ll be able to sleep on your way to work. Consequently, the most sought-after features will not be powerful engines, but quiet rides with good suspension, and built-in outlets/nooks for our laptops and handhelds. (Anti-reflective glass will also have a high premium, as it helps limit excess glare on our device screens.) High-quality speaker systems will become even more important, not just for music, but for teleconferencing and phone calls. Connectivity will become essential for everyone who works from their cars, so also expect to see car-based wireless and network plans offered by carriers and wifi-providers, possibly bundled into our existing home and mobile plans. Self-Driven Cars Will Lead to New Businesses Self-driving cars will open up new business models and self-employment opportunities. On your way into town? Save on gas or electricity by dropping off a package on the way, or opt to take advertiser-sponsored trips. And speaking of ads, consider how self-driving cars will increase our time in front of screens. See also: How Self-Driving Cars Could Radically Transform Cities People will view 30-40% more ads as commutes become our preferred space to work. This will increase ad impressions and app purchases, and probably help pay for the costs to develop and distribute cars. (And on the downside, increase challenges around media addiction.) Drive-thrus will probably become more diverse and high-end, as we gain more time and freedom to savor meals on the road. Self-Driven Vehicles Will Create a New Car Culture As cars become a place to be lived in, versus a space that’s merely tolerated between point A and B, a lifestyle and culture will grow around them. Given access to regular showers, many of us will begin to live almost entirely out of our cars. Gyms may see an uptick in subscriptions because of their showers alone, and companies will offer showers and spas as work benefits. There may be entire parking lots dedicated to live-in cars, with showers, restrooms, and food/laundry services nearby. Road trips will likely increase, as families become better equipped to take pleasant trips together, often sitting in silence, connected to our devices. Self-driving cars owners will be able to subscribe to custom-made tours created by others; they may even come with “get lost” or “I’m stressed by the city, take me somewhere nice” modes. Where previous generations used cars for make-out sessions at drive-in theaters, the next generation will probably want to hook up while their cars are driving. We’ll Argue Over Automated Traffic Fatalities—and Our Humanity Simulation of self-driving carpool fleet by fullness of car, Lisbon, Portugal While self-driving cars will help prevent hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths from drunk driving and other road mishaps, no automated system is perfect. The first fatality due to computerized vehicles will spark great debate. For some, this will be a sign of our waning humanity. What machine has the right to make a decision over a human life? Then again, the first car accidents in the early 20th century also provoked concerns over rising mechanization. What is bizarre at first can quickly become a cultural norm. Even so, there’s no doubt we’ll see yet another decline in self-sufficiency. For teens, learning to drive is a rite of passage, a mark of coming adulthood. But how long will it be before driver’s licenses are a thing of the past? These forecasts only touch the surface of the controversies we’ll soon face—issues over privacy, safety, and hacking will also have to be dealt with. And while it’s not yet known how different our driverless future will ultimately be, it’s certain we’re not yet prepared to deal with it.  Lead photo by zeitfaenger.at; courtesy of Institute of Technology in Massachusetts

Media files: MTMyMTQ3MjA3NzUwMDYzMzc4.jpg (image/jpeg) 3 Barriers To Success For Wearables Aug 7th 2015, 17:32 Guest author Andrew Hooge is an exercise physiologist, entrepreneur, software developer, author, and a product manager at mobile health-data firm Validic. It’s no secret that wearable devices are poised to explode. According to data from Juniper Research, the market is expected to expand rapidly within the next few years, going from $4.5 billion by the end of 2014 to reach $53.2 billion by 2019.  See also: 5 Predictions For The Future Of Wearables This is great news for product makers who are investing heavily in wearable tech initiatives—though the path to success will be fraught with challenges.  Several things need to fall into place before these technologies can really achieve their full potential. Problems like dismal battery life, complicated user experiences and sometimes pointless data collection top the list. Let’s take a closer look at these issues. Death By Discharge One of the key issues challenging wearable device engagement is the inconvenience of constant charging. According to Dr. Steven LeBoeuf, founder and president of Valencell, industry statistics show that as soon as someone takes off the device, the chances of that user not putting it back on there is a more than one third chance they won’t put it back on. “When you have to take your device off to charge it, you immediately disengage the user and they begin to wonder how much value they are getting by counting steps.” This is what LeBoeuf calls “death by discharge.” “If their experience with the device is a good one, then they will likely put it back on but if not it may become best friends with the underwear drawer,” he said.  Dr. David Berkoff, sports medicine physician at the University of North Carolina’s Department of Orthopedics, agrees: “As an athlete, it’s one of my biggest frustrations.... I’m ready to go on a long ride and I forgot to charge my device,” he said. He also sees battery life as a big barrier to getting regular joes to purchase the devices, “If it’s a problem for early adopters, then you know it’s going to be an issue for everyone else.” Organizations like Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST) at North Carolina State University are working on solving the battery life issue. They are developing technologies to enable battery free and body powered devices.  Tom Snyder, Industry Liaison for ASSIST told me his group is “utilizing nanotechnology to bring the energy requirement for sensors and wireless data transmission down to a level that your body can be utilized as a power supply.” For example, ASSIST materials embedded in a textile can harvest energy from the temperature difference between the skin and air, and then use that to power sensors. This not only has an impact on clothing but also on medical devices. They’re currently working on a battery free pacemaker. The Need For Human-Centered Design Marrying a relevant user experience with the appropriate interface will be key. Sensors embedded in a shirt, coupled with a watch interface that carries the data, is one example. Another that can provide a good user experience embeds sensors in familiar devices we already use, like headphones. “We started with headphones because our audience were athletes and weekend warriors,” LeBoeuf said. “They already wore headphones when they worked out so it made sense. Why make them work harder and purchase another device?” According to an industry report by Rock Health, a health incubator and fund based in San Francisco, one of the biggest barriers to engagement occurs at the onset of device use.  In other words, getting a gadget out of the box and setting it up is a pain in the neck. Reports indicate that close to 10 percent of tech products are returned before they are even used. Fashion is another important element in adoption. Software and hardware designers are not accustomed to the nuances of style, to blend both form and function. Smartphones rely less on fashion, since it is typically stuffed in our pockets. Wearables that are visible on our bodies are another story.  To succeed, brands must immerse themselves in fashion trends and psychology, to achieve more inspirational design. Getting Personal With Data In 2013, more than 70 million wearable devices were sold, and by 2016, that number should reach over 90 million. However, the adoption rate will slow or decline if these devices don’t provide more meaning and context about how to improve our health, fitness, and life based upon our goals and needs. To truly connect the data, devices must talk to each other. Tech makers need to simplify the communication between devices through a universal API (application programming interface), which will become critically important. Thanks to your phone’s GPS, RFID, or Bluetooth, you could get a personalized workout plan the second you arrive at the gym, and the device would adjust the intensity based upon your previous workout, cortisol levels and hydration. It will also know that it took longer for you to fall into REM sleep, because home sensors indicate that you kept the lights on. A number of companies including Nike are already moving towards coach-enhanced apps that learn from your performance outputs and adjusts your next workout accordingly.  See also: Fitness-App Consolidation Continues As Adidas Buys Runtastic Apple’s new health and fitness app will tell you when you need to stand or move more (two keys to cardiovascular health) based upon real-time information from your Apple Watch. In addition to Apple and Nike, a number of other companies are hiring teams of exercise physiologists, data scientists, and physicians to help move data from descriptive to prescriptive. Dr. Berkoff believes that, for devices to be adopted by the mainstream, they have to provide more than just entertaining data to the user.  “Physicians and their patients need to understand how they are progressing and if there is the need for an intervention,” he said. “Data is just data without proper interpretation and there may be times where the physicians don’t have time during a clinic visit to interpret the data. We just need to know when to connect with the patient.” He adds that sports medicine physicians, physical therapists and other healthcare professionals can benefit from the continuous monitoring and interpretation of movement. “I can only get so much information in a 10-15 minute office visit,” he explained. “I may watch someone walk or run during that visit, but they may be on their best behavior giving me less than perfect data.  "To really understand how they move and to make the best prescription," he said, "we would benefit from continuous monitoring and feedback which we could then use to provide the patient with a better plan on how to progress and improve.” The Future Is Already Here … Sort Of Companies and startups are already creating new ways to measure health and performance, to help people be more productive.  Parents and their children are finding significant value in products like Sqord—the first wearable for kids that helps curb childhood obesity and improve children’s health. It uses sensors to track activity and provides feedback and motivation to help kids move more. Companies like Fitlinxx are also changing the game with their new product, AmpStrip. The heart rate and activity tracking monitor is designed to stick to the wearer’s torso for a week or more at a time. Once they’re done with it, they can remove it like a Band-Aid and recharge. Add more adhesive, and it’s ready to be put back on. While wearable devices are still in their infancy, the growth and excitement around them will ensure the technology matures rapidly over the next few years. But it’s no time to be complacent. We may be nearing the Wearable Era, but we're not there quite yet. There’s still work left to do.  Lead photo by Intel Free Press; Shutterstock; Owen Thomas and Adriana Lee for ReadWrite

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CherryFramework 4. How to edit footer copyright notification Aug 10th 2015, 10:01 In this tutorial you will learn how to edit footer copyright message in Wordpress templates based on Cherry Framework 4. CherryFramework 4. MotoPress Slider. How to work with layers Aug 10th 2015, 09:51 This tutorial shows how to manage layers in MotoPress slider. CherryFramework 4. How to manage Blog meta and posts settings Aug 10th 2015, 09:13 This video tutorial shows how to manage Blog Meta and Post settings in Cherry Framework 4 templates. CherryFramework 4. How to edit content with MotoPress editor Aug 10th 2015, 09:01 This tutorial shows how to edit content with MotoPress editor in CherryFramework 4 templates. Drupal 7.x. How to perform database update Aug 10th 2015, 08:36 Our support team is glad to present you our new guide for performing Drupal database update. PrestaShop 1.6.x. How to change predefined color schemes of ThemeСonfigurator module Aug 10th 2015, 08:25 This tutorial will show you how to change predefined color schemes of ThemeConfigurator module in your Prestashop 1.6 template. WordPress. How to add icons for social links (when they are set with text) Aug 10th 2015, 08:12 This tutorial will show you how to add icons for social links in WordPress (when they are set with text by default). PrestaShop 1.6.x. How to work with “TM Homepage Products Carousel” module Aug 10th 2015, 08:01 This tutorial shows how to work with "TM Homepage Products Carousel" module in PrestaShop 1.6.x. Monstroid. How to change the layout of main landing page Aug 10th 2015, 07:48 This tutorial is going to show you how to change layout of landing page in your Monstroid template. Magento. How to style TM Google map using Snazzy Maps Aug 10th 2015, 07:16 This tutorial shows how to style TM Google map using Snazzy Maps in Magento. Quantity Queries – A Tool to Help Build Quantity Queries Aug 10th 2015, 07:03 So I guess you already know the base id, class and descendant selectors. And this is quite enough for you to get the job done. If so, you’re missing out on a lot of stuff and most likely your code is pretty messy. I know that sometimes it’s hard to remember all of them so lets go through the ones that are quite interesting, rare and most importantly really useful. Technically, CSS doesn’t have the ability to count an element’s siblings. However, Heydon recently showed us what he calls Quantity Queries: a clever combination of :nth-last-child(), :first-child, and ~ to style elements based on how many elements are in a single parent. Quantity Queries is a tool designed to help build and understand Quantity Queries. Requirements: – Demo: http://quantityqueries.com/ License: License Free The post Quantity Queries – A Tool to Help Build Quantity Queries appeared first on WebAppers.

Joomla 3.x. How to replace Font Awesome icons (by changing their code) Aug 9th 2015, 20:38 In this tutorial you will learn the way to replace Font Awesome icons by changing their code in Joomla 3.x. templates. JS Animated. How to change the order of the social icons Aug 9th 2015, 20:28 This video tutorial is going to show how to change the order of the social icons in Landing Page templates. Joomla 3.x. How to change/translate contact form fileds titles (ADDRESS, PHONES, E-MAIL, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION) Aug 9th 2015, 20:19 This video tutorial is going to show How to change/translate contact form fields titles (ADDRESS, PHONES, E-MAIL, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION) in Joomla 3.x templates. Magento. How to remove Newsletter Subscribe option in the “AjaxLogin” extension Aug 9th 2015, 20:10 In this tutorial you will learn how to remove Newsletter Subscribe option in the "AjaxLogin" extension in Magento template(s).

PrestaShop 1.6.x. Troubleshooter. How to fix “comparedProductsIds is not defined” console error Aug 9th 2015, 20:01 The following tutorial is going to show how to fix comparedProductsIds is not defined error in Prestashop. Joomla 3.x. How to edit contact details in header Aug 9th 2015, 19:50 This tutorial will show you how to edit contact details in header of your Joomla 3.x. template. Drupal 7.x. How to manage slider options Aug 9th 2015, 19:35 This tutorial shows how to manage slider options in Drupal. WordPress Cherry 3.x. How to change order of images in the portfolio posts Aug 9th 2015, 19:24 Our Support team is ready to present you a new tutorial that will become an indispensable guide for changing order of images in the portfolio posts in your WordPress Cherry 3.x. template. WordPress Cherry 3.x. How to include custom JS file Aug 9th 2015, 19:08 In this tutorial you will learn the way to include a custom JS file to Cherry Framework 3 based theme. PrestaShop 1.6. How to enable/disable left and right columns on the site Aug 9th 2015, 18:56 This tutorial shows how to enable/disable left and right columns on the site in PrestaShop 1.6.x. WordPress Cherry 3.x. How to add Our Team page Aug 9th 2015, 08:28 This time we are going to learn how to make our team page, using the shortcode option in WordPress Cherry 3.x. templates. Drupal 7.x. How to work with multi-column menus Aug 9th 2015, 08:03 This tutorial shows how to work with multi-column menus in Drupal. PrestaShop 1.6.x. How to solve missing decimals in product prices issue Aug 9th 2015, 07:27 This video tutorial shows how to solve missing decimals in product prices issue in PrestaShop. WordPress. How to upgrade Font Awesome icons of version 3.2.1 Aug 9th 2015, 07:13 This tutorial is going to show you how to update FontAwesome icons of version 3.2.1 in WordPress template. Magento. How to reset magento Admin user, role and resources permission to all Aug 9th 2015, 06:59 In this tutorial you will learn to reset Magento Admin user, role and resources permission to all in Magento. Magento. How to set up store view specific settings of Cloud Zoom extension Aug 9th 2015, 06:25 This tutorial will show you how to set up store view specific settings of Cloud Zoom extension. Magento. How to configure the Price filter for layered navigation Aug 8th 2015, 15:43 The following tutorial is going to show how to configure price filter in Magento. WordPress How to remove featured images from posts single pages Aug 8th 2015, 15:31 This tutorial shows how to remove featured images from posts' single pages in WordPress. JS Animated. How replace color background with image in CSS Aug 8th 2015, 14:48 This tutorial shows how to replace background color with image in CSS. OpenCart 2.x. How to move the website from sub-folder to the root Aug 8th 2015, 14:08 This tutorial shows you how to move OpenCart 2.x. installation from the sub-directory to the root.

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PrestaShop 1.6.x. Troubleshooter. Changes are not saved in CMS pages Aug 11th 2015, 07:18 The following tutorial will show how to fix the issue, when changes in CMS pages are not saved in PrestaShop 1.6.x. Free Download: Prestashop Official Icon Pack Aug 11th 2015, 07:03 As part of PrestaShop’s product redesign, they decided to use and create our own icon pack. They’re sharing here the very first version of this new icon set. It’s also released under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license. You can do pretty much what you want with it, except reselling it. Prestashop official icon pack is an open source icon pack made with love by the PrestaShop design team. You can use everywhere to make your designs and websites look awesome. This icon pack is in Beta version: it’s a work in progress! Requirements: – Demo: http://build.prestashop.com/icon-pack/ License: Creative Commons License The post Free Download: Prestashop Official Icon Pack appeared first on WebAppers.

CherryFramework 4. How to manage footer background and layout settings Aug 11th 2015, 06:52 This video tutorial shows how to manage footer background and layout settings in Cherry Framework 4 templates. Cherry Framework 4. How to add custom sidebars and assign them to pages Aug 11th 2015, 06:41 Cherry Sidebar Manager plugin is used to create custom sidebars with specific sets of widgets. This tutorial will show you how to manage it. WordPress. How to use Regenerate Thumbnails plugin Aug 11th 2015, 06:29 This tutorial shows how to use Regenerate Thumbnails plugin in WordPress. WordPress. How to create a redirect from a home page to any URL using the PHP redirect Aug 11th 2015, 06:19 This tutorial is going to show you how to create a redirect from Wordpress home page to any URL using the PHP redirect.

WordPress Cherry 3.x. How to remove related posts section from posts pagesd posts section from posts pages Aug 11th 2015, 06:04 This time you will learn how to remove the related posts feature from your single posts in Wordpress. Online Education May Be Poised To Take Off Aug 11th 2015, 00:01

This post appears courtesy of the Ferenstein Wire, a syndicated news service. Publishing partners may edit posts. For inquiries, please email author and publisher Gregory Ferenstein.

Online education could be taking a major leap forward on its road to legitimacy. Hillary Clinton is directly courting Silicon Valley in her $350 billion scheme to overhaul higher education, in a plan that may finally bridge the gap between Internet-channeled coursework and accredited higher education. Clinton's campaign, which provided the major tenets to news outlets, has the overarching goal to reduce student debt and lower the cost of education. Reportedly, one tactic would urge colleges to let students fulfill some requirements with less-expensive streaming classes and other digital initiatives. Sebastian Thrun, the founder of online education provider Udacity, consulted on the plan.  See also: Companies Team Up With Nonprofits To Fill The Learn-To-Code Gap The idea seems to be bipartisan. Clinton competitor, Senator Marco Rubio, has his own plans for education reform, which includes a proposal for overhauling the accreditation process by including "low-cost, innovative providers.” With both sides of the aisle focusing on this issue, one thing seems clear: After a long ramp-up and slow, but steady growth, the online education trend could finally be poised to take its place within academia's hallowed halls.   For employers looking for skilled talent, that could open up the floodgates, as students may freely pursue higher learning without fear of deep debt. For entrepreneurs interested in an emerging sector, education may be ready to move from the fringe to the center of the action. Educating The Educators Some universities have bristled at the thought of online education becoming equal to traditional classroom offerings. Even as many provide at least some sort of online lectures or labs, some see those initiatives as interesting experiments. They may change up the model of learning, but that doesn’t make them as legitimate as in-person coursework. Companies like Apple, Google and Facebook still prize top tech graduates from Ivy League or lauded scientific institutions, which somewhat upholds that notion. Despite millions in funding, Udacity, Coursera, and the cottage industry of online education startups have struggled to gain the same respect (and accreditation) as a four-year university. So far, the startups have been busy building unaccredited, vocationally oriented degrees.  See also: Online Education Gets Fast-Tracked With Coursera Classes On-Demand A bachelor's degree from the University of California holds far more weight in the job market than an online education provider, even though alternative schooling is beginning to make inroads among Silicon Valley employers. For students, the benefits of plans like Clinton’s or Rubio’s could be enormous. They could pursue training that would be taken seriously, without having to lay waste to their finances. Udacity, for instance, created a set of computer-engineering courses aimed at students with zero background in programming. The cost: $200 per month. For what students may pay for a textbook or lab fees alone, Udacity students get access to tutors and a certificate of completion at the end of the self-paced sequence of courses. Higher Learning, Lower Cost Just last night, I got a glimpse of how much more difficult it is for students to choose online lessons over college classes, if they want to remain debt-free. I got a ride with a Lyft driver who told me that he works 12-hour days, 7 days per week. In his (little) spare time, he's taking the Udacity computer programming "nanodegree," paying $200 monthly. He's in his 30s, has no college degree and doesn't want much debt. There's a good chance with this kind of work ethic, he could get a high paying job in the tech industry. But it's likely more difficult for him to get a loan because he's pursuing a non-traditional track. For now, he has to work crazy hours to afford to live in San Francisco and go to school at the same time. Right now, tuition lending policies favor two and four-year colleges, partly because loans have traditionally recognized "seat time" as a requirement for aid. Many online education providers are competency based, not time-based, meaning that if a student could pass all of the exams on the first day, they'd only need to show up for a few hours worth of classes. There's no requirement that they ever attend class, just prove they've mastered the subject material. Accreditation or other federal policies that begin to officially recognize alternatives to the four-year degree could help students financially, should they choose Udacity, Coursera or other online education providers. If talent is technology's lifeblood, then such plans might just open a new influx of candidates to quicken Silicon Valley’s blood.

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Lead photo by Marc Nozell; keyboard photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Media files: MTMxNTY3MTQ2OTE1MzcwMjU4.jpg (image/jpeg) How Google Play Security Still Falls Short Aug 10th 2015, 20:45 Seworks CEO and founder Min-Pyo Hong has advised corporations, NGOs, and governments on digital security issues for over 20 years, and led a team of five-time finalists at DEF CON.  Nearly every month, Android owners encounter fresh news of serious security breaches to Google’s mobile platform, with the StageFright hack and the porn clicker Trojan just the latest, worrying revelations. Google has taken steps to protect Android consumers, providing better security tools for Android developers. But when it comes to the two latest threats, crucial improvements still remain. These need to be addressed before Google Play can approach the level of safety afforded by Apple’s App Store.  See also: Google Makes Beta Testing Android Apps Easier And More Open The Android maker's focus on mobile security hasn’t quite extended far enough, leaving some critical work in the balance. The following tops my list of urgent matters that it must address immediately. Imperfectly Protecting Google Play Users From Themselves... Google recently reported (.pdf link) that under 1% of Android devices had potentially harmful apps installed in 2014, which sounds impressive on the surface. So does its server-side malware scanner, which the company uses to review apps in Google Play and third-party app stores. Its goal is to protect end users by preventing the installation and usage of malicious Android apps. But when my company (mobile security provider Seworks) performed repeated tests on it, we found that it doesn’t perform thoroughly enough to block malicious apps. A few were able to slip through the cracks—likely, at least in part, because malware developers can sometimes upload compromised apps faster than Google can block them. The tech giant's statistic doesn’t tell the whole story either. Mobile security firm Lookout reports that 7% of Android owners in the US were exposed to security threats in 2014 alone. Quick Heal, another security provider, reports that Android malware skyrocketed by 300 times between 2011 and 2014.  If these reports are true, then it seems highly doubtful that Google’s scanner is as accurate as the company claims.  See also: Here’s What’s New In Android M There’s even more reason to doubt its efficacy: Working with several major clients on a simulation, we recently ran a test to decompile existing Android apps. Essentially, we wanted to know whether the company could identify and catch malicious code designed to gain unauthorized permissions to user data (such as contacts, call log, etc). The experiment sampled a common type of malware, and yet, it was never detected by Google’s scanner. We ran the test multiple times. To help shore up security, Google is performing manual reviews of submissions to the Google Play store, which is a laudable development. But it’s unclear how comprehensive that process is. The extremely short approval process—which can be measured in hours, as opposed to days—is concerning. As for third-party Android app stores, Google offers a built-in “Scan device for security threats” feature, though many device owners don’t reference it, let alone realize it exists. Fortunately, it runs in the background by default. … While Developers Must Still Mostly Fend for Themselves While Android consumers are somewhat protected by automated safety systems, Android developers must take the initiative in securing their own apps—both when they’re written and after they’re published. Google Play warns developers about some potential security issues, such as insecure storage of credentials or out-of-date libraries. But many developers are overwhelmed by bug fixes and feature requests, making it easy to backburner those warnings for a future update or even miss them entirely. I regularly warn developer colleagues about the unfortunate nature of such advisements: If you add security measures to an app that’s already been published, it's often already too late. Not that they shouldn’t patch the vulnerability, but they must realize that the work doesn’t stop there.  See also: Why An Open-Source Pro Sees His Next Act In Security Unfortunately, Android currently lacks client-side app protections. Google’s device platform is based on Java, which means that the compiled app package (also known as the APK) is in Java Bytecode form, which is extremely easy to decompile. In other words, hackers can easily view the original source code with readily available tools. Google recommends that Android developers use a free tool called ProGuard, which does name obfuscation at the source code level. (My colleague, Mary Min, recently covered this topic in an article title “Source Code and String Obfuscation.”) The effort helps, but it doesn’t protect against decompiling, and it isn’t a comprehensive technique to prevent reverse engineering at all. Why Google Play Needs a Binary Solution The evidence suggests that Google's scanning capabilities are not fully reliable. If the company cannot identify and block malicious apps that have been written, then it must help Android developers protect their apps at the binary level. This is the most significant matter for the company to address now. This may take the form of an educational campaign: Developers must understand that binary protection is crucial in preventing the decompiling and reverse-engineering of their apps. This is what enables pirates to alter those apps—for instance, to remove security controls and inject malware, or other hacks—and repackage them. Cutting that off has another benefit as well: Decompiling also enables outright copycatting, as the mobile game industry knows all too well. Unsurprisingly, OWASP escalated the “lack of binary protection” as one of the top ten security risks for mobile apps last year. The need is urgent. As I write this, there are well over one billion active Android users around the world. Next year, there may be a billion more. Google now has the opportunity to transform Android into the globe’s most important Internet platform, connecting us even more securely across the oceans that divide us. But pirates and saboteurs know this too, and they are gathering in the seas—waiting for the opportunity to plunder.  Lead image and Android tumbler lock image by C_osett; Google Play photo by Intel Free Press

Media files: MTMyMjE4Mzg0NzUzNDIyMzA2.jpg (image/jpeg) How Google's Vulkan Can Make Android Games Apps Faster And More Powerful Aug 10th 2015, 19:42 It's a good time to be a mobile game developer.  iOS offers Metal, and now Android has Vulkan, a low-level graphics protocol just announced by Google. The new tool gives developers more access to the hardware running their apps, while reducing CPU or processor load.  "Even the most careful developers can hit unforeseen bottlenecks, in part because the drivers for some graphics processors may reorganize all of that data before it can actually be processed," explains Google's Shannon Woods in a blog post. "In order to address some of the sources of CPU overhead and provide developers with more explicit control over rendering, we’ve been working to bring a new 3D rendering API, Vulkan, to Android."  See also: Making Android Apps Just Got Easier: Android Studio Officially Debuts Like Apple's Metal, Google's new 3D-rendering API (Application Programming Interface) allows developers to engage the hardware their games are running on. For a little extra coding effort, they get extra flexibility and extra power to play around with. Vulkan also tackles the problem of CPU overhead—where processor time is spent communicating with drivers, shuttling data around and waiting for responses—to offer a more streamlined experience.  Although Google is backing the spec, which was put forward by Khronos, it will still support the existing OpenGL standard.  "We’ll be working hard to help create, test, and ship Vulkan, but at the same time, we’re also going to contribute to and support OpenGL ES," Woods wrote. "As a developer, you’ll be able to choose which API is right for you: The simplicity of OpenGL ES, or the explicit control of Vulkan. We’re committed to providing an excellent developer experience, no matter which API you choose."  See also: Now Google Wants You To Play Games While You Run Extra power and bleeding-edge frame-rates, or less time coding and an easier route to the GPU (graphics processor unit)—the choice is up to the developer. Vulkan also provides a unified API for mobile, desktop, console and embedded platforms, so compatible games can run anywhere.  The new tool requires hardware support as well as software integration, which means it likely doesn't come in time for Android M. However, most high-end mobile devices released within last six months should be compatible: Qualcomm's Adreno 400-series GPUs and Nvidia's Tegra K1 are among the chips that can cope with Vulkan. Developers who want more control over graphics performance have never had it so good: Metal is coming to the Mac with OS X 10.11 El Capitan, while Windows 10 brings DirectX 12 in tow, another graphics API built with the aim of reducing driver interference and CPU overhead.  Image courtesy of Google

Media files: MTMyMjE2NzI4NTA2NjQ4NTg2.jpg (image/jpeg) Magento. How to update attribute sets in bulk Aug 10th 2015, 13:07 This tutorial will show you on how to update attribute sets for products in bulk in Magento. WordPress. How to create a WordPress fullpackage and intstall it Aug 10th 2015, 12:57 In this tutorial you'll learn how to create and install a fullpackage of your WordPress template. Monstroid. How to edit landing page generated with shortcodes Aug 10th 2015, 12:38 This tutorial shows you how to edit landing page generated with shortcodes in Monstoid.

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Create Pixel Perfect Grids for the Web with Grid Guide Aug 12th 2015, 07:03 People at Big Bite found it really annoying to have to calculate grid widths — especially within nested spaces — within his designs without ending up with crazy numbers of vertical guides or guide shapes. After not finding a tool that worked exactly how he wanted it too, they at Big Bite created Grid.Guide. Guide to solve the problem. It uses a max width and column count to calculate possible whole pixel column and gutter width combinations. It generates PNGs so you can drag or copy them straight into your designs. It’s free to use! Requirements: – Demo: http://grid.guide/ License: License Free The post Create Pixel Perfect Grids for the Web with Grid Guide appeared first on WebAppers.

How Wearables Startups Can Overcome The Hardware Challenge Aug 11th 2015, 20:23 Guest author Scott Amyx is the founder and CEO of Amyx+McKinsey, a wearables and IoT (Internet of Things) strategy and execution agency specializing in wearables and IoT strategy and implementation.  With the wearable market projected to heat up to $12.6 billion by 2018, startups may feel tempted to rush in as quickly as possible. All too often, that means taking shortcuts in product design and development. Although common, the scenario is fraught with problems for hardware makers in this emerging category. The key to bringing a successful gadget to market is careful planning‚ especially for a consumer technology that still struggles to define itself.

See also: 5 Predictions For The Future Of Wearables

For all the potential in wearables, convincing shoppers to invest in wrist tech, smart jewelry, connected fitness accessories and other Internet-enabled devices still isn’t easy. Getting them to take a chance on your particular product, amid a growing sea of rivals, is even tougher. It’s a bitter pill to finally get there and then let them down—or worse, not even entice them to begin with—because you didn’t do your research, or shortchanged development or production. I discussed these issues and more with Sajid Patel, the CEO of Optimal Design, award-winning research, engineering and design firm. (For the video, scroll down for the embed at the bottom.) He elaborated on some key obstacles to successfully bringing a wearable to market, and the following are his recommendations on how startups can address problems—or better, head them off—to best navigate the challenges. Research (And Research Again) Proper planning can help overcome numerous issues, perhaps most importantly, the matter of "technology mismatch": Your wearable might be based on outdated concepts, or it may simply not meet users’ needs. See also: 3 Barriers To Success For Wearables “You need to start doing end-user research, go into the field and find unmet needs and features that could be in the product,” said Patel. You may have performed sufficient initial research when you first designed your product, but technology evolves rapidly (see: Moore’s law), so it’s your product may require ongoing development to support new advancements. Part of that process involves ongoing evaluation of the market, to see what other types of wearables are on the market now or in development, and then explore ways of improving your product. There are benefits to extending the research window. “For instance, we discovered that haptic feedback is really the key to the VR experience,” Patel said. "[We found that out] by going into the environment and trying out different haptic [physical vibration] technologies.” Design, Production, and Sticker Shock We are inundated with a barrage of futuristic solutions and technologies, which can make it seem like any idea doodled on the back of a napkin is a heartbeat away from market domination. But many times, innovators “don’t know the specifications, but they know what they want,” said Patel. In other words, startups are often ill-prepared for the process, or the cost, of taking a product from concept to production.  See also: A Flextronics Exec Has Some Advice For Wearable Start-Ups: Scale It Back The initial design of a device can take months, along with the time needed to create working prototypes. Hunting for the best manufacturing partners can be challenging, and locating the best materials—at the best price point—is key to production success. Straight-forward design and development costs can start in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The materials available for the creation of wearable devices, from sharp leather bands to precision-cut stainless steel, form an area ripe for misunderstandings. “You might see some of these materials on an Apple watch, but remember that Apple is getting a volume discount and leveraging their supply chain,” Patel said. "Startups obviously don’t have that advantage, so it’s going to cost more.” He noted that does not mean that newcomers need to settle; rather, he highlighted the fact that there are a variety of methods and materials that can mimic certain looks without the additional expense. The Moving Parts  Even with a solid design and working prototype, innovators face hurdles locating the perfect hardware for their device. A device design can take about three months to complete, but Patel notes that sourcing the components can be an even harder and more involved process. “Startups see the CAD design and they see a complete and perfect-looking product,” he said. "They don’t understand that once the product design is ready, there is actually a whole host of activities that go on to take it to manufacturing.” Factors such as the size, complexity, and materials play key roles in affecting the timeline for the product. Measure Twice, Cut Once In the rush to market, it’s easy to gloss over important aspects, particularly when it comes to addressing problems. Providing clear, precise specifications for products is vital, as is having a plan for when issues occur (and they will occur). “The manufacturer might change the material they are making the product out of—or they may change a process they are using to assemble it—and that may cause defects,” said Patel. Successful plans take into account everything, from implementing new research into the design to testing the product to planning for manufacturing. Startups should view the progression of product development as an ongoing conversation that will evolve. Ready To Manufacture? Your device is ready to move to the production stage and it looks great. But is it really working the way it should? Coping with manufacturing issues should be part of your strategy, and Patel emphasized the importance of managing your product with real-world testing: “In-line testing is very important. It catches any areas where the manufacturer—or even the line workers—may have changed the process,” he said. The manufacturing process has an enormous effect on the product, so maintaining quality is crucial. Production issues aren't always due to a deliberate changes from the manufacturer. For example, problems in the injection molding process can result in blistering or streaking in materials, which can wreak havoc on a finished product. Due Diligence Although wearables are part of the mobile revolution, that doesn't mean that every mobile manufacturer is capable of creating the exact product you want. It’s important to assess the capabilities of product development partners, Patel advises. Look into their experience and check "that they actually have a background in that sector (like wearables),” he said. "There are decades of legacy research and development in this space, and it’s not something that someone can just pick up.” Chinese manufacturers are particularly well-positioned, since they have already built a strong infrastructure.  A Final Word Overall, wearables startups need to plan ahead, Patel urges. You need to keep a finger on the pulse of the process, and have an intimate understanding of their design partner.  “You really have to be conscious of how you do everything,” he said, "from architecting the entire assembly process, down to how you generate the control drawings and control prints, to make sure that the quality checks are in place. "Dig deep,” Patel added. "Ask for examples of products the company has worked on that are in the marketplace; do your due diligence.” Challenges are a natural part of any design process. But a well-defined, multi-step process that begins with research and ends with production can help ensure your product will be successful.  Lead photo by Epic Bets; Mondaine smartwatch courtesy of Mondaine; wearables photo by ReadWrite; Foxconn workers courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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Open Source CMS Built on Node.js and MongoDB Aug 13th 2015, 07:03 Apostrophe is a design-driven, in-context CMS built on Node.js and MongoDB. It provides the tools to develop both simple and complex content-driven websites through simple templating and modular functionality. The editing experience is designed around the idea that content mangement should be easy, and therefore editors can create and manage their content right on the page itself. Apostrophe is built on an accessible technology stack that focuses on ease of use as well as performance. Node.js provides an easy entry point for front-end Javascript developers and a playground for experienced back-end developers. The Nunjucks templating language allows for easily including data and editable content on any page. And MongoDB provides the necessary speed to serve Apostrophe’s content-driven pages. Requirements: Node.js and MongoDB Demo: http://apostrophenow.org/ License: MIT License The post Open Source CMS Built on Node.js and MongoDB appeared first on WebAppers.

How Good Developers Deal With Bad Code Aug 12th 2015, 20:42 It's possible that you have never written a bad line of code. Possible, but unlikely in the extreme. The reality is that you, like every other developer on this planet, creates security flaws, misaligns UI elements, and more. It's not that you're a bad developer. You just happen to be human. It's this "all too human" weakness that each developer has that drives the best developers to assume the worst in their code and underlying infrastructure, and plan for it. Here's what they do. Assume Chaos A few years back, Netflix open sourced Chaos Monkey and other parts of its Simian Army, a set of tools for managing cloud-based software. In essence, Chaos Monkey ranges throughout your Amazon Web Services infrastructure, randomly terminating instances. It's basically a way of preparing for the worst by creating the worst possible scenarios. As Netflix's Cory Bennett and Ariel Tseitlin wrote on a blog at the time of release, "Failures happen and they inevitably happen when least desired or expected. If your application can't tolerate an instance failure would you rather find out by being paged at 3 am or when you're in the office and have had your morning coffee?" By simulating failure in unpredictable ways, Netflix forces resiliency into its infrastructure. Rather than assume the best, it assumes the worst. As a consequence, we merrily watch old episodes of the Brady Bunch without a hitch.  The Best Coders Test That's a great way to improve one's infrastructure, but what about code? According to noted programmer Jeff Atwood, the answer isn't too dissimilar: "Do terrible things to your code." As he writes: I believe a key turning point in every professional programmer's working life is when you realize you are your own worst enemy, and the only way to mitigate that threat is to embrace it. Act like your own worst enemy. Break your UI. Break your code. Do terrible things to your software. In practice, this means that "programmers need a good working knowledge of at least the common mistakes, the frequent cases that average programmers tend to miss, to work against." It means your responsibility as the God of Programming is also to be the God of Testing, actively trying to root out errors in the code by "doing terrible things" to it. Andre Medeiros adds to this, arguing that we should try to "get lean" with debugging just as developers increasingly do with their code.  "To prevent bugs, write code that looks easy in any programmer's eyes. To fix bugs, understand your code. To understand your code with precision, enumerate and validate your assumptions, building debugging tools if necessary." Building Skyscraper Favelas In Code Of course, one of the biggest problems with our code is that it inherits so much other code. Particularly within established enterprises, often we build on legacy code, creating all sorts of downstream problems. Here's how Zeynep Tufekci colorfully describes it: Think of it as needing more space in your house, so you decide you want to build a second story. But the house was never built right to begin with, with no proper architectural planning, and you don't really know which are the weight-bearing walls. You make your best guess, go up a floor and ... cross your fingers. And then you do it again. That is how a lot of our older software systems that control crucial parts of infrastructure are run. This works for a while, but every new layer adds more vulnerability. We are building skyscraper favelas in code—in earthquake zones. Obviously, there's little that can be done to improve on this until we become committed to removing technical debt.  But perhaps, just perhaps, a willingness to do terrible things to our code will showcase just how critical the removal of that technical debt can be.

Media files: MTI1MTAxMjM0OTgwOTc0NTYy.jpg (image/jpeg) Android Experiments Is Google's New Playground For Coders Aug 12th 2015, 16:00 Google has lifted the curtain on a new Android Experiments website, which it wants to use as a way of showcasing "creative ways to utilize ... device capabilities" and "new or unique uses of technology, aesthetics and interface."  Essentially, it's a collection of demos of just how great Android can be, if you know your code and your hardware. Showcasing ways in which developers can use its tools isn't a completely new idea from Google, the newly minted Alphabet subsidiary: Chrome Experiments started way back in 2009 and gave a taste of what was possible on the new interactive Web that was evolving at the end of the last decade. Developers are invited to submit their own "experiments" too, so anyone with an eye-catching and out-of-the-ordinary app can get it up for the world to see. The 20 examples on the site at launch cover areas such as camera hacks, Android Wear, and OpenGL innovations. "Each project challenges in small and big ways how we think of the devices we interact with every day," explains Google's blog post. Like GitHub and Dribbble, the site may prove to be a place where developers catch the eye of people hunting for them—and land new jobs or assignments. Chrome Experiments has been a small-scale success for Google. The company is likely hoping the Android version proves equally inspirational for coders playing around with its mobile platforms.  As for submissions, Google is encouraging everyone to get involved, "whether you're a student just starting out, or you've been at it for awhile." Not all submissions will be posted, but they will be looked at. Demo Time Tilt is one of the demos. Included in the opening batch of Android experiments we have Ytai Ben-Tsvi's IOIO Plotter, originally built for Maker Faire. It converts digital photos snapped with an Android tablet into a physical picture plotted out with ink and canvas. Then there's the Landmarker app by Anthony Tripaldi of Google Creative Labs. It uses an augmented reality-style interface to display neighborhoods or areas as you point your smartphone at them—a tap on the screen then gives you more conventional directions to that place. Tilt by MediaMonks is another project of interest already up on Android Experiments. It uses the accelerometer and gyroscope sensors in a phone to offer a new twist on the familiar marble-rolling game. We also like the look of the Time Mesh face for Android Wear, a flexible wired grid that reacts to the motion of your wrist courtesy of Coding For Love. Time will tell if the new site ends up being a vibrant incubator of exciting Android apps or a neglected coding ghost town, but if Google can supply enough of its own creative projects then developers are likely to want to get involved too. You can follow along on Twitter using the hashtag #AndroidExperiments.

Media files: MTMyMjU4NDYwMjg3OTA0Mzg3.jpg (image/jpeg) Google: Alphabet Restructuring Won't Affect Developers Aug 12th 2015, 14:00 Google surprised everyone Monday with fundamental changes to its organizational DNA, putting a new holding company, Alphabet, above a newly fashioned Google Inc. and other subsidiaries for its Google X “moonshots" lab and ventures arm. Days later, the world is still trying to make sense of it. As similarly dubbed businesses the world over consult their attorneys, or tighten their grips on company Website addresses, Silicon Valley got busy swinging the spotlight onto Sundar Pichai, the Google product chief turned Google Inc. CEO. The thoughtful, even demure executive may not be well-known to mainstream audiences—certainly not to the level of Steve Jobs or other business executive superstars—but he's apparently poised to become technology’s next high-profile rock god.  See also: How Google's Vulkan Can Make Android Games Apps Faster And More Powerful The dial on Alphabet mania seems to be turned up to “high.” There are, however, realities on the ground to consider. Developers—a crucial constituency to Google, who both serve to popularize its platforms and engage in often-profitable business with it—may wonder how the changes affect them.  After all, they are the contributors who build on their technologies, fill its app stores, and champion its open-source projects. ReadWrite asked if the newly formed Alphabet or its newly fashioned Google Inc. subsidiary will change any developer processes or procedures following the reorganization. We also asked if developers should brace themselves for any new approaches to their development tools. A Google spokesperson offered a fast reassurance that nothing would change for developers—which may be both good news for some and disappointing for others. What The Different Bowls For This Alphabet Soup Means Sundar Pichai in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress 2015 A company representative emailed ReadWrite, stating "Google Play/Android developers will see absolutely no changes in their day-to-day relationship with Google.” In other words, business as usual, at least for now.  Apart from topping most Silicon Valley address books, the new holding company merely ladled its divisions into bowls, each of which holds different ingredients of the Alphabet soup. Google Inc. will govern the technologies most people are familiar with—namely the tech giant's search engine, Android software, Chrome projects, maps and Web services, including Google+, Hangouts and other consumer-facing efforts. Sending Internet access into the sky via balloons, putting driverless cars on the road and other projects, including those pursued by its venture arm, will come from other subsidiaries under the Alphabet umbrella.  See also: Sundar Pichai: Here's How You Ought To Think About Google Google X projects have never been very open to outsiders. That won’t change with the new org chart—except that, since the division operates as its own subsidiary now, it will operate even further from the company’s more developer-friendly pursuits. Put another way, don’t hold your breath for a self-driving car API. It may come one day, but that likely won’t be soon. In another way, the change could be very liberating, says IDC analyst Tom Mainelli. As he explained to VentureBeat, “Nest and the rest gain more freedom to spend money, acquire other companies, etc. without having to try to explain how such costs are benefiting the core ad business when they clearly were not.” Nest acts as the heart of Google’s Brillo smart home initiative, and its chief, Tony Faddell, now heads the Google Glass project, which is expected to introduce a second-generation version of the connected eyewear.  Google has always made deep investments in new technologies, research, and developer outreach. If these and other initiatives keep their pursestrings, but rid the sticky restrictions, then what comes next could wind up looking pretty appetizing.  Soup photos by Scott Veg and Till Westmayer; Sundar Pichai photo by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite

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CherryFramework 4. Framework Options overview Aug 11th 2015, 08:42 In this tutorial we provide an overview of the Cherry Options in CherryFramework4. Magento. How to assign image(s) to a product Aug 11th 2015, 08:28 This tutorial will show you on how assign image(s) to a product in Magento. CherryFramework 4. Motopress Content Editor settings overview Aug 11th 2015, 08:17 This tutorial provides an overview of MotoPress Content Editor settings in CherryFramework 4. CherryFramework 4. How to use shortcodes Aug 11th 2015, 08:01 This tutorial shows you how to use shortcodes in CherryFramework 4. CherryFramework 4. How to set up and manage StickUp menu Aug 11th 2015, 07:51 This video tutorial will show how to set up and manage StickUp menu in CherryFramework 4 templates.

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Disappearing App Users? Here's How Deep Links Might Bring Them Back Aug 13th 2015, 22:00 Guest author Simon Kendall is head of communications for Adjust. This year, we've seen a surge of initiatives from platforms like Facebook, Apple, Google, and Microsoft for deep-linking capabilities. From Facebook's recent focus on deep links for app-install ads to Apple's push in iOS 9 for improved app search and discovery, one thing is certain: Deep linking is all about optimizing the end-user experience and engagement within your app. The magic of deep linking is creating a seamless experience for your users both inside and outside of your app. Particularly, when you need to engage with your users about a specific feature or content within your app, you can leverage deep links to make this experience easy and accessible, instead of forcing them to launch an app and navigate through it. (Full disclosure: My employer, Adjust, makes deep-linking tools for mobile-app developers, but I'm not going to discuss those specfically in this piece.) You've likely read a lot of theory about how deep links can improve mobile apps. But I haven't seen many resources that walk you through the actual technical process. Here are the steps you need to take when putting deep links to work. First, Verify Whether the User Has Your App In most instances, you can’t be certain that a user has your app on their device and can be deep-linked into it during a customer support request. If you want to use deep links in this context, you need to accommodate all users, regardless of whether they have your app or not. (Even returning users may have uninstalled it.) There is a sneaky way to verify whether or not a user has your app on their device with deep links. Using JavaScript, you can “poll” your app by making the device try to access the deep link. When there’s a response, you know the app is installed and you’re able to send users over to the deep link.  If there’s no response, you can instead send users to the appropriate app store, website, or another location to guide your user through the next step. To run this "poll', you can implement the JavaScript as a "race" between requests. By asynchronously requesting both URLs, you give the deep link a head start over the app store URL.  If the deep link doesn’t respond, the app store link will "win" the race and redirect the user to the store. The key is to do this subtly and unobtrusively. If you do it right, the logic will be executed quickly in the background and the user will be directly seamlessly to the next stage in order to resolve their request. Next, Trigger Deep Links to Execute At the Right Time If you've verified that the user uninstalled your app, you can send them to the app store to redownload it. But, remember that the user is expecting to see something specific in the app that pertains to their request. Once they've reinstalled your app, you'll still need to deliver on this request with a deep link. In this instance, you’ll want to defer the deep link by remembering it and executing it later. When the user opens up your app after reinstalling it, you'll want to continue right where you left off, and send them directly where they need to go through a deep link. To do this, you need a facility to pass data past the app store.  On Android, you can use an install referrer that passes arbitrary data through the Google Play Store and then catches it in the app on the other side. This is an excellent opportunity to send the deep link and execute it with a request on the first open of the app. On other platforms or app stores, the deep link needs to be remembered somewhere other than the device itself. You can place a server in the middle that can connect the initial deep link click to the reinstall and send the deep link to the app as soon as it’s reinstalled.  The easiest way to do this is to match device or user IDs from the click to the install and have your app transmit these as soon as possible. Once you match the user, you can simply send a message from your server to have the app reopen the deep link that brought them in. Finally, Record Results to Improve User Engagement To understand exactly how well you’re doing with the user experience, you’ll want to do some measurement. Consider recording this latest encounter with your user—a "reengagement"—in detail. The data you'll want to capture includes:  the deep link brought a user in the type of creative that drove users to the deep link the time that the user clicked through the deep link And so on. From this data, you will then be able to associate each reengagement technique with specific results down the line, such as increased purchases or increased return visits. Additionally, you can report on exactly how the user arrived into your app by capturing whether or not the deep link was triggered when the user entered the app or deferred until after reinstalling. Knowing the proportion of reengaged users who came through the deep link gives you insights into whether your app is staying on the device or not. Optimizing on the ratio between users who had to reinstall and users who just hopped back into your app can be a great benefit. Creating a streamlined user experience and then measuring the results of re-engagement is just one of the many benefits from deep links. Done well, it creates a little extra magic in the experience for end users, which leads to increased loyalty.  Photo by Roy Luck

Media files: MTI5NTQ3MjI2NDgwNDE3MjQ2.jpg (image/jpeg) Get To Know The Four Types Of Data In The Internet Of Things Aug 13th 2015, 18:00 Guest author David Friedman is the cofounder and CEO of Ayla Networks. Big data is one of the greatest economic opportunities of our time. It’s also incredibly vague. You’ve probably been in conversations where the different participants were using “big data” to refer to (a) large amounts of data; (b) data sets that exceed the capabilities of traditional databases; or (c) the software tools employed to analyze the data sets in the first two definitions. One of the most significant benefits of the Internet of Things is the fact that it will vastly expand our ability to monitor and measure things taking place the real world. A shop-floor manager knows that a small whining sound in a motor might mean trouble. A typical homeowner will also know that the ventilation system in your dryer can clog up with lint and create a safety hazard. Data systems are finally giving us an ability to understand these problems with precision. The challenge, however, is developing systems and business models that make that information valuable. Think of smart thermostats for a moment. During a peak power emergency, utilities and third party energy service companies will want exact updates on power consumption every minute: Being able to precisely fine-tune power and maximize savings can be the difference between a normal summer day and a debilitating brownout. But between the hours of midnight and 4 am, the need for information is far less urgent: The data will mostly be valuable to determine long-term trends. Now think from the consumer’s perspective. Data updates even at, say, 15-minute intervals would lead to overload. It wouldn’t just be worthless: it would create nuisance that would detract from its value. Instead, consumers probably just want a monthly summary which points out a few trends. I talk to people all the time about the “data value” challenge. The below list is a summary of the general categories of data and the opportunities manufacturers and service providers are pursuing.  The Five Kinds Of Big Data Status Data Are the air compressors for the cold storage unit working? Did one just suddenly drop in performance? Status data essentially providers consumers and or businesses with an ongoing EKG of the world’s things.  Status data is the most prevalent, and most basic, type of IoT data. Virtually everything will generate data like this as a baseline. In many markets, status data will be mostly used as raw material for more complex analyses, but in many markets it will have a significant value of its own.  Look at what Streetline had done for parking spots. The company has created a system that notifies subscribers about open parking spaces. Sure, the long-term data helps city planners, but to most consumers the immediate status data is the most important thing.  Location Data Where is my product? Did it make it to its destination? Location is a logical extension of GPS. GPS is great, but it doesn’t work well indoors, in crowded spaces or in rapidly changing environments. Someone trying to track pallets and robotic forklifts will want real-time information.  Agriculture, which could become an early IoT market, will make extensive use of location data because owners have to track equipment across huge geographical areas. While we’ve already seen the debut of consumer products so people can locate their keys, a larger markets exists for serving commercial and industrial customers, particularly where there are numerous assets to track, few employees, and need to track things in real, and near-real, time. Developing the Foursquare for paint warehouses is a huge opportunity.  Personalized Data Don't confuse personalized data with personal data. Personalized data refers to anonymous data about individual preferences. Consumers are rightly skeptical about automation. You don’t want to be stuck in a dimly lit office or a chilly hotel room because some building management system care more about saving a few dollars than your comfort. Automation also creates security issues.  Nonetheless, automation is inevitable. No one is going to sit with their finger on the thermostat to save $4.75. Likewise, lighting systems that depend on human interaction fail. (Some smart-lighting manufacturers want to use their sensor data to tell store managers when new checkout lines need to be opened.) The challenge will revolve around carving out applications and rules of conduct.  Actionable Data Think of this as status data with a follow-up plan. Buildings use 73% of the electricity in the country and a good portion—up to 30%, according to the EPA—is wasted. Why? Energy is a secondary issue for most building owners. They want to fix it but worry that the cost, time and headaches will outweigh the benefits.  There are two ways around this problem: automation (see above) that can change the immediate state of a system, and persuasion that can get people to change their behavior or make long term investments. Opower has helped pioneer a solution to the persuasion problem by showing consumers and businesses how they compare to their neighbors along with data. According to their own studies, persuasion data can cut energy consumption by 2 to 3 percent.  Creating A Feedback Loop With IoT Data Do you know what your customers think? You may believe you do, but you're probably wrong. In the near future, manufacturers will analyze data from their connected products to better understand how their products are used in the wild. Most companies right now have no idea how their products are used. They get shipped through distribution, bought at retailers, and end up at homes or offices. The user and the manufacturer rarely, if ever, communicate.  IoT will create a feedback loop from consumer to manufacturer, where product builders will examine real-world behaviors—with the appropriate levels of privacy, security, and anonymity—to encourage continued product improvements and innovations. Photo by Jakob Montrasio

Media files: MTI2NjI3OTAwOTcwNTM4MjU4.jpg (image/jpeg) Samsung Reaches Out To Indie VR Filmmakers Aug 13th 2015, 14:56 The road to virtual reality just broadened this week: Samsung's Milk VR service, its virtual reality pipeline for VR videos and games, launched Gear Indie, a new channel for filmmakers to reach Gear VR headset users. YouTube started supporting 360-degree videos viewable in VR headsets earlier this year, allowing anyone to upload them. That leaves discovery and promotion up to filmmakers.  In contrast, Samsung's Gear Indie isn’t a free-for-all. The South Korean tech company is passionate about making virtual reality a consumer hit—obviously, with its Oculus-powered facegear leading the way—and it sees polished, immersive VR videos as the way to get there. “Polished” is the key word.

See also: Samsung Is Getting Serious About Producing Its Own Virtual-Reality Videos

The company frowns on videos with jarring cut shots, shaky camera work or tracking, or other ill-conceived execution that could potentially discombobulate or even nauseate viewers. Budding VR filmmakers can’t just waltz in with any old clips; they must send in their submissions so Samsung’s content programming team can evaluate them and offer feedback. Thus begins the process of obtaining access to Samsung’s audience of Gear VR users, along with a few other benefits. Gearing Up For Indies When I spoke to Samsung’s Matt Apfel at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, he was very clear about one thing: He wanted video experiences that can show off what storytellers can do with VR. At the time, the company had just struck a deal with The Walking Dead’s David Alpert to produce a series for Milk VR. Apfel, vice president of strategy and creative content at Samsung Media Solutions Center America, still wants professional level quality. But now he’s cracking the door open for the indie filmmaking community. “Generally speaking, our goal with Gear Indie is to cast the widest net possible to source great VR content,” he told me via email. "So, we are encouraging creators at all levels of the ecosystem to participate.”  Think of Gear Indie as the Sundance Channel or IFC for the virtual-reality set.

See also: Virtual-Reality Films Could Put The Whole Industry In The Spotlight

The Gear Indie channel is releasing more than 10 videos, and Samsung plans to debut more each week. Within a few months, the the Gear maker will also launch a series of Gear Indie challenges to inspire and reward VR video makers, complete with opportunities to work alongside virtual reality mentors. For now, filmmakers can register and submit works at Samsung Milk VR. When asked what sorts of criteria Samsung used to approve or deny submissions, the company pointed to its technical and production guidelines online. (The website lists content specifications, production guidelines and terms of service.) In addition to technical specifications and viewing experience, the posted information also offers a creative section that covers technique—including shot changes, angles, graphics, effects, audio design and even storytelling recommendations. During Samsung's first Gear VR announcement When it comes to the latter, the section reads: Storytelling • Fixed cameras are preferred; steady moving cameras at slow pace add variety and detail • If using moving cameras, they should be mounted on cars, trains, motorbikes, etc. that move at a steady pace and are not bumpy • Bumpy motion and sudden movements within the video result in a poor viewing experience • Mounting cameras on boats, bicycles or a person’s head is not advisable • Eventually, clip production should evolve to multidirectional viewing driven by video production • Example: head movements should be directed by events within the clip The company also offers some healthy motivation. "Gear Indie is an important initiative for Samsung,” Apfel said, "so we have high hopes that we can quickly ramp up distribution and monetization opportunities.” A Few Other Things To Keep Your Eyes On Of course, you could follow all of the guidelines and still wonder where you stand. Such is the nature of a subjective medium—quality is in the eye, or eyes (plural), of the beholder. So how do you know if you’re on the right track? Well, unfortunately, Samsung can’t help you along the way, only (in some cases) after the fact. Apfel, applicants must complete their videos, register for an account online, and submit the work before the team offer “meaningful feedback,” mentoring or evaluations. That’s a tough proposition, especially for independent filmmakers. Shooting video—VR video even more so—is not like programming. You can write and rewrite code ad nauseam, but once you film, you can’t go back in time and make subtle changes. You can try, but capturing the same lighting, angles, and other details in a production setting can be quite impossible. (Continuity can even dog big budget studios.) A few other finer points VR filmmakers and videographers should know about Gear Indie: Not all filmmakers will qualify for mentoring. Those who do receive feedback should bear budgeting in mind. Because the mentoring works after the fact, they may need to invest in more editing time or even new scenes to address issues. Gear Indie is exclusive to Milk VR, which is itself exclusive for Gear VR users. But the videos don’t have to be exclusive. In other words, if you want to submit it to Samsung, post it on YouTube, or push it anywhere else, you’re free to do so. "Most content submitted to Gear Indie does not need to be exclusive to Samsung,” Apfel told ReadWrite. "VR is about building an ecosystem to drive consumer adoption.” Also note that the hardware options, for both viewing and capturing, are growing. New cameras have been emerging at different price points by a variety of tech companies—everyone from Jaunt to Nokia to Google. With the latter's Jump project, you can even string together GoPros to make your own 360-degree camera. What’s needed now is some guidance on how to create immersive experiences that will grab eyeballs and not let them go. To its credit, at least Samsung is offering mentoring for rising VR auteurs. This sort of help may become crucial, if their ranks swell the way tech companies hope.  Photos by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite

Media files: MTMwOTc5NjU5MDA4NDUzMjUx.jpg (image/jpeg) WordPress Cherry 3.x. How to remove featured image on portfolio post page Aug 11th 2015, 07:38 This tutorial is going to show you how to remove featured image on portfolio post pages in WordPress template.

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Actually, Silicon Valley Isn't Run By Straight White American-Born Men Aug 14th 2015, 20:47

This post appears courtesy of the Ferenstein Wire, a syndicated news service. Publishing partners may edit posts. For inquiries, please email author and publisher Gregory Ferenstein.

Silicon Valley often gets knocked for a lack of diversity, but historically excluded groups are making an impressive showing at the top spot of the most valuable companies.  Just looking at the top 10 publicly traded companies based in Silicon Valley by market capitalization, half are run by someone who is a woman, an immigrant, LGBT, or nonwhite. By individual demographics, 20% are women and 30% are foreign-born. Here's a full list, with historically underrepresented groups bolded: Apple: Tim Cook Google: Sundar Pichai Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg Oracle: Safra Catz* Cisco: Chuck Robbins Intel: Brian Krzanich HP: Meg Whitman Salesforce: Marc Benioff VMware: Pat Gelsinger Adobe: Shantanu Narayen The power of minorities, especially immigrants, became front-page news as Google promoted Indian-born Sundar Pichai to CEO. Counting Pichai here is arguable, since Pichai is in charge of Google Inc., while cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are CEO and president of Google's new, publicly traded parent company, Alphabet. But Pichai is in charge of the business that matters—the business investors are buying into and the platforms, like Android and Chrome, that developers are creating products on top of. Pichai joins leaders such as Oracle CEO Safra Catz (an Israeli-born women) and HP CEO Meg Whitman as the changing face of business leadership. And up top, of course, there's Tim Cook, who sent a message that the many gay and lesbian employees of tech companies can aspire to the top spot when he publicly discussed his sexual orientation in an essay in Bloomberg Businessweek last year. Researcher and writer Vivek Wadhwa has shown that 43% of Silicon Valley companies founded in the last seven years had at least one immigrant founder. But, diversity reports from tech companies show that their tech and leadership ranks are overwhelmingly white and male (usually around 60%-80%). Interestingly enough, the CEO position seems uniquely welcoming to minorities in Silicon Valley. Redefining Tech Careful readers could critique the statistics presented. "Tech" is an ambiguous term. The East Coast has many old-school technology companies, like AT&T and Verizon, both run by white men. But outside the Bay Area, there's also Satya Nadella, CEO of Washington-based Microsoft, another Indian-born American, and Ginni Rometty, a woman who runs New York-based IBM. Whitman's place on this list is tentative. Hewlett-Packard will split into two companies in November, HP Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, and depending on how the market reacts, she may fall out of the top 10. No matter. Waiting in the wings is Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. Her company currently ranks just outside the top 10. To be sure, there is a lack of diversity within the range of minority groups. There is a conspicuous absence of black or Latino CEOs, even though both groups make up a substantial part of the US. That reflects a similar lack of diversity within Silicon Valley's most valuable companies. Pinterest recently revealed that only 3 percent of its employees were African-American, Hispanic, or Latino. There is no purely objective way to measure diversity in the tech industry, because both are fuzzy concepts. Whatever the definition of of "Silicon Valley" includes, it's clear that groups historically excluded from leadership are making strides in the tech industry and immigrants, especially, have made valuable contributions to the US economy. There's much more to go until the ranks of CEOs are a true reflection of the American population. But that shouldn't blind us to the progress that is being made.

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Media files: MTI4NDc5MzkzNzI2MDgxNjY3.jpg (image/jpeg) Why We Need Battery Innovation—Now Aug 14th 2015, 18:26 Guest author Larry Burgess is the wireless technical editor at Voler Systems. Batteries are one of the biggest limitations in the advancement of wearable technology. While they continue to improve slowly, they're still a significant constraint as we try to make them last longer or make them smaller.  Energy efficiency and improved energy sources are the highest priorities in maintaining the growth of the wearables market. This concern has led to a quest for the development of smaller, more efficient, and longer-lasting energy sources. Battery size, shape, capacity, and reliability are all key factors to consider when making any wearable device. Here are some of the alternative energy sources to conventional batteries. The Starting Point: Lithium-Ion Batteries Coin cells, such as the ubiquitous CR2032 sold in drugstores and used to power everything from calculators to heart-rate straps, are lithium-ion batteries. There are smaller coin cells as well, like the CR1225 hearing-aid battery. Their capacity decreases with the size of the battery. Most of them are disposable, so they are used in small devices such as hearing aids, remote car keys, light switches, doorbells, and some of the earliest wearable devices. They will continue to be used in wearable devices where convenient battery replacement is an important feature. Thin-Film Batteries These batteries—which predominantly use similar lithium-ion technology—are used in smartphones and hand-held devices because they are rechargeable and their form factor is better suited for low-profile packages. Because volume determines the energy capacity of the battery, these thin devices take up much more area than a coin cell. They are suited for flat wearable devices that may fit into outerwear or remote measurement devices placed in walls or furniture. Pouch Batteries Pouch batteries are lithium-ion batteries in a pouch of plastic or polymer. A wider variety of shapes and thicknesses are possible with this battery, which makes it easy to fit in almost any small package. They are also found in mobile phones. One drawback to this package is that sometimes there can be gas buildup inside the package and the battery will swell and possibly burst. The enclosure needs to have space for this expansion to reduce the risk of explosion. Graphene Batteries These batteries, built on a form of carbon that's drawn considerable excitement in the material-sciences world, may be the wave of the future. They have one of the highest energy densities of all battery types as well as high storage capacity. Right now, they are much more expensive than other batteries, so their market penetration is negligible. A lot of work is being done developing this technology, so watch for them in the next few years. Supercapacitors Supercapacitors have very low charge leakage compared to ordinary capacitors and have very high capacitance. Depending on the application, a supercapacitor can be the primary energy source or the supplement to a conventional battery. They can be small, yet have capacitances of 1 Farad or more. They can be used as an energy source for low-current-drain wearables. If they are accessible for recharging, their charging time is much shorter than that of a battery. An example is a 0.47 F, 5.5V coin-cell shaped capacitor with an 11.5 mm diameter and 5mm height—about the size of a CR1225 hearing-aid battery. Still, even the largest capacitors store only about a tenth the energy of conventional batteries. The capacitor described above has a 4 mAH lifetime compared to the 50 mAH lifetime of the CR1225 battery. Energy Harvesting There has been a great deal of interest and activity over the last few years in many forms of energy harvesting as a tool for recharging batteries or supercapacitors in wearables after the device has been deployed. The energy categories to be converted to electrical energy include kinetic (locomotion, vibration, rotation), thermal, piezoelectric, and even radio waves (which can be considered a form of wireless “recycling”). Kinetic energy-rechargeable batteries in air pressure monitors embedded in tires were an early example of this. They worked as long as the car was not idle for long periods of time—something to keep in mind, given the way many wearables are put aside after initial periods of use. What To Watch For As the number of wearable devices increases, the demand for smaller and longer-lasting devices, remote transmitters and transponders, and higher device intelligence will drive the quest for higher energy efficiency and capacity in the power sources of these devices. If we don't continuously improve our batteries, the wearable industry will power down. Image by Post Memes

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Web Design Deals for Web Professionals in One Page Aug 17th 2015, 07:03 One of the most challenging things as a Web Developer or Web Designer, may be to come up with new ideas on how to get things done quickly, efficiently, and at a good price. There is a website set up which will help you in your job or hobby as a developer/designer, and allow you to find the best deals out there for each aspect of the job; DealsKiller.com. One of the features offered on this website is the ability to find time restrained deals. Each web design deals offered has a time limit, and you can search for the deals you need which may expire quickly. You may also find new deals throughout any given day, which will offer you the opportunity to jump right on them. Web Developing and Design has never been easier than it can be when you use the best deals. DealsKiller offer ease of use, good deals, new deals daily, and time saving techniques, for all your web development needs. Do a search to see what you can find to help your website along. The post Web Design Deals for Web Professionals in One Page appeared first on WebAppers.

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15 New Websites to Download Free Stock Photos Aug 18th 2015, 07:03 It’s not an exaggeration to say that you can’t be called a designer if you haven’t used stock photos. Even though some designers hate stock photos, the hugemajority uses stock photos and is satisfied with this situation. The main problem with using stock photos is that these have a negativeimpacton the originality of a website. A stock photo is likely to be used by multiple designers and the consequences may be extremely negative. Imagine how a client would react after seeing a photo on your website that can be seen on ten other websites…? Having your own collections of images is a solution but it’s difficult to save and manage thousands of images on your hard drive. Also, that would be a very time consuming activity! Luckily, there is another solution: many designers aren’t aware about it, therefore you may profit! A huge mistake many designers make when searching for stock photos is thatthey search on the most famous websites. Yes, you do have a certain amount of certitude that you will find the proper images, but there’s a very high chance that the respective images have been already downloaded by others as well. This situation could be avoided by using stock photos showcased by websites that lack notoriety. There are websites that are new and less visibleto designers that offer top-quality stock photos. The next 15 new websites that I’m going to present fall into this category. I made some extensive research and I found amazing websites that offer stock photos for free! Everything manmade is perfectible (including my post), therefore just incase I missed your favorite source of downloadingfree stock images please add alinkto the website in the comment form! Also, please don’t be selfish and share the post with your friends! 1. Pexels I totally agree that it may be difficult understanding the concept of creative common licenses and this is one of the reasons why I fell in love with “Pexels”. The images from here may be copied, modified or used without asking for permissions. Pexels’ database consists of more than 3000 photos and at least 70 new ones are addedweekly. 2. Freeuse.io I believe that the name of this website pretty much suggestsits aim. Free Use is another free stock images website that must be added in the bookmark list of any respectable designer. The images are top-quality and surely will enhance your projects. 3. Unsplash Unsplash.com is a minimalist website where impressive images are uploaded so may be used in personal and commercial projects. If you used an image from Unsplash.comfor a beautiful design piece then you may submit itso it may be added in the “Made with Unsplash” gallery. 4. Pixabay I think that Pixabay is the largest stock photo website from this list – it has more than 430,000 images, vectors and art illustrations. Another huge advantage of this website is the search system…it is very efficient and useful. 5. Gratisography Yes, the preloading plugin used isn’t a good criterion to determine the best websites to download free stock photos from, but you can’t ignore the preloading images of Gratisography. Of course, the images offered are all taken by professional photographers. 6. Picography Picography is a collection of hi-resolution free stock photos that are very expressive and 100% will attract the viewer’s attention when used in projects. 7. Little Visuals Little Visuals is the sad story of a young man that passed awayway too soon. No new pictures have been uploaded since more than a year now, but the ones available are attractive and have tons of interesting details. 8. KaboomPics KaboomPics is a resource of free stock images that must be visitedperiodically. The main advantages are the search options (use the search bar, the categories or the tags) and the huge number of images. Also, the quality of the images is another bonus of this website. 9. Splitshire Splitshire is a website that will be much visited by designers if its owner will keep on uploading photos of the same quality. All photos currently available are very expressive and I must admit that I spend tens of minutes only admiring them. 10. Life of Pix Life of Pix is a new project and I think that you should give a heed. It has a “brother” website, Life of Vids, where many stock videos can be found. Both websites have interesting free items. 11. Stock Snap Stock Snap is a great source of stock photos; amazing photos are periodically added here, photos that may be used anywhere, regardless if it’s for commercial purposes. Another bonus is the useful sorting system. 12. Lock and Stock Photos Lock and Stock Photos is a blog and a very expressive image is added here on a daily basis. All images available are very interesting, having tons of details that are emphasized by the minimalist design of the website. 13. Epicva Epicva fully deserves its place inthe list of honor: the images available here are free to use regardless of the project type, the design of the website is user-friendly and of course, the images are attention grabbing and taken only from interesting perspectives. 14. Negative Space Negative Space is an insignificant resource if we’re judging by the number of the images being showcased, but a great one from the quality perspective. I definitely enjoy the filtering options (including the possibility of the selecting the images by color). 15. Designer Pics Finally, we got to the last website from this list. In spite of its position, it doesn’t mean that it should be the last in your preferences because the images are interesting and free to use even for commercial purposes. I hope that you will appreciate my endeavors of searching for the best websites to download free stock photos. Also, I will be extremely glad to know that you will use some of these websites. It will be great if you could share your opinionswith us on the use of free stock photos in your design works so please use the comment form to get in touch with us. About the Author This article is written by Daniel, the owner of Daniel2Design.com. Visit his blog in order to stay updated to the latest news&trends in the web design world. The post 15 New Websites to Download Free Stock Photos appeared first on WebAppers.

Amazon's Not Much Different From Other Tech Employers, Public Data Says Aug 17th 2015, 22:02

This post appears courtesy of the Ferenstein Wire, a syndicated news service. Publishing partners may edit posts. For inquiries, please email author and publisher Gregory Ferenstein.

The New York Times caused a stir in Silicon Valley with a viral article claiming that Amazon.com brutally exploits its white-collar workers with unforgiving management practices. The investigation caused such an outcry that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos personally responded with an email to employees assuring them that "callous" management practices wouldn't be tolerated. What's odd about the Times article is that nearly all of its evidence was already well known. Current and former employees have been rating Amazon for years on Glassdoor.com.  See also: Actually, Silicon Valley Isn't Run By Straight White American-Born Men On the popular workplace review site, which does a fairly good job of aggregating anonymous feedback, Amazon does rank somewhat lower (3.4 stars out of 5) than Silicon Valley icons such as Google (4.4) or Facebook (4.4). But it’s roughly on par with companies like Yahoo (3.4) and Microsoft (3.8). According to Glassdoor, striking a balance between work and life is a major “con" at Microsoft, Facebook and Google. "There is no work/life balance at Facebook", wrote one staffer on Glassdoor. And yet, Facebook is consistently rated as one of the best places to work in Silicon Valley (on Glassdoor and other websites that rank tech workplaces). It’s enough to make tech candidates and emerging employers scratch their heads. If Amazon—in the role of vilified employer—is actually not much worse than its rivals, then what sort of picture does that paint for tech employment as a whole? Living The Dream, Or Dealing With A Nightmare? The New York Times painted a bleak picture of life at Amazon, though there was little that was genuinely revelatory. The principal criticisms mirrored complaints already public on Amazon's Glassdoor page, and matched reviews left on many other Silicon Valley companies’ profiles. The article quoted one employee as saying, "The joke in the office was that when it came to work/life balance, work came first, life came second, and trying to find the balance came last.” Of course, many tech companies are known for offering high salaries, perks and stock options, which can help take the edge off. But they don't replace realistic goals, intelligent guidance and a humanistic approach to management. One criticism implied that Amazon managers and co-workers pride themselves on brutal honesty and sharp criticism, even if it causes incredible stress. “You can feel comfortable that, if there’s a flaw in your plan, someone will tell you to your face," one former employee told the paper.

See also: The Best Place For Tech Startups: Still Silicon Valley … For Now

Evidently, Facebookers feel the same way. On Glassdoor one employee wrote: "It is an intense and demanding work environment. Many engineers work late into the night and there is an expectation that people will respond quickly, sometimes within minutes. If you don't pace yourself, you can burn out quickly.” This same Facebook employee ranked the company a perfect 5 out of 5 stars. It’s as if Silicon Valley has become an enabler of sorts for a collective Stockholm Syndrome among tech workers. Employees may complain about negative things, but they themselves may not actually feel the same way. Being Stingy The story also pointed out one of the more unique complaints about Amazon: According to The Times, the company maintains a rather laser-like focus on thriftiness. Even before this story, the subject of Jeff Bezos' management style and the employment experience at Amazon was already the subject of innumerable articles, cautionary posts, and even research papers, and some already highlighted the company’s intense penny-pinching. Even if it was new information, it may not those who have been tracking its development and earnings. Until recently, Amazon has been known as one of the most successful tech companies that never make money. Given that, it’s all too easy to believe reports like this one, from a current employee on Glassdoor: "Frugality is the one value that you will end up hating. They abuse to the point of being cheap. Pretty much all the negatives about the company stem from this single value." Turnover And Innovation As an employer, Amazon seems worse than Google, though perhaps just barely. According to Payscale, the company ties with AFLAC for the second-highest employee turnover among all Fortune 500 companies. (Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company is the first.) The survey reveals that workers tend to leave Amazon after a year. But Google, whose employees tend to stick around for 1.1 years, is right behind it. The reasons for that may vary: It’s possible that people who move to San Francisco expect a certain style of work, while those outside The Valley (like in Seattle, Wash., where Amazon is headquartered) may place a higher priority on work-life balance. Bezos does brings up a good point in his email response to the story: White-collar tech workers have lots of choices. Technology is a competitive field, where high-skilled workers have plenty of opportunity. If someone can work at Amazon, they likely have a valuable skill set and a resume that can get them a similar salary elsewhere. Unlike factory workers in small towns, Amazon doesn't have a monopoly on the labor supply. In other words, if Amazon was really the tech-sweat shop depicted in the Times’ article, then it would stand little chance of even having a workforce. However, that presumes the others would offer a better work environment. Whether the company is really as bad as The New York Times says, or whether it’s worse than others, may be beside the point. If you consider Amazon an analog for the broader tech community, then maybe it’s time to consider how some forward-thinking, future-minded businesses wind up being such draconian employers in the first place. Yes, the competitive landscape is fierce, and society has become an on-demand culture. But even that may not justify creating a Dickensian work environment—particularly one that is supposed to breed innovation.

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Photo by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite

Media files: MTI2MzAyNTY1MjUwOTUzMTg2.jpg (image/jpeg) 10 Ways Lean Startup Methodology Can Impact Your Business Aug 17th 2015, 22:00

Guest author Scott Gerber is the founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council.

Lean startup methodology—rapidly building and testing, iterating on your product and releases and validating what you've learned—can help you get to market quicker and avoid developing a product no one wants. That's the goal, at least. But what's the impact on a real, functioning business? How do founders apply lean thinking in a practical way? Ten startup founders from YEC weigh in about how lean startup methodology impacted their businesses, for better or worse. 1. Helps Us Constantly Evolve Build, measure, and learn are critical steps, though I often see startups overlook the "measure" and "learn" steps and instead do something like, "build," "spend," and "keep spending." It's critical to constantly evaluate your success and refine your processes and products. ZinePak is a service-based and product-based business—clients hire us to create products collaboratively with them—so it's imperative that we're constantly measuring our success and learning how to do things better. We have a formal debrief after every project to discuss what went right, what went wrong and what we can do better the next time around. Processes are like languages: In order to be most useful, they've got to be flexible enough to constantly evolve and change to meet an ever-changing environment. —Brittany Hodak, ZinePak 2. Keeps Away the Pressure From Debt We were lucky enough as a consulting company to launch our services with very minimal capital investment and zero debt. The good side is that we don't have to look over our shoulders and worry about meeting payment deadlines. We don't answer to anyone and are able to make decisions based on the long term goals of the business. The bad side is that we weren't able to invest in new technology and grow as quickly as possible. However, the organic growth from reinvestment has allowed us to scale in a more controlled manner without sacrificing quality. —Josh Fuhr, Auditrax 3. Prevents Us Being Stuck on One Idea In a lean startup, everything gets tried and tested, and the possibility of the whole company pivoting is probable. If you get stuck on developing one idea, then you will hold the whole company back. Having a developer say they want something their way because that is the way the do things is not the right answer. You have to find a team that is willing to accept their failures fast and move on. —Murray Newlands, Due.com 4. Causes Some Fragmentation Small, independent experiments can often be hard to integrate into a broader perspective. With incorporating both lean and agile methodologies, we've often had to take some time to put the puzzle pieces together to paint a larger picture. Breaking down problems and creating discrete experiments has been really positive, but melding and prioritizing the solutions has been a challenge. —Dan Pickett, Launch Academy 5. Helps Fend Off Risk In a Volatile Market When I started my business, I vowed to do so with as few external resources as possible. I have a small office with little overhead and only a few essential employees. I employ only the technology I absolutely need and don't implement anything unless there's a clear business case for it. My sales levels have bounced around a great deal over the last few years, but my lean methodology means I haven't had to worry that the business would go under. No matter what the market has thrown at me, I have been able to sustain a comfortable level of profit. I think if I had scaled up too quickly or had too grandiose a vision, I would have had to start over at some point, losing significant momentum. —Alexandra Levit, Inspiration at Work 6. Keeps Us Tight When I first started my journey as an entrepreneur and business owner, I was given two pieces of great advice by my mentors: 1) "Keep costs at a minimum and drive revenue," and 2) "It's always better to be on the revenue side of the business rather than the expenses." These two tips have enabled us to grow into a million-dollar business within just a year, as we strictly focused on sales while keeping costs at the absolute minimum of what we needed to stay operational. —Engelo Rumora, Ohio Cashflow 7. Doesn't Help with Building Culture We've kept operating costs low from the beginning by bootstrapping, and we're continually focusing on improving our product, so lean methodology works well for us there. But there's no way to quantify the importance of company culture within the lean startup methodology. Where does asking someone about their day or expressing concern for their well-being fit into discussions of efficiency and continuous improvement? However, team cohesiveness and employee morale are some of the most important assets for any company to have. That's why I remind myself it's important to step back from improving processes to consider the human element of my business. Investing time there might not seem efficient at first, but it's one of the smartest long-term strategies for building a great team. —Jared Brown, Hubstaff 8. Encourages Us to Be Agile Because we have a strong product culture, we have adopted several techniques to help us build an agile marketing organization. Instead of long, involved plans, we challenge our team to keep it light and move quickly. We encourage testing, failing and iterating. And we use Trello, a kanban tool, to track marketing projects. It provides great visibility and allows us to reprioritize on the fly. —Vivek Sharma, Movable Ink 9. Keeps Us Efficient I always encourage my team to find the most efficient and simplest way to do everything and anything. This methodology allows you to avoid cutting costs and corners that may harm your business; instead, you are simply finding the best way from point A to point B. For example, when dealing with clients I have my employees do everything possible on their behalf before speaking with them. This saves time and money because they aren’t wasting hours calling our clients to get more information. Efficiency is a double win; it not only saves us time but also increases customer satisfaction. My customers are much happier when we are doing everything we can to help them. —Elle Kaplan, LexION Capital 10. Helps Us Continuously Better Our Service One way that this methodology has had a huge impact on Guzu is continuous validation and testing of new products, services, or features. We don’t have the time or money to take too large of a risk without testing and validating that it is a good fit for us. A large part of our risk comes in marketing our site, which is a challenge more startups face. We focus on small, concentrated trial periods on all marketing campaigns. If the campaign provides positive results, we’ll continue to scale that channel; if not, we’ll quickly eliminate it from our portfolio. It’s important to be cautious of your finances as a startup, and stretch your money wisely. —Hesam Meshkat, Guzu Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Media files: MTI1MjI0MzE5MDc5OTc4MjU4.jpg (image/jpeg) Google Taps Maps Data For Project Sunroof Aug 17th 2015, 18:19 The latest Web app out of Mountain View, Calif. wants to tempt people to go green by showing them how much money they could save with solar energy. Google's new Project Sunroof draws from aerial imagery from Google Maps and Google Earth, along with the angle of the sun, surrounding shade and even local weather conditions.  Google describes Project Sunroof as a "treasure map of solar energy": Type in your address to see how much sunlight hits that spot per year, and you get a heat map along with information on the amount you could potentially save. (Input your usual electric bill for a more precise figure.) Ready to dive in? The online tool can also give you resources to connect with a local solar panel installation firm.  See also: Why We Need Battery Innovation—Now According to JWT Intelligence, eco-friendly initiatives and practices are a hot business trend this year [.PDF], and many "green" startups have already hit the scene or plan to soon. Although it's not clear whether the company will give other parties access to the data, companies in this sector would do well to keep an eye on the project for developments.  Opening The Sunroof Project Sunroof In the official blog post announcement, Google's Carl Elkin explains how he came up with the idea: "As a volunteer with the Boston-based solar program Solarize Massachusetts and a solar homeowner myself, I've always been surprised at how many people I encounter who think that 'my roof isn’t sunny enough for solar,' or 'solar is just too expensive'," he wrote. "Certainly many of them are missing out on a chance to save money and be green."  Elkin dreamed up Project Sunroof as part of his "20 percent time" at Google, an allotted chunk of work hours that employees can devote to side projects.  See also: Tesla Might Be Getting Into The Home-Battery Business—Or Something Else Entirely It's the sort of problem that Google is perfectly positioned to solve: Tapping into vast databases to pull out useful information in a friendly format.  Right now the searchable database only covers the San Francisco Bay Area and Fresno in Calif. and the Greater Boston area, but its inventors say the project will roll out to the rest of the United States "pretty soon." Given Google's search prowess, it seems natural for the company to add it to results, whenever someone searches "is it worth installing a solar panel on a house in Fresno?"  Project Sunroof also ties in nicely with Google's (or is that Alphabet's?) commitment to green energy sources: Many of its data centers use renewable energy and the company has also invested in Africa's largest solar plant.  Google has a track record for making tools and information available, so others can build on them. If Google opens the gates for more Sunroof resources—just as it makes its search-trends data available and distributes Maps and Earth APIs for third-party developers—then the tech giant could wind up adding fuel to the business of alternative energy.  Images courtesy of Google

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Eve Aims To Change The Way Programming Works Aug 18th 2015, 20:06 There's been a tremendous amount of focus on teaching the world to code in the last couple of years, but Eve—out in public for the first time this week—takes a different approach. Rather than turning us all into computer programmers, it wants to change what programming is and create "a better way for us to interact with computers." In short, it means simplicity and accessibility. "Over the years, programming has become intrinsically tied to the notion of creating programs," co-founder Chris Granger wrote on his blog post announcement, "but realistically what most people are trying to do is get the computer to do some thinking for them and then communicate the results."  See also: Rust Never Sleeps: How Mozilla Could Become Cool Again Version 0 of Eve is the first milestone along that road. The official website describes the project:  On the surface, Eve is an environment a little like Excel that allows you to 'program' simply by moving columns and rows around in tables. Under the covers it's a powerful database, a temporal logic language, and a flexible IDE [Integrated Development Environment] that allows you to build anything from a simple website to complex algorithms. Think dragging and dropping rather than typing into a text editor, and being able to describe exactly what you want from a computer rather than translating it into an intermediate language first.  "Version 0" is admittedly far from a polished release, Granger acknowledges on his blog. But the project has evolved enough now that it can convey Eve's mission—and let developers, tinkerers and anyone else experiment with the project, with or without coding chops.  Eve of Creation  In some ways, Eve is treading a similar path as IFTTT (also known as "If This Then That"). The tool makes it easy for everyday users to connect services and create automations, which had been the work of developers. Now anyone can do it using IFTTT's simple graphical interface. (At least for those services that support it.)  Eve's premise runs deeper, letting people create some of the features and services they need. In the words of the project's manifesto, the aim is to create "a world where programmers [can] focus on solving the hard problems without being weighed down by the plumbing."  The ethos makes sense, considering it comes from the same team behind Light Table, an IDE focused on shortening the feedback loop between man and machine.  The group's work on Light Table informed Eve, which goes several steps further: It's a relational database, a new programming language, an IDE, and a UI (user interface) editor all rolled into one. Eve received $2.3m in funding from several high-profile investors late last year, and the resources likely went into fleshing out the project's development:  We took a very academic approach and started back at the drawing board to design Eve from the ground up. Our working bibliography is rather extensive and covers everything from language design and query optimization to high-dimensional geometry and cognitive science.  Developers and interested parties are encouraged to dive in and see what Eve is all about. You can find more about its nuts and bolts in the developer diary, which goes into much more detail.  Starting From Zero, And Building Up Eve version 0 Picking up in the ins and outs of the language should be as simple as working through an Excel tutorial, and apps built with Eve can be shared via a Web link. But ultimately, it won't just remain a beginner tool: Advanced coders will be able to extend Eve's capabilities with JavaScript on their own.  Version 0 offers a database, compiler, query runtime, data editor, and query editor—in other words it's essentially a database with an IDE attached. As an early version, it was built more for experimentation, not for the creation of serious projects. But that should change before long.  Further down the line there are plans for APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) that can connect Eve-enabled works to everything from Twitter to Amazon Web Services.  Granger knows that, as exciting as Eve's potential could be, there's still a lot of work to do. "It's still in its infancy with lots missing and assuredly more than a few bugs," he wrote, "but it's reached a point where we can start to demonstrate the vision we have ahead of us."  Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Eve

Media files: MTI1MDczOTM3MjQyNjYzNTU1.jpg (image/jpeg) Bublcam Brings VR Filmmaking To The Masses Aug 18th 2015, 15:41 Just over a year after a successful funding campaign on Kickstarter, the Bublcam is shipping to backers. It's a 360-degree, virtual-reality-capable camera aimed at amateur enthusiasts very much like the Sphericam 2 we reported on last month. The concept isn't difficult to understand: The camera captures footage in every direction at once, so it's suitable for use on YouTube's 360-degree video channel or inside a virtual reality headset. The footage is compatible with Google Cardboard, the Gear VR, the Oculus Rift and other headsets. Viewers are able to turn their head in any direction while it plays. All that's missing is stereoscopic 3D depth perception (as you get from behind your glasses at the movie theater) and the ability to move independently around a scene, both of which you might find in true VR. With Google making public its own video rig and the Sphericam 2 raising three times its goal on Kickstarter, VR filmmaking tools are slowly filtering down to interested consumers as well as professionals. The advantage the Bublcam has is it's shipping now, and it's the most affordable option out there. If you didn't get in at the Kickstarter stage, you can now order one for $799 from the Bublcam site. The Sphericam 2, in contrast, is expected to ship in December and costs from $1,299. Like the Sphericam 2, the Bublcam captures both still spherical photos and video, and there are time-lapse and HDR photography features to take advantage of too.  The camera features four 5-megapixel cameras and is capable of filming 360-degree footage at 1984 by 992 pixels at 30 frames per second. An Accessible Workflow Bublcam is about more than just the hardware, though—its developers have worked hard to create an end-to-end workflow solution that anyone who understands a video editor app or smartphone can use. To that end there's a full ystem backing up the camera: a cloud service (Bubl.io) for storing clips and stitching them together, and mobile apps for Android and iOS to make filming straightforward. The app is also going to showcase selected content from other Bublcam users. Users can export a JPEG or MP4 file that's editable by any common video suite, such as Final Cut, Avid, After Effects or Adobe Premiere. Footage can be saved in multiplex format (where each camera's video is shown in a separate quadrant) or as an equirectangular file (where all four inputs are stitched into one flat projection). "The Kickstarter program was a significant learning experience for our company," Bubl Technology CEO Sean Ramsay told ReadWrite. "We were very lucky to have the support of our backers, enabling us to exceed our initial fundraising goals and bring a truly innovative spherical camera to market. "While the Bublcam endured delays on its way to completion, the end result of our offering was much larger than initially anticipated. We would not be where we are today without the support of our Kickstarter community and we will continue to work with this community to improve our offering." It's still early days, but the cost of VR filmmaking is dropping at the same time as these tools become easier to use, giving more of us the opportunity to create immersive content—just in time for the next wave of headgear. Image courtesy of Bublcam

Media files: MTMyMzk4NDUxMjU3MzA3MTA2.jpg (image/jpeg) Are We Living In A "Post-Startup" World? Aug 18th 2015, 14:00 Guest author Carol Broadbent is the cofounder and principal of Crowded Ocean, a Silicon Valley marketing agency. She wrote this post with cofounder Tom Hogan. Industry pundits like to talk about how we’re now inhabiting the post-PC, post-desktop, post-software world. Recently, after launching our 36th startup, we sat back and looked at how much has changed in terms of the rules and ‘best practices’ governing the startup world.  We realized that most of the rules that governed our first startups—only five years ago—no longer apply or are under serious reconsideration. For example: Post-Geographic This category used to be called "virtual": in other words, there is no headquarters. The CEO is on one coast and the CTO is two or three time zones away. Sales, obviously, is all over the place. And so, increasingly, is the rest of the team. The company is held together by an infrastructure of shared project plans, painfully long conference calls and periodic town hall meetings. Post-Intellectual Property This might seem like a part of the post-geographic trend, but there’s a fundamental difference. In the past, parts of your company could be virtual, but not your development team. They needed to be in one place (where the CTO lived) and full-time employees. Recently, primarily because Apple, Google and Facebook have gobbled up so much of the Valley’s engineering talent, the mindset has changed. IP is developed and nurtured by the CTO, but he/she staffs not only virtually but offshore (Ukraine, India, China) and the developers aren’t even employees. Post-Post-Silicon Valley What started as a geography (Santa Clara, Cupertino, Mountain View, Palo Alto) became a state of mind, the idea being to take the DNA of the Valley and graph it into new geographies. Thus was born Silicon Alley (New York), Silicon Gulch (Austin), and Startup Nation (Israel). And they flourished.  Today, there are literally hundreds of startup incubators and accelerators scattered nationwide. Now, though, there is the renewed belief that there is something in the DNA of the actual Valley—in the workforce, in the meetups, in the constant cross-fertilization of ideas that stem from the concentration of talent and ideas in one place. Part of this change is geographic: In the past, San Francisco wasn’t part of the Valley, both geographically and in mindset. Now there are more highly valued "unicorn" companies in San Francisco than down the Peninsula. That has led to a whole new ability to recruit fresh tech talent: Live in SF and take a company bus down to our Peninsula location. Or stay and work in SF.  But it’s not just startups that thrive in the region. In response, some VC firms are requiring their out-of-state portfolio companies to relocate to the Valley. And non-US startups, especially Israelis, find that they can grow more quickly if they have a Valley sales office. Or, better yet, a Valley headquarters.  When most major car makers and many of the top auto suppliers have set up shop in Silicon Valley, it’s evidence that this is the nexus of innovation in software, smartphones, robotics, machine vision, the connected car and more. Post-Bullpen The open-office, privacy-challenged layout that was so popular among startups small and large is waning in popularity. Employees report feeling distracted, frustrated by a lack privacy and studies show that the veneer of accessibility and openness is offset by a measurable hit in productivity. The unintended consequences are two: a) an explosion in headphone sales; and b) an increasing number of employees are opting to work remotely—not because of the commute, but because they get more done from home. Post-Agile This term, co-opted from the concept of agile software development, is now applied to entire companies. The two-week cycles and daily scrums of agile development teams have bled over into marketing and other departments, with short-term management now the norm. In our world, startup marketing, even the largest projects have a weekly cadence, driven by the frenzy of 24/7 news cycles, daily Twitter storms, and the relentless deadlines of weekly blog posts. Post-Lean  The concept of the lean startup, popularized by Eric Ries in 2011, asserted that a tech startup needed to get to the MVP (minimum viable product) before entering the market. The logic was that this minimal product feature set was sufficient, as long as the company was receptive and responsive to market reaction and could rev the product quickly to meet market demand. But then "lean" got applied to startup marketing and the discipline that requires a team to nail their message and value prop before launch sometimes got lost. And that misstep was very costly. Today, whatever your definition of “lean marketing” is (no money? no staff? no plan?), the growth-hacking approach has overtaken lean marketing. It’s all about focusing on shortening the customer acquisition cycle with an emphasis on digital marketing strategies that are quickly implemented and revised. It’s a great concept, particularly in business-to-consumer startups, but less of a fit for the longer sales cycles of business-to-business. Post-Funnel The old-world sales funnel was a linear progression from awareness to purchase. The new world is the mobile-first, heavily social sales funnel that incorporates multi-channel communications and recursive steps along the way (from awareness to purchase) that track referrals along the customer acquisition path. In the post-funnel world of today, there has never been a bigger dependency upon an integrated marketing plan. Startups are like any organism: they evolve to fit their surroundings. The environment of Hewlett and Packard was fundamentally different from that of Jobs and Woz and of Sergey and Larry. This generation of startups will be quicker, nimbler, more diverse, and more experimental than its predecessors. Ten years later, those characteristics will be the norm—and the startup will evolve yet again, always staying two steps ahead of Normal. Photo by Epic Bets

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Giveaway “Monstroid” : New Multipurpose WordPress Theme Aug 20th 2015, 02:18 Multipurpose WordPress themes have become very popular during the past few years. We have already told you about the release of Monstroid – the newest of them. The theme was launched on July 22nd 2015, and since the date of release has been purchased more than 1000 times! Today we are excited to run a giveaway of Monstroid so that you can have a chance to get it absolutely free! Let’s take a look at some of the most prominent features of the theme. Monstroid Demo What Is Monstroid All About? We could describe each feature of Monstroid in detail, but the theme is so huge that reading it all would become boring. Instead, we simply want to point out the key features that, in our opinion, make Monstroid awesome. Collection of Child Themes. Essentially, Monstroid is not a single theme, but a combination of one big theme for any purpose, and a pack of child themes, each one designed for a specific niche. In other words, when you get Monstroid you also get a collection of other WordPress themes; for example this one, or this one. Right now there are 10 additional themes available, but each month the collection will increase by 10-15 new designs. If you buy Monstroid once, you get lifetime access to all of its child themes. Free Life-Time Support & Updates. No one would argue that support and updates are two of the most important things when it comes to choosing a WordPress theme. Monstroid developers decided to take support to a completely new level. They integrated a live support chat into your dashboard, which allows you to communicate with the support team right in your admin panel. MotoPress Page Builder Plugin. Another great thing about Monstroid is that it comes with MotoPress Page Builder. It is a premium drag-and-drop plugin, which has been known among WordPress users as a quality solution for editing pages without any coding skills. With MotoPress Page Builder Monstroid becomes a truly powerful tool for building websites. There is a large number of other features that we haven’t mentioned here, but you can always find more information on Monstroid’s official page. And last, but not least, the developers of Monstroid submitted the theme for code review to the WordPress Theme Review Team, which is a smart decision for any team that cares about the quality of their product. What People Say About Monstroid Varun Singh Newbie at WordPress “I have just started my own website and have never done anything like this before. The installation was easy and having the MotoPress editor made things so much easier for me, I work better at a visual editor rather than code as i’m just starting out. Using Monstroid template and making it my own was easier than starting from nothing, I was able to customise it without too much hassle. I did find an issue that some parts weren’t responsive when looking on my mobile phone but I was able to look at a similar item and correct the problem myself. This template is great if your starting out or professional. When my business grows and I get better at customising Monstroid this will be extremely useful to grow with my online needs. Great work guys!” Morten Lindstrom webdev “It’s all you need to get started! I’m one of the web developers who has slowly migrated from hard coding HTML pages, to use more and more WordPress. Having made quite a few templates myself, I know how much time and hard work that goes into not only a good designed site, but also one that functions well on all different devices. Templatemonster’s Monstroid package is just what is says it is, a monstrous package, with everything you need to get started. Packed with a “monstrous” amount of plugins, you can get most things done. There is even a online Chat plugin where you can get live support if you should need it – right from inside your WordPress. For anyone who want to focus more on content, than spending time to dig down into php and javascript, Monstroid will allow you to get started quickly, select a suitable child theme, fill it with demo pages and data – ready to simply edit the info, add your own – and your brand new website can be ready in hours instead of weeks or months.” How Can You Win Monstroid? The rules are simple. Check out the Monstroid theme and let us know in the comments to this post the main reason why you would want to win the theme (which of Monstroid features is critical for you, except for the features mentioned in this post). When the contest is over we’ll randomly pick seven winners and send them the prizes (please, don’t forget to enter your valid email address when you submit a comment to this post). The giveaway starts on August 19, 2015 and will be running though August 26, 2015, so hurry up and submit your comment promptly. Good luck! The post Giveaway “Monstroid” : New Multipurpose WordPress Theme appeared first on WebAppers.

Google Gets Going With Update For Go Programming Language Aug 19th 2015, 21:10 Google's attempt to kill off C just got a new development: Today, the company announced a new update for Go, its own 6-year-old programming language, bringing it to version 1.5. It's the sixth major update since Go's inception in 2009, and it finally removes all traces of the C language it's built on.  Putting out their own coding language has become a hallmark of many tech giants today: Just as Microsoft had C#, others tout their own efforts, like Facebook (Hack), Google (Go) and Apple (Objective-C/Swift). Some go the open-source route like Hack and Go, though it appears the latter has taken its time.  See also: Google Go Finds New Home On GitHub Now, the language has become "self-hosting" for the first time. The Go runtime, compiler and linker are now completely written in Go itself. The changes cover several improvements, including some crucial updates for mobile app development.  Google's goal was to create a more efficient coding language, and some of Go's new features highlight that. The official documentation touts speed in compiling, reduction in overhead, lightweight construction, and support for concurrent (or simultaneous) execution and communication as some of the key features of the language.  Ready, Steady, Go Go sprang from a project led by three Google engineers, who wanted to cut down on the complexities and sprawling feature-set of C++.  Designed for modern-day computing—particularly cloud and mobile computing—the language has become a minor but rising star on the open-source development scene. Go 1.5 represents another step forward along that path.  See also: Corporate Programming Languages: The New Lock-In The new version includes a new "Garbage Collector" (which was designed to boost program responsiveness, even under heavy load), better platform support for Darwin/ARM64 for mobile app development, and other new features to encourage developers to experiment with Go on Android and iOS.  In addition, developers can now create shared libraries from Go packages that can be called from C programs.  For more information on the updates, including the technical details, developers should check out the release notes. If you're interested in taking it for a spin, you can download the code right now.  Where It's Going The primary concern, when it comes to any programming language, is adoption. Go moved from Mercurial to GitHub as its hosting platform of choice, but is it gaining traction with developers out in the real world?  It would appear so: This year's GopherCon conference for Go developers attracted more than 1,250 attendees, double the number that turned up in 2014.  In the RedMonk Programming Language Rankings for June 2015, based on frequency of use on GitHub and Stack Overflow, Go sits in 15th place, sandwiched between Scala and Haskell. (Apple's Swift appears in 18th position.) The language was outside the top 20 last year, but just since January, it has moved up two places.  "While [Go] has its critics, its growth prospects appear secure," writes RedMonk's Stephen O'Grady. "And should the Android support ... mature, Go's path to becoming a top 10 if not top 5 language would be clear." In other words, if it can carve its place in important projects, that would essentially seal the deal.  See also: Supreme Court Refuses To Decide If APIs Are Copyrightable "An increasingly strategic foundational role within projects that are themselves strategic" would give Go a promising future, Grady says.  Go may not loom large on the coding front now, but that could change before long. With support for Android and (experimental support) for iOS—not to mention the rush to mobile and the cloud across most areas of development—Go's way forward looks a bit brighter now.   Image courtesy of Robert Frangloso

Media files: MTMyNDI2NjY5NDYwODY3MDgy.jpg (image/jpeg) The Changing Face Of Today’s Consumer Aug 19th 2015, 18:02 Guest author Ori Karev is general manager of enterprise and the U.S. CEO of Gett, an on-demand purveyor of ground transportation. Back in the 80s and the 90s, companies worked hard on their interactions with consumers. Everything was about communicating correctly. Legions of experts taught employees how to speak with clients. Others worked on corporate communications materials. Then came the first decade of the new millennium and the brave new world of the smartphone took off. More than 2 billion smartphones are now being used and more people surf the internet on their smartphones than on computers or tablets. As we’ve become more connected, our behavior as consumers is also changing at the speed of light. Our experiences have shifted from touching linen and food in a store or restaurant, to touching our screens and knowing what we’ll get before we buy. Instead of traveling to the supermarket or standing impatiently on the curb to hail a cab, people use their smartphones to streamline tasks. In this environment, products or services either succeed or fail in minutes or days, not weeks or months. Consumerism has shifted from a world of physical images and personal communication to a world of imagery and perception. Regardless of industry, product or service, vendors that enable instantaneous access and deliver on their digital promise will survive. Those who rely solely on their brick and mortar presence will not. Today’s Shopper: More Pragmatic Than Ever Connectivity is everything, especially when we’re on the move. Major airlines now offer onboard Wi-Fi for a small fee and transportation companies including Amtrak and Peter Pan Bus Lines have figured out that they cannot exist without it. More importantly, it’s a service that we, as consumers, demand. The instantaneous nature of business today extends to all kinds of products and services. But as the opportunities to hit it big quickly have grown, so have the pitfalls. Consider the movie theater: It used to take time for word to spread about a film, giving theaters a chance to recoup some expenses from early moviegoers. Today, relationship between customers and businesses moves in a matter of moments, and the verdict on a movie spreads across the Web quickly—often before the film even hits theaters. The new online consumer persona shares many traits of the business-to-business consumer. The emotional aspect of purchase transactions has given way to pragmatic researching and hunting for solutions. Consumers connect to businesses that can solve problems; they don’t want to sit through sales pitches based purely on emotion. Consumer acceptance of a company’s brand promise is key. WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get") marketing is as important as ever. If people like what they see, they must also believe that your brand will offer what they need, when and how they need it. That doesn’t mean the new consumers don't have emotional attachments to what they buy or who they do business with. Amazon realized this early and built it into its brand experience from the beginning. If you don’t like anything you purchase there, you can return it immediately—no questions asked. In the old brick-and-mortar world, people had fewer choices. Today, we have plenty that are a click away: You can look for a specific mountain bike from coast to coast within seconds, or find the only sushi restaurant in New York that will deliver exactly what you want within seconds. Never before have retailers and purveyors of goods and services been so much at the mercy of their consumers. Where Emotional Attachments Still Matter Urbanites work hard and play harder. They move fast, and they don’t have time for errands or needs fulfillment. They have realized fairly quickly that smartphones can, and do, literally place everything from groceries to beverages to fitness trainers with free weights in the palm of their hands, and they’ve responded with enthusiasm. It is phenomenal that the on-demand industry has gone through such a rapid change of behavior within a mere five years. The swift change stems from two factors: the availability of smartphones, and people’s desire to maximize the convenience and efficiency of procuring services and products. But even with these light-speed changes, certain fundamentals will remain. A company must match its online presence with its integrity. A new treaty is being shaped as we speak between consumers and sellers. Shoppers want to do business with companies that are fair, so this treaty must hinge on veracity, transparency, credibility, honesty and good will. If I have a choice between services from an ethically driven company and one with questionable business practices, I’d vote for the former every time. Research shows that money and employment are not at the top of our personal Maslow’s hierarchies. Instead, we place the most value on fulfillment and satisfaction. Because prices are a known commodity to all in this new economy, people want to know that not only did they make the right purchase, but that they also made the purchase from a vendor that treats their suppliers and employees decently. Consider this: If the market price for a person’s time is $10.50 an hour (at minimum), then I might pay an additional 5-7 percent on my purchase so the company can pay its employees $15 an hour. I have the satisfaction of knowing my money helps employees work their way up the Maslow ladder. This is the most fundamental change of the new economy. Consumers have, in many respects, received an option that not long ago was only available to a few. Online research, decision and purchase behaviors now make consumers de facto stakeholders. Consumers’ ability to vote with their mouse and to reject unacceptable behaviors have given them unprecedented powers. The Bottom Line Companies that are succeeding in this space have a particular way of handling things. They have 24/7 human customer-care centers, which provide real-time support and resolution to consumer challenges. They treat their suppliers and vendors with respect and transparency. And they know how to price their products in a way that respects clients’ needs, while maintaining an ethical corporate culture that will drive shoppers to do business with them. The more expedient we can make the online consumer experience, and the more we ensure customers’ expectations are met, the higher the likelihood of succeeding in today’s on-demand world. In a way, technology has now done something even physics cannot do. It is creating time. If the purchasing experience reduces the time we allocate to each task, while also reliably helping us fulfill these tasks, then technology is helping us free up time to do more productive and fulfilling things.

Lead photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Media files: MTI1OTUwMzk4NjAyMTYwNzcx.jpg (image/jpeg) The Genius Of Zero-Billion-Dollar Markets Aug 19th 2015, 14:00 Guest author Christopher Lochhead is a cofounding partner of Play Bigger Advisors. He wrote this post with his partners Al Ramadan and Dave Peterson. Forget the story you might have heard about how Netflix CEO Reed Hastings started the company because he got a $40 late fee from Blockbuster. The real story's even better.  According to cofounder Marc Randolph, he and Hastings had the idea to start an e-commerce company in a whole new category. They settled on DVDs. The question was whether they could cheaply and safely mail them. In 1997, DVDs were so new they couldn't even find one in a store, so they bought CDs at Tower Records instead. The CDs arrived safely, and they were off to the races tackling DVD rental by mail, a market that was worth zero billion dollars at the time. That simple and powerful market insight—that people might want to go online, press a button, and get a movie—was the beginning of a whole new category of subscription-movie service and the start of Netflix.  Hastings refined the model along the way. While Netflix launched with late fees, like Blockbuster, he realized the fee was customer hostile and the growth of the Internet provided the potential to do something different. In 1999, when he introduced a flat monthly subscription for unlimited rentals, the business really took off. Today Netflix is worth $52 billion, with everyone from HBO to Comcast racing to imitate its model, and it's one of the most important entertainment companies on the planet. Blockbuster is all but a memory. Don't Tackle Existing Markets—Create New Ones The path to success in the technology business is almost always an insight that leads to the creation of a whole new approach and a new market category. The history of our industry teaches us that most giant successes come from companies that pioneer what venture capitalist Steve Vassallo calls "zero-billion-dollar categories."  That means a market that does not currently exist. Before Netflix, there was no category for subscription movies. Before VMware, there was no market for virtualization. GoPro invented the wearable camera and LinkedIn designed and dominates the professional social-networking category. Entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel encourages building “the kind of company that is so good at what it does that no other firm can offer a close substitute.”  That's harder advice to take than it sounds. Every year in the technology industry, hundreds of companies launch thousands of new products. Most of these new products are pointed at existing categories. The thinking here is the bigger the market, the greater the opportunity. While some of these new products will find traction, many won’t. Because the technology industry is generally a winner-take-all game. And once a Category King is crowned, it is almost impossible to dethrone them. To better understand these dynamics, last summer we began an ongoing research effort. We assembled a team of computer scientists, data scientists and business executives to comb through a variety of data sources to create a fact-based database on the velocity of market capitalization growth. We examined approximately 26,000 U.S.-headquartered, venture-backed technology companies formed since 2000. We examined their 30,575 fundraising transactions and 69 IPOs with the goal of understanding how they grew in value and how much value in their market categories they captured. We found that Category Kings typically earn 76 percent of the total market cap in their space, leaving dozens of competitors gnawing on scraps. The Cautionary Tale Of Bing In some cases attacking an existing market, with an established leader, is financial arson. Case in point: Microsoft's Bing search engine. In 2009, Microsoft’s then-CEO, Steve Balmer, launched the product saying that the search market “deserves a good feature war." As you know, it didn’t work. Microsoft has invested more than $10 billion in Bing. Google still rules with 65 percent market share. If Microsoft cannot beat Google with a $10 billion attack, why do so many tech companies pursue existing categories versus designing new ones? Said another way, who would you rather be—Netflix or Bing? In spite of this reality, most technology companies attack existing competition, in existing spaces. There is comfort in addressing a known market versus placing a bet on a zero-billion-dollar one. When new technologies or companies fail, CEOs, entrepreneurs, product managers and investors often blame the product or company execution. Shitty products and poor execution of course lead to catastrophe. But history shows that many failures are actually category casualities. Photo by Shardayyy

Media files: MTMyNDA1MTgyNTQ0NzUxMjM1.jpg (image/jpeg) jQuery.my – Complex Two-way Data Binding in Real Time Aug 19th 2015, 07:03 jQuery.my is a plugin for real time two-way data binding. It mutates object given as data source, reflecting interactions between user and UI. Data bindings, facade appearance and CSS styling of an app are all defined using single manifest, which is standard javascript object. Manifests are JSONable. jQuery.my recognizes both standard HTML controls and complex composites created using rich ui plugins. Controls built with jQuery UI, Select2, CodeMirror, Ace, Redactor, CLeditor, jQuery Mobile are supported out of the box. jQuery.my provides comprehensive validation, conditional formatting, complex dependencies, runtime form structure manipulation. $.my forms can run nested, each jQuery.my instance can be a composite control for parent form. Requirements: jQuery Framework Demo: http://jquerymy.com/ License: License Free The post jQuery.my – Complex Two-way Data Binding in Real Time appeared first on WebAppers.

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Tech Geek`s Tools, Tips, Tricks and Tutorials Pipes Output

Bonsai – Contracts, Simple e-Signing, Integrated Escrow Aug 21st 2015, 03:57 Whenever you start a new project you should have a contract that outlines things like the scope of work, payment schedule and terms, timeline, and intellectual property ownership. The contract should describe what happens in bad situations, such as cancellation of work, late payment, etc. Bonsai is there for you. Bonsai is a tool for freelancers and consultants to create, sign, and store work contracts, as well as accept payments and escrow for their work. The contracts component is available today, while the payments and escrow component is currently in private beta. Right now Bonsai supports work contracts for creative professionals. These contracts cover things like payment terms, intellectual property ownership, etc. Requirements: – Demo: https://www.hellobonsai.com/ License: License Free The post Bonsai – Contracts, Simple e-Signing, Integrated Escrow appeared first on WebAppers.

Amazon Joins Adobe Flash Hate Parade Aug 20th 2015, 21:00 Amazon has announced that ads on its network (including the Amazon.com portal) will no longer be able to use Flash from September 1. It's another nail in the coffin for the ailing interactive Web technology, which became the go-to tool for displaying videos, animations, games and other types of content online in the 2000s. "This change ensures customers continue to have a positive, consistent experience across Amazon and its affiliates, and that ads displayed across the site function properly for optimal performance," reads the Amazon statement, hinting at some of the reasons why Flash has been ditched. In short, Amazon ditched Flash because it can't offer a "positive," "consistent" or "optimal" experience. These are the same sorts of problems Steve Jobs cited about Flash in 2010, pertaining to security, reliability and performance.  Flash-Forward? Rather Flash-Back When YouTube opened its doors in 2005, Flash was the obvious choice to handle video playback duties; nowadays, YouTube has transitioned to HTML5, the lightweight and nimble successor to Flash, and large swathes of the Internet are following suit.  The stand Jobs took right from the start with the iPhone and iPad is finally permeating the industry as a whole: Firefox temporarily suspended Flash support in July because of a security issue. The Chief Security Officer at Facebook wants to see it killed off. The Interactive Advertising Bureau would like to see marketing departments switch to HTML5 instead.  Soon Chrome also will stop Flash content from playing automatically. The reason: It takes up too much battery juice and CPU time. The more you dig in, the bleaker Flash's fate looks.  For now, though, Adobe's aging technology continues to hang on, Internet Explorer 6-style. Open-advertising firm Sizmek estimates that some 100 million ads will be affected by Chrome's stance every single day. Fast Company found websites—HBO, Hulu and Spotify among them—reluctant to abandon an established approach.  So it may be a while before Flash finally bows out for good, but the writing is certainly on the wall. Tech giants like Apple, Google and now Amazon have lined up in front of it, wielding their mighty pens to scratch the media plugin right off tech's tableau.  Image courtesy of Occupy Flash

Media files: MTMyNDQ5NDI2MDc2NjA5MTU1.jpg (image/jpeg) How To Run Remote Teams Effectively Aug 20th 2015, 18:28 Guest author Hugo Messer is the CEO of Ekipa and a global IT staffing expert. When compared to office-dwelling counterparts, managing a remote team has always been a challenge. But at least these days, modern technology helps the cause more than ever. Today's tools enable communication and work in ways previously thought unimaginable. That doesn’t mean challenges don’t persist. Over the past 10 years, I have built many remote teams for our software customers, and I've established my own offices in India and Ukraine. As most entrepreneurs, I started without any experience at this. My generic management style was "laissez faire”—and I have learned the hard way that remote teams and a hands-off or laid-back approach are a tough combination. The common barriers that managers come across lie in four areas: Different cultures, languages and time zones, plus geographical distance, can make for major obstacles in coordinating of far-flung teams. To overcome those issues, you need the proper tools and an understanding of the human behaviors (read: competencies) the team leader or manager must have. This is the time-tested formula that has worked for me and my companies. Crucial Tools To Help You Lead Remote Teams Traditional teams are co-located, with everyone in the same building. Their physical location automatically places them in your company’s culture, and with so many opportunities to talk, it’s easy to convey your vision for a project or the company. That all changes when people are separated and scattered. You don’t drink coffee together regularly, and virtual bowling won’t get you there either. To get your team on the same page, you literally need a page. To be specific, you need this page: I discovered this one-page strategic plan from Gazelles six years ago, and found it to be an effective planning tool. It allowed us to visualize and share our long-term objectives, and translate targets into daily actions. We fill out this plan every year at the end of December, with our full management team members—both remote and local—in a conference call. This planning session lets us to reflect on the fundamentals of our company: We recall examples of workers who lived our core values, evaluate our mission statement and stretch our thinking about how to achieve our big annual goal. The session also creates bonding within the team. Also critical in our strategy: the quarterly review. Every three months, we take stock of our progress on our yearly plan, and look at what each of us achieved in the previous quarter. Then we plan the next quarter, with two to five top priorities. (We limit ourselves to 5, since doing a few things thoroughly yields better results than doing 20 things poorly at the same time.) Each manager makes his or her own personal accountability plan for the quarter. To follow up, we hold an hour-long, weekly Skype call on Monday mornings. Here’s a look at our weekly agenda. Weekly and quarterly tasks are organized accordingly; Create a Google document and share among members Each player creates a separate sheet to track the targets As you have seen, the KPI dashboard shows operational metrics Respectively rocks are indicated for the quarter These periodic meetings help keep managers on track. For team members, we also hold daily Skype team calls of 5 to 10 minutes, with typically 3 to 5 people. (If the team is larger than that, we split them up into smaller increments.) The goal isn’t to inundate our business with meetings, but to nail down focal areas to make the rest of our time more productive. We hone in on three questions: What have you achieved yesterday? What will you work on today? Do you have any issues or blocks? These inquiries are also the basis of scrums held by our software teams. The third question especially brings progress. I notice that if we don’t ask this daily, people get stuck on their main weekly goal because they were waiting for someone else. If you don’t have talk time, they’ll tell you on Monday "I couldn’t do it because ABC wasn’t there." If you talk daily, the team can immediately come up with a way to get ABC to deliver, so the employee can get the critical stuff done. These strategies, plus the essential (and free) technologies at your disposal—including Skype, GoToMeeting, Sqwiggle, and Speek—meetings become smarter ways to personally engage with your remote team. Implementing The Plan A couple of weeks back, an audience member at one of my presentations asked me how I convinced my team to hold that many meetings. Personally, I really prefer "getting stuff done" over talking through every detail. But I can’t imagine managing my distributed team without these meetings. Somehow these moments of reflection make the team more productive. People are accountable for achieving their plans and cannot hide. They also get more focus, since every goal is written down and clear. My own plan is my roadmap all through the day; I use it to see what I need to focus on from moment to moment. A crucial piece of the puzzle was to make The Rockefeller Habits a mandatory read, as well as Verne Harnish’s book Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, to provide a deeper understanding of the one-page plan and the Rockefeller habits method. To sum up, you can lead your remote team and get everyone on the same page by following these steps: Have everyone read The Rockefeller Habits. Download the one page strategic plan. (.PDF version from Gazelle here; my adapted version as a Google Sheet here) Schedule 1 to 2 days to fill the plan with your whole team. (If possible, get together in one location for this.) Have every team member create a personal quarterly plan. Create a meeting rhythm with quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily calls Stick to the rhythm! How Adept Is Your Remote Team Manager? You can have the best tools in the world, but if you have people who are incompetent, they will take you nowhere. Many books have been written on what it takes to be an effective manager. All of them likely apply, regardless of your team’s physical presence. From my experience, four competencies make up a good remote team manager: empathy, organization, patience, and the ability to let go and trust the team. Empathy: Empathy can be especially crucial for distributed employees based abroad. If they live in another culture, their behavior is heavily influenced by that culture, and that makes it tough for them to connect with everything going on locally. There’s also a risk that onshore team members place a higher value on their own work, or fault remote staff for “just not getting it, even when we explained everything up to the smallest details.” This discord can drive people apart and lead to poor results, driving management to bring more of the work onshore. In the worst cases, the team eventually dissolves. A good manager will not only know how to empathize, but will ensure the attitude envelops the whole group. Organization: Remote teamwork requires an extra dose of structure and management. Managers need to think through the collaboration process, the meeting rhythm, the "rules of engagement." In order to leverage the process, the right tools need to be picked, so everyone knows what the goals are and what the steps are to achieve them. (Trello, Jira, Asana, Slack, Skype and Github can help a great deal with organization.) In my company, we’ve developed a canvas that helps us think through the details for every collaboration we establish. The blocks from the canvas could help you determine what to look for while interviewing your new remote team manager. Patience: As famously quoted by Eknath Easwaran, a spiritual teacher and author of books on how to lead a successful life, being patient is like building a muscle—it can’t be achieved overnight. It takes time to make a remote team effective. Even the most empathetic people take time to understand subtle differences in people’s (culturally influenced) behavior. I have learned that, in general, the worst type of person to manage a remote team is often the entrepreneur (like me). Entrepreneurs want speed, growth, change and are usually impatient. That can be both a virtue and a tough obstacle for their businesses. Teams need time to adjust. People make mistakes, miscommunicate, misinterpret. Individuals must have space to learn how others work, what to count on, how colleagues communicate. During this learning period, a remote team manager needs to patiently nurture the team. Trust in the team: In effective teams, people doing the execution need to be accountable for results. In a remote team, this usually means that the remote team does most of the work. The manager is likely onshore and needs to trust the remote team 100%. That person needs to let go of any need to micro-manage or over-control what the team is doing. The only thing that he or she should look at are output, measurement and accountability. In scrum terms, the onshore manager is the product owner; the remote team including the scrum master is accountable for the output of each sprint. The manager defines clearly what output is necessary, and the team commits to delivering this output. While the work sprint is in progress, the team needs to be entrusted to do the work. With the next remote team manager you plan to hire, do the following: Make a list of competencies you require for the role and include the ones in this article. Create questions for each block in the Bridge Canvas (look for answers on how the manager deals with each topic). Create questions to check for the competencies. Onboard and train your remote team manager on these competencies. Have the candidate read everything available on managing remote teams (starting with these ebooks). Though managers are faced with ample blocks, research states that employees on remote workstations are more productive than traditional teams. So think of these tools and insights as a compass to guide managers and their people. With the right structure and resources in hand, a remote team manager who is empathic, organized, patient and who can "let go," will reap the results.  Lead photo by Wesley Fryer

Media files: MTIyMjkzNDg4Njk0ODgxNTYx.jpg (image/jpeg) Homes Can't Truly Be Smart Without Security Aug 20th 2015, 14:00 Guest author Chris Boross is president of the Thread Group and Nest's technical product marketing manager overseeing technology partnerships and wireless networking technologies. The connected home is now closer within reach for consumers than ever before, and "smart" products are being deployed to the market in full force. Due to this sheer number of products and scenarios in the connected home, and the inordinate volume of data in constant transfer, the area of the Internet of Things has also caught the attention of hackers.  See also: Amazon's Echo Update Gives Alexa The Keys To Your House If devices communicate over standard Wi-Fi, for example, there’s suddenly much more at stake than a disingenuous neighbor stealing bandwidth to stream movies. Cyber criminals could gain control of an entire household, from the sabotaging of energy consumption to manipulating smart medical devices. And who is responsible for protecting our homes? What is our first line of defense for the new connected home? The answer reflects the complexity and the implications of the Internet of Things. Living the dream A broad range of companies will offer lights, door locks, thermostats and appliances that can communicate with each other to make people’s lives easier.  See also: 6 Steps Developers Need To Take To Harness The Internet Of Things Conceptually, the connected home enables a lifestyle of exceptional convenience and efficiency. People can set lights to come on a few minutes before they get home at night or for a few hours every evening to give the illusion of activity if they’re on vacation. They can preheat an oven from the grocery store, turn on the dishwasher while commuting to work, or program the coffee maker while they are lying in bed. The long-fabled Internet of Things (IoT) employs connected devices such as sensors to capture information in the surrounding environment, devices to act on that sensor data, and wireless technology to communicate the information to other devices and provide a useful user experience. From water leak sensors to smoke detectors, today’s devices can flag when they need attention, so consumers always know that their home is protected. The convenience is undeniable. Yet it also presents an irresistible landscape for hackers looking for the next mother lode. Security in the connected home must be addressed at multiple levels: by product manufacturers, service providers, technology providers, such as network protocol alliances, and even the end-consumer. In other words, the job of ensuring consumers can build and enjoy smart homes—without compromising the security of their families and possessions, or sacrificing ease-of-use—belongs to the entire connected ecosystem. Ultimately each communications layer should own a degree of responsibility. However, the assumptions in this approach open up major security gaps. For example, networking standards are built on very specific layers of the software stack and can only address security to that extent. Additionally, product manufacturers may assume that the networks people are connecting their devices to are secure, but we know that this is not always the case. And ideally, service and application-layer protocol providers should build additional security features on top of the connectivity protocol. Locking the electronic door Front and center in the provision of IoT security are product manufacturers, service providers and the industry consortia that provide the technologies common to both. These three entities must work together to provide consumers with state-of-the-art network- and application-level encryption and security, all without compromising ease of use. This is a tall order, but one that the industry is committed to tackling. If we look at security from the top down, it’s the work of IoT alliances and consortia to develop best practices and technology standards with security built-in from the beginning. This offers a structure in which member companies can apply their vast experience in connected products and networking protocols to deliver the utmost in asset protection and ease-of-use. Banking-class cryptography and security architecting can close security holes that exist in other wireless networking protocols. (This is the strategy employed by my organization, Thread Group.) The approaches may vary, but the good news is that across the board, industry alliances that support the connected home industry have also established frameworks and best practices to ensure security amongst smart home devices. Home, Safe Home To ensure compliance, consortia provide product manufacturers with a wide range of tools to test security before the certification process even begins. Then it’s the responsibility of each consortium to provide reliable and rigorous testing in objective third-party laboratories before granting their final stamps of approval. Much like building a house, the network layer provides the foundation that companies at the application layer can build on. Solid security at the network layer enables the application layer to incorporate their own security features on top of the existing architecture. The goal of many IoT industry groups and consortia is to align the ecosystem around a shared vision of a secure home. With a reliable set of best practices and testing, this connected ecosystem can operate full steam without exposing consumers and governments to theft and cyber terrorism. The industry also benefits from learning the lessons from our e-forefathers, who were tasked with securing the Web and then mobile devices. The peace of mind—and the confidence—people feel when their favorite home devices work harmoniously would be shattered by a security breach. Given this, the true promise of the connected home, and ultimately the connected lifestyle, lies in the secure connections among people and their favorite devices. Personally, I'm really excited about my home environment being exactly what I want. When I walk in the door, the lights in my house turn on, my eco-friendly home warms up to my preferred temperature, and my oven—which knew I was arriving minutes in advance—is pre-heated, just waiting for me to pop in dinner. When I enter my home theater, it’s already set for me to watch my favorite show. These are conveniences I want. But what I want most of all is to come home knowing that my devices and data are there, safe and secure. Conceptually, the connected home enables a lifestyle of exceptional convenience and efficiency. People can set lights to come on a few minutes before they get home at night or for a few hours every evening to give the illusion of activity if they’re on vacation. They can preheat an oven from the grocery store, turn on the dishwasher while commuting to work, or program the coffee maker while they are lying in bed. Lead photo by Pete Markham

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The No-Bullies Guide To Creating A Healthy Startup Culture Aug 21st 2015, 22:21 Guest author Tom Hogan is the cofounder and principal of Crowded Ocean, a Silicon Valley marketing agency for startups. He wrote this post with cofounder Carol Broadbent.  Reading Sunday's New York Times article on Amazon’s demanding and nerve-wracking culture, as well as Jeff Bezos’ impassioned objection to the article, I was reminded of the scene in Casablanca where the police chief is shocked—shocked—to discover that there’s gambling on the premises … right before he is handed his winnings.  I cut my teeth at Oracle, joining the company as its initial Creative Director, when the annual revenues were less than $100 million. I watched in admiration as we doubled in revenue year after year, despite analysts’ assurances that we were heading for a crash. Fueling this incredible growth was the "Oracle Culture"—a combination of exceptional talent and hubris-fueled expectations. See also: Amazon's Not Much Different From Other Tech Employers, Public Data Says It was not uncommon in those days for a staffer to screw up a presentation in the morning and get tossed out of the company the same day. Instead of objecting or threatening legal action, the cashiered employee would apologize for letting the company down. The whole thing felt like a high-tech frat house. Why this stroll down memory lane? Because having launched launched 38 startups, we’re often asked by our CEO clients how to build the right startup culture for these times. They want to know about Oracle (and Sun, where my partner Carol Broadbent worked at about the same time, with the same experiences), and how they can set their company up to achieve the same success. The Age Of The Bullies We caution our clients that—while Amazon, Oracle and Sun hold great lessons for startups—as models, they are dated and out of touch with today’s market and employees. The reason: Simply put, they are bullies. Bully cultures have a few things in common: A top-down management style, led by an aggressive founder Confrontation is not only tolerated, but often even rewarded A philosophy of "hire the uninitiated," then indoctrinate them into "the one best way" to get things done A review process based on the "rank and yank" philosophy, where a certain percentage of the company is pruned every year, regardless of the company’s actual earnings or success A fierce "bury the competition" ethic Just as schools and online communities are identifying and shaming bullies, it’s time for corporate cultures to do the same. To be clear, some startup CEOs can still succeed by bullying. A number of our young CEOs see themselves as the next Steve Jobs, complete with the shouting at employees and “cashiering” (read: firing) them at a moment’s notice. And, like Amazon, they will attract a certain type of worker and succeed off their backs. But our counsel to our clients is two-fold: First, they are not Steve Jobs or Larry Ellison. Second, even if they were, employees won’t put up with that crap. Bully cultures are passé. The market—and the modern employee—has changed. Employees have more options on where to work and often have multiple offers. Thanks to social media and sites like Glassdoor and Quora, they’re also better informed. (For an idea of what an Oracle recruiter has to combat, take a look at this “What’s So Bad About Oracle” Quora thread.) With the notion of job security and longevity long gone, what employees care about now is, well, "the now”: They want an invigorating and rewarding job right from the start, and they’ll take care of their own career path—which will likely involve a number of companies. In other words, it’s a "buyer’s market" these days, and companies old and new need to adapt. How To Create A "Post-Bully” Startup Since companies can’t (and shouldn’t) rely on the old intimidation models of management, many must create their own culture from scratch. For our startup clients, we recommend the following: Be diverse from day one. That’s diversity in experience, gender, cultures and ways of thinking. Because studies show that diversity builds better teams and teams, not individual accomplishment, are at the core of startup success. Hold your tongue. Bullies can get quick results, but not long-term success. Larry Ellison is the exception, not the rule: even Steve Jobs was fired by his own company. Think global, not just with your hiring, but with your benefits. No one is expecting your company to move to a 32-hour work week, as is common in some parts of the world. But look to other cultures for broad work/life value. With the 24-hour workday a virtual reality, recognize and reward this new work ethic with European-style benefits—including extended vacations. Forget "open door” policy. (The new CEO rarely has an office anyway.) Adopt an "open-book" management style instead. Startup employees are invested in your company; they’ve voted with their wallets (via pay cuts and their kids’ 529 accounts). They deserve to know—on a regular basis—how the company is doing: Is the sales department making its numbers? Is the product development or production on schedule? And how can they help? Don’t let your culture get away from you. Think of your culture like an organic creature that grows from the actions of your employees and your company’s interactions in the market—not from some framed and posted corporate mission statement. To ensure its health, articulate your values and goals, and then ask a trusted long-term employee to become your unofficial "Chief Culture Officer.” This person will act as someone the others can confide in, especially when things are starting to slip. Mentor, don’t needlessly prune. In business, bullies often purge (or “prune") the lowest 10% of their workforce, even when the company is hitting on all cylinders. The days of pruning being considered a viable strategy are gone. So is the idea of waiting a year to correct hiring mistakes or poor performance with an annual review. The tools and information are there, not just to review, but to coach and mentor. Startups are like any other organism: They need to evolve or die. In an industry that is known for recreating itself every few years—via hardware, software, infrastructure, Internet, social media—it’s fascinating that its cultural and organizational practices have remained so stagnant.  But all that is changing, driven by a new kind of employee and new business models. Savvy startups will take note and adapt. Those that don’t will become yesterday’s news.

Lead photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Media files: MTMyNDc1NzI1NzcxOTc1Mjk5.jpg (image/jpeg) 5 Killer Types Of Wearable Apps For Companies Aug 21st 2015, 14:00 Guest author Quinton Wall is the director of developer relations at Salesforce. While wearables may still be in their ramp-up stage, there’s little doubt they are here to stay. Gartner expects the wearables market will hit $10 billion by next year, while IDC anticipates 120 million devices will be shipped by 2018. We know that fitness trackers are a market success and are a considerable part of those numbers, and we have a pretty good idea that consumers will continue to use them for grabbing notifications and tracking their activities on the go. What many remain unconvinced about is how wearables will impact the enterprise. They won’t be unconvinced for long. Wearables are set to have a major impact for companies and other organizations. To be clear, we aren’t talking about wearables as single-purpose devices (such as fitness trackers). We’re looking at wearables as general purpose computers. For businesses, they will provide an unprecedented way to help them improve productivity and safety, and introduce the app economy to industries where apps have been lagging. Think areas like construction or manufacturing. Beyond vertical industry value, these devices will also offer killer applications across all industries. At Salesforce, we are seeing customers building wearable apps for work. The following are the five killer categories of applications among the most common use cases. 5 Killer Types Of Wearables Enterprise Apps Security We’re all familiar with security and building badges. Anyone who visited the large enterprises and government agencies knows that some people have to wear two or three to get around large campuses.  Wearables can be used to provide watch-based security identifiers and replace those traditional photo IDs and badges. In addition to just providing NFC (Near Field Communication) authentication, because of the screen and computer, wearables make it possible to add informational messages to the user.  If there is there a new mandatory meeting employees can be told where and when. If a user is denied access, the security alert can detail why. Field Service Manufacturing and construction are billion dollar industries, yet they only spend approximately 2% of their IT budget on mobile. More over, 80% of workers do not have access to technology that allows them to work more efficiently.  Wearable technology—such as Google Glass for hands-free operation, the Fujitsu wearable glove, and even connected clothing that can detect hazardous chemicals—unlocks the potential for re-imagining field service in much the same way industries like transportation have been influenced by mobile apps.  Booking-office resources Consider the day to day hassle of booking a meeting. What seems to be a simple and easy task—grabbing a conference room—never is simple or easy.  With wearables, anyone can find and book a room with a swift scan of room availability from the wearable. The user can then quickly use the wearable interface to set duration and any necessary equipment. Wearables can also use map features as a way to guide meeting participants to the correct room using augmented reality, or receive by turn directions. Collaboration Wearables will also improve how we collaborate. Workers often rely on the advice of colleagues, supervisors, and even public Internet resources, such as YouTube, to provide additional assistance.  Augmented reality in many industries can be used to facilitate collaboration between coworkers—in ways not all that different from how office workers have been using screen-sharing applications. Collaboration will be available everywhere—from the worker at her desk, to the oil rig technical suspended high in the air. They will be able to work together in real-time, hands-free, and immersive ways.  Improvement for task and recording accuracy Wearables will have a serious role in streamlining back-office functions. A wearable can help track time spent on projects, manage travel expenses, and even help employees take advantage of their benefits with local discounts, annual eyeglasses and vision rebates, credit unions, and more.  Unfortunately, right now, most of these benefits go unused: Employees are either not aware, forget, or do not have access to the information at a time when they can act on it. By creating a wearable app that proactively notifies employees of benefits when they’re near vendors, employees can more easily take advantage of perks. These are just five examples of how wearable devices can influence the enterprise. The use cases will only grow as the devices become more intelligent, interactive, and less obtrusive. Smart enterprises are at work embracing how wearables can better help them run their businesses.  Lead photo by Intel Free Press

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Joomla 3.x. Troubleshooter. What to do if installation freezes after the first step Aug 24th 2015, 09:27 This tutorial shows what to do if installation freezes after first step in Joomla 3.x. Magento. How to edit order confirmation page Aug 24th 2015, 09:16 This tutorial shows how to edit order confirmation page in Magento. PrestaShop 1.6.x. How to set number of related products on the product page Aug 24th 2015, 09:03 This tutorial will guide you through setting the number of related products on the Prestashop product page. WordPress Cherry 3.x. How to install a theme to GoDaddy server manually Aug 24th 2015, 08:39 This tutorial will show you how to upload the WordPress theme to GoDaddy server though the hosting control panel. GridLayout – Lightweight Grid System for Web Applications Aug 24th 2015, 07:03 GridLayout is a lightweight grid system for advanced horizontal and vertical web app layouts, with support for older browsers. If you need to create complex app layouts, similar to native ones, with support for older browsers. GridLayout is a ~1 KB (minified and gzipped) CSS file and a ~0.5 KB JavaScript file used only for Internet Explorer support. If you just support modern browsers, you’re probably better off using Flexbox. GridLayout is licensed under the MIT license. Requirements: – Demo: https://ghinda.net/gridlayout/ License: MIT License The post GridLayout – Lightweight Grid System for Web Applications appeared first on WebAppers.

WordPress. How to edit Google map on home page (based on template #53995) Aug 21st 2015, 12:39 This video tutorial shows how to change the Google Map location on Home page of Real Estate Wordpress template.

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Rucksack – A Little Bag of CSS Superpowers Aug 25th 2015, 07:03 Rucksack is a little bag of CSS superpowers. It makes CSS development fun again, with features the language should have come with out of the box. It’s built on PostCSS, it’s modular, it doesn’t add any bloat, and it’s lightening fast. Integrating Rucksack into your workflow is easy. There are plugins for most build tools, and an npm module to integrate it manually or process your CSS directly on the command line. Since it’s built on the PostCSS ecosystem it plays nice with all other CSS pre and post processors, and can even integrate into Stylus directly. Requirements: CSS Demo: http://simplaio.github.io/rucksack/ License: MIT License The post Rucksack – A Little Bag of CSS Superpowers appeared first on WebAppers.

6 Reasons That Apache Spark Isn't Flickering Out Aug 24th 2015, 22:31 Guest author Peter Schlampp is the vice president of products at Platfora, a "Big Data" analytics platform provider. Apache Spark is quickly becoming a core technology for big data analytics in a surprisingly short period of time. This may lead cautious types to wonder if it will fade out just as quickly, which happens all-too-often in technology. On the contrary, I believe Spark is just getting started.  See also: The Big-Data Tool Spark May Be Hotter Than Hadoop, But It Still Has Issues Over the past couple of years, as Hadoop exploded and "big data" became dominant, several things have become clear: First, the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) is the right storage platform for all that data. Second, YARN (for resource allocation and management) is the framework of choice for those big data environments.  Third, and perhaps most importantly, there is no single processing framework that will solve every problem. Although MapReduce is an amazing technology, it doesn’t address every situation. Spark, however, addresses many of the key issues in big data environments, which has helped fuel its phenomenal rise. It’s one reason my company, Platfora, has bet big on it. Our "Big Data Discovery" platform uses Apache Spark as an underlying technology to process and analyze big data, despite its young age. Here’s why. We May Be Nearing The Age Of Spark Organizations that rely on Hadoop need a variety of analytical infrastructures and processes to find the answers to their critical questions. They need data preparation, descriptive analysis, search, and more advanced capabilities like machine learning and even graph processing. See also: Big Data Depends On Big Community, Not Big Money Companies need a toolset that meets them where they are, allowing them to leverage the skill sets and other resources they already have. Until now, a single processing framework that fits all those criteria has not been available. This, however, is the fundamental advantage of Spark, whose benefits cut across six critical areas for companies that deal in the business of big data. Advanced Analytics Many large and innovative companies are looking to expand their advanced analytics capability. And yet, at a recent big data analytics event in New York, only 20% of the participants reported that they're currently deploying advanced analytics across their organizations. The other 80% said that their hands are full just preparing data and providing basic analytics. The few data scientists they have spend most of their time implementing and managing descriptive analytics.  See also: The Future Of Big Data Looks Like Streaming Spark offers a framework for advanced analytics out of the box. It includes a tool for accelerated queries, a machine learning library, a graph processing engine, and a streaming analytics engine. Instead of trying to implement these analytics via MapReduce—which can be nearly impossible, even with hard-to-find data scientists—Spark provides pre-built libraries, which are easier and faster to use. This frees the data scientists to take on tasks beyond just data preparation and quality control. With Spark, they can even ensure correct interpretation of the analysis results. Simplification One of the earliest criticisms of Hadoop wasn’t just that it was hard to use, but that it was even harder to find people who could do it. Although it has gotten simpler and more powerful with every subsequent iteration, this complaint has persisted to this day. Instead of requiring users to understand a variety of complexities, such as Java and MapReduce programming patterns, Spark was built to be accessible to anyone with knowledge of databases and some scripting skills (in Python or Scala). For businesses, it is much easier to find people who can understand your data as well as the tools to process it. For vendors, we can develop on top of Spark and bring new innovation to businesses faster. Multiple Languages SQL doesn’t address all the challenges of big data analytics, at least not on its own. We need more flexibility in getting at the answers, more options for organizing and retrieving data and moving it quickly into an analytics framework. Spark leaves the SQL-only mindset behind, opening the data up to the quickest and most elegant way of moving into analysis, whatever it might be. Faster Results As the pace of business continues to accelerate, so does the need for real-time results. Spark provides parallel in-memory processing that returns results many times faster than any other approach requiring disk access. Instant results eliminate delays that can significantly slow business processes and incremental analytics. As vendors begin to build applications on Spark, dramatic improvements to the analyst workflow will follow. Accelerating the turnaround time for answers means that analysts can work iteratively, honing in on more precise, and more complete, answers. Spark lets analysts do what they are supposed to do—find better answers faster. No Discrimination Or Preference For Hadoop Vendors All of the major Hadoop distributions now support Spark, and with good reason: It's vendor-neutral, which means it doesn’t tie the user to any specific provider. Due to Spark’s open-source nature, businesses are free to create a Spark-based analytics infrastructure without worrying about what happens if they change Hadoop vendors later. If they make a switch, they can bring their analytics with them. High-Growth Adoption Apache Spark achieved momentum in a very short time. Late in 2014, it tied at first place for a world record in sorting at the Daytona Gray Sort 100TB Benchmark. Whenever a service, product or technology quickly grabs attention, there’s usually a rush to tear it down—whether to deflate the hype, reveal the bugs or otherwise debunk its promise. But according to a recent survey by Typesafe, awareness of Spark is only growing. Covering a sample of more than 2,100 developers, the report showed that 71 percent of respondents have had some experience with the framework. Today, it has reached more than 500 organizations of all sizes, which are committing thousands of developers and extensive resources to the project. Spark hasn’t yet solidified its position as one of the fundamental technologies for big data analytics environments, but it’s well on its way. In other words, this is just the beginning.  Lead photo by Chris Young

Media files: MTMyNTQ1NTUyNTQ0OTk0NTc4.jpg (image/jpeg) Cortana Arrives On Android To Spearhead Microsoft's Mobile Assault Aug 24th 2015, 19:04 After the official announcement in May and a short period of closed beta testing, Microsoft's Cortana digital assistant app has arrived on Android as a public beta—you need to jump through a couple of (easy) hoops to download it, and bugs should be expected. But essentially anyone is welcome to give it a try. This is more than an experimental side project from Microsoft, it's a growing movement to get all of its apps everywhere it can: Skype and Office are two high-profile Microsoft properties that have been ported to the Web and non-Microsoft mobile platforms in recent months.  See also: It's Official: Microsoft's Cortana Is Coming To iOS And Android  That's a far cry from the walled-in "Windows-first" vision of the Steve Ballmer era. The company's flagship apps were then considered crown jewels that would keep users coming back to the platform, despite the growing competition. It's debatable whether that worked on the desktop, but it certainly had no effect on mobile—something incoming CEO Satya Nadella has obviously recognized.  SUBHED Cortana may be the most important cross-platform app of Microsoft's lineup. Google Now and Siri are becoming increasingly vital cogs in Android and iOS respectively, and although the major mobile operating systems borrow features from each other, virtual assistants have become one of the few ways of distinguishing between them.  Voice technology has also become a cornerstone in an array of other rising niches—including smart homes, smart TVs, wearables and connected cars, all of which work with mobile devices in some way. If our phones have become our hubs, then voice features let us access them and other devices more easily, humanizing the chore of managing the personal technology in our lives.  See also: Windows 10 Mobile Will Bring One-Handed Mode And Cortana Tweaks It's no surprise that Microsoft zeroed in on Google. Android is, after all, the easier target, thanks to the extra integration hooks it offers third-party apps. Cortana is able to replace Google Now on the Home button shortcut, for example, and may have its sights set higher than that: Microsoft is also working on an Android launcher called Arrow to make users forget they're running Android at all.  To state the obvious, iOS is much more restrictive. Google Now exists as part of the Google app on Apple devices, but it's less comprehensive and capable than it is on Android, because it can't dig as deeply into the iPhone's operating system. Apple's garden walls remain high: It's not letting Siri out, but it's not giving anyone else much of a look in either. "Hey, Cortana!" Cortana on Android (Source: Microsoft) People without any experience of Windows Phone or Windows 10 may not understand exactly what Cortana does, but the app doesn't differ greatly from Google Now or Siri. Its aim is to know as much about you as possible, surfacing calendar events, reminders, news stories and weather forecasts as you need them. As well as being a virtual personal assistant, Cortana also provides access to voice-controlled, neatly wrapped Web searches: Find out the President's birth date or the nearest Italian restaurant through a friendly little chat with Cortana. This will all be familiar to Siri and Google Now users too. Cortana's expansion brings up the overarching issue of ecosystems—like Siri and Google Now, it works best with access to your emails, your calendar, and your daily movements. It's another reason why iOS and Android users are better off having Outlook, Skype, Sunrise and the like running directly on their devices, rather than seeing them wave from the distant shoreline of a Windows 10 device.  But the matter of tech giants extending their software to other ecosystems can be a tricky affair. Apple, Google and Microsoft all offer some leeway to rival virtual assistants to varying degrees, but how long that will continue or how deep the allowable integrations can go will likely remain complicated. For instance, access to a platform's core feature—say, by uttering "play music!" at your phone—will probably remain exclusive to the company's proprietary voice tech, namely Siri on iOS, Google Now on Android, and Microsoft's Cortana on Windows 10 devices.  On Windows and Windows Phone, Cortana can control settings (like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi), but Android users won't be able to do the same, nor can they launch any apps they please, or use the "Hey Cortana!" voice shortcut.  Still, for Microsoft, its Cortana outreach is akin to casting a wide net into an ocean of mobile users. The more places Cortana can be found, the better its chances of success—which puts the spotlight somewhat on iOS as the next destination.  The Cortana public beta program is open now to Android users in the U.S. Microsoft says it's planning to roll it out to other markets, but there's no timeline for that yet.  To try it out, start by clicking here to sign up as a beta tester, and download the app from Google Play here. At some point, you'll get an app update with the beta version.  Images courtesy of Microsoft

Media files: MTMwNDUyMDExMjcwMzE0NDYy.jpg (image/jpeg) The Road Ahead For Connected Cars Aug 24th 2015, 14:00 Guest author Vitaly Ponomarev is the founder and CEO of connected-car developer WayRay. Henry Ford would be astounded at what’s happened to the automotive industry he pioneered. No longer only a means of transportation, cars have entered an age where they’re thought of and purchased like a tech device. This shift comes with other major changes—from the way vehicles are made to the way they’re driven.  See also: The Developer Opportunity For Connected Cars In The Here Maps Acquisition  Since the Internet of Things (IoT) has been let loose, automakers are rapidly making models and making deals, so they can have the hottest car tech in the market. Whether it’s competing with the Tesla or acquiring in-vehicle mapping navigation, cars are rapidly resembling smartphones on wheels. From within a moving vehicle, we listen to music, make phone calls, access real-time traffic information, among other activities. That’s not necessarily new, but advances in computer technology and networking capabilities are working at a dizzying pace to transform the automobile industry.  These developments will make for overall improvements to the experience of driving—with more convenient cars and decreases in fatalities from auto accidents. Car Tech Accelerates Delphi autonomous car, Audi's simulated drive According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, improved vehicle designs and safety technology have much to do with the continuing decline in fatality risk. The study reports that, in 2012 alone, there were 7,700 fewer driver deaths than there would have been, had vehicles remained the same since 1985. Over the past three years, even bigger, broader and more sweeping changes have hit the automotive industry. But that's nothing compared to the rapid growth still ahead for the connected-car market.  A report from wireless industry organization GSMA predicts that cars loaded with connected technology will create a massive market for related products. This new ecosystem of devices, accessories and other items is expected to reach $53 billion by 2018.  We’ve already begun to see the emergence of cars that were mere ideas a few years ago—whether electric, smart or self-driving.  One shift that may come before long: Your next car might not be from Detroit or Japan, but rather a local startup with an industrial 3D printer. This year, a small Phoenix-based company called Local Motors actually 3D-printed a car live at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The seats and the steering wheel were separately acquired and installed, but in time, those parts will be 3D printed as well. Storedot, an eco-minded company based in Tel Aviv, has created an electric car that can charge a car in just five minutes to travel for more than 200 miles. It has already gotten a lot of attention for its fast-charging smartphone battery currently under development. For those daunted by the prospect of a full day or night of charging, this could be a game-changer.  Who's In The Driver's Seat?  Cars are also much smarter and intuitive these days. For the last few years, we’ve put a range of electronic conveniences in the car, and made them accessible at the push of a button.  Like your phone or tablet, hardware buttons are rapidly being replaced with touch screens. Carmakers are also working on driver interactions using voice control, hand gestures and eye movements. Toyota’s recent partnership with Telenav for in-car mapping systems and German automakers’ recent purchase of Nokia’s Here for $3 billion illustrate the demand—and the willingness to fund—the next phase of automobile technology.  Eventually, that will extend to project similar to Google’s self-driving car and Audi’s “Jack” autonomous vehicle (which uses GPS and an onboard computer to automatically change lanes). But we’re not there yet. It will be quite a while before the road is entirely paved them.  So for now, humans are still driving, and new types of navigation technology are emerging to serve them.  Connecting To The Future The IoT movement on the road will also usher in more V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle) connectivity, which is one of the biggest tech breakthroughs in recent times. Automobiles, using designated wireless networks for short-range communications, will allow cars to broadcast their position, speed and other data to nearby vehicles. Connected cars will be more aware of road hazards in real time, better able to avoid collisions, minimize traffic congestion and offer better fuel efficiency. AT&T and Audi are collaborating on a 2016 model equipped with Audi Connect, the carmaker's version of integrated navigation, Internet database and internal Wi-Fi system. The vehicle will connect through the cellular carrier's 3G or 4G LTE network. The way drivers access information will change as well. Say goodbye to traditional dashboard instrument clusters, and get ready for AR (Augmented Reality) navigation. Some companies are pursuing projects like dashboard apps or heads-up displays. With connected cars, the focus will be on the driver. In-car systems will collect valuable insights and provide personalized information based on driving habits and vehicle performance—with important data like mileage, fuel economy and favorite routes conveyed in new ways.  One of the most exciting will use holographic technology. My own company has been pursuing holographic projections in our development of a system called Navion, which puts critical information right on the windshield. The future is hard to predict, but, based on present trends, it’s inevitable that cars are going to radically change over the next decade. We’ll sacrifice some of the thrill of the road, but what we will gain in safety, comfort and efficiency will forever alter how we define the driving experience.  Update: An earlier version of this article stated that Toyota had acquired Telenav. It had not; Telenav is supplying Toyota with in-car navigation services. The story has been corrected. Lead photo courtesy of WayRay; Audi simulated self-driving car photo by Miriam Joire for ReadWrite; infotainment system photo by Kārlis Dambrāns

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Open Source Lightning Design System by Salesforce Aug 26th 2015, 07:03 Lightning Design System helps you create the world’s best enterprise app experiences. With the Design System you can build custom applications with a look and feel that is consistent with Salesforce core features — without reverse engineering our styles! Simply download our platform-agnostic CSS framework and get started today. You can utilize the detailed guidelines to confidently design excellent apps that fit right into the Salesforce ecosystem. With the Design System, you get access to all of the Salesforce core visual and interaction design patterns so that you can follow established best practices and build apps that have a consistent look and feel with the Salesforce user experience. Requirements: – Demo: http://www.lightningdesignsystem.com/ License: Creative Commons License The post Open Source Lightning Design System by Salesforce appeared first on WebAppers.

Slack's New Button Wants To Connect All Your Work Shares Aug 25th 2015, 22:02 You're probably familiar with pinning something to Pinterest, sharing it via Twitter or posting it to Facebook. Now there's another option: Add to Slack. The new button introduced by the Slack team can be embedded into almost any site, service or app, giving users an easy way to get third-party content into a Slack channel of their choice. This works slightly differently from all the integrations Slack has set up with the likes of Dropbox, Google Hangouts, IFTTT, Trello and so on.  See also: Inside Slack: How A Billion-Dollar Email-Killer Gets Work Done "Once configured, any Web apps or services that send you notifications or emails can start automatically reporting those to Slack," explains the official blog post. Apps and services can also directly share things into Slack, without prompting users to leave their app.  Slack offers up some examples too: You can pipe in news alerts from Nuzzel, designs from InVision and files from Box, all without leaving the app in question. Slack says a dozen or so apps already have the necessary integrations built in, with support for many more coming soon.  According to Slack, "If you run a service or app that periodically sends notifications, or you'd like users to share their work directly into Slack without leaving your app, chances are you could easily make use of this feature." The company invites interested developers to check out the Slack Button documentation.  See also: Let's Talk: Quip, Zendesk, and Evernote All Want A Piece Of Your Work Chat Replacing the need for webhook URLs and copying and pasting of API tokens, the update offers something much more streamlined. Slack is also increasing the number of integrations available free to teams, from 5 to 10, to encourage use of the new feature. 99designs has a useful run-down of how it set up the "Add to Slack" feature during the private beta phase. Once connected, task updates appear in the chosen channel automatically.  In the future, it's not hard to imagine it acting as a catalyst for a paid Slack app store. For now, however, it's a useful tool that offers simple Slack integration for developers, with less legwork. Image courtesy of Slack

Media files: MTMyNTY1MDg2MDU2MjI5NTA3.jpg (image/jpeg) Apple Music Is A Pandora's Box: Open At Your Own Risk Aug 25th 2015, 18:49 I probably should wait a few days before writing this. I'd be calmer. Maybe I'd even have my music back. You see, I fell into the "three-month trial period" trap. I switched on Apple Music to try out the new subscription service, which allowed me to explore old favorites I didn't know I'd been missing—Howard Jones made a guest appearance on my iPhone for the first time in decades—and discover new bands. (Johnny Marr solo? More, please!)  See also: Music Streaming: What Your Options Look Like Now While the interface for Apple Music is terrible, I endured because of the promise of unfettered music exploration. That is, until my wife said she wanted out of the awful user-interface experience. So I disabled my subscription.  That's when the trouble really started. I wound up being an unwilling participant in a perfect case study on how not to treat exiting users.  All I Wanted Was A Pepsi (And My Music) My family shares an iTunes account. While my wife, kids, and I all log in with our own Apple IDs, the purchases are routed through a central account. If I were single, Apple's sync problems might have disappeared. But in my setup, it is a constant headache to keep my music mine, and my kids' and wife's music theirs.  Or at least it was. After years of battling, I finally had my music syncing flawlessly. My workaround: I stopped syncing my laptop and iPhone, turned on iTunes Match, and just started downloading everything to my phone. It worked. Then I enabled Apple Music.  It was like opening Pandora's Box. Suddenly the straightforward interface for Apple's music app became a nightmare to navigate. So much screen real estate is taken up with promoting the songs you're not listening to or don't own that it's hard to get to the music currently playing (which is important for things like skipping).  See also: Here’s What’s New In iOS 9 Apple kept trying to default me to the "For you" tab to get me to tell it what music I like, but the few times I tried this, I ran out of patience. I couldn't figure out why Apple didn't simply look at my music library which it has been storing for over a decade.  Not that it was all bad. I did, after all, discover the Go-Betweens, The Charlatans, and a few others, including Johnny Marr's solo work. I also found myself pulling down Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, and Depeche Mode songs I hadn't listened to in eons, which was awesome. The agony—and "the awesome"—ended when we decided to shut off our music-streaming subscription.  Raging Against The Apple Music Machine Apple Music does not go gently into that good night. The service lobotomized my music library as it exited.  Suddenly, much of "My Music" vanished, replaced by my family's music. No more Iron Maiden. Goodbye AC/DC! Instead, I had this. (See below.)   Apple Music Now, I have nothing against John Denver, and I remember that one song that made Jesus Jones briefly popular. But these are not my songs. This is not My Music. Worse, paring down these infidels is difficult to impossible. For some artists when I click on the ellipses, I have the helpful option to "Remove from My Music." Well, helpful except that I have to do this same thing for the hundreds of artists I never intended to find their way to my iPhone. Some don't even give me that option. Instead, I'm only allowed to delete them, which removes them completely from iCloud. That would be 100% fine with me, but I don't really want to challenge my family on whether they really need to listen to Jimmy Durrant. So I'm left with hundreds of songs I don't want on my phone, and have no idea how to remove them without completely pillaging the music libraries of my family members. It's All My Fault (Or Is It?) I'm not alone in this problem. Others—including people that aren't sharing with family members—have struggled to make sense of Apple Music. Which is too bad, as I really wanted this to work. I don't care about the cost. I just can't get it to work consistently for me as an individual or for my family.  Every device we use is made by Apple: a selection of MacBooks, a few iPads, several iPhones, and even two Apple TVs. We're "all in" on Apple. But not on Apple Music.  I'm sure somehow I'm to blame for not understanding the pristine simplicity of Apple Music's vision. But whether I am or not, I can't make it work, and can't seem to get My Music back to the well-tended state it was in just a month ago.  Debuting a new service can be tricky, and music streaming is a complicated affair for numerous reasons—not least of which is striking deals with the labels and ensuring that servers or other back-end systems can deliver on the multitude of simultaneous demands. These matters may not have been as difficult for Apple as it would have been for, say, a startup. But even for the iPhone maker, it's still not easy. And once the heavy lifting is done, it's inexcusable for the company—with all of its resources—to fall this far down on the user experience.  Even the powerful pull of Apple loyalty, for all its might, can't overcome fundamental messes like a terrible interface and inexplicable sync issues. Let this be a lesson for other tech makers: Think through the experience you want your users to have, and make sure to craft it carefully from start to finish.  In other words, give them an exit that's just as elegant and simple as the way into your service. That may seem counterintuitive, especially when so many service providers take pride in trapping people in their ecosystems. But consider this: I'm already deeply steeped in Apple's universe, and yet, even if it fixes some or all of Apple Music's issues, I will still think twice before giving it another go.  No product or service pleases everybody, and how you handle unhappy users is important. Stranding them in a frustrating morass is no way to earn good will—which is crucial, if you want them to give your product or service another chance.  Lead photo by Phillipe Put; screenshot of Apple event captured by ReadWrite

Media files: MTMwMTMwNzk3NjQ1NTY4NDc4.jpg (image/jpeg) How to Build an Effective eCommerce Experience with the top WP Themes Aug 25th 2015, 15:06 Humans are attracted to beautiful places; and once there, they are often reluctant to leave. If youreCommerce store is a thing of beauty, the customers will come, and they will stay a while. You can make that happen by usingthe right tools to create your store, by taking note of a few useful tips, and by avoiding a few common but costly mistakes. A Good Shopping Experience is Essential Following these valuable tips can lead to creating a beautiful eCommerce experience: Related Products – People visit websites for information, and shoppers are no different. A shopper may be looking for a very specific product, but that same shopper is apt to be interested in related products, such as other makes or model, accessories, or useful companion items. Your customers will usually appreciate being given an extra option, or a suggestion or two. It shows you are thinking about them. Photos – It’s true that not all products are particularly photogenic, but you still want to portray them in their best light. Insist on high-quality images, show a product from different angles or perspectives, or use hover or zoom features. An image of a bicycle is one thing: an image showing a person having fun riding a bike is something else entirely. Search – Make sure your store has a site search capability. A search canserve as a tremendous asset for your customers. The presence of a search box also adds a professional touch to your online store. It offers an excellent example of genuine customer support. The more products you feature, the greater the need for a search capability. Navigation – Whenever a customer of yours gets lost, and there is no one nearby to help, he or she will usually leave. To avoid disgruntled customers and lost sales, make an extra effort to ensure that a clear and logical navigation function is one of the characteristics of your site. Select a Top-Notch WP Themeto Build Your Site – Incorporating these tips obviously takes some effort, but disregarding any one of them could mean the difference between your online store’s success and its failure. If you have the right tools to work with, such as those found in most premium eCommerce WordPress themes, much of the hard work will be done for you. Here are several of the best WP themes for building an online store: Atelier Atelier is a premier eCommerce WordPress theme in every sense of the word. It is a relatively new addition to the marketplace, but its popularity has soared ever since its inception. It has everything you are likely to need to create a stunning custom shop. This theme is extremely flexible, it is user friendly, and its support team is there for you 24/7. Theme Power Elite Authors have produced a product that you will find ideal for creating a slick and satisfying shopping experience, including the tailored mobile experience a majority of your clients and customers will be looking for. The high-quality pre-made layouts are elegant in appearance and they provide excellent examples of what you would want in your online store that willdraw in and retain customers. This eCommerce theme, which has rapidly become one of the most popular WordPress themes in this category,features multiple cart styles, product page types, and product display types, plus a multiplicity of icons, fonts, and other essential design elements. Shopkeeper Feedback from thousands of ThemeForest customers has been incorporated into Shopkeeper’s design, giving this premium eCommerce theme a definite real-world look. All of the features and capabilities you would need to create a first-class online store are there, together with features designed to help you manage your store once it goes online. WooCommerce is the driving force behind this WordPress theme, so you can build a site that allows you to sell virtually anything online, manage your store inventory, and collect payments. Everything you need to keep your business running smoothly is there. Visual Composer, Revolution Slider, WPML readiness, Google Webfonts, and unlimited header styles are just a few of the highlights. Shopkeeper also offers a nice choice of pre-built layouts, an impressive array of portfolio styles and functions, and much, much more. Enfold WordPress Theme One of the bestways to familiarize yourself with Enfold is to visit the website and view the Default Demo. It will take you ona whirlwind trip that shows what this eCommerce theme has to offer. Enfold is ThemeForest’s best rated top seller, and its ease of use is one reason why. Its drag and drop layout editor is one of the easiest to use of any WordPress theme. This theme is suitable for any skill level.There is no rocket science involved.If you are a novice, you can start with the predefined content and build an eCommerce website that is fully capable of attracting shoppers in a minimal amount of time. If you are a more advanced designer, this theme has something for you as well. It is a time saver. Ask the 56,000 happy users about this theme’s performance, and you will get 56,000 thumbs up. FlyShop You will like FlyShop. This is a modern, extremely user friendly, highly customizable WordPress theme that was designed with your WooCommerce fashion store in mind. It is compatible with WooCommerce and Bootstrap, it is SEO, Widget, Retina, and Responsive ready, and its layouts provide an excellent set of customizable baselines for your store pages. FlyShop is a relatively new theme, but it has all the features and support you need. Kallyas Theme V 4.0 While most premium WordPress themes feature a multiplicity of features, the most notable characteristic of Kallyas is its completeness. This eCommerce theme is advertised as being the most complete and iconic theme ever made for WordPress, and as you go down its list of features, you will begin to see why that is true.The collection of sliders is larger and more diverse than you are likely to find in any other WordPress theme. There is a nice collection of home page styles, and an excellent selection of custom, online shopping-related pages.Complete and flexible – that’s Kallyas in a nutshell. Website Features You Should Not Overlook Your product displays are well designed, and your website is easy to navigate, butbefore you open for business, there are a few things that should never be neglected. Easy Checkout When a customer has to work through a cumbersome online checkout process, it canquickly turn apleasant shopping experience into a sour one. Make the checkout process as streamlined and user friendly as you can.One abandoned cart is one too many. Fast Load Time If your website pages are slowto load, don’t be surprised ifat least a thirdof your shoppers leave a partially-filled shopping cart behind. Your search engine rankings can suffer as well. Test load times with Page Speedbefore going online. Mobile Optimized Roughly 50% of all online shoppers do their shopping from a mobile device, and that percentage is increasing. If your website is not mobile optimized, you risk losing a significant portion of your potential customer base, and is why you should select and use a multipurpose, responsive theme. FAQ Pages Other websites’ FAQ pages can give useful ideas for creating your own FAQ page. Shoppers appreciate this type of customer support, plus you will avoid having to respond to the same questions over and over. Customer Reviews Shoppers often want to know what other shoppers think of an item before deciding to buy. If a shopper has to go off-site to find a review, he or she may not return, especially if the site providing customer reviews offers the same product. Giving your customers the opportunity to leave their comments, and inviting them to do so, adds a personal touch to your site. All of the tips offered here are important, but incorporating them into your design efforts canobviously take some work. Any of the eCommerce themes recommended here will do nearly all of the hard work and attention to detail for you. If you select one of these WordPress themes, we would welcome your sharing your experiences with us. The post How to Build an Effective eCommerce Experience with the top WP Themes appeared first on WebAppers.

For Medical Tech Startups, FDA Approval Is Crucial Aug 25th 2015, 14:00 Guest author Vizma Carver is the founder of ClearRoadmap and an industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience dealing with healthcare, life science, and environmental issues. Hardware and software innovation has touched innumerable areas of modern life, but none perhaps as personal as medical technology. For the companies and rising startups hoping to redefine how we care for ourselves, innovation is about more than creativity or convenience—it can be a matter of life and death. The pursuit of medical technology is not an easy road. Even if you manage to create a cutting-edge wearable or medical app that could change the industry, not everyone can benefit right away. Medical tech companies in the United States face a fierce domestic regulatory environment. As we transition from devices that provide fitness and health data to medical-grade products, startups are struggling with a tough question: Wing it without approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or tough it out and gain its stamp of approval? Both choices are rife with challenges, which is one reason the European market has become rather attractive for medical tech startups. But the task of seeking FDA approval, while difficult, is crucial to making in-roads in the U.S. market. Contending With Regulatory and Legal Issues Patients and providers in the U.S. are among the last in the world to have the latest medical technology, despite the U.S. having the most innovative medical device companies. It’s a sad irony that many US companies seek to bring their products overseas first. Part of the issue stems from the regulatory difficulties of bringing wellness and medical products to market: Local rules and regulations vary, and gaining FDA approval can seem impossible. A 2012 study by Boston Consulting Group found that most innovative (and potentially risky) medical technologies sanctioned by the Premarket Approval (PMA) process have been approved and made available to patients in Europe three or more years before they get approval in the U.S. Defining Your Product Successfully categorizing your product with the FDA can also be a challenge. Does your product fit in the classification of wellness platform, or do you seek to treat a certain illness or give out patient-specific advice? Navigating the legal definitions can be delicate. The FDA offers a brief set of guidelines to determine if your product is regulated, but those standards are open to interpretation. It's not always clear how to classify a device or platform, but costly lawsuits are the inevitable result of skirting FDA regulations. Consulting medical or legal experts can help useful, but is often extremely costly, especially if innovators are not exactly sure how to proceed. Clearance for an FDA-approved, low-risk device (510k) typically involves engaging consultants on an hourly basis, with some costs starting in the low thousands and edging up to around $30,000 for well-defined submissions. Businesses ready to begin the consultation process need to perform due diligence in identifying companies with a solid track record of bringing a product into the FDA process. Differentiating in a Saturated Market Entrepreneurs in the medical tech space to think expansively. Direct-to-consumer market will be saturated quickly by large corporations that already have strong brand recognition, she noted. Startups can still compete, but they may need to leap-frog over consumer-facing businesses and target institutions. Getting FDA approval can go far in differentiating a device to consumers. It is largely a trust issue, since the FDA process is well known to healthcare facilities, such as clinics, hospitals, and long-term care facilities. FDA certification allows startups to move forward to develop relationships with a broad range of enterprises in the clinical environment. Imagine two similar medical devices, one with FDA approval and one without. Which would you choose? Consumers, generally, will select one with clearance. The FDA seal of approval conveys an aura of legitimacy around a device or product—consumers understand that a rigorous series of tests needs to be completed before a product can come to market, even if they do not understand the specifics of the trials. Another strategy: Partnering with larger research institutions and companies, which can bring a new dimension to the use of a medical or wellness product. Your device now would have the opportunity to assist with gathering data for more serious medical conditions. Plus, positioning a wearable or IoT medical product in the role of a diagnostic tool opens new avenues for revenue. Avoiding Pitfalls Even if you think you don't really need (or want) FDA approval, you might seek it out for legal purposes. Avoiding the FDA doesn’t mean you can avoid any kind of regulations. The FTC still regulates truth in advertisement, civil courts and an ever-growing number of cases dealing with the lack of clinical studies to back up medical product claims. For example, the Federal Trade Commission shut down MelApp for the claim that the product could “detect symptoms of melanoma, even in its early stages” without scientific support. In a FTC press release, Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, highlighted the importance of following the rules: “Truth in advertising laws apply in the mobile marketplace,” she said. "App developers and marketers must have scientific evidence to support any health or disease claims that they make for their apps.” Startups can face other issues, such as overstepping platform/device claims or actually moving from the wellness area into the diagnostic arena. Overstepping claims can be a particularly murky area to navigate—after all, what is the consumer going to do with the information from your product?—and slipping into the role of medical provider has already caused some enterprises to pull back. Even entrenched brands can struggle with understanding the regulatory framework. Some apps, like uChek, have even run afoul of the FDA. The Bottom Line There’s a compelling need for technologies that enhance the quality of life for difficult-to-treat diseases, and innovators shouldn't give up. While navigating the FDA process can be tricky, it is essential for differentiating your platform or device in a tight market. It is also the only real choice for U.S.-based innovators genuinely interested in improving the health and well-being of those around them.  Lead photo courtesy of MetaverseOne

Media files: MTIyMzI2NjM1MTA0OTkzODk0.jpg (image/jpeg) WordPress. Contact form 7. Advanced Configuration Aug 21st 2015, 12:23 This tutorial shows how to configure the contact form in WordpPess templates and make it send messages to your email. Cherry Framework 4. How to use grid (columns) shortcodes Aug 21st 2015, 11:42 This tutorial shows how to use Grid Shortcodes in Cherry Framework 4. Cherry Framework 4. How to use grid (columns) shortcodes Aug 20th 2015, 08:38 This tutorial shows how to use Grid Shortcodes in Cherry Framework 4. Magento. How to add Newsletter in footer section on customer page(s) Aug 20th 2015, 08:28 This tutorial will show you how to add Newsletter on Customer Account pages in Magento footer section. WordPress. Contact form 7. Advanced Configuration Aug 20th 2015, 08:06 This tutorial shows how to configure the contact form in WordPess and make it send messages to your email.

WordPress. How to edit Google map on home page (based on template #53995)

Aug 20th 2015, 07:53 This video tutorial shows how to change the Google Map location on Home page in Wordpress template (based on template #53995). WordPress. How to install a theme to GoDaddy server manually (based on CherryFramework 3) Aug 20th 2015, 07:26

This tutorial will show you how to upload the WordPress theme to GoDaddy server though the hosting control panel.

PrestaShop 1.6.x. How to set the number of related products on the product page Aug 20th 2015, 07:00 This tutorial will guide you through setting the number of related products on the product page in Prestashop 1.6.x.

Magento. How to edit order confirmation page

Aug 20th 2015, 06:42 This tutorial shows how to edit the order confirmation page in Magento.

Joomla 3.x. Troubleshooter. What to do if installation freezes after the first step

Aug 20th 2015, 06:22 This tutorial shows what to do if installation freezes after the first step in Joomla 3.x.

WordPress Troubleshooter. How to fix the “Destination folder already exists” error Aug 19th 2015, 09:12 This tutorial will show you how to deal with the Destination folder already exists error in Wordpress. Landing Page. How to change color scheme Aug 19th 2015, 08:56 This tutorial will show you how to change the color scheme in Landing Page Template. Joomla 3.x. How to remove the id from the article URL Aug 19th 2015, 08:00 This tutorial is going to show you how to remove id from the article URL in Joomla 3 template. WordPress. How to change material design icons Aug 19th 2015, 07:42 This tutorial will show you how to change material design icons in Wordpress templates. CherryFramework 4. How to assign external link to a slide and make it open in new tab Aug 19th 2015, 07:31 This video tutorial is going to show you how to assign external link to a slide and make it open in a new tab in CherryFramework 4 Templates. CherryFramework 4. How to manage header layout and background options Aug 19th 2015, 07:01 This tutorial will show you how to manage header layout and background options in CherryFramework 4 templates. Monstroid WordPress Theme Aug 18th 2015, 13:13 Template Description Monstroid is a perfect solution for any WordPress website, whether it is a blog or a store. It is also quite universal, as both beginners and developers will be able to use it without any problems. Using the … CherryFramework 4. How to install a template on localhost (manual installation) Aug 18th 2015, 08:27 This tutorial will show you how to install CherryFramework 4 template manually on localhost. CherryFramework 4. How to display posts of certain type with shortcode Aug 18th 2015, 08:16 In this tutorial we'll show you how to display posts of certain type on your page using shortcodes in your CherryFramework4 template. CherryFramework 4. How to add theme localization Aug 18th 2015, 08:03 This tutorial is going to show you how to add theme localization to a WordPress CherryFramework 4 template. Monstroid. Overview of slider plugins Aug 18th 2015, 07:51 In this tutorial we will provide an overview of the slider plugins used in Monstroid theme. Monstroid. How to install another child theme once Monstroid was installed and activated Aug 18th 2015, 07:10 This tutorial is going to show you how to install Monstroid Child Theme in case your WordPress website already runs Monstroid template. CherryFramework 4. How to work with Swiper carousel Aug 17th 2015, 08:14 This tutorial will show you how to work with Swiper carousel in CherryFramework 4 templates. WordPress. How to enable formatting in excerpt Aug 17th 2015, 08:02 This tutorial is going to show you how to display excerpt formatting in WordPress. osCommerce. How to edit footer contact information Aug 17th 2015, 07:45 This tutorial shows how to edit footer contact information in osCommerce store.

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Tech Geek`s Tools, Tips, Tricks and Tutorials Pipes Output

A Lightweight, Customizable CSS Lightbox Gallery Plugin Aug 27th 2015, 07:03 jQuery LightGallery is a lightweight, customizable, modular, responsive, lightbox gallery plugin for jQuery. It uses CSS-only approach for resizing images and videos. So it will be extremely flexible, and considerably faster than using the JavaScript approach. Lightgallery comes with a few built in modules, such as thumbnails, full screen, zoom, etc. It is easy to create your own modules, as well as detach modules that you don’t want to use. Lightgallery supports touch and swipe navigation on touchscreen devices, as well as mouse drag for desktops. This allows users to navigate between slides by either swipe or mouse drag. You also have the option to enable animated thumbnails from the settings. otherwise normal thumbnail will be used. You can also make thumbnails automatically load for your YouTube or vimeo videos. LightGallery uses Hardware-Accelerated CSS3 transitions for faster animation performance. This plugin comes with numerous number of beautiful inbuilt animations. Requirements: jQuery Framework Demo: http://sachinchoolur.github.io/lightGallery/ License: Apache License The post A Lightweight, Customizable CSS Lightbox Gallery Plugin appeared first on WebAppers.

Weaponized Drones Are Now Legal In The U.S. Aug 26th 2015, 22:25

This post appears courtesy of the Ferenstein Wire, a syndicated news service. Publishing partners may edit posts. For inquiries, please email author and publisher Gregory Ferenstein.

Legislation around drone use is of paramount importance for their hardware and software developers, as well as businesses hoping to make use of them for deliveries, security surveillance and other purposes. Laws governing their use not determine the scope of their use, and can even shape public perception of these compact flying machines. What will the public think now that drones in the U.S. are now legally permitted to fly equipped with non-lethal weapons aboard? The change comes courtesy of a recently amended bill in North Dakota.  See also: Why Drone Regulations Are Taking Forever The law’s author, Representative Rick Becker, originally wanted to require police to secure a warrant for drone surveillance. But then local law enforcement managed to sneak in the right to equip drones with tasers or rubber bullets by amending the original prohibition against lethal and non-lethal force to just limiting lethal weapons. Weaponizing Drones: This Is No Game A demo of a Parrot drone working with a controller, an iPad and an Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles  When I contacted Becker, he showed concern over the revised bill. He’s worried, in particular, that it will have dramatic unintended consequences. “I think it’s important to maintain the humanity in making decisions to deploy weapons against another individual,” he told me. “We can’t depersonalize it and make it like a video game.” See also: Forget Pizza: In The Future, Drones May Deliver You It’s easy to see where the concern comes from. Drones tend to be navigated by handheld units that often mimic game controllers. With weapons on board, the whole premise also puts the attacker further removed from the target, as well as the injury he or she will inflict. Becker says he “has no knowledge” that police are equipping drones with tasers to hunt down criminals, and he trusts that local law enforcement knew what it was doing when it amended the law. But he suspects it could be an issue in the near future. “Clearly it was important to them to add that provision,” he said. Drones have faced varying regulations around the country. Back in 2013, Virginia passed a temporary moratorium on state use of drones, so officials could probably assess the safety and ethics before releasing them into the wild. Droning On The matter in North Dakota shows how the nuances of local politics could influence the future of drone laws. But do these politicians and lawmakers fully grasp what’s at stake when they create or vote on legislation? Becker is only a part-time representative. In his day job, he's a plastic surgeon. When I called him, his phone rang at a medical office. At the time, he seemed unaware that that story had even reached the national spotlight. It has, in part, thanks to the efforts of tech companies like Amazon, Google and Facebook, all of which have much-hyped drone initiatives.  See also: How Amazon's Drone Superhighway Would Work Amazon has been aggressively lobbying all levels of government to ease restrictions, so it can unleash a fleet of drone delivery vehicles. (Because who doesn’t want tacos to rain down from the skies?) Becker’s scenario is not uncommon. North Dakota has a part-time state legislature that convenes on odd-numbered years. “A legislature that only meets half time can only do half as much damage as one that meets full time,” he said. North Dakota will meet again to reconsider drone laws in 2017. Technologies, particularly emerging ones, often collide with politics, as our elected and appointed officials try to make sense of new devices, services and software. Many find themselves struggling to define rules for public safety without hampering the spirit of innovation that led to those innovations. It’s a tough balance, and drone use in particular is going through its fair share of scrutiny. A consequence of these proceedings is the public’s impression of the technology, which already carried a fair amount of suspicion in light of privacy concerns. What happens now, with their weaponization being sanctioned, remains to be seen. What’s certain, and perhaps most important for entrepreneurs pursuing drone technology, is that adoption will likely go through many more assessments and challenges before it becomes mainstream.

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Photos by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite

Media files: MTIyMzAyMTk5NDI1NDM0MjE0.jpg (image/jpeg) Yahoo Courts Developers With Tumblr In-App Sharing And Native Video Ads Aug 26th 2015, 17:46 At the Yahoo Mobile Developer Conference in New York Wednesday, the company announced the arrival of in-app sharing. The new framework aims to make it easier to share photos, videos, links and other media to Tumblr with one tap.  The update, integrated into the Flurry software development kit, follows reports earlier this year that Yahoo would focus more on its Tumblr social arm, which it acquired in 2013 for $1.1 billion. With this change, users will be able to send a photo, video, link or any type of content to Tumblr from whatever app they happen to be running at the time.  See also: Meet Yahoo's Play To Help App Developers Make Loads Of Money Of course, it's up to developers to support the feature. The company has been courting app makers more heavily this year, and some of these current announcements look like natural extensions of those plans. Along with Tumblr in-app sharing, Yahoo also offers real-time analytics and native video ad integration, to help tempt developers into the fold.  How Tumblr's In-App Sharing Works The idea is for users to "create anywhere, discover in Tumblr," said Yahoo's Simon Khalaf on stage. He noted that downloading and installing the Tumblr app will be a "seamless" part of the process, if required.  See also: Yahoo Has Apparently Decided It's Time To Really Cash In On Tumblr Mobile photo editing and sharing tool PicsArt was announced as one of the first partners for in-app sharing on Tumblr. "We are thrilled to be using Tumblr in-app sharing to allow our community to easily distribute their creative work made with PicsArt," said Kriegel. "Tumblr and PicsArt both attract creative people who love to make and share content. This integration will help users drive discovery through both communities."   Crucially, Tumblr is promoting the feature as a two-way street, where the originating platform gets a deep link or app link back in return.  In other words, if a Tumblr user takes an interest in the shared post, that person can follow the link back to the app from which it originated.  Sweetening The Deal For Devs App developers using the Yahoo Mobile Developers Suite will also be able to see engagement numbers for Tumblr shares originating from their sites or apps (for reblogs, clicks, likes and so on).  Billing it as "real-time metrics," Yahoo further announced that it's offering app analytics that update automatically every 15 seconds for free, courtesy of Flurry Analytics. Developers of all sizes should be able to use the tool, whether they have a hundred, a thousand or a billion users.  And finally, the company once again courted developers with the promise of making money. Its most favored approach: Ads. Yahoo now offers native video ads for publishers, plugging them as additional monetization opportunities.  The announcements should bring more content and variety to Tumblr, while developers get more eyeballs and more traffic back to their app (at least in theory). "We're excited to see more great original content flow into Tumblr," said Tumblr CEO David Karp at the event.  A Peek At Flurry's Mobile Numbers Khalaf also shared a long succession of statistics and metrics about mobile device usage in the U.S. over the last 12 months.  See also: Yahoo Shuts Down Pipes, The First Service To Make APIs For Everyone American consumers are now spending an average of 3 hours 40 minutes per day on their smartphones and tablets, a rise of 35 percent over the same quarter in 2014. Only 10 percent of that time is in the mobile browser compared with 14 percent the year before. Social, messaging and entertainment apps (including YouTube) accounted for 51 percent of the time spent on mobile in the last quarter.  The major loser was gaming, which Khalaf chalked up to a lack of big name hits, plus a switch to paying to progress, rather than grinding through levels (and spending less time in games as a result). Watching others play games has also taken away some of the time actually playing games, he noted.  Images courtesy of Yahoo

Media files: MTI4MjI5MTc5OTM3MzEwNzMw.jpg (image/jpeg) You’re Managing Your Customer Journeys All Wrong Aug 26th 2015, 14:00 Guest author Pini Yakuel is the founder and CEO of Optimove, a provider of automated retention marketing services for customer-centric businesses. Marketers have a veritable arsenal of tools to help them understand and manage their customer relationships. One that has become de rigueur these days is the customer journey map, which is essentially a flowchart that lays out the customer's experience of dealing with your company.  They can be very helpful, acting like visual aids for marketers who want to understand the customer experience and ensure they're engaged every step along the way. But these flowcharts are inflexible, which makes them less capable of handling today's consumers and their constantly evolving needs.  Their linear nature can be severely limiting, and too much dependence on them can even be downright harmful to customer engagement. B2C (business-to-consumer) services, in particular, tend to have complex relationships with customers that can involve multiple scenarios and contributing factors.  Marketers would be better served by terrain-based maps. Traditionally used by topographers to show the literal lay of the land for a region, these maps offer a more accurate and realistic portrait of the customer journey, while providing the flexibility and adaptability necessary to engaging customers on a one-to-one basis.  Shortcomings of Flowchart-based Customer Journey Maps Customer journey maps can be very helpful. They act like visual aids for marketers, who use them to ensure customers are engaged every step along the way.  Companies can then prepare how they want to interact with customers at each stage of their journeys. They also allow for easy communication between teams, because they offer a neat, tidy representation of the customer experience.  Unfortunately, actual B2C customer journeys are hardly ever as simple or straightforward as a flowchart portrays. Most customer journey maps start out at Point A (an initial website visit, for instance), and end at Point B (a sale, perhaps). These linear flowcharts let marketers believe they have the control to steer each customer toward a desired final destination.  But if you were to represent every branch for every "if/then" scenario in an actual customer journey, the map itself would become unwieldy and irrelevant.  Plus, static flowchart maps cannot possibly account for unplanned behaviors, which could leave out many customers or lead to them being treated incorrectly. The typical customer journey map is too rigid to cover every customer experience and scenario, which makes it difficult for marketers to adapt changing needs, or customers who may shift behavior from one path to another.  Getting To Know The Terrain A terrain map, or topographic map, shows all of the physical features of a given region, such as its mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes and so on. It does not usually include roads or highways, because the point isn’t necessarily to help the viewer traverse the area, but to simply understand its features in relation to one another.  It's useful to draw customer journeys using a similar type of map, because you don’t necessarily need to know how users got to a specific location. What's most important is where they are now.  Instead of trying to force customers down a specific path, terrain-based maps allow marketers to visualize and identify all of the most important intervention points where customers might be found, based on their “behavioral DNA” or patterns.  For instance, one region of the map might represent customers based on how long they’ve been active, while other regions might represent spending patterns, product affinities, responses to previous engagement campaigns, etc. The criteria you use to define your different “regions” can vary, which means that you can strategize by targeting a narrowly-defined micro-segments of your user base.  Meeting The Demands Of An Expanding Terrain The terrain-based approach to building customer journey maps allows marketers to segment customers into groups as large as entire countries, or as small as individual households, all based on specific behaviors. Then you can make sure that the most relevant messages reach every customer at a particular point in his or her journey.  This method is far more dynamic than the flowchart-based approach, because it continuously adapts itself to changes in customer behavior. It is also easier to scale and evolve because the number and sophistication of the customer journeys can increase rapidly—even exponentially—without having to re-engineer anything that was built before or worry about planning out certain paths in advance.  You can begin by identifying a sample of customer micro-segments, and defining the messages that will spur them to take a desired action. As time goes on, you can define more of these segment-and-campaign pairs to cover more scenarios, without over-complicating the map.  A terrain-based approach to drawing customer journey maps allows marketers to easily and dynamically definite a nearly infinite number of customer micro-segments.   There is no other practical way to manage the complex customer journeys that are, quite simply, a fact of life.  Images courtesy of Optimove

Media files: MTMyNTc4MDY4MTMxNzgxMDg2.png (image/png) CherryFramework 4. How to replace Slider image with Video and make video auto play Aug 26th 2015, 08:11 This video tutorial is going to show how to replace Slider image with Video and make video auto play in CherryFramework 4 templates. Joomla 3.x. How to change Google map marker (based on Google Maps plugin) Aug 26th 2015, 07:59 This tutorial shows how to change Google map marker (based on Google Maps plugin) in Joomla 3.x. CherryFramework 4. How to include custom JS file Aug 26th 2015, 07:48 This tutorial shows you how to include custom JS file in CherryFramework 4. WordPress. How to get Embed Map code from Google Maps Aug 26th 2015, 07:37 This tutorial will show you how to get embedded code for your Google maps location. CherryFramework 4. How to add custom classes to the shortcodes and assign custom CSS rules to them

Aug 26th 2015, 07:24

This tutorial will show you how to add custom css classes for the shortcodes and assign custom css rules to them in CherryFramework 4 templates.

Magento. How to change default product quantity from 0 to 1 Aug 26th 2015, 06:39 This tutorial will show how to change minimum quantity allowed in shopping cart from 0 to 1 in your Magento store. Monstroid. How to manage logos Aug 26th 2015, 06:27 This tutorial will show you how to manage header and footer logos in Monstroid templates. JS Animated. How to make any link non-clickable Aug 25th 2015, 07:56 This tutorial will show you how to make link non-clickable by using jQuery scripting. Magento. How to hide/show ‘out of stock’ products Aug 25th 2015, 07:45 This tutorial will show you how to hide/show 'out of stock' products in Magento. Landing page. How to activate contact form Aug 25th 2015, 06:50 This video tutorial is going to show how to activate contact form in Landing Page template. Magento Troubleshooter. Merge JavaScript option issues Aug 24th 2015, 11:04 This video tutorial shows how to fix issues which occur after the "Merge JavaScript Files" option is enabled in your Magento store. Magento. How to add a new static block to the header/footer section Aug 24th 2015, 10:48 In this tutorial you will learn how to add a static block to the header/footer section in Magento. WordPress Cherry 3.x. How to remove custom post types from admin panel menu Aug 24th 2015, 10:34 This tutorial will show you how to remove custom post types from admin panel menu in WordPress CherryFramework 3 template.

Magento. How to add Newsletter in footer section on customer page(s)

Aug 21st 2015, 12:08 This tutorial we will show you how to add Newsletter on Customer Account pages in Magento footer section.

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CherryFramework 4. How to work with services posts Aug 28th 2015, 07:40 Our Support team is ready to present you a new tutorial that shows how work with Services posts in CherryFramework 4. CherryFramework 4. How to add CF7 form to sidebar/footer Aug 28th 2015, 07:27 In this tutorial we will show you how to add Contact Form 7 to any of your widget areas in CherryFramework 4 templates. Joomla 3.x. How to configure Facebook login in “Joomla Social Login” component Aug 28th 2015, 07:05 This tutorial shows how to configure Facebook login in Joomla Social Login component. Flarum – Open Source Forum Software Focus on Simplicity Aug 28th 2015, 07:03 Flarum is free, open-source forum software with a focus on simplicity. You can use Flarum to easily set up a discussion forum for your website. It’s forum software reimagined. Flarum looks and feels great out of the box. The user interface is streamlined so you can spend less time clicking and more time talking. You can keep on scrolling, without having to wait for the next page of posts to load. Flarum lets you scrub anywhere in a discussion quickly and easily. It remembers your position if you come back after navigating away. There is a Floating Composer, you can read while you write. Flarum’s reply form slides up from the bottom of the page, so you can scroll up to read posts – and even visit other discussions – while you draft your reply. Flarum is fully responsive by default, and not just as an afterthought. The interface has been optimized for touch, with big buttons, smooth animations, and gestures aplenty. Requirements: – Demo: http://flarum.org/ License: MIT License The post Flarum – Open Source Forum Software Focus on Simplicity appeared first on WebAppers.

The Internet of Reps: GymGroups Wants To Network Your Gym Aug 27th 2015, 21:21 Grou.ps, a company known for its social community tools, is adding hardware and a focus on fitness to the mix with the launch of GymGroups, a service targeted at health clubs.  See also: Under Armour's New "Record" App: A Potential Social Revolution In Fitness It's a big shift in strategy, and there's a lot that's interesting about Grou.ps' approach. An early Web 2.0 social service is now embracing hardware and tying a cloud-based service together with mobile apps. It's an intriguing example of how the Internet of Things can force a dramatic rethink of a product.  Survival Of The Fittest (Groups) It's been a long time since ReadWrite caught up with Grou.ps founder and CEO Emre Sokullu, an entrepreneur and analyst who contributed a lot to our early coverage of Google, Yahoo, and other Web platforms. In 2008, his startup raised financing and launched its social groupware product, which at its peak had 8 million monthly unique users and 100 million monthly pageviews. See also: The Fitness Tracker Is Finally Growing Up The Great Recession hit, and Sokullu turned Grou.ps into a paid service in an effort to generate revenues. That worked—the company turned profitable in 2012—but at the cost of torpedoing Grou.ps's growth.  What Sokullu found was that about half of the remaining active communities on Grou.ps were fitness-related, like Ohio's Columbus Running Club. Collectively, those groups have some 12 million members (though it's not clear how many of those are active on the site). That inspired GymGroups. GymGroups has several elements. There's a social layer built on top of Grou.ps to connect people who work out at the same location. There's also a workout app which lets those gymgoers make plans.  And then there's the hardware—Bluetooth beacons which GymGroups distributes so gyms can affix them to every piece of exercise equipment. The GymGroups app detects when an exerciser is using a given piece of equipment and lets them "check in" to it—in other words, announcing that they're using it. The bet GymGroups is making is that gyms will adopt several pieces here: the beacon hardware, the social service, and gym-branded mobile apps created by GymGroups. The rationale for them to do so is the promise they'll retain more members by making it more appealing to stick to the gym. The Social Fitness Challenge I see a host of obstacles here for Grou.ps's fitness makeover.  The first is that social fitness apps have, by and large, proven a tough sell. Social Workout, one of the best early attempts at the genre, quietly shut down earlier this year; its team is now working on Count It, a workplace-wellness service. Under Armour—now the big kahuna in fitness apps, thanks to its acquisitions of MyFitnessPal, MapMyFitness, and Endomondo—has been slow to develop the social features of Record, its new flagship app. The premise that people who have signed up to get updates about their running club will be prospects for a social app centered on their local gym has some merit, but I doubt conversions will be as high as Grou.ps hopes. And it's not clear how much benefit people will get from an app that informs them they're at a squat rack. Newbies might welcome an electronic tour of the gym, repeat usage seems unlikely. Then there's the hard work of signing up gyms. Fitness centers and health clubs are a very fragmented industry; the International Health, Racquet, & Sportsclub Association counts more than 10,000 members, but the 50 largest companies in the US account for just 30% of industry revenues, according to Hoovers.  Smaller clubs likely can't afford their own apps, which makes them logical prospects for GymGroups. But it also means that GymGroups will have a difficult process of hand-selling small, local businesses on the service.  Sokullu is optimistic about the prospects of signing up a large U.S. chain soon. And he plans to let users sign up as "ambassadors" who will sneak beacons onto equipment at local gyms. The bet here is that a Yammer- or Slack-like grounds-up adoption will prompt gym managers to sign up for the official version of GymGroups. However, it's hard to see them looking kindly on the company if they catch users slapping these devices (which are capable of tracking other members) around the gym.  Given all the concerns, I don't know if GymGroups will be the company that makes Bluetooth beacons as standard a piece of gym equipment as elliptical machines and weight benches. But I'd be surprised if, by the end of this decade, our gyms aren't as networked as our homes and offices. Lead photo courtesy of Shutterstock; gym exterior photo by Owen Thomas for ReadWrite

Media files: MTIyMzA0MjYzNjk0MDg1NDAx.jpg (image/jpeg) The Wearables Market Is Exploding, And Apple Is Stealing The Show Aug 27th 2015, 18:11 A new report published by IDC paints an intriguing picture of the wearables market as it looks in the middle of 2015. The market grew 223% over the course of the previous year, and Apple—new to the sector and with only one wearable to its name—was bested only by Fitbit, in terms of devices sold during the last three months. That puts reports of rather underwhelming Apple Watch sales into perspective. (Apple hasn't released official figures of its own, of course.) While the smartwatch has yet to make an iPhone-like splash so far, with nearly 20% of the market, but it's already threatening to dominate the nascent wearables movement.  See also: How Wearables Startups Can Overcome The Hardware Challenge  Considering the Apple smartwatch only went on sale in March, that's an impressive return—though, obviously, Tim Cook probably hopes for more.  Still, for those just entering the market, there's still potential. Some might even take this as good news: With Apple lifting the profile of the whole industry, even those turning up later may still capitalize on an expanding opportunity.  Where The Competition Stands The report shows that Samsung, which was in way before Apple on the front lines of this new wave of wearable tech, languishing down in fifth place. Just ahead of Huawei and Jawbone, it weighs in with 3.3% of the market, despite issuing out various models of wrist-worn devices. The South Korean company saw wearable tech shipments drop from 800,000 in Q2 2014 to 600,000 in Q2 2015, according to IDC's figures. See also: Why Apple, Google, And Samsung Want To Lock You In With Wearables In total, 18.1 million wearables were shifted in the second quarter of 2015, compared with 5.6 million in the same quarter the previous year. Of those, 4.4 million devices were made by Fitbit, and 3.6 million devices were Apple Watches, if IDC's calculations are accurate.  Apple's lead, however, has another global competitor nipping at its heels: Chinese tech juggernaut Xiaomi is right behind it, with 17% of the world market.  Wearables: Smart Vs. Basic As for the top two, IDC analysts believe Apple could be number one by the end of the third quarter, because it has something that Fitbit doesn't: a smart device with a third-party ecosystem behind it.  The WatchOS 2 update, coming this fall, will allow developers to run apps natively on the Apple Watch.  Fitbit's "dumb" devices haven't been doing badly though: The company's 159% growth in sales over the year is not to be taken lightly, and IDC thinks there's more to come. "Fitbit resonates with customers because it has remained true to its simple value proposition of tracking fitness to encourage healthier lifestyles," the report explains, "rather than promising the multi-purpose functionality that most smart watches have sought."  Xiaomi and Garmin made up the rest of the top five, and IDC sees a divide between wearables powered by a fully realized smart platform (like an Android Wear watch or the Pebble watch) and more basic fitness trackers that stick with integrated functionality. According to sales last quarter, two out of three "smart" wearables (capable of running third-party apps) were Apple Watches.  See also: 5 Things You Need To Know About Xiaomi One challenge facing wearable makers, whether they're trying to compete with Apple or Fitbit: setting appealing prices, while still offering enough features to make their products more compelling than the established leaders.  But there's good news with the findings, too: "[Apple's] participation benefits multiple players and platforms within the wearables ecosystem, and ultimately drives total volumes higher," says Ramon Llamas, research manager for IDC's wearables team. "Apple also forces other vendors—especially those that have been part of this market for multiple quarters—to re-evaluate their products and experiences." Take note Samsung. "Fairly or not, Apple will become the stick against which other wearables are measured, and ... everyone will be watching to see what other wearable devices it decides to launch, such as smart glasses or hearables," adds Llamas.  Images courtesy of Apple and Fitbit; chart courtesy of IDC

Media files: MTMwMTA3ODUzMTI0OTg4ODk4.jpg (image/jpeg) The Biggest Digital Marketing Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make Aug 27th 2015, 14:00 Guest author Stephen Moyers is the Web marketing manager at SPINX Digital Agency, a designer and a blogger who writes about Web design, and online and social marketing.  The success of digital marketing depends on a number of factors: understanding your marketing history, knowing what's being said about your brand, and meeting the needs of your consumers in a valuable way. Unfortunately, with all those factors, nascent entrepreneurs often make mistakes that hinder early growth. These can range from failing to plan effectively or measure results, to overlooking the entire mobile category. But that's not all.  See also: 10 Areas Where Startups Will Be Spending More In 2015 Here’s a look at a few of the biggest blunders to avoid. Failing To Understand Your Audience The gap that a product or service fills is just the beginning. Marketing requires an in-depth understanding of your consumers’ traits and tastes. See also: 4 Tools To Help Startups Hack Their Growth Beyond the existing needs of potential customers or end users, businesses need to profile their prospects. Focus on how they spend their time, what other products or services they're more likely to want, and where individuals who fit the profile tend to live. Such detailed information informs your marketing efforts, making them more pinpointed and accurate.  Not Planning Adequately Many marketers never achieve great success because they don’t have clearly outlined goals and a distinct plan of action. Planning does not mean brainstorming in a room of decision makers. It means writing out an analysis of your current needs, strengths, weaknesses, and goals. It involves taking your budget and going through it, line by line, to determine where your marketing dollars should go.  Once you have a written plan of action, make sure to reference all these documents regularly throughout the campaign process. Consider using a template for optimal planning. Lacking Focus You can’t do it all in the beginning, so start with small, concerted efforts. They can be just as effective as large campaigns that aim to reach a wide audience. Focus on the types of prospects your product or service will fit with naturally. Then pick measurable goals that align with industry benchmarks you can track over a period of several months. Long-term goals are vital, too, but seeing meaningful results—even if they aren’t ultimately driving the bottom line—can improve momentum for reaching those future goals. Holding Unrealistic Expectations Few marketing campaigns will achieve instantaneous results. Unless your first post goes viral, you'll likely have to tweak and improve your pay-per-click strategy, social media, and other digital marketing campaigns as you go. Social media campaigns tend to have a shorter turnaround time, while pay-per-click campaigns often take about a month and a half to deliver results. Search-engine optimization (SEO) strategies tend to take the longest of all. SEO campaigns typically need 4 to 6 weeks to get off the ground, but can take as many as six months to a year to meet meaningful goals. Think of digital marketing like a long race, not a sprint. Not Budgeting Properly Many startups fail to allocate a fair amount of money for digital marketing. While some elements can work on a shoestring budget, many campaigns require a strategic investment. That may require taking a hard look at where your money is going right now and making some judgment calls. For instance, avoid spending money on tools that you aren’t sure will work for your business. Instead, focus on hiring talent inside and outside the company that can help you reach your goals. Using Too Many Social Media Platforms Social media platforms are a fun and fast way to market your company, but focusing on too many at once can weaken the overall campaign. Try to keep your social media strategy targeted at the few social media platforms your audience frequently uses, and deliver relevant information through them on a regular basis. Build a social media strategy that makes sense for your brand and market, not necessarily the platforms that are trending right now. Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat are great social media platforms to start with, but depending on your business audience, you many want to consider LinkedIn, Instagram or Pinterest. Forgetting the Importance of Content Content is the foundation of any successful digital marketing campaign. But the information or media must be relevant, engaging, and insightful. Otherwise, you can post articles, images or videos all day long, and still not see measurable results. Look for elements that will convert site visitors into long-term customers. Video content, in particular, is becoming a staple of digital marketing, and companies can no longer afford to ignore it. Entrepreneurs can start using video content with homegrown campaigns on Snapchat, Vine, and YouTube that are both cost-effective and successful in striking a chord with your audience. Overlooking Mobile The number of global mobile users exceeded desktop users in 2014, earning a steady place in the pockets and hands of most consumers. Plenty of businesses pay lip service to this area of tech, but haven’t really thought through their mobile strategy. Those companies will likely be forgotten and become obsolete. Responsive web design and layered interfaces are sleek, user friendly, and fairly easy to develop with the right professional help. Mobile marketing should be synonymous with digital marketing at this point; it’s that integral to the success of a campaign. As the above chart indicates, millennials and others are being successfully influenced to act by mobile campaigns. Not Measuring Results The work doesn’t end once you’ve come up with ideas and put them into practice. After the initial launch of your digital marketing campaign, you need to use relevant metrics that confirm its Return On Investment (ROI). Essentially, your goal is to find out whether the money you spent was worth it. The good news is a digital campaign is not static once it has launched. You can continue to use analytics throughout the campaign period to tweak posts, keywords, and other information to better target your audience. Over time, your content will be optimized so that it reaches your goals. Using Old School SEO Beware any SEO or digital marketing agencies that push keyword stuffing, outbound link building, and other methods. As Google’s algorithms evolve, old SEO practices are getting companies penalized. If you're providing valuable insights, images or videos (see content section, above), then that content will naturally lead to better search results, since they create natural inbound and outbound links. This type of organic marketing is the new strategy that SEO companies are adopting. Not Using a Combination Of Offline And Online Marketing Strategies Digital marketing should always be supported by more traditional marketing strategies. People still drive by billboards and act on the information they see.  The difference now is that print advertising includes digital marketing information. Social cues are ever-present in the bottom corner of magazine ads and on subway signs. Some print campaigns are even entirely digital in focus, featuring a hashtagged word or a Twitter handle. Mixing traditional and modern marketing strategies makes for a multi-level campaign that has the potential to not only reach consumers, but connect with them on a deeper level.  The Startup Advantage New entrepreneurs have the opportunity to begin from a fresh slate. They can craft their company personality and marketing campaigns without battling established expectations.  Over time, they can also transform as the brand or consumer interest evolves.  By understanding where to focus initial efforts, entrepreneurs and small business owners can develop digital marketing practices that will fuel their bottom lines for years to come. Lead photo courtesy of Bigstock Photo via Stephen Moyers

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The Wait For HTC's Vive VR Headset Just Got Longer Aug 28th 2015, 21:09 From the beginning, HTC’s promise of delivering a consumer-ready virtual-reality headset by the end of the year seemed fantastical (in all senses of the word). How is the Taiwanese company, which announced the Vive early this year, going to release its VR system so quickly? The answer: It’s not. While a few devices will make their way to the public, the broader launch apparently will get pushed back to 2016. In a statement given to Engadget Thursday, HTC said, "We'll have a limited number of units by the end of the year, with more to come in Q1 2016.” See also: 6 Ways The HTC Vive Will Freak Out Virtual-Reality Geeks A joint collaboration with gaming giant Valve, the Steam OS-powered system has been in the hands of developers for a couple of months. Those who have been hustling to meet the short timetable now suddenly get a little more breathing room, which may thrill some gaming developers, VR filmmakers and other creators. But it could pose problems for entrepreneurs who were depending on a fast release. It may also pose extra problems for HTC. The Real Race Driving Virtual Reality This sprint to the finish line was one of the most intriguing aspects of HTC’s surprise unveiling of the Vive. The new timeframe now puts it on par with the Oculus Rift’s launch. See also: The Oculus Rift Will Ship In Early 2016 That's still impressive, considering the Rift has been in development for at least a couple of years. (More, if you count Oculus founder Palmer Luckey’s previous research projects at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies, which informed his later work.) But the Vive looks like it may lose its first-to-market advantage. Fortunately, it’s not the only thing HTC has going for it. The Vive’s user experience is deeply impressive, offering one of the best visuals and interactivity experiences in the VR sector.  As a system of devices, it works with handheld remotes and room-situated hardware, which knows the location of the user in space and can calibrate the virtual environment accordingly. The system worked very well, at least in a controlled demo setting. (We’ll see how it measures up in the hands of users in the real world.) In contrast, Oculus primarily relied on third parties to flesh out its universe of accessories until last June, when it took the wraps off of its own Oculus Touch wireless controllers.  See also: Oculus Will Let You Grab Virtual Reality With Both Hands Other projects and software features are likely in the works as well. (We may know more at the Oculus Connect 2 developer conference in Los Angeles next month.)  There’s also increasing competition from VR hardware startups and other (bigger) competitors eyeing virtual and augmented reality—including Sony, Google, Samsung and Microsoft. Apple may also be pursuing virtual and augmented reality behind closed doors. All of which makes HTC’s decision to delay the Vive’s consumer release rather risky—especially if the company is relying on this initiative to make up for its flagging smartphone business. For end users and developers, however, the scenario points to something else: Next year is going to be absolutely huge for all realities virtual.  Photos by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite

Media files: MTI4NTU1MzQ1MzkwOTIzNzQ2.jpg (image/jpeg) The Top 5 Technologies That Have Changed Sports Aug 28th 2015, 20:39 This post is sponsored by The Wearable Tech In Sport Summit, an event taking place in San Francisco on September 9–10. It reflects the views of the sponsor, not ReadWrite's editors. Athletes today use increasingly complex technologies to enhance performance. We have seen considerable leaps forward in sporting performance as a direct result of technology either used during competition or in training. The big question is which technology has had the biggest impact on its respective sport? Attend The Wearable Tech In Sport Summit, September 9-10 in San Francisco, California—use discount code "World20" to save 20%! Below, we have listed the top five technologies that, in our view, have had the profoundest effects. Video Technology Several sports have adopted in-game video analysis and video refereeing. This includes rugby, football, tennis, and even soccer. It has meant that decisions can be made quickly and accurately, allowing correct decisions to be made in more instances as these games become increasingly fair. Many believe that this has taken some of the fun out of sports, but the truth is that it simply makes it fairer and creates a situation where players know that should they break a rule, they are far more likely to be caught. Having several cameras around a pitch has also had a major effect on the way that players are analyzed after competition across almost every sport. The ability to look at a performance on a screen and make judgements on it has allowed coaches and analysts to look at individual elements of a performance and make decisions based on what they can see. This is then filtered into the training regimes of the athlete, allowing for better performances and better chances of success. Portable Sensors Cycling used to be very much a sport of feel and arbitrary judgement, riding a certain distance or climbing up a particular hill so many times was enough to prepare people for a race. Along came heart-rate monitors and people could train within particular heart-rate zones, but this was still only analyzing what the effort was doing to the body, rather than what the effort was doing for the actual performance. When power meters came along, it allowed cyclists to train in accordance with how much power they were pushing through the pedals. Having the ability to train at a consistent level with the readings appearing on a screen in the handlebars meant that consistent power could be achieved, something that is vital in the modern day peloton.  Team Sky may not have been the first team to use power meters, but the way they utilized them changed the way that every professional team trains and has totally changed the landscape of cycling from a sport based on feelings to arguably the most number intensive sport in the world. See ReadWrite CEO Redg Snodgrass speak at The Wearable Tech In Sport Summit—register now! Similarly, we can see the use of GPS sensors that have allowed rugby, football, and soccer coaches to see exactly where a player is at any point during a match, then look at their movements and see how these can be changed to improve the athlete. These kinds of sensors are also constantly evolving and getting smaller, making even more impact on performance whilst being able to pick up the most minute information. It has been predicted that soon they will be embeddable within everyday clothing, allowing for complex measurements to be taken constantly and improving analysis even further. Since inventing the VS racket string, Babolat has changed the game of tennis. Its most renowned invention to date allows players to track and share data to improve performance through an app. Speaking at the Wearable Tech in Sport Summit on September 9 and 10 in San Francisco, hosted by Innovation Enterprise, Daniel Becker, the company's senior marketing manager, will discuss new technology and what else they’re doing to help improve performance in sport. Drug Testing Tests to detect illegal drugs aren't an individual technology as much as a collection of technologies that has changed almost every sport in the world. Until 1999, there were small-scale, uncoordinated drug tests across individual sports, but these were fairly easily bypassed. In many sports, drug abuse to improve performance was endemic. Since then, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has helped to push forward the use of drug-testing technologies to help fight the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport. This has levelled the playing field in many sports and helped to weed out some of the biggest drugs cheats in world sport, from Lance Armstrong to Dwayne Chambers. It has given faith in performances back to the athletes too. Before, when an outstanding individual performance occurred, many treated it with a degree of suspicion. Today, thanks to this technology, people may have doubts, but athletes can point to reliable drugs testing to show that it is a clean result. Aerodynamics And Hydrodynamics When elite athletes in sports that require speed and stamina perform in competition, they need to be able to do so with minimum resistance. This has been recognized across several sports today. From the materials used in swim outfits to the curves on a Formula 1 car, the understanding of aero- and hydrodynamics has allowed the performance of athletes to minimize air resistance and increase speed. The use of aerodynamics as a decider between winning and losing was shown emphatically in the 1989 Tour de France final time trial where Greg LeMond sat in second place 50 seconds behind Laurent Fignon. He adopted aerodynamic handlebars and helmet, while Fignon did not. LeMond eventually beat Fignon by 58 seconds, winning the three-week event by only 8 seconds. Later analysis through wind-tunnel data showed that the use of the bars alone gained LeMond 1 minute and the helmet 16 seconds. Essentially if Fignon had adopted this new technology, he would have won the event. Data Analytics The ability to analyze millions of data points has meant that sports teams and athletes can look at the tiniest successes or failures within any performance and either recreate or remove particular conditions. It has meant that everything that an athlete does can be interconnected and assessed to divide a performance into its individual elements, rather than as a simple whole. It has been the basis of the current obsession with marginal gains that coaches are interested in. If they can find a 0.1% improvement in any part of a performance, then this will give them a slight advantage, but if they can find this number in several areas then they can add up to a significant improvement. It was this philosophy that led the British Olympic team to much success during the past three Olympics. This philosophy is only made possible through the use of data analytics, as it allows for the tiniest details of an athletic performance to be studied, seeing where small improvements can be made and how athletes can improve their chances of success.  Photo courtesy of Shutterstock This post is sponsored by The Wearable Tech In Sport Summit, an event taking place in San Francisco on September 9–10. It reflects the views of the sponsor, not ReadWrite's editors.

Media files: MTMyNjM2NDExMjM1OTY1NDA2.jpg (image/jpeg) Taxicab Industry Has A New App To Compete With Uber Aug 28th 2015, 19:47

This post appears courtesy of the Ferenstein Wire, a syndicated news service. Publishing partners may edit posts. For inquiries, please email author and publisher Gregory Ferenstein.

The tech sector has shaken up innumerable industries, and whenever that happens, some enterprising types wonder if there's some opportunity in helping established players stave off the inevitable. But beating back the forces that threaten to destabilize their businesses is even harder than it looks, and few succeed.  The taxi industry is no different. Would-be tech partners and investors sometimes ask me if they should design for, or invest, in this industry. My response: It’s not as simple as just jumping in, whipping up an app for ye olde cabs, and then sitting back to watch it vanquish the new strain of competitors, like Uber.  See also: I Tested The Cutting Edge Of Taxi Innovation, And Things Went Awry  Not that the industry doesn't keep trying. Another high-profile attempt just emerged to conquer the taxi business' arch nemesis. The upcoming Arro, like many of its predecessors, is an app for hailing and paying for taxicabs, similar to other ride-hailing companies out of Silicon Valley. Partnering with cab companies can be tempting, since many have the resources to pay for a pretty app that apes those of Uber, Lyft and Sidecar. But there are issues fundamental to the taxi industry that make it hard to compete with Silicon Valley startups. In fact, every like-minded taxi app thus far has utterly failed to slow the rise of Uber, often completely shutting down shortly after launch. Here’s why. Cars Are Capped, And Riders Are Impatient. Thanks to apps like Uber, Lyft and Sidecar, user expectations are changing, as riders get more impatient. "In some cities, if users see the nearest Uber is more than even 2 to 3 minutes away, they are far less likely to request a car, while in other cities wait times as long as 10 minutes are perfectly acceptable," Uber's data team wrote in a blog post. The longer Uber and Lyft serves a city, the less likely its residents will be willing to wait for a ride.  See also: What Google Got Right With Its Carpooling Service  The taxi industry, by design, limits the number of cars on the road to maintain a stable income for drivers. (Too many drivers would reduce income on an individual basis.) The logical result is that riders have longer wait times. Meanwhile, one 2014 study found that 92% of ride-hailing cars arrived in under 10 minutes. Only 16% of taxis did. Uber And Lyft Can Innovate Quickly It's one thing to design a fancy smartphone app; it's quite another to be on the cutting edge of features and have all of your workers immediately adopt the changes. Lyft is just $6 per ride nearly anywhere in San Francisco, thanks to its carpooling feature. New prices and features change pretty frequently in the Bay Area, as Lyft (and Uber) rapidly test out new pricing models to see what customers like best. Taxis have a metered pricing system that's overseen by various bureaucratic agencies. They just aren't equipped to rapidly innovate. Moreover, cab drivers seem to have difficulty getting their innovations to work, even when it finally rolls out. Last spring, I was asked to demo a new feature for San Francisco taxis from Flywheel, another smartphone app. It claimed to automatically recognize when a rider stepped into a cab, but the feature failed (multiple times). That was largely because the driver had insufficient technical training, and the app had difficulty integrating with the existing way that taxis operated. Innovation means being flexible and connected, and as a developer or entrepreneur, you may have plenty to spare. But that doesn’t mean a would-be partner in the taxi business does. Government-controlled, unionized industries aren’t used to making innovation core to their business models, which is why Arro will have a tough time competing against—or working with—Silicon Valley. For more stories like this, subscribe to the Ferenstein Wire newsletter here. Lead photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Media files: MTIyMzA0MDE2NzMzNDY1ODgx.jpg (image/jpeg) 4 Tools To Strengthen The Bond Between You And Your Customers Aug 28th 2015, 14:00 Guest author Yoav Vilner is a cofounder of Ranky.  Launching a startup is no easy task. While there's certainly tremendous hype about the tech sector, the truth is that the overwhelming majority of startups fail—mostly because of a lack of market and resources.  Solidifying your market can be particularly difficult in an overcrowded landscape. Simply getting the word out and attaining loyal users can be a challenge, but they're critical for your business success.  See also: The Biggest Digital Marketing Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make To earn loyal users, you must actively seek connection with your potential client base. Projecting expertise in your field and actively promoting communication and user involvement are great ways to do build an online community that lives and breaths your brand. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways to accomplish that.  If increasing user engagement is on your radar (as it should be), here are some of my favorite tools to help you achieve a high success rate. Spot.im There’s a lot of talk about social media’s role in marketing. Social media is a great place for your brand’s conversations, but there’s one problem with it: It holds conversations somewhere else, rather than on your site. You want visitors coming to your site and, more importantly, sticking around. Spot.im is an onsite social outlet that is convenient, fun, and accessible. It resides on your own website, but still offers your users get the ultimate social experience. With comments, newsfeed, chats, and private messaging, users can stay up to date, engage, and develop a sense of community right on your site. The connections you develop with such tools can be extremely dynamic. Because your users can engage online conversations about your brand, they discover useful information about your offerings while cultivating relationships with like-minded people. This gives them a positive impression of your business, and projects a company image that's open, human and conversational, rather than simply working in its own interest. Nimble The key to effective user engagement is cultivating relationships with your users, often through email, social media, newsletters, blogging, and more. Finding the time for it can be a challenge, especially for startup leaders. Thankfully, Nimble makes it much easier.  The service merges your social media accounts, emails, contact information, and other communication channels, making for an easy way to track and manage conversations, and develop a more meaningful connection with clients. Bounce Exchange Some marketers are obsessed with bounce rates. But they're not a particularly good reflection of your user engagement. The reasons are obvious: If people are choosing to leave, they are not satisfied with what they see on your site. So what if you could stop users in their tracks right before they left, or figure out why they leave? That’s the purpose of Bounce Exchange. This simple tool not only lets you derive contact information, but it helps you capture potential customers at the last optimal point to drive them back to your site. Consider it a last-minute, second chance at connecting to users—one that also helps you figure out what features you can add or remove in order to turn casual browsers into fans. Hubspot Hubspot brands itself as the ultimate inbound marketing tool, and for good reason. The software helps bring users in and keeps them loyal across various stages in the sale process and multiple methods, such as content, landing, pages, social media, and analytics. Boosting your engagement can make a profound impact on your startup’s success. Obviously, if you can elevate your brand’s connection to its customers, you can keep your fans coming back for more.  Photo by n.karim

Media files: MTMyNjI3MTYzMzY2MDkyNzcw.jpg (image/jpeg) WordPress. How to install theme Sample data (SQL import with GoDaddy) Aug 25th 2015, 07:22 This tutorial will show you how to import the WordPress theme sample data using Godaddy Hosting Control Panel. Cherry Framework 4. How to work with Cherry portfolio Aug 25th 2015, 07:01 This tutorial will show you how to work with portfolio in CherryFramework 4 templates.

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Create Beautiful and Complete Style Guides with Frontify Aug 31st 2015, 07:03 Frontify lets yous create your complete and beautiful style guide in less than 5 minutes! It’s simple, fast and fun. Document and maintain your brand or design guidelines with an online tool. Forget about the time consuming manual creation of PDF style guides. Frontify Style Guide makes professional style guide creation a fast and fun experience. Frontify Style Guide is build to be usable without learning, so that you can get started instantly. Our educational material, tutorials and documentations are meant to provide best practices, deeper insights and help inspire our users. Start instantly from scratch, choose between own or various predefined style guide templates. Templates do not only contain editable structure, but also helpful content suggestions and style guide best practices. Requirements: – Demo: https://frontify.com/styleguide License: Free Plans Available The post Create Beautiful and Complete Style Guides with Frontify appeared first on WebAppers.

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UpUp Makes Sure Your Site is Always There for Your Users Sep 1st 2015, 07:03 UpUp is a tiny javascript library that makes sure your users can always access your site’s content, even when they’re on a plane, in an elevator, or 20,000 leagues under the sea. Mobile-First has become the de-facto standard for building modern sites. But in a world where everyone is mobile, an always-on connection isn’t something we can rely on. It’s time to start thinking Offline First. With UpUp you control the content your users see, even when they are offline. And you can do it with just a single JavaScript command. Requirements: – Demo: https://www.talater.com/upup/ License: MIT License The post UpUp Makes Sure Your Site is Always There for Your Users appeared first on WebAppers.

Samsung Gear 2 Takes Circular Path—Back To Tizen Sep 1st 2015, 00:40 When it comes to gadgets, round shapes are the new black, especially for smartwatches. If there’s any doubt, just check out Samsung’s latest update to its smartwatch lineup, announced Monday. See also: Maybe Samsung Is Starting To Think Wearables Through More Carefully Taking a cue from the Moto 360 and other wearable gizmos—the LG G Watch R and Watch Urbane, and the Huawei Watch, to name a few—Samsung cut the corners off of its smartwatch’s previously boxy shape with the new Gear 2.  But unlike those Android watches, it’s what’s on the inside that separates this device. And what’s inside shows off Samsung's latest bid to separate itself from Google by powering it all with the Tizen operating system.  Rounding Off Tizen  Samsung has been touting its open-source Tizen software for everything from TVs to phones and wearables. Here, the Gear 2 follows suit. While it will still work with Android phones, it won't rely wholly on Google for software features and updates.  See also: Samsung Announces The First Tizen Smartphone, The Z1 There’s a downside to that, though: It also won’t benefit from the ballooning assortment of Android Wear apps either. Tizen has tried to go on a charm offensive to court developers, but it still has nowhere near the support of Android. We also don’t know which Android mobile devices it will be compatible with. Samsung’s own, surely, but whether it will only work with the latest smartphones, or support older models is not yet clear. Neither is the price. Likely, the cost will be vary across the company’s duo of Gear 2 models: A sportier version in gray or silver with a white, permanent wristband, and a higher-end Classic model in black with an interchangeable leather strap. Unlike the other smartwatch on people’s lips (or wrists)—namely, the Apple Watch—the Gear 2 has no crown or scroll wheel. Its 1.2-inch circular display features a rotating bezel instead, as well as buttons to go home or navigate backward.  Other details: 360 x 360 resolution display, Near Field Communication (the short-range wireless technology that will support Samsung Pay mobile payments) and battery life that’s roughly average for this breed of gadget, at 2 or 3 days. Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile plan to carry the Gear S2, whenever it is that the watch will launch. Among the other missing details is the release date.  Images courtesy of Samsung

Media files: MTMyNzA5ODAxNzU4MDQyNzU1.jpg (image/jpeg) How To Keep Employees Excited About Working At Your Startup Aug 31st 2015, 22:00

Guest author Scott Gerber is the founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council.

In the beginning stages of your business, you can't always offer competitive salaries. So as you're trying to get off the ground, you have to find other ways to structure your business so that early-stage employees have a different reason to be excited about their jobs. To find out how successful entrepreneurs were incentivizing, I asked a group of founders from YEC what they build into their company's DNA that would attract, and keep, top talent. 1. Build in Learning Opportunities Many early-stage companies can't pay competitively, and we were one of them. However, you can provide your employees with big projects that offer tremendous learning opportunities. For example, one of our early customer-help employees took on a lot of responsibility for support processes and frameworks, learning a lot along the way, and now leads a team of 20. This change happened in less than two years from his start date. While employees may not be able to optimize for salary in the short-term at your company, they can optimize for learning if you give them the chance, and that will not only make them happy but also improve their long-term salary potential. —Bhavin Parikh, Magoosh 2. Offer Everything but Salary While you might not be able to financially compensate just yet, that doesn't mean you can't offer good benefits. Try to build in features that make coming to work enjoyable: free lunch, a library of business reading, flexible summer hours, "Feedback Fridays" for one-on-ones, etc. You can also give incentives like $50 gas cards, train passes, "Idea of the Month” awards, or beer-pong competitions. Do not, however, embellish on what's to come. Nothing is worse than a golden carrot; employees wise up to this very quickly and know that you're actually handing out empty promises. To be a great leader, try to recognize everyone and make them feel valued so they remain loyal to you, even when the money isn't there yet. —Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now 3. Create an Exceptional Community The long hours and high stress of startups means that people get to know each other very well—for better or for worse. In the best-case scenario, this leads to a team that cares about one another and will go the extra mile to help the company succeed. However, cultures like that don't happen accidentally. It's crucial to invest in building the type of culture where people feel connected, heard and valued. Taking the time to learn about each employee and discover what motivates and challenges them is imperative, as well as proactively encouraging employees to form healthy, collaborative relationships by creating opportunities for them to share experiences outside of work and stepping in to mediate when conflicts arise. —Martina Welke, Zealyst 4. Foster a Great Atmosphere You really have to create an atmosphere at your company of a place people would want to work. We try and have a very open working environment where employees can work from couches, desks, or fun locations outside. We order lunch daily for everyone from nice local restaurants and food trucks. We're in Silicon Valley and will never be able to compete on salary with Google, so we have to create an atmosphere where people are still applying left and right to our business and we're keeping everyone around. Next, we make every person an owner and give shares. They feel like part of our business. To date, the only two people who've left our company were because one was having a baby and the other followed his wife who got a job out of the country. Create an environment where people want to work—it's not always about money. —Peter Daisyme, Hosting 5. Create a Vision Program When we first started, we had a visual map of how each person would play a part in our big mission of being the best presentation company in the world. This shows how important each person is, and how their roles are important for attaining the vision. While we may not be able to compete financially, we can compete purposefully. —Kenny Nguyen, Big Fish Presentations 6. Be Present Working hard alongside your employees will show that you are dedicated, excited, and believe in the business. It gives some sweetness to the struggle. Schedule some down days for group trips or activities so you can get to know each other as well. We've visited a friend's goat farm, had movie nights, grilled out on our loading dock, etc. and it's really helped to bond our little group together! Also, be as transparent and open with them as you can about where you see the company going and how you are trying to get there. That will give people a common goal to work towards. —Bailey Spaulding, Jackalope Brewing Company 7. Be Open and Honest I meet monthly with every employee for a 20-minute one-on-one session. Each employee tells me three examples of how they showcased a core value, what they appreciate, what they would improve and the status on their goals (which are tied to bonuses). What I've seen time and time again as an appreciated aspect of our company is “how honest I can be with you." Our culture is focused on constant improvement, and suggestions about how to improve the company, our leadership, our structures and so forth are openly given and well-received by myself and management. Most people just want to be heard. If you give a consistent opportunity to listen and objectively hear their concerns, it can mean a world of difference. —Beck Bamberger, BAM Communications 8. Give Them Interesting Work, and Credit Them for Successes What you can't give in compensation, you can more than make up for in valuable opportunities that will pay off down the road. If you involve your early-stage employees in big projects with a very visible impact on your company's success, and then let them take credit publicly for that success, you'll be boosting their career development. By helping to make them more marketable, you'll be investing in their future growth as professionals—and savvy employees will know that in the long run, that sort of investment pays off much more than a higher starting salary. —Dave Nevogt, Hubstaff.com 9. Offer Stock Options The key to getting long-term buy-in from employees that aren't receiving competitive salaries is to offer stock options. Stock options act as deferred compensation, which frees up resources now to help you grow your company. Stock options tend to vest over time (typically several years), which helps to create better alignment between employee commitment and some future company milestone (like a company acquisition). In addition, giving your team stock options makes them feel like stakeholders. Stakeholders tend to work harder because they feel that their performance will directly impact how much money they are likely to get out of the business when it sells. Stock options also have the power to accumulate considerable value, which makes the trade-off of a lower salary more reasonable. —Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com 10. Promote a Remote Workplace Allowing your employees to work remotely is the key to providing them with the flexibility needed to justify a noncompetitive salary. If your business requires employees to be on site for specific events like team meetings and client visits, make sure to select specific days of the week to have scheduled meetings and provide remote options the rest of the time. One other related strategy is to offer work hours outside of the traditional 9-to-5 timeline. Leveraging both a remote workplace and allowing employees to put hours in on their own time will be more than enough for employees to accept lower compensation during the startup phase of your business. —Obinna Ekezie, Wakanow.com 11. Have Flexible Job Descriptions Part of the excitement of an early-stage startup is that each team member can have a huge impact and work on projects that they normally couldn’t. If you combine flexible job descriptions with coaching, each employee can play to their strengths and take the lead on projects that interest them. This means your team will take ownership over their work, and as a result, come into the office happy. —Shradha Agarwal, ContextMedia Photo by Mack Male

Media files: MTMyNzA2NjM3NDQwOTM3OTU0.jpg (image/jpeg) Can iOS Support Help Android Wear Take Off? Aug 31st 2015, 18:17 The wearables market might be on the rise, but Android Wear doesn't seem to be driving the growth. Estimates suggest a mere 720,000 Google-powered watches were sold in 2014, whereas the Apple Watch has reportedly shifted 3.6 million units in the past three months. So where next for Android Wear? Today we got the answer: iOS. "Now, Android Wear watches work with iPhones," writes Google's David Singleton on the official Google blog. "Android Wear for iOS is rolling out today. Just pair your iPhone (iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6, or 6 Plus running iOS 8.2+) with an Android Wear watch to bring simple and helpful information right to your wrist." Android Wear for iOS. That "simple and helpful information" includes at-a-glance notifications, fitness feedback, and smart help powered by Google Now (available through the Google app for iOS). Backward-compatibility isn't available, though: The LG Watch Urbane is currently the only Android Wear watch to support Android Wear for iOS. Google says all future models—including offerings from Huawei, Asus, and Motorola—will work with Apple products. Google And Apple: Quite The Pair This isn't a hugely surprising move from Google: It already has a bunch of iOS apps, after all, and its Chromecast TV-streaming stick works with iPhones and iPads with a minimum of fuss. Google wants users on its services, not necessarily its hardware, and living a Google-dominated life is almost as easy on iOS as it is on Android at this point. It's also a development that was widely predicted to be in the pipeline. We wanted it to happen; an enterprising hacker actually made it happen on a Moto 360; and now it's all official. There had been speculation that Apple might block such a move, but the Pebble is iOS-compatible and the iPhone supports dozens of fitness trackers and other wearables. While Apple kit may work best in tandem with other Apple kit, the Cupertino company isn't quite ready to completely wall itself in—hence iTunes and iPhone support on Windows, and now Android Wear compatibility with iOS. It's not certain yet how Google's move is going to play out. Android Wear now has a bigger potential audience, while iPhone users have a bigger choice of smartwatches to pick from. It's possible that Google could sell more watches and Apple could sell more phones as a result of Android Wear for iOS, so it's perhaps a win-win all round. It seems unlikely that iOS support is suddenly going to kickstart Android Wear sales to any great degree, but it can't do any harm. The new app also leaves the Apple Watch as the only smartwatch that doesn't work with both Android and iOS—a situation that's unlikely to lead to any loss of sleep for executives at Apple headquarters. For now, the relatively small number of people who feel they do need a smartwatch in their lives are most probably going to stick with the same platform as the one that powers their smartphone. The hardware and software experience of Android Wear is going to have to become pretty compelling from here on in to tempt iPhone users away from Apple's own wearable. Images courtesy of Google

Media files: MTI2NTgxMDk2Mjk1OTY3MzYz.jpg (image/jpeg) Weapons In The Fight Against Spam Aug 31st 2015, 14:00 Guest author Nathaniel Borenstein is Mimecast’s chief scientist and the inventor of the MIME email protocol. Spam represents profound things about the limits of productivity, communication and wisdom. As electronic junk mail, it's the electronic static that limits collective thought. Spam is not a simple problem, and it is not likely to ever go away. Unfortunately, spammers have only begun to explore the range of options and techniques open to them, and this digital detritus is inevitable in any open system of communication.  See also: How To Protect Yourself From Instaspam Although spam cannot be completely eliminated, an intelligent and deep program of spam control—made up of both technical measures and user education—has been able to limit it to the level of a minor but costly nuisance. At least, so far. The Moore’s Law Of Our Email Wasteland Think of spam’s prevalence in the context of Moore’s Law—except in this case, Moore's Law is on the side of the "bad guys." A team of researchers could work for two years and cut the "false negative" rate (or the rate at which spam gets through to users) in half. But at the end of the same two-year period, the spammers, who need do no research at all, have the ability to send twice as much spam for the same cost.  See also: New Security Flaw Allows Attackers to Hijack WordPress Sites In that scenario, the net amount reaching users is unchanged. That’s an oversimplification of a complex problem, but it illustrates how the bad guys start out with a significant structural advantage. Techniques for creating a world with less spam fall under both technical and non-technical categories. While each approach has its benefits, no method is a fool-proof catch-all, which means we must empower and educate users to enlist their own spam defenses. Filtering Using content filters on messages is the first and most widely used approach in spam fighting. It protects is used for outbound messages, to make sure a company doesn't become a vector for anti-social messages, and for incoming messages, to protect users from malicious junk. The filtering can take place on one's own mail servers, on servers belonging to a third party such as a cloud provider, on intermediate relays, or even on an email client. Spammers constantly vary their messages, so successful filtering depends on regular and timely updates to filtering rules. (Most filtering systems get their rules from a relatively small set of well-known providers.) But even so, it’s not as effective as it used to be. Spammers watch and respond to trends in filtering, so they can continually innovate their approaches to get around it, as well as simply send more messages. Authenticating Identity If spammers would only identify themselves clearly, it would be easy to block spam. This observation has led to a plethora of whitelists and blacklists, but unfortunately, it's not nearly that straightforward. For better and for worse, the fundamental design of the Internet enables anonymity. It connects millions of machines, each of which is controlled and authenticated relatively independently. This means that it is generally impossible for a recipient server to confirm any authentication claimed by the sending server, which it has no reason to trust. There are ways to fix this problem, but they face strong opposition, which makes them unlikely to be deployed. The Internet community has been working for more than 20 years to develop person-to-person authentication in email, resulting in email encryption systems known as S/MIME and PGP.  These systems have seen stunningly low adoption rates, in part because of their perceived complexity, and because people don't seem to want strong authentication most of the time. In recent years, domain-based authentication has emerged, using standards like DKIM and DMARC, whereby cooperating sites can authenticate messages based on where they originate. This allows sites to make informed judgements about the mail that comes from another given site and how likely it is to be spam.  Domain-based authentication has tremendous potential, and it's becoming an important new technology in the fight against spam. And, because DKIM allows only the sender's domain to be authenticated, users can combat spam while preserving the privacy of the human sender. The down side: This method substantially complicates the work of running an email service. But although it could help distinguish genuine messages from spam, as long as a sizable portion of the Internet isn't cooperating in this scheme, the Internet's infrastructure will continue to permit that junk mail. Payment Models for Email With traditional postal mail, the quantity of junk mail is limited by the cost of postage. Such incentives clearly don't exist for email. Imposing a payment model would be a way to change that. This tactic has been widely discussed, but rarely implemented. First, there is widespread resistance to the idea of paying for “good' email. The fact that email is essentially free to send is widely seen as a major benefit, so many would be unwilling to give it up—even to eliminate the junk. A variation on this theme poses an interesting scenario: linking money and authentication practices. The only charge the sender gets is when that authentication fails. Companies like Yahoo tried "charity stamps,” in which senders link their email to charitable donations. For each message sent, the sender had to demonstrate that money was donated to a charity. For many companies, that would be less than what they give to charity anyway, so the mail would be incrementally free. To date, none of these systems has found widespread adoption, but such concepts could find renewed interest in an age when email-based attacks and annoyances continue to escalate. Education Ultimately, the best hope for beating spam and other malware is to train users not to be fooled. Most malware depends on tricking users into clicking on a link, opening an attachment or otherwise following some set of instructions. The better-educated users are, the less vulnerable they are to falling for the con. Both organizations and email providers should provide clear information and examples of what not to do. Short, clear and varied messages—that aren’t too frequent—work best, so users don't tune them out. Ideally, safe email habits will eventually seem like common sense to most users—like locking their front door before leaving the house. While none of the above methods can stand up against spam on its own, when coupled with user education, there’s a fighting chance.  Photo by spinster cardigan

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WordPress Troubleshooter. How to deal with “Are You Sure You Want to Do This?” error Aug 31st 2015, 08:52 This tutorial will show you how to deal with “Are You Sure You Want to Do This?” WordPress error message. OpenCart 2.x. Troubleshooter. How to get rid of the “Deprecated: mysql_connect(): The mysql extension is deprecated and will be removed in the future” message Aug 31st 2015, 08:40 This tutorial will show you how to get rid of the 'Deprecated mysql_connect() The mysql extension is deprecated and will be removed in the future' message in OpenCart 2.x. WordrPess. How to add special characters to a post/page Aug 31st 2015, 08:08 This tutorial is going to show you how to add special characters to a post/page in WordPress. CherryFramework 4. How to add Facebook Like Box Aug 31st 2015, 07:43 This tutorial will show you how to add a Facebook Like Box widget to your WordPress website based on Cherry Framework4. CherryFramework 4. Page templates overview Aug 31st 2015, 07:20 This tutorial provides an overview of all page templates in CherryFramework 4 templates. WordPress. How to exclude category from displaying on Blog page Aug 31st 2015, 07:05 This tutorial is going to show you how to exclude category from displaying on the Blog page in Wordpress.

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Tech Geek`s Tools, Tips, Tricks and Tutorials Pipes Output

PriorityNav – Move Your Menu Items If They Don’t Fit Sep 2nd 2015, 07:03 PriorityNav is a lightweight pure javascript plugin that will move your menu items if they don’t fit its parent. PriorityNav is developed by @gijsroge & weighs around 5kb & 2kb gzipped. The idea behind this plugin is based around the priority+ navigation from Brad Frost. PriorityNav is licensed under the MIT license which basically means you can do whatever you want as long as you include the original copyright and license notice in any copy of the software/source. It works on ie9+ (if you include classList.js), Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera. (mobile & desktop). Requirements: JavaScript Framework Demo: http://gijsroge.github.io/priority-nav.js/ License: MIT License The post PriorityNav – Move Your Menu Items If They Don’t Fit appeared first on WebAppers.

5 Trending Markets That Are Capitalizing On Virtual Reality Sep 1st 2015, 22:36 Guest author Konstantin Andreev is the CEO and Founder of Verdom IT Projects and 360-degree mobile app Round.me. Virtual reality is still in the early stages, and it still has several waves yet to go before entering the mainstream. But, with established companies dabbling in VR campaigns, it’s already proving to be a compelling storytelling tool that breaks both physical and economic barriers.

See also: Virtual-Reality Films Could Put The Whole Industry In The Spotlight

Here’s how five industries are using VR to increase engagement, return on investment (ROI), and overall customer satisfaction. Retail Customers cite “wrong size” as the most common reason they return items purchased online. But the return process is a postal nightmare and, quite frankly, not profitable to either the business or the patron. Even when you visit a physical shop, the return process can still be a mess of long lines and paperwork. Enter the digital fitting room. Retailers like Rebecca Minkoff are adapting virtual technology to combat the “fit" dilemma. Blending brick-and-mortar business with a digital approach, the store installed touchscreen mirrors in their onsite fitting rooms. “Online, consumers have gotten used to getting recommendations and selecting products they want in the size they want, but the pain point is always around fit,” said Nilofer Vahora, Rebecca Minkoff’s vice president of licensing and product innovation. "Bringing the 'smart' mirror technology into the store creates a more convenient and personalized experience for the shopper.” The company is also selling a “chic” Google Cardboard headset and offering users a front row seat to its exclusive Fall 2015 runway fashion show, filmed in VR. The fitting room has become a destination for tech makers too. Microsoft wants to bring Kinect technology to its own take on a VR fitting room that can serve customers at home. Strong visuals are key to conversion rates (or turning a window shopper into a paying customer). It becomes harder to abandon the shopping cart when you can virtually see how good it looks on you. Studies show that brick-and-mortar retailers who get shoppers into their dressing rooms will convert 67% of them into buyers. Some retailers have started using innovative methods to get them there—both in the store and online. Photography VR can cast a spotlight on a photographer’s talent and profile, while giving audiences a truly immersive experience. With multiple photography channels via social, professionals tend to get lost in the shuffle. Flat, one dimensional (and most likely over-filtered) photos hardly stand out amid cluttered networks, and it can be hard to convey true art and dimension. Originality is needed more than ever, and that’s where VR fits in. Imagine things like photo effects supplemented with VR headsets, for instance. Photographers have begun to adopt 360-degree photo sharing apps to showcase more depth and interaction in their photos. Several are already compatible with VR headsets, such as Google Cardboard. Most recently, photographer Aram Pan has been getting impressive press with his 360 videos of North Korea. Travel Folks with wanderlust can experience their next epic vacation before it actually happens. This scenario has inspired many hospitality businesses to use 360-degree panoramic images as a standard tool to promote their destinations. With virtual reality technology, these hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs could more fully immerse travelers in their dream venues, boosting the chance they’d physically visit in real life. Already, users can virtually step inside Tokyo nightlife, Bali villas and Parisienne cafes. VR can deliver more than just an impression, however. Hotel chains could offer customers a true feel for how large their room will actually be. One of the world’s most important and profitable hotel chains, the Marriott, is currently working on what it refers to as its “4-D experience” based around Oculus Rift. The strategy takes the idea of “try before you buy” to new, virtual heights. Marriott is not the only travel company experimenting with VR software and hardware. Others—such as Qantas Airways and Destination BC in Canada—are also testing out the technology for their own promotional campaigns. For restaurants, Yelp photos can only go so far. VR apps could give potential patrons a more realistic feel for a location, including its event space. Real Estate Realtors are buying up VR cameras left and right to give clients virtual walk-throughs, so they can make that sale. They can see it in 3D, inside and outside, to study all the possible advantages and pitfalls. According to Matterport, a firm that offers 3D reconstruction, realtors are averaging about 1.2 million views per month for their VR video uploads. Projects go beyond 2D 360-degree photos; they can be a stereo-panorama with 3D effect, or even a CGI 3D experience. Today, real-estate agent Matthew Hood has brought VR to Sotheby’s International Realty, where he uses the Samsung’s Oculus-powered Gear VR headset to show luxury homes in Malibu. It offers a major benefit, since most of the homes there sell to clients who live abroad. (Plus, the neighbors—often high-profile celebrities—appreciate having fewer visitors.) Automotive Buying a car can be one of the most overwhelming experiences for a customer. It’s not always easy to pick from a variety of models, interiors, insurance factors, safety features on the spot—especially when it’s one of the largest purchases a household makes. And yet, most promotional photography don't accurately portray the cars for sale. Even professional images can’t give customers a realistic idea of what to expect, often showcasing special lighting and artificial amplifications instead. A VR viewing could shed more light on the actual condition of the vehicle. The process of creating video with this technology is also becoming simpler all the time—thanks in part to efforts by Google, Jaunt and others—which could extend VR beyond marketing images on manufacturer websites. Sellers trying to advertise used cars could get in on the action. See also: Google Jump Will Revolutionize Making Virtual-Reality Experiences Ford is already one step ahead there, making VR central to its automotive development. Audi, too, has embraced VR to bring the showroom to people's living rooms. Virtual showrooms also make it fun for window shoppers to sit in the driver's seat of a Lamborghini or Aston Martin. (You know, if $230,000 is just be a smidge out of a consumer’s price range.) The applications for virtual reality extends across several industries—from retail, to food and beverage, to gaming. While we’re still a little ways out from full, mainstream adoption, the growth of interest by manufacturers, as well as the increasingly wallet-friendly pricing for headsets, are bringing more people closer to this new, immersive medium.  In order to bank on this sector, however, it’s important for businesses to establish their position in it early on. That way, they can lead the field when the time comes.  Photo credit: ReadWrite

Media files: MTI2NzcwMjc1MTA5OTQ3NDAy.jpg (image/jpeg) Robin's Kickstarter Splash Points To Users' Smartphone Storage War Sep 1st 2015, 20:25 Nextbit is not just any Kickstarter startup. The company, formed by Google and HTC alumni, unveiled its Robin smartphone earlier today and, as of this writing, nabbed more than half of its crowdfunding goal on the first day.  So far, more than 1,100 backers have pledged upwards of $400,000 towards the $500,000 target, making Robin's launch look like an inevitability. The reason for its success seems to stem from a very clear and straightforward message that cuts to the heart of a common complaint from mobile users: lack of storage.  See also: Why Android Won't Save BlackBerry, And BlackBerry Can't Help Android Called "the only cloud-first smartphone" by its makers, the device runs a customized version of Android that automatically offloads photos, apps and more, and stashes them online. Google's mobile OS is already very cloud-centric, from Gmail to Google Photos. But Robin takes it another step further.   Storage Wars The speed with which the Robin's Kickstarter campaign has taken off can't simply be down to the discounts on offer for early birds—it shows users really don't want to worry about local storage any more. Our mobile devices increasingly manage to do more these days, which also means that people store more on them. But built-in phone storage can be expensive, as larger capacity models run at a premium. Meanwhile, features like SD card support are quickly going out of style, in favor of unibody designs unmarred by things like unsightly card slots or removable back covers.  See also: Chip, The $9 Computer, Could Fuel An Explosion Of New Applications Robin attacks this problem as its raison d'être. The device is more affordable than the full retail cost of other premium smartphones, at $399 (full price, though some $349 tier offers are still available at the present moment). For the money, it offers 32GB and 100GB of online space. That cloud storage is key. Rarely opened apps automatically dispatch themselves to the cloud, with their icons grayed out until you need to use (and download) them again. It also backs up full-sized photos over Wi-Fi.  There's another benefit of this approach. Like Google's marketing approach for its Chromebooks, Robin's promotional video practically says, "Don't worry if you drop it in the drink [or see your dog chew on it], because you can just pick up where you left off."  The phone boasts distinctive looks as well: Users can pick from a Mint or Midnight color theme, and the handsets come with a Snapdragon 808 processor, 3GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel camera and a 5.2-inch 1080p IPS LCD display.  Devs, Start Slimming Those Apps Nextbit's success points to the frustrations today's mobile users put up with, and if this marks the beginning of a trend, then many app makers may have to consider more lightweight approaches to building their software and services.  Users likely lose patience first with large apps or apps that cache a lot of data. Games can be some of the worst culprits, and the category could explode further still, if trends like virtual reality explode. But really, any kind of media application is also most probably a storage hogger (particularly if it doesn't have a strong cloud component). Consumers are clearly nonplussed at having to pay so much for larger phone-storage capacity, just to manage their apps and photos. While, it's too soon to say if Robin's tactic hits on the right formula to solve this dilemma, early signs look good.  The approach itself, however, is not entirely revolutionary—in fact, it's somewhat similar to the approach Google and Apple are already taking. An Android or iPhone user can now quickly retrieve apps, contacts, emails and photos with a single sign in on a new phone, even if the process isn't as intuitive or as seamless as Nextbit is trying to make it.  iTunes, Google Play, as well as third-party apps like Netflix and Spotify, already keep content in the cloud and download it as needed.  What the Robin brings to the table, though, is an intelligent, automatic clear-up process that saves users the effort of doing the same job manually. Or at least, that's the claim.  Cloudy Matters For tech makers, cloud storage may seem like the answer to some major problems, but it's not a panacea. It can come with its own set of issues for them and their users—such as available bandwidth, data use, cost and connectivity.  Still, if Nextbit's early Kickstarter popularity proves anything, it's that developers need to work on syncing solutions that operate like magic—without leaving users with a huge data bill or a buffering icon at the end of it. That's not easy.  As of 2015, plenty of users still want that local, offline option despite their storage woes—Amazon beat Netflix to the punch with an offline mode earlier today—and that's likely to continue until high speed Internet access becomes more ubiquitous and inexpensive.  Meanwhile, Google and Apple will probably watch Nextbit's rise with interest. So don't be surprised if iCloud and Google Drive become even more essential to their respective platforms in the years to come. Images courtesy of Nextbit

Media files: MTMyNzI3MTkxNTQzNzgxODU0.jpg (image/jpeg) Google’s Alphabet: It’s All About Getting New Ideas Into Orbit Sep 1st 2015, 14:00

Guest author Christopher Lochhead is a cofounding partner of Play Bigger Advisors. He wrote this post with his partners Al Ramadan and Dave Peterson.

“Gravity is working against me. And gravity wants to bring me down.” —John Mayer  Asking why Google created Alphabet is the wrong question. The right questions to ask are: Why did Google miss social networking? How is it that limo company Carey didn’t see the opportunity in smartphone-powered transportation and Uber's founders did? Why did it take SAP until 2011 to get into cloud apps, twelve years after the founding of Salesforce.com? And how come most of the innovation in technology security is coming from startups and not Symantec, McAfee, or Bluecoat? Existing Markets Have Gravitational Pull We believe the answer to these questions lie in what might be the most powerful force in business—the gravitational pull of existing markets. Gravity drags executives of existing businesses toward perfectly rationale decisions like listening to customers, meeting salespeople's requests, responding to competitors’ moves, and thinking about new features for current products. Managers tasked with competing for market share in known categories don't question these priorities. But it turns out they are death when it comes to inventing new products, business models and market categories. Eddie Yoon, a principal with The Cambridge Group, a consulting firm, in a landmark article for the Harvard Business Review, writes: … category creation is the exception for large companies, not the rule. According to data in Nielsen’s Breakthrough Innovation Report, only 13% of the world’s leading consumer product companies introduced a breakthrough innovation from 2008 to 2010. Although large companies have the resources, capabilities, and growth aspirations to drive category creation, many market leaders merely sit on the sidelines watching new entrants create breakthrough products and business models. Managing Versus Creating The Google search business is one of the greatest technology Category Kings of all time. The search business unit is responsible for almost all of Google’s $66 billion in revenue. ComScore says Google has 67 percent market share and the space is growing at an annual rate of 26 percent At most large companies like Google, executives focus on managing and growing existing businesses. In a lot of ways they get paid to not screw up. Clearly, for Google, the smart thing to do is milk this cash cow forever. The only problem—a legendarily awesome, high-class problem—is what about all of the new innovation Google wants to do? The gravitational pull of the search business inside Google is surely massive.  In the blog post announcing the change to Alphabet, CEO Larry Page wrote that his cofounder “Sergey [Brin] and I are seriously in the business of starting new things.”  If you take Larry at his word, he and Brin are decoupling managing the “as-is” business from creating “to-be” businesses. It is likely that entrepreneurially minded executives inside Google had become trapped by the inertial force of the search business. Gravity-bound executives work 80 hours a week doing business reviews, responding to customer demands, flying around hell's half-acre on sales calls, meeting with investors, and so on. That's required to run a successful operation. The downside is that people “tinkering” on new stuff can seem irritating to executives focused on the core business. A good example of this is the troubled state of Google Now, which is falling behind competing offerings from Apple and Microsoft. Those charged with building the next great business simply don’t get much time, attention, or funding. This gravity dynamic can make it meaningfully harder for the people designing new products, business models, and categories to succeed, especially if they are competing with startups who are solely focused on new category potential.  If any of this was the case inside Google, devising a strategy to cultivate innovation, while preserving the core business would be smart. Rocking Out To The Next Wave Of Change Like the '80s rock bands who used to play stadiums and now headline county fairs—any Loverboy fans still around?—the technology industry is littered with elderly Category Kings who cease to create breakthrough products and categories and lose relevancy over time. Page and Brin are clearly trying to avoid this fate. In this context, Alphabet can be seen as a way to break the newer parts free from the gravity of the colossal search business, increasing their odds of independent success. Nest, led by the entrepreneurial CEO Tony Fadell, is a clear example. If it works, Google could become a Category Kingmaker, while growing the core Google business at the same time. If that happens, we'll be talking about Google for decades to come. If it doesn't—well, there are always those county fairs. Photo by Philip Cohen

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15 Awesome CSS3 Text Effects Sep 3rd 2015, 07:03 Every web designer wants to create only standing apart websites that are appreciated by all Internet users. Of course, it’s impossible to satisfy everyone’s tastes. Still, as a web designer you must merely try to give your best to create the most liked online presences. Fortunately, we have the most powerful tools and resources to create awesome websites since the beginning of the world! Practically, we have so many website templates, frameworks, content management systems, adjacent tools and other stuff, that is impossible to use all of them…In fact, a web designer uses an infinitesimal part of all the available tools. Under these circumstances, the best designer isn’t necessarily the most talented one; the best designer is the one who has at disposal the best tools. Definitely, we want the best for all our readers and consequently, we collected for you some useful CSS snippets that might make the difference in your projects! It’s about 15 great CSS3 text effects – all are handpicked and we think that these may add a sparkle of originality to your next projects. Some of them are useful for particular uses, while others are suitable for multiple uses. Everything man-made is perfectible and this post isn’t an exception! In the event that we missed your favorite CSS3 text effect, please add it in the comment form and we will add it into a future post! Also, it will be great toshare with us your opinion about these text effects. If you love colors and you want a wonderful and full of color text effect, then this one is the perfect solution for you! It is very suitable to display the name of a creative agency or for portfolio projects. Of course, it may be used for any other type of projects – if you want to stand apart, this text effect is a good choice! See the Pen Magnetype by Bennett Feely (@bennettfeely) on CodePen. The loading wave effect is really awesome! It may be used to add a little bit of mystery to a project or to highlight the fact that time is passing. It would be interesting to use it in order to stress a discount or a special offer which is running only for a very short period of time.What do you think? See the Pen CSS Text filling with water by xiaodong (@hxd) on CodePen. This is a very interesting text effect; I think that due to the color scheme used it might be applied to emphasize a vintage design. It’s a smart use of text shadows and it has the potential to attract the users’ attention. Don’t forget, vintage will never die! See the Pen CodePen Text Effect by Jack Rugile (@jackrugile) on CodePen. The next text effect works as a magnet for the viewers. You may use it to improve the sign-up form, to emphasize a new product offered for sale or simply to attract the eyes of the viewers. It’s enticing and a wise web designer would use it into his/her advantage! See the Pen In/out of focus text effect by Jonny Scholes (@jonnyscholes) on CodePen. I think that the trend amongst web designers is to create more dynamic online presences. The cool sliding effects and page transitions are the most used possibilities of adding more dynamism to a website. Still, if you want even more dynamism, this amazing CSS3 text effect may be a good option. I think that is a simple but effective solution! See the Pen Motion by Janos (@nokiss) on CodePen. The most demanding clients are the kids, but it shouldn’t make you give up creating websites for them. If you are working on a kid’s related project or on a funny one, then you may use this text effect! The Jokerman font has its special beauty, isn’t it? See the Pen CSS3 Text Effects.. by Unmesh Shukla (@unmeshpro) on CodePen. CSS3 and 3D have in common more than only the number “3”! CSS3 allows creating good looking 3D effects as the one from this snippet.This effect is suitable for a large pool of projects and I think that you should give it a try! See the Pen CSS text effects by Kellie Kowalski (@scifriday) on CodePen. Sometimes, playing with fire may be fun! Don’t worry, I am not a pyromaniac, I am just impressed by this cool text effect! I didn’t remember seeing this text effect in the layout of other websites, so here is another reason to use it and create an original website! See the Pen Text Effect by Noor AL-Hassan (@N00R_alhassan) on CodePen. In the situation that you appreciate more a discrete text effect, this “foggy effect” is my recommendation. It’s true that it may negatively affect the usability of your website. On the other hand, if you don’t risk, you don’t win! Of course, it may be tweaked to correspond to your requirements! See the Pen Foggy text effect by andreas_pr (@andreas_pr) on CodePen. Even though this text effect is pretty complex, it is realized using only CSS, there is no JavaScript. Personally, I think that it may be used for music related websites or to highlight a specific item from a website. See the Pen SVG Stroke Text Effect by Michael Musgrove (@musgrove) on CodePen. This is a very discrete effect, but I think that it may add the “wow” effect into your layouts. The metallic look is wonderfully created and the appearing/disappearing moments emphasize it. See the Pen animated SVG gradient for a fading text effect by vavik (@vavik96) on CodePen. I may be subjective because I am a big fan of Star Wars movie, but this text effect is really cool. It makes your projects way more interesting and no doubt, the fans of this movie will fell in love with your website because of this effect. See the Pen Star Wars 3D Scrolling Text in CSS3 (with music) by Scott Bram (@squarecat) on CodePen. This text effect substantially contributes to a higher interaction user-website.It reveals once again that CSS3 has a great potential and a talented web designer can create nice animations with just few lines of code. See the Pen Text animation by Yoann (@yoannhel) on CodePen. It’s the last item of this list, but you shouldn’t ignore it. Much more, the cherry on the cake it’s the fact that there are no more than 10 amazing CSS3 text effects. I think that you should carefully check all of them and study how these attracting effects were realized. See the Pen 10 stunning hover effects with scss by Renan C. araujo (@caraujo) on CodePen. The ones that still think that CSS attributes aren’t enough to create cool text effects should give a heed to this one! It combines multiple effects- animation, 3D perspective, shadows and text customization. I think that the shadows and stroke combination are old-fashioned, but this project is created with the purpose of showing what can be achieved with the help of “Pure CSS”. See the Pen 3D CSS Typography by Noah Blon (@noahblon) on CodePen. I hope that I drew your attention to the “magic powers of CSS3”. I purposely added hereonly projects based on HTML and CSS. Obviously, if you add some JavaScript lines of code, the effects will be even more interesting. Anyway, congratulations to the creators of the above projects and let’s hope that you will develop at least as cool text effects as these are! The post 15 Awesome CSS3 Text Effects appeared first on WebAppers.

Tech Makers: Stop Treating Tablets Like Smartphones Sep 2nd 2015, 22:00 Guest author Liraz Margalit, PhD, is a web psychologist at ClickTale, a company that provides website optimization software and consulting. Smartphones and tablets both get us online, store our photos and keep track of our calendars. But they are not the same. In fact, user behavior varies quite a bit between the two. While they're both portable and sleek, and used to get online access when users are away from desktop computers, people have different mindsets around them.

See also: The Biggest Digital Marketing Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make

In the course of my job as a web psychologist, I’m deeply steeped in research, much of which reveals distinct and separate usage patterns. The smaller devices, which tend to be carried on our person, tends to inspire active engagement, while the larger tablets are often used more passively. For tech companies and developers for each device category, it’s crucial to understand these differences. If people come to their devices with different goals, then approaches catering to them and appealing to them need to be distinct and carefully crafted as well. A Tablet Is Not A Mobile There’s a penchant in the tech community to consider tablet devices as nothing more than jumbo-sized smartphones. Sure, tablets could qualify as mobile devices, with their apps, email access and 3G connections. But lumping them together is a mistake, because they each occupy different purposes in the lives of end users.  See also: You’re Managing Your Customer Journeys All Wrong When you own a smartphone and add a tablet to the mix, you don’t end up using your smartphone any less. If both of the devices filled the same purpose, usage time with one would cut into that of the other. But they don’t compete, because users come to their tablets and smartphones for entirely different purposes. A 2014 Mobile Behavior Report showed that only 14 percent of consumers associate the word “mobile” with their tablets and e-readers, despite their portability and wireless Internet access. So while our smartphones are in our pockets and  bags, always at the ready, our tablets tend to be in-home devices. The larger screen may seem ripe for productivity—and in some cases, if that’s the purpose driving the purchase, they may be—but don’t expect all (or even most) tablet users to actively engage them. Mobile phones travel with us, and we use them with a “goal-oriented” state of mind. Tablets, on the other hand, are considered more stationary and at-home and we use them with “browsing” state of mind. Usage of the larger device tends to be more passive, because people associate them with watching videos, movies and reading. So, for instance, demanding active behavior such as registration or entry of personal details may cause your potential tablet customers to ditch your page or app all together. Tablets And Buying Behavior: More Like Computers Than Phones ClickTale’s extensive analysis of customer behavior on the websites of leading enterprises including Wal-Mart and North Face has shown that purchase behavior also varies widely between mobile, tablet and desktop. Customers love to use their portable devices for browsing, “window-shopping” and pre-purchase activities such as price comparison. When it comes to actually whipping out their credit cards and closing the sale, however, desktops or laptops are still overwhelming the machines of choice, with tablets coming in second. There's a psychological explanation for this. Our smartphones are the most intimate of our devices—they sit on our body; they are stroked with our fingers; they know the most intimate details of our lives and schedules. Desktops sit away from us, however. They feel much more separate and distinct. They don’t travel with us, and to access the screen we use a mouse, not our fingertips. Here, too, tablets differ from phones by virtue of their in-home usage. People often think of them as a sister of the desktop computer, rather than the smartphone, which situates them somewhere in between the two. Purchases on desktops, our analysts have found, tend to fall in the functional category—clothing necessities, for example, and essential non-luxury items. On mobiles, however, purchases are significantly more emotional: a last-minute re-booked flight from an airport departures lounge, for example, or a novelty item that restaurant companions discovered on their phones and decided, on a whim, to splurge on. Tablets, like their function, fall in the middle ground. Tablet customers are motivated by both emotion and sensation. These purchases are not the necessities bought on desktops, and they aren’t impulse buys like those on smartphones. Tablet shoppers tend to take their time and let items sit in their cart before pulling the trigger and eventually buying. Whether they realize it or not, people have developed specific mental schemes around these gadgets. It takes more than one-size-fits-all features and strategies to succeed in this multi-device (and multi-platform) age. In development and marketing, you need to consider the unique place that each occupy in people’s lives. Tailor your efforts for the device at hand, and you will find that users will be significantly easier to reach.  Lead photo by Clemens Löcker

Media files: MTMyNzUxNTgxMDUyNDY1MTIy.jpg (image/jpeg) Today's Developer: Multilingual, Excited For The Future ... And Worried About Keeping Up Sep 2nd 2015, 19:33 A new study, the Developer Insights Report, reveals some fascinating characteristics about today's developers: Apparently, they tend to be fluent in a variety of languages, excited about the rush of innovation sweeping the tech scene and, at the same time, overwhelmed by it all.  The inaugural report, produced by the Application Developers Alliance and IDC, surveyed more than 850 developers about topics including the use of coding languages, types of projects tackled, attitudes about work and ambitions for the future.  See also: JavaScript Dominates GitHub, Language Study Shows Another key finding: The representation of female developers also seems to be on the rise, suggesting that recent attention on women in technology is manifesting in some real-world results. Here's more on what the report uncovered.  First, The Good News ADA report 3 (Source: ADA) The study found that developers are a rather multilingual bunch these days: As many as 88% know more than one language, with the largest group (70%) using between two and four in the last year. Some 18% used more than five over that period.  The number of women in the industry is also growing: While they only make up 25% of developers overall, the figure jumps to 42% when looking at those in their first year on the job. Eighty-seven percent of the participants come from the mobile development sector, with Java the most highly cited programming skill (68% are at a moderate or advanced level). Most devs—at 71%—work on both business and consumer apps.  The Downsides The report also explores some of the downsides of software and web development.  When looking at the question of why projects fail, the top three reasons were changing or poorly documented requirements (48%), under-funding or under-resourcing (40%) and poor team or organizational management (37%). Then there are the challenges of the future: The participants reported that their biggest concern is staying current with modern technology and tools. (The major of programmers turn to search engines and online forums for help with a problem.) Maintaining the ability to produce quality code and keeping a work/life balance came in at second and third place, respectively.  This suggests that the people responsible for the exciting new technologies and features place much more importance on work than their own personal lives—which also should make employers more deeply consider the consequences of escalating burnout among their ranks.  What Gets Developers Excited Let's end on a high note: What gets devs excited about the future. Forty-four percent said wearables was the growing technology that excited them most—Apple Watch and all—while 39% named robotics and 35% pegged the consumer Internet of Things movement.

See also: 6 Steps Developers Need To Take To Harness The Internet Of Things

At the bottom of the list was drones, with 19%. (Apparently, they're not as exciting for devs as they are for gadget lovers.)  The whole 39-page report is worth picking through, as it covers open-source software, developer experience, the use of particular tools and reliance on cloud computing.  "The Alliance Global Developer Insights survey shows an increasingly diverse developer universe that is dealing with the increasingly stressful and complex demands of modern business," the report concludes. "The survey provides a broad view of the nature of modern application development, highlighting the increased focus on front-end development, the rise of the consumer app developer and continued adoption of agile methodologies as organizations focus on smaller software development teams." Lead photo by Phil Whitehouse; all other images courtesy of the Application Developers Alliance

Media files: MTMyNzUxNDc3NDM2Mzc5MTA2.jpg (image/jpeg) It's Time For Deep Linking To Move Past The Plumbing Sep 2nd 2015, 14:00 Guest author Matt Thomson is the chief product officer at Bitly. We've heard a lot about deep links so far this year. from Google at I/O and Apple at WWDC. My employer, Bitly, threw its hat in the ring, too. But I feel like the industry is stuck talking about how to implement deep links—and not why. With 70 percent of mobile commerce taking place inside apps, marketers need to take control of app re-engagement—with deep links. Similarly, deep links make it easier to move users from app to app.  A classic example: Google Maps not only provides driving times but also offers Ubers—redirecting you right into the Uber app. The promise of integration is huge, but this is a one-off example. The question going forward is how we can enable these linked customer experiences all the time? A Frothy Investment in Plumbing A majority of initial and current hype around deep linking comes from the investment side. Venture capitalists hope indexing app content will be monumentally different than indexing Web content—and that the unindexed content within mobile apps will somehow be a Trojan Horse they can roll into Google's citadel. The current problem: Deep links are being used for plumbing—if they've even be implemented. In many cases, they haven't even been installed, making app interactions hard to track. Many app developers and product pros are looking at deep linking as an afterthought. According to URX, only 28 of the top 100 apps even have deep links in place. While some strides have been made, the deep-link market is still nascent. This poses a threat for startups because big VC money goes toward educating the market and the “capturing value” part of the conversation is either too far out or imminently dominated by a larger player. It’s important for companies to spend time educating customers about what deep linking is and why it’s valuable. To accomplish this, startups need strong use cases to point to so the industry can move beyond deep linking implementation details and into customer experience. Deep Links And The Mobile Search War Deep-linking adoption got a boost when Google and Apple made it more enticing for all apps to name, expose, and index deep links. At its I/O developer conference, Google announced Now on Tap and recently unveiled ways for locations inside of apps to surface in search results via App Indexing. At its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced Spotlight for iOS, and it’s expected that 70% of all iOS devices will have the new deep-linking capabilities within five months from rollout—which could happen as soon as this month. Apple and Google are giving developers more incentive to create deep-link locations in their apps, while simultaneously educating the market. App-To-App And Word-Of-Mouth Links Will Win Beyond search, there are many other ways for the industry to locate hidden content within apps—for example, mobile-Web-to-app or app-to-app. The latter is particularly interesting, with users spending 84% of mobile time in apps. The app-to-app experience is the market many power startups are pursuing. URX, Button, and Quixey are attempting to enable app discovery and engagement from within other apps. Like Google and Apple, they’ve built robust search and ad-serving technologies by scouring deep links to understand what inside an app is worth surfacing to users. These companies will have long lives, but the company who combines its technology with an ad form factor that feels more native will prosper. Additionally, a huge opportunity exists for marketers to leverage other digital channels to drive app engagement. As many as 52% of consumers discover apps via social media—so deep linking within posts and tweets is imperative to capitalize on that massive opportunity, both organically (word-of-mouth) and inorganically. When it comes to customer experience, it ultimately falls on the marketer to give customers the best ways to move in and out of a product, including enticing users into apps. Yet direct marketing such as email, SMS, and even paid media are still stepchildren when it comes to deep linking. These channels are key to reengaging customers over long periods of time on the Web. Given the increasing need to trace the customer journey in and out of apps and solving problems such as sustaining app engagement, locking in high-lifetime-value users and making the app’s value clear to them, there’s a huge opportunity for the deep-linking industry. First, though, we have to move the conversation past the plumbing and into where the money flows. Photo courtesy of Picbasement.com

Media files: MTI5NTQ3MTY3OTYxNDg2NjEw.jpg (image/jpeg) Magento. How to activate ‘Email to friend’ feature Sep 1st 2015, 08:57 This tutorial shows you how to activate 'Email to friend' feature in Magento

WooCommerce. How to work with Layered Navigation widget Sep 1st 2015, 08:22 This tutorial will show you how to manage Layered Navigation widget in Woocommerce. JS Animated. How to remove the smoothscroll effect Sep 1st 2015, 07:43 Our Support team is ready to present you a new tutorial that shows how to remove the smooth scroll effect in JS Animated templates. CherryFramework 4. How to add and edit author information Sep 1st 2015, 07:35 This tutorial is going to show you how to add or update the information about an author in the template based on CherryFramework 4. Joomla 3.x. How to install Joomla engine and template to GoDaddy (fullpackage installation) Sep 1st 2015, 07:16 This tutorial shows how to install Joomla engine and template to GoDaddy (fullpackage installation). OpenCart 2.x. How to manage Google map in templates 53552, 53398, 53325, 53279, 53122, 53499 Sep 1st 2015, 06:47 This tutorial shows how to edit Google map location in OpenCart 2.x templates 53552, 53398, 53325, 53279, 53122, 53499.

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Facebook’s New Parse Tools Aim For Pro Internet Of Things Developers Sep 3rd 2015, 23:20 Parse, Facebook’s mobile backend platform, has been going through a transformation of sorts—not least of which is a leadership change, sending founder and CEO to the unemployment line. But the work must go on, and so the group rolled out new software development kits (SDKs) that take its Internet of Things (IoT) initiative from hobbyist circles to the ranks of professional vendors. The new kits, which expand on the IoT SDKs it unveiled at Facebook's F8 developer conference last March, now support platforms from several major chip manufacturers. These include Atmel, Broadcom, Intel, and Texas Instruments, all of whom have been pursuing their own connected IoT initiatives. See also: Facebook Is Plotting Its Way Into Your Smart Home Developers can build apps for the various hardware platforms—Atmel's SAM D21 + WINC1500, TI's CC3200, Intel's Edison or Broadcom's WICED—and connect them to Parse's cloud quickly. According to a company representative, the connections could even happen in minutes, "with just a few lines of code.” IoT For Everyone (Especially Partner Companies) Clearly, Parse aims to drive real-world connected products from the burgeoning ranks of IoT companies. But that doesn’t mean the company wants to leave anyone out. According to its blog, different types of developers could use the SDKs for a number of reasons—whether to hack together a garage project or "a production-ready connected product, manufactured at scale.” The representative highlighted a few examples of works built over the last few months with Parse SDKs: • A farm-to-table growing system that lets farmers remotely control their equipment with an app (Freight Farms) • A wireless smart home speaker that syncs music, lighting and more (Musaic) • A smart BBQ smoker that can sense when meat is perfectly done (Trignis) It’s not clear how many of the 800 million active app-device combinations (produced from its open-source SDKs) came from the hands of amateur tinkerers. But whatever the number is, the company likely wants to see more polished offerings from full-fledged business partners. So Long, Sukhar Ilya Sukhar at Facebook's F8 developer conference So it appears the company is pushing forward without its founder. See also: The App Plumber: Parse's Ilya Sukhar Mere days ago, Ilya Sukhar tweeted the news of his departure, though he offered no reason for the change nor any mention of what he would do next.  Sukhar, who does retain his role as a part-time partner at Y Combinator, later referred to his new status as “unemployed.”  Ilya Sukhar photo by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite; all others courtesy of Parse/Facebook Update: An earlier version of this story suggested Sukhar's sudden departure, which arrived with no known plans or next steps, might not have been his idea. Sukhar, who had been working in Facebook's Messenger division since May, reached out to ReadWrite to refute any notion that he was fired.  He told ReadWrite via email:  I resigned very amicably. You can ask Mark :)  I'm not working on anything yet. I'm just taking a break after many years of grinding it out on startups. But I intend to do something cool!

Media files: MTMyNzc4MjMxMDU2MDc4MDk4.jpg (image/jpeg) Why Samsung Just Announced New SmartThings Devices And Deeper Integrations Sep 3rd 2015, 19:29 Some of the biggest names in the global technology industry have been busy showing off their latest wares at the IFA show in Berlin this week. Among them was Samsung, and central to its moment in the spotlight was an upgraded SmartThings Hub and range of accompanying sensors. It's the first major product launch from SmartThings since it was acquired by Samsung last August. The kit is more streamlined and powerful, and the accompanying app is more intelligent; there are also some new developer tools to help reinforce Samsung's commitment to an open and connected smart home standard. The company says its SmartThings platform is now compatible with nearly 200 other devices (such as the Amazon Echo). See also: Samsung On Why (And How) Your Future Smart Home Will Probably Be Theirs Samsung's latest push into everyone's smart-home future comes just days after the unveiling of Google's OnHub router and just days before we're expecting to see an upgraded Apple TV—a device which many expect to be central to Apple's future HomeKit smart-home plans. Here's how the South Korean tech maker is preparing to fend them off.  Deeper Integrations for Developers The upgrades in the SmartThings kit somehow manage to be substantial, without bringing anything particularly new to the table.  The Hub, for instance, now includes video streaming and 10 hours of battery life (so it can keep working in a power cut). The improved app lets you divide devices up into rooms for separate management and get alerts on the go. See also: How Your Need For Detergent And Coffee Will Fuel Amazon's Smart Home Samsung also took the opportunity at the IFA exhibition to launch a new sleep-tracking device called SleepSense: It sits in on your mattress to keep an eye on the quality of your shut-eye and of course integrates with the SmartThings platform. It certainly looks more comfortable for users than wearing a wristband to bed.  Perhaps more importantly, Samsung expanded its "Works with SmartThings" program to offer "deeper integrations" with the platform to third-party developers—although exactly how that works in practice hasn't yet been made clear.  That deeper integration sounds like it enables hardware partners to go beyond basic compatibility to operate as seamlessly as SmartThings-branded kit does. (ReadWrite has contacted the company asking for clarity, and will update this post if it responds.) The move could drastically extend the system, as there are now more than 10,000 developers involved in the SmartThings community, according to Samsung. The list includes big-name partners, such as Honeywell, Yale, D-Link and Bose.   The Connected Landscape Is Still Disconnected Although Samsung's lineup of partners seems vast, it bears noting that many hardware makers will happily make products that work with whatever standard other tech giants come up with as well, provided the entry bar is low enough to make it worth their while.  That puts some of the focus on next week's Apple press event. If the leaks and rumors pan out about the next-generation Apple TV, then Samsung, Google, Apple and Amazon will all have devices on the market designed to sit in your home and control everything from heating and lighting to home security.  See also: Apple's Fuzzy Vision Of The Smart Home Is Becoming Clearer From Samsung's point of view, its advantage over Apple lies in an open smart-home standard that all are welcome to tap into. "We're continuing our commitment to deliver the easiest smart home solutions with a truly open 'Internet of Things' platform that maximizes collaboration and innovation across the industry," SmartThings CEO and founder Alex Hawkinson said in a press statement.  Google has similar ambitions with Weave, the cross-platform communications layer the tech giant announced earlier this year. The company also aims to connect everything together using one standard—its own, of course—but the proprietary nature of Weave sets it apart from Samsung's approach. Still, it makes for major competitor in a line-up of technical juggernauts, with approaches from Apple (HomeKit), Google (Weave and Brillo) and Samsung (SmartThings).  Meanwhile, in the expanding universe of smart homes, hardware and software developers are flying around, racing to support as many platforms as possible. They are very likely wishing the industry would make up its mind and dub one of them the market leader.  To give Samsung its due, at least it's making the right noises about interoperability—you can use the SmartThings system from Android devices or iPhones. That's not likely to ever happen with Apple's HomeKit. But even so, the smart home remains a dizzying maze of products and compatibility issues for both consumers and developers. And it may be several years more before the big companies can lead us (and themselves) out.  Images courtesy of Samsung/SmartThings

Media files: MTMyNzczODE1ODI5Njk3ODEw.jpg (image/jpeg) Your Connected Product Could Be Your Best Customer Engagement Tool Sep 3rd 2015, 14:00 Brian Solis is a digital analyst, anthropologist, futurist and author of X, What’s the Future of Business (WTF), Engage! and The End of Business As Usual. In a time when connectedness is part of everyday life and people have become online media platforms, customer experiences either work for a company or against it. Those experiences, now widely spread and shared so easily, have become the new brand. Brands are, as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos once put it, "what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

See also: The Biggest Digital Marketing Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make

Think about all the ways businesses have to engage customers before, during and after the transaction: social, mobile, digital (i.e. web), wearable devices, email, POS, signage, packaging, word of mouth, and so on. There’s also an entirely new channel arising that's flying under the radar of marketers today. While not new to engineers, developers and savvy tech execs, the Internet of things (IoT) is set to become the next big trend for marketers and anyone leading service and support, product management and e-commerce initiatives. Connecting The Dots My colleague at Altimeter (now part of Prophet) Jessica Groopman learned in her latest research on IoT that consumers are expected to own over 20 simultaneous connected devices by the year 2020. Some of us are already close. For those unfamiliar with IoT and its relationship to customer experience, think of it this way: Imagine that everything is connected to the Internet via a private network—your camera, watch, car, printer, oven, thermostat, lights, and more. Now imagine that each device learns how you use it. Not only does the user experience improve through technology, but the information is managed through an intelligent customer relationship management (CRM) system of sorts. The manufacturer can learn about the customer's usage, behavior and preferences, and also anticipate needs—all in the name of personalizing and improving the user experience. Doc Searls, author of the groundbreaking book The Cluetrain Manifesto (1999), introduced the concept of "Products-as-Platforms” a couple of years ago. He asked businesses to look at possibilities beyond marketing gimmicks. He envisioned a scenario in which customers were in control of relationships before, during and after transactions. He called this VRM, or vendor relationship management. His point was that people should be in control of relationships and products, acting as conduits, not dumb terminals. Products, As Customer Engagement Tools Imagine that your printer is running out of ink. Instead of merely displaying an alert, the same screen could connect you to Amazon or your favorite retailer to order replacements.  See also: How Your Need For Detergent And Coffee Will Fuel Amazon's Smart Home Amazon’s Dash button offers a similar premise, but requires manual input. However, this could happen even before you’ve run out, because the printer already knows your usage behavior and has anticipated the need. This idea of “in product communication” is what companies like Aviata are working on. If they succeed, VRM not only becomes a viable option, it may even change the game for customer experience and ultimately the mathematics of the lifetime value of a customer. Within the context of IoT, products can continue to work for your company, even after they’ve been purchased. These items could open new channels of proactive engagement, allowing you to redefine customer engagement beyond all of the channels you lean on today. In other words, the product itself becomes a tool for engagement and personalized "experience architecture.” This is basis for the future of customer experience, a foundation based on personalization, meaningful engagement and additive value. This new type of product communication is incredibly promising. It could change the dynamic for how companies build relationships with their customers, beyond warranty registrations and product support. This is the future of customer relationships. What it takes is to get there is vision, purpose, a sharp eye for what your users need, and the drive to give it to them.  Lead photo by William Murphy

Media files: MTMyNzYzOTI4Mjc4MTI0NTU0.jpg (image/jpeg) OpenCart 2.x. How to create a new module block and assign it to the home page Sep 3rd 2015, 07:11 The following tutorial is going to show how to create a new module block and assign it to the home page in OpenCart 2.x.

OpenCart 2.x. How to upgrade the engine Sep 3rd 2015, 06:43 This guide will explain how to upgrade OpenCart from 2.0.x version to 2.0.3.1. CherryFramework 4. How to change the logo size for a specific browser width Sep 2nd 2015, 08:59 This tutorial is going to show you how to change the logo size for a specific browser width. CherryFramework 4.x. How to create custom styled lists with shortcode Sep 2nd 2015, 08:42 This tutorial will show you how to add a list with icons in CherryFramework4 template. Joomla 3.x. How to configure Google login in “Joomla Social Login” component Sep 2nd 2015, 07:52 This tutorial is going to show you how to configure Google+ login in "Joomla Social Login" component.

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How GitHub Aims To Safeguard Your Project’s Code Sep 4th 2015, 18:50 Thing can get confusing in GitHub, the popular repository where as many as 10 million developers stash code, collaborate or build off of someone else's efforts. In that milieu, it’s easy for users to get lost and accidentally overwrite other people’s work. But that may change, as the organization announced a new feature Thursday to help administrators prevent such catastrophes. The new Protected Branches feature, available in a few weeks, will let repository owners safeguard their source code from contributors who “force push” changes on top of certain, valuable parts of their projects.  “When it’s enabled for your repositories you’ll be able to go to the Branches tab in repository settings and protect branches,” wrote GitHub designer and product manager Ben Bleikamp in the official blog post. Once they're ready for the fray, they can pull the trigger and let in the community.  Safety First Once you protect a branch, it cannot be overwritten or deleted. It will also use status checks to the master branch, and block any attempts at merges, if the branch is not up to date. See also: How To Win Friends And Make Pull Requests On GitHub Although GitHub offers “undo” commands, which nix errors by reverting to an earlier version, the steps vary depending on the issue. Undo commands are also reactive measures after the changes have been committed.  In contrast, Protected Branches stops the overwriting before it happens. Together, they make for a toolbox of sorts so administrators can battle wayward issues. Not everyone may be happy with the new feature, though. Some contributors could get frustrated by being barred from certain areas. But this type of control is essential for high-value software (like code used in business applications).  Hopefully now, no one will ever have to suffer seeing months of their critical work get vaporized.  Images courtesy of GitHub

Media files: MTIyMjkzMzEyODY5NjU3ODgx.jpg (image/jpeg) On-Demand Startups: How To Conquer One City At A Time Sep 4th 2015, 14:00 Guest author Pablo Orlando is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder and COO of Gone, an on-demand selling service that helps users rid unwanted items. New on-demand services are springing up everywhere and changing business in nearly every possible way. But as legion as they might seem to be, getting them off the ground is no easy task. Managing operations for a growing on-demand startup and launching services in new regions are extremely challenging feats. More often than not, the complexities can make for a total nightmare without proper planning.  See also: Can You Be The Next Uber? It's Easier Than You Think There's no easy route to becoming successful. But for entrepreneurs who are on a mission to become the next "Uber for X [insert some unrelated industry]," the following advice is for you. Here’s how you can expand your on-demand service, one city at a time. Go With What You Know As a new on-demand service, consider the specific opportunities that each new city provides for your business. This could also be partnerships you have already established in a city, or how fast you think you can establish a presence before competitors can catch up. For MeUndies, a premium underwear and basics startup, partnering with Postmates allowed them to offer on-demand delivery of shorts, briefs, T-shirts and more in Los Angeles within an hour or less. Postmates’ newly released API allowed third-party companies to offer local delivery via its on-demand service. For MeUndies, the partnership was a perfect opportunity to test a new distribution model in a popular city. Another crucial matter: choosing the right region for your services’ expansion. In the selection process, you need to consider factors beyond market size. When we launched Gone, our on-demand app to help people sell unwanted items in their homes, such as electronics or furniture, we first launched in just two cities: Austin and San Francisco. These were markets we were familiar with, thanks to our time at TechStars Austin and Bay Area team members. Launching in just two cities allowed us to analyze safety and prove our concept on our home turf prior to broader expansion. Admirable companies pursuing similar strategies are Instacart (on-demand groceries) and Wag (on-demand dog walking), both of which solidified their home markets before expanding to nearby markets. “If you haven’t unlocked the core market you’re in and really made your experience amazing, your chances of success declines with every city you expand into. Being first to the market isn’t winning. Being right is winning. It’s a race to liquidity; it is not a race to geography.” noted Simon Rothman of Greylock Partners in a recent conference on what’s happening with on-demand startups. One Size Does Not Fit All When the time comes to validate the success of your on-demand company, the quality of your service in each city should always exceed the quantity of cities in which your service is available. However, though you should capitalize on the knowledge you’ve gained from your first launch, don’t assume a one-size-fits-all strategy will work everywhere. Take a lesson from the pioneer of the on-demand economy, Uber: The company credits the success of its city-by-city expansion to acknowledging early on that its strategy needs to be tailored to each new location. Our company also knew it needed to understand the unique challenges and traits of each location. We kept some key frameworks in place, but also modified them according to the unique demands of each market. For instance, with an extremely dense city like New York, we couldn’t necessarily apply the same logistics flow as our concierge pickup service in Austin. In Boston, which has a large student-oriented demographic, we needed to schedule our efforts to handle an increase in selling activity during the academic calendar year. Take Quality Control Seriously An excellent way to maintain consistent quality of your on-demand service is by noting repetitive processes and optimizing them. When you discover processes that work, keep an eye out for patterns and automate the repetitive actions. You want produce consistent results and fewer issues, regardless of location. With on-demand services becoming more mainstream, consumers’ expectations for these services are also on the rise. Consumers now expect an increasingly higher level of timely, quality delivery service. This has led to the creation of a new slew of offerings designed specifically to help on-demand businesses successfully meet demand. Quality control also applies to the expansion of your team. If city expansion requires you to hire an operations manager, pay thorough attention to that first hire. You want someone who not only has the expertise, but also the commitment to the same standard of quality you’ve achieved in other cities. Most on-demand startups require quite an undertaking on the operations and logistics side, so the proper domain knowledge on the ground will help you understand your audience and increase your chances of success. Speed and Adaptability are Key Finally, speed and adaptability are crucial for city-by-city expansion. You need to be able to establish your presence while also being able to move quickly based on market changes. Following a drop in task-completion rate, errands marketplace TaskRabbit realized it was not being efficient in effectively matching supply and demand with the auction business model, where contractors would bid for tasks posted by users. The growing number of on-demand and one-day delivery services from companies like Uber and Amazon had altered consumer expectations and increased the demand for push-button offerings. TaskRabbit quickly changed its model to match users with potential contractors, allowing users to book the contractor of their choice with just one click. The company applied its new on-demand concept to a new city, London. After comparing the numbers, it decided to bring the model to its other established markets, even though it had already attained critical mass with its original approach. Because market demands change all the time, balancing the needs of your customers—while guiding them through any service changes—will be a challenge. Customer relationship management plays a big role here, so allocate the proper resources. Ultimately, you need to be open to altering your service—or prepare to be left behind. Focus on developing your own playbook filled with the right balance of replicable processes and tailored efforts, and you can conquer each new city with success. https://instagram.com/thegoneapp

Media files: MTIxNDI3Mjk1MDcxNDA1NTgx.jpg (image/jpeg) CherryFramework 4. How to insert a video using shortcodes Sep 2nd 2015, 07:27 This tutorial shows how to insert a video using shortcode in Cherry framework 4. Monstroid. How to manage Team posts Sep 2nd 2015, 07:05 This tutorial shows how to manage Team posts in Monstroid templates. PrestaShop 1.6.x. How to work with “TM Newsletter” module Sep 2nd 2015, 06:32 This tutorial shows how to work with TM Newsletter module in PrestaShop 1.6.x.

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Deal of the Week – The Huge Font Bundle Sep 7th 2015, 10:57 If you have a blog, a website, or any other type of presence online you are going to want to check out the new font package that’ll make your website look like it just came out of an extreme makeover episode, as these fonts are all incredibly gorgeous and they’ll look great on any type of website – provided the website’s owner can use them with a sense of decency. The Huge Font Bundle is for sale for $29 and with it, you’ll be getting 49 fonts with a FREE addition of 17 fonts, just to reward you on your purchase. This boils down to less than $0.5 per font and if you ask me, that is a pretty cheap price to pay for a font. The pack doesn’t come with just fonts, but it also comes with some bonus graphics, ornaments and other extras – everything that could be added to this pack. This bundle deal is only available in September. Take a look at the fonts, consider the bonuses included in the bundle and then make your decision if you like what you’ll be getting for such a small price. With a little bit of creativity, you can use these fonts in thousands of different ways, ranging from simple decoration to great attention-grabbing titles: the sky is the limit. Honestly, I’ll be using some of these fonts myself. The post Deal of the Week – The Huge Font Bundle appeared first on WebAppers.

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LinkedIn's Up-And-Comers Are Getting A Follow Button Sep 8th 2015, 11:00 In the guise of a new list of up-and-coming businesspeople, LinkedIn is testing a new format for profiles that emphasizes followers, not connections—and, like Twitter, makes the size of people's followings on the professional network plainly visible. LinkedIn's Next Wave list takes the familiar form of business-magazine lists of upstart whippersnappers, featuring 150 LinkedIn members, all ages 35 or younger.  See also: LinkedIn Has Fundamentally Changed How You Interact With People The professional network added data—such as profile views and news mentions tracked by LinkedIn's Newsle acquisition—to the editorial judgment of LinkedIn executive editor Dan Roth's team and the opinions of LinkedIn Influencers, the established business leaders who contribute essays on the site. Follow The Leaders The list is worth a read, with notables like Whitney Wolfe, the former VP of marketing and cofounder of Tinder who sued the dating-app maker for sexual harassment and is now running her own app company, Bumble. Also appearing there is Ruzwana Bashir, the CEO of Peek, a travel-experience-booking service. Far more notable is the subtle makeover their profiles received last week, in advance of the list's publication. In place of the familiar "Connect" button, there's a Follow button. And the profile lists the number of followers in place of the number of connections. LinkedIn has long displayed a limited amount of information about people's connections, based on the theory that one shouldn't compete to bolster the number. Once you hit 500, that's it.  See also: LinkedIn Has Fundamentally Changed The Way You Interact With People The 500-person limit has become an object of fascination for LinkedIn members. In his recent epic-length essay for Bloomberg Businessweek, "What Is Code?", Paul Ford describes a change-fomenting "man in the taupe blazer": This man makes a third less than you, and his education ended with a B.S. from a large, perfectly fine state university. But he has 500+ connections on LinkedIn. That plus sign after the “500” bothers you. How many more than 500 people does he know? Five? Five thousand? Rejoice, those who have asked this question. As I reported last year, since July 2014 there's been a way to see, roughly, how many connections a person has. All LinkedIn members have, tucked away on a secondary screen, a Follow button and an exact count of the number of followers they have. The Next Wave 150 are joining LinkedIn's Influencers, the group of roughly 500 big names in business, in having a Follow button on their profile.  "It's something we want to extend to that group," Roth said. "Follow is an incredibly important function for LinkedIn." There's a practical reason for this, Roth told me: LinkedIn wants to give people an action to take if they find these people interesting—and it doesn't want them to be inundated with connection requests from people they don't actually know. All Buttoned Up So that raises the question: Why doesn't everyone have an easily found Follow button already? My best guess is that LinkedIn is taking a conservative approach to foisting a big change in behavior on its more than 380 million members. Besides Influencers, since last summer, you've been able to follow people who use LinkedIn's publishing platform, though you've had to do so by seeing a Follow button on one of their posts, not their profiles. The two initiatives aren't connected: While some Next Wave list members do publish posts on LinkedIn, it wasn't a requirement for the list, Roth told me, and you'll be able to follow them to see any public updates they share on LinkedIn. (In theory, you could have done this with anyone as of last summer, but with the Follow button hidden away, there was little reason for people to try to attract followers with their public updates.) The one spot where it's becoming easy to follow people is on mobile. In LinkedIn's core mobile app and its Pulse newsreading app, LinkedIn now emphasizes following people over connecting with them.  It's all part of a glacially slow transformation of LinkedIn's fundamental social model, from a Facebook-like, two-way connection to a Twitter-like system of so-called "asymmetric" relationships: You might follow people you don't know who don't follow you in return; you might mutually follow someone who follows you; or you might, in the old-fashioned way, still "connect" with colleagues or professional acquaintances—which counts, as LinkedIn transitions to this new system, as a mutual act of following. Here's why this matters to you, whether or not you wear a taupe blazer: Well, for one, LinkedIn might run this list again in the future, and you'll want to score as high as you can to have a shot at it. Far more likely, though, is that this list is a test run for LinkedIn's algorithms, and, just as LinkedIn rolled out access to its publishing platform step by step, I wouldn't be surprised if LinkedIn starts rolling out Follow buttons first to thousands of its users, then to millions. You, too, may be getting a Follow button soon.  So Next Wave personalities aren't just worth observing for their business accomplishments. They may well be part of an experiment in teaching LinkedIn users a whole new way to interact with each other.

Lead photo courtesy of Shutterstock

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Prestashop Announces Their Updated Software Version: What’s In “Store” Now? Sep 9th 2015, 07:31 PrestaShop is open source e-commerce software used to power over 250,000 stores with international access. The developers of PrestaShop and others are committed to helping small businesses expand into the e-commerce trade at no cost. The updated version of the software primarily sports a new facelift in the back office, but they have added a few tweaks that the users will find make their experience better, faster and less likely to slow down during peak traffic times. The primary reason for the decrease is the improvement to SQL queries and cache issues. According to Jocelyn Fournier, CEO and Founder at Softizy, “1.6.1.0 is a major release in terms of performances, with up to 10x speed up in some cases”. It is well-known that the European Union not only took ten years to form and gain full steam, they came with a labyrinth of regulation and rules to be navigated through in order to do business internationally. This can be very challenging to those who wish to maintain an international retail presence. The developers at PrestaShop have placed 15 new options into the “Advanced EU Compliance module”. These additions will make legal compliance less complicated and faster. This update has been something users have needed for a while. In addition to the changes in the EU Compliance module, the coders have adopted the PSR-2 coding style. In April 2015, a survey of developers working with PrestaShop was polled about the change to PSR-2. Nearly 85% of the respondents thought it was a good idea to move to the PSR-2 code base. It was reported in June 2015 that the move would begin with the release of PrestaShop v1.6.6.0. The thought process on this change was to assist in keeping code integrity. All new code submitted through GitHub should follow this style guideline. PrestaShop has also tweaked the taxes and price calculator. The rounding of prices and management of taxes has been improved over the previous versions and should make the checkout process more streamlined and efficient. The back office controls, the search function and the installation (and update) processes have all been improved. Besides the new coding standard that’s been adopted, they are introducing a new practice in relation to the Semantic Versioning Scheme. For those reading this that aren’t familiar with what “semantic versioning” is it is the process by which updates to software are tracked. SemVer for short makes tracking changes to the program easier. The numbers will end up being more coherent as time goes on and will make it easier for developers around the world coding for the software to know if they need to check if the newer version will impact their module design or their client’s stores. The post Prestashop Announces Their Updated Software Version: What’s In “Store” Now? appeared first on WebAppers.

Javvy – 150+ Bite-sized, Interactive Java Tutorials Sep 9th 2015, 07:03 Learn how to code in Java: Whenever, wherever. With Javvy and its 150+ bite-sized, interactive tutorials, getting started with programming has never been so easy and so much fun. Javvy is the easiest and most entertaining way to make your first steps in programming. Javvy picks you up at the very beginning and allows you to learn at your own pace. With bite-sized tutorials, no break or subway ride is too short for a little coding. Javvy has a ready tongue and is packed with jokes and references to popular culture. Requirements: – Demo: http://javvy-app.com/ License: License Free The post Javvy – 150+ Bite-sized, Interactive Java Tutorials appeared first on WebAppers.

The Race To Find Meaning From All That Fitness Data Sep 8th 2015, 20:08 Smartwatches and fitness trackers now come in shapes and sizes to suit everyone, but the data they produce is all along similar lines: Step counts, activity times, sleep duration and so on. On more advanced devices, you might get some extra metrics, but the basics are the same.  Even two apps as disparate as Google Fit and Apple Health—different developers, different platforms, different user interfaces—report back a lot of the same information. One of the critical challenges for both manufacturers and programmers is making this data meaningful enough to keep users engaged and working on their fitness in the long term. See also: Google Fit vs. Apple Health: Who's Winning The Race? For a deeper look at how developers can use this raw data to carve out something unique and compelling, we spoke to three people at the forefront of the wearable app revolution. "Cracking The Social Layer" Paul Veugen is the co-founder and CEO of Human, a company working on both a personal app for setting activity goals, and a system of data visualizations spread across cities. For Veugen, the hard work starts once the data has been gathered.  "Both Android and iOS have a great foundation to access sensor data ... but turning that data into more meaningful user feedback requires quite some post-processing," he says. "Google Fit and Apple Health offer the building blocks to build a nice solid timeline of your day, but need to mature a bit more to offer a clean overview, especially for anything else than walking or running." "The biggest opportunity in our space is not solving the tracking puzzle," adds Veugen. "I think it's more interesting to focus on what makes people use these products in the first place: How can we shift data as much to the background as possible?" Social could be the way in: "When people care enough about the gameplay and functionality, absolute tracking accuracy is not really a big deal. Cracking the social layer around health and fitness is a great challenge—it's hard to find great examples in the health and fitness space that are social from their core." Strava is one app that has social and gaming features that Veugen particularly likes. As for the Human app, it focuses turning motion and location data into real-time insights: Veugen says the more accurate and more layered the data, the better the inspiration and motivational encouragement for users. "We're tracking about 100 million activities every month, and trying to turn these activities into insights about movement around you," said Veugen, whose company shows real-time statistics for 900 cities around the world. "We're building our community around activity," he said. "We believe this data can not only be valuable to improve Human for our users directly, but can help to improve our physical world." "Connecting Multiple Datasets" Siva Raj is the founder and CEO of Revvo, a startup looking at the science behind physical fitness and innovations in the field of the quantified self. By analyzing its users' VO2Max level—shorthand for maximal oxygen consumption or uptake—the Revvo system aims to provide real-time, customized coaching advice.  Raj sees the biggest opportunity for developers in "creating real meaning by connecting multiple datasets" within an app, he said. "From the user perspective, despite the plethora of options available, the biggest challenge seems to be knowing what’s the right thing to do so you see quick progress to your goals."  Providing tailored direction in the very moments that the end user needs it is the goal, but it's not easy: "This is a challenging problem to solve," he said. "People have different goals; they're starting at different points; they need to train differently; they are progressing at different rates; they can each have different reactions to the same or equivalent training program ... and of course lifestyle, motivation levels and preferences are all different."  Ultimately, when such apps and their underlying platforms succeed, they act more like actual sports coaches or personal trainers, offering advanced feedback, but without the costly price tag.  "Today this requires an experienced coach and expensive or repeated measurements at a fitness lab—accessible only to elite athletes," Raj said. "The question is can technology effectively support or substitute this at a lower cost so that everyone can benefit?" Wearable hardware needs to improve as well, he added: "None of the available wrist and arm based monitors are consistently accurate when compared to the chest strap, and I think we’ve tested nearly everyone of them," said Raj, who has noticed they can lag 20 bpm [beats per minute] on average, or fail to work at all for some users. "Accuracy matters," he said, "particularly when you are trying to make real sense of data." "Finding Meaning In The Data" Josh Sharp, co-founder of Exist, has his eyes on a more universal goal: giving users "a way to track and understand your life."  Sharp believes "there are so many opportunities to do great things with this data that nobody has really nailed yet," he said.   "Fundamentally, activity trackers are stupid—they react to physical activity and return you a number," he adds. "If you look at this as low-level data, you see there's so much opportunity to build on top of that to produce 'high-level data' ... turning things like step counts into more meaningful information about your relative progress against your average day, for example."  Making sense of the information is a high priority at Exist, which doesn't simply collect raw numbers, but evaluates them to uncover trends and correlations.  Sharp also suggests using aggregated data to "build intelligence" into other apps. One of his company's new features uses your recent step count history and the time you wake up to work out the likelihood of you reaching your goal on a particular day, before you've even started walking.  "Your music player could know what genre to suggest based on the time of day, your mood, and your current productivity levels, or your language learning app could go easy on you if it knows you had a really bad sleep last night," Sharp said. "To some people, this sounds like a dystopian hell, I know! But I'm excited about all the opportunities here that people could be building right now." The sheer volume of data we keep about ourselves, already massive, will only grow as the IoT (Internet of Things) ecosystem matures. That will "spur an even greater need for tools that give that data meaning," he adds. "Alongside the rise of cheap, ubiquitous Bluetooth location beacons, we'll see new experiences based around ultra-local location and interaction tracking—knowing where you are and what you're looking at, and even who you're with."  With social layers, multiple datasets, intelligent meanings, and more, there's a lot for developers to explore. The challenge is now on to take those streams of data  and build something unique and meaningful from them.  Images courtesy of Human, Revvo and Exist

Media files: MTMyODg3NTg0MTQ0NjU5NzMw.jpg (image/jpeg) Smart Homes: How To Keep From Missing The Greatest Tech Opportunity Of Our Time Sep 8th 2015, 14:00 Guest author Kent Dickson is the CEO and co-founder of Yonomi, a smart home app developer.  Smart homes should simplify our lives. When connected TVs in these residences come on, other devices are supposed to react. Ideally lights will dim, the phone’s ringer will mute and the speakers will stop playing music. When a smart household’s baby monitor notices an infant stirring in the night, the speaker in the nursery should begin to play a soft lullaby or white noise to sooth him back to sleep. This type of simple and seamless functionality could be our reality. But for most people, it’s not—at least not yet. Whether it will ever be hinges on one crucial factor: whether those connected devices, produced by different manufacturers following various standards, can all work together one day.  See also: Google's Offering Smarter Tools For Smarter Apps And Homes The industry, as disjointed as it is, needs to come together and create an ecosystem that's as comprehensive and inclusive as it is innovative. That’s no easy task, but it is critical for the smart home—especially now, with so much interest in connecting and automating our residences. How To Bring The Smart Home Together There are two ways to create this more unified ecosystem: either the industry groups agree on common, widely adopted interoperability standards, or the tech makers support open APIs (application programming interfaces) for more integration and support across software and services. There’s some precedence for the first approach. After all, it’s how we got the World Wide Web, which rescued us from the proprietary walled garden hells of the old AOL and CompuServe platforms.  Back then, content and services were closely controlled by a few and, as a result, innovation was heavily constrained. Later, the Web’s open standard enabled anyone to build websites, services or content, and instantly make it available to everyone in the world. It paved the way for unfettered innovation and transformation ever since.  See also: Homes Can't Truly Be Smart Without Security Unfortunately, the industry is not likely to reach consensus on a dominant smart home or Internet of Things (IoT) standard. The uses for connected devices are so diverse, finding a one-size-fits-all solution seem highly improbable. In fact, today there are dozens of competing standards, each with merit, that are evolving independently with no sign of consolidation. In a broader and more inclusive IoT ecosystem could work, if all parties offer open APIs—which are essentially software access points that allow third parties to control devices and access data from the originating system. Open APIs are relatively easy for product makers to implement, and their existence would then enable a raft of new products and services to link, coordinate and optimize a user's connected home. At present, these are our best hope for a thriving and innovative IoT. Tear Down The Walls Simply having these APIs is not enough, though. The product makers must make them equally available to all comers (within reason). Ultimately it should be the consumers—the users who bought these products and brought them into their homes—to decide which third party apps and services they want their devices to support. Just like you get to choose the Web browser or mail application you like on your desktop computer, so too should you be able to choose the automation engine you use for your lights, music and locks, or the energy optimization service that controls your thermostat. Fortunately, most connected device makers offer APIs, but they are allowing access to only a few closely held partners. It’s as if they don’t trust consumers to decide for themselves who should have access to their devices and their data. Consider this a call to action: Tech makers, open your APIs to all comers, and let consumers pick the winners and losers. Openness is key. People need to be able to say, “I bought this product. Don’t constrain my choices or give me walled gardens.” We stand at a precipice in time where the Internet of Things can go the AOL/CompuServe route or the World Wide Web route. It's still a toss-up, which way it will go. But we cannot just hope for the latter. We must demand it. Lead image courtesy of Sony

Media files: MTIyMzAzNzM4NjM0MzM4OTE4.jpg (image/jpeg) Hovercards – Chrome Extension for Preview Social Links Sep 8th 2015, 07:03 HoverCards is a chrome extension that lets you preview social links from youtube, twitter, reddit, soundcloud, imgur, & instagram. So next time your friend sends a video you’re too lazy to click, just hover for cards. HoverCards is a browser extension that gives you more context to links when you hover over them. It’s similar to how PH shows a preview of people when you hover over their images. Requirements: – Demo: http://hovercards.com/ License: License Free The post Hovercards – Chrome Extension for Preview Social Links appeared first on WebAppers.

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Tech Geek`s Tools, Tips, Tricks and Tutorials Pipes Output

Chocolat.js – jQuery Responsive Lightbox Plugin Sep 10th 2015, 07:03 Chocolat.js enables you to display one or several images staying on the same page. The choice is left to the user to group together a series of pictures as a link, or let them appear as thumbnails. The viewer may appears full-page or in a block. Chocolat comes with an API and multiples CSS classes which make it very handy to use for advanced users, and very easy to use for newbies. Chocolat works well with all major browser. It has been tested on : IE7+, firefox, chrome, opera, safari. Requirements: JavaScript Framework Demo: http://chocolat.insipi.de/ License: Creative Commons 2.0 License The post Chocolat.js – jQuery Responsive Lightbox Plugin appeared first on WebAppers.

Apple Wants You To Peek And Pop For Info—Instead Of Googling Sep 9th 2015, 20:47 At Wednesday's media event, Apple unveiled the expected upgrades to its smartphone line, the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, with upgrades to the chips and cameras inside.  See also: Apple TV Gets Voice, Touch, And Its Own Operating System, tvOS For developers, the single most important feature in these new phones comes in the phones' screens, which are newly sensitive to the touch. Apple calls the feature 3D Touch. Peek, Pop—Just Don't Search 3D Touch seems to be a less brain-dead rebranding of the offensively named Force Touch feature of Apple Watches and MacBooks. It detects pressure as well as position, enabling a different set of interactions on the phone. Apple calls these interactions "Peek" and "Pop." You can Peek, or preview, a link within the context of a current app, allowing you to look at a photo, check an address, or browse a Web page within a text-message conversation without launching Maps or Safari. Press on the preview, and you Pop, or launch directly into, the app that handles that information type. On the iPhone's home screen, a longer press on an app lets users pick from several different actions. Apple executive Craig Federighi showed Dropbox allowing users to launch straight into a file upload and Instagram offering a quick jump into recent activity. More Functions, Fewer Apps There are a couple of implications for app developers here.  One is that it may slow the fragmentation of apps that saw Facebook spawn Messenger from its core mobile app. If it just takes one touch and an extra tap to get into a specific function, developers may see less value in creating separate apps. This may favor well-known brands—for example, Yelp, which has built new features like delivery and table reservations into its core app, and can now make those features available faster. The other implication is for Google and a handful of other big developers whose offerings compete with Apple's own built-in apps. While Google has persuaded many iOS users to download Google Maps, when you view an address within a text message, Apple Maps is what you Peek at and Pop into. With a Web address, it's Safari, not Chrome. We already know that mobile users vastly favor apps over mobile Web browsing. Where they browse, it's often because a function is buried too far within an app. App-to-app links and deep linking are increasingly sending users from app to app without a Web search in between. 3D Touch's Pops and Peeks are, in some sense, deep links for the iPhone's home screen and built-in apps like Messages. Google and other developers who see themselves disadvantaged by this interface change could respond by making use of it, of course, and building 3D Touch support into their iOS apps. YouTube, for example, might want to break out video-uploading functions from viewing clips or responding to comments. The limitation here is people's attention spans. As users gravitate towards a few familiar apps, and download fewer and fewer new ones over time, Pops and Peeks augur a future where they spend more time in their favored apps and only take the briefest of glances at other ones.  It's bringing the gesture-and-glance economy of the Apple Watch and its condensed apps to smartphones, much as smartphones are forcing desktop apps to become more and more mobile in nature. Our "Retina Displays" are becoming bigger and richer, but the retinae with which we view them can only pop open and peek at so much in a day.

Media files: MTMyOTE0MjY3OTcxMTg2NjU4.png (image/png) Apple TV Gets Voice, Touch, And Its Own Operating System, tvOS Sep 9th 2015, 20:03 Apple CEO Tim Cook was right when he said, at his company’s press event Wednesday in San Francisco, that television hasn’t changed much in decades. We sit and veg out, hitting the clicker until we stop on something we want to watch.  There is one major change, though: search. Pecking out titles or keywords on a standard remote control utterly stinks. It takes us out of our gleeful couch-potato trance and into a world of irritation.  See also: Apple Builds A Larger Canvas For Tablet Appmakers With The iPad Pro Amazon, Google, and others have attacked that problem by building in voice features and contextual searches. Now Apple has as well, with its new Siri-driven Apple TV and tvOS television-oriented operating system.  In some ways, the device is like an Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Nexus Player crammed into one box, which will now tie into Apple TV’s own App Store—a store third-party developers have been itching to fill with wares. That’s the just the beginning. A new operating system for Apple TV and a touch-friendly remote join the company’s TV streaming box, once a “hobby,” now a platform. Here’s more. Meet tvOS  Apple hasn’t touched the Apple TV in two years. Cook even acknowledged the wait, saying "we’ve been working really hard—and really long …” Part of the reason for the delay was likely tvOS, Apple TV's new software that's "based on iOS, [but] adapted for the living room,” according to Apple executive Eddie Cue. Though the OS is a new entry for Apple, consumers won't have to buy separate versions of apps by device. Developers will be able to set their wares as universal purchases, so their users can pay or download once and enjoy their apps everywhere.  According to Cue, appmakers will be able to create universal streaming, game, and other apps that run on the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. Continuity features also let people, say, start a game on one device and pick it up on another.  According to Apple's developer page, app makers can use "use key frameworks and technologies such as Metal, UIKit, On Demand Resources, CloudKit, and Game Center to create rich games and apps that look amazing on the new Apple TV." The kit includes new templates using XML and JavaScript as a framework for tvOS apps. With predefined layouts and Javascript APIs, developers should be able to build apps quickly for the new Apple TV App Store.  The tvOS developer beta is available now to cater to the 11 million developers who are already working on TV apps, Cue said.  There's an extremely short deadline period, though: You must register by September 11 at noon Pacific time for an opportunity to get your hands on the Apple TV Developer Kit, which includes access to the new hardware.  Talking TV, Siri-ously Along with the Apple TV finally getting an App Store instead of a handful of Apple-blessed apps, the unit comes with other changes: Siri voice features capable of natural language and understanding context. For instance, “Show me action movies. New ones. Show me only ones with Jeremy Renner.” Amazon Echo also understands natural spoken language and context particularly well, and it offers other types of searches. Now, so does Siri on the Apple TV. As you watch a show, you can call up the weather, ask for sports scores and other things. Get more details, and the unit automatically pauses the stream.  In addition to launching apps like Apple Music by voice, Siri also lets you articulate searches across different apps. Amazon Fire TV's early hype stemmed from the same feature, but it was saddled by extremely limited initial support for other apps and slow attempts to expand. Apple’s variation on this theme reaches into iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Showtime, to start. It will cover more over time. Another nifty feature: If you missed what the actor said, you can ask Siri. It will skip back 15 seconds and temporarily turn on the captions, so you can see it on screen. Touch By Touch Initially, I thought that putting a touchpad on a TV remote control—a unit we tend to reach for in the dark or without looking—was an awful idea. However, the real purpose of the touch-friendly remote seemed much clearer today. Swiping through shows and making an icon jiggle while your thumb lays on the remote are just the beginning. Adding touch gives the TV remote more functionality as a gaming remote, and lets users do things, like shoot through digital shopping catalogs. The accessory also comes with a built-in accelerometer and a gyroscope.  Demos by Crossy Road and Gilt highlighted the fact that Apple doesn’t just want people "vegging out” in front of the tube. It wants people actually doing things with their TV—from checking out sports scores and playing Guitar Hero or Disney Infinity, to planning their next trip with Airbnb or even searching for a new home on Zillow. "We believe the future of television is apps,” Cook said. “In fact, this transition has already begun.” He cited that more than 60% of paid streaming video gets “consumed" on an Apple device through an app. Now, by extending the app economy to the television, the company has made its bid to own our living rooms. Of course, that begs the question: For what purpose? Sales, of course. But there could have been one other reason, one that was wholly missing from the announcement. Early predictions and rumors foresaw the new Apple TV supporting HomeKit, Apple’s smart home framework. However, there was no mention of that whatsoever on stage. Neither did the company announce any support for short-range smart-home wireless standards in this unit, at least so far. What we do know, at least for the TV experience, is that developers can already work with tvOS and, Apple announces, they can also start playing with the new hardware. Consumers will get their chance in late October for $149 (wth 32 GB of storage) or $199 (64 GB). For the money, they’ll get a streaming set-top box with a 64-bit A8 processor and support for 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. The latter, which works with the new remote control, means users won’t need a line of sight (pointing directly at the box) to control the TV. Apple crammed in all of that into a casing that’s "just 10 millimeters taller” than the previous version, Cue said. It will roll out to 80 countries to start, and reach 100 countries by the end of the year.

Media files: MTMyOTEzOTQyMzU4OTI4MDAz.png (image/png) Apple Builds A Larger Canvas For Tablet Appmakers With The iPad Pro Sep 9th 2015, 18:25 How do you kickstart flagging iPad sales? If you're Apple, with a new, supersized, 12.9-inch iPad Pro model, shown off on stage Wednesday at the company's media event in San Francisco.  The Pro expands on the iPad template while borrowing features from rival platforms. Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller was on hand to emphasize the advantages of the new slate in Apple's lineup: lots more screen space for apps (and app developers) with 5.6 million pixels, a better media experience, and of course the ability to make the most of the new split-screen features in iOS 9. The new iPad Pro isn't just about a bigger screen though: It has internal components that put it at a desktop level of performance, according to Schiller, including a new A9X processor (1.8x faster than the chip inside the iPad Air 2). Apple claims the iPad Pro is faster than 80 percent of PCs that shipped in the last year, with graphics performance that's faster than 90 percent of those machines. (Those are Apple's own statistics, and haven't been run through third-party benchmarks.) Audio gets an upgrade in the form of four speakers that automatically balance the sound depending on how the tablet is being held. The device weighs in at 1.57 pounds and is 6.9mm thick (a little more than the 6.1mm iPad Air 2). There are a new accessories too: first, a Smart Keyboard cover to quickly turn the slate into a laptop beater. iOS adapts depending on whether or not the keyboard is attached, a distinctly Windows 10-esque feature, and it's exclusive to the iPad Pro for now. Then there's the Apple Pencil, the stylus that Steve Jobs disliked so much. (Actual Jobs quote: "Yuck.") The iPad Pro screen has been engineered to accept both finger and stylus input, and it opens up a whole new way of interaction for digital creatives and app developers alike. Apple's built-in iOS apps have already been configured to accept Pencil input, and Schiller said other developer partners were working hard on apps intended for an iPad with stylus input. Microsoft's Kirk Koenigsbauer appeared on stage to show off Pencil support in Office for iPad, while Adobe is another company making iPad Pro-specific apps. Apple has clashed with both of those companies in the past, but it seems to have put those past rivalries aside to ensure high-performing apps for the Pro. Speaking of Microsoft, it was difficult not to think of the Surface during Apple's presentation, particularly with the Smart Keyboard attached to the iPad Pro. The new device also flies close to the new MacBook's territory—thin, light and built for productivity on the go. The small print: The device starts at $799 for the 32GB model, $949 for the 128GB model and $1,079 for the 128GB model with cellular connectivity. The Smart Keyboard will set you back $169, while the Pencil costs $99. The iPad Pros, together with both accessories, are on sale in November. In the immediate aftermath of an Apple event, it's always difficult to see the big picture for its new products. The iPad Pro certainly gives Apple something significantly different (and more expensive) in its tablet line; whether it's enough to rekindle interest in the range remains to be seen. Images via Apple

Media files: MTMyOTEyNTAxMTI4OTkzMjQ2.jpg (image/jpeg) Why Silicon Valley's Tech Talent Worked For Free Over The Holiday Sep 9th 2015, 14:00

This post appears courtesy of the Ferenstein Wire, a syndicated news service. Publishing partners may edit posts. For inquiries, please email author and publisher Gregory Ferenstein.

At around 10PM on Sunday over Labor Day weekend, I posted a coding problem to the popular software developer forum, Stack Exchange. In 30 minutes, a puzzle that I couldn't solve for weeks was settled by a friendly user who also burning the midnight oil. Not completely satisfied with that answer, though, another half dozen experts chimed in with their own more elegant solutions, making for a conversation that extended well past midnight.  This experience is perhaps more illustrative of Silicon Valley's work ethic then the viral New York Times investigation into Amazon's breakneck company culture. Since that article was published, a lot of ink has been spilled about tech CEOs exploiting their workers and perpetuating the industry's expectations of a workaholic culture.

See also: Amazon's Not Much Different From Other Tech Employers, Public Data Says

The users who solved my problem weren't being paid, however. They were just “geeks" who love technology. The mad pursuit of solutions seems to be in their DNA, and it just may be this inner drive—more so than any cracked whip—that drives technology forward. Meeting Of The Minds With over 100 million monthly users worldwide, Stack Exchange is just one of many developer networks that form the foundation of the tech industry. Much of the software that powers the internet is open source, incrementally pieced together by (literally) millions of people solving each others' problems and contributing their ideas for free. It's nearly impossible to pay for this kind of help. Weeks earlier, I hired a freelance programmer to solve my problem. His code was inefficient, to say the least. Each time I ran it, it took 10 minutes to complete--and I needed to run it over and over again quickly. The solution that the Stack Exchange network found in 30 minutes had cut the processing time of the code down to a few seconds. This is not to say that work should be done for free. Chances are, all of these skilled programmers are being paid a salary north of $100,000. But, top talent in the Valley often love their work. In my experience, it's exceedingly common for software programmers to each have their own side projects, built for free with the help of an underground army of forum users. There Can Be No Innovation Without Passion Here’s another detail that may have us re-examining the “horrible tech bosses” stereotype: On Glassdoor.com, an anonymous rating system for workplaces, users who mention long working hours are often likely to rate their company a perfect 5 out of 5 stars. Facebook, often the highest rated company in the industry, is littered with comments talking about a company culture that demands "long hours.” Before we judge the Valley as a place rife with exploitation, it's important to realize that many (if not most) workers are voluntarily putting in more hours than their employers are asking in the first place—for free. That’s not entirely surprising, if you trace back modern tech culture's social roots. Technical chops may be considered much cooler characteristics now, but that wasn’t always the case. Silicon Valley was built on the backs of of geeks who spent weekends in high school building computers and writing code, while their peers did keg stands. For some people, technology was both safe haven and passion. Many still carry that inside, even though they've now grown into the men and women who are writing our connected future. This is the nature of creativity. Innovation thrives where workers aren’t bullied or exploited, but are given the room to indulge the things that drive them. That might look like long work days, or giving up holiday weekends to hand out free advice. Going into the future, the best questions aren't about work/life balance, but whether the we enjoy the work we do as much as we enjoy other parts of our lives. For the former kids who built robots over the summer or learned to code during nights and weekends, the tech industry can be a meaningful place to find that answer.

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Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

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Tech Geek`s Tools, Tips, Tricks and Tutorials Pipes Output

Telepat – Real Time, Open Source Data Sync Backend Stack Sep 11th 2015, 07:03 Telepat is an open-source backend stack, designed to deliver information and information updates in real-time to clients, while allowing for flexible deployment and simple scaling. Telepat empowers modern apps for the real-time age. Classic Web APIs deliver on-demand, static information snapshots to clients. Data soon gets outdated, and cannot be synced between multiple clients. Instead of working with data snapshots that get stale, Telepat pushes all new information from the central node to all subscribed devices, instantly. Requirements: – Demo: http://telepat.io/ License: Apache License The post Telepat – Real Time, Open Source Data Sync Backend Stack appeared first on WebAppers.

Deals of the Week: Photoshop Creative Tools Super Bundle Sep 11th 2015, 04:03 Hundreds of Photoshop creative tools.Including overlays, templates, gradients & more. With even more Photoshop tools, what else will you be able to create? With this Photoshop Creative Tools Super Bundle of textures, brushes, special effects, overlays, actions, templates, gradients, and smart PSDs, you’ll have every tool you could ever need to expand Photoshop’s power. Hundreds of tools are included. Ones that will work for both photography and design. You’ll get brushes and textures and effects that will re-imagine and enhance what you’ve shot. PSD templates and overlays that will radicalize and refresh how you present your designs. But words can’t convey just how good these tools are. Seeing is believing, after all. Look below for all the effects you’ll get with super bundle. Just remember that this bundle is available for only a limited time. Right now, you’ll get them for $28. Normally, they’re $143! Can you show me the effects ? What’s included in this? You’re going to get a bundle of various Photoshop creative tools and effects. Every set is shown below. They work for Photoshop CS5+ higher versions Autumn Effects Set These effects come as PSD templates. They are customizable and adjustable to what you’re looking for. Features: 3000×2000 px 300 dpi 24 overlay textures in jpg format (psd. file with all textures also included) Examples: Dusty Textures Vol. 1 & 2 You’re going to get 36 individual 3,000 x 2,000 pixel images that go over your photos to add noticeable yet realistic film-like noise or grunge. Features: 3000×2000 px 300 dpi 24 overlay textures in jpg format (psd. file with all textures also included) Examples: Faded Templates & Gradients Here you’ll get 111 Photoshop gradients that can be used separately or used together with the templates. The “Faded Presets” is a special Photoshop effects set that includes 20 gradient maps and 10 grunge textures. All effects included in 1 psd template and it’s very easy to use – just few clicks and no skills required! Also, in main zip. archive you will find two bonus grd. files with 111 gradients! ;) Features: Washed and faded look in few clicks 2 version included (horizontal and vertical) 3000×2000 px; 300 dpi 20 gradient maps 10 overlay textures Examples: Vintage Lights “Vintage Lights” it’s a collection of Photoshop gradients perfect for adding vintage atmosphere to your photos! You can use it like overlays in different layer modes (screen, overlay, lighten etc) or as elements of your design. Includes: 1 grd. file with 15 gradients Help file Examples: Washed Away Gradients “Washed Away” it’s a collection of Photoshop gradients perfect for adding some atmospheric touches to your photos! You can use it like overlays in different layer modes (screen, normal, lighten etc) or as elements of your design. Includes: 1 grd. file with 15 gradients Help file Example: Vintage Spirit Effects Set It includes 13 instant retro-looking effects suitable for any photo. These effect will help you to add vintage atmosphere to your photos in few simple clicks. Features: 1 psd file (No need to install actions – just place your image and enjoy effects) Help file 3000×2000 px; 300 dpi 13 unique non-destructive effects + 13 retro texture inside each effect Well-layered and easy to use Tested only with Photoshop CS 5; Elements not supported. Examples:   Watercolor Painting Studio Vol. 3 & 4 + Watercolor Portrait PSD Kit You’re going to PSD templates, brushes, and textures to convert a regular photograph into an artistic watercolor. With this kit in the Photoshop creative tools bundle, in a few clicks,you will perfect your own look. You can also tweak and adjust with the brushes and textures until you perfect your own look Vintage Effects Bundle Set You’re going to get sets of Vintage gradients that can be adjusted with blend mode and tooled for just the right opacity. This set includes: 1.Vintage Film Overlays: Get 10 unique vintage textures in 300 dpi. 2.Vintage Effects Second Set This effects will add cool retro-looking and authentic effects on your photos just by few click. It includes 7 different vintage scratch layer masks and 10 bonus gradients overlays. 3. Vintage Photo Press “Vintage Photo Press” is a set of authentic effects in one smart psd. file. In just few simple clicks you can add cool color effects and vintage press textures to your photos. Add vintage atmosphere to your photos! Get this bundle here The post Deals of the Week: Photoshop Creative Tools Super Bundle appeared first on WebAppers.

Google Launches Android Pay, But In-App Purchases Still On Hold Sep 10th 2015, 20:40 The battle for the mobile payment market can begin in earnest now: On Thursday, Google announced the official launch of Android Pay in the U.S. for later this month.  Similar to Apple Pay, Android Pay will allows users to pay for goods and services with a tap of their smartphone in stores—assuming that the device supports Near Field Communication (NFC) short-range wireless technology and runs Android 4.4 KitKat or above. (The terminal itself must also support Android Pay and NFC.)  However, the component of Android Pay of most interest to developers—the ability to make in-app purchases—is still missing. Google says the feature is coming "later this year" but isn't being any more specific than that. See also: Take That, Apple! Samsung Unveils Its Own Pay-With-Your-Phone System At this early stage in the transition to mobile payments, the finer details are less important than putting a marker down: Apple, Google and Samsung now all have something in place that they can build on. Apple Pay has had a year's head start over Google, though, launching back in October of last year. (Samsung Pay will hit the U.S. on September 28.) Naturally, Google's list of supported banks is shorter than Apple's, though like the iPhone company, it promises to add new partners "all the time" as the service grows.  Android Pay will appear as an automatic upgrade for existing users of Google Wallet, which will live on as a person-to-person payments system (in the vein of Venmo). New users can download Android Pay in the coming days, and it will arrive pre-installed on upcoming handsets from AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.  Google Wallet's upgrade will come with tighter security as well, which is why bank support is required before a debit or credit card can be added. Android Pay uses "industry standard tokenization" to validate payments without transferring card details to the retailer. Choose Your Payment Method Once the roll-out of Android Pay, Samsung Pay and Apple Pay is complete, owners of both Android and iOS handsets will have a quick and easy way to make purchases in physical stores as well as the digital realm.  It's unlikely that any of these services alone will prompt users to switch from one platform to another. But its absence might make consumers think twice when their next upgrade is due.  Google and Apple already had payment systems set up for digital purchases, whether that was music downloads or bonus levels inside a game. Their respective payment systems build a real world layer on top of that. Both Apple Pay and Google Pay use NFC technology to process payments, though Apple has the upper hand (or wrist) as far as wearables are concerned: The Apple Watch supports Apple Pay, whereas Android Pay isn't yet a feature in Android Wear.  Samsung Pay operates slightly differently, using Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology rather than NFC, which makes it compatible with more terminals and older hardware. It's not intended for online and in-app purchases at the moment, however. The banks supported at launch by Android Pay are American Express, Bank of America, Discover, Navy Federal Credit Union, PNC, Regions, USAA, and US Bank. Capital One, Citi and Wells Fargo are listed as "coming soon" on the official splash page. U.S. users can make the most of Android Pay today at stores like Subway, McDonald's, Staples, Macy's, Foot Locker and dozens of others. Google says around a million outlets are up to speed with the necessary technology right now.  With its mobile payments system in place, the Mountain View company can now turn its attention to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Images courtesy of Google

Media files: MTMyOTM2MDAzOTk1MzQyMDk4.jpg (image/jpeg) Two-Factor Authentication Has Finally Become More Convenient Sep 10th 2015, 19:13 Guest author Maxim Oliynyk is co-founder of Protectimus, an OAuth-certified two-factor authentication solution. You have probably already heard it said: Important information needs to be kept as secure as possible, especially if it is stored online. But you cannot rely on a regular login and password for that. Such credentials can be easily surveilled, guessed or obtained through one of the hundreds of hacking tricks. Fortunately, there are more effective data protection methods, one of which is two-factor authentication tested over a long period of time and by millions of users. See also: How Google Play Security Still Falls Short Today, virtually every resource that can be used to store valuable information offers users the option of activating two-factor authentication (2FA) for their accounts—from social networks and online games, to mail server and, naturally, banking and payment systems. Since we access these accounts more and more often from our mobile devices, which need extra protection from malicious attacks. Unfortunately, users tend to view extra safeguards as tedious and ignore them, leaving them vulnerable. However, new 2FA approaches are emerging that could help bring more protection, without the extra burden. The idea: Use the mobile device you're trying to protect as the security token itself.  Two-Factor Issues There are numerous ways to implement two-factor authentication, however many come with a few pros and cons. Most often, one-time passwords (OTP) are provided via SMS messages. On one hand, it's very convenient. But there’s a flip side to it: The company incurs additional expenses because each SMS message costs money. A third party is involved in the authentication process (SMS gateway). Sometimes, it takes up to several minutes to receive an SMS messages, which is not always convenient for the customer and gives potential violators more time to intercept the message. Other systems use hardware tokens in the form of key chains, flash drives or bank cards, as well as OTP delivery via email. Hardware tokens are relatively reliable, but it is not always convenient to carry them with you. They can be lost, left behind, and require constant attention. The shortcomings of OTP delivery via email are virtually the same as those of SMS authentication. In the face of inconveniences like these, users often forego the additional account protection, seeing two-factor authentication as a burden. But, with new technologies such as iPhones, Android smartphones, and smart watches, there's a new, more convenient one-time password generation method. My company has been working with CWYS (Confirm What You See), a data signing function that’s an all-new development in the phrase of transaction security. Implemented as a mobile app, along with other features, it uses phones and smartwatches to help protect them against such cyber threats as automated transfer, replacement and data modification. How Confirming What You See Can Help Until very recently, violators were able to bypass two-factor authentication using certain types of malware. Here’s how it often plays out: After the system injection, it waits for a moment when a user initiates a legitimate transfer, at which point it shows the user a pop-up window with a message requesting, for example, that the user should wait while data is being verified. During this time, the injection performs some actions, hidden from the user, which result in funds being transferred to a drop account; if an OTP or PIN is required, the malware shows the user a fake password request page, but under another (fraudulent) pretext. The unsuspecting user enters the valid code, and the automated transfer system uses the data obtained to complete the transaction. But due to the activation of the CWYS functions, the OTP-generation process involves using not only the secret key, time or challenge, but also the transaction/transfer details such as the transfer amount, currency, recipient, etc. Thus, even if the password is intercepted, it will be of no use to the hacker. This is the basic premise around which we built our own smartphone and smartwatch app, Protectimus SMART. It allows eliminating all of the traditional OPT tokens’ shortcomings listed above. Safeguarding Gadgets And Their Users Since people spend more and more time with their phones and watches, mobile devices seemed like a natural area on which to focus security efforts. Approximately two billion people, i.e. a quarter of the entire population of this planet, are already using smartphones. In the U.S., Europe, China, Japan, and India, the number of Android and iOS smartphones owners exceeded 50%. More than a third of the world’s population is expected to be using smartphones by 2017. We developed an OTP token that can be used both for Android smartphones and iPhones. This approach offers several advantages: Possibility to choose the OTP-generation algorithm (according to counter, server response, time). Additional application protection through the PIN code. Possibility to choose the lengths of the one-time password (6 or 8 characters). Possibility to create several tokens on one device. No need to replace the battery, which is often the case with hardware tokens. Possibility to install the application on Android smart watches. Data signing functions (CWYS), which protects from such latest hacking threats as automated transfer and replacement. Two-factor authentication technologies are continuing to develop at a prodigious rate. Manufacturers driving two-factor authentication take into account the latest trends in the field of electronics, analyze potential customers’ requirements and offer the most convenient solutions.  This is crucial work, particularly on our most-used gadgets. The industry must find ways to popularize two-factor authentication on them by making it both secure and convenient. That's the best way to ensure more protection of every Internet user’s personal information. Lead photo by Yuri Samoilov

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California Shoots Down Drone Bill Sep 11th 2015, 17:02

This post appears courtesy of the Ferenstein Wire, a syndicated news service. Publishing partners may edit posts. For inquiries, please email author and publisher Gregory Ferenstein.

California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a controversial drone privacy bill Wednesday, declaring that it would expose hobbyists to excessive litigation. Senate Bill 142 would have put anyone flying a drone less than 350 above someone's property on the hook for trespassing. "This bill, however, while well-intentioned, could expose the occasional hobbyist and the FAA-approved commercial user alike to burdensome litigation," he wrote in a veto statement [PDF]. With legislation like Bill 142, it would be easy for a hobbyist flying a drone around his neighborhood or local park to accidentally run afoul of trespassing laws.  See also: Weaponized Drones Are Now Legal In The U.S. Drone proponents have been carefully watching as lawmakers attempt to figure out the nuances of these airborne devices. Unchecked, an overly zealous approach to protecting public safety and privacy, could have deep implications for the drone tech industry. Threat of legal action or even criminal penalty may dampen interest in the gadgets. Here, tech makers may have just dodged a bullet. The Trouble With Laying Down The Drone Lines PC Magazine found that the popular DJI Phantom 3 drone lost communication when it hit 400 feet in altitude and 1,200 feet in distance. In other words, hobbyist and toy drones really aren't meant to go much beyond 350 feet. So if residents see drones hovering over their yards, they may have just as easily come from hapless users who lost control of their devices as from tech-savvy "peeping toms." Drones are the equivalent of baseballs that occasionally end up on the neighbor's property—except, this baseball is equipped with a 12-megapixel camera. Brown’s veto had the support of the Consumer Electronics Association, a powerful tech electronics lobby that tends to side against measures that it sees as hampering emerging technologies. The group obviously was pleased with the decision. California isn't alone. In total, the National Conference of State Legislators counts 19 states with drone laws on the books, many of which prohibit voyeurism. Mississippi's law literally calls it "peeping Tom" activities [PDF]. Certainly, unless a litigious neighbor catches the drone operator, it's difficult to discern whether the flying object was taking photos. And, if images were taken, the case would have to prove that the pilot intended to catch the subject undressed. As such, drone-related privacy is a difficult thing to legislate. For now, California, the home of Silicon Valley, has erred on the side of protecting drone enthusiasts and, by extension, the drone makers that cater to them.

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Lead photo by Don Mills

Media files: MTMwMDE4NDcxMzY1ODg4MDEw.jpg (image/jpeg) Joomla 3.x. How to install Joomla engine to GoDaddy server (manual installation) Sep 9th 2015, 09:27 This tutorial shows how to install Joomla engine to the GoDaddy hosting server manually. CherryFramework 4. How to set up MailChimp plugin Sep 9th 2015, 08:59 In this tutorial you will learn the way to set up MailChimp plugin in Cherry Framework 4 based templates. VirtueMart 3.x. How to work with Module Video Block module Sep 9th 2015, 08:42 This video tutorial shows how to work with Module Video Block module in Joomla 3.x templates. CherryFramework 4. How to add a custom font Sep 9th 2015, 08:26 This video tutorial shows how to add custom font in Cherry Framework 4 Wordpress templates. ZenCart Troubleshooter. Missing TM modules after installation over existing store Sep 9th 2015, 08:12 The following tutorial is going to show how to fix missing TM modules after the template installation over the Zencart store issue.

Monstroid. How to add menu to shop pages Sep 9th 2015, 07:47 This tutorial is going to show you how to add menu to shop pages in Monstroid templates. CherryFramework 3. How to insert an auto-played background audio using HTML5 Sep 4th 2015, 06:51 This tutorial shows you how to insert HTML5 audio object that will be invisible and played automatically when you visit your Wordpress website. Magento. How to change “Terms and Conditions” page link in the Youama login form Sep 4th 2015, 06:39 In this tutorial you will learn how to change Terms and Conditions page link in the Youama login form in Magento template(s). CherryFramework 4. How to manage team posts Sep 3rd 2015, 08:49 This tutorial will show you how to manage team posts in CherryFramework 4. WordPress Cherry 3.x. How to make specific post fullwidth

Sep 3rd 2015, 08:05

This video tutorial shows how to make specific post fullwidth in Wordpress CherryFramework 3 templates. CherryFramework 4. How to insert shortcodes to a widget using “Cherry Shortcodes” widget Sep 3rd 2015, 07:40 This tutorial is going to show you how to insert shortcodes to a widget using Cherry Shortcodes widget in the template on CherryFramework 4.

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Tech Geek`s Tools, Tips, Tricks and Tutorials Pipes Output

Jets.js – A Native CSS Search Engine Sep 14th 2015, 07:03 Imagine a situation – your HTML markup renders at backend side, it contains some list of data. At one point you need to implement search by this list. It can be easily achieved by using Jets.js with a browser’s native search speed. The main idea is not to affect attributes of each tag in the list while filtering. Instead apply dynamic CSS rule in only <style> tag and browser will decide which item of list to show or hide. Since it’s just CSS – Jets.js may be applied to any tag, whether it’s a table or UL, OL, DIV… Jets.js is a native CSS Search Engine. Requirements: JavaScript Framework Demo: http://nexts.github.io/Jets.js/ License: MIT License The post Jets.js – A Native CSS Search Engine appeared first on WebAppers.

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HTML Color Codes – Powerful Set of Free Color Tools Sep 15th 2015, 07:27 HTML Color Codes is a powerful set of free color tools, including a color picker, color charts and names, tutorials, and resources. You can easily find that perfect color with our color picker and discover beautiful color harmonies, tints, shades and tones; input Hex color codes, RGB and HSL values, and generate HTML, CSS and SCSS styles. Can’t remember all 140 HTML color names? They’ve got you covered, check out our guide for a quick reference of all the HTML color names grouped by color as well. Requirements: – Demo: http://htmlcolorcodes.com/ License: License Free The post HTML Color Codes – Powerful Set of Free Color Tools appeared first on WebAppers.

LinkedIn Cofounder Wants To Teach You How To "Blitzscale” Your Company Sep 14th 2015, 20:04

This post appears courtesy of the Ferenstein Wire, a syndicated news service. Publishing partners may edit posts. For inquiries, please email author and publisher Gregory Ferenstein.

Stanford is continuing its ultra-popular course series on creating tech startups. Starting this month, LinkedIn billionaire Reid Hoffman will be teaching a specialized version of the course on scaling businesses from small product ideas to large companies (or what he calls "blitzscaling”).  "When you examine the history of iconic Silicon Valley companies, they quickly grew their customers, revenue, and organizational scale to fit a global market," he explained in a company blog post. "Most of the impact and value creation that Silicon Valley companies produce actually occurs during this scaleup phase."  See also: Why Silicon Valley's Tech Talent Worked For Free Over The Holiday Interestingly, Hoffman is permitting select non-Stanford students to apply for the class. Interested parties can fill out the application form here. (Warning: It’s lengthy.) For those who don't get in, or can't fly to the Bay Area, lectures will be placed online for Course CS183C. A Novel Approach (At Least For Stanford) It's not very often that world-class schools allow non-matriculating students to walk into their halls and intermingle with students. They usually keep outsiders at arm's length with online lectures. But much of the value of a university comes with the networks between students and professors—such as former Stanford grad students Larry Page and Sergey Brin (who, I'm told, went into the search business). Unfortunately, this gated philosophy can also perpetuate insular networks that exclude the most needy students. Opening up the course to public application is one way (albeit small) to break down these barriers. The lectures themselves will cover everything from hiring an executive team to managing through an analytics dashboard. You can learn more about the course here. *For more stories like this, subscribe to the Ferenstein Wire newsletter here.  Lead photo by Sheila Scarborough

Media files: MTMzMDMwMTU3MTk0NjM1OTA3.jpg (image/jpeg) Built.io Flow Is On A Mission To Connect Apps, Services, Systems, And Devices Sep 14th 2015, 18:33 Cloud and digital solutions provider Built.io has a new product to show off, one that reflects an increasingly connected digital world and a growing trend for services to help navigate it. Built.io Flow provides a way to link software, back-end systems, mobile apps, and even sensors and devices through a straightforward drag-and-drop interface. Flow, previously available in beta, is now generally available to customers. Built.io cofounders Neha Sampat and Matthew Baier gave ReadWrite a preview of Flow in April. Where Built.io's earlier products focused on letting nondevelopers participate in building mobile apps, Flow promised to "democratize integration," Baier told ReadWrite—specifically snapping together services via application programming interfaces, or APIs. (Disclosure: Built.io is the sponsor of ReadWrite's Code section. Advertisers have no influence over ReadWrite's editorial coverage.) You can think of Flow as a grown-up, enterprise-focused version of IFTTT (If This Then That), the free online service that builds recipes from triggers and actions. A new Dropbox edit can trigger an email, for example, or the location of an Android phone can trigger a Nest action (heating up your home nicely as soon as you leave the office perhaps). Zapier runs along similar lines. The new Built.io Flow takes this idea and expands it.  "Built.io Flow allows any developer—and even nondevelopers—to connect software, systems, sensors and devices," explains the company. "Anything with a digital heartbeat and an API can now participate in automating business processes, boost the capabilities of mobile applications and enable faster innovation across the business." Crucially, apps can be developed and tested quickly, saving time, effort and programming costs for businesses. Built.io says the NBA's Sacramento Kings and YouTube are both already utilizing Flow to "power a new generation of connected experiences and ecosystems." As with IFTTT and Zapier, everything is accessed and run through the cloud, from design to deployment—there's no setup, installation or local software configuration to run through. Trigger Happy Enterprise customers can come to Built.io Flow to connect disparate elements—like a smart fridge and a cloud back-end—with a minimum of fuss. While IFTTT focuses on connecting consumer-friendly services like Instagram, Facebook, Dropbox, and Spotify, Flow features Amazon Web Services, Oracle, Slack, Marketo, and Salesforce as some of the platforms and services it can hook into. The system uses application triggers to initiate workflows, triggers which can be visualized and tested in advance. An integrated Enterprise Gateway solution allows for the easy linking of firewalled systems to external cloud and Web-based services, while the visual designer interface is capable of producing sophisticated systems through straightforward flowcharts. An advanced API builder allows for multiple API calls to be wrapped in a single entity, while Built.io says there are several hundred preconfigured, out-of-the-box connectors to popular enterprise software packages (including those we've already mentioned). The fact that that integration extends to the Internet of Things gives Built.io Flow a physical foothold in the real world that expands the possibilities of the platform, from the cloud to mobile apps to gadgets. Flow is available to try now at www.built.io/flow. Images courtesy of Built.io

Media files: MTMzMDI4NDE4MDAxMzQ0OTkw.jpg (image/jpeg) For Nontechnical Hires, How Much Stock Is Enough? Sep 14th 2015, 14:00

Guest author Scott Gerber is the founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council.

In an early-stage startup, you may not have much in the way of cash to offer new hires. While you'll often hear advice about how to structure equity for technical hires, deciding how to compensate other key hires—from cofounders to sales staff—isn't as clear-cut. To help you figure it out, I asked founders from YEC how they figured out what to offer early-stage, nontechnical hires. Their best advice—from considerations to make to equations to use—is below. 1. Base It on the Number of Employees You Have Early hires are more critical than late hires. Think of your company hires in terms of stages: 1–2 employees, 3–6, 7–15, 16–30, 31–60, 61–150, etc. The amount of equity an employee gets should go down with each stage, because the company is getting less risky to work for, and because you just can't keep issuing large amounts of equity to everyone at the company. Here's one system to follow: Employees 1-2 (cofounders) should split the company either 50/50, 67/33, 75/25, or some other reasonable amount. Employees 3-6 should get between 1 and 5 percent of the company in equity, while employees 7–15 should get 0.5–1 percent. Employees 16–30 should get between 0.25–0.5 percent, and so on. A great company to look to for guidance on this is Buffer, which opened up all its salary and equity calculations. —Mattan Griffel, One Month 2. Calculate Based on Your Capital Considerations Assuming you're starting with no capital, you're going to grant pieces of your company in order to give incentives to early-stage employees. In my experience, sales and marketing is most often handled by stakeholders when there's no capital. If sales staff is a requirement of your particular company, revenue-share models can be more conducive with the startup economy so you're not forced to give away critical pieces of your business before seeking subsequent investment. —Blair Thomas, EMerchantBroker  3. Decide on What You Want Everyone to Know We make all compensation, salary, and equity based on the expectation that everyone eventually finds out each other's numbers. This means that people with similar positions and responsibilities should have the same compensation. Even if a candidate asks for lower equity than their peers, give them the same amount. When they find out that you gave them less equity than a peer, you'll lose their trust. When we give out offers, we tell candidates that we don't negotiate because what we offer is prioritizing fairness for the candidate and the rest of the team. New hires have been appreciative of this approach. —Nanxi Liu, Enplug 4. Use AngelList to Decide AngelList is a great resource for determining early-stage compensation for non-founders. It shows you how much equity companies like yours in your geographical area are offering employees of various titles, and takes the guesswork out of the process. —Brennan White, Cortex 5. Start With an Option Pool The best way to manage equity for key and strategic hires is through an option pool. Most option pools include total equity in the amount of 10–15 percent, which you'll need to allocate based on projected hires over the next 24 to 36 months. Once you establish your intended list of hires, you can allocate up to 75 percent of the option pool (leaving wiggle room for negotiation). Generally speaking, technical hires should get more equity than nontechnical hires. However, you may want to break the "technical-hire" rule for superstar nontechnical hires, especially if the hire fills a needed executive or senior-level position. Once you think through your hiring, you'll be in a better position to allocate your option pool. Note: setting up an option pool will also be helpful should you raise venture capital. —Kristopher Jones, LSEO.com 6. Tie It to Performance Using equity in lieu of capital compensation until you are cash-flow positive is normal. The shares should be on a vesting schedule and should be tied to performance and agreed upon by both parties. —Lane Campbell, June 7. Keep a Vesting Period in Mind In general, sales and marketing staff tend to get less equity than technical hires with the exception of nontechnical managers and executives. In my opinion, how much equity you give is less important than how the equity will vest. In general, most vesting periods are four years long, though people are experimenting with longer and shorter periods. This means that regardless of how much equity the non-technical hire is given, they will have to stay with the company (not get fired or quit) in order to achieve the full amount of equity given. For instance, if you provide a nontechnical hire with 0.5 percent equity over 4 years, the stock will vest in equal installments of 0.125 percent each year. Vesting periods are critical because they protect the company and create better alignment between the hire and his or her performance over time. —Obinna Ekezie, Wakanow.com 8. Base It on How Critical the Hire Is It's a two-step process. First, do some research to find the industry benchmark (try AngelList.) Second, you should think critically about how important this particular hire is going to be. For example, in enterprise companies, sales positions becomes very critical for the success of the company. If it is like that, you want to sweeten the deal further. Overall, good companies tend to be more generous with their stock options. —Ashu Dubey, 12 Labs 9. Use Equity to Keep Everyone in the Game Compensating those on your team with the success of your business will add extra motivation and drive. Especially early on, you need all hands on deck and everyone moving in the same direction. This includes all aspects of your business, not just technical team members. I leveraged AngelList frequently to assess how much equity to give. Putting in a one-year cliff and a vesting schedule has been critical to keep the team motivated, and gives something to really celebrate when we hit those key milestones. —Kristi Zuhlke, KnowledgeHound 10. Quantify and Be Flexible It's a very tricky question with many different answers, depending on who you ask; there's no single answer, but there are ways to tailor compensation to your company and industry that will serve you exponentially better than listening to general advice. Keep in mind several factors:  How big is your equity compensation pool (15 percent, 20 percent, etc.)? How many hires will you be making in the next six months with the current equity comp pool, and what types of hires will these people be (low-level, high-level)? How early is this employee and what kind of salary is this employee getting relative to their industry? How important or unique is this employee compared to other hires?  Keep these things in mind relative to your equity pool, and also compare to industry what you come up with as a guideline. —Alec Bowers, Abraxas Biosystems  11. Think in Terms of Dollars, Not Shares or Percentages You should have a reasonable expectation of how much your business is worth today and might be worth in a year or two. You can also estimate what additional upside a new hire will need to either compensate for below market comp today, or take on the risk of joining a startup. For example, if the market for a sales person is $65,000 and commission is 10 percent, you can decide how much additional bonus per year they need to join your team ($25,000, $50,000, $100,000). Consider what that might grow into based on your valuation growth (2x, 5x, 10x) to get them to join. Then you can decide if it's worth giving that up for what they bring in terms of sales growth or lead generation. —Avi Levine, Digital Professional Institute  12. Make Sure Total Compensation Hits Market Value There are market rates established for all levels and roles. Target a compensation package within 20 percent of market rate. We've had success by offering a menu of three choices, which allows each candidate to choose their mix of cash and equity. Just remember that a well-rounded startup has strong technical and nontechnical people, so don't treat anyone like a lower-class employee. —Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches 13. Do the Math Slicing up equity should come down to a math equation. Instead of reinventing the wheel, you should use math that other people have invented to figure it out. Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham puts it together in this simple equation: 1/(1 - n). What it breaks down to is that if "n" is the equity you're giving up, it's worth it if it makes the company worth more than 1/(1 - n). Beyond that, I stick to the basics: Have a one-year cliff and four-year vesting for all equity employees. —John Rampton, Due

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OpenCart 2.x. How to edit/change Required/Not Required checkout fields Sep 14th 2015, 08:26 In this tutorial you will learn how to make postal code required or not required field during checkout in OpenCart template(s). PrestaShop 1.6.x. How to work with “TM Manufacturers block” module Sep 14th 2015, 08:06 In this tutorial we will teach you how to work with one of the new custom modules named TM Manufacturers Block in our PrestaShop templates. CherryFramework 4. How to add custom HTML content to footer Sep 14th 2015, 07:52 This tutorial shows how to add custom HTML content to footer in CherryFramework 4. CherryFramework 4. How to make footer visible only on specific pages Sep 14th 2015, 07:31 This tutorial shows you how to control the visibility of footer information (copyright) in CherryFramework 4 templates. CherryFramework 4. How to manage slide settings in MotoPress Slider Sep 14th 2015, 07:10 ur Support team is ready to present you a new tutorial that shows how to manage slide settings in MotoPress Slider.

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Monstroid. How to install a theme (manual, advanced setup) Sep 16th 2015, 07:34 This tutorial shows how to install Monstroid theme manually. Let People Buy Your Products within other Mobile Apps Sep 16th 2015, 07:03 Stripe has launched Relay, an API for stores to publish their products, and for apps to read them. Relay makes it easier for developers to build great mobile e-commerce experiences, and for stores to participate in them. Relay powered by a few new objects in the Stripe API: Products, SKUs (product variants), and Orders. Stores can provide product information to Stripe via the dashboard, the API, or by linking their existing e-commerce systems. SAP Hybris (used by stores like Levi’s, Oakley, and Ted Baker) is the first e-commerce integration we’re announcing, but expect more to come later. For stores, you can use Relay to enable instant purchases in third-party mobile apps: one of our launch partners, Twitter, is using Relay to enable anyone to start selling within tweets. Or you can submit your products to be shown in a growing number of apps like ShopStyle and Spring. Requirements: Stripe Demo: https://stripe.com/relay License: License Free The post Let People Buy Your Products within other Mobile Apps appeared first on WebAppers.

Joomla 3.x. How to split an article content into an introduction with a read more button Sep 16th 2015, 06:46 This tutorial is going to show you how to display article introductory text with a read more button in Joomla 3.x. The VR Headset Market Finally Looks Ready For Take-Off Sep 15th 2015, 20:10 As far as consumers are concerned, virtual reality headsets have been in the pipeline for a long, long time. Consider the Oculus Rift, one of the most well-known of the new breed—it met its Kickstarter funding goal in September 2012, but won't be on general sale before 2016, making for a wait of nearly four years. See also: 5 Trending Markets That Are Capitalizing On Virtual Reality That slow birthing process is about to give way to rapid growth in shipments and sales, according to new research from UK analysts at Juniper. The firm predicts that 3 million units will be shifted next year, rising to around 30 million by 2020.  "With technological advancements such as low latency and smarter graphics, coupled with the corresponding growth in interest from major players, VR is now in a position where the market can finally take off," notes the firm. In other words, competitors, it may soon be time to take your place at the starting line. The race is about to begin.  Virtual Reality, Real Frenzy The Oculus Rift isn't the only big name VR headset hitting the market next year.  The Steam OS-powered HTC Vive, built in partnership with Valve and perhaps the Rift's main challenger, is slated for a full launch in Q1 2016 (with a few headsets going on sale before the end of 2015). Sony's PlayStation VR (previously known as Morpheus) doesn't have an official release date, but all the hints point towards the first half of 2016 as well. After following the progress of these headsets for so long, consumers are about to get a glut of choices to pick from. Some devices are already on the market of course, though they lack the power and finesse of the devices coming next year. Samsung's Gear VR has been through a couple of revisions, while Google Cardboard offers a DIY virtual reality solution that anyone can try (just add a compatible smartphone). The Rise of Virtual Reality Juniper estimates that 30 million devices will land by 2020. (For more details, check out its full report, titled "The Rise of Virtual Reality.")  In addition to improved VR technology, the firm cites falling prices as another factor likely to grab consumer interest.  Gaming and video are named as the major drivers for adoption of the technology, and the Far East and China are expected to see increases in development and production activities, as the tech establishes itself. Hardware retail revenue from VR headsets is expected to exceed $4 billion by 2020. However, it's worth noting that the pricing for the Oculus Rift and the others still remains vague. Report co-author Joe Crabtree says there's "huge potential for rapid market expansion" because of the development and investment from the tech industry so far—remember Facebook now owns Oculus Rift. Further down the line, Juniper expects that expansion to filter out into industrial and healthcare uses. It certainly feels like we're on the cusp of something big, with positive reaction to VR from early adopters, a growing number of tools for content creators and millions of dollars worth of investment. If developers can get enough compelling games and movies in place by this time next year, the VR market could even exceed expectations.  Lead image courtesy of Oculus; Google's GoPro/Jump photo by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite

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Treat Fundraising Like Enterprise Sales (And Glengarry Glen Ross) Sep 15th 2015, 14:00 Guest author Edith Harbaugh is the CEO and cofounder of LaunchDarkly, a service that helps software teams launch, measure, and control their features. As I was going through my fundraising for LaunchDarkly, I was surprised by my friends reactions of “Oh, it’s just like Shark Tank; you pitch four VCs on live TV and they make a snap decision.”  This isn’t true. Seed fundraising isn’t like Shark Tank. It’s much more like enterprise sales. Survival Of The Fit Fundraising is about finding a good fit between a company that wants money to grow faster and investors who want to put their money to work with a high return. Enterprise sales is similar—a company is investing in a vendor that will help them achieve high returns for their own business.  In both cases, there’s a funnel with leads, a champion, a sales process, and a close. Below is the sales process I used to raise raising $2.6 million, with bonus help from ’90s classic movie Glengarry Glen Ross.  Hollywood mythology has the CEO drive down to Sand Hill Road, pitch a partner meeting, and walk out with a check for millions. Actually, the partner meeting is the very last step in the process.  You start out with all your leads—VCs you think might be interested in buying what you’re selling. But wait, I’m not selling anything! I hear you thinking. Oh, but you are! VCs are buying a chunk of your company in the hopes that you will return their investment by 10x or more. Not every buyer persona matches what you’re selling; you are looking for a VC who understands your market and your vision, and buys into the possibility that you will make them look prescient and rich. Qualifying Leads “The leads aren’t weak—you’re weak.” Pro tip: Know your target market and look for VCs who know your market well. My screen was having investors with experience working in software development. Make a lead list of everyone you know who fits your ideal lead profile. Define your target market for leads—investors who have a thesis that matches your space and its size. AngelList, CrunchBase and funds’ own websites are very helpful for knowing what investors invest in. For example, if they usually invest in hardware router makers that need a Series D—a big-dollar, late-stage investment—they’re unlikely to invest in your seed-stage home-decorating consumer app.  Next, make your email pitch with a short blurb of who you are, what you’re doing, and why it’s interesting. The goal of the email pitch is not to have someone drop you a check (only a Sith Lord does that), but to get a meeting with the investor. Once you’re in the pitch meeting, it’s a two-way street. The investor is assessing whether you have a quality pitch, team, interesting market, and product demo. At the seed stage, the VCs are looking for promise and something that excites them personally.  As the CEO, you are looking for the right fit to take your company forward. Mike Beebe, a Jedi fundraiser, told me, “You will get the money—you’re assessing if this is the person you want to get money from.”  I had a pitch meeting where the partner had never heard of Stack Overflow. My own product is a developer tool that helps with getting features to real users faster, and the partner hadn’t heard of one of the most popular developer sites. Not a fit. Another said they loved me and my story personally, but didn’t understand B2B and would invest if I was doing a B2C company. The Art Of The Follow-Up “A guy don’t walk on the lot lest he want to buy." Pro tip: Always ask. Always. You don’t know if someone is a yes unless you ask. The first pitch meeting went well, there’s mutual interest, now what?  Now comes the follow-up. Tom Drummond, Heavybit managing director, told me that “VCs take 20–30 meetings a week and have hundreds of emails. You need to force your way to be top of mind. Email them, follow up.”  Once I knew it wasn’t a negative signal to follow up, I used TalentBin founder Peter Kazanjy's advice:“Touch a lead six times before they’re cold.” After the pitch meeting, send a follow-up. Mine reiterated key points, expanded on anything I felt I hadn’t covered well, and included a customer case study. I asked for next steps. Sometimes the response was “We don’t want to continue.” Sometimes it was “Here’s what we need to move forward,” but at least I knew. Dave McClure, founding partner at 500 Startups, only invested after I followed up. I’ve known Dave since 2008, when I worked at an Internet of Things startup. He said, “If you ever start a company, I’d invest.” My response was, “I don’t even have an idea, much less a company.” But he said, “The person is more important than the idea.” When I exhibited at WebSummit Dublin in 2014, I tweeted him to come by the LaunchDarkly booth. He came by, dropped a card, and jetted off. I was disappointed—now I had a company, shouldn’t he have offered to invest? Then I reframed it. He’d taken the time to come see me, and I hadn’t made the ask.  I emailed him, “Are you ready to make your bet on me?” He responded instantly, saying yes, he was interested, and he’d assumed I wasn’t fundraising because I hadn’t asked him. Do Due Diligence “Always be closing." Pro tip: Ask a VC to walk you through their due-diligence process. If the VC can’t answer, this is a huge red flag. If they ask for 50 different documents including SEC filings and you’re raising seed, it’s not a good match. If they start to ask for things not in the original plan, ask them why. Usually, it’s cold feet. Due diligence is often the most confusing phase for entrepreneurs.. As VCs are parting with a significant amount of money, they want to vet you. Angels who are investing $10,000–$50,000 can go on gut, but the more money is at stake, the more vetting will take place. Every investor has an ever-amorphous idea of what due diligence they need to feel comfortable with you. Some will want to talk to your customers, some will want you to talk to their portfolio companies to see what they think, some will want you to talk to industry experts, some will want to talk to all your old bosses, and some will want to see five years of financial statements, board meeting notes, and your seven-year business plan. Match the amount of vetting with the size of investment, and push back on unusual requests. If a VC asks you to meet with someone before they’ve invested, treat these meetings as what they are—sales calls. The investor will not invest until due diligence is complete, so do not blow these meetings off or treat them casually. They are not a time to let it all hang out and expose the warts of your business. They are steps in a sales process. Impress the due-diligence people as much as you impressed the original VC. Bring your A-game as to why your company is important and valuable. Due diligence can drag out, mislead, give false hope, and be harmful. I had an investor who wanted to talk to two customers. He missed both meetings because he was late. When he did eventually show up, he wanted to meet with more customers to “feel convinced.” I didn’t want to burn my customers with a flaky VC who would miss meetings. He never did end up investing. Another startup CEO had six separate meetings with one VC firm. He didn't meet with other firms, as in his mind, this firm was about to invest. Startup advisor Sean Byrnes gave him a cold dose of reality: “If after that many meetings they haven’t invested, they won’t. They’re using you to educate themselves on the market.”  To reframe this in enterprise sales terms, if you’re spending all your time on bad leads, you’re not making good leads work. The Close  “Coffee is for closers." Pro tip: Always know who your champion is. If you don’t know who it is, you are fighting solo, as no one has an incentive to help you. You’ve made it through your initial pitch meetings, due diligence, and now it’s time for the final hurdle—the partner meeting. Many think this is the first step, but it is actually the last one. This is the meeting where you pitch to the entire partnership.  The most important person in the pitch meeting isn’t actually you, but your champion. The champion is the partner who heard your pitch and has the reports back from due diligence. They are trying to get the deal done as they think you’re a killer investment that will make them look good.  Andy McLoughlin, a venture partner at SoftTech VC, says, “If I’m the champion of an investment deal, I’m even more invested than in vendor selection at an enterprise. The companies I invest in are my product.”  The champions are there to help you. Use them! They want you to look good, as otherwise they get razzed for backing a loser company. Most firms invest in less than half of companies that pitch the partnership, and it’s not expected everyone will be in favor. Ask the champion what you should show in the partner meeting. Let the VC run interference on objections. Without a champion, meetings are at best neutral and at worst openly hostile. In sum, fundraising is hard, but it shouldn’t be a mystery. It’s a sales process, so treat it like that. The goal is that both parties should feel like they’ve found a partner who will help them win. Screenshot via Glengarry Glen Ross

Media files: MTMzMDM5NTY3MTk5NTQ1OTg3.jpg (image/jpeg) Don't Get Hacked—Get Cujo Sep 15th 2015, 13:00 This article is sponsored by Cujo. It reflects the views of the sponsor, not ReadWrite's editors. Cujo is announcing a smart device that guards all of your connected home devices from hacks. It's simple to start, with no installation necessary. Cujo blocks malware, viruses, phishing attempts, and hacks. You get an app that alerts you anytime your devices are in danger. Best of all, you can get it for only $49 when you back our Indiegogo campaign. We have all read stories about the Ashley Madison and Sony hacks. We may think that only corporations are affected by cybercrime. Chances are, you've probably been hacked yourself in the past. In fact, almost 50% of Americans were hacked in 2014, CNN reported. The days of protecting your home with just an alarm system or antivirus softwre are over. If you have a TV, a smartphone, or even a baby monitor at home, then you are an easy target for cybercriminals. It can take just 20 minutes before criminals begin attempting to hack a newly connected device. More often than not, they succeed. Why is it important to get extra Internet security for your home? Criminal hackers break into your home devices to steal your identity, watch your cameras, access your financial info, and worse. Kids and older adults are especially susceptible to falling victim to stalkers and impersonators. Your home is full of smart devices, but antivirus software is designed only to protect your PC, so it is ineffective in most cases. And firewalls are outdated the moment they ship. Your Internet of Things need security. Cujo continuously adapts to guard your entire home Internet. How does Cujo work? Cujo was engineered to start in seconds. It connects to your wireless router with one cable. Your connected devices will still stream directly to the router, so your wireless range is not affected. Cujo will inspect all of the connections within your network as well as data leaving and entering your home. Its patent-pending technology enables Cujo to learn from your device behavior so that it can detect anomalies as soon as they occur. Click here to visit Cujo's Indiegogo presale campaign. We need backing to get Cujo to the masses, so we are selling the device for only $49. At that price, it comes bundled with many months of free service. Even small contributions help by raising Cujo's popularity and giving the cause of better Internet security at home more visibility. This article is sponsored by Cujo. It reflects the views of the sponsor, not ReadWrite's editors.

Media files: MTMzMDM5MDUwOTk4MjE0NjI2.jpg (image/jpeg) Prestashop.1.6. How to add a Shipping Carrier Sep 15th 2015, 09:58 This tutorial shows how to add a Shipping Carrier in PrestaShop 1.6.x. Joomla 3.x. How to add a new field in TM AJAX Contact Form module Sep 15th 2015, 09:39 This video tutorial shows how to add new field in TM AJAX Contact Form module in Joomla 3 templates. WoocCommerce. How to edit product page tabs titles Sep 15th 2015, 08:27 This tutorial will show you how to edit product page tab titles in WooCommerce.

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How to Create Material Design Ripple Effects with SVG Sep 17th 2015, 07:51 Codrops has written an in-depth tutorial on how to build the ripple effect outlined under Google Material Design’s Radial Action specification and combine it with the powers of SVG and GreenSock. With the advent of Google’s Material Design came a visual language that set out to create a unified experience across platforms and devices. Google’s examples depicted through their Animation section of the Material Guidelines has become so identifiable in the wild that many have come to know these interactions as part of the Google brand. In this tutorial, they are going to show you one way of building the ripple effect specifically outlined under Radial Action of the Google Material Design specification by combining it with the powers of SVG and GreenSock. Requirements: SVG and GreenSock Demo: http://tympanus.net/Tutorials/SVGRipples/ License: License Free The post How to Create Material Design Ripple Effects with SVG appeared first on WebAppers.

Magento. How to remove sidebars from category pages Sep 17th 2015, 07:44 This tutorial shows how to remove sidebars from category pages in Magento. CherryFramework 4. How to embed a MailChimp form to the required place on the page/post Sep 17th 2015, 07:27 In this tutorial you will learn the way to embed a MailChimp form to the required place on the page/post in Cherry Framework 4 based templates. AirDrop Bugs And Faster Downloads Could Send Users Running To iOS 9 Sep 16th 2015, 19:07 Apple isn't doing too badly with iOS adoption rates: As it releases iOS 9 to the world today, the company also posted a graphic on its App Store support page showing iOS 8 installations have reached 87% of devices. iOS 7 made up 11%, with older software accounting for 2%.  As Apple is always keen to highlight, it's one of the key differentiators between iOS and Android: The latest version of Google's mobile OS, Lollipop 5.0, is present and correct on some 22% of devices according to the company's latest figures. A further 39.2% of gadgets are running Android 4.4 KitKat.

See also: Here’s What’s New In iOS 9

That's encouraging for iOS developers and a headache for those working on Android. Of course, Google doesn't have the same control over OS releases or, of course, hardware as Apple enjoys—Samsung, Sony, LG and HTC all want to make their own tweaks to the software before pushing it out. As strong as iOS 8 adoption has been, iOS 9 could do even better. First of all, the download weighs in at just 1GB, a relief for anyone who struggled to make enough space for the massive 5GB of room its predecessor took up. Second, every device that runs iOS 8 will also run iOS 9—from the second-generation iPad to the brand new iPhone 6S. That's a lot of potential customers who won't have to spend time deleting music and photos just to get the update. There's another reason why iOS users will want to upgrade too: security. Airdrop Angst Just before iOS 9 hit the wider world, Australian security researcher Mark Dowd, of Azimuth Security, revealed a security hole in AirDrop that could enable malicious software to load onto an iPhone via Bluetooth. The vulnerability allows anyone within range of an AirDrop signal to install unwanted apps and edit iOS settings, even if the file transfer is rejected. The bug is also present in Yosemite, but is squashed by iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 El Capitan. On older software the only effective way to stop it is to disable the AirDrop feature. If you were thinking of waiting to upgrade to iOS 9 while the early teething problems are worked out, a serious security flaw is likely to be enough to convince you to take the plunge. "[The malicious app] is restricted by its sandbox," Dowd explained to Forbes. "However since you sign the app, you can grant some entitlements that allow it to do things like read contacts, get location information, use the camera or whatever other entitlements legitimate apps can be allowed to have." And that's before we get into all the new features in iOS 9: a smarter, more proactive Siri, better performance and battery life, a revamped News app and of course the split screen views now available on iPad devices. With more urgent reasons to upgrade and fewer reasons not to, get ready for iOS 9 to break all adoption rate records. Your move, Google. Images courtesy of Apple, screenshotted by ReadWrite

Media files: MTMxNzc0MzE3NjE1NjgyODM0.jpg (image/jpeg) Uber CEO Spells Out His Endgame Sep 16th 2015, 18:41

This post appears courtesy of the Ferenstein Wire, a syndicated news service. Publishing partners may edit posts. For inquiries, please email author and publisher Gregory Ferenstein.

Since Uber began getting regularly hammered in the press for its aggressive political tactics and potential legal violations, its once outspoken leader hasn't given the public much direction about the future of his multibillionaire ride-sharing company.  But CEO Travis Kalanick gave a rare interview in San Francisco today at the mega Dreamforce conference. Among the morsels he doled out, two quotes stood out, largely because they reveal how Uber might see itself changing public life.  See also: Taxicab Industry Has A New App To Compete With Uber Traffic Stop Street congestion may be one of the most annoying aspects of city life, but Kalanick thinks his company has the remedy for it:  If every car in San Francisco was Ubered, there'd be no traffic. In the short term, Kalanick says he basically wants to replace every car on the road. Where Uber and Lyft have saturated the market with on-demand drivers, this is actually a realistic goal in the near term. A number of commentators have done the calculations, and it's cheaper to replace one's car in San Francisco with ride-sharing. As a Bay Area resident, the availability of cheap transportation is why I sold my car. It's really nice never to worry about parking tickets, drunk driving, gas or maintenance. Not owning a car saves me a ton of time every month. This will be more difficult to achieve in midwestern states and suburban environments, but perhaps Uber can figure out a solution for less urbanized citizens. Put another way, Uber is looking to fully privatize the transportation industry.  Transportation Fix Broadly speaking, Uber seems intent on overhauling the transportation industry. We want transportation to be as reliable as running water for everyone, in every city in the world. Instead of a complicated and unreliable system of transit unions, car ownership and delivery services, Uber would try to make getting something from point A to point B much more seamless.  People spend (a lot) of time buying different services and figuring out how to navigate delivery and transportation. Uber imagines a world where all the complicated logistics are taken care of. All that a user would have to do is press a button. Seems like it would be a less frustrating world, if he—or others—can build it.  Kalanick's full interview should be available later on the Dreamforce website.

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Lead photo courtesy of Shutterstock

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API Of The Week: Dweet.io Sep 16th 2015, 14:00 Guest author Kurt Collins is a developer evangelist for Built.io. With Salesforce taking over the streets of San Francisco for its massive Dreamforce conference this week, it's hard to remember that 15 years ago, Salesforce was just another startup scrapping for attention at tech conferences. At the Demo conference in February 2000, Salesforce demonstrated what was then a novel feature: a public Web API, or application programming interface. On the strength of that open accessibility, Salesforce attracted other developers and customers who wanted to build software, not just buy it. It changed the world: Now it seems strange when a company doesn't offer a public API. The number of APIs has exploded. ProgrammableWeb is currently tracking almost 14,000 public APIs and sites like OneStack are making it easier to figure out which technologies integrate together.  Welcome Back To API Of The Week With all of these APIs out there, it’s time to restart an old ReadWrite tradition: the API of the Week. Where to start? Years ago, as this site explored the growing boundaries of the two-way Web, ReadWrite covered APIs from companies like UserVoice and Quora. Now machine-to-machine communication is hot—so it's a good time to look at Dweet.io's API. In Twitter's early days, people explored the idea of using it for machine-to-machine communications. But as its focus became a real-time media business, it's proven less and less suitable for that purpose, with rules and guidelines that actively discourage automation. See also: My Fish Just Sent Me A Text Message Dweet.io addresses that gap in the market. Its stated purpose is to make it easy for your devices to communicate; what they communicate is up to you. Instead of sending tweets, each device (referred to as “things") sends “dweets” to the cloud. Your dweet is public and it can contain any information you want by either passing a key/value pair in the query string or sending valid JSON data in the request body. There’s no need to create a "thing" in the system before dweeting from it; the API will automatically register a thing the first time it dweets.  In the following example, we will send a dweet from a thing named “builtio_dweets”. The content of the dweet will be four variables: hello, readwrite, builtio_lat, and builtio_long. You can create this dweet by calling the API hook: https://dweet.io/dweet/for/builtio_dweets?hello=world&readwrite=isawesome&builtio_lat=37.7844062&builtio_long=–122.4079684  Every dweet automatically gets a timestamp attached to it. Every time you dweet, Dweet.io returns a simple response: {     "this" : "succeeded",     "by" : "dweeting",     "the" : "dweet",     "with" : {           "thing" : "builtio_dweets",           "created" : "2015-09-08T22:30:24.712Z",           "content" : {                 "hello" : "world",                 "readwrite" : "isawesome",                 "builtio_lat" : 37.7844062,                 "builtio_long" : -122.4079684            }     }} In order to get the most recent dweet from builtio_dweets programmatically, all you have to do is make a simple call to this URL: https://dweet.io/get/latest/dweet/for/builtio_dweets If you want a more visual representation of the most recent dweet, Dweet.io has set up a Web page for you to follow any public thing. What’s more, if there’s a lat/long pair in your dweet indicating its location, then the follow page will automatically update with a map. Why Dweets Are Neat You can also subscribe to dweets for your things. And finally, you can lock your things (thus reserving the name and making its dweets private), and also can set up email alerts so that Dweet.io can watch for any condition in the data and notify you of changes and status failures. Every public thing is free. However, Dweet.io makes money by charging 99 cents to lock a thing. You can only set an alert on a locked thing. Dweet.io is the status update for your IoT devices. It’s a dead simple publish-subscribe API that allows you to get status updates running on the IoT device you’re building in your garage. The incredible thing about Dweet.io is the simplicity. It’s simple to register a new thing to the network. It’s simple to have a thing report any data via query string parameters or JSON in the request body of an API call. You can get the 500 most recent dweets in the last 24-hour time period by making a simple API call. It’s clear that Dweet.io put a lot of thought into how developers use its API. Well done! What do you think? Would you use Dweet.io? Tell us the things you'd like to have dweet, and why, in the comments. Photo by JD Hancock Editor's note: While Built.io is currently a sponsor of ReadWrite's Code section, Collins submitted this post independently through ReadWrite's established guest-post program. Editorial is separate from advertising.

Media files: MTIxNDI3Mjk1MjA0MTE1OTgx.jpg (image/jpeg) JS Animated. How to change Bootstrap grid layout Sep 16th 2015, 08:07 In this tutorial we'll show you how to change Bootstrap grid layout of your HTMLtemplate. OpenCart 2.x. How to manage image dimensions Sep 16th 2015, 07:59 This video tutorial shows how to manage image dimensions in OpenCart 2.x. CherryFramework 3. How to change parallax video to an image (when video is managed via Cherry Options) Sep 16th 2015, 07:53 This time you will learn how to change the parallax video added in the header section of your cherry options to static image in CherryFramework 3 templates. Monstroid. YITH Plugins overview Sep 15th 2015, 09:04 We are ready to provide you with a short overview of YITH Plugins in Monstroid template.

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Notion – Beautiful. Lightweight. Always organized. Sep 18th 2015, 07:48 Notion is an expressive and collaborative document editor that gives your ideas a place to grow. Beautiful. Lightweight. Always organized. You can create from an assortment of building blocks: to-dos, files, videos, code snippets, and more. Notion helps you work the way you think. Tired of messy folders? They have also invented a new and intuitive way to organize: just drop one page inside another. Let your ideas grow organically. You can share your work with anyone with Notion as well. See what others are doing on your page. It’s like having your collaborators in the same room with you. Requirements: – Demo: http://early-access.notion.so/ License: License Free The post Notion – Beautiful. Lightweight. Always organized. appeared first on WebAppers.

Apple Can Stop Samsung From Selling Phones Sep 18th 2015, 00:29 A U.S. federal appeals courts sided with Apple on Thursday, in a verdict that could block Samsung from issuing new devices that infringe on the iPhone company's patents. The ruling—which covers Apple patents for slide-to-unlock, autocorrect, and quicklinks—is the latest in a four-year legal tussle. A previous decision in May 2014 awarded Apple nearly $120 million in damages, but didn’t require the South Korean tech company to pull those features from its mobile devices. Apple appealed, hoping to cover what it viewed as a crucial hole in that decision. Apparently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington agreed. According to the ruling: The right to exclude competitors from using one’s property rights is important. And the right to maintain exclusivity—a hallmark and crucial guarantee of patents rights deriving from the Constitution itself—is likewise important. Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, Samsung has already removed those features from most of its current phones. (Only one device uses the quicklinks feature.) But that doesn’t mean the Galaxy maker has given up. In fact, it's appealing both this and the original infringement verdict. If it wins, the victory would nullify both verdicts. For now, however, Apple has a court victory to put in its arsenal. Since Samsung has largely dropped the relevant features, the matter could mean even more to other companies, if Apple uses the decision to target others who it sees as infringing on its patents. As for the two tech giants, this matter is just a drop in the bucket. The companies have more than 50 legal disputes between them extending all over the globe. U.S. courts have tended to side with Apple, having ruled that Samsung infringed on iPhone and iPad designs.

Media files: MTIyMzAwODM0Njk5NTc1OTEw.jpg (image/jpeg) User Acquisition Is So Over, Focus On Engagement Sep 17th 2015, 21:33 Guest author Farzana Nasser is the co-founder of Gallop, an audience intelligence marketing platform. She is also a member of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). Mobile app advertising is a complex and incredibly fragmented space. Marketers are under pressure to grow a business, build a valuable user base and prove a return on their ad spend. Having worked with hundreds of app publishers, the most common question I hear is: how do I measure the success of my marketing efforts?  See also: Want To Keep Customers? Integrate Tech With A Personal Touch With hundreds of metrics available today to mobile app marketers from clicks and impressions to installs and logins—what is the metric to optimize for? Should you care about growing your number of users and just drive efficient growth for as low a cost as possible? Are you measuring whether or not these users engage with your app, retain over time or purchase? Avoid The Race To The Bottom It doesn’t matter how low the cost of your install, click or impression is if the user isn’t active on your app. Installs don’t drive a return on investment (ROI); only in-app monetization provides a return. If you are only optimizing for an install, you’ll get installs that are incredibly inexpensive and achieve short-term success. However, if this is all you are doing and not measuring downstream user actions and optimizing for that, you’re in trouble. Here are five reasons why: 25% of new app users leave after the first day they install an app, leading to a significant loss to their entire user base within the first few months (Google). On average, app users who retain for at least seven days tend to remain much longer, making the first three- to seven-day period a critical one (Quettra). 38% of people are more likely to download an app when it's required to complete a purchase. However, over half will uninstall this app once they have made their purchase (Google). 60% of app users are turning off notifications, signifying that more may need to be done by developers to reach those who download their apps (Pymnts). Repeat customers tend to spend 33% more than existing ones (CMO). The Solution: Leverage Your User Data You hold the keys to a untapped marketing gold mine: your user data. Use it to target people in an intelligent manner, so you can reach the right user at the right time with the right message. Recent advances in mobile app technology have now made this possible in unprecedented ways. A new user is only as good as the actions they take to interact and/or complete a purchase in your app. Focusing on the first week a user installs your app to understand what actions you need them to take can help you mitigate the drop-off and potential loss of valuable users. Consider these key metrics when measuring user value by acquisition channel: Customer lifetime value: Understand how much the average customer will spend in your app over their lifetime, and use this understanding to create a benchmark for an acceptable user acquisition cost. Cost per monetization: Identify the key behaviors in your application that drive value, and determine what your acquisition cost is for that specific behavior (ad click, in-app purchase, etc.). Retention rate by day: Review retention rates by channel to understand where you are deriving users who stay engaged in your application. At a minimum, review day one retention (as this is where the highest drop-off normally occurs) and day seven retention (another key user drop-off point). Depending on your industry category and the user experience of your app, you will want to get very granular with the approach you take to measure these key metrics and then take action. For example, if you have an e-commerce app, you can optimize for in-app purchases or even users who add items to the cart and then re-target them to purchase. In the publishing space, optimize for subscriptions or in-app advertising clicks. Gaming companies tend to optimize for day one and day two retention, as well as in-app purchases. Long-term, high-quality users are more valuable than inexpensive users, so figure out what drives value for your business and measure that. If marketers start thinking more like product people and leverage user data to drive action for new and current users, it would improve the user experience for us all—and possibly save millions of ad dollars on targeting the wrong people.  Lead photo by AFS USA

Media files: MTE5NTU2MzIyNTk2NzgzNjI3.jpg (image/jpeg) Amazon's Power Play: Alexa Meets Fire TV, Plus A Slew Of New Devices Sep 17th 2015, 18:44 The Fire Phone might have fallen flat on its face, but Amazon isn't getting out of hardware just yet: The company today announced no fewer than seven new devices, covering tablets, set-top boxes and streaming dongles—there are updates for just about every device in the Amazon portfolio, save for the Kindle and Echo. More important than the hardware, though, is the news that Amazon's smart assistant software Alexa is making the jump from the Echo to the newly updated Fire TV. We were expecting Amazon to make a move for the smart home of the future, and it looks like the wheels are in motion.  See also: Amazon's Awesome Alexa Voice Tech Reaches Out To Other Devices On one level, this isn't a new strategy for Amazon: From the very start, its hardware devices have been shipped with the aim of getting more people on its digital services, which now cover music, video, e-books and, most recently, the Washington Post. But the expansion of Alexa is something new, a digital assistant and smart home controller rolled into one, with no visible interface. The app can run Web searches, read out audiobooks, check the traffic or the weather and turn your lights on and off—in other words, very much in the vein of Siri, Google Now and Cortana, with the added bonus of letting you order items straight from Amazon too. Amazon is encouraging developers to get involved as well, though the roll-out of tools for third-party coders to play around with hasn't been particularly speedy. In time it seems likely that Jeff Bezos is going to want as many people as possible on board with Alexa, and that will probably see the app finding its way to tablets, in addition to the Fire TV. Taking The Tablets Perhaps the most headline-grabbing device in Amazon's latest batch of products is a $50 tablet designed to compete at the lowest end of the Android market. It's accompanied by a $99.99 tablet aimed at kids (complete with chunky case and age-appropriate software), plus upgraded Fire HD tablets with better hardware specifications, at 8-inches and 10-inches. The revamped Alexa-enabled Fire TV can now play video content in 4K resolution, and the cut-down Fire TV Stick gets an update too, though it has to make do with voice control rather than the full Alexa experience. A gaming edition of the Fire TV rounds out the new line-up. It was only last week that Apple was showing off a set-top box that tells you the baseball score while you're watching your favorite comedy show or playing a game on the big screen, and now Amazon has launched something strikingly similar. Amazon's modified version of Android has always struggled to attract developers and users—it's in the same chicken-and-egg situation as Windows Phone—but while that ship may have sailed, smart personal assistants and voice control is where we're seeing most of the innovation and progress on mobile devices right now. Microsoft realizes it, hence Cortana's rapid expansion to just about every platform possible, and it looks like Amazon realizes it too: These intelligent, AI-driven apps are the future for mobile phones, smart homes and everything in between. If Jeff Bezos gets his way, you'll be hearing a lot more from Alexa in the future. Images courtesy of Amazon

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Why DBaaS Will Be The Next Big Thing In Database Management Sep 18th 2015, 20:49 Guest author Baron Schwartz, an expert in MySQL, is the founder of VividCortex and the author of “High Performance MySQL.” He has helped build and scale some of the world's largest web, social, gaming, and mobile properties.  There’s a big change happening in the world of databases. The industry is buzzing about Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS), a cloud offering that allows companies to rent access to these managed digital data warehouses.  For enterprise customers, the service offers another way to streamline their operations. As more companies (large and small) recognize the value of DBaaS, new services, providers, and features will transform the way users request and manage databases. This also represents opportunities for DBaaS companies like Tesora, which just raised an additional $5.8 million from its venture backers, for a total of $14.5 million. See also: How The MongoDB Database Learned To Scale If you’re not familiar with this increasingly important technology, take heart. Here’s your primer on what DBaaS is, how it can benefit your company, and how to choose a solution for your organization’s unique needs. The Evolution of Database Management Database management has changed a lot over the last decade or two. Years ago, companies ran proprietary databases on “bare metal” servers, almost always on-site. They had to dedicate resources like space, people, budget, and time to purchase, house, install, network, repair, maintain, and secure hardware, operating systems, and databases. The process of setting up a database back then took weeks, even months. To reduce the time and complexity of setup and management of databases, the industry moved toward more automated solutions. Meanwhile, new technologies like virtualization drove higher utilization and improved responsiveness in the data center. Now, in the age of cloud computing, a lot of databases run on rented, cloud-hosted servers, where teams may have access to virtualized operating systems and databases, but not hardware. There will likely always be databases running on dedicated hardware for numerous reasons. However, the trend toward more automation looks like the inevitable future for all aspects of database management and in every life-cycle phase. The traditional “corporate standard” that specified a single database technology is on the decline. Instead, the new norm is so-called “polyglot persistence,” which hinges on a large number of different database technologies and applications. The modern data tier is distributed and diverse. Provisioning, configuration, managing, monitoring, security, and other important IT functions need to adapt accordingly. That’s where Database-as-a-Service comes in. The Rise of DBaaS Having gotten rid of racking and booting servers, companies are now comfortable taking the next step—going entirely hands-off to let automation run the database from top to bottom. They get a database to connect to (and use to store and query data), but nothing else. In this scenario, the system is a fully managed “service,” hence the DBaaS moniker, offered by an external company, by IT for its internal customers, or a combination of the two. Many of today’s businesses want to reduce repetitive manual tasks and eliminate configuration errors or security breaches, but they don’t want to spend time fiddling with technical details. The old way of managing databases required a lot of heavy lifting. IT personnel had to learn, manage, and repair nearly all aspects of every system. Similar to a point-and-shoot digital camera, DBaaS provides professional databases that can get running and ready in a matter of minutes without a lot of training or personnel. A service provider chooses most of the options, offering the “best” configuration for most needs. While individual systems can become unique “snowflake” servers, DBaaS tends to avoid that by simplifying and normalizing the customization, management, and upkeep for administrators. Overall, the service makes it easier to solve problems, correct mistakes, and transfer data from one system to the next. They can scale as large as necessary, fit the needs of the customers, and offer better availability and security than most in-house operations. DBaaS is also accessible to a larger audience because, like other “as a service” cloud innovations, it is largely defined, configured, and driven by code—not commands typed into a terminal. So, instead of requiring database specialists, developers themselves can easily create and manage database-backed apps on cloud-based development platforms. Heroku, for instance, includes a DBaaS that is configured through simple, declarative files that developers can simply “push” along with the rest of their app codes. The Future of DBaaS DBaaS is already responsible for much of the growth in some key technologies, particularly open-source databases like MySQL. In other words, traditional database deployment is somewhat stagnant, and most new deployments are DBaaS. The demand is so high that some tech giants started offering a managed “as a service” version of their own. These in-house databases—think Amazon’s Aurora and Google’s Cloud Bigtable—were not originally intended for use by others. They initially built it for their own needs. They’re now offering it for businesses to access, though not to install and run. These customers get a great database without having to administer it, while the provider makes money from software without having to support and troubleshoot it in someone else’s data center.  See also: Amazon's Cloud Looks Unstoppable—And Databases Are Its Next Target In the private cloud, on the other hand, many companies are adopting OpenStack as the “cloud operating system” of choice. OpenStack provides mechanisms to orchestrate and manage storage, networking, and other data center services, and it's being deployed by large corporations for use in its own data centers, as well as by large cloud service providers offering public and managed private cloud services. Tesora specializes in OpenStack Trove, the OpenStack DBaaS project. DBaaS' rise is well-timed. As technology presses forward, the tech world is only collecting more and more data. Smart, efficient database technologies have become critical for companies of all types and sizes. As a service that can streamline operations and reduce redundancies, it can help ease their customers’ load, so they can focus on what matters most to them—their products.  For insight into how to choose a DBaaS service provider to fit your needs, look for my next article, coming soon.

Lead photo courtesy of Shutterstock

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Lattice – Running Containerized Workloads on a Cluster Sep 21st 2015, 07:03 Lattice is an open source project for running containerized workloads on a cluster. Lattice bundles up http load-balancing, a cluster scheduler, log aggregation/streaming and health management into an easy-to-deploy and easy-to-use package. The scheduler balances the allocation of container process resources across the infrastructure. The algorithm uses a distributed auction model based on the resource availability of the hosts and the current placement of your containers. Lattice aspires to make clustering containers easy. Lattice includes a cluster scheduler, http load balancing, log aggregation and health management. Lattice containers can be long running or temporary tasks which get dynamically scaled and balanced across a cluster. Lattice packages components from Cloud Foundry to provide a cloud native platform for individual developers and small teams. Requirements: – Demo: http://lattice.cf/ License: See License Agreenment The post Lattice – Running Containerized Workloads on a Cluster appeared first on WebAppers.

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Modernizr 3: A New Release and Website Sep 22nd 2015, 08:04 Modernizr has redesigned and built the site from the ground up to give the website a refresh as well as make the builder a whole lot more powerful for beginners and advanced users. From just creating a simple build to grabbing a config, to implementing in your build process, through to a really cool solution of dynamically creating a custom package that can be installed via bower. The internal structure of Modernizr has been completely revamped, making it easier to contribute to and easier to customize/extend Modernizr’s licensing has changed: they have moved from a BSD license to MIT. Requirements: – Demo: https://modernizr.com/ License: MIT License The post Modernizr 3: A New Release and Website appeared first on WebAppers.

Virtual Reality Meets Actual Reality: Why VR Is Harder Than You Think Sep 21st 2015, 22:25 At the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco Monday, three virtual reality proponents hit the stage to talk about the potential—and the pitfalls—of virtual reality. It’s an exciting time for VR pioneers like Richard Marks, head of research and development at Sony; Paul Raphaël of Felix & Paul Studios; and HTC's Claude Zellweger. But judging by what we’ve seen of the technology so far, it’s nothing compared to what the future holds.  The Many Uses Of Virtual Reality Already, augmented and virtual reality can act as tools for anything from education to medicine, architecture to real estate sales, and more.  Take doctors, for instance. Instead of just reading about a medical condition or looking at 2D images, “[they] can go into the disease,” said HTC’s Zellweger, whose company makes the forthcoming Vive VR headset. Students can visit historical venues, or experience great works of art from anywhere in the world.  The secret to succeeding with this emerging technology? For Zellweger, it boils down to three things: “[These experiences] need to look good; they need to feel good; and they need to be engaging. If you don’t have one of those three, it’s a failure.”  Not that VR is a perfect medium yet. One tricky area for some tech purveyors is audio. Flat sound can “kill the atmosphere,” added Zellweger, who confirmed that his company is focusing on sound with work on an upcoming sound studio for the Vive system.  Making VR Friendly For Newcomers Even for naysayers who try VR for the first time, the technology allows them to “feel like they’re participating in the story,” said Marks. Sony is obviously deeply involved in entertainment—from gaming to movies, among other things. The company notes how first-timers are often "very much surprised at how much they like being a part of it.” Zellweger explained that, even for “noninteractive content, there’s a level of interaction in the space,” though he acknowledges that the set-up can look pretty strange at first glance.  “From the outside, it looks like the beginning of the end,” he said. "From the inside, it’s actually much more human than looking at a flat screen.” But even in an immersive environment, it's still a solitary experience, with both eyes and ears covered. Some day, however, that isolation, too, will be a thing of the past. "You won’t be alone in this virtual world,” said Marks, hinting at how virtual reality could become much more social in the future. Raphaël, from Felix & Paul Studios, agreed. “We’re going to see a rapid progression," he said, and this coming ability to enjoy shared experiences should "open up the field for sports applications, exercising” and so on. Felix & Paul is getting into public affairs, apparently, too: The studio is working on a project with former president Bill Clinton, Raphaël said, after some prodding from TechCrunch moderator Drew Olanoff. He didn't offer more details. We'll have to wait for that project, too, to become real.

Media files: MTMzMTk0Mzc5Mjk1NzMwMzA3.jpg (image/jpeg) Data Blindness: Why We See Data And Don’t Act Sep 21st 2015, 20:57 Guest author Bob Suh is the founder and CEO of OnCorps, an adaptive decision analytics company with expertise in human behavior and how it drives team performance. In London, hotel windows are sealed tight in the winter. Recently, I walked into a hotel room and immediately smelled something … off—even foul, like an animal died somewhere unreachable. The odor dissipated after a little time, so I thought nothing more of it and went to dinner. But when I came back, there it was again. The odor never actually left the room. What disappeared was my ability to recognize it. In a way, so-called neural adaptation can extend to the digital world as well.  See also: Airbnb Opens Data, Machine Learning Code People can become blinded by data, and large volumes can increase data blindness in decision makers. So, by exploring the root causes of such data blindness, the effort could give organizations a significant analytical edge. How To See Data More Clearly, And Use It More Effectively Neural adaptation may be one reason investors pile into stocks with obvious problems. Or why an incumbent underestimates the threat of something new. Another form of data blindness results from a series of false positive alerts, like fire alarms, that discourage people from taking decisive action. This is one reason perfectly good cyber security alerts often go unheeded. Unfortunately, overwhelming data volumes force many projects to spend most of their resources processing and charting data, with little left to focus on decisions. Data blindness can result from many factors, some neurological, others cultural. Collectively, these factors impede our ability to act logically. Here are three ways to recognize and overcome it: 1. Focus on the decision, not the technology. Businesses spent more than $31 billion globally on big data technology in 2013, and that number is growing quickly. One study, from ABI Research, found that just 27% of organizations described their big data initiatives as successful. In most cases, huge amounts of data are available, but the ability to discern the important information from the garbage isn't. By focusing on the decisions that must be made, rather than purchasing and implementing massive storage and analytics solutions, organizations can set themselves up to make smarter, more thoughtful decisions and avoid drowning in a sea of data. 2. Don’t let the decision justify the data. Try asking yourself a simple question: Do you use data to make decisions, or to justify them? With so much data to choose from, we’re inclined to fall into confirmation bias, in which we select only the items or results that support the conclusion we'd like to have. The key here is to recognize that, and go into each situation with an open mind and without preconceived notions. 3. Be wary of false positives. In the 1700s, Presbyterian minister Thomas Bayes developed a formula for relating current probabilities from prior probabilities. This foundational formula tells us that when we test for something extremely rare, even if the test is reliable, we will experience a high rate of false positives. When we use big data to discover rare events, we tend to ignore Bayes. Each time employees receive information they deem irrelevant, they will increasingly ignore the data that follows, and the greater the amount of data, the bigger the problem. Reducing false positives requires profiling events and alerts in a way that reduces the false indicators. Organizations can become mired in collecting and charting existing transaction data and lose sight of the decisions they seek to change. But understanding the factors that contribute to data blindness can help us see the information as a means, rather than an end. Instead of collecting and charting all available data all the time, business leaders should start with the decisions they seek to change and work backward to find the right data.

Lead photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Media files: MTI1NzkzMzIxOTg0NDk2OTE0.jpg (image/jpeg) Dropbox Must Avoid The Fate Of Your Fax Machine Sep 21st 2015, 19:08 Dropbox CEO Drew Houston, long cast in the role of upstart, found himself in the odd position of defending the technological status quo. At the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco Monday, TechCrunch editor-in-chief Matthew Panzarino asked Houston if Dropbox was poised to thrive in a world where conversations are replacing files. File This Away With Your Faxes Dropbox, in essence, replaces your laptop's local file system with a file system in the cloud. But on mobile devices, we generally don't worry about arranging files in folders. Instead, we accomplish tasks with apps, which abstract away the idea of files. "We're a company that embraces new ways of doing business—we still have a fax machine," Houston said. Houston's point was that technology accrues in sedimentary layers. The new layers over the old. For tax forms, real-estate transactions, and other obscure bureaucratic processes, you still need to fax. A concrete example of that in-with-the-old strategy is Dropbox's increasing integration with Microsoft Office, including a "badge" feature it rolled out last week which lets you see who's editing a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file and allows you to update to the latest version. The risk to Dropbox is that it gets left behind as people increasingly move past files. Think of a Zendesk ticket, an Evernote note, or a Quip chat thread. In August, technology entrepreneur Alex Danco predicted that Dropbox might "die at the hands of Slack," as workers solve problems by communicating, not creating documents. Free To Share With You And Me A few hours before Houston took the stage, Dropbox announced new team-collaboration features, centered around the idea of a shared team folder—there's that old file-system metaphor again. Notably, Dropbox made a feature that lets users link personal and business accounts, previously reserved for paying business customers, available to free Dropbox Basic users. That seems to me like a move made out of weakness, not strength. Slack and many other workplace tools have free versions that allow teams to get started using the service—and then lock those teams in to paid versions later, a strategy often called "freemium," short for "free plus premium." Dropbox Basic is free, of course—a way to get people hooked on storing their files online. But Dropbox hasn't had a free version of its business service. That—and not the details of the team feature—seems to be what's key about the new announcement. Dropbox, for better or worse, now has to give something away to draw in new business customers. Otherwise, it risks being the next fax machine—something you have to keep around, but not a tool you love. Photo by Matt Jiggins

Media files: MTMzMTkxMzgyMjEzODkyNTc0.jpg (image/jpeg) How Disney, Jaunt And Others Could Usher In The Age Of VR Sep 21st 2015, 19:00 Jaunt, one of the companies at the vanguard of the coming virtual reality invasion, aims to pull away from the pack. It just might succeed, now that it's infused with a new round of investments totalling $65 million.  The company says the fresh influx of money is going to enable it to "significantly scale up VR production" as well as advance the company's "professional-grade camera hardware and software production tools, delivering content to the widest array of mobile devices and VR hardware." Evolution Media Partners and China Media Capital are two other content-driven businesses stumping up cash.  See also: The VR Headset Market Finally Looks Ready For Take-Off Responsible for cameras, software and just about every other part of the VR workflow (except for headsets), Jaunt is just one of an army of VR businesses lining up behind the technology. The list is dominated by media and entertainment companies, led by Disney, a reminder that once virtual reality has shaken up the video gaming market, it's going to swiftly move on to the big and small screens.  The VR Reality, Materializing Virtual reality was a nonstarter for years, but now it finally appears to be getting off the bench. The recent surge of interest offers some strong clues about where the technology is heading.  "Brands, artists, and creatives are looking to reach and interact with their audiences in new innovative ways," said Rick Hess of Evolution Media Partners in a press statement. The firm's support will offer Jaunt access to a large network of contacts and expand on its "distribution potential."  Jaunt already works with the likes of The North Face, Rebecca Minkoff, Condé Nast and ABC News to produce innovative and branded content. By this time next year, these initiatives will have access to something of critical importance: an audience.  The Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Sony PlayStation VR (née Morpheus) are all due for a consumer launch in 2016. The Magic Kingdom Few companies stand to benefit from VR (or can show off its potential) like Disney, with its films, sports, news and music—all areas where VR content makes sense. Beyond that, it's not hard to imagine virtual reality visits to Walt Disney World in the future as well.  With the Marvel superhero films, the Star Wars franchise and YouTube hit factory Maker Studios on its books, among many other properties, Disney wants to be one of the first ports of call for anyone buying a VR headset at some point next year. Indeed, with products like Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear VR around, there's no need to wait—almost any modern smartphone or Web browser can at least show 360-degree video, no pricey system required. Disney already teamed up with Samsung earlier this year to promote its Avengers: Age of Ultron movie, producing a series of short 360-degree clips that could be viewed online through Android smartphones or via a VR headset.  The company has also experimented with virtual reality experiences at its theme parks, not through headsets, but as completely immersive worlds where the walls, floor and ceiling act as the VR canvas. And then there are the kids, the generations of children who'll grow up with virtual reality as an ordinary way of life. Through initiatives like Disney's Imagineering Labs, the company is already exploring ways to get the attention of its future audiences, and working out how this new technology might enhance movies, TV shows and more besides.  Now that Disney has a stake in Jaunt to help it produce the VR content that enthusiasts will demand from next year on, prepare to meet Mickey Mouse as you've never seen him before.  Images courtesy of The Walt Disney Company

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CherryFramework 3. How to change thumbnail image dimensions on post single pages of custom post type Sep 23rd 2015, 07:40 This tutorial will show you how to change thumbnail image dimensions on posts single pages of custom post type in CherryFramework 3. Vectr – Free Design App for Web + Desktop Sep 23rd 2015, 07:03 Vectr is a Free Design App For Web + Desktop. Today, Vectr’s desktop apps require an internet connection, but eventually Vectr’s desktop apps will be updated to run fully offline just like any other desktop app. There is Live Exports support, link your website’s graphics to Vectr documents, then update them forever without touching code. Just insert a Vectr document with an <img> tag, adding .svg, .jpg, or .png to the Vectr document’s url. You can also Share Vectr document urls for quick visual feedback – anyone with the link will see your changes in real-time. Annotate an image, mock something up, or share a high-fidelity designs with others – no more email attachments. Don’t let Vectr’s simple interface fool you. Vectr is pro-calibre design software – but without the learning curve. Requirements: – Demo: https://vectr.com/ License: License Free The post Vectr – Free Design App for Web + Desktop appeared first on WebAppers.

CherryFramework 4. How to add Facebook Like Box (based on “Cherry Facebook Like Box” widget) Sep 23rd 2015, 06:59 This video tutorial is going to show how to add Facebook Like Box in CherryFramework 4 Templates. Joomla 3.x. How to install Joomla engine to GoDaddy server (automatic installation) Sep 23rd 2015, 06:41 This tutorial shows how to install Joomla engine to the GoDaddy hosting server automatically. Are Half Of All iPhones Really Running iOS 9? Sep 22nd 2015, 22:25 According to Apple, iOS 9 saw the fastest adoption rate ever for a new release of its smartphone operating system. That made intuitive sense, considering users had plenty of motivation to snatch the update quickly, from bugs in older systems to improvements Apple had made to the download process. But now independent mobile-metrics firms are questioning the validity of those results. If they’re right, then the latest version of the mobile operating system may not have quite the reach Apple would have us believe.  Bragging By The Numbers Apple announced that “more than 50 percent of devices [are] already using iOS 9.” The company based its statement on a tally conducted through the App Store on September 19. The announcement sent mobile analytics firm Crittercism into its data logs.  “This conflicts with our data as well as two other data sources,” Crittercism CEO Andrew Levy told ReadWrite via email. To come up with its measurements, the firm takes samples "across tens of thousands of apps encompassing billions of app loads.” When it ran the numbers, it found a large disparity between its findings and Apple's, as well as those of two other sources. Crittercism and Fiksu, which measured iOS 9 adoption on September 19, discovered that it only reached 23% of sampled devices. Data from Mixpanel came in at a little higher, but at 29%, it’s still a far cry from the majority figure Apple boasted. Crittercism created a chart showing its metrics, including a forecast for future adoption. Crittercism offers a few theories that might explain the discrepancy, including the possibility that Apple only measured certain devices or specific geographies.  Those factors are less likely to account for the large discrepancy than this one—a basic flaw in Apple's methodology. Apple’s press release states that the metric comes from the App Store. Think about that for a moment: The majority of people have mostly stopped downloading new apps. So a sample from the App Store could well be skewed towards people who are likely to update their phones with new apps—and new operating systems. Still, iOS 9 adoption has obviously improved over the rate of upgrading from iOS 7 to iOS 8. This version also appears more stable.  "Five days after the iOS 8 release, the crash rate stood at 3.3%,” Levy said, "while for iOS 9 we’re currently seeing a crash rate of 2.2%.” Whatever the real percentages are, they’re about to get upended again. We’re only days away from the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus release, on September 25. Those phones will come with iOS 9 installed.

Media files: MTMxNzc0MzE3NjE1NjgyODM0.jpg (image/jpeg) Quirky Files For Bankruptcy, Selling Wink To Flextronics Sep 22nd 2015, 18:33 All the signs indicate that we're on the cusp of an IoT (Internet of Things) revolution. But that doesn't mean there won't be bumps along the way: Hardware startup Quirky just announced it's voluntarily filing for bankruptcy and selling off its smart home platform Wink. Filing for protection under Chapter 11, Quirky hopes to maximize returns on the sale of "substantially all of its assets" over the next 60 days. Bids relating to assets, such as the Quirky community and brand name, will be considered, but the company as it exists now is effectively over.

See also: How Your Need For Detergent And Coffee Will Fuel Amazon's Smart Home

Not so for Wink, apparently: Flextronics has already agreed to pay $15 million for the startup and the intention is to carry on with business as normal.  Business As Usual? Yes. And No. Wink products will remain on sale and still receive updates, and customers will continue to receive the same level of support. "This does not impact the Wink experience for our users nor how Wink operates day-to-day," reads the statement from the company. "Our engineers and designers will continue to enhance our platform to provide new, meaningful ways for you to interact with your smart home." Quirky has been trying to sell off Wink for some time, and Flextronics was the original manufacturer of the Wink smart home hub, so the deal makes some sense. Other potential bidders could also emerge during the bankruptcy process.   The demise of Quirky isn't any real surprise for those who have followed its fortunes, with CEO Ben Kaufman admitting in July the company had run out of funds. Originally an accelerator for promising hardware projects created by its community, the outfit had shifted its focus to making partnerships with more established manufacturers over the course of the last year. Ultimately though, profitability remained elusive. Growing revenues were sucked up by spiralling costs. Some inventions never made it to market after hundreds of thousands of dollars of investment, while others did arrive on store shelves but couldn't sell in sufficient numbers. "Are these great ideas?" Kaufman asked the community in February, as reported by The Verge. "Yes. Can Quirky do them justice, sell them, and scale them profitably? No." Despite the occasional success story, getting products from the drawing board to the front page of Amazon is no easy task. And while consumers are expected to be spending millions on smart home kit in the coming years, not every company can afford to wait around. Image courtesy of Quirky

Media files: MTMzMjEzMjA0Njc0Mjg4MDk0.jpg (image/jpeg) Magento. How to use the Path Hints (Debug tool) Sep 22nd 2015, 08:00 This tutorial will show you how to use Magento debugging tools to easily locate the module names and core source files.

Cherry Framework 4. Screen options overview (Grid type, layout, post format options, post settings) Sep 22nd 2015, 07:37 In this tutorial we provide an overview of the Screen Options in CherryFramework 4. WordPress. How to enable/disable mousewheel scrolling zoom on Google Map Sep 22nd 2015, 07:26 This video tutorial shows how to enable/disable mousewheel scrolling zoom in Google Map of WordPress templates. Magento. How to change default placeholder image Sep 22nd 2015, 07:14 The following guide shows how to change default placeholder image in Magento. CherryFramework 3. How to change date format in shortcode output Sep 22nd 2015, 07:04 This tutorial will show you how to change date format in shortcode output in Cherry Framework 3 templates. Drupal 7.x. How to add custom “Read More” link to Home page blocks Sep 22nd 2015, 06:49 This tutorial shows how to change Read More link to custom one in Drupal 7.x.. Prestashop 1.6.x. How to manage Inventory Sep 21st 2015, 07:00 This tutorial shows how to manage Inventory in PrestaShop 1.6.x. Joomla 3.x. How to add more tabs (based on template 48543) Sep 18th 2015, 07:47 This tutorial is going to show you how to add more tabs in Joomla 3.x (based on template 48543). JS Animated. How to change map location based on RD Google Map plugin Sep 18th 2015, 07:37 This tutorial shows how to change map location based on RD Google Map plugin in JS Animated templates.

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How to Create an Elastic SVG Progress Loading Bar Sep 24th 2015, 08:10 Codrops has published a tutorial of how to create an elastic SVG progress loader based on the Dribbble shot “Download” by xjw and implemented with SVG and TweenMax. The button starts as an icon with an arrow and once it’s clicked, it animates into a fun little wire and a label that indicates the download percentage. If you would like to use this loader in your project, go to the Github page and follow the instructions. Requirements: – Demo: http://tympanus.net/Development/ElasticProgress/ License: License Free The post How to Create an Elastic SVG Progress Loading Bar appeared first on WebAppers.

Facebook Launches 360-Degree Videos Into The News Feed Sep 23rd 2015, 18:35 Though they're not full virtual reality, 360-degree videos are at the vanguard of the VR revolution: They give a taste of what the technology can do, they're relatively easy to make, and can be viewed in Web browsers and on smartphones without the need for an expensive headset. YouTube has a channel dedicated to these clips and now Facebook is joining the party (a move Mark Zuckerberg promised back in March at F8). From today, these 360-degree videos are rolling out into the News Feed. The format is exactly what it sounds like: As a 360 movie plays, you can rotate your point-of-view to peer in any direction, whether that's by moving your head inside a Samsung Gear VR headset or clicking and dragging in a Web browser. On a smartphone, you swipe on screen or physically move the device, so holding it above your head shows the view above. As VR aficionados will want to note, these videos differ from "full" virtual reality in a couple of key ways. There's no depth perception (you feel like you're in a video sphere rather than an actual world) and you can't control the action or the position of the camera. Still, it's a gentle introduction to the world of VR, and much more straightforward for both content creators and publishers. Hence tools like the Sphericam 2. With a camera costing around a thousand dollars and a Facebook or YouTube account, anyone can now make and publish a 360-degree video, which isn't something you could say about full VR experiences. The Facebook Angle Facebook will be hoping this low barrier to entry will encourage users to get uploading 360 footage, though it's signed up some professionals to get the feature launched. Clips from the likes of Disney and Discovery are going to be uploaded today to show off the advantages of the technology. And it's a versatile format too, one that works equally effectively whether you're watching a behind-the-scenes Star Wars documentary or a movie from your great-aunt's birthday party. The camera captures the action in all directions and viewers can turn wherever they like. "We're focused on building experiences that help publishers and creators reach, grow, and engage their audiences in new and immersive ways," said Facebook's Nick Grudin in a blog post. "There's a whole world of publishers and storytellers who are at the cutting edge of innovating with this immersive and interactive medium. If you’re a publisher developing 360 videos, we hope you will share your creations with your global audience on Facebook." As well as ensuring there's lots more content ready to go when the Oculus Rift headset debuts next year, it also gives Facebook parity with YouTube in the ongoing battle for dominance of the video market. The feature will roll out over the next few days on the Web and on Android, and will appear in the "coming months" on iOS, Facebook says. It will give the public at large their first proper taste of VR video, as well as content creators the opportunity to show off their talents just before the full VR experiences become available to consumers. Images courtesy of Facebook

Media files: MTMzMjM3MzA1MzQ2NDIwNzA2.jpg (image/jpeg) What's Different For Women In Tech Now: They're Taking Action Sep 23rd 2015, 17:42 In two weeks, the industry's seen two very different panels discussing women in tech. One was a setback—while the other pointed the way forward. I'm not sure if I should even count the Salesforce-sponsored Women's Innovation Panel at last week's Dreamforce conference as an occasion where people discussed women in technology. Lauren Hockenson from the Next Web has already deftly eviscerated the event, which included the weird, insulting scene of Oprah sidekick Gayle King questioning the paternity of YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki's children. TechCrunch Disrupt 2015's Diversity In Tech panel. A very different panel unfolded at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco Wednesday, where the publication's former coeditor Alexia Tsotsis spoke with Pinterest engineer Tracy Chou, who pushed the tech industry to publish statistics about the gender and race of its workforce; Joyus CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, who created Boardlist as a "marketplace" to find qualified women to join corporate boards; and Isis Anchalee Wenger, a platform engineer at OneLogin whose appearance on a recruiting billboard prompted her to start the "#ILookLikeAnEngineer" movement. Changing The Picture The reality is that women still face an unwelcoming environment at many tech companies; many choose not to pursue careers in tech in the first place, apply for tech jobs, or stay in them once they get there. Even companies embracing new policies, like Chou's employer, Pinterest, are finding it exceedingly hard to make progress on improving their diversity picture. “Before, I took it for granted that things wouldn’t be equal," Chou said of her awakening. That changed as Chou began speaking up—and taking concrete action, like publishing tech companies' gender ratios in engineering departments. Cassidy, too, was spurred to create the Boardlist in an effort to eliminate the "pipeline" excuse, arguing that the problem in boards isn't a lack of women—it's a lack of women in the personal networks of overwhelmingly male tech founders and venture capitalists. In other words—to use the popular tech parlance—it's a "discovery" problem.  Wenger's story was more personal: Her company asked her to be photographed for a recruiting billboard, which resulted in a lot of abusive online commentary directed at her by people who felt her picture somehow didn't "represent" engineers. Her response was to start a movement around a hashtag, #ILookLikeAnEngineer. In a Medium post discussing the episode, Wenger noted the online commenters' lack of empathy. At TechCrunch Disrupt, she repeated the call for empathy as a way to solve the problem of women leaving the tech workforce. "Helping to create community and a culture that fosters empathy are incredibly important at creating retention," she said.  Cassidy agreed that retention was key: "One large opportunity is for companies to keep women in the workforce, to keep that talent as opposed to losing it." Action Against Sexism What was compelling for me about the Disrupt panel—in contrast to the Dreamforce disaster—was that Cassidy, Chou, and Wenger have all taken action using the tech industry's own tools and language to change things. Those efforts—and not a 20-minute chat—are what will have lasting impact on the industry. The numbers are still bad, and the stories that women share about their contemporary experiences in the workplace are still depressing. But there's a lot of reasons for hope—and reasons to think there may be a day, sooner than we expect, when we don't need to discuss diversity in tech, because it's just a welcome reality.

Media files: MTMzMjM2NjcxNTcwMjU4NTYz.jpg (image/jpeg) Pebble Rolls With A Circular Smartwatch Sep 23rd 2015, 17:00 At this point in the smartwatch market, there is absolutely nothing revolutionary about a round device. Popularized by the first Moto 360—whose circular, modern design made it the most popular Android watch last year—the industry en masse has since rushed to snip the corners off its square watches. Now, so has Pebble, which introduced a new circular design of its own on Wednesday. Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky said his new Pebble Time Round is no late-to-the-party copycat.  “We’ve been working on this for over a year,” he told me at a meeting at Twenty Five Lusk, a restaurant in San Francisco's SoMa district. Pebble Time Round watches have various color and strap options. It has only been three months since Pebble launched its Pebble Time and Pebble Time Steel. But that hasn’t stopped this rolling stone from introducing a new version, and a new software development kit for app makers who want to support it.  The new product is available for preorders Wednesday, and will ship early next month. (Unlike the first Pebble and the Pebble Time, Pebble is not running a Kickstarter campaign for the Round.) In all, the Pebble Round looks like a decent, well-made unit. But while the device has some noticeable pros, it also comes with a potential con—shorter battery life. The New Landscape Pebble faces a very different smartwatch landscape than it did when it first hit the Kickstarter trail in 2012. Now, rivals crowd the space—not least of which is Apple. Even despite the tech giant’s entry into the smartwatch market this year, Pebble still enjoys a leading position in the market, Migicovsky says. To keep its edge, the company must keep its finger on the pulse of its users. (Maybe not literally: Unlike the Apple Watch and some Android models, the newest Pebble still lacks a built-in heart-rate monitor.) And if what its users want are choices, said Migicovsky, his company is only too happy to comply.  "The watches that we make go on a variety of different wrists,” he said. "Different sizes, tastes … we have a sporty offering—Pebble and Pebble Time—but on the size front, we didn’t have very many different sizes.” He counted up the number of Pebble variations in front of me, and came to some 21 different versions covering various colors and styles. The company has been working on the new model, designing and developing it alongside its most recent Pebble Time and Pebble Time Steel. The devices share many similarities—including a full-color screen and the company’s stock set of four buttons—though there are some very noticeable differences. On the outside, the Pebble Time is thicker, with more heft. The new lightweight Round model is, in fact, the thinnest Pebble yet, at 7.5 millimeters. Pebble's designers took inspiration from Skagen, the Fossil watch brand whose minimalist watches take cues from Danish contemporary design. While it looks sleek and well-built on the outside, it is what’s inside that could give potential customers pause: Pebble Time Round only works for 2 days before it needs charging. A Power Hit To achieve its desired design, Pebble had to reevaluate some of the internals, and power cells are often the largest and heaviest single components in a given gadget. So the company sacrificed battery life for the sake of design. That’s a tricky scenario, especially for Pebble, which is known for watches with a weeklong battery life. That feature has given it a leg up in the "arm race," since the competition tends to offer only a day or two. Messing with the formula now could be a rather big gamble. However, Migicovsky aims to make up for it by including another new feature: If people have to charge their watches more often, then they should be able to do it quickly. Enter fast-charging. The cable and magnetic connector haven’t changed—it’s identical to the Pebble Time’s charging hardware—but the Round can last up to a full day after a 15-minute juice-up. “It was an extremely important decision that we made,” he told me. “But when we talked to people, it wasn’t the battery life people loved so much—it was not having a hassle.” That’s particularly important for people who need their Pebbles available all day or night to track activities like steps or sleep. We’ll know soon if they’ll accept faster charging time as an acceptable replacement for long-lasting power. New Kit, New Code The Pebble Time Round will run the company’s latest Timeline interface, but app makers will have to adapt their apps for the new round layout. Toward that end, Pebble is also releasing a new software development kit today that lets them support the circular format “with a minor change,” Migicovksy said. The SDK covers both color and black and white screens, so the apps will work on any Pebble. Developers will get a little over a month to prepare before the product hits the market. The company is also bringing the latest software to the original Pebble, though with some omissions due to some physical limitations. For instance, the first watch doesn’t have a microphone, so it won’t be capable of voice notes or replies, like the newer models. Pebble Time Round is available for online preorder starting Wednesday from Best Buy, Target,  and Pebble’s websites, with Amazon coming soon. Orders will ship, and inventory will hit stores, on November 8. What customers will get is a round, stainless-steel smartwatch with a 38.5-millimeter diameter chassis with three color choices: silver, black, and rose gold. The device is splash-resistant and comes with a built­-in microphone, vibration alerts, and cross-platform support for both iPhones and Android smartphones. The Pebble Time Round starts at $250 and will come with two watchband sizes, at 14 mm and 20 mm, with leather or metal quick-release straps. (Metal costs $50 extra.) Photos by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite

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Monstroid. How to create a pricing table Sep 25th 2015, 07:02 This tutorial shows you how to create a pricing table in the Monstroid theme. Samsung Unveils A Cheap, Mass-Market Gear VR For $99 Sep 24th 2015, 17:48 Today at Oculus VR’s second annual developer conference in Hollywood, Samsung senior vice president Peter Koo just announced the first consumer version of the Gear VR headset. The new version will hit the market in November—in time for the holiday shopping season. The device boasts various improvements, including a better touchpad and a more comfortable design that weighs 22% less.  The goggles will also support all of Samsung’s latest flagship phones—including the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, and the Note 5.  “Late last year, Oculus and Samsung joined forces to launch Gear VR innovator edition,” Koo said, explaining that the previous Innovator Edition of the goggles was "launched for enthusiasts and developers…[it] was not about the hardware; it was about you being able to push the boundaries of VR.” The new model, however, was "designed to take it mainstream,” he said. "Virtual reality for everyone." Oculus, a subsidiary of Facebook, is working on its own consumer-friendly headset, the Rift, which is expected to come out next year. Facebook, meanwhile, is working to seed interest in virtual reality by introducing 360-degree videos to users' News Feeds. To make sure it gets into as many hands as possible, Samsung priced the device at $99, which is far less than the unsubsidized cost of the smartphone required to use it.

Photos by Adriana Lee for ReadWrite

Media files: MTMzMjU5Nzc3NDIwNTY5MjE5.jpg (image/jpeg) Glowforge Is An Affordable 3D Laser Printer For Inventors And Creatives Sep 24th 2015, 14:10 We're not quite at the stage of a 3D printer on every desk just yet, but a new product with a different technical approach is aiming to capture the imagination of small startups and creators. Unlike a traditional 3D printer, the Glowforge 3D laser printer is subtractive rather than additive: It cuts away at materials, rather than constructing new objects layer by layer. You supply the materials, and the Glowforge does the cutting. It can cut wood, acrylic, cardboard, leather and various other materials, and engrave glass and metal (it's even capable of etching a custom design on the back of your MacBook Pro). But the hardware is only half the story—it's also been built to be user-friendly and simple to use, with no specialist software required. It can work from doodled sketches on paper, Adobe Illustrator files, and everything in between. For nondesigners, there's a community-built catalog of products to pick from. Everything can be operated from a Web browser and a smartphone app. The examples on the Glowforge website give some idea of what the machine can do: There's a plywood iPhone stand, a papercut wedding invitation, a customized leather satchel, a recycled cardboard lamp, a miniature wooden model of a building, and much more besides. "Glowforge is most useful for practical projects—so think of things that you can buy in a store, but customized to your needs and liking," a Glowforge representative told us via email. "We've seen inventors and other creatives make remarkable things with Glowforge: products like elaborate lamps, office furniture, art installations and much more." The use of smartphone components and cloud-based software have helped to bring the costs of the device down, the company says. The Glowforge is available to preorder for $1,995. The retail price is expected to be double that, but the cost is still significantly lower than splashing out on a full-sized, traditional laser-cutting machine (and you'd need a garage or a basement to put it in). Laser Focus Glowforge CEO and cofounder Dan Shapiro was inspired by existing laser-cutting technology, but felt he could improve upon it.  "When I got access to a laser [for developing the Robot Turtles Kickstarter project], it changed the way my family and I thought about the things we use every day," he says. "My kids started asking me to make things instead of buy them, like costumes and furniture and birthday presents for their friends. But the laser was slow, hard to use, and far too dangerous for kids! I wanted one for my own home, and there were no affordable choices on the market." Shapiro, who formerly worked at Google, says he spoke to many individuals in the maker community to gauge the level of interest in 3D printers and laser cutters—and people were much more enthusiastic about the latter. Thanks to the high-precision scanners inside the Glowforge, it knows the exact size and shape of the material it's dealing with, and can therefore make very precious cuts and etchings. Some of the work done by hardware components in existing laser cutters has been offloaded to the cloud, reducing the size and cost of the Glowforge (though you're still going to need a fairly large desk to hold it). It's a machine with a lot of potential, from making toys for the kids to selling crafts on Etsy to prototyping designs for a Kickstarter campaign. And unlike a conventional 3D printer, users aren't limited to the often uninspiring plastic shapes created through additive techniques in your designs. The first Glowforge is available to preorder starting Thursday for a period of 30 days, and the company has plans for additional models further down the line. Images courtesy of Glowforge

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BlackBerry Embraces Android, But Promises Not To Leave Developers Out In The Cold Sep 25th 2015, 21:33 After months of rumors, BlackBerry CEO John Chen confirmed rumors that the Canadian smartphone maker was releasing a keyboard-equipped phone running the Android operating system. It's called the Priv, for "privilege" and "privacy." "What’s unique about our Android phone is that we are collaborating with Google to bring the best of BlackBerry security and productivity to the Android ecosystem," Chen wrote in a post on BlackBerry's company blog. Fork You, Developers With this move, BlackBerry is making an already mixed message to developers more muddled. Chen said BlackBerry would continue to support and develop the BB 10 operating system. Yet BlackBerry has also been encouraging developers to write apps for Android and then adapt them for newer BlackBerry devices. The result is a lot of low-quality apps. BlackBerry's most devoted developers haven't been excited by Android. One developer, who goes by the username helex on BlackBerry's developer forums, wrote in August: I personally use BlackBerry because it is not Android and a lot more advanced and "more open" than iOS. So from this personal aspect I'm not interested in Android and in case BlackBerry10 goes "END OF LIFE" (which I don't belive since many enterprise and gouvernment customers are relying on it) I would need to search a new platform to play with, to use and to target my own apps on. But we're still far away from there, yet. That's BlackBerry's challenge in a nutshell. The Priv won't appeal to its most loyal developers—a small but vocal group, who are often creating special-purpose business apps for customers who standardized on BlackBerrys in their workplaces.

See also: Why Android Won't Save BlackBerry, And BlackBerry Can't Help Android

The Priv will, however, have access to the far larger pool of Android developers, who won't have to learn a new set of tools for adapting their Android apps to run on BlackBerry's proprietary BB 10 operating system. It all seems too little, too late. BlackBerry's trading on the affections of consumers who cherish the BlackBerry brand and physical features like the keyboard, while confusing developers who make the apps on which smartphones live or die. Screenshot via BNN.ca

Media files: MTMzMjg2NDY3Njg5NTUyMzUw.png (image/png) React May Have Just Ended The Native Vs. Web Debate Sep 25th 2015, 16:31 Facebook's Tom Occhino delivers a presentation about ReactJS. As much as we may cling to the Web on our PCs, apps are everything in mobile. Now consuming 90% of our mobile time, apps are everything on mobile devices. Native apps, that is. Ever since Mark Zuckerberg declared Facebook's early investments in HTML5 instead of native app development his biggest mistake, the mobile Web has been in steady retreat.  Until now. Thanks, ironically enough, to Zuckerberg's army of engineers at Facebook. Let me explain. Reacting To The Mobile Web Just a year after Zuckerberg pronounced HTML5 dead, one of his engineers—Jordan Walke—was hatching ReactJS, a new approach to Web development.  ReactJS makes app development simple, allows developers to leverage their knowledge of JavaScript, and more. But among its various innovations, one of the most interesting is its use of a virtual DOM, which allows ReactJS to more efficiently update the browser's DOM, improving performance. See also: React Native Will Ease, But Not Settle, The Native vs. Web Wars Then, in 2015, ReactJS went mobile, and was dubbed React Native. Web enthusiasts like Mozilla's James Long declares that "React.js is the right way to build apps.... This works. It feels like I'm developing for the Web. But I'm writing a real native app, and you seriously can't tell the difference." Which is fine, so far as it goes. What else is a Web-centric developer going to say? When An iOS Developer Meets React Native That's why I found Marc Shilling's "Ode to React Native Joy" so compelling. Shilling, who works for app development agency Chalk + Chisel is a hardcore iOS engineer and, seemingly, a very good one. Forced into using React Native for a project, Shilling fought it: I was content in my Apple ecosystem bubble. React Native seemed like a fun little experiment, but in my mind any real native app would still need to be written the real native way. It seemed like a waste of time for me to not only learn JavaScript (I had no experience), but an entirely new way of building apps when I was already beginning to master building them the “real” way. Part of the impetus for trying out React Native was the need to have "a clear path going forward to make this app available for Android as well." As much as Shilling likes iOS development, native Android development is "not great." In theory, writing in React allows a developer to apply the same code base to two different platforms. As it turns out, the theory works. Despite some teething pains as he learned the React way, Shilling has shifted completely in his thinking around app development: "Fast-forward a couple of months, and I’m confident enough to say I may never write an iOS app in Objective-C or Swift again." Native No More? And after using the Discovery VR app that he and his team built (it's kind of awesome), you may never know whether you're using a Web or native app again.  The distinction becomes meaningless in React Native. There are still improvements to be made in React land. Better documentation and tooling, for example. But if Shilling's experience is emblematic of what other developers can achieve, the meaning of "native app development" may completely change over the next few years. Photo courtesy of Facebook

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ContentTools – JS Library for Building WYSIWYG Editors Sep 28th 2015, 08:21 Content Tools is a JS library for building WYSIWYG editors for HTML content. The ContentTools WYSIWYG editor can be added to any HTML page in a few simple steps. There are step-by-step guides for common use scenarios as well as more advanced topics for those rolling their own editors. Full API documentation and examples for the ContentTools family of libraries. The ContentTools family of libraries is free and open-source. The libraries are hosted, developed and maintained on GitHub. Requirements: JavaScript Library Demo: http://getcontenttools.com/ License: MIT License The post ContentTools – JS Library for Building WYSIWYG Editors appeared first on WebAppers.

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Pixel Map Generator with Stunning Map Visuals in Minutes Sep 29th 2015, 07:03 You can now create stunning map visuals in just minutes with AmCharts new tool – Pixel Map Generator. Integrate the result into your website, drop into a presentation, or even use them in print brochure. Regardless of how you use it, jaw-dropping effect is guaranteed. Requirements: – Demo: http://pixelmap.amcharts.com/ License: License Free The post Pixel Map Generator with Stunning Map Visuals in Minutes appeared first on WebAppers.

Steve Jobs’ Advice To Mark Zuckerberg May Have Saved Facebook Sep 28th 2015, 19:44

This post appears courtesy of the Ferenstein Wire, a syndicated news service. Publishing partners may edit posts. For inquiries, please email author and publisher Gregory Ferenstein.

During a town hall event with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mark Zuckerberg revealed a new historical fact about one of Silicon Valley's most valued companies: Apparently, legendary Apple cofounder Steve Jobs stepped in with a small, but potentially pivotal piece of advice, right at the moment when Zuckerberg needed it most.  See also: LinkedIn Cofounder Wants To Teach You How To "Blitzscale” Your Company In Facebook's early days as a struggling company, when the young entrepreneur was fielding buyout offers amidst tough competition, Jobs shared his story about experiencing a life-changing spiritual moment of reflection. He recommended that Zuckerberg visit the same temple in India.  The trip wound up shaping the Facebook leader's vision for his social network.  Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook's F8 developers conference “Having the opportunity to feel how much better the world could be if everyone had a stronger ability to connect, reinforced for me the importance of what we were doing," Zuckerberg explained. “That's something I've always remembered as we built Facebook.” He clearly never sold his company, and today, the experience likely informs Facebook’s Internet.org initiative—which was the purpose of his recent conversation with India's prime minister, Narendra Modi. (Although the CEO likely has numerous reasons for making sure the world’s citizens can connect and, obviously, share.) Zuckerberg’s tale is all too easy to believe. Walter Isaacson’s biography recounts Jobs’ extensive world travels and spiritual experimentation. The late tech luminary was a huge fan of creative exploration; he once said of long-time competitor Bill Gates, "He'd be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger."

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Media files: MTI1MDc4MjU2NjM3NDk1MzA2.jpg (image/jpeg) How To Scale A Service-Based Business Sep 28th 2015, 17:31

Guest author Scott Gerber is the founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council.

Scaling any business takes time, money, and often, a lot more effort than you think. Scaling a service-based business in particular is tricky—we've seen many try to scale and then crash as they outpace their own growth. So how can you make sure not to follow in their footsteps? I asked 9 entrepreneurs from YEC for their best advice on scaling service-based businesses. Here, they share what strategies worked for them, and what they would suggest others do. 1. Outsource, Then Hire When growing rapidly, the knee-jerk reaction is to hire to meet the increasing demand. But before hiring staff, determine if any of the roles and services could be performed by a robust pool of freelancers or contractors. These resources not being on staff would be seamless to the client or end user, but allow the company flexibility if business slows or if someone doesn't work out. You can always hire, but using outside resources first allows the owner to think about long-term growth strategy versus growing out of reaction to the immediate workload. And you may be able to get expertise and experience from contractors that you couldn't afford to hire as full-time employees. —Angela Harless, AcrobatAnt  2. Remember You Can't Do It All When my business first starting growing, I spread myself too thin by trying to still be involved in everything. Once I learned that I didn't have to feel guilty about not being involved in every task, I became less stressed, and Crowd Surf started to flourish even more. It's important to surround yourself with team members who are amazing, because you're going to have to delegate projects to them. We established a great system of weekly calls and reports to monitor the success of our team members, so I can be knowledgable about everything that's happening and not become overwhelmed with a massive workload. —Cassie Petrey, Crowd Surf  3. Surround Yourself With the Right People and Right Attitudes As much as you want to be in multiple places at once, it is imperative that instead you find enthusiastic people who share your brand's mission to help you scale. The right or wrong person can make all the difference. Trust your gut when interviewing and recruiting. If it doesn't feel right, or if they don't share your passion, they are not the right person. Have a manual in place and a training process ready to go before you start looking for the people. Once you find the right people, train them on your brand's guiding principles so that when they expand your service it is as if you are doing it yourself. The person you hire needs to be competent in the service they are providing, as well as knowledgeable of the market they are serving (both location and demographic). —Lindsay Pinchuk, Bump Club and Beyond  4. Develop In-House Tools To scale effectively without having to drastically increase payroll costs, identify tasks that could be handled more effectively and find a developer to create your own set of in-house tools to expedite them. At one of my startups we found that hiring more people for blogger outreach made the cost of training and HR too high, which limited our growth. Instead, we brought in a programming team to automate many of the tasks specific to outreach. The tool connected email messages to projects, enabled us to create and send out templates, allowed us to create reminders for tasks, and much more. Using this tool, we were able to double capacity for each employee, thus reducing the need to hire in order to grow. —Marcela DeVivo, National Debt Relief 5. Create Detailed Training Materials Scaling a service-based business means you need to be able to have other people deliver your service as good or better than you would yourself. The only way to do this is to establish an extremely efficient and thorough training program. You will need a manual that explains in detail how to perform every aspect of the service so it can be executed the same way every time. Create accompanying videos, classes and training seminars. Even though people are delivering the service, it needs to be as automated as a factory-made product would be. Make sure to provide significant training time on professionalism and manors, as service-based businesses are about relationships. —Thomas Minieri, Planet Ballroom International 6. Focus on Your Core Strengths Maintain intense focus on the things only you can do, like strategy and business development. Prioritize those things above all else and build processes so you can see your vision through the work of someone else's hands. —Lindsay Mullen, Prosper Strategies 7. Use a Professional-Services Management System Having a proper system in place is critical to scaling up a service-based business. For example, if your work requires time tracking, look for a system that supports time logging and resource management. On the other hand, if your work is more production-based, look for a project-management system that supports milestones and deadlines. With both options, you can see at a glance how every client engagement is doing. Ultimately, a proper system should give you a sense of control by knowing how many projects are active, who is working on a what and which resources will become available when. These, and many more questions, can only be answered if you build on the foundation of a solid professional services management system. —David Ciccarelli, Voices.com 8. Build Partnerships Chances are, your customer in a specific industry buys multiple products or services from different vendors. A strategic partnership can be a very powerful weapon to scale your business. Look for those complementing vendors (products or services) who your customers are buying from, leverage an opportunity where your service can integrate into their product or service and vice versa through a revenue share arrangement. For instance, if you're a mobile app consultancy, you can partner with a web development or a creative agency. —Rahul Varshneya, Arkenea 9. Build a Tech Platform Even if a business is service-based, a founder should build a tech platform to scale his or her business. The platform should be able to help the business streamline operations and improve efficiencies. For example, my company built a proprietary customer-relationship-management system to help ourselves efficiently and effectively manage our customers in a service-focused industry. —Jason Thanh La, Merchant Service Group and K5 Ventures Photo by plantronicsgermany

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ESLint – The Pluggable Linting Utility for JavaScript and JSX Sep 30th 2015, 08:43 ESLint is an open source JavaScript linting utility originally created by Nicholas C. Zakas in June 2013. Code linting is a type of static analysis that is frequently used to find problematic patterns or code that doesn’t adhere to certain style guidelines. There are code linters for most programming languages, and compilers sometimes incorporate linting into the compilation process. The primary reason ESLint was created was to allow developers to create their own linting rules. ESLint is designed to have all rules completely pluggable. The default rules are written just like any plugin rules would be. They can all follow the same pattern, both for the rules themselves as well as tests. While ESLint will ship with some built-in rules to make it useful from the start, you’ll be able to dynamically load rules at any point in time. ESLint is written using Node.js to provide a fast runtime environment and easy installation via npm. Requirements: JavaScript Library Demo: http://eslint.org/ License: License Free The post ESLint – The Pluggable Linting Utility for JavaScript and JSX appeared first on WebAppers.

ZenCart. How to work with Mega Menu Sep 30th 2015, 07:11 In this tutorial we will teach you how to manage Megamenu extension in our new ZenCart templates. JS Animated. How to remove animated load effect for needed elements Sep 30th 2015, 06:50 This tutorial is going to show you how to remove animated load effect for needed elements in Website Templates. WooCommerce. How to install the template with sample data manually Sep 30th 2015, 06:27 This tutorial shows how to install Woocommerce template with sample data manually. Dropbox Is MySpace, Box Is Facebook Sep 29th 2015, 21:44 I was having a deep conversation about puppies and socks with Box CEO Aaron Levie in the BoxWorks press room Tuesday afternoon when, as Levie is wont to do, he said something true. "It's about the platform. It's always about the platform." See also: How Facebook Beat MySpace: From College Dorm To Platform This came as a punchline to a string of vaguely off-color jokes about memes (Levie's brain is a cloud-storage service for Millennial Internet arcana). Nonetheless, it's serious business. Enter The Platform This year's BoxWorks user conference was something of a coming-out party for the Box Platform, the distilled set of storage-and-collaboration services meant for developers to embed in their apps. Box first teased us with what would become the Platform in April at its BoxDev conference, and in the subsequent months, it was available only as a closed beta. That changes in October, when a free developer version and a paid enterprise version of the Platform become generally available. When that happens, Box will go from a business that charges companies a fee per employee who uses its service to a business that charges developers a fee per user. It takes Box out of the business of competing with Dropbox and Google Drive, in other words, and puts them in a category more like Amazon Web Services—or Salesforce, Stripe, and Twilio, three platform businesses Levie compared Box to in his keynote. Box took its first steps towards this model in 2014, when it started charging developers for its content-storage service based on "API actions"—views, shares, etc. But this is a more decisive move towards profiting from apps developers build on top of Box. Box Platform Enterprise Edition has a pricing structure loosely similar to the older Content API, with a free developer tier for building and testing, and a paid tier starting at $500 a month for 100 app users. Jeetu Patel, who recently joined Box as its chief strategy officer and senior vice president of platform, told me that the per-user price will fall rapidly with volume and that "pricing will not be the reason people don’t do business with us." The risk for Box will be that developers will go straight to, say, Amazon or Microsoft, buy storage in bulk, and build apps on their own. Levie and Patel are betting that customers like Raymond James Financial—which demonstrated a feature for viewing mutual-fund prospectuses and other brokerage documents at BoxWorks—will find it cheaper to use Box. Why Box's Platform Could Make Dropbox Irrelevant It's no secret that Dropbox is floundering when it comes to its product direction—particularly with respect to developers. At the TechCrunch Disrupt conference earlier this month, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston barely talked about the company's platform. See also: Dropbox Must Avoid The Fate Of Your Fax Machine Dropbox hasn't held a big developer conference since its first (and so far only) DBX event in 2013. And the Dropbox platform advertises itself as primarily a way to access files in users' Dropbox accounts. Contrast that to Box, which sees Platform as a way to get past the idea of making users sign up for accounts in the first place. Instead, app users get the features of Box's storage and collaboration services within whatever Box-enabled app they're using. Remember MySpace? It, too, touted the number of users it had. It took years for Facebook to surpass it in raw numbers. When Facebook rolled out its platform, however, it was game over. Facebook had an army of developers at its back, and MySpace's belated effort to catch up in the platform race never caught up. Social networks are very different beasts than enterprise services. If they share anything, it's the power of platforms. Dropbox's API lets developers access Dropbox. Box lets them build apps we can't imagine. If Dropbox doesn't get its developer story together, and soon, it will look like many a service that had a heyday of popularity—and then faded. Photo by Owen Thomas for ReadWrite

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Google Bakes Fingerprint Tech Into Android And Opens Up Voice Sep 29th 2015, 19:54 Google just unloaded a slew of announcements Tuesday in San Francisco, at an event covering new hardware products, new software features, and some new capabilites of interest to its enormous community of Android app developers. In between all the new-hardware announcements, the company also slipped in some updates for its own services and apps, and opened up a few more aspects of Android. See also: Google's Hardware Bonanza: Nexus Phones, A New Chromecast, And A Pixel Tablet With Marshmallow, the latest candy-sweet rubric for the mobile opearing system otherwise known as Android 6.0, developers will be able to access Nexus Imprint, a new fingerprint sensor, as well as integrate more voice features into their apps, among other things. Putting Your Finger On It That Google would focus on fingerprint features now is not entirely surprising. Biometric authentication has been a hot topic lately, especially when it comes to Android’s approach, which was reportedly vulnerable to hacking. The company would have wanted to focus on fingerprint-reading tech anyway for Marshmallow’s arrival, which will presumably include security enhancements. Now that Google has built it right into its Android software, with the new Nexus Imprint, developers will get a chance to work with it as a fundamental part of the Android OS. In Google’s demo, unlocking the phone required no password, PIN, pattern, or facial recognition. Just place a finger on the sensor, situated on the back, “where you would normally hold your phone,” said Google’s David Burke, vice president of engineering for Android. With a simple touch, the Nexus opens up, ready to serve you. He makes a good point. One of the primary uses for Nexus Imprint is to authenticate transactions for Android Pay. The fingers do naturally seem to rest on the back of the device—particularly on a large smartphone—which could make one-handed mobile payments on the go more convenient. HTC embedded its fingerprint sensor on the back of its HTC One Max as well. With developer access, they can add those features to their apps, so users won’t have to log in to access their apps or conduct in-app transactions. According to Burke, it’s also a “learning” technology which gets to know—or improves—over time, as the owner uses it more, and it’s fast, he added. Google’s scanner and software can recognize fingerprints in less than 600 milliseconds. Talking Google Marshmallow will also come with changes designed to eke out more battery life (including a new secondary processor and Doze feature), improved heads-up notifications, faster scrolling, new window animations, dynamic app searching, simplified run-time permissions and faster, improved access to voice features. When it comes to the latter, the company has been working to make its voice recognition and command more natural. Its goal: to make more seamless interactions, similar to how human beings talk. Google wants you to think of these exchanges more like conversations, and it’s opening up that functionality. Google announced that it will “enable app developers to build conversational voice experiences into their own apps,” Burke said. With “Ok Google” detection (which works, even when the screen is off, he added), developers can create more fluid interactions with between their users and their apps. In addition to these and the hardware announcements, the Android maker showed off its new Google Now On Tap feature, which gives the Nexus 5X and 6P even more Google Now functionality to more of these phones. Interestingly, it also announced that it would stuff fewer preloaded apps—aka “bloatware” onto its Nexus devices, both of which will now be compatible with Project Fi, the company’s low-cost Wi-Fi-cellular hybrid system. On the hardware front, the company introduced a new low-energy, secondary processor. The dedicated Android Sensor Hub, integrated in both of the new phones, essentially monitors how the device moves. (Think of the iPhone’s motion coprocessor.) The chip, which also hooks into the camera's sensors, should offer plenty of energy savings, the company claimed. As for its own apps and services, Google Photos (for upcoming shared albums and Chromecast compatibility) and Google Music (with household accounts of up to six people for $15).  The Chromecast mobile app for iOS and Android will also receive some tweaks to allow for better video and app discovery.  Marshmallow will be available as an over-the-air update starting next week for the Nexus 5, 6, 7 and 9, plus the Nexus Player. The new Nexus devices will ship next month with Android 6.0 preinstalled.

Media files: MTMzMzc3NTUyOTQwMTExMTIy.jpg (image/jpeg) Google's Hardware Bonanza: Nexus Phones, A New Chromecast, And A Pixel Tablet Sep 29th 2015, 18:42 It's been the worst-kept secret in technology recently, but Google finally made its Nexus 5X and 6P smartphones official at a media event Tuesday in San Francisco. The company also showed off a redesigned, upgraded Chromecast media streaming stick, and a brand-new Pixel C Android tablet. There were few surprises in terms of the phones for anyone who was keeping track of the recent rumors. The Nexus 5X, made by LG and powered by a Snapdragon 808 processor, features a 5.2-inch screen running at a 1920 x 1080 resolution. 32 GB and 64 GB models are available and prices start at $379. The Nexus 6P is manufactured by Huawei, runs on a Snapdragon 810 CPU, and comes with a 5.7-inch AMOLED screen running at a 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution. Google says the phone is a mere 7.3 millimeters thick. It's also the first Nexus phone to have an all-metal body. Prices start at $499 and it's available with 32 GB, 64 GB, or 128 GB of internal storage. The biggest features on these phones are what they have in common: Nexus Imprint fingerprint scanning technology, USB Type-C connectors and a 12.3-megapixel camera sensor made by Sony that Google says is the best to ever find its way inside a Nexus device.  The camera offers slow-motion video recording (120 frames per second on the 5X and 240 fps on the 6P), 4K video, and superior low-light performance, according to Google. Google wasn't finished there, though. It also showed off a redesigned Chromecast dongle, the Chromecast 2, which is easier to plug in and has improved Wi-Fi capabilities. We also saw a new Chromecast Audio device for attaching to speakers and streaming music from a compatible smartphone or browser app (including Spotify, Pandora, and Google Play Music). Finally, there was a Pixel C Android tablet, though in this case it was more of a preview than a full reveal. Inspired by the Chromebook Pixel in terms of looks and purpose, it's also very reminiscent of Apple's new iPad Pro and the Microsoft Surface. There's a clever keyboard attachment, a 10.2-inch screen and again USB Type-C as the connector. Like the new Nexus phones, the Pixel C will be running Android 6.0 Marshmallow when it sees the light of day sometime later this year. After a quiet period for the Nexus hardware program, this puts Google's signature devices right back into the spotlight in three key areas: smartphones, home streaming, and the tablet/laptop hybrid. With another Surface Pro rumored to be around the corner, consumers have got a lot of choice in the runup to the holidays—whether all of these devices can find enough buyers remains to be seen. Images courtesy of Google

Media files: MTMzMzc2MTc5MzU1ODE4NDYy.jpg (image/jpeg) Tim Cook On Apple’s Strategy: “Life Is Short, It’s Better To Have Friends" Sep 29th 2015, 17:19 Apple CEO Tim Cooks embraces Box CEO Aaron Levie at BoxWorks. In the Steve Jobs era, Apple's CEO rarely appeared outside of the company's own carefully stage-managed product launches. Tim Cook made a statement just by sitting down with Box CEO Aaron Levie at the online-storage company's annual BoxWorks conference in San Francisco for a conversation Tuesday. The message: Apple wants to connect with business customers through partners like Box—and IBM, and Cisco, both of whose names Cook repeatedly dropped. Levie and Cook both praised Microsoft, a company with which both Apple and Box have historically sparred, for becoming a better partner. Microsoft Office now works well on Apple devices and with Box's storage and collaboration services. See also: Developers Can Now Have Their Own Box "Apple and Microsoft can partner on more things than they can compete on," Cook said. "I’m not a believer in holding grudges. Life is short. You’re going to die soon. It’s better to have friends." Friends With Business Benefits Apple's partnership with Box, in broad strokes, follows a template Cook set with a deal it struck with IBM last year. Apple offers developer-relations staff to help specialists at business-focused companies create apps for specific industries like healthcare, retail, or education; in turn, those companies' customers, one hopes, buy iPhones, Macs, and iPads. (One imagines the iPad Pro, in particular, getting a sales boost from these partnerships.) "We’ll have developer relations working with several companies creating applications," Cook said. "In many cases Box will see the need before we will—or IBM will [see it], or Cisco will." Besides hardware sales, Apple benefits from getting more time and attention from those business-app developers. Box, for example, is introducing a new app that's initially only available for iOS. Cook delivered a message that's similar to the one he's given to consumer app makers: While Android may have a large number of devices running Google's mobile operating system, Apple's devices form a more coherent market that's easier to build apps for. As Levie and Cook were on stage, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced at a nearby event that Android had crossed 1.4 billion users.  "You don’t want a fragmented ecosystem, you want tools that make it easy to develop, you want someone who works with the major players in the industry," Cook said. He didn't mention Google by name, but he's criticized Android frequently in the past for its fragmentation across varying versions of the operating system. And it's a fair jab to point out that Google isn't always the easiest company to partner with. Still, Apple has a long history of going it alone—and striking partnerships which wither on the vine. So Cook needs to talk the talk, as frequently as possible. It's hard to think of a better way to do that then deploying his star power at a partner's event. Photo by Owen Thomas for ReadWrite

Media files: MTMzMzc1NDI1ODU3NDkzNDcw.jpg (image/jpeg) Magento. Setting up cronjob using cPanel Sep 29th 2015, 10:17 This tutorial will show you how to set up CronJob for Magento using cPanel. CherryFramework 3. How to display featured image of a page Sep 29th 2015, 10:03 Our Support team is ready to present you a new tutorial that shows how to display the page featured image in CherryFramework 3.

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Asana's New Plan: Tracking Every Aspect Of Your Work, With Help From Developers Sep 30th 2015, 20:23 As I stepped into the Hamm's Building in San Francisco's northeast Mission District Wednesday morning, I felt the presence of ghosts. I got my first big break as a reporter here in 1997, at the old Red Herring.  Asana, a business-software startup, had invited me back to my old haunts to hear about the latest version of its work-tracking software. I was curious both because we'd started using Asana at work and because, I realized, we hadn't heard much from Asana since Facebook cofounder Dustin Moskovitz and Google and Facebook veteran Justin Rosenstein launched the company four years ago. See also: Dropbox Is MySpace, Box Is Facebook Asana has some 140,000 companies who use it to track projects and tasks, with the hope of eliminating back-and-forth conversations that happen in email and meetings in favor of, you know, actual work. While most use it for free, more than 10,000 companies pay per-team fees that start at $21 a month, and Asana now has "tens of millions of dollars" in annual recurring revenue, Moskovitz said. A New, Handsomer Way To Work The new Asana features a dramatically simpler interface. The new Asana, as the company styles it, is a significant improvement in terms of design and interface. (I'll admit that I hissed out loud when Moskovitz and Rosenstein showed a screenshot of the older version in their presentation. I'm not proud. Well, perhaps I am, or I wouldn't be mentioning it.) Far more significant than the design rethink Asana went through is the shift the company is making in its approach to developers. In 2011, Rosenstein hinted at Asana's platform ambitions.  The current API, however, is limited to pulling and pushing data in and out of Asana. This lets companies like Wufoo and Github create integrations that take activity from an online form or a software repository, respectively, and create tasks in Asana. The Way We Work Today (And Tomorrow) Starting next year, as Asana rolls out a new feature it's calling "sections," Asana developers will be able to modify the application itself.  The problem is that not everything you deal with at work is a task. Asana, historically, has presented itself as a task-management tool. Now, Moskovitz and Rosenstein want to expand its scope to the larger category of "work tracking," an area of collaboration they see as coequal to file sharing, like Box and Dropbox, and messaging, the field of Slack, Convo and similar apps. Sections are essentially additional data fields that can be assigned to an object in Asana. Venture-capital firms might track companies by stage and amount invested. A DNA analysis firm might track vials. A nonprofit orchestrating healthcare in a developing country might track patients. All of those require a more structured approach than a generic task. That, in turn, opens up Asana to far more interesting possibilities for third-party developers. A healthcare systems integrator might build a generalized case-management tool for hospitals. A publishing company might create a system for tracking an article from assignment to editing and fact-checking to publication. (I did similar work, using a now-archaic-sounding tool called the Quark Publishing System, for a magazine I worked at in the prior decade.) Asana is gearing up to work more closely with developers. In February, it hired Andrew Noonan away from Twitter to run its developer relations team. Where things will get really interesting is if Asana starts developing versions for specific industries. That's a strategy Box has pursued to its advantage, and would give Asana both a route into bigger businesses, with partners potentially selling Asana alongside services and other offerings. A criticism of Asana—and a fair one, since I've been using it heavily in recent months—is that it feels very one-size-fits-all. Journalists at The Intercept, for example, famously despised the project-management tool when it was imposed on them by managers who weren't familiar with the process of putting out a publication. Becoming a platform—a true platform—would let developers fill in the details and tune Asana to the precise nature of the work being done. When I worked at the Herring in the '90s, we didn't have a content-management system. We barely had a system, period. I coded stories in HTML and uploaded them directly to redherring.com's Web server. We mostly shouted at each other over the cubicles to get things done. As proud as I am of that scrappy team and the work we did, I'm sure we could have done far better with software. What a happy coincidence that—18 years on—someone is building it in the same exact spot where we reported on that era's startups.

Media files: MTMzNDAxMDA5OTAzOTMzOTE4.jpg (image/jpeg) 1 In 5 U.S. Adults On Board With Wearables Now Sep 30th 2015, 18:17 Forrester released its annual report on US consumer technology use on Monday, and the findings make encouraging reading for wearable developers, manufacturers and enthusiasts.  Twenty-one percent of all "online" adults in the U.S. now own a wearable device of some kind, with the younger generation leading the way in adoption. It's been a big 12 months for wearables, with interest peaking around the launch of the Apple Watch in March. Since then, Samsung, Pebble and Motorola have released new flagship smartwatches of their own, while fitness-focused companies such as Fitbit and Jawbone have also been busy getting new devices out to consumers.  That's just the beginning.  The Birth Of A Trend According to Forrester's report, Fitbit is leading the charge, with 36 percent of the total number of wearables in use. That backs up figures released by IDC in August, which also showed Fitbit on top of the pile—and a 223 percent increase in wearable sales year-on-year for the market overall. The Nike Fuel Band and the Apple Watch are tied for second at 16 percent, while the now-discontinued Google Glass still accounts for 15 percent of wearable devices in use. That's a promising figure for Google, if it's ever going to bring out version 2.0 of the augmented reality spectacles, as promised.  "One thing is clear—consumer adoption has taken off," writes Forrester's Gina Fleming.  Her colleague, Julie Ask, points to the growth of the smartphone market as the primary driver behind wearable adoption, an angle that's tough to argue with: Without the iPhone, there would be no Apple Watch. Without Android, there would be no Android Wear. Not only has the explosion in smartphone use driven down the cost of components and accelerated the miniaturization of electronics, it also gives consumers access to the apps necessary for wearable data to make sense. A Fitbit or Jawbone tracker is just a rather pointless bracelet without the software to go with it.  "The combination of machine learning, which gives consumers accurate data and insights, and the added apps layer, which allows users to act on those insights, creates a winning formula," Ask writes. "The result is that fitness wearables have matured from a 'fun to have' gadget for those tackling a new goal, to a category impacting the financials of entire industries." There are plenty of challenges ahead—not least of which is getting consumers to keep using their devices once they've bought them—but Forrester's is the second industry report in two months to point to promising growth. The Apple Watch may not have redefined a category in the same way the iPhone or iPad did, but it's helping to push wrist gadgets toward the mainstream.  We've got a lot more to look forward to over the next 12 months, as well: Improved hardware designs, more apps with greater capabilities, and a slew of VR devices that should help us all get more comfortable with wearing gadgets on our bodies. Images courtesy of Fitbit and Forrester

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