New Service Offers Diners Free Uber Rides to Select Restaurants

Gearing up for a night out on the town but don't know where to go? A new service offers adventurous users free Uber rides for trying out new restaurants in the area.The brainchild of 16 year old internet wiz kid Daniel Singer, founder of multiple tech start-up, Cake.af aims to help restaurants fill empty tables while making it easy for consumers to try new establishments.

Customers can sign up for the free service by sending the “cake” emoji to Cake.af. Once they are registered, the team at Cake.af will determine restaurants that have availability/open tables and send an invite to the customer detailing the establishment and the time of the reservation. If the customer accepts the invite, an Uber car will be sent to provide a free ride to the restaurant. If the customer is not interested in the restaurant or available times, they can simply decline the invite. Restaurants benefit by bringing in new customers and the consumers are happy to get free rides to try out a new venue.

“With Cake.af, consumers can feel like a VIP with a car showing up at their door to take them out for a great meal,” said Cake.af creator Daniel Singer. “While they do still have to pay for the food, Cake.af makes the evening easier and less stressful. Restaurants that sign up now have a new way to help fill tables during slow times of the week and consumer are exposed to new dining establishments. It’s a win-win!”

Cake.af is currently available to consumers in three markets including Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco and services and unknown selection of restaurants. Don't worry we are working to see if they have a list of restaurants that are currently available and we will update our posting once they do!

D-Link Launches New EXO Series Routers With Out of This World AC1900 EXO Wi-Fi Router

Following their recent announcement of the new EXO Series of routers, which are meant to supplement D-Link's existing Ultra Performance Series, D-Link has officially announced availability of their first offering in the series and from the looks of it D-Link has made good on their promise of exceptional design with powerful Wireless AC home networking performance.

The new AC1900 EXO Wi-Fi Router (DIR-879), will be the initial offering in the EXO series. This new out of this world looking router boasts a stylish form-factor, featuring standout color and impressive feature set. With built-in high power amplifiers and 11AC Dual Band Wi-Fi, the DIR-879 promises to deliver fast wireless speeds, improved coverage, and reliable Wi-Fi connectivity to support HD streaming and other demanding applications, all for under $150.

“With the new AC1900 EXO Wi-Fi Router, users can enjoy the extremely fast speeds of 11AC Wi-Fi and proudly display their network hardware,” said Steven Olen, director of product marketing at D-Link. “The EXO series was built for Wi-Fi users who want great performance, premium-design and style at an incredibly affordable price.”

Additional features and capabilities of the AC1900 Wi-Fi Router (DIR-879) include:

• 11AC Wi-Fi Dual Band Connectivity – Speeds up to 1300Mbps on the 5GHz band and 600Mbps on the 2.4GHz band
• High Power Amplifiers – Provide wider coverage throughout your home
• Dual Core Processor - To support more devices and apps in your home so you can experience lag free gaming and HD media streaming
• Smart Connect – Automatically assigns connected devices to the best possible band for optimal Wi-Fi performance
• Intelligent QoS – Traffic optimization delivers seamless performance for your applications
• Wi-Fi Protected Setup – Push button to easily connect devices to the wireless network
• Backwards Compatible – Works with existing Wi-Fi devices (802.11n/g)
• Wireless Encryption – Uses WPA or WPA2 security
• Easy Setup – Get online in minutes with the Quick Router Setup (QRS) mobile app

The AC1900 EXO Wi-Fi Router (DIR-879) is available now for $149.99 through most of your favorite retailers and e-tail outlets. Detailed specifications are available online at D-Link’s website.

Need Help With Your Contracts? New Online Tool Will Review Them For You

Singing contracts and other legal documents without fully understanding what you are agreeing to can, and often does, have disastrous results. All too often getting a little legal help can save the day. Unfortunately, that help usually comes with a pretty hefty price tag. Enter LawGeex, a new online platform that uses artificial intelligence. to scan and dissect those agreements to offer you a little help finding and detailing those pesky clauses that you may over look.

LawGeex offers what it calls the world's first contract review platform based on A.I. The goal, it says, is to help businesses and individuals "get a fair deal" before signing an agreement.The service is a pretty straight-forward one, users simply upload one of over 30 supported contract types including employment agreements, NDAs, service agreements, and leases.

LawGeex's A.I. platform then uses its array of technologies to compare the contract against a database of thousands of similar ones. They then send your contract over to one of their "real life lawyers" to check the results. Finally you'll receive a full report showing you the results of the items they have scanned with flags detailing anything that needs extra attention.

Explained in simple terms, the final analysis you receive from LawGeex -- which is stated at being delivered within 24 hours, or on the next business day -- aims to ensure that users know exactly what they’re agreeing to. Included in that report are a summary, a contract score, and information such as clause explanations, negotiating tips, and sample language for missing clauses.

“The driving force behind LawGeex is the belief that no one should sign a contract that they don’t fully understand," said Noory Bechor, the company's cofounder and CEO, a commercial lawyer himself.

At this time anyone can use LawGeex for free to scan and analyze employment agreements. However, they are working to add additional types of personal contracts, such as residential rental agreements, in the next few weeks, and more free contract types in the coming months.

For users that are looking for help with other types of agreements, LawGeex covers 30 in all, there are several pricing options including a one time $49.99 review or a $79.99/mo subscription for up to 2 reviews per month.

Want to Test The Latest Products From Spigen Inc.? Checkout The Spigen Supder5tar Review Program

Are you one of those crazed online shoppers that loves buying everything you can get your hands on and then writing meticulous well thought out reviews of those items? Do you love buying new smartphones and equipping them with new cases and accessories? If both of those explain who you are then you might be eligible to get some of those new smartphone accessories for free thanks to the Spigen Super5tar review program.

Just in case you don't know, Spigen is a phone case maker based out of the US. They make a wide assortment of cases and accessories for all of the latest phones on the market, including Samsung, LG, Apple, HTC and OnePlus. The company has started a new initiative in order to get customer feedback posted to Amazon as quickly as possible. The program is called Super5tar Review Program and what it offers is a free case or accessory if approved, for you to test out and review.

How Does the Spigen Super5tar Review Program Work?

So here is the low down on how to get started reviewing your first product. First head over to Spigen’s Super5tar Review Program page and select a case that you’d like to review. They are currently only offering cases for the newest phones on the market, so you'll have options of the iPhone SE, Galaxy S7 and LG G5. Next, fill out the form with your email, birth date, name, country of residence, and you’ll also need to provide your Amazon account profile link.
To find your Amazon profile link:

• Log into your Amazon account
• Click on “Your Account” (Where you would check for your recent orders)
• Under “Personalization” click on “Your Public Profile”
• Copy the link in your browser’s address bar and paste it back into Spigen’s form
• Your Profile link should look like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Then, if your application is approved, you will be sent the case you chose at signup and you’ll be expected to write an honest review on the cases’ respective Amazon product page within 5 days of the product’s receipt. Of course, you must be over 18 years of age to participate in the review program and you must also agree to a possible minimum processing fee in order to get your case.

The page says approval is based on your Amazon Review Profile, the actual number of Amazon reviews written, how recently the Amazon account was created, compliance with the Terms and Conditions, validity of email, and country of residence. New products will rotate periodically so be sure to check back to the program page every once in a while.

Now of course some will question the ethical approach here, even Amazon themselves have apparently raised concerns about the program and have in the past. However, Spigen does state they want an HONEST review. Now having worked alongside many companies in the past and worked for similar projects I can tell you honest doesn't always mean honest. And while they likely won't ask for the product back, negative reviews often mean less opportunity for testing in the future. Saying that, you should definitely be honest and write the best review possible!

New Windows 10 Roadmap Highlights Several Upcoming Features

Microsoft has officially released the latest Windows 10 Roadmap highlighting the newest features we can expect in upcoming Windows 10 updates and releases. And while we already know the Windows 10 “Anniversary Update” will be coming this summer, many of the new features found on the Roadmap apparently aren't a part of that update.

“The Windows 10 Roadmap provides a snapshot of what we’ve recently made generally available, released into public preview, are still developing and testing, or are no longer developing,” Microsoft explains. While this newest Roadmap is meant specifically for Microsoft's business customers, there are still plenty of noteworthy features we may eventually see for consumers.

Here’s a basic rundown of a few of the highlight:

• Windows and Android phones as well as "companion devices" such as the Microsoft Band 2 will be able to unlock and authenticate apps on a Windows PC.
• Connecting a Windows phone to an external touch monitor through Continuum will allow for touch controls on the large display. Windows phones with Continuum will also support laptop-like docks, keyboards and accessories that utilize your phone's cpu and OS to run and act like a laptop.
• Windows PCs will be able to cast their displays to other Windows PCs making collaborations easier.
• Windows apps will get a picture-in-picture mode.
• Remote display for "display-less" devices, so users can seamlessly control Windows 10 IoT Core applications from any Windows 10 desktop PC, tablet, or phone*. In addition, the technology allows Windows 10 IoT Core devices to use remote sensor readings from any connected Windows 10 device.

Again these new features are being added in addition to the "Anniversary Update" features that we saw highlighted during the Build 2016 back in March. You should also keep in mind that these plans can change, something that Microsoft themselves highlight on their roadmap which also includes a section for canceled features, though it’s currently unpopulated. As for timing, Microsoft isn’t making any promises, and has not yet started testing any of the above features in its Windows Insider builds.

As to what we should expect in the Windows 10 “Anniversary Update” we already know we will see a few key additions, one of the biggest being Linux /bin/bash-support. This will not be a port or a virtualization. It’s a full Ubuntu command line running natively right in Windows, built in partnership with Canonical. As of right now this is mostly a tool for developers, but cross-platform power users may find this particularly useful as well.

We also know we will see updates to Cortana, for more efficient and effective use as well as greater app support and better notification support. You can also expect to see the new Windows Ink feature which allows for more stylus and handwriting support. According to Microsoft, Windows Ink puts the stylus “front and center” by introducing the Ink Workspace, a hub of apps that all focus on different things that a stylus can do.

Of course for you gamers Microsoft didn't leave you out. Microsoft says they will be working to deliver on top fan-requested features like support for multiple GPUs and the ability to turn off v-sync. Game developers will have access to a fully open ecosystem with the Universal Windows Platform, making it easy to bring the games people love to both Xbox One and other Windows 10 devices. With the Anniversary Update, any Xbox One can be a developer kit with Xbox Dev Mode, enabling anyone to develop for the living room. And, the Windows Store will offer a unified store experience for all developers, creating new opportunities to reach millions of new customers.

Amazon Prime Same Day Delivery Adds 11 New Cities Now Covers 27 In All

Thanks to a plethora of features Amazon Prime membership has been growing at an astonishing rate. According to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, membership grew 51% last year – including 47% growth in the U.S. and even faster internationally – and there are now tens of millions of members worldwide.

Prime started as Amazon’s unlimited two-day shipping option for subscribers, however over the past few yeas the service has changed significantly and morphed into an all encompassing service. The new Prime has become more of an all-you-can-eat, physical-digital hybrid with access to Prime Videos, music and more.

One of the latest perks Amazon has begun offering their Prime members is Prime FREE Same-Day Delivery. A feature that allows Prime members to place an order in the morning and receive all Same-Day orders over $35 before bedtime that very same day, seven days a week.

The service, which initially launched last year, has proved so popular that Amazon has announced today that they will be expanding the coverage area from the original 14 cities to include an additional 11 metro areas. Those areas include Charlotte, Cincinnati, Fresno, Louisville, Milwaukee, Nashville, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, Stockton, and Tucson, plus new areas in Central New Jersey, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

“Prime was developed to make shopping on Amazon fast and convenient, and millions of members have used Prime FREE Same-Day Delivery to make their lives even easier,” said Greg Greeley, Vice President of Prime. “We keep making Prime better, and as our operational capabilities grow, we will continue to invent and expand delivery options that customers love.”

Running just $99 a year, Amazon Prime will offer customers unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on more than 30 million items across all categories, unlimited Free Same-Day Delivery on more than a million items in the expanded 27 metro areas, and one and two-hour delivery with Prime Now on tens of thousands of items available in more than 25 metro areas. In addition members have access to unlimited streaming of tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes, more than one million songs and thousands of curated playlists and stations with Prime Music, early access to select Lightning Deals all year long, free secure, unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive with Prime Photos and access to more than one million books to borrow with the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

Learn more about Prime FREE Same-Day at www.amazon.com/sameday.

Bitdefender Says New Tool Uses 'Trickery' To Prevent Some Ransomware Infections

With ransomware infections making big headlines these days security researchers are looking at new ways to keep the malicious software from taking over users machines. Unfortunately, in this cat and mouse game the bad guys have seemingly been wining the war! All that may soon change as security researchers test new inventive ways to actually vaccinate machines from possible infections.

Antivirus firm Bitdefender is one such company that has been taking a new approach as to how it handles ransomware. They have just released a free tool that the company says can prevent computers from being infected with some of the most widespread file-encrypting ransomware programs: Locky, TeslaCrypt and CTB-Locker.

The new Bitdefender Anti-Ransomware vaccine is an update of sorts to a piece if software that the company designed to prevent CryptoWall infections. As with the previous tool this new 'vaccine' works by taking advantage of a very specific feature commonly used in several piece of ransomware. Those malicious pieces of software actually check to make sure the machine they are trying to attack haven't previously been infected. Bitdefender's Anti-Ransomware vaccine uses those checks against the ransomware by making it appear as if computers are already infected with current variants of Locky, TeslaCrypt or CTB-Locker. This prevents those programs from infecting them again.

Bitdefender has stated that in its current form the tool can only fool certain ransomware families and is not guaranteed to work as protection against those indefinitely. Therefore, it's best for users to take all the common precautions to prevent infections in the first place and to view the tool only as a last layer of defense that might save them in case everything else fails.

"While extremely effective, the anti-ransomware vaccine was designed as a complementary layer of defense for end-users who don’t run a security solution or who would like to complement their security solution with an anti-ransomware feature," said Bogdan Botezatu, a senior e-threat analyst at Bitdefender.

The new tool is available for download on the Bitdefender website.

Need Help Using One of Google's Sites or Services? Checkout The Official Google Tips and Tricks Webpage

It isn't often that you see a company devote time and attention to create detailed walk-throughs of how to better use their sites and services. Yeah most might compile a FAQ list, and some will offer up some basic help. But for the most part, most companies leave you, well Googling it!

Google has always been an exception to that rule! They have always done their best to offer users advice and tips & tricks on how to get the most out of their Google Search results as well as most of their other services. Just last year we mentioned that Google offered a list of essential tips for becoming a Google Guru. At that time the list of tips and tricks was still relatively small, at only 78. Today however, that list has blossomed to more than 170!

Google's official list of Google tips and tricks features easy to follow walk-throughs, videos and step by step guides on how to use just about anything related to Google. The tips are now broken down into six categories: Do More, Save Time, Online Security, New Device, Ask Google, and Improve Access. You can also access tips for each individual Google product. with tips & tricks encompassing everything from Android to Google Play to using Chrome. We'll note some of the categories for each product aren't fully covered and don't have any tips yet, but most do!

While many of these tips are going to seem remedial to a power user. Most if not all are going to be helpful to someone that is just now breaking their teeth on some of Google's services. Either way, the site is a great one to add to your tool bag and makes for a great resource for sharing with your 'new to Google' friends or less than tech savvy family members.

Must Have Geek Gadgets For Spending Time Outdoors This Spring

If there is one thing I know about my fellow geeks it is that we love our gadgets and as such we always find some cool new piece of tech that makes every life experience that much better. In the past we've talked about a few of our favorite gadgets for summer time fun, but today we are going to share a few suggestions aimed specifically at some of the challenges of being outdoors during the spring time.

Keeping Bugs Away!

Whether it be mosquitoes, ants or wasps nothing ruins a nice afternoon outdoors quite as much as bugs. Not to mention those little pests are known to carry and spread pesky little viruses like West Nile, Zika and even Lyme Disease (yes that is still around). Therefore it should be no surprise that are first few suggestions are going to help keep bugs at bay!

ThermaCell Mosquito Repellent Camp Lantern: The folks over at ThermaCell were nice enough to send us over this cool little dual action lantern and so far we have been nothing but impressed. The light produces 300 lumens which is plenty to bright to light up a full sized or a standard picnic table. The repellent, which can also be used as an independent unit, is said to offer 15'x15' protection from mosquitoes, black flies and a few other “no see-ums”. In other-words plenty of coverage for a small campsite or picnic area.

Rock Those Tunes!

No party is complete without some great music and what better way to enjoy that music than with a killer portable system? For those of you, that like me, grew up in the 80's and early 90's you'll remember the days with the boombox was king! It seemed as though everywhere you went someone had their beats blasting out of their own portable system. Then the days came where we decided to go more personal and portable with the walk-man and later MP3 players.

Monster is trying to put the boom back in boombox with the release of their new Monster Blaster Portable Bluetooth Boom Box. Dubbed the 'Boombox Re-imagined' the Monster SuperStar Blaster features bi-directional speakers with full range drivers in an angled 360⁰ orientation and a down-firing integrated powered subwoofer to offer plenty of sound for large outdoor spaces. For those that plan on being around the water it will also offer splash resistance, though we would suggest something like the BackFloat Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker if you are planning on enjoying the tunes in or around the pool.

Don't Get Lost Out There!

Your smartphone might be great at offering you directions when you are around town. However, using it as a functional GPS device while in the mountains or hiking in the backwoods just isn't practical. For that you'll need a dedicated GPS unit and while there are several great options from several great companies, there is only one unit that I can say I'll recommend 100% of the time. That is the Garmin Astro or new Garmin Alpha 100 series.

Both of these units not only offer you a fully function GPS unit with all the regular bells and whistles, but they both offer you the ability to track your four legged friends everywhere they go. There is nothing worse than being in the backwoods and loosing your family friends. With the Garmin Astro or Alpha you can track there movement on the devices pre-loaded topographical maps and see their distance from you and heading. The Gamin Alpha adds the training function with the help of Tri-Tronics electronic training. Allowing you to select traditional or linear progression plus tone or stimulation types.

Feed Those Hungry Geeks

Cooking in the outdoors can be challenging to say the least. Personally I prefer going with the simplest options possible, which usually means pre-made meals or sandwiches, but there are occasions that you'll want to chef it up. Nothing, and I mean nothing, ruins that experience more than forgetting your cooking essentials at home. The two things I've found that are essential for a good cooking experience while camping are a good portable bbq (gas preferably due to fire restrictions) and a nice portable stove.

The folks at Grub Hub have come up with a few ways to take the hassle out of camp cooking. The Grub Hub Camp Kitchen is a super portable unit the size of a large piece of luggage that organizes, stores and transports all your camp kitchen gear then sets up in less than 3 minutes to provide the ultimate camp kitchen and campsite. The full camp kitchen unit offers everything you need from the stove to the utensils to whip up your favorite meals in no time!

If the Grub Hub is a bit too much for your needs I wholeheartedly believe the Coleman single burner propane stove is the best thing ever. It is super compact so it fits anywhere and offers plenty of functionality for anything from heating up water for your pre-made meals or making coffee. Since camping isn't camping without a good BBQ I'd be a miss without adding a quick simple suggestion there too. Here I keep it simple with a Char-Broil Table Top Gas Grill. Small portable and always gets the job done!

Final Note: Now of course there are several other suggestions we could add to our short list here and we have discussed plenty of those in the past. We just wanted to highlight a few of the newest products out there that are on our wishlist and offer a few ideas to get the creative juices flowing. A few additions I'd always add are portable chargers or battery packs, an awesome flash light or camp lantern and of course we wouldn't be geeks without a multi-tool.

If you guys have suggestions for your favorite spring time tech gadgets be sure to let us know by dropping a comment in the comment box below. We are always looking for more toys and more ideas to build out our tech bundle.

Smaller iPad Pro Has One Nice Perk You Can Use Microsoft Office 365 For Free

While I'm sure many of you Apple fans are reveling in this week's Apple event and their announcements of smaller versions of both the iPhone and iPad Pro. Most of the tech world took a collective yawn! The truth of the matter is most tech pundits have historically shunned companies for creating the sort of fragmentation Apple just did. So it shouldn't be a shock that most of us aren't all that excited.

Whether you agree or disagree with Apple's latest approach of releasing their devices in multiple configurations, there is one rather minor benefit, at least in the case of the 9.7" iPad Pro, and that is that when buying the new smaller device users won't have to pay for a Microsoft Office 365 subscription to use Microsoft’s iOS Office apps! This isn't the case for 'power users' that are looking at the larger iPad Pro. The reason, a simple one, Microsoft's licensing terms and the differentiation of  how they view mobile devices.

Let me explain: Last year Microsoft attempted to distinguish what the company thought defined a mobile vs professional experience, and which devices would typically be used by the consumer on the go. The idea, according to Microsoft, was that the company wanted to offer customers the basic feature set while they are using their mobile device and charge the regular Office 365 licensing fees for those users who were using Office at a desk,in front of a larger 'PC'. Microsoft views mobile apps as more appropriate for light editing, rather than document creation.

“Currently, we are also using screen size to delineate between professional and personal use,” Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate vice president for the Office 365 Client Apps and Services team wrote. “Based on our research, we are classifying anything with a screen size of 10.1 inches or less as a true mobile device: You’re probably using it on the go, when it’s not practical to use a larger computing device such as a PC or a Mac. You probably aren’t using a mouse or a keyboard, instead navigating via touch interface. It’s probably not a “pro” category tablet that is used for design or presentations.”

Of course this may only be a minor benefit to most users, it is still a nice perk. Of course you still don't get all the benefits of a full blown Office 365 subscription or the full set of features. But for users that need to edit and view an Office document created elsewhere, it comes in handy.

Uber Launches A New Bug Bounty Program Offers $10k For Bugs

Bug bounty programs are big business these days, with researchers often seeing rewards of thousands of dollars to find bugs in software and security systems. Today we see yet another company joining the fold as Uber has announced that it’s officially launching a “bug bounty” program that will pay independent security researchers thousands of dollars in rewards for finding hackable bugs in its apps and websites.

Uber wants to pay researchers up to $5,000 for finding anything from a minor bug that could deface the company's homepage or expose users’ email addresses and up to $10,000 for more serious and critical bugs that could lead to attackers gaining the ability to fully take over Uber accounts or run malicious code on an Uber production server.

According to Uber the main reason behind the move to open a public bug bounty program comes as a result of the company's very own private program that turned up over 100 bugs — all of which have Uber has said have been fixed. This time the company is going a step further by offering hackers and security researchers not only more money but a new bug bounty “loyalty system” that gives bonuses for repeated bug discoveries. They have also created a “treasure map” for bug bounty hunters designed to guide them toward potential vulnerabilities in the site—mapping out the company’s code to make bug hunting as efficient as possible.

"Even with a team of highly qualified and well trained security experts, you need to be constantly on the look-out for ways to improve," Uber's Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan said in a statement. "This bug bounty program will help ensure that our code is as secure as possible. And our unique loyalty scheme will encourage the security community to become experts when it comes to Uber."

For more information about the program visit https://hackerone.com/uber.

Manually Closing Apps On Your Phone Make Actually Make Your Battery Life Worse

Old habits seem to die hard and there is one bad habit I know that I share with several of my fellow geeks, force closing apps on our smartphones. Unfortunately, for those of using still clinging to this old habit, we now have absolute confirmation that our habit actually does more harm than good.

Over the past week or so, both Apple and Google have confirmed that force closing your apps does absolutely nothing to improve your battery life. In fact, says Hiroshi Lockheimer, the VP of Engineering for Android, it might make things worse.

To put into simpler terms what we are seeing here, and why software developers from both Apple and Google have reached this conclusion, the operating systems for smartphones (and even PCs these days) have become some adept at memory and battery management that they are doing more good by continually running apps than you are by closing them. In more complex terms, both Android and iOS, utilize algorithms to run memory management. These algorithms control each app, the amount of memory allocated to those apps and allow them to sit dormant until they are needed again.

Why this matters you may ask? Think of it as a hot water faucet. Each time you turn it on you need to run more water to get the water hot. Thus you waste a lot of water. Now if you had that water circulating, but not being used, it would be hot instantly and you'd have little to no waste. This is sort of how these memory algorithms work.

These systems will close apps that need to be closed, typically ones that have been sitting dormant for a while or are using more power or memory than they should. They know exactly which ones they can and should 'disable' based on your usage. These algorithms build a profile specific to you as a user and they know when you’re going to need data, or want a refresh, or open an app again.

Apps that are already in memory open quickly, rather than having to fully start again; it’s like waking your computer from sleep rather than rebooting it completely. You’re far, far better off letting the system work for you rather than forcing it to re-open and re-start everything every time. Battery questions aside, it makes your phone slower and less coherent.

So now that we know that, are we really going to stop? Honestly, probably not! I've know about this for a few years now as it has come to my attention through various sources and through several discussions. Still I can't break the habit and honestly even if I did as a high level user I doubt I personally would notice a major improvement in battery life. You however, might see some improvements. These might only be minor, but that last second of battery life can mean a lot in the right circumstance!

My suggestions, if you are really that worried about it and you are really into saving battery is to follow a few of these tricks:

• Battery management - All phones have an option to see where they are using battery power. Learn to use your battery management tool so you can see where your battery life is going or get a freebie that helps you see even more info!
• Shut off that bright screen- Turn down your screen brightness or set it to auto adjust. When you check your battery management you'll likely see that your screen is using most of your battery. 
• Stop sharing your location - Turn off location sharing for apps that don’t need it (which is a good idea regardless).
• Turn off features you don't need - If you’re not using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or NFC turn them off. Why waste power on things you aren't using right?
• Powering saving mode - Use Low Power Mode in iOS and power saving or Doze on Android. Cut back on some of the power your device has and you can shave a little off your usage.

Uber Launches UberEATS In The US But Would You Trust An Uber Driver to Deliver Your Food?

The on-demand market is a hot commodity these days for sure and by now most of us have used services like Uber and Lyft at least once. But how much do you actually trust the people that drive you around? Would you trust them to handle your food? Several new companies, including Uber, are hoping that you will. The company just today announced their UberEATS app is now available within a limited few cities in the US. The announcement, which came via  a blog post today, highlights some of the features of the new standalone app.

For us geeks that are too busy gaming to get out and get our own dinner the new UberEATS app will offer a few options. First you can opt to get regular delivery from a hundred or so restaurants in each service area, with the full menu available for you to pick and choose from. This portion of the service will be available from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. everyday, and you can see how long it will take for Uber to get the food to your doorstep within the app (15-20 minutes, 20-30 minutes, etc).

Or, if you want food delivered to you faster—Uber says as fast as 10 minutes or so—you can choose Instant Delivery, which features three to five daily dishes in every city, all displayed in big, clean photos in the app. Instant Delivery is only offered between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. during weekdays.

According to Uber the company will feature a separate driver base handling UberEATS deliveries, which doesn’t overlap with the group of regular Uber drivers picking up people in their cars. However drivers can choose to switch between modes freely, by logging into and out of the app. Meaning that these new drivers may indeed simply be the same drivers we see on a regular basis.

So this begs to question, will you really trust an Uber driver to deliver your food? Uber makes no mention of specific details like food handling certification or any food specific training, something that most food handlers (at least in my area) are required to have. I for one may be a bit skeptical!

For you geeks out there that aren't as skeptical as I am the UberEATS App is available today on both iOS and Android and the service will be available in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Uber says it will be rolling out UberEATS in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Melbourne, New York, Paris, Seattle and Washington D.C. in the coming weeks.

Win A Trip to Microsoft's Rare Studios to Be The First to Play Sea of Thieves

The Microsoft gaming development team at Rare, yes that is the actual name, has announced a new competition built just for fans (or would be fans since the game isn't out yet) of their latest game Sea of Thieves. With six lucky and the winners being offer the chance at an all-expenses paid trip to the UK studio to play the game before launch. The announcement video is below, while more details follow further down.

For a chance at winning this all-expenses-paid adventure, Microsoft and Rare are asking fans to create something that conveys their excitement for Sea of Thieves, and then share it with the world on social media via an image or video. The more creative and entertaining the entries, the better chance fans will have at winning the contest. This will be based on the judge's very selective and subjective opinions. In fact they have stated their selections will be based on the following three criteria:

• 33.00% - Creativity - you must show something new and different
• 33.00% - Entertainment value - you'll probably need to make them laugh
• 33.00% - Level of excitement for Sea of Thieves - don't be ho-hum about the game!

Once finished, fans must share a link to their image or video with us on Twitter @SeaOfThieves, or on Facebook via Facebook.com/SeaOfThievesGame, including the hashtag #SeaOfThievesContest.
 For a full run-down of the rules, be sure to check out our official rules page here.

There will be 6 prizes total. The prize(s) will be as follows: Each winner will receive a trip (for winner only) to Twycross, UK, for the opportunity to tour Rare Ltd and meet Rare game software developers. Includes:

• Round trip coach airfare from major airport closest to winner's home
• Transportation between airport, hotel, and studio
• Three (3) nights standard hotel accommodations
• Daily meals
• A tour of the Rare Studio

According to GameSpot, Sea of Thieves has been described by Microsoft as "the best game Rare has ever made," and given their rather extensive list of games that may or may not say a lot! The game that was first teased during E3 2015, with the promises to be a first person pirate adventure game with opportunities for exploring jungles, roaming the high seas and enjoy multiplayer naval combat. 

As of yet a release date has not been revealed and Rare has acknowledged on their official site that they have had very specific reasoning for limiting details about the game until now, but hopes this contest will generate buzz and excitement before the release.

Google's Project Fi Cellular Service Now Open to Everyone

Google has officially opened the doors to every that wants to sign-up for their Project Fi cellular service as the search giant has announced they are dropping their invite only requirement to join the program. In addition, those joining the program before April 7th will be offered the deepest discount ever on the Nexus 5X. If you buy the phone through Project Fi and activate it, you can get the normally $349 Nexus 5X for just $199.

Project Fi is Google's first ever attempt at breaking into the MVNO cellular service. It offers users a pre-pay service with no contracts. Services utilize cell towers  rented from Sprint and T-Mobile, switching automatically between whichever gives you the best services at the time. The service then combines all the best features of Google Voice, like visual voicemail, number forwarding, and the ability to send and receive SMS messages from any computer and via the Google Hangouts app.

One major downside, that Google is still apparently working on, is that the service is only available in limited areas and with very limited device compatibility—the Network switching feature means Fi only works on the Nexus 5X, 6, and 6P. The upside is that all calls on Fi are made over Wi-Fi by default if that’s available (and how doesn't have Wi-Fi these days), and then switches to the cellular network when a user moves out of range of a Wi-Fi signal.

Project Fi charges a $20 base fee for unlimited texting and calls, plus $10 per GB of data you use. Fi customers also only pay for the data they use, and then are credited with any data left over. So if you sign up and pay $20 for calls, plus $30 for 3 GB of data but only end up using 2 GB, you’ll get $10 credited back on your account at the end of the month.

For more details checkout the Project Fi home page as well as the Project Fi FAQ

Apple Moves Quickly to Squash Ransomware Concerns

While ransomware may hardly be a new thing, this weekend saw a new first for the malicious software as it for the first time ever has been confirmed as targeting Apple Mac OSX users.

Palo Alto Networks, A security research firm announced Sunday its discovery of what is believed to be the world’s first ransomware that specifically goes after OS X machines. The malicious code dubbed "KeRanger" ransomware, was found wrapped into Transmission, which is a free Mac BitTorrent client.

At this time it is still unclear exactly how the attackers managed to upload a tampered version of Transmission to the application's website. But compromising legitimate applications is a commonly used method. "It’s possible that Transmission's official website was compromised and the files were replaced by re-compiled malicious versions, but we can’t confirm how this infection occurred," Palo Alto Networks wrote on its blog.

The KeRanger malware imposes a 72-hour lockout window unless the victim pay up to unlock their devices. As mentioned the software was loaded to OSX machines unintentionally by users running version 2.90 of the Transmission software. A version that was signed with a legitimate Apple developer's certificate. This allowed the software to bypass one of OSX's security settings as users often set the setting to allow downloads from identified Apple developers. This setting means the person with the infected machine may not ever have seen a warning from Apple's GateKeeper software that the application could be dangerous.

According to reports by Reuters Apple revoked a certificate that allowed the software to be installed on Macs, and Transmission removed the download link from its website noting that any users that downloaded the infected version over the weekend should immediately upgrade to version 2.91 of the software, which was available on its website, and delete the malicious one.

Open Letter to Tim Cook: Privacy Vs. The Illusion of Privacy

Over the past few weeks we have seen a lot of debate over the ongoing fight between Apple, the FBI and the DOJ over a request being made of Apple to help bypass security software on a specific iPhone 5C once used by known terrorists Syed Farook, the man who with his wife shot 36 people and killed 14. By now most of us have taken up our sides and formed our opinions, with many of us ardently supporting our positions.

Just this past week I expressed several thoughts, concerns and questions when I asked why we fear our government, yet embrace corporations? I now realize that I have been looking at this from the wrong position the entire time. No, I do not now support Apple's position over the government's, I just realized that we are focused on the wrong aspects of this case.

I initially thought my question should be: Why is it that we should trust Apple over the government? Or give Apple the power to completely dismiss the government when they are making what appears to be a totally legitimate lawful request? 

I now realize the question we really should be asking is not why should the government want or need access to our data, but why isn't our government fighting for our privacy and limiting the amount of data that companies like Apple collect on us? After all it is the government's job, not Apple's, to protect the public trust. 

Like it or not our government is bound by the Constitution, our laws, Congress and the 

Supreme Court. They are the one's that have true public accountability, not Apple. Apple holds carte blanche on what it decides to do with your data it collects, not the government. Now of course we can argue government over-reach, misuses of information and the government's ability to reach far beyond anything Apple can do to you and of course those are all valid concerns. 

But think of this, Apple has for years collected all this data on you, and can still be compelled to share what it has collected. Double that with their lack of accountability for how they decide to share that data and with whom, and you see my issue!

So if Apple comes out on top in this case all we end up with is the illusion of privacy, not actual privacy. Companies like Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft will still be collecting that data and the government will still have some ability to subpoena what is being collected!

Tim Cook has gone on record stating that, "All that information needs to be protected from hackers and criminals who want to access it, steal it, and use it without our knowledge or permission. Compromising the security of our personal information can ultimately put our personal safety at risk."

Well Mr Cook if you are truly about working for the public interest and working on doing the right thing when it comes to privacy and security then I ask you this: Why does your company continue to collect our personal private data for its unadulterated use by your company? Why is it every iPhone user is so stringently tied to your services, services from which you collect large amounts of personal information? Information that includes everything from our private conversations to our photos, our music, our notes, our calendars and contacts, our financial information and health data, even where we have been and where we are going.

Tim Cook you say say, "Some things are hard, and some things are right and some things are both and this [battle over privacy] is one of those things."  If Apple truly wants to proclaims an ethical duty it has to protect the privacy and security of millions of iPhone users worldwide then why not allow those users to divorce themselves from Apple once they have purchased their devices? Why not make using your services opt-in instead of opt-out?

So yet again I ask!! Why is this so called 'battle' for privacy' not being spearheaded by our government on behalf of us all? And why is it that the focus is not about what our government may access, but what our corporations are collecting on every user out there? 

I don't think we shouldn't be fearful of a government that wants a key to the lock, what we should be fearful of is a company that wants both the lock and key!

'Like' It or Not Facebook Reactions Debuts Today!

While the 'Like' button will always remain an iconic symbol for Facebook users have for years been asking for a little more. Today that wish has been granted with the official launch of Facebook Reactions.

Originally showcased and featured back in October, Facebook's Reaction emojis have no gone live for all users and will allow you to add a little more emotion and feeling to your responses to your friend's posts. The new emojis will feature a few focused reactions such as 'love', 'wow' and sad however what we won't see is that all-becoming dislike button.

To add a reaction, hold down the Like button on mobile or hover over the Like button on desktop to see the reaction image options, then tap either Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad or Angry.

Why these choices you may ask? Facebook has said their development team has spent more than a year conducting global research including focus groups and surveys to determine what types of reactions people would want to use most. They also used viewed a vast number of profiles and comments to determine how people are already commenting on posts and the top stickers and emoticons as signals for the types of reactions people are already using to determine which reactions to offer.

Notably, reactions will be available for both individual and business pages — meaning that even though we won't see that dislike button we all want, we will see some possibility of negative reactions to misleading posts and advertisements. This was likely something Facebook was trying to avoid, though they have said they plan to keep an eye on any misuse of reactions. So you may want to avoid over-reacting..to some of those ads, at least for now! 

Celebrate Star Trek's 50th Anniversary With Trek Talks Live Speaker Series

Geeks everywhere are celebrating 50 years of boldly going where no man has gone before and this week CBS Consumer Products has announced a new way to commemorate Star Trek's 50th anniversary. Dubbed Trek Talks, the new speaker series will be a world wide initiative designed to bring Trekkies together for a new and exciting live event program that will explore the impact and influence of Star Trek over its 50-year span.

Trek Talks will be locally produced and hosted by academic and entertainment institutions including colleges and universities, science museums, and pop culture centers and festivals as well as other non-profits and commercial corporations. Each selected organizations (in partnership with CBS) can choose a topic from a group of themes that will cover a broad arrange of our Trekkie favorites that showcase the full scope of Star Trek’s influence or they can develop their own theme.

Themes that selected speakers will cover will include:

• Trek Tech - Examining Star Trek’s impact on the information age
• Our Single World - Envisioning a future multicultural universe
• The Prime Directive - Exploring our universe, ethically
• A Star Trek Society - Addressing our world’s issues for 50 years
• The Final Frontier - Star Trek's 50-year influence on the space industry
• Thinking Boldly - Today’s philosophical issues in Trek’s tomorrow
• A Trek Economy - Evaluating Star Trek's economy to address world issues
• Science of Star Trek - Recognizing Trek's influence on scientific exploration

“Star Trek, reaching beyond pure entertainment, has helped shape our collective perspective,” said Liz Kalodner, Executive Vice President and General Manager of CBS Consumer Products. “From technological advancements to racial and economic equality, Star Trek has broached a broad and varied range of subjects over the years. These Trek Talks will address its impact and provide an entertaining and educational forum to discuss such influence.”

Each participating organization will develop, promote and stage the event during Star Trek’s 50th Anniversary from July 2016 to July 2017. Current organizations participating in the project include NASA, Toronto International Film Festival, Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, EMP Museum, and the Canadian Space Agency. Trek Talks is already slated to be staged at significant pop-culture and entertainment events including San Diego Comic-Con in July, the Star Trek Las Vegas convention in August, Star Trek: Mission New York in September, and Destination Star Trek Europe in October.

Star Trek celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2016. Born from the mind of Gene Roddenberry, the original Star Trek series debuted on September 8, 1966 and aired for three seasons -- a short run that belied the influence it would have for generations. Launching the careers of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, the series also broke new ground in storytelling and cultural mores providing a progressive look at topics including race relations, global politics, the environment, and more. It spawned five more television series and 13 feature films spanning the course of half a century. 

Beyond its impact on the entertainment landscape, Star Trek has also inspired some of the greatest minds steering the direction of our modern world and sparking the biggest technological advancements of our time such as the cell phone, universal translator, smart watch, tablet, sonogram, and countless other inventions. Those who cite Star Trek as an influence on their lives include Stephen Hawking, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Elon Musk, and countless others.

To further commemorate Star Trek turning 50 CBS Consumer Products will be hosting a 50th Anniversary Convention to be held in Las Vegas this August 3-7th. Additionally they will be hosting a first ever Star Trek Cruise, hosted by William Shatner and featuring appearances by fan favorites from the franchise will also join the voyage, including Marina Sirtis, Jonathan Frakes, Robert Picardo, John de Lancie, James Darren, Denise Crosby, Steven Rankin, Vaughn Armstrong and Casey Biggs.

CBS has also confirmed we will see a new Star Trek television series. The news series will launch in early 2017 with a special preview broadcast on the CBS Television Network. The premiere episode and all subsequent first-run episodes will then be available exclusively in the United States on CBS All Access, the Network’s digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service. The next chapter of the Star Trek franchise will also be distributed concurrently for television and multiple platforms around the world by CBS Studios International.


Find Star Trek …

• On the Web: www.StarTrek.com
• On Facebook: Facebook.com/StarTrek
• On Twitter: Twitter.com/StarTrek
• On Instagram: Instagram.com/StarTrek
• On YouTube: YouTube.com/StarTrek
• On Tumblr: StarTrek.Tumblr.com

For more information or to become a partner visit: www.TrekTalks.com

Privacy: Why Do We Fear The Government Yet Embrace Major Corporations?

The recent firestorm around Apple's refusal to help the FBI crack the iPhone belonging to San Bernardino terrorists has certainly raised several questions. Not only about personal privacy and our government's access to our private data, but also about a company's role in protecting that data. For me however, it has raised a different set of questions, mainly the question of why we would trust a multi-national, billion dollar company over our own government that is sworn to protects its citizens.

I've long followed the case and leaked information Edward Snowden has provided the public with. Especially the disclosure of several NSA projects and programs that have for years used several high profile tech companies to conduct surveillance on 'everyday citizens'.

While I do believe there are plenty of nefarious projects out there, and that the government has been increasingly guilty of over-reach the question in my mind that has always remained was how much is it the government and how much is it the tech companies themselves or even the citizens. After-all, we are so willing to give up this information. Why wouldn't they want to take it?

So we now fast forward to Apple's most recent defiance of a court order that is meant to compel them to help the FBI access data on a locked iPhone. The question that is raised, is should Apple work with the FBI to bypass the locks that are in place and if they do, should those tools then be given to law enforcement agencies to use. We won't talk about whether or not Apple can/can't actually achieve this!

This brings me to my question: When did the notion that our government has somehow become a great evil become so entrenched in our brains that we are so blindly willingly to hand over all controls of our data to a company like Apple? Why are so many willingly to believe that they are actually going to act in our best interests over their own?

How is it that we are so willing to allow major corporations with no accountability complete and unfettered access to every aspect of our days lives and total control over our privacy yet we worry so much about our government, with a great deal of accountability and restriction, wanting to access even the most minor of details?

This is after-all a company that has the ability to act with an unfathomable level of impunity. They are shielded behind a TOS, which most users barely understand. We by all rights hand these companies that door, the lock and the key.  Yet we scoff at the government when they act within the full letter of the law to attempt to gain access to any portion of that data.

Why is it that we are so willing to allow major corporations with no accountability complete and unfettered access to every aspect of our days lives and total control over our privacy yet we worry so much about our own government? A government that has to act within the scope of the law and has a great deal of accountability and restriction!

Have we come so far from the days of seeking government oversight, consumer protections, the break ups of monopolies and 'robber barons' that we are now fearing the very entity that we once embraced to save us from these 'Orwellian Giants'? Do we really truly want the keys to the kingdom to reside solely in the hands of corporations that only see the bottom line?

Personally I think not! I think we should really take a good hard look at these companies, especially the ones that want to proclaim themselves above the letter of the law and 'protectors' of overreach by the government. Now this shouldn't mean to say I think the government should have unfettered access to things like encryption keys, user data, or any sort of 'backdoor' programs. In fact the opposite is true! I think our government should be held to even higher scrutiny and standards than it is today. That doesn't mean we should not then scrutinize companies and their motives as well.